Before and After---Basket handbag---

A few posts ago, I posted this picture and said I was going to make a liner for the basket...


...and I did! I wanted the liner to be washable, so I decided not to sew it onto the basket. This way I can make a few different ones and enjoy the basket.

I have a very small piece of Sea Side Rose fabric left. I'm going to make a small bag to put into my basket. That should be the last of the Sea Side Rose fabric, I'm ready to move on to something else.

The Red

Do you ever have a day where one color seems to stand out? Today is the day for Red to me.... Just Check these out,

I found this food cover (or "roof" maybe? Does anyone know the real name? My kids thought it was an umbrella.) at the dollar store. My grandparents had something like this and I felt a little nostalgic.



Look at these beauties! Right from our garden.



There are some projects I am working on and I can't share with you all yet. This red DMC floss is a hint...



This little ball rolled out from behind the quilt rack.



Also, a magazine came today that had red flowers on the cover. Well... maybe I am pushing it a little, they are more like burgandyish color...



but, one of my blogger friends e-mailed me today that she recived some red fabric in the mail today!!

Isn't that something? No, I don't live my everyday life with themes. Although I must admit that, today was a day of red.

I am inspired

O.K., before I begin posting about my new quilt top, let me clarify something from my last post. Some people commented or told me in person that my "low key" birth day dinner was a low key party, not a low key dinner. I wanted to invit friends and family and have a birth day party, instead, it was just us. My low key dinner will be like... instant Mac & Cheese, Chef Boyardee, and grilled cheese sandwiches, if I have some energy to cook. Oh yeah, "Kids! Get in the car let's geab someting from Del Taco!" is in the lazy day menu too. I love to cook but sometimes I would rather sew then cook or clean too. Here, my dirty secrets are out... I hope you will still read my blog.:)



Several month ago, I came across this quilt book and I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT!!
The two ladies who wrote this book own a quilt shop called "Material Obsession" in Sydney Australia. The subtitle says "Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots" and I totally agree with that. Bold colors and unusual color combinations caught my eye but they use lots of traditional patterns. Also, many quilts in the book are hand quilted with BIG stitches.

I have been making quilts for s long time, but my style is soft color combinations with tiny peices and when I hand quilt for shows, I will do very tiny tiny stitches. Being a busy mom and making a quilts like that takes a long time from start to finish!

I am totally inspired by this book. I am not sure about copy right law, so I will not open the pages to share this wonderful book with you all. I just want to say, because of this book I dared myself to make this quilt. (This particular quilt is not in the book, it is my own pattern. The book inpsired the bold colors and big stitches.)




I made this with bolder colors and bigger stiches than I nomaly do. I love the results! As soon as I cut the last thread off the quilt, the kids started wrapping themselves in it. The quilts I made for shows are usually tucked away or on the wall, but this one I made for my family. Its purpose is to be used, cuddled, and loved. I hope those bright colors will be a part of my kids' childhood memories.

I promised to myself that I would not gasp or screech when they are rough with the quilt...

I have some left over blocks; I think I am going to make a pillow or two. I can't wait to take the quilt on a picnic!

Happy Birthday!

Today, we went up to grandma and grandpa's and had a big BBQ with family. The kids had a great time with their cousins playing pretty much all afternoon on a slip'n slid! Great food, fireworks and each other's company, it was a great way to spend a day.



Well, yesterday was my hubby's birthday. Since I had been sick we really didn't have any big plans. I decided that we will dine-in and watch a movie as a Family. I cooked his favorite stuff. I asked the children to "decorate" the room for the party (so I could cook without being distracted). They had so much fun doing this.

Ta-da




I made, Inari-sushi



Rolled- sushi



Japanese flavored deep fried chicken



And of course, the birth day cake.



He loves chocolate. So, I made a triple layerd chocolate cake. Sometimes doing something low key as a family is nice too. He loved his birth day cards from the kids and was able to just relax on the couch.

Happy Birthday honey!!

On Monday I will post my finished quilt. Here is the bias tape I made for the quilt.



See you on Monday!

Tutorial-- Framed Fabric--

I found this cute frame at the dollar store; what a find! I bought four of them.



First, take out the glass inside and use it as a template. I used a pop tart box to make the squares.



