greetingarts

scrappy cartwheels

This is quilting, the way I'd always imagined it.  Made up entirely of pieces from my scrap boxes, it's a one-patch (though not a charm quilt), and the piecing and quilting were all done by hand.  I really feel the need to give it a proper title, but the right name is just not coming to me.  Any ideas? 

I made a template from plastic, traced it individually onto the backs of fabric scraps, cut everything out, and then hand-pieced and hand-quilted it.  I'm quite proud of it, even with all of its many imperfections.

One of the (many) reasons I don't finish my full-sized quilts is the darn back.  I just hate putting those gigantic pieces together in order to make a backing that is wide enough.  Well, not a problem here, since this quilt measures about 20" x 24", and I easily cut a backing out of a yard of fabric.  I just might never make another large quilt again!  Those just languish as tops on my shelf anyway, and if I just make doll quilts, I could hang them up all over the walls.

I was totally getting into the quilting groove, but I can see how you'd have to do it a lot to really be proficient at it.  The first few minutes of my quilting every day would be kind of so-so (or pretty darn bad), but after a half-hour, I'd be a lot better, with smaller stitches, smoother sailing.  I'm still only getting like five or six stitches per inch at my best, but at least my stitches are relatively even.  A long time ago, I read a quilting tip  that suggested quilting on a practice square or something less meaningful for around ten minutes before moving on to the quilt you really wanted to work on.  I don't think I would personally do that, since I just don't have that much time to spare and I'm not trying to win any awards, but I can see the point of warming up before a quilting session.

I mitered the corners, and they turned out just right.

I feel such a sense of accomplishment, but won't be able to pet it for much longer.  It's going into the mail tomorrow, and I really hope Lisa likes it.  She graciously allowed me to be her swap partner for the doll quilt swap, even knowing that I would be late, late, late.  I'm not sure, but I think I'll be ready for the next one coming up in June...

Edited on 1/16/2009 to add: Whoops! Forgot to mention that months after this was posted, I wrote up a tutorial for this quilt block, if you'd like to try it for yourself!

yellow

Ooooh, yummy.  Cake.

Hmm.  I do realize that this is the second time in a row that the word "cake" has made it into my blog post...

carat cake

Just so my craft blog readers don't start abandoning me, and to prove to myself that I do still occasionally finish something (although it's just a block and not completed quilts), here's a picture of the third Block of the Month, that I completed in April.

I only did one block last month, since the second kit was short a piece of fabric, so now I'm one block behind... and still have the two from this month left to finish. 

File this one under "Not Enough Hours in a Day."

robin's egg blue

I had to go back to the March 2006 archives to find a photo for this week's color.  Amazing, how different the kiddos look in just a little over a year.

Here's the seasoned veteran, sailing into It's a Small World at Disneyland.

And here's the newbie, finally aware of the surroundings.

No matter how many times we float through, humming along with the music, I'm still wide-eyed and smiling.  I hope they always will be, too.
 

pizza party day

We couldn't let this day pass without celebrating it, so we had make-your-own bagel pizzas tonight for dinner. 

Having donned the proper attire (aprons + tiara for Rebecca), and with mountains of shredded mozzerella and bowlfuls of sauce, pizzas were made.

I should have measured this one, but I think it was something around 4 inches tall.  Yum!

Hope you have time to enjoy a pizza or two this weekend!

happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day!  The weather is scheduled to be a perfect 78 degrees, as it was yesterday, and I'll be stuffed full of sushi pretty soon.  No diapers to change (thanks, honey!) and the baby slept until 8:00 a.m.  Life is so good.

May you be surrounded by all your peeps, and have the luxury to do whatever you enjoy most.  Maybe even pop over here and make a mama and baby chicky for yourself.

This year, I received my first handmade Mother's Day gift.  I can't even find the words to describe how I feel about it,  and I'll always remember the look on my daughter's face when she gave it to me.  It's what today is all about.

yellow orange

One of my favorite colors as a kid, it reminds me of sunshine and summer, and now my daughter's smile.

shane's wish

I don't know Shane.  But after checking out several links to see if this was legitimate, I figured I'd do what I could to help this little boy reach his goal of 350 million birthday cards.  Seems like a pretty small thing to do, regardless of leukemia, or relapses, or whatever.  I guess it's why I knit baby blankets, socks, toys and clothes for charity.  In this world full of problems and tragedies and senselessness, when one person can do something that helps, even just a little, well, why not?  You can click on his name and find out more information, plus the Canadian address where the card should be sent.

I hope he has a very happy birthday, and that there are many more in his future.

brown

My good old dining room table background.  I really need to find some other place to take my photos, don't you think?  Oh, well, anyway...

My cousin is getting married (yes, her name is Michelle, too, and believe it or not, she isn't the only cousin I have with that name)!  Here's what the save-the-date announcements looked like, I made 175 of them.  Aren't her pups cute?  I can't imagine how many photos she had to take in order to get this great shot.  Next up, the actual invitations and maybe party favors, a knitted pillow for the ring?  My kiddos are going to be the flower girl and ring-bearer (who says it has to be a boy?), and I'm a bridesmaid.  Such fun, a real family affair.

I'd better start dieting now.

tea with the Queen

This was a Special Swap, indeed.  Over the past two months, I had fun putting together a taste of Asia for Beth, and she sent me and the girls to England, on a carefully planned excursion.

We received an itinerary (new word for Becca that can now be used liberally along with "agenda"), and each package was numbered.  The girls loved diving through the pile, searching for the proper package to open, inspecting all the stickers (I had to rip or cut off each one!), and tearing through the mounds of tissue paper.

There were snacks, a sock knitting book, Cherry Tree Hill "Country Garden" sock yarn, a William Morris printed linen, British tea, scone mix, raspberry jam (with seeds, the best kind!), a magnificent lace shawl pattern, forget-me-nots, sunflowers and chives to plant in my growing garden, beautiful Amy Butler cardstock, teapot stickers (the girls didn't spy these before I squirreled them away), and one of the sweetest, cutest touches was the pairs of gloves and hats that my daughters could wear for our tea with the Queen.

Such an amazingly considerate and thoughtfully presented bunch of gifts. 

But the best part of all was making a new friend.