sometimes you get lucky

And was I ever lucky at one of my local quilt shops yesterday! I went in looking for a particular shade of shot cotton for Rob's quilt, and was really disappointed that it was sold out. So I checked the sale section and found these:

Technically, the pumpkins weren't in the sale section, but they were a good find considering I had looked online just hours earlier and couldn't find them. Claire had just asked if I could find more of the West Hill ponies in blue for a quilt I'm making for her bed. I told her it was probably going to be hard to do, so I was thrilled beyond belief to find two yards on that bolt. I'm in love with the Nicey Jane too. I never realized how cool the print is.

Cooper does not consider himself as lucky. It's embarassing to be driven around the neighborhood wearing powder blue fleece. But that's fall for you. I'll let him upgrade to the cool plaid Patagonia snowsuit when the weather gets a bit colder. 

scenes from the weekend

Whew, is it Monday already? I'm pooped. So here's an abbreviated version of the weekend:

Mullet Removal/First Haircut (Cooper was starting to look like an 80s hearthrob, which was not cool.) Avery was our official photographer. The photos are all pretty funny.

Sewing-in with the Anchorage Modern Quilt Guild. We made some improv blocks a la Denyse Schmidt and ate some of the best cookies and cinnamon rolls ever. I also started a super secret project for Rob that will hopefully be revealed next week.

 

Do I look tired? Because I am. Drama-free teething no longer exists in this house.


 SNOW! It stuck to the mountains, but we got a bunch of flakes down low too. Winter is on it's way!

Lasagna for dinner-- and the next couple of days for lunch. Good stuff. In fact, it's the best lasagna recipe you could ever make and has been the only one I've used since I was in high school. If you want it, let me know.

And have I mentioned how much I love my blogging friends? It's good to be a Krista.

It's 25 degrees outside right now at my house. Here's hoping it's a bit warmer where you're at! Have a good week!

WIPs- bee quilts

Okay, I was disappointed to read the comments from my last post saying that no one else had experienced my unfortunate urp in the mouth. Rob admitted it happened to him. But on to the quilting...

First up-- my quilt top for my Fussy Cut Love Bee. I got some incredible wonky blocks from the members of my group, and I was happy at the time that I was using a very limited palette. But when I put the blocks together, each individual one was lost. White sashing, not practical. Adding more green made things, well, too green.

So last night I decided I would sash it in this incredible raspberry shot cotton. It's crazy, but I like it!

Next up, my quilt for the Not Your Grandma's Quilting Bee. I'm still waiting on a few blocks, but am loving where this is going. I'm planning to make extras and make it really, really big. It's based on this quilt by Ingrid Press. The woman is amazing.

And last but not least, I'm gathering blocks up for Rachel's do.Good Stitches charity bee. She has gathered a group of amazing quilters who are putting together blocks in a green and blue square-in-a-square style, which are being sent to me for finishing out into the final quilt. I'm only showing a sneak peek because I have other blocks received that eluded me in the sewing room. I should have all of the blocks by the end of the month, then it will be on my priority list of finishes. It will then go out to a special kid who really needs it. Awesome stuff, and I'm so glad to be a part of it.

This weekend I'll be attending the first sew-in for the Anchorage Modern Quilt Guild. Five hours of sewing, away from distractions? I'll take it! We'll see what gets done. Have a great fall weekend!

it only took 9 months...

... for me to get puked on inside of my mouth. I was holding Cooper up high, trying to get a better look at his new tooth (!) and he nailed me. It's just as gross as I remember from when Avery and Claire were babies. We were both shocked, staring at each other, but then we both laughed. Having a baby around is always fun.

And yes, only 9 months for that first tooth as well! It made its showing yesterday, with very little drama really. I hope the whole teething experience goes this smoothly!

squishy, feel good kind of stuff

I managed to finish the binding yesterday morning on my mustard and aqua mermaid quilt. I washed it up and was so incredibly happy with how squishy it ended up! The flannel backing makes it extra cozy, and I can see it being used a lot this winter.

It even coordinates with Casey, so maybe I won't mind when it gets covered in her fur. Although I will not invite her to snuggle in it again.

