Stash Sunday

Have I blogged about this fabric before? It's been on my mind lately. I really am trying to think of something fun to do with that kitchen fabric. And then there's the Kokka fabric below it...what to do with that? It just screams "pillows" to me...but really, I don't need pillows and I don't need that pattern. Hmmm...what to do?

Thanksgiving + Meme

I hope all of you Americans had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a lovely time. Of course I blogged about it over on the Family Blog and posted picture on Flickr...if you're interested, of course.

I was tagged by another good friend from blog-land, Anna of Sew What. This is the first meme for me. Should be interesting. I'm breaking the "guidelines" a little and not picking people to play. I always feel so bad having to decide to to pick, then telling them I picked them and making them feel obligated to play. So if you would like to play, i'd love to read 7 little known facts from Sometimes Crafter's Mom (you never know, I might learn something new about my mom), Liz (yes, I know we are virtually twins, but I love finding new things that make use more like twins), Katie in Germany, Cornflower Blue Studio, Kate Quilts, And Sometimes I Quilt and that should about do it for now.

7 Little Known (to blog-land) Facts About Myself:

1. I am a geology major and just 5 classes away from my BS in Geology. My area of study is groundwater geology. I guess I want to dig wells...water is the new oil after all. I'm also a math minor. Funny, I hated math all through grade school. I'll finish one day soon, after Brice is a little older.

2. I ALWAYS clean the kitchen before cooking. I can't cook in a dirty kitchen. My husband thinks i'm strange.

3. I was engaged to my husband on my sister-in-laws birthday, 4 months after meeting him. We were married in Las Vegas 4 1/2 months later and pregnant just one month after that.

4. My second toe is longer than my first. (Apparently called Morton's Toe) I can type on my laptop with my second toe if my hands are busy and I just MUST type something. I thought everyone could do this, my husband informs me otherwise. So it's said that Morton's toe is a sign of royalty...so is a clubbed thumb (of which I have two). I hate my thumbs and toe. I wanted plastic surgery as a kid. Sometimes I still do.

5. I love to fly fish. It's very relaxing. I also like kayaking, hiking, snowboarding, ... But for some reason i've done very little of this since i've met my husband. He doesn't believe that I like to do this stuff. Apparently owning my own kayak and snowboard isn't proof enough. I've been a little busy since we've met. Planning a wedding, growing a baby, raising a baby....

6. I can twist my tongue upside down to the left and right. No fingers involved. Just sheer tongue muscle. It's hereditary, and I get it from my father's mother's side of the family. Brice can do it, too! Already!

7. I had my gallbladder out two years ago this Christmas. I got to go home Christmas Eve...I had terrible pancreatitis. I shouldn't have gone home when I did, but the doctor didn't want me to have to be in the hospital on Christmas. I heal fast.

Ok, was that interesting enough? It's fun sharing a little bit about myself that isn't craft related!

More crafting to follow this week. I finished another quilt... And i'm loading another one to quilt tomorrow...

Neglectful

I have been unable to craft very much with my current "project". So I haven't much to blog about. The picture above is pulled back a little from my previous post. Maybe a little clearer as to what it is. I love my macro lens, which I used on the last photo, it gets so much of the detail and texture. I was feeling a bit guilty, the picture isn't actually what i'm working on for my sister for Christmas, but this is the current project that is consuming what little time I spend in the CSO. (You guys had some great guesses on what it could be, had me looking at the picture in a whole new perspective!) I finished editing pictures today and am working on getting it all together. I was really hoping to have a bunch of stuff done before Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if i'll make it. If only I had a little more time to myself during the day. I have a huge project to complete in the next week or so...a quilt for a family member that will need to be mailed. I'm sure you'll all be going on a photographic journey of that with me.

I Forgot...

I forgot to tell you about a giveaway at Little Blue Cottage last night. She's giving away some yardage from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line. Yippy!

Sunday Stash

Lime Sushi by Dan Morris from Chopsticks Please! for Robert Kaufman. I only got a 1/4 of a yard, it was too cute to pass up, but really, I have no plan for it. Just stash building. One day it will be the perfect print for "that" project. Brice turned 6 months this weekend. I can't belive it's been that long already. When do I get to sleep for more than a 2 hour strech at night...

Ah-ha!

Don't you just love those moments where it finally clicks. I had one of those moments this evening. I've been trying to think of something to make for the oldest of my little sisters. Because they live so far away, I don't get to interact with them but a few times a year, so sometimes it's hard to know what's a good gift for them. I want them to really like what they recieve. And, since the oldest got her quilt two years ago, I needed something else. Well, I got it. But, I think i'll wait to tell you, until it's finished and photo ready. The suspense!

Wow - Two Awards!

How special do I feel? I've been given two awards by two great bloggers!



