A tiny Etsy find

After seeing several photos of the world's cutest little pins, I was elated when La Vie en Rosie uncovered the genius responsible. Gigi from Pinks and Needles has one of the sweetest stores on Etsy that I've come across. I placed a little order to see her handiwork in person and look what arrived: Of course I didn't want these little beauties to disappear in my sewing box, so I needed a new pin cushion to go along with them. A quick search later and I set to work on using up some of the little scraps accumulating in my studio. One thing lead to another and the pin cushions started multiplying. I guess I'm just going to have to add something sweet and tiny to my ever growing giveaway pile. . . Speaking of which, still not too late to enter my "Name my serger" contest! Leave your entries here.

The finishing touch

My sister has a nickname for my kind of personality: "Small Pumpkins." That's a story for another post, but basically it infers that I obsess over little details. So it's only fitting that the thing I was most excited about including in my two quilt presents this summer was the personal quilt labels I ordered from Sweetwater. All I had to do was iron this little beauty on the back of the quilt. Voila'. The perfect finishing touch. Next time I think I'll plan ahead a little better and sew around the edge just for looks, but I'm still super pleased with how they turned out. The service was super quick and so very tailored. Once I submitted my order, the ladies over at Sweetwater gave me a couple layouts to choose from to ensure my label was set just right. I will definitely be ordering these again, I just loved them!! Now don't forget, you still have time to enter my "Name my serger" contest! Leave your entries here.

Mommy and Me Market Bags

Last week was my birthday. I have to admit, I was spoiled pretty rotten by loved ones with random packages arriving on my doorstep. One such package that definitely deserves a little bragging about included these: Mommy and Me Market bags! Aren't they darling? Want to know what makes them even better? They are the First Completed Sewing project my friend Colet has ever done. Included with her sweet gift was an even more thoughtful note about how seeing my completed projects here inspired her to finish one of her own. And I'm the lucky lady to get them! She did an awesome job. I would never have known they were her first. My first completed projects are usually found hiding in closets around the house. Seriously, look at those handles! She even trimmed the fabric so the lemons would run up the handles just so. Very impressive. I've found so much inspiration from the blogs I read, it feels wonderful to be paying that feeling forward. Thanks so much, Colet! You made my day! These will be getting a workout this afternoon at our local Farmer's Market. And, a reminder to everyone else: Keep imagining up names for my serger! Leave your entries here.

The big reveal

I spent the majority of my summer secretly working on a pair of quilts that I couldn't share with you until today! I'm so excited to finally have them finished and given to the happy recipients. Maybe you remember a certain stack of fabric that arrived in June. While we were planning for our 8th anniversary, my dear friend Michelle was spending 3 long weeks in labor with her second little boy. Yes, you read that right--3 LONG weeks in labor. I ordered enough of this fabric to make Tim's anniversary gift along with a second matching quilt for Michelle and her boys. First up was Tim's quilt to meet our July 21 celebration and with little Oliver's arrival on July 9th there was no time for resting before jumping into the second quilt. Tim requested this fabric collection, but I chose the pattern. I knew the blue, white, and red theme would be just right for Michelle since their family all has birthdays within 2 weeks of the 4th of July. It's a big time of year for them! I think this is the perfect couch blanket. Tim is tall so I extended the pattern in length and just a smidge in the width. It's perfect for sitting in his arm chair or for someone laying down on a couch. Or, for a certain mommy who has two little boys to snuggle with. Had to piece the back with Tim's favorite "red racing stripe" because I haven't quite figured out my quilt math and ordered just a few inches too little for the backing. In any case, I'm really pleased with how both quilts turned out. I'm even more pleased to be moving on to entirely different projects. I need to mix things up a little bit for my own sanity. Now I know never to do two identical projects back to back! But they were both made with tons of love.

Reader or Rockstar?

Last week I mentioned I made Diary of a Quilter's diaper clutch from her handy tutorial. The other fantastic tutorial I've gleaned from her site is for an adorable peanut-sized messenger bag. With the very best of intentions, I sewed up a library book toting version for the peanut. Comes complete with its own library card pocket right on the front: But as you can see, my peanut had other ideas of what to store within her tote bag. Seems it is just the right size to carry her new guitar: Maybe we'll put the bookworm fantasies aside for today and play rockstar instead. Don't all musicians need coordinated tote bags for their instruments?!

The Cat in the Hat does diaper duty

I'm finally making headway on my projects again. First up was this adorable diaper clutch for my friend Renee from book club. Renee's friend recently had a baby boy and outfitted the little guy's nursery in a Dr. Seuss theme. To make her gift more personal, Renee hunted down this awesome Seuss fabric to match the decor, isn't that sweet? I've made a couple of these clutches now, and they were an absolute cinch with help from the tutorial from Amy at Diary of a Quilter. She has a handful of tutorials that are so easy and completely addictive. I credit her with sparking my renewed interest in sewing this last spring. Finding her helpful step-by-step photo tutorials gave me the courage to try something other than quilting with my machine. Thanks, Amy!

