Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I can barely stand it!

Okay, so earlier I was in such a melancholy mood. What cured it, you ask??? Let me just show you -
the beginning
Ta-da! This weekend I received 3 blocks and made a couple more with the extra blocks that Evelyn enclosed with hers. I'm just doing the leaves as I go. It's fun, don't you think??? I know, it's very early and have a lot more blocks to come, but I couldn't stand waiting anymore, I HAD to start! I think I like the boldness of the darker green for the stems, yes? And, I've decided that I am not even going to try and line anything up. That's pretty big for me. I'm just going to make sure each line is the same width and sew that and then sew them all together. I'd also like to add a few butterfly squares a la this.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

owlies and relish

Many, many moons ago Jan asked me to make her some owl pillows. Her MIL had gotten a catalog with this picture in it.
owl pillow inspiration
And so that's what she wanted. I put it on my to-do list. Last weekend I went out to the quilt store and looked all over for the perfect fabric for the tummies of the owls. Originally I thought I wanted some owl fabric a la Alexander Henry spotted owl. But, they only had a canvas with brown backround and it just didn't feel right. In the very back of the store there was a section with hunting/fishing fabrics. Which is pretty much perfect because Jan's husband is a hunter/fisherman and that's how their house is decorated. As are most of the men in this town :) this is what I came up with:
smaller owl pillow
The picture looks like it is a stuffed owl that is the pillow, and I really wanted something easy to wash so I fashioned a pillow case instead of a stuffie. I'm happy with the way they turned out. The only iffy part for washing is probably going to be the felt I used for the eyes.
owlie pillowsAren't they funny???

So this morning I canned up some zucchini relish. This is the first time I used my food processor to cut up the veggies, and I noticed that it added a lot of air bubbles to the chopped veggies. I also added the veggies too early in the recipe and boiled then with the vinegar/sugar mixture and so therefore I think this created a ton of bubbles. Which I thought I had gotten out, but no. I took the jars out of the boiling water bath and there were a TON of air bubbles! a TON. So, I know that they won't keep on the shelf this way, so do I break the seals and start over??? How do I get those teeny bubbles out???? I made the same recipe last year, but I had hand chopped the veg which I think equals less air bubbles.
zucchini relish
In other news, I finished the Percy Jackson series this week. I have to admit that I totally loved it! They are totally younger books, but full of action and a good story line. Yesterday I started a Beverly Lewis book called The Telling, it's the third and final book in a series of hers.

So this month is my month for the vintage sheet quilting bee and I've been receiving the blocks I asked for in the mail, it's so fun! Last night I laid them out on the ground and started making the leaf and stem blocks that will go in the middle of the flowers I asked for. Later today I'll maybe start on the butterflies. I have a feeling I'm going to love this quilt!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Feels like I won something!

But I didn't. I rec'd a really cool package from my Mom, which sometimes is better than winning something! I think I mentioned a little bit ago how we went to the quilting store in Chico when we got back from Florida. Well, we were in there on a Tuesday and that coming Saturday was going to be their annual "yard sale" sale, which I was going to miss since I don't live there. Mom said she'd try to go back and get a few things and hopefully she'd remember what I liked. Here's the thing about my Mom: she doesn't have the best memory! So, I kind of figured that I'd maybe get something I had shown her, but probably not, which is totally fine. Because she has good taste so even though it's a little different from what I would have picked, it's still fun! And, check out the loot! It's stacked on my ironing board so the sunflowers are not part of the package, I was just ironing it after washing. She also put some embroidery patterns in there along with gummy candy - which is long gone by now! I had so much fun going through everything, and have a few ideas of what I want to do!

Okay, so what kind of crafts have I been working on since getting back home??? Well, nothing in my WIP pile, that's for sure! Oh well! So, on the weekend I wake up make a big cup of coffee and mosey out to the craft house to get into something. I usually put like a kleenex down under my mug, and always think "I need a coaster" except the coasters in the house are glass and too small for my mug. Also, I am totally loving making hexagons - and this is what happened! Okay, a bit about binding. The hexie flower was a total pain, I'm sure you can imagine! There's got to be an easier way. And plus I think I made the binding too thin so I really had to stretch it to hand sew on the back and it looks a little wonky. I'm not too concerned though since it's just for me.
Coasters front view
Back side: The pink binding came out very crooked (?) looking. Not sure if the fabric was too thin, or it was the hand stitching or what.
Coasters back view
And, then it's kind of like Pringles - once you pop you just can't stop! So I am making a set.
Coaster front
back view:
Coaster back On these I decided to machine stitch the bindings which I think came out better. The purple one I used transparent thread, which I have to say - not a fan! It's so tangly and breaks and grrrrr. I'm sure I probably had my tension too tight or something technical, yadda yadda yadda.
Coaster front
back view:
Coaster backCan I please just tell you that this fabric is one of my new favorites right now! Love. it. It's Alexander Henry all around the world. So fun.
What is everyone else up to???

Thursday, September 2, 2010

fabric fun

Okay, so while the craft house is an absolute disaster zone, apparently I decided to take some fabric pics. So, please excuse the clutter :)
So, you know how sometimes you get your hopes all up about something and then you're disappointed and maybe you voice that disappointment to someone else and then voila! Something even better ends up happening??? So before we went to Florida I was like, the one thing I know I can talk my Mom and Grandma into doing together is go to a quilt store! And then, how amazing will the fabric be since it's Florida and a bigger city and different stuff and blah, blah, blah. Imagine my surprise and resulting disappointment when I casually brought my idea up and no one jumped at it! Hmmmm. So, I looked in the phone book and the stores were way far away from Grandma's house and she was not up to scouting them out. So I dropped it. Once my Mom and I got back to Chico I said how I was kind of bummed we didn't make it to a quilt shop. And she was like- we should go to Honey Run Quilts! Boy, am I glad she did. I literally could have spent like hundreds of $$$ there!!!!! I restrained myself but still came away with some fabulous loot, check it out!
Dude, check this out! Ever since my Mom has figured out what type of sheets I'm looking for, she has been picking them up for me, and she had a big bag waiting for me at her house! So, the daisy pink/orange print is my favorite sheet at the moment and there is at least a queen flat here! I'm going to save it I think to use as a backing. Also, very happy about the purple b/c that is a really hard color to find!


Before we went to FL I had made this dress for my doll Vanessa. It's from that Simplicity pattern that I found at Joann's. I love the way it turned out! I wish that I could have a dress like that and have it look super cute on me :) I know, I know - I'm a dork!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

super secret idea brewing

So excited right now! So, we have a really cool new employee at the office and he (yes, we have a dude employee and it's sweeet!) had the best EVER idea for a wreath. The sad part is that he totally was a little bit joking and didn't expect me to probably take him seriously, but guess what??? I did. As did Karlie. We immediately started brainstorming and I can't wait to make it! So, I don't want to jinx anything in case it turns out hideous.....so if it turns out cute then I'll post pics.
In other news, I tried out a square last night for my month for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee and, um, not sure yet. Which frankly is not good because, guess what? In case no one else noticed it's already flippin September! Yikes. And it's already my month which is a little nerve-wracking.