Flower Headbands

My oldest has a dressy, vintage (but still trendy) style.  Last week she wanted to make some flower headbands, so we took a look on Pinterest and found a couple tutorials that we liked.  I just happened (haha) to have some silky fabric left over from a project several years ago, and it worked perfectly for the hot pink, satiny flower. 

First we cut several circles, in different sizes.  We cut two large (4 inch), two medium (3 inch), and two small (2 inch) circles using various jars we had in the kitchen as templates.  Then we cut little half inch slits in the circles every inch or so.  Then we carefully held the fabric, shiny side down, over the tea light flame to gently melt and curl the edges.  I think a lighter might have been easier, but we don't have one, so the tealights worked in a pinch.  On one of the small circles, I tried cutting it into a flower shape first, but found that it really didn't make a difference, the slits worked fine.  So, no need to go through that extra step! 

After you melt them, they will end up slightly different sizes depending on how long you melted them.  I put the largest and least curly one down first, then layered them according to size and the curly factor to try to get the best look. 

Viola!  We hot glued the layers together and then hot glued a rhinestone in the middle.  Not pictured:  Now all you have to do is glue a circle of felt to the back of the flower.  Then glue a circle of felt to the underside (the side that touches your hair) of a headband.  Then glue the two felt circles together to form a sandwich with the headband in the middle.  The tutorial I looked at can be found here. It's amazing how different each flower and fabric can turn out! 

 

If you would like to see how to do the twisty flower, you will find a tutorial here on Blooming Homestead's site. 

Mint Brownies

Traditionally done with green frosting instead of pink, I really rocked the boat using this recipe and red dye.  (Just a bit of sarcasm there). The teeny tiny Valentine's sprinkles were too cute to resist, and they look much better with pink frosting than with green!

I think every one's had these brownies at some point or other.  Yummy, minty, chocolatey (spell check is telling me that it's chocolaty, but that just doesn't look right!) bites.  My friend, Jen, gave me her delicious recipe.  Which is a lot like Paula Deen's recipe for them.... but, guess what.  I just checked her site (Paula Deen's) to link you to the recipe--- and it's not on her site anymore!  What happened to it???  So. Weird. 

I'll let you in on a secret, though.  I usually just use a family-sized (9X13 pan size) boxed brownie mix instead of making the homemade brownie.  So much easier and faster (not to mention cheaper)!  Just follow the instructions on the box, only you do need to add an extra 1/2 an egg for a 9 X 13 (or a whole egg if you are really opposed to wasting the other half).  This gives it a more cake-like texture so it is firm enough to hold all that frosting.  Bake and let cool, all standard instructions except for the 1/2 egg.  (How do you add 1/2 egg?  Only add the yolk or the white!  Pick your poison!  Or if you are completely type A, you can whisk the egg to scramble it, measure how many Tbs. it is, and use half of it.  But, that really is over the top.  Get help.) 

I've started just using the standard buttercream recipe for it, halved.  So, you'll want to mix in 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract, and 1 Tbs. milk. Mix in whatever color of food coloring you want.  Then, beat the heck out of it.  You've got to whip air into it to get it light and fluffy!  Wait until the brownies are completely cool before topping with buttercream, or else it will melt into minty soup all over your brownies!  Spread the buttercream over the brownie and chill. 

Then melt 1/4 cup butter and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips together, stirring until it's all smooth.  Be careful to not cook it too hot or too long or the chocolate will seize up (go yucky and  grainy).  Then stir in 1 tsp. vanilla extract.  Pour and spread over the surface of the brownie.  If you want to add sprinkles, add them on top of the chocolate glaze while it's still wet.  Cover and chill until the glaze is firm. 

We had made the green mint brownies just last week for something, I forget what. Then when I made them again, all Valentined up, it was so funny--- the family acted like they hadn't had them before, and were dying to have one.  They even "MMMmmmm"ed like they tasted better somehow.  Other than the pink frosting and the sprinkles, it was the exact same as last week's brownies.  It's funny what a little dressing up the food can do!
 