Katie at Making This Home awarded me this! Of course I feel so honored! Here's what she had to say:

Christina: makes me dream of a sewing machine (and her mad skills!). She’s got a knack for the camera and the coolest baby boy.

How sweet is that! Katie has become a good blogging-world friend these past couple months. Not only do we read/comment on each others blogs, but we enjoy emails back and forth, too. That to me is one of the coolest things about these blogs. Making new friends in other parts of the world...and here at home, too. She's living in Germany now, and renovating her apartment there. I'm having so much fun following it all. You'll have to check it out for yourself. Their kitchen is 36 SF! Yes, that's 3-6, 36 SF! Crazy. Now that i've received this award i'm to go to Berlin and bringing peanut butter cups with me. How can I refuse? One day soon, I hope.

Tamara at 1/4 of an Inch awarded me this:

"The "Proximidade" or "Friendship around the World" award is for blogs that are special in some way and extend the hand of friendship around the world.

So sweet. I hope you'll check out both of their blogs and i'm going to take this opportunity to fill you in on a few new blogs i've found lately and really like:

i heart linen

Tallgrass Prarie Stuido

Film in the Fridge

The Pink Penguin

Camera Strap For A Friend

My girlfriend Stephanie got a new camera last week, one of those really cool Nikon D90's with video. She asked if I would make her a new strap, she really didn't like the Nikon one. (Her husband did for some strange reason.) But the wonderful husband he is, he agreed to a new, custom, fabric strap. She choose one of my favorite fabrics. I'm going to go buy a little more with the money she paid me for the strap. I want to make sure I have lots of this one on hand. It's from the Lotus line by Amy Butler.

Short post tonight, and we'll see about one for tomorrow. You know how "they" say exercising helps cramps, they are full of you-know-what. And to help matters, baby seems to be teething again. It's going to be a looooonnnnnnggggg night.

Finally!

It's done...well, except the label. I'm always lame about labels.

I washed it Sunday and it looks so great all crinkly. I remember the old days, before blogs, when I use to like my quilts un-crinkled. Now I can't wait until they are all washed and ready to cuddle up in.

So now that it's all together, washed and out of site for a few days...I like it better. Seeing it through the lens gave me a whole new perspective on it. The majority of it is Amy Butler's fabrics from one of her first lines. (Of course I can't remember what that was.) The backing was a Michael Miller print - Patty Paisley. I used a pattern from a Fat Quarter quilt book. I'm too tired to go look it up, but if your interested, email/comment and i'll get the info when i'm more with it.

Ta Da! Thanks for holding it mom! I'm off to bed - and hoping baby lets me get more than a hour of sleep at a time tonight.

Quilting For Mom

Brice and I headed to my moms house after his allergy appointment Thursday. My mom was making up a quilt for her oldest Westie, Lady, to lay on when in her office on the couch.

It's so cute. She used Westie fabric that she's had for a few years. When it came to quilting it, she got nervous. So I went ahead and quilted it for her. It was small, so went really quick.

And I got to try out stippling on it. I had just finished the quilt in my last post, but that was a lot "bigger" stippling. I used the smaller handles on the HQ and did really tiny stippling. It was fun. I really like how it turned out and i'm excited to do future quilts in this design. You'll have to check out my mom's blog to see the finished quilt in it's full glory.

Sunday Stash

Some Japanese cottons.  I bought most of these a few years back in Cannon Beach, Oregon at Center Diamond.  I stumbled across a few more in recent years.  This was my first encounter with Japanese fabrics.  If I had to guess, i'd say I bought them about 5 or 6 years ago...maybe longer.  Long ago I had the idea of using them for a baby quilt for a little boy...but had no boy to make it for.  How funny that all these years later I have a little boy of my own.  Guess i'd better get crackin'!  I'm thinking 5" squares with white sashing between...?

Another Quilt Finished

Another quilt for the "to bind" pile. It's sitting here next to me in bed, i'm trying to get myself to work on it before going to sleep. This one is the one from the last post, a Christmas present for one of my sisters. I'm trying my hardest to get over the fact that I don't like this as well as I did two years ago when I started it.

I messed up when quilting it and the backing somehow got messed up so I had to trim the outter boarders REALLY skinny. Looks kind of funny. But I know a 14 year old won't care. It's just going to end up wadded on the floor anyways.

Crafting for the Holidays

I finished up a quilt that is a Christmas gift for one of my little sisters and loaded it on the longarm. I've been working on it for two years now! Time to get it done!

I decided to try a new quilting design on this quilt. It's kind of stippling, but it's too big I think to be called that. So I think of it as more of a meander.

I'm really happy with the look of it. I can't wait to wash it and see how it looks all crinkly.

Just a Little Late

I only had the binding to finish on this little wall quilt.

