The frog quilt

I've been creatively handcuffed by other obligations the last couple of days. I'm holding out all my hope for tomorrow...

I made Josh's frog quilt quite a few years ago, but thought I'd share it with everyone. Of course I had to spend 10 minutes cleaning up the messy teenage bedroom before I could take a single photo without wires, CD's, or books littering the background.

h - h - hilarious!

Soooo....Josh wanted a knitted hat too. I was not paying $20 a skein for Manos wool, so we went to Joann's and he picked out different yarn.

I knit(ted?) and knit(ted?)...

(Yes, I did knit a square to test the gauge - it was perfect.)

If you fold the rim over it's not too bad.


P.S. Viola was NOT happy about having to model this creation.

Ready to quilt

The Spice Market Quilt fabrics have been ironed and are ready to be cut! The different fabrics hanging over the wall look like jewels. I can't wait to get my scissors into them...


Over the weekend I received my "Happy Penny Award" from Penny. I used her pattern to make Sydney some collar covers (here and here), and she thanked me by sending me this beautiful porcelain brooch designed and made by her. Thank you Penny!

This is the "Sewing Lady". If you'd like to know more about Penny's creations, visit her studio web site.

On Saturday I went to my first drawing class at the local community college. We didn't do much drawing but have been instructed to draw as much as possible. I certainly need the practice. Here's one of my attempts...

Happy Easter!

Wishing all my blogfriends a very "hoppy" Easter!

Quilt Pink

Today a little shameless plugging for a good cause...

American Patchwork & Quilting magazine (one of my favorites) and Susan G. Komen for the Cure have joined up to raise funds for breast cancer research. On National Quilt Pink Day in September 2006, quilt stores and quilt groups (including the one I belong to) all over the country got together to make and send in inspirational quilts to be auctioned off this month. The first batch of quilts are being auctioned off on eBay this week.

The photos here are of the quilt made by my quilt group. This quilt will be up for auction the week of April 19 to 26, but do take a look at the quilts in the auction right now. They are stunning and all funds raised go for a good cause - guilt free spending!

A lesson in sushi

At Josh's school's art day earlier this year, he learned how to make sushi.

Last night we made some and gained quite a bit of knowledge about it in the process. The sushi we made, basically Californa Rolls, is called maki-sushi (rolled sushi). This consists of wrapping nori (seaweed) around rice and a filling. Since we used many fillings, our sushi is called futomaki (fat rolled sushi). If it had only one filling, it would be called hosomaki (thin rolled sushi). If you're interested in learning more, I found this web site very informative.

Making sushi is really fun and very, very easy, if a little messy.

First, buy all the stuff...


cook the rice, and slice up all the fillings...


"stuff" the nori...


roll...


cut...


and serve...


Yummy!

(Photos courtesy of my dear husband - Thanks, Honey!)

"Make a Penguin" Day

Yesterday was a wonderful, lazy day hanging around the house and doing absolutely nothing that could be interpreted as "work".

My project for the day consisted of shamelessly copying (with her consent) Geninne's interpretation of Hillary's free Wee Bunny pattern for my penguin-loving son. Thanks Geninne and Hillary!

Geninne's is much cuter. I'm a lazy butt and machine sewed everything. I also had to use whatever materials I had around the house. I'd call this a prototype.

The funniest thing is that, by the time I got to sewing on the eyes, it was kind of dark. I found two cute little black buttons in my button jar and sewed them on. This morning I looked at the penguin - the eyes are GREEN!

Definitely a prototype...

Hallelujer!

...as Oprah (or Tyler Perry as Madea) would say.

It's done! I can finally move on! If you're interested in the l-o-o-o-n-g history of this quilt, just follow the blog entries.

Inspired by Hillary's cute lilypad pincushion, I used my scrap felt and made this last night:

Thanks Hillary!

It's Spring Break and we don't have any plans other than sleeping in and relaxing (oh, and soccer try-outs and making sushi). Heaven!

Celebrate Spring!