Valentine Owl Warmer

It is really cold right now. Brrrr! My kids love using rice warmers during the winter, but it has been a couple of years since we've owned one. I have been meaning to get around to making more, but just haven't. Until today. I decided to make an owl rice warmer. Owls seem to be the "it" thing last year and this year. My youngest is obsessed with owls, so I thought that would be the shape this warmer would take. 

When designing something I want to make, I start with a paper and a pencil. If the pattern is symmetrical, then I fold the paper in half and work with one side.Here you can see I've drawn an owl--- with lots of erased marks trying to get the shape how I want it.  When ready for the other side, I fold it in half, and trace over the back of the pencil line, transferring the markings to the opposite side of the page.  I have done this in the picture with the eyes and the beak.  Kind of like the games of "war" or "landmine" my siblings and I would play during church when we were little.  Yeah.  Back in the "Old" days!  :)  I taught my kids to play it, and they thought it was really cool.  For a few minutes.  Then they went back to their electronics. 

Not looking so much like an owl right now.  More like a teddy bear!  I guess I could use this pattern to make a teddy bear rice warmer, too. 

Oh, what a difference a few details make!  Notice I followed the rule on curves- "Notch outer, clip inner"  The outside of the owl wings are notched.  This will make the curved seam nice and smooth when it is turned inside out. 

Looking even more like an owl.... I ditched the eyelashes--- they looked a little funny in black.  It kind of made it look like the owl was angry.  It was at about this point when I thought that I really should have used interfacing to line the whole front red body piece.  All those zig-zag stitch lines attaching the detail pieces could use a little reinforcement in the back. 

All sewn together and ironed, waiting to be filled with rice.   The picture at the top of the post is when it is full of rice, and taken just minutes before K-bug claimed it as her own.  After 3 minutes in the microwave on high, it is now snuggled up with her, and they are toasty warm!   Have you ever wanted to make a craft but didn't have a pattern?  Make your own!  You can do it! 

I have to go now.  My son has now taken the owl and is holding it hostage until I make him one.  Guess that means it's a hit although he's old enough he doesn't want an owl... I guess I'm making another rice warmer.  What shape should I make this time?  Oh, the possibilities...

Valentine Board

What??? Today's Thursday?  I missed the Wednesday post, and barely made it in on Thursday?  Well, actually, I knew I missed it.  It has just been a rough couple of days.  Ridiculous, I tell you!  So, the post is a day late.  Oh, c'est la vie!  As if I speak French.  I don't.  Cool.  I just looked it up because I thought there was no way I spelled it right.  If I don't speak it, I certainly can't spell it!  But, by some fluke, I spelled it right.  Maybe it's some sort of mental flashback to the song in the 80's.  Although I remember hearing it on the radio, not seeing it spelled anywhere.  Enough of that subject.   

 This craft is a little hard to see.  (Here we all gasp in surprise at yet another poor quality picture) I think I have a thing for black and white polka dots.  This is just a simple Valentine's Day board, although with the temperatures being so low these days, I'm keeping the "Baby, It's Cold Outside" one up a little longer.  It just seems right. 

 

Toodle-oo.

Pepper Jelly

Over the years, I have seen red pepper jelly and jalapeno jelly (bright green), but have always thought that it was really weird.  I think I didn't realize that there ARE other uses for jam besides a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  I could not imagine why anyone would want pepper jelly.  So. Weird. 

 

Then, last spring, I had my first try of pepper jelly.  It was in an Amish store and they had samples out.  The pepper jelly was served over cream cheese, and one of my friends loved it.  I liked it, but still couldn't really think of any uses for it.  I didn't think about it again until a few weeks ago when another friend brought over a jar of it, served over cream cheese.  It was to die for!  So yummy!  I instantly became obsessed.  It's kind of funny how that can happen.  I finally realized it is/can be an appetizer!  So, yeah.  I'm embarrassed that it took so long for that light bulb to go off!  She left me the whole pint of pepper jelly.  Yum. 

