Sunday, January 31, 2010

Aquamarine

I pieced & quilted a quilt for my mother-in-law for Christmas...

but didn't take pictures of the finished product...
as I finished it the day before I gifted it...

nice...  

I like a little stress around the holidays...
don't you?

I kidnapped it back today to take pictures for you.
I stitched in a ditch...
kinda...
Well, I tried to stay in the ditch anyway...
Afterwards, 
a friend clued me in on using a patterned fabric for your backing...
so as to hide all of your mistakes...
This quilt has lots to hide...
but
say la vee...
I feel accomplished.
& I secretly named her
Aquamarine.
(I hope Ann doesn't mind.)

Cute As A Cupcake

Girlfriend's 1st Birthday!
Strawberry Cake
Cupcakes
Balloons
Fruit & Yummy Dip
Cheese
A Cupcake Table Runner
Sweet Tea
A Relish Tray
Tortilla Soup
Turkey Wraps
&
One stinkin' cute 1 year old baby girl in a birthday dress!



This was my first try at making a knot dress...
& I can't wait to make my next one!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Free Motion

Girlfriend's first birthday is right around the corner 
(Can you believe it?!  One?!  365 days old?!)...
&
I've been wanting to learn to free motion quilt for awhile...

So here we are.
Seems logical...doesn't it?
The applique and piecing were a piece of cake...
Free motion quilting wasn't as "free" as it sounds.
It took serious concentration and looking ahead.

I had to picture coral reef as I chanted "smooth meandering coral reef...I can do this" in my head in an effort to meander in a semi-fluid motion that might create smooth curves...

It is an abstract kind of hand/eye/mind coordination that can only be fully understood by attempting such a task.

AND let me tell you,  
if someone even walked past the table all concentration was broke & my hands suddenly jerked in a fierce pointed movement, breaking all meandering laws, crossing over and forming none other than the forbidden sharp pointed corner...

Thus 
sending me into a distressed frenzy, spouting language more fit for a sailor than a quilter.

I'm sure one day it will be smooth & free & fun.
After a bit more practice.
And a silent house...
without distractions like children and dogs...
right?
& really don't get me started on the hand binding and jacked up corners...

I will conquer this quilting thing.
I am not giving up.

I had to throw this last picture in 
NOT so that you could see the table runner on my table, 
but to remind myself that there really are brief fleeting moments
 (when my children are down for nap)
 that every surface in my house isn't covered by toys & clutter.

Now that is a sense of "free".


Monday, January 18, 2010

Game Night

We have started having game nights at our house.
I love it!
AJ loves it!
I love that AJ loves it!
Sometimes he even lets Girlfriend join in.
Girlfriend loves it!
& naturally, I love that she loves it!


Sunday, January 17, 2010

Yeeha!



FYI:
According to AJ, Cowboys do not drink milk for breakfast.
They drink juice.

right...

And apparently they don't listen to their moms very well either...
They are too adventurous for that.

Good thing he was only a Cowboy for a day.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It's A Pillowcase...It's A Dress...No...It's A Shirt?

Girlfriend was rockin' her pillowcase dress like nobody's business...as a shirt.
You gotta love a dress that looks just as stinkin' cute as a shirt.
(Just ignore the fact that she is playing with a marker & a rock...usually she is surrounded with developmentally appropriate educational toys.)

Right...

Sunday, January 10, 2010

3, 2, 1...Blast Off!

Here it is:

The object of my cutting, sewing, & ironing obsession for the last week...

AJ's cover quilt as he calls it.

70 x 90 bright inches of robots, space ships, bold patterns, & coin quilt goodness!

Darning foot here I come!


Blueberry Pancakes & Bean Bags

Andy treated us to homemade blueberry pancakes yesterday morning...
oh.my.goodness!
They were fabulously, amazingly delicious!

Treat yourself to some too!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 &3/4 cups or as needed buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter + butter for serving
2 cups blueberries
canola oil for cooking
pure maple syrup for serving

makes four servings

Directions:
Preheat oven to 2oo degrees.  

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, & salt.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 & 3/4 cups buttermilk, the eggs, & the 3 tablespoons melted butter.  

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined.  
Fold in blueberries. 

Place a griddle over high heat until hot.  Turn heat back down. Lightly oil griddle. 

For each pancake, pour about 3/4 cup of batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form on the surface, about  minutes.

Flip the pancakes and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, 1-2 minutes more.  

Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

Repeat.  If batter begins to thicken, thin it with a bit of buttermilk.  

Enjoy!

& I made AJ some bean bags the other day with scraps from my stash.
Super simple & since he would just be throwing them around, I wasn't super cautious about sewing perfectly.... 

(So don't look too closely.)

There is a quick tutorial here.




Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!

Rockin' in the new year with 5 ear infections.

Awesome.

Girlfriend: 2
Little Dude: 1
Daddy: 2
Mommy: 0

I win!