Blah Blah Blog

I haven't been in a very bloggy mood lately. What I have been is lazy and running waaaay behind. I'd hoped to have had about 20 aprons ready to take to an art/craft fair/flea mkt. at the local Mule Day celebration on May 1st. Right now I have 10 made. I'm so slow at sewing and I get distracted VERY easily. Honestly, if I get 20 done, it'll be a miracle. Still, the booth only cost me 25 bucks, so I figure if I sell a couple of aprons I'll have my money back and it should be a fun day. It's all good.

Despite it's awesome name (Material Girls) the sewing group we started at school didn't really pan out like I had hoped. We all wanted to come home at the end of the day instead of staying at school for sewing time! All is not lost, however, because I've joined a new local sewing group. This new group is going to be awesome. The gals are all young and energetic with lots of good ideas that they freely share. I'm excited!

So that's it. My house is a complete pit and I need to look past and ignore the dirt and sew sew sew aprons for Mule Day. "Sew", I'm out for a while.

One Week=Two Finished Projects!

So we had our second baby shower in about a month at school this week. I don't know what was in the water there nine months ago, but I'm relieved I didn't drink it.

After making the quilt for Baby Zoe, I knew I would indeed have to make a second for Baby Levi(we think that's going to be the name, anyway). I had originally thought I'd use this quilt, but decided at the last minute it wasn't going to work. So it's folded and in the sewing closet...some day I'll finish it for the Quilt Club's charity project. Really, I will.

I'd seen quite a few zig zag quilts online and decided I wanted to try one. So, without a pattern I set out making half square triangles. I used the equivalent of 7 fat quarters worth of fabrics. It ended up being adorable, but too small, so I improvised an added a border. Here's the result:I think it turned out quite nicely. And those appliques? Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but one of them is hiding a seam that split when I washed the quilt!

Second finished project this week was these two Ticker Tape blocks for Rachel in the Fresh Comfort II Sewing Bee. Now, I'd never heard of a ticker tape quilt until I got the package of fabrics in the mail, but I'll tell you...I am in LOVE with them. Here are some finished examples. I need to make one. Seriously.

Dear Broccoli, I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said about you.

I admit it, I am a broccoli hater. Truth be told, there aren't many vegetables that I do like. Corn, potatoes and the occasional raw carrot, that about does it.

However, a couple Christmases ago, while at my grandmother's house, I tried a tiny helping of her broccoli salad. This was following my trip to Europe where I tried several weird foods. I didn't die from any of that stuff, so I figured a little broccoli at my grandma's house wouldn't kill me either.

To my surprise, I actually liked her broccoli salad, which also included broccoli's ugly cousin, cauliflower.

So lately I've decided that I have GOT to start eating healthier. I'm about 50 pounds heaver than I need to be and as much as it irks me to say, at 41, I'm not getting any younger. Yeah, yeah, I know you think a 41 year old shouldn't be such a wiener about eating her veggies. But I am.

Anyhow, I am trying to cut way back on the amount of meat and dairy that I eat on a weekly basis. I'm not going full on vegan mind you, just cutting back. However, in order for me to eat healthy, I have to learn to tolerate--if not like--veggies. I remembered trying this salad and asking my grandma for the recipe. I figured if I could get used to eating broccoli & cauliflower prepared like this, that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad in the next dish.

And tonight, I actually enjoyed eating a bowl full of broccoli and cauliflower! Alright, so the fact that the dressing includes mayo(fat free, thankyouverymuch) and sugar helps. Baby steps, people, baby steps!

Here's the recipe!

SUNNY VEGETABLE SALAD

What you need:

• 5 cups broccoli florets
• 5 cups cauliflowerets
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup sunflower kernels

What you do:

1. In a large salad bowl, toss broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Pour over salad; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Sprinkle with the bacon and sunflower seeds when ready to serve.

Robot on the Loose

In addition to trying my hand at straight line machine quilting, I really want to learn to do free motion quilting.

Here's a little block that I used to practice on. Would this be considered a mini-quilt? Or a practice block? Whatever you call it, I call it Robot on the Loose. The cat appears to appreciate it.

Baby Pinwheel Quilt...FINISHED!

I thought I'd go nuts. I thought I'd toss my sewing machine out the window...but I finished it!

This is the quilt that I finished for a friend& co-worker's baby last weekend. I used a pattern from the Moda Bake Shop and machine quilted it myself. It's far from perfect, but my friend seemed to truly like it and it did receive a few "oohs" and "aaaahs" at the baby shower. I have to say, I am proud of how it turned out and I'm proud of myself for not giving up!