But then that pint was gone and we needed more.  Lol.  (My teens tell me Lol is So. Last. Year.  But I'm frequently behind the times in teen-speak, so I'll use it anyway!)  I was at the grocery store, and happened to notice a bag of red peppers on sale for $3.  It had 7-8 large red peppers in it, all very fresh and pretty.  Knowing that red peppers are usually at least $1 each, I bought the bag (with a big smile on my face for the great price), hoping it would be enough to make a batch of pepper jelly.  Soooo funny.  Because as it turns out, you only need 1 cup of  chopped peppers (including the jalapenos) to make it--- which is only 1 pepper if it is as big as these ones were!  I followed Paula Deen's recipe found here, but used a red bell pepper instead of the green.  Then, because I had a lot of peppers to use up,  I doubled it.  And then made a second double batch (using a different recipe).  Good thing I bought a huge bag of peppers!  :)  The first double batch made 13 half pint (1 cup) jars. The second double batch made 10 half pint jars with about 1/2 cup left over. 

Oh, look at my pretty jar of pepper jelly.  Nice and blurry.  I held it up to the 2 minutes of sunlight (can I just say that I really, really miss actually having sunny days? It feels like they are nonexistent around here.)  that we were getting so you could see the pretty pepper bits floating around, but instead the picture just went blurry.  If I get around to it (yeah, right), I'll try to take another, more clear picture.  Anyway, Paula's recipe was yummy.  More tangy from the vinegar than the jar of jelly from my friend, but still good.  It probably could have used more heat, too.  But the end result reminded me (it's not the same thing, but sort of close) a little of a Thai chili sauce.  Without the garlic.  Or like the chili water that Iggy's Restaurant serves with bread before your meal, only thicker and more tangy.  Still delicious, either way. 

And now I can imagine all sorts of uses for it.  Over meat, subbed out for the apricot jam in Our Best Bite's cookbook's Apricot Glazed Pork chops (sorry- I was going to do a post on that yummy recipe, but it's only in their cookbook, not online!), in salad dressing, as a bread dip, with avocado veggie rolls,  there are lots of possibilities.....

Recipe Notes: I only found the liquid pectin in 3 oz packages, and Paula's recipe calls for a 4 oz. package.  Since I doubled it, I knew I needed 8 oz. of pectin, so I used 3 of the 3 oz. packages.  It turned out fine.  I then followed the recipe for pepper jelly that came with the Certo pectin and added the recommended amount of pectin, which was half of the amount that Paula's recipe called for.  It didn't set up at all.  It has a syrup-like consistency.  I tried the second recipe because it used less vinegar, so I thought I would see if I liked the jelly a little less tangy.  It tastes fine, and is still tangy.  But I will need to dump the jars out, cook the jam with more pectin, then clean and reprocess the jars.  What a pain.  Although I am perfectly happy with Paula's recipe, I think I will still try to find another one a little less tangy.  Just because I'm weird like that crazy pepper jelly!

Ironing Board Cover and word of the day

Does your ironing board look like mine did? Yeah. I know. It was bad.  Crazy, gross bad.   

In my defense, the iron burn was from my kids trying to iron.  (Go- kids!  I only iron when I'm sewing.  Everything else (like clothes) I toss in the dryer with a spritz of water.  So, I usually only buy clothes that you can do that with.  I am not an ironing pro!) The dried on, then burned-in water mark is from accidentally tipping the iron enough that the steam water compartment spilled out.  Why didn't I just wash it?  This cover was treated (purchased that way) to be fire resistant, and it stunk to high heaven every time we ironed.  The treatment also made it so we weren't supposed to wash it, which otherwise might have helped with how horrible it looked.  (But, hey, after looking at the burn marks, don't you think the fire resistance was a good idea?)  After a while, it grated on my nerves to see it so yucky.  But I didn't want to buy another cover.  Then How Does She had a tutorial on making ironing board covers, and I thought, "What the heck?  Why not?"  and made one.  So ridiculously easy.  I thought it might be hard, but it wasn't.  Awesome. 