I made another mug rug as well. As I was putting it together though I didn't really think through durability, so the quilting only goes through the batting, not the backing. So I think this is destined to be a micro-mini of sorts, which will hang on the wall in one of the kids' rooms. But I can see myself making another, and doing it right. It's just so happy.

And finally, Cooper is 9 months old today. As I type this, he is happily cooing away in his crib, hopefully about to fall asleep for his morning nap. Well, scratch that. Now he's fussing, hopefully about to fall asleep for his morning nap. He's about to get his first tooth-- we can see it under the surface ready to pop. And his army crawling is getting pretty fast. He's got a two handed, one foot technique that works well. It makes him a busy guy with a lot going on. We like that.

Have a great, feel good Tuesday! What are you working on this week?

back to it

While it's slow going with the binding on my mermaid quilt, I did manage to complete a wee mug rug this morning. I'm struggling (in a weird way) with my mug rug swap partner-- because she seems to like everything! (I realize my problems could be much worse!) So I keep stalking her comments and favorites in hopes that I will be able to tell what she REALLY loves. Maybe this will work, maybe not? I'm thinking I might need to go brighter...

scenes from the weekend

This weekend our family backpacked a section of the Resurrection Trail from Hope to the Caribou Creek Cabin. We were quite the crew with all of the kids and dogs! To say that I'm so proud of Avery and Claire would be an understatement-- they hiked the 14 miles, uphill one way and down the other, without complaint. Cooper rode in the stroller this time (not an easy feat for Rob going over the mud and rocks) and loved it. It worked well for me since he wasn't on my back and I got to wear my regular pack. Easy peasy.

As a huge bonus, the weather was insane! We had totally sunny skies and temps in the 60s. We booked the cabin back in May, so we really feel like we lucked out. No terrifying wildlife run-ins either, unless you count the spruce hens that burst out of the trees this morning and scared the bloody hell out of me. I thought I was a mauled woman.

We had so much fun stretching out a bit more of the summer! Now we can start settling into fall and the thought of staying closer to home.

binding...

... is going great! Phew!

Thank you for all of the nice comments yesterday. In true me fashion, as soon as I made that post and got all of my issues out, things went smoothly. I changed the needle in my machine. That seems to be the answer for most of my sewing problems (and left me wondering again why I didn't do it sooner). Then I finished up the quilting after getting the girls from school. Cooper hung out next to me playing with toys, and before I knew it, all the loops were done. And they look good, save a few weird ones.

I woke up early this morning and took advantage of the quiet time to prepare the binding. After auditioning some aqua dots and a few other busy prints, I decided to stick with aqua shot cotton. The back is a super soft green polka dot flannel. I decided all of my lap quilts will be backed in flannel from now on-- it's so snuggly!

So all that's left to do is the handstitching. And I always look forward to that. It will likely have to wait though, because we're going to be doing some more backpacking this weekend with the kids. It's a 14-mile round trip adventure-- wish us luck! Of course, it can't be harder than what I'll have to tackle when I get home. Check out the instructions I received for the Caesar's Crown block I'm doing (times six) for Bee Mental.

Yikes. Mental is right.

Have a good one!

basting and quilting...

... are not going well! Argh!

I decided to pin baste instead of using spray, which has been my norm lately. I ran out of safety pins. Some swear words may have come out of my mouth. Even more came out when I left to see if I could find more pins, and came back to find a muddy dog laying right in the middle of my half-basted quilt. I decided to spray baste the rest instead of risking leaving it on the floor to go buy more pins. It's much easier to deal with, and I should have done that in the first place.

Quilting is also going horribly. I decided I'd do loops. Thread keeps breaking. I quilted one corner of the quilt to the middle of it. How, I do not know. And I found out I suck at loops. It will look better once it's washed, right? (deep breath)

On a good note, I received my quilt from the Doll Quilt Swap the other day! It's hanging in my sewing room where I can see it all the time, and I love it. Thanks Carla!

my little guy and a sewing slow down

Cooper is 8.5 months old now and full of so much personality. It's getting more and more difficult to remember those early days with him when he was colicky and crabby-- now he's just so happy. Unless you withold his food. He chatters a bunch, saying "da da" and (the girls' favorite) "blech." This morning he was a wee bit gassy, and everytime he'd let one go and I'd say, "toot!" he would laugh and laugh. Before I knew it, he was trying with all his might to let more out. What a BOY.

