I think Siri and I...

...need a few more practice rounds!

I asked her to make a note for me --- and gave her a web address that I heard on the radio. Her first attempt at least resembled an address:  "SpainHill Dell.com"   But it was her second attempt that really has me perplexed. Perhaps she and I should establish some boundaries because I wasn't really interested in knowing that "Joe L has a rash".  {grin}

I upgraded my phone last night from a Motorola Razr ca. 2006 (you know, the kind that does what you'd expect a telephone to do --- and likely the cellular love of my life) to an Apple iPhone 4s. I'm sensing there's going to be a bit of a learning curve.

p.s. I would say at some level there's a kindred spirit in her ---- when asked to tell a joke, she responded in a very me-like way: "I can't because I don't remember the punch line."  {grin}

Oh, Baby x Two!

.....looks like another quilt for wee little Braydan! My vision for Alexander Henry's 2-D Zoo might not make its appearance until after said kiddo arrives. One of Braydan's grandmas-to-be lives out of state and asked if I would consider making a toddle bed-size quilt for him. With two weeks to go before the shower. I'm debating. The stipulations are a little more specific than I would like, but I'm hoping there's room to wiggle. The request was to combine John Deere and Winnie the Pooh into the quilt top, a solid blue back and blue binding, include Braydan's name as applique, and (the part that has me on the fence) it must be tied. Ugh. I'm not wild about the tying part....  {grin} 

I toyed with a few ideas of my own, but given the timeline, finally opted to adjust a pattern in existence. I played around with a McCall's Quick Quilts pattern called "Baby on the Go" (it's free, if you're interested), increasing its size and adding a band for applique. What do you know...it might just work! I shopped around for fabric and, not counting batting and thread which I have an abundance of at home, came in around $40. I may have strayed ever so slightly from some of the requests, but I think my interpretation retains the spirit of the quilt.  {wink}

My idea for finishing the quilt is to do an all-over motif and then add decorative ties to the center of each focus fabric. The quilt should stand up better to machine washing (and for a toddler, I image it'll visit the laundry room fairly regularly!) and still have the charm of ties that grandma wants.

I chose a Winnie the Pooh toile plus two coordinating prints --- the honey bees and the Pooh/Piglet lattice in blue. I plan to fussy cut the toile because there are so many cute scenes, and it'll add to the variety of the prints overall. The old school John Deere tractors on the torn newsprint coordinate surprisingly well both in color and scale. The green JD logos on the striped background are ok (the background is a little lighter than  I would like) ---- I am really not feeling the more modern looking JD logoed farbic. I'm going to cut up some anyhow and see how it looks together with the Kona Bone. Which I love.  {grin}  The plaid stripe bordering the applique is the fabric I chose for the back. No, it's not solid blue, but I figured it'll be more forgiving of my quilting and the addition of ties after the fact. Also, I just like it! It's a great match to the blues and yellows on the front ---- the Pooh/Piglet lattice is doubling at the binding as well as the base for the applique letters.

I have high hopes that it'll all come together in the end! Tonight is fabric cutting. Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the snowball corners and applique band. And hopefully on Saturday I'll piece the top, quilt, tie, and bind. We shall see! I'm kind of in a hurry on this one because I sort of would like to do the 2-D zoo as my gift, and I have a shower the same day for my brother and his wife. It's their first and I have turtles and ric-rac on the mind!  {grin}

Oh Baby!

Some friends are expecting their first little one....and it's a boy! I realize some think Alexander Henry's 2-D Zoo print is majorly overused in the nursery department, but I love it.  {grin}  The coordinating fabrics are from of all places, Joann's. Dots are stripes...oh my!

I have several Kona solids that coordinate, too, but right now I'm stuck ---- I really like the dots and stripes, so much so that I want to use them together. Too busy??? Is the secondary pattern (whirligigs) lost??? I did another mock-up, switching up the placement of the stripes and dots. Not sure which I like better....

The block is called "Barney's Block" by Ursula Reikes from her book, Even More Quilts for Baby. I like that it's a single block simply rotated and the block construction is pretty straightforward, too. Ursula uses strip-piecing to arrive at the two major block components --- sweet, sweet! With the shower less than a month away and a side note that I'm also working on an original design for my brother and his wife (they're expecting their first, a girl, and the showers are the same day!), I'm all for 'quick' on this one.

I still think it's a super cute quilt and the fabrics make it ever so much fun. I have a somewhat coordinating zoo print in home decor weight for a baby changing mat and diaper pouch, too. I really like the approach of Craft Buds' tutorial for an all-in-one design, but am adding 'wings' for wiggly baby arms.  {grin}

Ever so fun to sew!

Starting...

...the New Year off right! My niece and I practically share birthdays and she was the recipient of my very first quilting venture in 2008 at the ripe old age of two. As she unwrapped her quilt, she commented, "Ooooohhhh, pretty" and promptly set it aside to tackle her next gift. {grin}



Four years later and that first flirtation with quilting is still much loved and much used. Makes me feel good! This year Ella got a baby doll carrier -- my own design, with an 11th hour change-up just to keep things interesting.