Ode to Cherries

My husband's Uncle Tim owns a fantastic fruit orchard in Oregon. Every July, he generously disseminates a portion of his cherry harvest amongst the family far and wide. We were the lucky recipients of an extremely large offering of cherries a few days ago. Pictured here is just about half of the care package: My Tim has such sweet memories of helping Uncle Tim during harvest season when he was a young boy. Those days eating the ripe fruit straight from the tree has left him one of the more discerning cherry tasters I've ever known. It becomes quite the challenge to use our bounty in a way that does justice to Tim's favorite fruit. I think this year I finally hit on the winner. After years of trial and error, I'm going out on a limb to say that this is likely the best Cherry Crisp recipe you will find. It comes from testing out recipes from dozens of recipe sites and gathering the bits and pieces we like the best from each. I'm dubbing it after our fabulous cherry benefactor: ------------- Uncle Tim's Cherry Crisp Ingredients: Filling: 6 cups fresh pitted Bing cherries, sliced in half 1 1/4 cup sugar 3 tbsp tapioca 1 tsp almond extract Topping: 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour 3/4 granulated sugar 3/4 cup light brown sugar 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 cup oatmeal 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter healthy sprinkle cinnamon Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Toss to coat and let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Pour filling into a 9x13 pan and spread topping evenly over the cherries. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Serve warm or room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream. If you can get your hands on this, all the better. (And yes, it would be worth the shipping.) -------------- I think maybe once my crisp has cooled enough, we'll be enjoying our treat during a family picnic on the peanut's blanket. This last spring I snatched up some "Oh Cherry Oh" fabric from Moda and made a denim-backed blanket for her birthday gift. Today seems like the perfect occasion to serve up its inaugural meal.

My second quilt

Camille from Simplify and Carrie from La Vie en Rosie came up with the fantastic idea to share photos of your first quilt project alongside photos of your most recent work. What a fun comparison! This suggestion sent me running to the ottoman where our blankets are stored to dig up my earliest quilt. My very first quilt ever is actually under ownership by my sister. She won me over with compliments about how soft and snuggly it was, so it's been hers since she went off to college. She's in the middle of a big move right now, so asking her to send photos would just be a little thoughtless. Instead, I decided to pull out the blanket I mentioned is my husband's favorite, the second quilt I ever made. I constructed this quilt the summer before I moved into the sorority house in college 14 years ago. Yikes! Our colors were silver, gold, and blue and I was so excited to be a part of it all. This blanket served as my bed spread. As you can see, I hadn't started actual "quilting" yet, this is one of my hand-tied projects. I love the way the yarn ages over time making the whole thing feel so snuggly. It may not be a perfect specimen, but I'm still pretty proud of how it turned out. My most recent project is the reading blankie I wrote about a few weeks ago. I've washed it since then and it has definitely become my most favorite quilt ever. Night and day difference between non-washed and washed. I'm absolutely addicted to the puffy wrinkles the dryer gives a blanket. I love the fraying edges on it, too. The whole thing is just so touchable. Camille and Carrie have said they plan to list everyone who participates in this comparison next Monday. I can't wait to see some of the "before and afters" that other people post! After a long break inbetween sewing spurts, I'm just now really starting to polish my skills. I can only imagine the differences in quilting for those who have been working at it much harder and longer than I have. Thanks for the great idea, ladies!

My new reading blankie

I finished my first applique' quilt late last night. I experimented with my first attempt at a soft-edge technique that is supposed to fray and get softer with use and washings. True enough to it's description, I've been plucking threads for the last 24 hours but it is shaping up to be one of my favorite blankets. It is so cuddly! I tried out several new skills on this blanket so I knew from the get-go it was something I'd be keeping for myself to hide away my mistakes. Oddly enough there weren't many mishaps, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Maybe it's when you assume you're going to screw up that the sewing gods smile down on you. 

A close up of the softly fraying edges of the applique' strips:

A Tale of Two Quilts, Part 2

In all my years of quilting, I have never used the same pattern twice. Generally I make a quilt for a very specific purpose so there's never been an opportunity to repeat myself.  Earlier this spring, in an attempt to try my hand at actual quilting (vs. the hand-tying finish I usually use) I made a small baby quilt for a gift. I should have known better than to experiment on a gift since during the process I made many newbie mistakes. I would never feel right giving away my "flawed" little quilt.  Despite the mistakes, this quilt turned into one of my all-time favorite blankets so I decided to start over with new materials but used the same pattern. I'm astounded what swapping up the fabric can do even when the pattern is the same. 

Now that both quilts are finally bound and finished, I thought it would be fun to post side-by-side comparisons. The first quilt used Wonderland by Momo. The second is constructed from Snippets by American Jane. I used an accent strip on the back of each with a shade of yellow fabric that coordinated with the front.

Quilt 1: 

To finish the quilt, I used an all-over stipple pattern. I definitely need more practice at this!

Side-by-side comparisons:

Quilt 2:

When I finished this quilt, I decided to try the stipple effect just in the cream borders. I am really pleased with how it makes the colored rows pop.

The stipple pattern made a really fun effect on the back with rows of "puffier" blankie. I think this will end up being the perfect baby gift. I am so glad I experimented with this finishing style!