Thursday, May 31, 2012

Teachers are Sunshine, Part 1

I have been busy crazy getting two quilts done for teachers around here.  This is the first one I got finished!  The sweet Amanda of Quilted Fish designs the perfect cheerful fabric!  The colors fit the teacher to a tee-  we gave it to her this morning and she went crazy!  

It was her first year teaching so I wanted it to be a good memory for her.  Little did I know that her grandma is teaching her to quilt and blankets are her favorite thing in the world!  I was soooooo thrilled!  

I cut the fat quarters into thin and fat strips and went crazy sewing them into a fun pattern.  I wanted it all mixed up and colorful and was very happy with how it turned out.  
I added a wide piece of ric rac, because I love ric rac :).  The bad had a few pieced pieces and then we wrote a note on one section of solid yellow.  

The rest of the back was finished off with a perfectly matching vintage sheet I found!  It turned out well and I quilted it with loops! My favorite, of course :) 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Debbie has the Yummiest Table

I have been following my friend-blogger Debbie for quite some time.  She is an incredible quilter- you MUST see her hidden bindings- she has a gift!  On Tuesday of each week she has a segment called Tuesday at the Table.  Talk about incredible food and ideas for cooking!  I drool each week and have a growing list of wonderful recipes from her posts.  So since today is Tuesday, I wanted to tell you about a wonderful dessert she mentioned this week- pavlova.  I had never hear the history behind this delicious treat and thought it was really interesting.  I love the chewy meringue with the mixed berries- just eat my heart out!  So head on over if you like treats and see the yumminess over at her blog.  She is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and talented in so many things!  http://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/2012/05/table-tidbit.html

Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Annual Dress and Family Picture Craziness :)

I am trying to learn how to sew clothing.  It scares me, but I want to make some things really bad! That beats my fear.  Adding the fact that I am a hopeless perfectionist makes it even more of an adventure, but one that turns out cute, not matter what the odds!  I have made an awesome poncho every winter (velvet lined with fleece) for my littlest little.  Imagine fun cute colors with pompom edging, two big buttons at the neck, and a Little Red Riding Hood style hood.  So much easier than putting on a sleeved coat each time you exit the car :).  I have made crazy awesome Halloween costumes.  And once a year, I make a dress for her for family pictures.  It takes a long time to find the perfect pattern and this year I knew it when I saw it- Mod Kids Chloe (I LOVE Patti Young's designs)!  I threw in my 7 favorite prints from Julie (http://www.intrepidthread.com) at the time and was off and running!

I must admit, I get a tad bit psycho when planning our family pictures!  I go overboard, actually, but it is oh so fun and makes for tons of smiles and memories all year long.  I don't like stiff classic pictures.  I like fun, living, breathing photos- like the photographer just walked up and caught you right in the middle of the best day ever.  When hubby married me, my one condition was that we would take family pictures every. single. year.  Just one condition (besides all the unspoken ones), but I meant it, and he meant it too, 'cause we have had them taken each year, faithfully!  This year involved painting a darling bench deep aqua, making a bunting/pennant in the below fabrics (and another), making this dress, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, my Supernova quilt, searching for months to find different colors (happy bright colors- that of course match the dress colors!)/styles of plaid shirts for all the boys in my life, and getting wild fun colored undershirts for the afore-mentioned plaid shirts.  I wanted to make me a shirt as well, but something had to give, and that was that.  So, I dug through thrift stores until I found the perfect color shirt and topped it with a darling sunshine yellow cardi!  Voila- after months of prep, we were ready!   

Well, with one detour...  We were going to take photos in an open wheat-looking field in front of our Blue Zoo, but the day before pictures, it got plowed under.  Next field, plowed under too, next- plowed under too!!  Three fields, all plowed under- backup plan!!!  I had driven by the coolest yard a few days prior, so I headed there.  We're talking barns, old pickups and ancient school buses.  The most awesome paint cracked buildings and archways and wavy-glassed windows.  Such fun!!  I knocked on the door and wound up talking with the sweetest older couple- of course, we could use their yard!  I was beyond thrilled and they made my day!  So pictures continued without a glitch, and we got some of our best shots yet, I think!  I am so excited to see them!  So there is my long version of why I defeat my fear and make a dress each year for pictures- it makes it more a part of who we are and lets our personality shine through.  FUN!