Pressing On
Well, I packed up my craft books. So that's that much less inspiration for me. Occasionally I will sit and just flip through my quilting books or magazines and be reminded of all the projects I want to some day tackle. But I'll hopefully only be here in sunny, smoggy California for another week or two. I should be able to handle it without starting something new. I have plenty of other things to work on.

The hand quilting of my mini log cabin is coming along nicely. It definitely takes a bit of time, but I already have a little more than a third of it done. I feel like my stitches are mostly nice and even, and I actually like stitches that are more medium sized anyway. Dare I say, I've been enjoying the hand quilting....? But I still want to be done NOW!

I also made myself finish up my June Doll Quilt Challenge. To be honest I was a little disappointed with how the top turned out. I love the couple fabrics I chose, but I feel like my eyes don't rest on it, like the patchwork is too crazy. And this is after I spent literally hours trying to decide on the colors and layout! Then I couldn't decide on quilting. But whatever! It needs to just be done. So I machine quilted a grid both straight and diagonal, and I feel like it's been redeemed a little. I wasn't very careful with that either, and was done in about 30 minutes. It does match my Wee Wonderful's Big Footed Bunny though, so maybe I'll just display them together. I should finish up hand sewing the binding tomorrow and will do pictures, light permitting.

So my baby girl will be a year old on Monday! I'm trying to figure out what to do for her one year picture. Oddly enough, after what I've said about the June Challenge quilt, I was thinking it would be cute to set up a doll quilt with a little tea set and her favorite dolly. The child was playing with a plastic bowl the other day for like an hour! She was just carrying it around, playing peak-a-boo with it, talking to it, etc. So that gave me the idea that she might be ready for a little plastic tea set as a birthday present, too. Cosette picturefest to come, too.

Done!
I finished binding my quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap this morning, and it's in the wash being quiltified right now! I can't wait to see how it looks in all it's wrinkly goodness.

Last night as I was packing a couple boxes, as a break from the quilt binding, I decided that I would not start piecing any more little quilts for now. I've plenty to finish quilting and binding. And I need to finish them! What fun is it to have quilt tops folded up in plastic bins for no one to see? Besides, there's not a very big sense of accomplishment in that either.

This morning, while Connor is off at VBS with Grandma, I tried yet another zucchini bread recipe. It's good, but I'm still looking for that ONE zucchini bread recipe. One of my husband's former students, who graduated a couple years ago, made what I remember to be the best stuff. But I felt weird emailing her parents (who were the booster presidents) and asking for it. Besides, I figured even if they meant well, it would end up being an unanswered request. So I have about 4 or 5 ok to good recipes under my belt. Anyone want to share their zucchini bread recipe?

Edited to add
I was so eager to get my quilt washed that I completely forgot about the label. THEN I'll be done. Here's the final sneak peak of the back. I couldn't decide what to do with the back other that use up the rest of those strips, so I went with white over all. I think it's a good compliment with all the different fabrics and how busy the front is.

It's Tops with Me
Last night I feel like I got a lot done, but maybe because I'm at the tail end of so many projects. Looking around, I'm racking up a pile of doll quilt tops that I need to get quilted though. I just really like the piecing phase. I have 4 tops waiting for quilting, one in process, and I'll finish the 6th, my doll quilt for the swap, and start quilting it tonight.


I went to town on this baby last night. It just had a life of it's own once it starting coming together. It was going to be bigger originally (me and my over planning), but I felt like this was a perfect size for the tiny strips and called it a night with much satisfaction. It measures 13 1/2" square, and each strip is only 1/2" wide. I was thinking the colors were a little drab, but I love how it turned out and the old rustic look of it. I might even give it a quick tea bath after I'm done quilting it, too. I'm going to give hand quilting a try with this because I don't want to ruin the look of it with "modern" automated machine quilting! I'm feeling a bit more confident with my hand stitching after doing that appliquéing.

New Books
I've had my mother-in-law's minivan for the last few days as they have been in Big Bear. That means I've actually been able to run a lot of errands with the kids, and got to hit the sale at JoAnn's. First of all, going out with two kids in car seats is a chore. Expect to add 15 minutes to your trip if you have to go to a couple different places. I think even if I had a car all the time, I'd still probably avoid taking them out more than necessary. But I digress.

JoAnn's. My local store is in the middle of a remodel and it's looking good! It's starting to resemble the Superstore (less the size...) that is about 30 minutes south of me. But, man, I hope they are going to do something about the jacked up tile floor. Anyway, books were all 40% off! So I picked up these two, saving about $9 off the Amazon prices.



