What to do?

My beloved sewing machine has taken ill. I tried everything I could to treat it. I opened it up, vacuumed it out, spoke gently to it. But alas, nothing worked. This morning I had to take it into the shop. I don't know when it will return. To keep busy I have started to Cricut again. Yesterday I make labels for 7 boxes including these two in my fabric room. I also made a label for my tea jar and if it hadn't gotten so late I might have begun to label everything in the kitchen.

These two boxes are for my fabric scraps and finished projects. I have to keep busy somehow!

Hamantaschen

We are celebrating Purim at our house. And as a family tradition we all got together to make Hamantaschen. These are little sugar cookies, shaped as triangles, with a yummy jelly filling.

The little triangles represent the evil Haman's hat. Purim is a time of fun and games where everyone dresses up in costume and there is usually a carnival involved.

Enjoy whatever you and yours are doing today.

Aunt Cheryl's Quilt

Here is a sweet little charm quilt I made for my sister-n-law. I used 1 charm pack from Moda Collections for a Cause. The boarder and binding are from Debbie Mumm.

My stippling on this quilt was really tight. I washed the quilt and it made a huge difference in the overall look. I was very please with it.

I also added a strip in the back which I just love.

Calling Cards

When I told my mom there was a Meet the Quilter at the quilt show she said I should get business cards with my blog address on them. She said I could get them for free at Vistaprint. And she was right. At Vistaprint you can get business cards and many other things for free and you just have to pay for shipping. What a deal. And it is real because look at the amazing card I got. At first I thought I am being pretentious. But look at my my blog address. I can never remember it with all the other things going on in my head. Now I can just hand over the card.

Sewing Closet

I am on the mailing list for every catalogue on the planet earth. And I look through every single one. And sometimes I find a little gem. In a catalogue called Collections Etc. I found a closet organizer with drawers. I ordered two. And just like everyone does when they order something from a catalogue they hope it will be true to the photo. In this case it was fantastic. They fit neatly into my sewing closet and I was even able to keep my existing drawers.

Now my fabric is not hidden in bins. I can see all the colors I have and it is at eye level and I don't have to bend down or sit on the floor to look at fabric. But look at those empty sections at the top - I have to get more fabric now!!

Burp Cloth Tutorial

When my boys were babies I starting making them burp cloths. That's them at 4 months old. My little burping bundles of joy. I made tons of different patterns. I then made some for girls as well. I keep a bunch of these on hand to give away as gifts. There are tons of tutorials on line but here is my version.

I used to have to go to Target to get my burp cloths but now I see them available at Joann's and other craft stores. They are sometimes labeled diaper cloths. I don't wash them ahead of time. I like to gift them when they are fresh and new. I always advise the recipient to wash them before use. My boys are 4.5 now and their burp cloths are now used as blankies and have held up very well. This is a great project to use up scraps.

Make a template if you desire. I made mine out of a manila folder. This will help you keep your burp cloths looking uniform.

Iron the fabric over the template to make the sides crisp and easy to sew. Add ribbon if you want. Remove the template.

Then turn your fabric over and pin it to the burp cloth. Sew your fabric to the burp cloth. I use a zig zag stitch but you can play around with various stitches and see what you like. The main idea is to make sure the fabric is secure and there are no loose pieces for baby to get caught on.

My First Shout Out

Thanks to Joy at JoyPatch. She put a photo of my toiletries bag on her blog. This is the first time I have been mentioned on someones blog. What a nice thing for her to do. Check out her blog for some beautiful quilts and neat ideas. Thanks Joy!

Make Up Bag

Here is the toiletry bag's little sister. I finished this up moments before the Grandparents arrived to watch the kids during our weekend getaway. I used the shower curtain lining again and decorative stitches on the outside. I was super happy with this zipper as well since the last time I made a makeup back the sides of the zipper were sticking out. I used this all weekend and just loved it. Someone asked me to explain how I got the zipper so nice and I will work on something for a later post.

We spent the weekend in Las Vegas and if you ever get a chance to see a Cirque du Soleil show do it. We saw Love which is the Beatles one. It was amazing. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Sew and Tell Fridays - Toiletries Bag

Here is the finished Toiletries Bag. I am really happy with the way this turned out. It took me all week to make, but that is because I had only about 20 minutes per night. I think a job free, child free person could make one in an afternoon. I used a shower curtain liner I got at the dollar store for the inside. I wanted the lining to be water proof. Since I got the fabric as a remnant I think this entire project cost about $8.00.

I love the way the top looks. It is such a neat clean design. And look at that amazing job with the zipper. You can barely see it.

Here is a peak inside at how the lining looks. Instead of stitching in the ditch as called for I free motion quilted some designs on the flowers. This held the lining to the fabric and gave the front a unique look.

