Munki Munki Poolside

Anyone on your Christmas list want a big chunk of discontinued Heather Ross? My sister is selling a 24X38 piece of Poolside on her etsy store. It's very rare these days, especially in this big of a piece. Check it out here!

Four Patch Baby Quilt Finish

I had so much time over the Thanksgiving break that I whipped up this simple little baby quilt at Mr. Babyquilts' request for a customer/friend of his. Here in slower than molasses all-by-hand-land, you don't often hear the words "whipped up", but I really did! It only took me about four days to finish it.



I was extra proud that I made it all from stash, except the silky binding. I had just purchased those cute dogs and thought they'd be perfect for a baby boy. Yes, those are the same gray Japanese elephants I used for the baby pants I made last month. I even used some of my precious Heather Ross goldfish bags, just to be nice :) You'll also notice Heather Bailey, Joel Dewberry, Jay McCarroll and of course, Amy Butler making appearances.



The back is Amy Butler Love dots that I had in stash for just such an occasion. I embroidered the year the baby will be born, since I don't know his name yet. Click photo to see embroidery better.

Enjoy!

I Made Marshmallows for a Hot Cocoa Cake!

And it was easy! A while ago I threatened to make a hot cocoa layer cake with marshmallows, all from scratch, and today I did it! I'm taking it to a friend's birthday tonight.

Yes, it took me all day and yes, every single surface in my kitchen is covered with powdered sugar (literally every surface) and yes, I had to go to the store three times and yes, I now have a sink full of dishes, but I did it!



The marshmallows were reaaalllly sticky but tasted good! They tasted exactly like marshmallow fluff from a jar. Uh....not that I know what that tastes like ;)

You have to wet the knife to cut them apart and then throw them in the powdered sugar bowl to coat their sticky edges, but then you get perfect little blocks!



I like making things from scratch that really don't need to be made from scratch. I think it goes with my "all-by-hand" quilting mentality. But it sure is labor intensive. These are the best photos I could get of the cake, since it took all day, the lighting was not so good!

The cake ended up with three layers even though the recipe only makes two layers, because while I was at the store getting a candy thermometer for the marshmallows, my two year old made an end run around dad to dig out a big hunk of cooling cake for herself :( She ruined one of the two layers I had, so when I got home I had to make another whole cake recipe to get two more layers. On the upside, my family got to eat the ruined layer and loved it! :)



Look at those adorable little cubes! Click to enlarge. Once they're rolled in the powdered sugar they are just the softest, dearest little things, like baby bunnies.

Enjoy!

Saturday Stash

Got these fabrics yesterday for a requested pink and black quilt. They wanted bright batiks, but I happen to know they love skulls too, so they will be very surprised and happy when they see the finished quilt! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw the skull fabric in the right colors. It's going to be squares and frames, probably queen to king sized. Why do I keep committing to huge quilts when I'm an all-by-hander??? Glutton for punishment I guess! I am also quilting the gnome homes quilt for a Christmas gift, so I'll have that to show soon.

Toddler Dress and Newborn Pants

I made a little 3 year old dress for Gigi using some gorgeous purple/blue Amy Butler Love! Haven't gotten a photo of her in it yet. I used this free tutorial again from Oliver + S. That's the same tute I used for this pink dress and this blue dress and this orange/brown one. I think I'm a little afraid to try a new pattern! It's not as easy making clothes without a sewing machine.



I also made these little newborn pants with cuffs for our new grandson Kyler. I used this free tutorial from Made by Rae.

Lookin' good, baby.



I really enjoyed making them from Japanese elephant fabric and putting on the little cuffs - no big deal, just like binding a quilt.

Enjoy!

Cabin in the Snow Mini Quilt

I've always kind of wanted to make a mini quilt and so today I did! I made this Cabin in the Snow as a mug rug for a dear friend of mine. It measures 6" by 5". It's a lot cuter in person, it has more depth to the colors and you can see the little swirls in the white on white snow.



I didn't use a pattern or draw one out, I just started making tiny wonky stars by cutting 1" squares and following Sillyboodilly's great tutorial to piece them. Then I just estimated the size of everything else. The door is yellow to show that someone has a light on for you and is waiting by the fire.



On the back I used one of my oldest and most favorite fabrics. It reminds me of the bare branches in the snow of my childhood home, Milwaukee. The tiny 1/4" binding was difficult for me to sew on, witness the terrible corner on the bottom left in the photo!

I am missing fall in my homeland and wish I were soon in a cabin in the snow "up north", which in Milwaukee-speak means "anywhere in Wisconsin that is not Milwaukee".

Enjoy!

Gnome Homes Top Finished!

Hello all! Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. I went through a non-crafty period, but I'm back in the saddle now! I finally finished the gnome home top for my wonderful MIL for Xmas. I fell in love with these gnome homes last year and decided to make my own copy of some of the blocks I saw on the Bee Imaginative Blog, like these and these.


Click any photo to see the detail!


Here are a few closeups for ya. Ooops, I cut off the tree top! Oh well, still like it.


This poor gnome can't even live in his own main floor - it's a jungle down there.


Here's what my stash looks like now in my Ikea Bergsbo cabinet. The five piles on the very top are the only remnants of the quilt store fabric I used to buy before I discovered designer fabric! I have been slowly getting rid of it, and slowly increasing my stash of Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Tina Givens, etc. etc. After the great scrap bucket giveaway from two posts ago, I am down to the three buckets you see here.


How many designers can you identify from this closeup? Click to see bigger.


Here's why I haven't been posting much, too busy enjoying the gorgeous Texas "fall" weather with Mr. Babyquilts and kiddos at McKinney Falls State Park. Gigi says I'm 2 and too tired to walk anymore!

Cheers everyone, hope to post again soon.
Wendy