This was not actually my first attempt at machine quilting. Back in 2007, I made small lap quilts for my sister and my brother. Those, however, were complete straight lines sewn vertically...so other than trying to keep my stitching straight, they didn't give me too much grief. Photos in this post.

For this quilt, I also used straight lines, so I really didn't think it would be all that difficult. The hardest part was having to shove so much fabric through my sewing machine on the diagonal. This is a baby sized quilt, I can't imagine how people work with anything bigger!

A few of my random thoughts as I was working on this quilt....randomly presented.

• Slow Down!
• "Straight", for me, is a relative term.
• I should have taken the bindings class I took two days after sewing the binding on this, before I sewed the binding on this.
• Longer stitches look better than teensy ones.
• I ♥ the walking foot.
  
• How in the blankety-blank am I supposed to stop and start a line of stitching and keep from getting knots on the back OR the thread from pulling out?
  
• I prefer sewing to seam ripping...besides me, who'll care if my points are perfect anyway?
• Aaaargh!
  
• Why is it that I am nearly finished before I finally start to figure things out?
• I hate basting.
  
• I will NEVER attempt this again. Ever.
  
• Hey, I CAN do this!
• The quilt police aren't really going to come after me. After all, the fashion police have yet to find me and I've been committing crimes against fashion for years!
• That wasn't sooo bad, maybe I'll give it another go!
  

Because Ziploc baggies just won't do!

I've developed a bit of an addiction to Facebook, but today I refused to log in. I've not only managed to go grocery shopping, cook real food, walk the dog, clear out the laundry room from Hell and actually do all the laundry, but I also completed two sewing projects! All in ONE DAY!

For my first project I used the instructions from the book One Yard Wonders to make a cute set of cafe curtains for the aforementioned evil laundry room from Hell. I goofed a bit on the upper casing and made it a tad small, but I'm leaving it for now.They were very quick and easy to make. The fabric had been hanging out in my sewing room closet, just waiting for the perfect project..and this was it! I love that it only took a yard, which means I have an extra yard to make the laundry bag from the same book!

For my second project, I made a bag for Mya's "doggy day care" supplies. I saw you roll your eyes & smirk at the mention of "doggy day care"! It's really just a day kennel...we hate leaving her alone in her kennel while we are at work. Being out of her kennel is not an option due to the four cats and the fact that the dog is completely wild and eats anything not nailed down. So, we decided to try the day kennel thing a couple days a week.

Rather than continuing to carry her toys and food in a handful of Ziploc baggies, I decided to make a reusable bag. I didn't use a pattern for this, just sort of figured it out as I went along. Just a simple tote using three fat quarters. I decided to add a thin layer of plastic over the lining; I figured it'd be easy to wipe clean.

The things we do for this dog!! But seriously, can you blame us? And there you have it, a fun filled, super-productive day! I may just have to give up Facebook for good! Yeah, like I have that kind of discipline.

Snowy Sewing Projects

We've had a lot of snow days this winter. As a member of the school teaching staff, I can tell you that the adults in the building get just as excited as the kids do! At least for the first few snow days. Now, we're to the point that it's cutting into our Summer just a bit too much and we are ready for the snow to stop!

Secretly, though, I hate getting out in cold weather and I love a good snow day. And I love spending snow days gettin' my craft on! I have spent these last few rounds of snow days sewing. I've made two quilt tops and two bags. However, today(yes, it's ANOTHER snow day today) my project du jour is laundry. But if the laundry gets done early enough, I'm firing up the ole Kenmore.

But before I tackle that hellish nightmare that is my laundry room, I thought I'd share the two bags that I made on previous snow days.
I made this purse using fabrics from JoAnn Fabrics. I'm pretty please with the outcome, but I'll tell ya...it took HOURS! Lots of seam ripping and fussy sewing with this one. I plan to give it another go, but there are some things that I intend to change around in the pattern to make it easier for me to sew and there are a few cosmetic things that I might fiddle with. But I do like it and it's gotten me many compliments!

And during the snow days we had last week, I made this purse. I started out thinking I would use one of the patterns from The New Handmade, but ended up doing my own thing. I used a charm pack of the gorgeous Nicey Jane fabrics from Heather Bailey for the outside of the purse. Something about these fabrics say "vintage sheets" to me and since I couldn't find anything in my stash that I like for a lining, I used a vintage sheet to line the bag. It's not perfect, but I LOVE it, but I'm going to save it to carry this Spring and Summer.

Finished!

Well, sorta. The top is finished, anyway!

I fretted over prairie points for nothing! They were easy and FUN! I'm really happy with this quilt top....even though the color arrangement of the pinwheels isn't exactly what I wanted. It looks like the person who made it sorta knew what she was doing!

