Breaking News! Heather Ross Announces New Line

I'm beside myself! I never did get any of the Far Far Away double gauze that I wanted, but to tell the truth, I like the new line better! The new line is also double gauze and also Far Far Away but with a different cast of characters. Heather just announced it this morning!

This plum colorway below is lovely.



But I also like this meadow colorway.


But the blue colorway above is my favorite!
I love the sleeping princesses and roses! Oh, and moons!

Do you like this one or the original FFA better?

Amazing Fabric Sale Today!

Great deals on Park Slope and Bijou today in the Twiddletails Store! Here's what I bought.




I got half yards for $2.78 each! Come on!

Some More Blocks

Here are my blogless mom's blocks for Cancer is Sew Done. Click on the second one to see the embroidery in the center. I'm pretty sure that's salvaged embroidery from a commercial piece, as she tells me the white is salvaged butcher's apron from the 40's!

Cancer is Sew Done Blocks

Click on the photo to see what they really look like. The photography is terrible as I have to do these things after my kids are in bed and the lighting is not so great!

These are the blocks for cancerissewdone. Won't you join me in that group?





This one is my favorite! Alexander Henry sprites.

Geeking Out

OMGosh I just found a place online to play Atari games! There are three pages of games for you to remember and play. I literally cried when I played Adventure and Defender again for the first time in 25 years. Like no kidding. I. cried. My sense memory even remembered the way through the maze in Adventure!

Burger Time is not the same online as the hot dogs and salt and pepper shakers are very pixellated and its not the same experience. But the other two are perfect, complete with the right sounds for everything so turn on your speakers!

Anyone else geeking out like me?

I'm In Love!

With these little red and aqua houses!!! I lurrrve them. The next quilt I make for myself will be these little guys. The whole point is that the houses are tiny and surrounded by lots of white, so when you see the whole quilt, it has tiny spots of color, like this.

These blocks were made for a tiny village for gnomes and fairies.

Check out all of them on the Bee Imaginative blog!

The houses and tree above were made by John at Quilt Dad.


And this one was made by Rita at redpepperquilts. Love the flower garden in the front yard!

Check them out!

Scrap Love and a Pay It Forward

I'm sure all of you know the modern quilting blog Handmade by Alissa? She is not only in the top five of my favorite blogs (out of the hundred or so that I browse), she also cast the new season of Project Runway that debuted last week! She always has the best projects and the best fabrics. When she gave away some scraps recently, I asked if I could buy some and she just sent me some for free! Don't be jealous yet, you'll be more jealous in a minute...


When I show you the Flea Market Fancy!


Oh, and did I mention the Lush? A fat quarter of the paint dots!


And a quarter of this awesome retro! Check out the funny dog on Saturn! Wow, Alissa was just wayyyy too generous. For free, people!

I also wanted to tell you, I joined Cancer is Sew Done.

Visit Cancer is Sew Done

Basically, you join for a year and make 1-4 blocks each month in the pattern they choose, then you send them in and they make them into quilts to comfort people with cancer. I chose this group because my 30 year old friend, Sarah, is going through chemo this week for the second time in five years. I got crafty Sarah herself to join the pink lemonade group in there, as well as my mom and my sister. So the effort over here is going strong. Won't you join us in pink lemonade? Check it out, it's easy and they even send you some of the fabric you need for your blocks!

Today I am Loving...

Some new fabrics! Have you seen these yet?

Bye Bye Blackbird by Kokka Japan.

Retro Mod by Michael Miller. I would totally use these two together!

These two are not so new but I still want them! Andalucia and Nicey Jane.

New from Etsuko Furuya

Jessica Levitt from the Timber collection. Love this one.

All 27 Blocks Done!

Here are all the blocks done! Twenty four on the front and three for the pieced back (last photo). What do you think? Click to see any photo larger.


Upper left quadrant closeup


Upper right quadrant closeup


Lower left quadrant closeup


Lower right quadrant closeup


Three blocks for back.


