New Quilt Top

Remember this; I blogged about it last month.



It took me a while to decide what to do with the moda fabrics. After going back and forth, I finally made the decision to use snowball block to make the quilt. Once I started it was a very easy and quick project.




I was so excited when I finished piecing that I'm thinking about making another one with the same pattern but with my usual color scheme.
I'm going on a vacation this weekend with my friends. (NO KIDS!!!!) There are so many projects that I want to do, I want to bring my sewing machine and fabrics with me, but I won't. If I did, they would kick me out of the mini-van. :)
Sometime next week, I will do my first give-away so check back next week. Everyone have a nice weekend!

Tutorial--Bias Tape---

I decided to make a tutorial about a project that I have done. I am going to have more tutorials in the future, won't that be fun! That way my blog would be more useful for some of the people visiting here. In this tutorial I want to show a technique that I use to make bias tape. There are several ways to do this; I've tried many, but for me this is the most comfortable and effective way to make bias tape. This is very useful knowledge to have, and I find it fun to do. If you have a fat quarter you can start making bias tape and using it for many different projects. They are used to finish off a quilt. Here goes!

First I make a square out of the fabric. The corners must be 90°. Fold the fabric into a triangle.


Cut away the excess.



Because I have a cutting mat, I was able to just cut the triange in half. If you don't have a cutting mat, you can open the triage to make a square and then using a straigh edge, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner, and then cut.



Arrange the triangles right sides together. Offset the triangles by about a quarter of an inch.



Pin the triangles together. (This picture shows the overlap a bit better too)



Using a quarter inch seam, sew them together.



Open the seam and press with a hot iron (Don't stretch the fabric).



Fold fabric back into a square.










I like to cut 1 3/4 inch strips, you may prefer wider strips. It depends on the project you are on and what you need or want.










After I finish cutting it into strips, I then sew the strips end to end by pinning the strips right sides together, offset a quarter of an inch.



After they are all sewn together in one long line, open up at the seams and press with an iron. Then cut off the excess.



As I iron, I use my fingers to fold the fabric. Some people prefer folding the strip in half, I prefer folding the edges into the center.



Now the bias tape is ready to use. I hope this was helpful to some of you.

Farewell

It has been a long time since I brought you home. But it is time to say good-bye. You have been there for us whenever we needed you. Even one of my children was so attached to you. Everyone needs to move on, it will be a little bit wierd to see your usual spot empty. In my heart, I know you will be more useful and appreciated somewhere else. Since my last one doesn't need you anymore, I have to say good-bye to you, "Good-bye, Good-bye, Mr. Potty"

I will enjoy the extra space in the kids small bathroom.

I DID IT!!!

I don't know what came over me, but one night while I was sitting on the couch, I decided, "OK, now is the time to do it!!" What is it, you might ask yourself? Machine quilting. I had been avoiding it for a while now, because I didn't want to mess up my quilt. I guess you have to start from somewhere. I pieced a baby quilt a few weeks ago.



It was based (which means the back, batting, and top were layed out and then held together) and ready to be quilted. I kept putting it off until I finally found the courage to just do it. Ever since I've started quilting, I've been a hand quilter. I still love doing hand quilting, but it is nice to have both skills.



I've done machine quilting before but it was just straight stitches. This time I tried a method called stippling. It is free motion quilting, I just move the quilt around randomly and make this pattern. Because I made a tight pattern, it took longer than I thought it would. It took about four hours, but I finished it. It's not perfect, but this is the first of many to come! :)

Sweater Felt Project

I been wanting to try this project, it was in a Country Living magazine a few months ago. I'm sorry I don't have a link to it, but I will tell you what I have done.

I went to a thrift store and found this old sweater. I personally don't care to wear this particular sweater but I like the patch-work look.


First get a wool sweater and wash it hot water with detergent in the washing machine on a normal cycle. Then dry it in the dryer. That's it. Depending on the sweater you might have to rewash it several times. This will transform the wool into felt.

In the magazine they had instructions for a different style of bag. I did not care for that one so I did my own thing.


After the sweater became felt, the whole process of making this bag was fun! When I made the first cut with my scissors, it did not flay. I succeeded in making felt! I had no plan on how to make this, I just kind of went with the flow. I would love to make more wool felt but it was hard to find 100% wool sweater at the local thrift stores. I have to say, my curiosity was satisfied.

House of Discipline

I was out running some errands. Aaron was home with the children. We were talking on the phone and as Aaron was walking down the stairs he noticed someone was in timeout.



