Selvage

Please be warned, this post includes a picture of the rug in the office/sewing room. Try to ignore this. It's absolutely covered in thread trimming and cat hair. I knew this, but I had no idea it was this bad. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a lint roller or two to it. But, just, try not to look at the rug. 

I'm so glad fabric comes with selvage. 

True, I've seen tons of cute projects made with it - but around here? Cat toy. At least for a few minutes... 

Pinterest Challenge: Avocado Ranch Dip

It feels kind of circular to share this link for Avocado Ranch Dip - especially since it leads to someone else's Pinned and did kind of thing. But it's the link I've got - and it's what I did!

Two avocados roughly mashed, three heaping spoons of low-fat Greek yogurt, and some ranch powder.

Clearly, very exact measurements. I really just poured it into a bowl, mashed it up, and ate it. On sandwiches, as a vegetable tip, with flat bread. I wished I'd had some chips to try it with as well, but let's just say, I'm a fan.

Burritos are on the menu tonight, and I can't wait to see how the dip functions in place of sour cream and/or guacamole. I think it's going to be even better.

"Procrastination" Back

It took a little more work to get my scrappy blocks to fit into the panels for the back of the Procrastination Half-Square inspired quilt.

I also got a little bit more creative and scrappy to finish out the top panel. I'd hoped for the top panel to hold only one scrappy block, but now that it's all together, I think I like the scrappy bit at the top right better than even my super scrappy blocks.

It's very close to the same size as the quilt top - so I'll have to be very careful when I baste and quilt it.

I should have just enough of the green left to make the binding. Whew!

"Procrastination" Play

My "Procrastination" Half-Square inspired quilt has been waiting too long for me to get to making a back for it - but it's going to have to wait a little longer!

There's been a bowl of scraps sitting on my counter since the final trim of the half-squares. I had figured I would eventually add them to the growing stack that will someday go to feed a very scrappy, very fluffy ticker tape inspired quilt. Tonight, somewhere between measuring yardage for the back and listening to an audio book, I found myself coming back to that bowl with another idea in mind.

Three very scrappy blocks.

They're a little crazy, but first chance tomorrow I'm going to see how they look added to the rather boring back I had planned. I'm hoping they'll be just enough crazy to make the back more fun.

And I still have more than enough pieces to add to the scrap piles I've been curating since my first stitch. Actually, I wanted a ticker tape style quilt before I started quilting. I had intended to make it my first project, picking a few scraps out of other people's piles. My mother caught wind of my plans and pointed out that it would be more special if I could look at each piece and remember the corresponding project. It's not the only reason I took up quilting and sewing, but it's been on my mind the whole time. I'm always a little disappointed when I use every inch of fabric in a project. My mom was right (as usual) - it will be fun to have a quilt that reminds me of nearly everything else I've done. 

Pinterest Challenge: Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls

If something has "red velvet" in the title, there's a good chance my husband will go crazy for it. With that in mind, when I saw a pin for Piece, Love, & Cooking's Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls I knew these would be in my future.

But, I'm also a very lazy cook. And that recipe looked full of things I don't have on hand (buttermilk, vinegar, food coloring). I eventually found a recipe on making cinnamon rolls from cake mix. That fit better with my kitchen.

So, I mashed the two recipes together into Red Velvet Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls.

1 box red velvet cake mix
2 packages yeast
4 cups flour (3.5 might have been a little better)
2.5 cups hot water

Mix dry ingredients, then add water.
Mix and knead until smooth.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top of the dough. 

Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes. Feel free to use this time to clean every bit of red off the white counter top.

After 45 minutes, punch it down a little. Split into two halves and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into two 10x14 rectangles. Or shapes that fall somewhere between rectangles and ovals. Your choice. 

Spread the cinnamon/sugar/butter mix over the top. I started with 1/4 cup butter and added cinnamon and sugar until I was happy with the consistency and taste.

Roll, starting at the long side. Cut into slices. I got 12 from my first half and 15 from my second, but my end pieces were all 4 a little skimpy. I don't mind various sizes, especially when I'm trying a new recipe, so that worked for me.

Place in greased 9x13 pans (two). 

I left mine an inch or so apart so there was room for expansion. (You can also see I used too much flour when I was rolling out the dough.) Cover and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Feel free to use this time to clean every bit of red off the white counter top. Again. 


This is also a good time to pull the ingredients for the frosting out of the fridge. 

Run across the yard with a pan in each hand to the neighbor's house to use their oven. Oh, just me?

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 400.

Let them cool 10-20 minutes while you look at houses online make frosting. 