It went together really fast.  Like about an hour start to finish!  Awesome. 

A close up of ironing board awesomeness. 

Because remember what it used to look like??? 

 

 Yeah.  The new cover is totally awesome.  Since I used thin cotton for my new cover, I left the old one on and just put the new cover over the top.  I feel I have to try to keep some sort of fire resistance going on here for the kiddos! The nice thing is that with the cotton buffer, it doesn't stink anywhere near as much when we iron now.  Yeah!  You can find the instructions here on How Does She. Then you can have an awesome ironing board cover, too!

 

TIP:  One thing to think of when making one: you want to make sure you wash your fabric first, AND make sure you are using a fabric that is color-fast (meaning- it won't bleed).  Some reds and some heavily saturated black fabrics bleed, and the last thing you want is to turn whatever you are ironing pink or grey!  :)

 

P.S.  I seem to be overusing the word awesome today.  It must be the word of the day.  Yes, I am stuck in the 80's!  But I just can't make myself say "Sick" or "Sic" or however they spell it for something that is, well, awesome!

 

Dual- Use Valentine Decor

I'm a little proud of today's project. The main reason is because I was so tempted to just go out and find a fun new project to do. But I reined myself in and decided to go through a box of old craft items from when I had a craft booth at the former ZCMI mall.  That was about 16 years ago!  I was happy to see that I had some good possibilities in those boxes. Well, I was happy AFTER being mortified at just how much I still have from clear back then. You'll never believe what I found---a whole shoe box of wooden doodads including wood hearts! I can't believe I had a bunch of wood hearts, already cut out.  Perfect! I sorted the wood stuff... I think I will have to get rid of some of it--- I have no idea what to do with the wooden animal Noah's Ark buttons!  :)  What was I thinking??? 

I found some wooden balls in the box that had a flat side on them, and finished cutting out one of the small fancy wood boards I started to cut out about a month ago (I used wood I had sitting around for that, too). 

Then I painted the wood balls and the board a dark chocolate brown, with a buttermilk white (off white) over top, then sanded to give it that shabby chic look.  I glued (using E-6000) the wood feet (the wooden balls with a flat side) onto the bottom of the board.  You can barely see them peeking out at the bottom of this picture. 

 I painted the wooden hearts [OK, so first I found more old wood (yes, from the old craft box) and cut out even more of the hearts] white, red, and pink.  And then cut and applied vinyl sayings for the "candy" conversation hearts. 

I like seeing them in the apothecary jars.  Cute like the candy, but something that my kiddos won't eat in a couple of days! 

You might be wondering why I bothered with the little footed board?  Well, I was thinking of how much my little girl loves to play Tic-Tac-Toe, and thought that the hearts would be a fun way to play.  So, some of the hearts have a back with an X or an O, although it could just be played with two colors, one for X and one for O. 

Now that I look at it, I like it even just left out that way- a cute decoration in and of itself!

I hope you like it!  I usually copy something because there are so many cute ideas out there.  But I'm proud to have come up with this one on my own.  That really is so rare for me!  I hope you like it.  And the best part...........I used supplies I already had, and even better that it used up things from so long ago!  Wahoo!

 

Preventing Food Waste- "Sun" Dried Tomatoes

Have you ever bought one of the large clam shell boxes of grape tomatoes from Costco or Sam's Club?  I love the Cherubs, but Sam's Club was out of them, so this time it was Zima- orange grape tomatoes.  They are both so sweet!  But when I buy that many, it always seems like they start to wilt before we can use them all.  I didn't want to freeze them (our freezer is packed enough as it is), so I decided to try to dry them in the oven-  to see if they would be sort of like sun dried tomatoes.  Guess what?  It worked, and it worked well! 