I'm not sure what drew me to the Sunbonnet Sue book. I've never been crazy about her, but I've liked the non-traditional variations of her. Maybe it was this, this, or just my recent experience with appliqué. Oh, how I love appliqué. The Little Quilts book looks like it has a lot of cool tips and tricks for doll quilts, and instructions on tea dying, which I've wanted to try for a while now. The odd thing to me is in the intro they make a distinction between little and mini quilts... I still don't get it. Doll, little, mini - it's all the same to me.

I also finally got my shipping confirmation email from Amazon about Amy's new book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing. I ordered it a week before the release, so I'm been wondering where it is!

My 3 year old continues to amaze me also with the info he picks up. Someone told him he was 3 years old (I certainly don't remember to teach him these things!), and so he announces it to everyone now. How are you? I'm three! No, how ARE you? But someone stumped him today when they asked him how old his sister was. I told him she was one (close enough), and in the next store he was announcing to the ladies both his and Cosette's ages. Then we went to the grocery store, and as we drove into the parking lot he exclaimed, "Ralph's!" Huh? I usually refer to the 2 or 3 grocery stores I go to as just "the store." I have no idea how he knew it was Ralph's.

This Week's WIPs
I was pleased to find that my log cabin blocks came together quickly once I actually sat down to finish them. I finished up the other 11 needed for my doll quilt swap quilt last night, and sewed much of the quilt together. Just 1 1/2 appliqué blocks to go. It looks like it'll be 23" square with no borders, which is an inch from the cut off for size for the swap. I wasn't sure of the finished size since it was represented in the magazine as a color and size option of a larger quilt. But oh, how I'm loving this quilt! I almost want to keep it for myself. I was asked just days before, "What are you going to do if you want to keep it?" Not an option! I don't have time to change the plan. Besides, it can be just as fun to give something that you put so much work into and love, in hopes that the recipient will feel the same about it.

I received my first swap package EVER in the mail today. What fun! Straight from Australia, too. It was just a fat quarter swap thru the Fabric Addicts Anonymous Flickr group because I wanted to start small. She sent me scraps of 3 other coordinating fabrics also, all with a repro 20's feel. The fat quarter has a woman's face at different angles, and then there is the Gerber-type baby fabric, so that inspired me to do something mom/baby themed. A log cabin with the mother figure (fussy cut) in the center seemed fitting. I think I remember hearing something about log cabins traditionally having red in the center to represent the heart of the home. So the heart of my blocks will be the mom! I've already started cutting them up for a doll quilt (what am I doing? I already have too many things to finish!) The strips will be only 1/2" wide when finished. I'd really like to start doing more tiny traditional patterned doll quilts. I saw one at my local quilt shop that was just nine patches, 9 of them with sashing between. But the squares of the nine patches were only 1/2" square and it was amazing!

I'm working on the booties that Kim picked from my giveaway also. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it's taking me a week to finish these, but I am just not in a crocheting mood! I will definitely have these done and in the mail by Sat. though. I promise!

And in between all that I'm packing a couple boxes a day. I've got most our books, DVD's, and videos packed. Now I don't know what else to pack because I don't want to pack anything I might want to use, and I can't decide what that might be. Last night I packed a huge box of stuffed animals that sit atop a high hutch in my son's room. I thought he wouldn't even notice they were gone (packed while he slept) and it was the first thing he saw in the morning. "Momma, animals all gone! Where'da go?"

Best Chicken Salad Ever
I don't cook a lot because I live with two extrememly picky eaters, ages 3 and 30. Hmm. So you won't see recipes from me very often, but when you do they will be my favorites. I got this recipe from a friend and changed a couple amounts ever so slightly to my tastes. The recipe is just called "Chicken Salad" but I think it needs a more desriptive name. My brother and his wife are in town from ID so I thought I'd fix them a nice lunch. I usually serve this on croissants, but I also like to eat it straight up.

3 cups diced chicken breast
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup green onions, finely chopped
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 1/4 cups Swiss cheese, diced (pea size)
1 1/2 cups red grapes, halved

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

This is my "secret" to chunky rather than shredded chicken (it really makes a difference with this recipe). Cut chicken breasts in half so they will cook evenly. Place boneless chicken breasts in an 8" sq. dish, coat with Bernstein’s Cheese Fantastico Dressing (or italian dressing of your choice). Cover with foil and bake 30-35 minutes or until just done. Do not over cook! Cool completely before cutting into bite size cubes.

Toss together chicken, celery, green onions, water chestnuts, cheese, and grapes. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Gently stir together to coat. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving. Eat as is or serve on croissants. Serves about 8.