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
Cinnamon
Vanilla extract

The original recipes call for a stick of butter in the frosting. I've never done that, so since I'd forgotten to get it out of the freezer, I didn't today either. It still tastes good to me!

Bring one to everyone around you for taste tests.

My husband: "Fantastic!"
My mom: "Next time, use less flour and bake a little longer, but acceptable."
My brother: "I'm not trying that."
My dad: "Maybe later."
Momo: Attempts to lick the frosting off the ones left on the counter unguarded.

And me? If I was rating them on a 1-10 point scale, they'd be a 6. I like the flavor, and if they are a little 'gooey', I like the texture. The biggest drawback is the amount of time that went into making these. If I make them again, it'll be for a very special occasion, like a birthday or Christmas breakfast - though I'd make them the night before instead of getting up a 4 a.m.

I did end up with a lot of rolls, so we'll be freezing them and eating them every weekend for the rest of the summer. Somehow I think my husband won't mind! 

Monkeys and Bananas Away!

My 'Monkeys and Bananas' Quilt - and a couple items from the registry - are headed to a baby shower.

Oh, and me too.

I'm nervous.

Let's just say I'm an introvert and leave it at that. 

Pansy Patch Progress

Most of the block pieces, cut and ready to go. If only I were so ready!

I'm still convinced this is beyond my skill level - and my practice blocks haven't been getting any better. But if I'm going to finish it, I've got to start it, and there's no time like the present to start. Right?

I had hoped to build confidence by working on other, simpler, projects first and building up my confidence a little bit more. Sounds like a good idea, right? Well, it hasn't exactly worked out that way. I'm not sure I've gained any skill, and worse, putting it off just gave me more time to envision all the ways this could go wrong.

Fortunately, since I bought fabric for the whole pattern (21 blocks) but decided to make either 6 or 3 (depending how frustrating the process is), I have enough fabric to make a few mistakes.

The project has become more difficult to put off now that the pieces are cut. Partly because of the nervous thrill before starting something challenging, but partly because I lose any of these pieces to Momo's rambunctious curiosity or a rogue wind, I'm going to scream. I spent way too long trying to ensure each tiny piece was right to have even one lost in the depths of my office!



Wow, I just glanced back at the last time I worked on the Pansy Patch to see that I had said something about coming back to it in a few days. A few days? A couple months? All the same around here!

Laundry Day

In the process of creating, I think washing is the most difficult but most important step. If things were staying with me, I would skip the machine drying in favor of air drying - but because I know these are headed to some new parents I want to be certain that the home made items are up to serious use.

Wonky Stacked Coin for Baby C
This was the hardest one to put into the wash - probably because it's spent so much time sitting around waiting for this step! It's a bit more wrinkled now than before, but not as much as I would have liked. So far as I can tell, none of the colors ran - despite none of the pieces being pre-washed. That's a relief!

Washing did reveal a spot where the binding didn't quite stitch to the back of the quilt. I picked out some of the stitches for a few inches and re-sewed it. Since the binding is sewn to the the back, then wrapped around to the front and sewn again, I only had to pick the folded over part - so I didn't have to worry about it coming completely loose from the quilt.

Here's a close up of my reworked spot - front and back. It's not great. It's also not much worse than several other spots that haven't been reworked. I'm trying to decide if it's worth redoing the whole thing, for another chance at doing it right. I've left it out where I have to see it every day and I'm trying to decide if it's worth the effort/frustration. Especially knowing there's no guarantee a rework would be an improvement - although I'd add another half inch to the total binding width, which made the Monkeys and Bananas binding much easier than this one. Decisions, decisions... 

Hooded Towels
These washed and dried quickly and easily - but I was surprised to see how fluffy the terry cloth looks now.  The cotton trim picked up a layer of loose fluff, but a visit to the lint roller cleared it up easily. A few long pieces of terry needed snipped off as well. The cloth feels softer and more cuddly than before, but looking at how much lint came off the terry cloth has me wondering if I need to wash them again.

Flannel & Terry Cloth Wipes
This was a bit of a disappointment. Even though my flannel side had been washed prior to being sewn to the terry cloth, there was a bit more shrinkage than I'd planned for. This has resulted in a bumpy finish as the extra terry cloth bulges around its confines. It could be worse, but I'm not sure if they're up to being given away.

Terry-Back Bibs 
Fortunately, the bibs came out better than the wipes - even the bib that was made with the same flannel as the wipes. Maybe the additional stitching helped hold things in place more firmly than the simple straight lines of the wipes. They still need fasteners, but I'm much happier with them than with the wipes.