When you notice your tomatoes beginning to wilt (the skin starting to pucker), just wash your tomatoes as you normally would before eating them.  Then slice them in half.  Turn on your oven to the lowest temperature- I believe mine was set at 170 degrees.  I put my metal cooling rack on top (lightly sprayed with Pam) of a cookie sheet and placed the tomatoes on, cut side up.  Then I lightly sprayed them again with Pam, and then sprinkled them with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Put them in the oven for a few hours.  I began checking mine after about an hour, and about every half hour after that.  They took a good part of the day to dry out.  It is important to keep checking them, though, because some will dry faster than others.  When you check, if there are any that are done, pull them off and let them cool.   

These are red- they are the Cherub kind.  The Zima's turned out orange because they were orange to begin with!  When all the tomatoes are dry, let them cool and put them in a plastic ziploc freezer bag.  You can use these as you would any sun dried tomatoes, but I really like them in pasta dishes.  They add a little sweet tang to pasta that is really good!  You can keep them in the zip bag in the pantry if you dried them fully, or you can keep the bag of dried tomatoes in the freezer, ready to use at any time.  They will at least use a lot less space since they are dried!   Enjoy!

 

I also decided to include a recipe we like that uses the tomatoes.

 

Ranch Chicken with Bacon and Sun Dried Tomatoes

6 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, trimmed)

6 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup Naturally Yours fat free sour cream (If you can't find Naturally Yours, then the Daisy light or fat free will work, too.  If you don't have either of these available, I'm sorry-- but you'll want to use the full fat kind in any brand.  The other brands of light or fat free sour cream just are too gross to be worth using!)

1 lg. or 2 small cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 to 1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes

 

Spray the inside of a crock pot with cooking spray.  Mix the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, milk, garlic, ranch mix, tomatoes, and half of the crumbled bacon together.  Refrigerate the remaining bacon in a baggie until you are ready to eat.  Scoop half of this mixture into the crock pot.  Lay the chicken down, then scoop or pour the rest of the sauce over the top.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-8, until the chicken falls apart easily when you go to cut it up.  I like to just break it with my fingers into bite sized pieces, but you can cut them or shred them, too.  Serve over cooked noodles/pasta, I think the more delicate egg noodles work best.  Top with remaining bacon crumbles. 

 

Chevron Quilt, 2 strip block method

I looked all over the internet trying to figure out what I wanted to do for my next quilt.  I decided on a Chevron quilt.  At first I thought I would do the half square triangle kind, like this --- but then I decided to use the two strip block pieced version, as shown in the tutorial here.   I chose that because I wouldn't have to sew on the bias, where I would risk stretching.  And because I thought the strip kind looked like there were fewer seams, meaning fewer seam allowances, meaning less fabric used.  I don't know if that would have really been the case, but that was what I was thinking.  Then I made the strips wider, to have even less total seams.  It went together quickly- the whole top was done in a day, while I was distracted, and had to stop several times to do other things.  But the top was still done in a day, rather than a week of full time sewing like the Sparkle Punch Quilt top. 

Quilting it took a little longer....... One word of caution to anyone new to the free motion quilting foot--- it is much more open than the regular foot, and with all of the shifting, pulling, and pushing to move the quilt around, it is far easier to SEW your finger into the quilt than you'd think.  Trust me.  Remember to keep your fingers away from the needle (duh, right?)  If, by chance, you do find your finger speared by the machine's needle and thread, try to not instinctively rip your finger away.  It will only make the needle tear through your finger.  Try to think through it and push the "needle up" button, to make the needle come back up out of your finger.  This may or may not be hypothetical.......and I may or may not have tried it (not on purpose!) both ways (the "needle up" button way hurts much less, um, hypothetically)..... Now that I've grossed you out.... I bet you didn't think sewing could be hazardous! :) Too funny.  I remember my Mom sewing her finger ONCE while I was growing up, and I thought that was just crazy!  Anyway, I hope to have this machine quilting thing down soon! 

