Snack mat :: take two (or three, or four)

Here are the snack mats that started it all:

I made seven of these over the holidays to give away. Easy strip piecing and simple straight line quilting in a variety of patterns. The back is a fun Michael Miller monkey print:

And here's the latest:

I had to make up for the weird wonk-effect of the gingham binding on the other one.

I can't get over some of these sweet Japanese prints:

And here's the back:

Mmmmm...chai....

This mat is now happy in it's new home beside my computer where I can enjoy it every single day.

Snack mat :: take one

Okay, so. I've been really into making these little snack mats. I've been seeing "mug rugs" popping up all over the place but we often have snacks and beverages that don't involve mugs of any kind so these were quickly dubbed "snack mats" in our house and the name has stuck.

This one is some patchwork of special little fabric bits and I smile whenever I see it.

The back is map of Paris print. I'm so glad the Eiffel Tower placement worked out so nicely! And I added one of my stamped tags with my first initial.

I love the idea of the black gingham binding but the print isn't square on the fabric and the result is a bit of an optical illusion. When I look at the snack mat straight on it looks really uneven and wonky because of how the gingham squares don't line up nicely. It was bugging me so much I actually had to get out a ruler to confirm for myself that I really DID square up the mat before binding it.

It still works great when I need a place to set my coffee.

And since the binding bugs me so much, I think I'll just have to make another one.

Happy Crafty New Year!

Hope you had a wonderful time ringing in 2011! I'm already at it, crafting up a little something something for one of my favorite two year olds.

Our little family is heading out to a birthday party tomorrow and this is what we will be giving the birthday boy - a little crocheted dinosaur in its own drawstring dino-bag.

By the way, my four year old informed me that this is a diplodocus as opposed to a brachyosaurus because brachyosaurs have a bump on their heads. Who knew?

Here's a close-up of the little fabric tag with Mr. Birthday Boy's initial:

And here's the whole thing, ready to go live in its new home.

I have to say, this little drawstring bag is going to be my new go-to bag for gift wrapping and small storage. I made a couple for my kids this Christmas to be their "car bags" hauling all their various thingamajigs to and from the car. And I'm going to make one to store a new wooden puzzle of the United States that we just added to the puzzle shelf over the holidays. Super fast, super easy, super cute. Oh, and reversible! Any interest in a tutorial?

Bee blocks for (ahem) November

These are my bee blocks for Bee Vintage. Yes, for November. Total slacker.

The pattern is called Lady of the Lake and while I think it's lovely now that it's done I think I would go insane if I made a whole quilt with this block! one thing is for sure - I learned a lot about half square triangles while making these.

If you're new to HST there are a couple of tricks that helped as I assembled these blocks:

Measure slightly larger (I rounded up from 2-7/8" to 3" for the small squares) and then trim to square after sewing the HST. Seriously, this is what saved me.

Use a scant 1/4" seam. And go slow enough to maintain that seam allowance. (This was a little bit hard for me because I like to sew fast!)

Again, this bee has been a wonderful experience because I'm getting the chance to learn a LOT about making some more traditional quilt blocks and blocks I wouldn't necessarily choose for myself. It has really expanded my skills at piecing and pushed me to try new techniques.

Patchwork presents

I made these little patchwork and linen fabric baskets for some friends for Christmas. They're from this tutorial and I only did a small amount of tweaking. Like the handles. Cotton webbing was a real time saver since I was making a total of 14 baskets!

Here's the other side:

I'll definitely be making more of these since they're such a fun way to feature cute patchwork. In fact, I've already put a few to work in my sewing space to hold my (rapidly growing) assortment of ribbons and trims.

Merry Christmas

Whoo whoo who wishes you a Merry Christmas?

We do!

From our family to yours, here's hoping your holiday is filled with love and laughter, joy and peace.

Success!

The first ever visit to see Santa went surprisingly well! Miss B was a little freaked out at first but was totally chatting Santa up by the end. And in typical little girl fashion, the "official" Santa photo taken by the photographer has her lifting her dress. Priceless.

Owen was thrilled. I think he feels great relief at being able to tell Santa, in person, what he really wants for Christmas.

A super fun way to start Christmas eve! Now we're all at home, watching Rudolph and baking cranberry pumpkin bread for tomorrow morning. We assembled a few last minute gifts of apple spice muffin mix in a jar for our neighbors and there are two pans of Bailey's nutty bars to give to family we'll be seeing later tonight.

Ho ho ho!