baby quilt

I used a pattern for this quilt from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little ones book.  I like the way it turned out though I din't stitch in the ditch for this one, I hand quilted it instead.

double slice layer cake quilt

I am so happy to have found these tutorials from the Missouri Quilt co.  Great ideas they've so graciously shared.  This first quilt I did this year is for my daughter.  The quilt I made for her before she was born was so tricky and turned out so great that I never actually let her snuggle with it!  It was a wall hanging for the nursery.  Long story short, it's about time she had a quilt of her own to snuggle with.  I was was able to find the cutest layer cake (10" squares of pre-cut fabric) from Fat Quarter Shop.com.  ADORABLE!!! Looks like they don't have the layer cake any longer, but the link shows you each fabric.

the best plan... is no plan

I had some down time today (aka I put in a movie for the girls).  I've been saving these scraps for some throw pillows for my bed.  Here is what happened!

P.S. I love envelope back pillows.

back to school shopping... aka back to school sewing!

I've had my eye on this project for over a year now... I bought this book by Liesl Gibson on a date night with my husband at Powell's book in Portland right before we moved to Ventura.  I love Oliver + S patterns, and fell in love with the Messenger Bag at first sight.  What I appreciate about the Oliver + S patterns is that they are easy to understand with detailed instructions which are incomparable to any other patterns I've used.  

teacher gifts...

I guess the end of the year is actually here... I have a few teacher gifts to prove it!  I did the bow clutch everyone has seen on pinterest... gotta love pinterest and killer tutorials!  Find it here...

a quilt for a girl named Madeleine...

One of my favorite things is watching and hearing about good friends becoming parents.  These are my favorite lines in the email I received about the birth of a friend's first baby Madeleine... "She's healthy and seems happy and all is well. She's my favorite person. We'll talk soon."  ♥  this is my quilt for Madeleine. 

Orange Julius Smoothie

I've been reading lots of recipes to recreate the Orange Julius Smoothie. They all have milk or cream of some sort and some have upwards of 1/4 cup refined sugar!  None of those recipes will work for us.  So here's what we did.... we happen to come upon an enormous amount of fresh oranges we were able to pick right from the tree.  We peeled a few and put them in an airtight container and froze those babies.  After they're frozen, toss a good handful into the blender with some cold water and blend.  Slowly add about one half cup of vanilla soy milk.  So delicious to compliment breakfast.  WOW...

popcorn to go bag...

I love to make cute and practical things.  Things that get worn, used, and serve a purpose.  I realized today that what I love most is being able to make something on the fly because there is an actual need that has just popped up.  Since we've moved and don't have a microwave, I've been making popcorn the old fashioned way like my Dad used to make.  Pot on the stove with olive oil.  He used to dump the popcorn into a brown paper bag, add the melted butter and salt and shake to bag around to get all the goodness distributed.  News flash is that the popcorn tastes a million times better than the microwave stuff and eliminates the trash of the microwave bag.  I'm guessing it's way better for you too.  

So we're off to a soccer game and because I'm thrifty, we made our own popcorn.  Ready to toss in the bag when I realize I have no brown paper bags.  I'm off and sewing a popcorn bag.  Looks cute, gets used, and serves a purpose.  Another plus, is you toss it in the laundry and its ready to go next time... no trash.   I can see this going to the beach, picnics, basketball games, the movies in my "movie purse" (which is a bag big enough for a bag of popcorn, some candy, and a few sodas).   

It's a simple bag with box corners at the bottom, a simple hem around the top that can be tied closed.