There is still no crawling, although Cooper gets from sitting to his tummy and is able to inch forward when he really wants something. He loves pulling back the edges of rugs and trying to munch them. No teeth either, which is good considering he gives full face kisses that include chin bites. He loves to sit on the floor and will play forever with a basketful of toys (or camping equipment when he's hanging with Rob in the gear room). He gives what a mom at school called "full body hugs," where he grabs and snuggles as hard as he can. I just love him.

My productive sewing streak has slowed a bit. I find myself just sitting in my sewing room, stacking fabric and thinking about projects, yet not wanting to cut into anything. I keep making huge messes too that make it almost impossible to get anything done. I separated out my scraps by color this morning while Cooper was napping. I've been throwing them into a big wire bowl, but I want them more useable. I might even iron them and store them flat in plastic bins to make them more project ready. I'm planning to pick up some cozy flannel this afternoon for backing my mermaid quilt and get to quilting it. I think a big finish would feel pretty good!

I've got a new favorite

Color combo, that is. Move over orange and aqua!

Remember back in May when Liberty of London hit the Target stores and we were all going crazy, buying up the girls dresses in size XL and cutting them up for the fabric? Oh, you didn't go all nutso like I did? Shoot. Well, it was a grand plan, until I realized that the cotton was beautiful but very, very thin, and I was terrified to work with it. Well today, I stumbled upon my little tupperware of that fabric and found this awesome pink, red, and navy print and decided it was time to make something. So I made this table runner. Just a strip of the fabric, some linen, and some organic (i.e. fast) straight line quilting.

I even machine stitched the binding! It was actually much easier than I thought it would be, and I only missed a couple of spots. If I had used pins instead of just folding the binding as I went, it would have gone even better. I won't use this method on quilts because I prefer the look and activity of handstitching. But I think I will use the machine for binding more on placemats, potholders, etc.

So about that color combo-- I am suddenly all over berry and navy. I think it started with this awesome quilt top I saw on flickr. And suddenly I started seeing rich pinks everywhere, including on the print of one of my favorite shirts (pictured below), where it's paired up with navy. And that's how I became obsessed. It's funny, because we don't have pink in our house at all, and it really doesn't fit. We're more into reds, oranges, blues, and greens. So this new table runner totally sticks out. Hmmm. Must figure out how to incorporate more pink into our decorating. (Rob will be thrilled.)

Before I had fully realized this new color obsession, I even made a shot cotton scarf out of it last week. Here I am modeling it in the dark bathroom mirror. This horrible photo is just as much to document the new haircut I got this afternoon (4 inches off!) as it is to show the scarf, because my hair will likely never look this frizz-free again.

I must add that the haircut and table runner were courtesy of my fantastic inlaws, who watched the kids this afternoon so I could have a few hours to myself. All moms know that time like this is invaluable! So thank you Rita and Bob!

and the winner is...

 
 
 
 
 
 

Monica! (I always thought that the first commenter on giveaway posts would never get picked. Guess I was wrong!) Congrats Monica! I'll email you for your address.
 
There were quite a few commonalities in the comments about intimidating crafty things-- it looks like zippers and buttonholes scare the bejeezus out of a lot of us. Maybe I can find a free pattern (patterns-- shudder) with both of those techniques and do an informal sew-along to get us over our fears. For now though, I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and does something crafty!

doh! and a wee giveaway

Don't you hate it when you put off trying something because you think it's SO HARD? I feel this way about a lot of crafts, particularly ones where there are pattern pieces. I freeze up when it comes time to cut the fabric. Hence all of my improvisational projects.

Making a simple drawstring bag was one of those things. I couldn't wrap my head around the casing. But last night I became a woman obsessed with making one. So I read many, many tutorials. And found this one to be intriguing. Because no lining? And French seams (another thing I feared)? Yay!

So this morning I gave it a try. This one is maybe 7" square and uses one of my favorite fabrics-- a japanese matryoshka linen. So freaking simple, why did I not try this sooner??? I see many, many of these in my future. So many, that I'm going to give this one away. I'll even fill it with some fun stuff. Just leave me a comment with one of those projects that you've been putting off, or overcame. I'll leave it open until midnight tomorrow (Friday, September 3) Alaska time.

Toodles!