Teddy Bear Blanket with Flannel Back
This is just a quick, silly, addition to the Welcome Baby C package. I hadn't intended to make something else, but Mom C is a big fan of toile fabric, so when I saw these bears I knew I had to have them for her. I resisted for several trips to the store, but when there was a sale eventually I could no longer resist. It's backed in a sweet, pink/peach houndstooth flannel. I'm not quite the fan of toile as Mom C is, but I have enough to make another just like this, and I've very tempted to add one to the trunk (which means future gifts, or futurekid).

Monkeys and Bananas Quilt
Fortunately, this came out of the dryer with no issues - not even little bitty ones. Seeing it washed, I wish I'd doubled the amount of quilting. Still, I'm very pleased with the finish, and pleased that it doesn't need a bit of touching up.

I still have a few things waiting for their turn in the wash cycle, but I feel like I made a serious dent in the pile.

Off Script...

I had grand plans for accomplishing a lot during my light week so I could have things ready to share next week when I'll be hard pressed to spend more than ten minutes on my computer. It's only Monday of the easy week, but you know if I'm writing this - that plan is already falling apart. 

The pictures I took over the weekend? Won't download to either computer.

The yardage of cotton ribbon I bought two weeks ago? Lost in the depths of the house.

The batting I was going to use today? Equally lost - or, more likely, I used it already and forgot.

Oh, and that light week? I wound up working part of today and scheduling to work for part of Wednesday as well. I shouldn't complain. I like my job most of the time, and I certainly like having some hours - and therefore some income (without it, I'd be hard pressed to do anything crafty!). But I don't deal well with change.

On the other hand, some of the unexpected happenings today are very good. We were invited to a birthday party. We started shopping for an upcoming birthday. I blocked out a weekend to go see Family C - assuming all of our schedules continue to work as they look right now. And, we got a lovely postcard in the mail. So, sometimes unexpected can be good.

I'm off to wash fabric, and quilts, and to search my house for ribbon - which almost certainly got shoved somewhere odd on my way to let unexpected company in. Which makes finding it even more difficult. If I don't find it, I'm all for unplugging the sewing machine and heading to the kitchen to try my hand at some of the cinnamon roll recipes I've been seeing on Pinterest. 

Views and Smoke

I'm sure there are parts of the world where I could get similar views... but it's views like this that make me stop and think how happy I am to be where I am.


I wrote that on Saturday for a filler post next time I had nothing to say. Now I feel I should update it with the rest of the story.

Those photos were taken 6.9.12 at about 8:30 a.m. I didn't know then, and can't tell by looking at the photos now, but a wild fire was just beginning to burn in the mountains visible in the right side of the first photo. By that evening, we were able to take photos of the fire from out backyard. Last I heard, the fire was burning more than 52,000 acres.

6.9.12 

6.10.12 - smoke

I haven't taken any more recent photos - because right now, you can't see the mountains for all the smoke. Everything is gray and hazy, and our throats hurt from breathing the smokey air. I can't imagine how much worse it must be for those living in the path of that huge plume of smoke.

This kind of wildfire is one of the things I don't love about living in Colorado. As my husband puts it, being a semi-arid area means we're dry enough to burn but wet enough to have things to burn - and dry enough not to be able to stop it. That's what it feels like at the moment. We're lucky to be several miles from the fire, and for the most part, we've been very lucky in missing most of the smoke as well - but we have friends who haven't been so lucky, people who have smoke thick in their homes and people who have been evacuated and possibly even lost their homes.

Right now, we can hardly see our neighbors' houses - and the air is burning both eyes and lungs. Even a wind blowing the right direction wouldn't be amiss. Rain doesn't seem to be in our forecast. But I think we're all hoping it comes anyway.



Washing the quilts now is more unappealing than ever, when I know they'll smell like smoke and need re-washed again soon. But at the moment, it feels like that rewashing will have to be by the recipients - my house and water may never be smoke-smell-free again. I feel petty whining about smoke smell when I think of the people who have lost their homes or people who have to wear masks inside their homes because the smoke goes right through their house.

Progress

Wonky Stacked Coin Quilt

Awaiting washing and drying

April Showers/May Flowers I and II Quilts

I: Quilted, awaiting washing

II: Basted and turned, needs quilted, washed

Pansy Patch Project

This is hardly even started. But I need to be working on it.

Half-Square "Procrastination" Quilt

Top completed. Needs: back finished, basted, quilted, bound, washed

Monkeys and Bananas Quilt

Awaiting washing and drying

Teddy Bear Blanket

Awaiting washing and drying

Terry Cloth Bibs

Waiting for me to find snaps/fasteners. And I suppose these should be washed as well.