Enjoy!

What Else Can a Baby Bumper Become?
My daughter is turning a year old on July 2nd. Before she was born I made her quilt, sheet, and dust ruffle. I also prepared the beautiful bumper. It was 8 weeks before she was born. The time started counting down and I didn't really know how I was going to finish the bumper. So I put it off. She was born. I gave myself another 3 months before she would be in the crib anyway. And I just never got around to it because she was a handful in those first few weeks. Now she doesn't need bumpers anyway. Heck, she doesn't even sleep in the crib and seems to hate the room, so she's in our room in a Pack n' Play!
But I need to use these pieces. What I have are long skinny white strips (2 - 53" x 12" and 2 - 23" x 12") with three rows of squares set on point, to match the quilt. I expected it to be made into a bumper so I just quilted it onto a pre-quilted material, I don't know what the stuff is called. But basically the back side of these pieces is atrocious looking because I didn't expect it to be seen. And it's completely quilted around each little square, so no chance of taking out the quilting. Making a another quilt is out of the question because of the ugly back. So what can I make? Pillows is the obvious answer, but I can easily get 4 square pillows from the two short pieces. Then what? I could just kick myself for never finishing them. Or do I just make bumpers so that I have a finished bedding set??

Cute Blogger Templates
Fellow Jan. '04 mom, Staci, of Quirky Bird Designs has 3 free Blogger templates available on her site. Check them out. So cute! If I didn't already have a theme I was going with here, I totally love the gnomes.

And since I'm on the subject and not going to bed for some reason... I've had a few people comment to me about my graphics here. The concept of the baby in the basket was mine and I had a talented friend, Larry Briner, draw it and scan it for me. He did an amazing job even though it's so simple. I can't draw worth beans. I'd handed him a sketch of the baby and he said it looked like an old man. Then he knocked out the above drawing in less than 10 minutes. Oh! I should show you the pencil sketch he did of my husband and I also. Anyway, everything else on my site are simple things I did in my very limited edition of Photoshop. I can do circles and squares and that's where it ends.

Man, I'm starting to think I have ADD.

And the Winner IS....
The winner of a pair of my handmade baby booties of her choice is Kim of Calamity Kim!! My fellow doll quilt swapper. You'll be hearing from me, Kim. Can't wait to see what you pick out for your new grandbaby!

WIP and Workspace
I was able to go get that other charm pack I needed for my doll quilt this afternoon while Grandma watched the kids. It's coming along nicely now. Five of sixteen half log cabins done, and one of four applique blocks done. I think I'll get another applique block prepared for sewing before I call it quits tonight.

I snapped this picture for the hey of it of my lovely work space. I work off my dining room table after the kids are in bed at 8:30. Evidence of them is apparent in 1) the formula can I use for trash threads and clippings, 2) the Memory game I didn't feel like putting away, 3) the scribbles on my pattern/notes photocopy (which you can't see anyway, but it's there!). Not seen in the picture is the kitchen counter/breakfast bar area where I have my iron set up on my Quilter's Square n' Blocker, which is the greatest because I never have to pull out an ironing board!


Someday when we win the lottery that we don't play because it's a waste of money, I'll have a lovely studio like Heather Bailey's. Of course, I'll have to have her come and decorate it because I could never create a space that beautiful and inspiring!

Bad Picture of a Good Quilt

I found the memory card for the camera, but the pictures it takes are so bad that it almost isn't worth using. Here it is anyway. I figure it'll just be that much more of a surprise when the person sees how great the colors are in person. There will be four of these flowers and each will be surrounded by these half log cabin blocks. The log cabin in the picture was a practice block. Good thing, because it's totally the wrong size. It's sewn on a foundation piece, and I don't have any 1/4" reference on my foot.

Pictureless
Oh no!! Josh took the camera with him to CO. I have our old digital camera, a monster that takes mediocre pictures, so I was ok with that. I just went to take a picture of my first ever hand sewn applique block and... no memory card!! Josh somehow ended up with both memory cards. I'm pretty sure there is a little 15M card hiding around here somewhere. That's my only hope of having pictures here in the next few weeks.

Fabric Picks Pics
Yesterday I did a three hour fabric shopping trip to get the fabrics I'll use in my doll quilt for the swap. I headed to the great M&L Fabrics, a HUGE discount fabric store in Anaheim, hoping to find everything I needed or some inspiration. I was a bit disappointed with my apparent inability to pick out some brighter bolder fabrics. This is as close as I got.