Second, place the glass on the wrong side of the fabrics and draw a line. You will need about 1/2" extra around the line, so you can tape the fabric to the back of the cardboard.



On the wrong side of the fabric, place the cardboard that you cut out and tape the corners. (That way the corners will be less bulky.)



Tape the sides.



Put it in to the frame without the glass. I saved all my glasses, so in the future if I change my mind I can use the frame for something else.



It took me less than 30 minute to complete the project. I love quick and easy projects like this. On top of that the whole thing cost me about 4 dollars!
I took them to Rachel's room and did this:



and this:



I decided to go with the second option. I love the unified look. The great thing is I can always change the fabrics if I want to. I think I am going to make more of these for diffrent areas of my house.

Basket Makeover

I am feeling a lot better today, which means... I am back in to sewing! I am working on this quilt and I have another project I want to do.

I made this baby quilt for Rachel, when I was still pregnant with her.



In fact, I start working on this one rignt after I found out that I was having a girl. The fabric I used is one of my most favorite lines from Moda, designed by "Three Sisters" called "Sea Side Roses". In fact I love these fabrics so much that I named the quilt after the line.



I sewed this tag on the back of the quilt, and was going to write the name of the baby when I decided her name but forgot about it. My first two were boys, and I made them a bunch of quilts and blankets. I was so excited that I was finally able to make a quilt for a baby girl! I went to a quilt shop and when I saw these gorgeous fabrics, I almost fainted. They were exactly what I was looking for, delicate flowers, soft colors of pink and greens...sigh

Anyway, I finally decided what I am going to do with the left over fabric. I found this fantastic basket at DI about six month ago. I took off the old lining and cleaned it. I was going to get back to the project when I find the perfect fabric for the lining. Ha! I had it all along.



The summer is half way over but I don't think it is too late to have a sweet basket to go out, right?

Free Give Away Winner!

I have rested very well but still the fever won't go away, I should go see my doctor next week. I just wanted to thank you guys who left nice comments for me.

Well... here is what I did to pick the winner. I made paper with names and folded them. Then, I called my kiddies and let them pick one each. They handed the papers to me without opening them. Finally, my hubby picked one out of final three.
The winner is.... (drum roll)

Ellen

Congratulations!! Please send me your info, so I can send you the kit.

Thank you everyone for playing! Just keep it mind that I am going to do a blogversary give away in August. I am thinking something special. hehehe...it's a secret.

Have a nice Sunday everyone!

Vacation? Not Quite...

Well... this week has been very slow for me and it is a good thing. In my last post I mentioned that I was sick and that night, around 4:00 am, it got worse. I will skip all the details but, my sweet mother-in-law took all the children until Saturday, so my husband could go to work and I could rest. Thank you so much Mom!

All day Thursday I slept (well to tell you the truth I did a little bit of stitchery in the afternoon while in bed...). Today I still feel weird but I am doing better than I did on Wednesday. I stayed in bed and rested but I still worked on this a little bit.



Originaly, I was going to frame this but a different idea came to my mind, so I am going to wait and see what I really want to do.

Don't forget, I am going to post the give away winner tomorrow night.

Meanwhile I am continuing to rest (with some light sewing) and get better. Because my sick leave is ending soon.

Much needed rest

Headaches, low-grade fever, body aches, and nausia. Yep, you guessed right; I have the flu. I have been sick since last friday. Those symptoms are not extreme, so I get up in the morning and go through my normal routine. It is annoyng to be this way, so I went to see a Dr. today. It is the regular flu and the doctor told me to drink plenty of fluid, and sleep. Hmmmm...that is a hard order. With three small kids staying in bed is very difficult. Besides, I don't like laying down and doing nothing. I feel like I am wasting my time or something.

When I got home I had no energy to cook, thank you chef boyardee! After they were fed I decided to go to bed. I think I need to do so, after finishing this post.

I started a new quilt top and I was going to piece them tonight but my body is telling me otherwise.



I will be a good girl and follow the doctor's orders tonight.
Good night everyone...

New Stitchery Pattern and Free Give Away!!

I have been designing and selling stitchery patterns for several years under the name "Just A Stitch Away". I have been trying to finish up with this Christmas pattern for sometime. Yes it is still July, but when I was talking to a manager at Pine needle, she told me that they will start putting Christmas stuff out on display soon. I guess this way, people can start working on Christmas gifts now. I needed to pick up speed.