I plan to use this cute bag this weekend on my child free Valentine getaway with the hubby.

Most Dangerous Cake Recipe in the World

If I hadn't tried this I would not have believed that it was real. If you are craving chocolate cake or chocolate anything then you will be able to satisfy your craving in 5 minutes. Yes, I said 5 minutes. Warning - you may hate me after you finish reading this post. Or I could become your new best friend. Since google blog will not allow me to cut and paste, and my arms don't have the strength to retype the entire recipe I will just refer you to a link on the web here, or here, or here. I first saw this recipe in my Mother's of Multiples Quarterly Magazine. Here is the cake when I took it out of the microwave.

Flip.

And eat. Is it the best chocolate cake ever, No. Will it do in a pinch, Yes! Enjoy.

**Note: I always substitute apple sauce for oil. If you want to do this just use the same amount of applesauce as stated for the oil. I do this in almost every item I bake and have never had a problem. I also substitute equal amounts of mashed banana for eggs. I didn't do it in this recipe but I am sure you could.

Butterflies

Dug the Cricut out of the closet. I haven't used it since November. I wanted to make some butterfly cutouts to use at gift labels. The boys and I tried a bunch of different color options but in the end I didn't like any of them. The shape is pretty but there wasn't enough room on the back to write what I wanted to write. They are still pretty and it was fun to do this quick project with the boys even though I had to keep one eye trained on each of them. And they were on opposite sides of me.

Projects in the Works

I just got new fabric and finally figured out what to do with fabric that I already had. I love having projects waiting in the wings.I got this beautiful butterscotch gingham at the Goodwill this past week. It is enough to make a backing out of it. I have no quilt in mind for this but it was a good find and I am sure soon enough a quilt will materialize that needs this fabric.

I got this as a remnant at Joann's. I love this print. And I finally decided what to make with it. I need a new toiletry bag. This will be perfect for that. I think I found a pattern that I like but am still searching around for one. Here is the one I am considering - Toiletries bag.

This is Moda fabric I ordered from Amy Smart's etsy store. I love Moda and I love charm packs. I already separated out these three sets to make lap quilts. One set is reds, the other blues, and the third lavenders.

This is another quilt kit I requested from the Quilts for Kids project. This one is a doggy print. I can't wait to start on these new projects. What projects are you working on?

Kanzashi

I came across this great book in a magazine called Kanzashi in Bloom by Diane Gilleland. Kanzashi is the Japanese art of of folding squares of silk into flowers. This book shows you how to make modern day projects out of fabric. I got the book from the library and while the flowers were beautiful and easy to make I fell in love with the butterflies. I wonder why. I made this cutie which sits on my thread rack. Get the book and try some designs for yourself. The directions are simple and the photos are full of great ideas.

ALL THREE OF MY QUILTS WERE SELECTED

All three of the quilts I submitted to the Glendale Quilt Fair were selected. I am sooo excited. I was hoping at least one would be accepted. But all three! Whaoo. We are all going to go, the whole family. We are going to take photos in front of my quilts on display. There is even a "get to know the quilter" hour where I can stand by my quilts and people can ask me questions about it. I love that. I can't believe it. Did I say I was sooo excited. Here are the quilts I submitted.The Pirate Quilt. This was entered in the comfort category.

Tranquility which was entered in the Show category. The theme of the quilt fair this year is Asian Odyssey.

And Grandma's Quilt which I entered in the traditional category. Wish me luck. The fair is March 19-21, 2010.

Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Hearts

Here is a fun Valentine's Day craft you can do with the kids. I saw it on Make and Takes.

The best part was the eating.

Snack Bags

I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. A reusable snack back. I hate using plastic bags and then throwing them away. What a waste. I tried to reuse the plastic bags as long as they hold up. But in the end you have to throw then away and buy more.

With these bags you can use them over and over again. When needed you can throw them in the wash.

I made these out of leftover fabric from the pirate quilt. I plan to make some more for myself. The tutorial can be found at here.

Table Cloth Skirt

Some of you may remember by table cloth skirt fiasco. Well I tried it again. This time with better fabric. I found this fabric at the Goodwill. It was something like $4.00. Sometime later when I was showing the fabric to someone I saw that it was Amy Butler fabric. I love Amy Butler and to get a remnant of her fabric for $4.00. That is what my boys would call "awesome." So here is my second attempt at the table cloth skirt. I measured this one better, I sewed slower, and I checked the fit more. The result: a beautiful skirt. A skit to wear on a cruise, if I was ever going on one. The tutorial can be found at V. and Co.
So after some research and being told that this fabric was hard to come by I found it on the Amy Butler wesbite. In case anyone is interested here it is August Fields.