Unfortunately it was finished after Halloween. But it's still so adorable! I hung it up anyways. (The one on the left.) This was made with a Pumpkins Gone Wild charm pack and a pattern made specifically for it.

Something New

Do you notice something different?

A new little mini quilt on my wall! I cut this out while I was pregnant and on bed rest. I had aspirations of sewing it by hand while I was stuck on the couch. But that didn't happen.

But I did work on it in the last few weeks and finished binding it in the last few days. Now it's hung and it makes me happy.

Getting There

It's getting there. The binding is on. Now to sew it down. But like the last post, I have no current uses for this (other than cuddling under) so it will probably sit until after Christmas.

I promise to share just as soon as it's done. It is a lap quilt, so it will go a lot faster. Oh! Did you notice i'm doing my binding a bit differently now? I am doubling over before sewing it on so I get a nice finished edge to tack down. So far, I like it.

In other news, there are two quilt giveaways going on now. One is at Old Red Barn Co. (and it's actually a giveaway for 3 quilts!) and the other is at Simplify.

6 Years in the Making

I've been working on this quilt for a LONG time. 6+ years now. I bought the fabric (Moda, I believe) with birthday money years ago. It's queen size. Yeah, I know...i'm nuts.

If it's any consolation, I haven't made a queen sized quilt since. I like to stick to lap size now. I went out of my comfort zone on the quilting of this one. Some feathers in the boarders and some flower/daisy chain for the rest of the quilt. First time i've done flowers, I was quite happy with the results.

The binding is on. I just need to sew it down. It's a queen size, it's for me and I really have no current use for a queen size, floral quilt. So it will probably sit until after the holidays. When it's all done, then i'll share it in it's full glory.

Scrap Challenge :: Completed!

Well, it's finally finished. It's taken me a little longer than planned with Brice's unexpected visit to the ER, but i'm pretty pleased with it.

I ran out of fabric scraps big enough for one more triangle...so I just sewed a few scraps together and added it in. It's suppose to be scrappy, so I think i'm allowed.

It measures about 9" square and is hanging next to my craft room door, above the light switches. So I get to see it every time I come in and out of the room. Bonus. I tried to take a picture of it in it's place, but it was too yellowed and I hate yellowed pictures. I'll try again soon. I think I'm going to get a really bright directional light for down here to help with photography in the basement. As it is I took the mini quilt upstairs and used the natural light. And I still wasn't entirely happy. I remember the day when I would have been elated with the quality of these photos. Not so much anymore. :: JC Handmade's Spare a Square Scrap Challenge ::

Sunday Stash

What a great way to show off favorite fabrics from the stash! ...and new purchases that might be made. Read more here.

Here is a lovely collection, some old (Katie Jump Rope) and some newer (Wee Play and Ginger Blossom).

Somebody was in my craft room crafting and didn't clean up their mess! *cough, cough husband* He needed to try and make some 3D glasses. He just better hope he didn't use my sewing scissors to cut that. It's bad enough he uses my rotary cutter on things other than fabric. Under all of that mess is my "scrap challenge". I'm almost done.

Caramel Apple Spice Cider

I love this drink in the fall and winter. What makes it particularly good is the cinnamon schnapps...it gives it a kick! You don't need much and if your not into using alcohol, you could probably substitute a cinnamon flavoring. I've heard some people use red hots candy, too.

Caramel Apple Spice Cider

1 packet Alpine Apple Cider Mix

1-2 Tablespoons Caramel Sunday Syrup (like you use on ice cream)

1 oz Goldschlager (or cinnamon schnapps)

Boiling Water (to fill 6-8oz mug)

Boil your water. In a mug add apple cider packet, caramel and Goldschlager. Add boiling water to brim of mug. Stir and enjoy!

Starbucks use to sell a caramel syrup, but i'm not sure if they do anymore. That was really good, too. But i've just been using the Smucker's stuff for awhile now, and it works great. During the day I mix this up, minus the alcohol, and it's still a great drink. It's the caramel that really makes it.

A New Way to Bind

Boy do I wish I had seen this before I put binding on three quilts yesterday. Oh yeah, visit this site, too.

Another Blogger Giveaway

Well, since I can't get myself into the sewing room, I can at least post about other peoples giveaways! See Katie Sew is having a fabric giveaway for her two years blog-iversary. Mention a blog you think she might like as well as who sent you (that would be moi). Posting to your blog gets you a few more entries, too. Some of the fabrics she's gathering for the giveaway so far are great! Go check it out.

I had a "photo shoot" this week, so I want to share some of those pictures with you. It was moms with their little ones - my favorite thing to photograph! It was a girlfriend of mine and two of her good friends (acquantances of mine as well). I posted some of my favorites (there were over 500 photos shot and over 350 edited!) over on Flickr in this album. Photography is kind of a craft, right?