I will start putting this patterns in some quilt stores this week and in my etsy store soon. I hope people will love this pattern like I do! (I am crossing my fingers...)

By the way...

I want to do a free give away for this pattern. I will make a kit. The kit will include:
Light color fabric
thin cotton batting
DMC threads
fabric for the borders (same as shown in the picture)
backing to make a pillow. (No frame. Sorry girls!)

Here are the rules:
1.Leave your comment on this post.

2.Follow my blog or link to my blog from your's and let me know so that I can enter you twice.

3.On Saturday night, I will post the winner. If you are the winner, email your mailing address to me, so I can send you the kit. If you live outside of United States, don't be shy, post a comment! I will gladly send you the item if you are the winner.

I hope you started out on a good note this week. See you next post!

Lost and Found

I was cleaning some other sections of my work area (I posted what I found when I was cleaning my scraps the other day HERE)a couple of days ago, and I found these.



I used to draw all the time and in my teens I wanted to go to art school. My health issues and family conflicts prevented me from pursuing that dream and eventually, I stopped drawing like that.

Do you ever feel like you lost something important to you? Like a big part of yourself? When I found these drawings I remembered that part of me.

Well, I daydreamed a little, what would it have been like if I kept working at it. Then I snapped out from La-La Land, because the kids were calling for me... oh, it was lunch time.

Perhaps, I didn't lose that part of me, I just tucked it away and forgot about it. I found something more important and dear to my heart. Sometimes life is crazy, loud, and needs lots of my attention but I will never trade this for anything.





I think I am going to start drawing with the kids every once in a while. That will be fun.


I have been working on my new stitchery pattern for my Etsy store and quilt stores. I will post some pictures on Monday. See you then...

Red and White Polka Dot Bag

I found this oil cloth(by Moda... of couse) at a local quilt store. Ohh...
how it made me jump with joy!! Red and white is one of my favorite combinations and on top of that... Polka dots!? You can't beat that. I decided to make a market bag!

I used this floral fabric for liner.



I made a flower clip to go with it.

I am ready for summer adventures!( well, within reason...)

Post July 4th and Peach Cobbler

We had a lot of fun at park last Saturday. Eveything went well except for one thing. I wanted to make a peach cobbler but I couldn't. I thought that the ice cream would be hard to keep frozen and decided not to. I had been keep thinking about the peach cobbler all day Sunday, even during church. I know, I should have been more focused.

I was too tired to cook dinner after church (besides, we had tons of leftovers),but I was not tired to bake a peach cobbler! This recipe is super easy, quick and yummy. Several of my friends asked for the recipe, so here goes:

Easy Peach Cobbler (makes 6 servings)

you will need;

1 16oz can of sliced peaches undrained 1 cup flour 1 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup Milk 2 tsp baking Powder 1/8 tsp salt 1 stick butter

1. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, cook peaches until boiling.

2. In a medium bowl mix flour, 1 C sugar, milk, baking powder and salt.


3. In a 2 quart casserole dish, melt butter.

4. Pour batter over butter.



5. Add peaches, do not stir.


6. Sprinkle remaining sugar over entire casserole.


7. Bake at 400°F for 20-30 min.

8. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream or both...


I tried this recipe with fresh peaches once and it was even better.(it was more work, but if you want try it, I highly recommend it.)

After we had leftovers for dinner, we enjoyed the peach cobbler. Mmmmm... I was satisfied.

Red, White and Blue

I have been working on some new dresses for Rachel. I wanted to make something for the Fourth July and came up this...


My favorite color is white, and I love the combinations of red and white.

Where is the blue? Here are some blue flowers. I love the fabric; very summerly and happy colors.



For the Forth we are having a big picnic at a park with extended family. This is becoming our family tradition. We will have a BBQ and other good food while we play soccor, badminton, frisbie and even some board games. Every year, I bring bubbles and glow sticks for the little ones.

The grand finale is the fire works. It never gets old; I love watching fire works. Lined up chairs and blankets and pillows make me feel happy and warm inside. I love creating memories with my loved ones.

It is late, I better get to bed soon for tomorrow. I feel all red, white and blue inside. I'm excited about what kind of fun we will have!

Happy Fourth of July every one!