As worried as I was about prairie points multiplied times 10 = how freaked out I am about quilting it myself. I've only quilted a few things, all straight vertical lines. So yeah, I'm nervous. If any quilters happen to stop by, perhaps you could give me some suggestions.

I'm also a tad worried that the quilt in this post is going to pale in comparison to the pinwheel quilt. The problem is that both baby showers will occur at the same time, which I think stinks. If they weren't at the same time, I wouldn't think anything about it, but side by side...huge difference. Now I'm thinking I should make another quilt and donate that one.

Pinwheel Progress-N- Prairie Point Pondering

How's that for alliteration?

So, the baby pinwheel quilt is coming along. I didn't have enough of the charms to get the exact color layout that I wanted and still have enough for prairie points. Still, I'm OK with how it's looking so far.

Now, on to cut and add the gazillion little prairie point squares turned triangles. Yikes! I'll report back next year, when they're finished.

Decision Made!

Finally decided on a quilt pattern for the baby quilt from my previous post. I'll be doing the Baby Pinwheel. Spent last night watching the LOST recap pinning squares together for the 1/2 square triangles. I had to stop to focus FULL attention on the the new episode, though!

I can't wait to get started! This will be my first attempt at a pinwheel quilt and first attempt at prairie points! Wish me luck!

Quilt, Baby!

Two of the gals I work with are having babies in the near future. It's OK, they don't read my blog...I doubt they even know I have a blog. So we're safe. I've decided to make baby quilts for them both. I finished the top of one, it's in the previous post. For that one, I just sort of made things up as I went along and kept it very simple. But I want to branch out a bit on this next one.

My original plan was to make the Stacked Coins baby quilt at the Moda Bakeshop. It's fairly straightforward and very cute, but I'm not certain it's what I want to do. I've been perusing for baby quilt tutorials and thought I'd share with you, dear (4) readers, my favorites.

For those of us who are beginners, here is a simple Charm Pack baby quilt at Diary of a Quilter.

For the not so beginner, the Polka Dot baby quilt at and other silly things is absolutely swoon-worthy! I found another baby circle quilt at Cluck Cluck Sew.

Piece N Quilt's Tic Tac Baby Quilt is soooo fun! I love the unexpected color choice! She also has a tutorial for a Magic Baby Quilt that incorporates ric-rac!

I am 100% in love with the Sparks Baby Quilt at Handmade by Alissa!

Another wonky(ish)block quilt(in one of my favorite color combos) is elia's quilt, which appears to be a quick and easy one, is over at at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Here's a sweet Baby Four Patch pattern. The Fat Quarter Shop has several more quilt patterns(non-baby) free for the taking.

I've never been that interested in making a rag quilt, but this baby version makes me want to give it a whirl!

I even found a tute for a Felted Sweater baby quilt for those of you who are so inclined.

Moda Bakeshop's Baby Pinwheel may just be the one I end up making. I looove pinwheels and I've never tried prairie points, so it's definitely at the top of my list. ...and I still have plenty charms & white fabric left over from that previous baby quilt top to make this one.

Got a link to a sweet baby quilt tute or (freebie) pattern...would love for you to share those here!

Snow Day-Sew Day!

view from the kitchen window

So we've been officially snowed in today...the snow yesterday afternoon and by this morning we had around five inches of the white stuff. Mark ventured out in it this afternoon, but not me! I am what you call a big fat snow chicken...I HATE driving/riding when there's slick stuff on the ground.

But I do enjoy looking out the window during and after a good snowstorm...so pretty. SO I hauled my Kenmore to the kitchen table and positioned it so that I could see out the window AND have a clear shot to the tv set as well! Movies and sewing on a snowy day...I love it!

perfect place for snow gazing...or movie watching

This baby quilt top was my project for the day. I actually started cutting on it a while ago, but finally sat down to put it together today. Since I didn't really follow a pattern, I'm actually surprised it turned out as well as it did! The small blocks areDeb Strain Love U(Moda) charm squares that I found on ebay. I still have to find some backing fabric and attempt to machine quilt it(scary), but I am hoping the finished product will be gift-worthy!

And the dog...she LOVES the snow and can't get enough of it! She rings her bell to go outside and then just wants to eat snow and hop around. Silly dog!

Cheap Hot Mama Apron Swap

So earlier this week I received an absolutely adorable apron in the mail from Stephanie in the Hot Mama Apron Swap.