Seymour is modeling, but I'm sure Cupcake the bear will soon find a home on Ella's back. I added snaps to make the carrier adjustable for different stuffed 'girths' and D-rings so Ella can easily tighten the shoulder straps. I am rather pleased with how this turned out -- I learned a new technique or two (first time using a snap press!) and only had to use my seam ripper twice. {grin}

In case...

....anyone's looking for something fun to start the New Year!

The 3x6 Bee....

...is Done x Done! {grin} And on time, too --- a day early in fact! I am pleased mostly with how things turned out. I goofed on one block in concept. I intended to incorporate gray into the yellow/orange combo and then forgot. While I like the overall look of using rectangles for this mosaic block, I'm not sure my execution was the best. A: consistency in seam allowance matters. And annoyed me throughout the process. B: seams are stupid and will fight with your iron. {grin}

All in all, I'm happy ---- happy that they're done; happy that I don't have a HST seam running through the middle of each print; and happy that I got to sew half as many seams, since A: consistency in seam allowance matters.

Documenting...

...for posterity's sake!  {grin}

Almost a year ago (October 14th according to Adobe -- yikes, and quickly coming!) I drew up a paper-pieced plan for a quilt ---- must be the "Sleepy Hollow" nature of October was on my mind, as I christened the quilt, "Twisted Web." It was, eerrrrr, IS on my list for 2011 quilts but I don't know that I'll get to it in the next few months. I have so many other ideas in the works! That said, a quilt I saw on Flickr reminded me of my own little drawing and I figured I would throw, well, another hat in the ring. I'm not afraid to admit I like mine a wee bit better ---- it feels rather chunky and clunky, and I definitely go for that!  {wink} 

I haven't tested my idea, but I do have a paper pieced template all drawn up and ready to go. I really have no excuse for letting this one languish...  {grin}

My favorite of the three is the one on the far right ---- I like how the centers ever so slightly don't line up!

Just...

...a little something from the kitchen!

We were camping in Petoskey at the end of August and visited the Farmer's Market in the old downtown. Our favorite vendor from East Jordan was on hand with his fresh bison and the Friske Farm folk. One of the gals from Friske had a sign posted for "Fresh from the Freezer" corn. A bit skeptical, I memorized the recipe anyhow and gave it a go once I got home. Straight out of the oven, the corn was delicious...I must sheepishly admit I made this around midnight and couldn't stop dipping my spoon in the pan. I even woke the D up to announce my triumph! Just for good meaure, I froze the corn overnight and warmed it up the next evening for dinner. Tastes just like corn on the cob!!

Here's the recipe --- I've done some researching since; there are quite a few variations: water instead of half 'n half; stovetop cooking for 10 minutes vs. oven for 45, etc. I plan to test at least the water version simply because if it tastes just as good, why use heavy cream/half 'n half??? Cheaper and healthier! {grin}

20 cups of corn kernels (cut fresh from 24 ears)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups (1 pint) half 'n half

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in a large roasting pan. Add corn and cream; stir to combine. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once corn is moving toward tender but still has a bite to it, remove the pan from the oven and transfer corn to a large bowl set in an ice-water bath. Stir until corn is cooled at least to room temperature. Measure into whatever size containers you intend to use; for my first batch I made two quart containers. Don't ask me why...

You can add up to 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tsp. salt to the basic recipe, if you like, but I didn't. The Friske gal told me the milk helps preserve the crispness of the corn -- so, I'm curious if I could reduce the amount of butter overall as it doesn't seem to have much to do with the texture of the frozen corn. Butter or salt could be added to taste tableside if desired. What I was really after is that crunch of fresh corn on the cob, and this recipe delivered!

3x6 Bee - Third Quarter

...a bit misleading, I suppose, seeing as how this is my FIRST quarter participating in the bee. But, third quarter it is all the same. I'm finding that satisfying myriad fabric likes/dislikes is a challenge --- the aim of the bee is to use stash fabrics to create 6 blocks, one for each member of the hive. The rules of the bee say we can't specify anything beyond the color scheme of our blocks (I chose red, aqua, and gray with a white background), but the quilters in my hive seem to prefer modern fabrics across the board -- no batiks, no country, no repro; nothing but designer stuff. While I have a lot of that in my stash, I don't necessarily have it in the right colors.  {grin} 

That aside, here's the block I'm considering for this quarter ---- a mosaic ---- I've come across it a time or two in my big book of blocks, but most recently it gained some attention as a featured block in the Summer Samplee Series organized by Lee of Freshly Pieced, Faith of Fresh Lemons, and Katie of Swim, Bike, Quilt. A fun series to follow for sure!

I plan to piece my block differently --- I don't particuarly like the visual line that joining half-square triangles produces, so I'm starting with rectangles and adding corner triangles. I hope to get a jump on my blocks this weekend...we shall see. There's LOTS I hope to do over my [rather extended] holiday weekend.  {wink}