It's nice that there is also a JoAnn's superstore and a Tall Mouse Crafts within a couple miles of M&L. JoAnn's didn't have anything that stood out to me that went with what I'd already picked. But at Tall House I picked up this great charm pack - Moda's Summer in the City by Urban Chicks. And I was pleased to find that even if I scrapped my first selections, they do actually go with the charm pack.
Today I am cutting... and I could really use another charm pack. Argh. Problem is that I don't have a car. And my husband just took off to CO for an indefinite length of time to job and apt. hunt for us. So I'm going to have to wait a whole 2 days to go back and get my other charm pack!
In the mean time I'm going to start on some of my appliqué blocks. I'm actually going to attempt doing it by hand since it seems fairly simple. I only have 4 8" blocks with larger shapes to do. Hope I'm not sick of the hand work by the time I'm done with the first!

Little Quilties
I found an excuse to make coasters! These are for "someone" who may or may not stop by my blog. They are for a birthday swap of sorts.



I drew up the pattern myself. Double pinwheel, right? Then I machine quilted them, lightning quick, and made some bias binding. This was my first time doing rounded corners. I really botched the first one. I didn't sort of stretch the bias binding around the corner, so I ended up with pleats and too much fabric. Then I thought I could work around it, so I machine stitched it all down. Then I looked at it and realized how horrible it looked! I could have just fixed the next three and left that one. But no. My perfectionistic ways would not allow it. So I ripped all the binding off that one and redid it. At that point I was commited to rounded corners though. Again, I couldn't have one with wonky rounded corners and 3 with wonderful mitered corners. Anyway, I figured it out eventually and I love them. Can we say, Christmas presents (like these Meadow Blossoms)? The possibilities are endless. I just draw something in a 4" square, and bam, it's a mini quilted coaster!

These are little security blankets for the project that Cindy at Skip to My Lou is working on. She is trying to collect some 200 little security blanket/quilts to be given out to orphans in China. I made these from a half-finished, abandoned quilt I had. I'd started making this quilt for Connor, but it was just not turning out how I envisioned (and I've since replaced it with this still unfinished project). Truth be told, I was never in LOVE with the "jungle" animals fabric here, but it was the only thing I could find at the time. So I had made the top, and quilted a little less than half of it before I got fed up with it. Well, now it's going to a good use! I was able to get 5 mini blankets from it, and I now have a lap sized quilt that I'm more likely to finish. I cut off the non-quilted areas of the top, so what's left is about 2/3 quilted! I feel so encouraged by this.

In other news, I have my Doll Quilt Swap partner, as do my 16 swap... children? We are part of the group who will be sending out our quilts a week early. I'm excited to get started, but have only a vague idea of what I want to do. It looks like my partner likes brighter colors than what I tend to pick or have in my stash, so it looks like a trip to the fabric store is in order! I'm trying to decide a couple patterns I saw in the Aug. '05 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, which are shown with brights. Both of those are a combo of patchwork and applique.

7 Random Things
I wasn't tagged, but I've seen this going around other blogs, so I'm tagging myself. Here are 7 random things about me.

1. I am a night owl. I'm often up until 2am. I'm usually up by 8am, and I take 1-2 hr. naps with my kids when I can, which is usually about 3-4 out of 5 days a week.

2. I'm creative, but not very visionary. I rarely come up with my own ideas, but I'm inspired by what others create and I can often reproduce what I see (assuming it's not terribly complex).

3. I like to mess with recipes and patterns. For some reason I feel like things are more my own if I change just one ingredient, or cut or stitch something different than how the directions say.

4. I'm realizing that I must really like pink and green. And I do! I have a load of just pink laundry since having a girl, my son's room is green, my blog and website are pink and green. The dress on my bunny. This WIP. Yes, they are good colors.

5. Both my children have names from books/movie/musicals. Connor's middle name is Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (his father's doing), and he was conveniently born on J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday. We came up with Cosette's name after seeing Les Miserables.

6. I would choose a Dr. Pepper over water or alcohol any day (except for maybe when I'm hugely pregnant in the middle of summer - then I'll take water!). And I could probably eat Del Taco Fish Tacos until I grew gills.

7. I have suffered from migraines since I was a child. Back then I would get them every Sunday - perhaps a result of late lunches? Today, I think it's the result of that wonderful thing we call "being a woman," if you get my drift. After years of suffering with no relief I discovered Axert, which is my miracle drug. So I sympathize with anyone who suffers from them, they are truely debilitating.

Ooo! Laundry is done... little quilty pictures to come!