The overall theme was Cheap Hot Mamas. Meaning, you couldn't spend ANY money on the swap package. Everything had to be from your stash! Even the little extras couldn't be purchased. I loved this idea and had to jump in, even though I figured it would be a challenge. It had been while since I'd joined a swap.

My partner and I both chose to receive a "Wild And Crazy" apron. Here's the one I received. LOVE it! Thanks again, Stephanie!

And this is the one that I made for my partner. I must say I had an absolute ball coming up with this idea. I wanted to do something original w/o a pattern. I found some cheetah print fabric, came across the photo of the robot apron I made for an applique challenge, and got the idea for this apron. Hopefully, my partner will get a kick out of it!

A Quilty Dilemma

I still don't really consider myself a quilter, but I figure if I keep working at it, I'll eventually feel like I've earned that title. Right now, I'm still learning to do a decent job of piecing.

I want to learn more about the art of quilting and I want to improve at it, so I read quilting magazines and books. I search out and spend time looking over quilting blogs and I google quilt patterns and such endlessly. In fact, if I spent the time making quilts that I do reading about making quilts, I'd have a nice size stack of 'em.

Any-hoo, I recently came across a Hawaiian themed quilt in a magazine and decided immediately that I HAD to make a Hawaiian quilt for myself, though not necessarily the one featured in the magazine. Even though I'm not technically a quilter, I think I can wing a pattern? This could turn ugly.

Being possessed by the Hawaiian Quilt Demon and her friend the Fabric Buying Demon, I went shopping online and ended up with several fabrics(all featuring hula girls) that I thought would work.

Now that the fabrics have arrived, I'm kinda stuck. But here's what I'm thinking so far:

• lap size
  
• fussy cut the hula girl fabrics into squares
  
• do a white border(sashing?) around the hula squares
• border the whole thing with the pink/white hibiscus print
• the solid pink hibiscus print is for the back of the quilt
• I haven't even thought about binding yet

I'd like for it to have this kind of look...but with a bit wider border.

The delimma is: I love all of these fabrics but I feel like I've missed something. And I think it's a color thing. Does it need more colors? Which ones? I have some ideas but want to see what you think on the color issue. What about mixing in a non-hula girl (but still Hawaiian) print? Should I just leave it as is and see what happens?

First Sewing Project of 2010

SO my sister and her husband were over for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day(we had a great time with them). We were happily lunching on our sloppy barbecue beef sandwiches and fries when I realized I had run out of napkins and paper towels. Not that we were above eating without napkins, mind you. But barbecue is notoriously messy and a napkin would have been nice.

Sitting there wiping my mouth on my sleeve(yep, I'm that sophisticated) I thought "Hmmm...all that fabric in the back closet...perhaps I could put some to good use and make a few napkins"

After digging through my fat quarter basket, I decided on some fruit and veggie fabrics that had been in that basket for at least two years. They were too cheap to pass up at the time I bought them, but when I got them home I remember thinking "What in the world am I going to do with broccoli fabric?" I'm glad to have finally found a use for them! And of course you realize this is just the beginning of my napkin collection! I will be requiring more of these fruit/veggie fabrics...Etsy, here I come!

Block Head!

This may be the most quilt block heavy post I've ever blogged...just call me Charlie Brown!

But, I do believe my sewing palate is officially cleansed and I am ready to move on to other projects! Before I do, here's just a few more of those wonky-scrappy blocks.
And what to do when you accidentally cut a wonky-scrappy too short? Make a coaster for your sewing table, of course!
And speaking of quilt blocks...here is the one I got from Debbie in the Quilt Block Swap for December. My requests were any style of block done turquoise and/or aqua and red with some white thrown in. It's a cool pattern which looks too complicated for this block head to attempt! But some day...Debbie requested pink and brown for her block. It's showing black on my end, but I promise the dark fabrics are brown. Note the lack of triangles and matching points in the block I created. I hope she will like it! It's called crossing paths(or something like that) and is one of the patterns we used during the Block of the Month group I participated in last year through my local quilt shop.Yep. That's a lot of blocks. Now...for some apron talk!

I'm in Val's Cheap Hot Mama Apron Swap and it's gonna be a fun one! Cheap, because swappers are not allowed to purchase fabrics for their partner's apron. We MUST use fabric from our stash and we don't spend a dime on the little extras we send along. I love it!! We were given a couple of themes to choose from and my partner requested the theme "Old Man Winter". Luckily I have a couple different fabrics that fit that theme! My dilemma? Which to choose? I'm leaning toward the first set of fabrics pictured...only because the only matching fabric I had for the second was a solid and I never know what to do w/solids! What do y'all think?

Quiltspiration Stikes Again!