Amber, you can choose up to five blocks that you dislike and give suggestions for colors/styles to replace them. Also, you can switch placement of blocks around if something is bothering you about how they look. Otherwise, this is how I will sew the quilt together!

My Neice and My Mom Playing the Violin

Enjoy!

A Little Known Fact About Me

Here's something only a few people know about me - I enjoy making foods from scratch that don't really need to be made from scratch. It amuses me. And shows me how easy scratch really is. I also like the challenge of doing something i'm terrified of.

It started with frosting, cakes and artisanal breads and worked its way up through bagels, pasta sauce, and now, as of last night, it has arrived at lasagna noodles and creme brulee using an actual vanilla bean! My first vanilla bean - cost $4 by the way, and yes, it does make a difference.

As I made the noodles, I was scared but I channelled all the strength of my Italian foresisters as I cracked the eggs into the well of flour and started rotating them with my fingers to incorporate only the barest amount of flour. My first well broke and water and egg ran all over the table! I had to throw the whole mess away. The second try I made a wider well. As I kneaded the dough for 25 minutes, my two year old Giacinta (Gigi) jumped up to knead too! I knew her great great great grandmother Giacinta was smiling down on her. She had a great time pushing the dough around.

It's funny how sometimes women get really defensive when they hear that I make things from scratch - I don't do it to be "better than you", I do it for a hobby. You all know what I mean, i'm sure you get the same thing sometimes when women hear that you quilt. Like an "I could never do that" vibe. Well you know that they CAN do that, they just never have or they aren't interested in trying. To tell the truth, i'm really not that great at cooking - sometimes the recipes come out, sometimes they don't. In fact, those aren't my lasagna noodles at the top of the page, mine were full of holes and looked terrible. And I don't always cook from scratch, just sometimes. I've got a full time job, two kids and a quilting/fabric addiction to tend to!

This year, 2010 is going to be all about doing things I've filed away in my brain but haven't tried because they scare me. I'm going to face my fears and just DO IT this year. I'm almost 39 for Pete's sake!

Where is this penchant for making things from scratch that don't really need to be made from scratch going now, you may ask? Straight into the gooey, sticky arms of marshmallows. Yeah, you heard me right, marshmallows. Because I want to make this - Hot Chocolate Layer Cake with scratch marshmallows.

Aw, yeah baby. Bring it on.

Super Geeky Atari Quilt Love

Ohmygosh have you seen this amazing Space Invaders Quilt over at CarolinaPatchworks? Wowzers! As a member of the Atari generation, I salute you Emily for your tribute to our shared former passion (using our shared current passion!).



When I saw it I was like, "Of course! Pixels! Pixels just lend themselves to quilting, don't they!?" Duh, why didn't I think of that? I am sooooo going to try to make one someday.

If Space Invaders wasn't your bag, you might like this DonkeyKong quilt instead! Or how about this super amazing Galaga quilt. Great colors in that one. Or, if you're a little younger than me you might like this Legend of Zelda quilt or this Super Mario quilt.

Check out all the video game quilts she's made, yes there's more! I thought her husband's nickname for her was really funny too. She really did lay these quilts down one line at a time, just like a dot matrix printer. When I make mine I'm going to make each alien, etc. its own block. I don't think I want to spend the time with graph paper to figure out whole lines!

Edited to say: Want to make your own Super Mario quilt block? Marie at DIY-namite gives instructions right here!

More Sneaks and a Resolution

Hi again! Happy new year! A few more wonky square sneaks for you of my commission quilt. Which one do you like the best?















I like to be very traditional around Christmas and New Years, so I will make the same resolution I've made every year since highschool. I'm sure you all know the mantra - eat better, exercise more, blah blah blah. Same story every year! Hasn't happened yet (and i'm 38), but ya never know! This could be the year! Hope springs eternal in the human breast, so off I go, into the arms of Jillian Michaels. I'll let you know if i've lost anything on February 1st.