Giveaway Update

I don't know if anyone was wondering why I was taking names for my drawing for so long (a month), but it was because I knew I would probably not get a large response simply because my blog is so new or people think they don't need baby booties. What?! Just hang them on your wall, they are so cute! And you get to pick the ones you want. Why? Because I like making things for people that they will love! So I'm taking names till Friday. And right now there are only 14 people in the drawing. What great chances you have! Anyway, again, feel free to leave a comment saying you want to be included or email me.

Bad Feelings Gone!
Comments are back. That wasn't so bad. Not nearly as painful as expected, and I even gained the trackback feature.

I Have a Bad Feeling
My blog has been slow loading, and it's because my comments aren't working. The comment system I've been using for the last 4 years, Enetation, was a free service which I'd been very happy with for that time. But it seems to have died. I hate Bloggers comment system because of the spam and verification junk. I've just never had a spam issue with Enetation. Hmmm... I'm wondering if this is a sign to switch to something other than Blogger. Either way it'll be a job to switch my comments over since I created my own template here and only inserted the few Blogger codes I needed. I should have it fixed in a day or two...

I Need Another Project...
Like I need a hole in the head! But these quilted coasters are just too cute. I've started a doll quilt that will potentially be one for the swap. I would really like to make something fitting my partner's likes/dislikes, but I also just want to start now. So I'll have a couple in the works for now and either choose one of them or start a whole new one.

Yesterday I dropped all my other projects to work on a Wee Wonderfuls Robot for Connor. Picking out the fabrics is so fun. I was trying to decide between a green and orange print or the green and blue print, and Connor voted for blue. My husband has dubbed him THX 1138. If you know what that refers to then you are as big a nerd as my husband! *wink, wink* THX went together so fast, but then I must have spent as much time on his panel as I did just cutting and sewing him.



I also wanted to show these awesome bags that my friend Alicia makes. Alicia is very talented, and really does quality work. I love the reverse applique monograms.

Add to My Want-To-Do List
It appears that shirring is gaining popularity this summer. This is the best tutorial on the subject that I've seen. Ok, I've only seen two, but this one is so detailed with lots of pictures. It's like having someone there to hold your hand the whole way through. I think it would be cool if I could find a cute vintage pillow case to make one of these dresses for Cosette.

Edited to add: Apparently, I've caught on to this fad a little too late. JoAnn's was sold out of white elastic thread. But they had black, so I took it, and picked out a bold flowered navy print that will be just as cute on Cosette.

Oh, also, they are remodeling our JoAnn's store. So it they had a HUGE empty area and had moved around their fabric rows. I bet it won't be finished before we move though.

Big Footed Bunny
She's finished! Can you tell I like this dress fabric? Yes, I'd planned on using it for her dress anyway, and then I started the doll quilt with the same stuff. So it will just have to be her's. Won't they look cute together?

More Doll Quilt WIPs
I've officially joined the Doll Quilt Swap! I have no idea what quilt I'm going to make for it, but I have a lot of things I would like to try. A couple days ago I finished this strippy doll quilt, and I have a similar one waiting in the wings.

I'm also currently working on one for the Doll Quilt Challenge Flickr group. It's another disappearing nine patch, but this time I'm making it a bit larger and strip piecing with just 3 fabrics for the sake of simplicity. Part of that challenge is that it be just two colors, so pink and green it is. I LOVE it so far. I think it'll definitely be a keeper.

So I'm curious to know (is anyone out there?), how did you get started sewing? Probably my first experience was the summer before my 6th grade year when my aunt taught me by helping me make a skirt and matching tank top. My mom taught me cross stitching. I took every sewing class possible in jr. high and high school. In jr. high I started my first quilt, and learned some embroidery. In high school I took mostly clothing classes, although I only remember making a pair of overalls I hated, a sock rabbit, and a baby dress I gave away. My mom bought me my first sewing machine, a Janome 4623LE Plus, for my 25th birthday (4 yrs ago), and I love it! Quilting is my favorite thing, so I bought all the quilting attatchments/feet shortly thereafter. Sewing is what I will always go back to... I had to break when my babies were born, but I'm so glad to have gotten back into it this last month.

Wickedly Awesome!
Are you jealous?! If you haven't seen this, you should be. Just kidding, but seriously if you haven't seen Wicked you need to go. It was was such a great show. I loved all the music and it had a great story that cleverly tied in with The Wizard of Oz with which we are all so familiar. I laughed a lot and I got a lump in my throat at one point during "For Good." I was so into it that at the end of Act I that I thought it was over and was mostly satisfied. Haha, what a dork I am. I'm just sad it's on stage so that I won't see it again any time soon. I would love to get the soundtrack though.