We had a little spring celebration with wonderful friends in our home last night. It was cold and rainy outside, but I tried to bring a little bit of spring inside with a bright table setting.




A great time was had by all.

Blue Chair

Still avoiding the log cabin quilt...

Make an Easter card today

This is what I'm doing for Easter cards this year. Since I've had a lot of interest from people about my little flower card, I decided to post some easy instructions for an Easter card.

Supplies:
scraps of fabric for bunny and “grass”
1 card blank
white card stock
colored or patterned paper for mat
glue
1 button for bunny tail
sewing machine
very sharp scissors
needle and thread

1. Cut a 3 ½” x 4 ¾” rectangle out of white card stock.
2. Cut a 4” x 5 ¼” rectangle out of colored paper.
3. Click on the bunny template to show it full size, print it (I recommend that you use card stock for durability and ease of tracing), and cut it out.

4. Trace bunny shape onto back of fabric and cut out using sharp scissors.
5. Cut a 2” x 4 ½” rectangle out of grass fabric. Use scissors to cut waves along one long edge.
You should now have this:

6. Position bunny on white card stock rectangle using photo of card as a guide. Temporarily adhere it to the card stock using a non-tacky glue to avoid slipping while sewing. I like Zig 2-way glue or a glue stick.
7. Set sewing machine so that needle will stay in the fabric when you stop sewing. Carefully sew bunny to card stock about 1/8” from the fabric edge, raising pressure foot and turning fabric when needed. Pull thread ends to back, knot together and clip.

8. Position “grass” on card stock using photo as a guide and temporarily adhere it (see 6.). Don’t worry about the edges sticking over the ends – they will be trimmed later. Sew 1/8” from the top edge of fabric, following the wavy edge.
9. Using a rotary cutter and ruler (or scissors if you don’t have one), trim the fabric level with the edges of the card stock.

10. Position and sew button on bunny.
11. Center bunny card on colored paper rectangle and temporarily glue together. Wait a couple of minutes for glue to dry before proceeding or paper might move while you stitch.
12. Sew along edge of white card stock a scant ¼ “ from edge through both layers of paper. Pull threads to the back, knot, and clip.

13. Adhere completed bunny sheet to front of card using strong glue or double sided tape.
14. Write a message inside and mail it to someone special. (I preprinted my cards with the message “Wishing you a “Hoppy” Easter”).

Nautical Nuances

Since I'm still in full avoidance mode on working away the thread tails on the log cabin quilt, and busy working on a little tutorial for an Easter card, I thought I'd share a little corner of my home. This is Josh's bathroom, which was one of the very first projects I tackled when we moved into this house almost 4 years ago. The walls were covered in a very bad sponging effort and I just could not stand to look at them one more day.

The photos were taken on a visit to Jackson Hole, Wyoming a couple of years ago. It was Josh's first river rafting experience and he had a blast! He's the little figure in the front of the boat. A brave soul, that little man.


I bought three little sailors during a visit to Kuaui in 1997 and knew that some day I'd be able to use them somewhere...

No special story here - just a lucky find at Ross or Marshall's - can't remember which.

Amateur Hour

I thought I'd try my hand at something "arty" last night, but I clearly need that drawing class I'm taking soon...

Coincidence

Yesterday I blogged about the little scarf I was knitting from Joelle Hoverson's book "Last Minute Knitted Gifts". The reason I got this book from the library was really because I was looking for a knitted hat pattern and this happened to have a really cute one in it.

I went to the yarn store yesterday and purchased some yarn to knit a hat, which I finished this morning, by the way (did I mention I have a tendency towards OCD?).

Last night in bed I'm reading the book - yes I read pattern books - and something struck me as familiar. The book was written by the owner of Purl in New York City. Where had I heard that name before?

Lo and behold, it's the same Purl and Purl Bee that has a blog and photos on Flickr!

Too strange!

Anyway, here's the hat. Very, very cute!


Knitted with Manos del Uruguay pure wool yarn in color #113.

The beautiful model is Viola, Gavin's photographic model "girlfriend".