I realize two posts in one day is a bit obsessive compulsive of me, but I can't help myself. I'm so excited to have joined in on the Fresh Comfort Two Quilting Bee! My month is June, so I have a while to think about it, but basically, I'll get to pick out a quilt block pattern, mail it & the fabric to my twelve quilty cohorts, and they'll return the finished blocks to me, which I will then make into a quilt! Yay! During the rest of the year I'll be making blocks for them. I'm so excited to get started on it!

I've been searching Flickr looking for some ideas for my quilt. Other than the nine patch and the pinwheels, most of these wouldn't work in the Quilting Bee format...but aren't they fantastic!

1. Tree if Life , 2. ANNIE'S MODERN BLOCKS - Custom quilt by DLQ , 3. Hazel & quilt, 4. Nine-Patch Quilt-Along, 5. Vintage log cabin quilt by my mum, 6. Zak the Robot Quilt, 7. Scotties, 8. Snippets Quilt, 9. Zig Zag Quilt - 2008

I wonder if my partner bees would be willing to applique scotties to a block? I've always wanted a scotty quilt and the one pictured is adorable!

I've been making purses and aprons(and not one photo!) over the Holidays and I have a gazillion projects I want to start. But I feel the need for a palate cleansing of sorts before I start on something new. Wonky-Scrappy blocks are perfect for that. I've been working on them on and off whenever the mood hits, and the mood hit again last night! Here are a few of the first ones I made and here are my favorites from last night. They require very little thought(or skill) but turn out adorable. And some day, I'll have enough for a quilt! The original tutorial that I found for the Wonky Scrappy I Spy blocks is available here.

I think I'll get busy on more!

Let's do Lunch...Bag.

A while back, I decided to make a new lunch bag. It turned out to be big enough to hold a small apple and perhaps a very thin slice of cheese. It's blogged here.

On Wednesday, my sister came up and we had a girls sewing day. Besides having a great time hanging out with my sis, I managed to make another bag using the leftover fabrics from that teeny tiny Friendship Bag. This one is actually big enough for a sandwich and chips and I had plenty of fabric left to make a cute little matching napkin. I enjoyed this one because it gave me a little quilting practice to boot! I even tried some free motion quilting(don't look at it, it's weird) on the bottom portion.I'm not finished with lunch bags yet, though. I definitely want to make one using these fabrics.My sister used this FQ bundle to make hers and it was adorable. Besides, I still haven't perfected this lunch bag thing...the size is never quite right...and the lining??? HOW do you keep from having floppy linings? Stiff interfacing?Because Jackie and I sew in the kitchen when she comes over, I managed to get my sewing corner organized before I brought the machine back in. I love when it doesn't look like the fabric and craft store threw up! And I said I organized the corner...I never said I swept the floor!
That's it for now...ok, where did I leave that Swiffer?

Some Christmas Sewing.

I should have several things to show you that I whipped up for Christmas gifts, but I don't. What I do have is this purse.
I actually made two of these this week. They have both been gifted...the recipients, my sister in law and one of my best friends, seemed to really like them! I am a bit disappointed in my handmade gift-giving this year. I just ran out of ideas. Although, I did make caramels for my girlfriends @ work, so I guess that counts as handmade. Next year I'll do better!

I have so much to do before Christmas, yet somehow, I don't want to do any of it. Anyone else feeling that way?

Can I say this here?

As you may have noticed, there's a big brouhaha about greetings this year. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas are fighting a battle to the death. Actually, I think this whole thing got started because of Target or some other retailer last year(didn't it?).

For the last two years, I've searched ebay in order to find and then mail out vintage Christmas cards. I love them...the sentiment, the illustrations and the graphics of the vintage cards are appealing to me. I love sending them and happily did so.

So this morning I noticed another of my friends/family joined an anti Happy Holidays group on FaceBook and it got me to thinking about those vintage Christmas cards. I was a bit nervous when I remembered some of the cards I mailed said Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings and not Merry Christmas(but some did). When I was addressing them, I wasn't thinking about anything other than how cool the cards were and how fun it would be for me to open a Christmas card from 50 years ago.

Anyhow, I got a little worried that I might unintentionally offend some of my friends/family with those cards.

OK, I worry about things too much...often things that don't amount to a heck of a lot. I won't argue with that, it's just me.

Anyhow....I remembered, Jesus doesn't love me any less(nor I Him) when I wish you Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings than He does when I say Merry Christmas.

Perhaps, instead of getting tangled up in words, we Christians should concentrate on thanking God for the gift of love and salvation that He gave to us that day in Bethlehem.

And if our Christmas card offends you, I am truly, truly sorry.