New Potholders

Whipped up some fun little potholders for my kitchen. My old ones were getting kind of ratty and I have a sort of insane amount of cute kitchen fabrics so I figured I'd better start using some of them!

The backs. The little hanging loop is just a small bit of grosgrain ribbon.

Of course, I had to test them out to see if they worked. What better than pulling out a big pan of homemade cinnamon rolls?

Knowing me, I'll probably make about 27,000 more potholders so don't be surprised if you see more of them in the coming weeks.

Snow Day!

Pretty spectacular sight to wake up and see this in the woods behind our house!

We don't get snow very often and the kids were thrilled to get out and play.

Owen is wondering what to do first - build a snowman or pelt me with snowballs.

Bailey decides that making snow angels is more her style.

And they both ran around and had a fantastic time! The promise of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows was the only way to lure them back inside.

Children and snow are a magical combination.

All Done

Finished up this pillow for the Urban Home Goods swap on Flickr. I went ahead with the blue linen background because I think that's what my partner will like.

It's big - 20x20. Good for an accent on a bed or as a nice comfy couch pillow. The back is a simple envelope closure.

Here you can see some of the hand stitching detail. I really wanted a clean look to the dresden itself so I used a ladder stitch to attach it to the background. I love how the stitches completely disappear!

Soon this will be off to live in a new home. I hope my partner likes it!

Another Dresden

Remember this stack of gray goodness? Now it's a dresden!

I love it.

I don't love it paired with the blue linen I had originally chosen. I'm thinking lime green but this is destined to be a pillow in someone else's home and I'm not sure if lime green is really their thing. Swaps can be tricky.

Perhaps a trip to the fabric store is in order?

February Bee Block

I suppose it was only a matter of time...

My very first dresden. It's a little bit of a fussy block but not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Heather asked for blocks made using this tutorial from Elizabeth at Oh, Frannson. It's a nice large block (16.5") so the pieces don't get too fiddly.

And I really do like how it shows off the various bits of vintage goodness. Because the block is so large I'm contemplating making one to finish into a pillow, maybe with some sweet little Japanese prints. Hmmm????

PMQG swap

This is my contribution for tomorrow night's Portland Modern Quilt Guild snack mat swap! The super cute cup and saucer is a screenprint on linen from Christina. Isn't it cute? I think she has some block print owls in her etsy shop right now. Go grab one before they're all gone!

The back is a Henry Glass print from my stash.

I really like how this turned out and I hope whoever gets it in the swap likes it too!

Love

Last year I made all the valentine cards for preschool.

This year I let him do it himself.

His are way better.

Kids

Kids are awesome (when they're not driving their Mama completely insane...but that's a post for another day).

Very pleased to see them both happily working on their sewing skills. Owen is always very concerned that he does the sewing "right' - putting the laces through the holes in the proper order. Bailey is much more of an improv kind of girl.

Owen made these puppets in preschool. I think they're pretty cool. Love the simplicity and personality.

And reason #1,872 why kids are awesome: they wear gloves on their feet and run around the house saying, "Look! I'm a gorilla!"

Snack mat fail

Oh dear.

This had such promise.

I don't know if it's the linen at the edges or the way I serged them prior to binding that made it turn out so wavy along the top and sides.

Sigh.

And to top it all off, the backing fabric is upside down.

I guess this one will live at my house instead of going out into swappy-land.

The good news is I get to keep making snack mats!

Choices

I'm trying to figure out what to make my partner in the Urban Home Goods swap over on Flickr. It's a little bit tricky because my partner seems to enjoy a color palate that is a bit different from my own. I'm not complaining - actually, I'm really looking forward to the challenge and have a few ideas rolling around in my brain.

The above stack is what I'm pondering at the moment. Love all the different grays! The two solids at the bottom are a gorgeous navy linen and a soft kona yellow. I'll probably stare at these for a few more days but then I need to get in gear and actually make something!

Note: If I were making something for me I'd be throwing a whole bunch of orange in with that gray and probably a pretty liberal dose of kona snow and charcoal. But that's just me. :-)