Aaron called Rachel, and she came from the TV room and replied, "What Daddy?"
Aaron then said, "Did you put your baby here?"
"Yes!"
"Why"
"She's in timeout." (Rachel was put into timeout this morning and was probably "reliving" the experience through her baby doll.)
Aaron asked, "Why?"
Rachel smiled and said, "'cause, she hit me"

Love is in the Air

Just before Christmas, American Crafts had a warehouse sale. My friend and I went there, I bought lots of ribbons and scrapbooking supplies. One of the things I bought was this container of felt cut-outs.


I thought using this would speed up the Valentine's project I had in mind. I used the felt hearts with embroidery thread, beads, and buttons. I made several combinations.










The project was small and very easy to do. Since I didn't have much time, before Valentine's day (helped the kids get their Valentine's pary stuff done, tae kwon do, and other things) I caried them around in a zip lock bag and I did them while waiting to pick up my boys from school and other spare moments I could find. I love projects like that!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's day with their loved ones!!

Michaelisms times three

Michaelism [mahy-kuhl-iz-uhm]-noun. A saying or idea from Michael that totally catches everyone off guard.

I have several Michaelisms, in fact it is hard to go through a day without at least one or two.

Human Right's Day

Sunday the 11th of January, we were driving up to Grandma's and Grandpa's house for a dinner, when Christopher, out of the blue stated that there was no school on the 19th.
Michael asked, "Why?"
Christopher responed, "I don't know".
Then Aaron chimed in, "It's human rights day or civil right's day."
Michael innocently asked, "What's human right's day?"
Aaron responded, "It's the day we celebrate all things right. We can only go right, turn right, or talk to the people on our right."
There was silence as the gears inside Michael's head started turning. I call it the ticking moment. He's thinking.
On our way home several hours later, Michael suddenly spoke up and said, "I don't like human rights day!"
Aaron, chuckled and said, "But, Michael, you get the day off from school."
Michael responed, "I don't like it."
Then Aaron asked, "Why?"
We were totally unprepared for the response. "Sometimes I want to go left or straight."

Question Asked

Aaron and I were in different rooms. I heard a commotion; the boys were fighting. And we heard, "Christopher you loser!" That is totally unacceptable in our house. We called the boys to us and gave them a chance to tell us what was going on.
Christopher said, "Michael called me a loser."
Aaron then asked, "Michael, did you call Christopher a loser?"
Michael thought for a moment and then finally responded, "Well... Daddy, that is a hard question."
It was so hard for us to keep a straight face.

Fatherly Advice

This again, happened while we were driving. Christopher tattled on Michael, "Dad, Michael is picking his nose!" (Oh come on, all kids his age do that!)
So Aaron said, "Michael! You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose!"
Michael, quiet for a moment (tick tick tick), then asked very innocently, "They can pick their own nose?"


Sometimes parenting is hard, but moments like these make us laugh and keep us going.

If you give Sachiko a piece of Jewelry

This is the only Jewelry I have from Lia Sophia. Depending on where the light hits it, it looks green or sometimes it looks blue. I love it so much that I wanted something similar but in a different color...








So I made a pink one! I wasn't sure what color I should combine, so I did salmon pink pearl and lavender Swarovski. And that reminded me that...






I've wanted a pink bracelet for a while. I don't know if it is that I'm getting older or if having a girl made me want to have pink things, but lately I've been drawn to pink stuff! In my bead case, next to the pink beads were some...






Burgondy beads. I wanted to experiment with them and make something in a darker color. I came up with these. I tried them on and was very happy! Those bracelets reminded me of...





A bracelet in Cath Kidson's catalogue, but it was too expensive for my tastes. I wanted to imitate the look and came up with this. The color of the pearl reminded me that I'd lost one of my favorite pearl earrings...





So I made one. I love the color white. I wanted a matching necklace to go with it. So I...









made a long necklace with pearl and glass beads and some beige-ish color so that it would go with several of my outfits. Neutral color jewelry is nice because it is versatile, but sometimes I want something a little more fun and different. Something different reminds me of the Lia Sophia earrings that I have. I think I'll wear those today!

Valentine Quilt (Top)

OK, it's not quilted but I pieced a Valentine's quilt togehter. I love the random look. I mixed new Moda fabric with scraps I had lying around.


I'm still trying to decide if I should add a border to it, or just call it as is. I had some left over fabrics. I can never get rid of tiny pieces. In my work area, I have a basket full of scraps. Some are 1" x 1", I don't know what I'm going to do with 'em, but I can't throw them out. With the left over fabric from the Valentine's Quilt, I just made this pin cushion.


There is something about Valentine's theme; red, pink, white, and chocolate brown, that makes me feel cheerful and happy. I might make some more Valentine's crafts in the next few days!