Welcome Baby C Package

Finish and wash all handmade items.
For Mom&Dad - what can I get new parents to make them feel special and not forgotten?
Take a final photo, then package it all up and go see Family C

My 8th Quilt: Monkeys and Bananas

Yes: I know my last shared finish was my 5th. I haven't yet revealed my 3rd or 4th. And yes, quilts 6 and 7 are still in progress. I probably should have started numbering them based off the order they were finished in, but I started numbering off when I finished the tops and I'm sticking with it.

My 8th Quilt: "Monkeys and Bananas" for Baby Girl N.

At this point, the quilt is just shy of 36" square. I don't expect any shrinkage in the wash/dry cycles, but surprises do happen. Total work time on the quilt was less than 6 hours from start to finish - certainly my fastest yet. Even better? All the fabric came from my stash and the batting was a bit left over from another baby size blanket.

It's hard to see, but it's backed in two pieces of striped flannel: yellow/white and green/white. I've yet to find a lighting situation where these really show. Actually, that's really true for the whole thing - I know the top tends to either be too dark or too washed out. I'll keep trying for a better picture before I give it away in a couple weeks. 

I'd hoped to bind it in the blue polka dot fabric used around the single monkey portrait frames - but an error in cutting led to a little shortage. Rather than stressing myself, I pulled another piece from the stash. It's nearly impossible to tell in any photo I've taken, but the binding fabric is a blue/aqua with slightly lighter hearts repeating in a semi-organic pattern. Like the scalloped quilting, I think this is a tiny touch that helps bring the top from something I was worried about to something I love.

From the time I began plotting the top design and running math to finishing the last stitch of attaching the binding took about 26 hours. I don't think I've ever finished a sewing or quilting project so quickly - both in actual hours of labor and in the time between beginning and end.

About the time I turned out the lights Friday morning (after completing the top) I realized I could have used some short cuts in my top assembly and save myself some time. Rather than making individual blocks with individual frames I should have thought to make longer blocks with longer frames (at least top and bottom) then cut them to size and added the side trims. When working without a direct pattern or tutorial, I never think of ways to cut corners in time - which is part of why I was so excited to try a Disappearing 9 Patch. I guess I need to keep teaching myself to think about ways to make fewer individual blocks/cuts!

2 Years Ago

Photo Credit: Life Clicks Photography

Photo Credit: Life Clicks Photography

G -

I love you for who you are, for who you will become, and for who I am because I know you.
You are my inspiration, my comic relief, my reality check, and my friend.

...

From this day on we will walk hand in hand along the same path. We will have many adventures and we will grow old together because in all that life may bring us, my love and friendship are yours.

 - A

(from my wedding vows)

My 5th Quilt: April Showers/May Flowers I

April wasn't my favorite month. We had a lot of bad news and too much stress. Amid the sleepless nights, the tears, and the frustrations, I determined to make something beautiful come out of the month. That's how my attempt at a Disappearing 9 Patch block turned into what I called my April Showers/May Flowers quilt. 

Front

When I purchased these pre-cuts, I thought the fabric was a little too wild for me but potentially perfect for a gift quilt. Initially, I was inclined to describe the pieces as 90's Florida hotel upholstery-esque.

That changed once I started working with it.

Back

By the time my top was completely sewn, I knew I'd be keeping it.

I like to think it's the beautiful flower that came out of the month's showers.

Since the patterns are so busy, I kept the quilting very simple - diagonal lines breaking it up into diamonds.

It's not a large quilt - measuring only 37" square. It's a little too small to be a comfortable lap sized quilt, at least for how I use quilts. I'm tempted to make it a wall hanging - I have some empty wall space in the bedroom that could certainly use brightening up... 

But at least for now, I'm simply going to enjoy it and be thrilled that something beautiful came out of April. 

These pictures are looking a little fuzzy when I preview the post - though they look clear enough elsewhere. Are they fuzzy looking to anyone else? 

"Monkeys and Bananas" Quilted!

Proving that every once in a blue moon I can start and finish a single project without being distracted - the quilt I started Thursday night was basted and quilted before lunch on Friday.

After a little trial and error on some scrap fabric, I settled on one of the stitch settings on my Kenmore machine. The repeating scallop pattern makes me think of the trim on Victorian houses or sweet little play houses. I think it's a slightly more girly touch to what felt like a fairly gender neutral quilt.

This was my first time quilting with anything more than a straight stitch - and I couldn't love the result more! I'm not sure if any of the other pre-set stitches would work for quilting, but I'm going to find out. As soon as I'm ready for July...