The only tip I can think of for the 2 strip kind of Chevron is to pay attention when you are laying it out.  I had unknowingly shifted mine in one section so that it looked like I needed 1/2 of a 2 piece strip (so one piece of fabric) on one edge instead of the regular 2 piece block.  I looked at it and checked it a few times, but couldn't figure it out.  It took a while to see that one block was turned funny, thus throwing off the whole pattern on the edge.  I chose to cut off (it was actually a little hard to do.  Those beautiful Chevrons!) the excess parts of the squares to make the quilt into a rectangle.  This leaves you with fabric edges on the bias, and so you'll need to be careful when quilting to not stretch the edge.  I've heard starching it and ironing it will help with this.  Using spray adhesive to tack the quilt top to the batting layer before quilting also seemed to help the edges to not stretch out. 

All in all, it went by very quickly for a quilt- much faster than hand quilting! And I'm happy with the result.  Not just happy, but a little proud, too.  This one's a lap-sized quilt at 50" by 60", and it's my first bigger quilt (non-baby quilt) with machine quilting.  I definitely need more practice, but that skill will come with time.   The back is nice, soft minky- so cuddly and warm in a quilt. 

Super Cute Clip Frame

I am a fan of most of Shanty 2 Chic's stuff.  So, so, so cute.  When I saw this frame (you have to check out the one on their blog, though--- it turned out better- and they have a better camera so you can actually see it), I thought it was about the cutest thing I had ever seen.  Then I wondered why I hadn't thought of it!  A frame on a stand- Super Cute!  They have a great tutorial here explaining exactly how to make it--- and it is easy, but looks really nice.  Elegant even.  My husband had the 11 year old scouts make one to give to their Moms for Mother's Day.  I think most of the kids chose to paint theirs black, but it looked good in both colors.  I like using mine to hold a recipe while I'm cooking--- there are so many things you can do with it- a cute saying, a picture, a little wreath....

Head on over to their blog to check it out!  I believe they even give a cost estimate, and it's fairly cheap.  It's not too early to get a head start on Mother's Day gifts, right? 

Oh, Fudge!

Do you have things that you have tried over and over and failed every time?  I have lots of things like that.  Like crocheting.  Turns into masses of knots.  Every.  Time.   Or like making bread.  That one took me years to figure out the trick is to.... have the right recipe!  :)  Thanks to a few friends, I am happy with my bread recipes and results now.  The other thing I have tried and failed at over and over is Fudge.  Capitalized.  Because nothing is worse than having fudge that is gritty.  Or tough.  Or plain old yucky.  Especially when the ingredients get a little expensive.  I have even tried the fail- proof recipes--- and had a friend who was a good cook come over and teach me.  But the second I tried it on my own.  Rubbery.  Chocolate is not supposed to be rubbery. 

I hate having things that I know I haven't been able to do, no matter how many times I try.  I am a firm believer that each one of us can do anything if we just set our  minds to it.  So, a few years back, I decided that was the year to learn how to make a decent loaf of wheat bread, white bread, and rolls.  Check.  The next year I tackled fudge.  I poured over the internet and printed off several recipes, all claiming to make creamy fudge.  I ignored the recipes I had already tried (ie. Rachel Ray's....sorry, but it turns into yucky rubber each time I make it.  I've had it when other people made it and it was great- I just personally haven't had luck with that recipe!).  And settled on one by Adrienne Petersen for my first attempt.  So, I tried it, and voila!  I was completely shocked.  For the first time (and I had tried many, many times previously), the fudge turned out perfectly!  Not just perfectly, but also with the right flavor and melt in your mouth texture and everything.  I knew my search for the right recipe was over.  Which had me giggling over the several recipes I didn't need to try- and over the fact that I had geared myself up, expecting another failure.  I am even more convinced that being a good cook is all in the right recipe!  :)  I have made the recipe several times since then (pretty much every Christmas), and it has turned out every time but the very last time when I accidentally added the butter to the cooking pan instead of to the bowl of chocolate.  It still turned out ok, just not melt in your mouth creamy--- more of a marshmallow chewy texture.  But, that was my fault for not following the recipe properly.  It does make a difference- imagine that!

I couldn't find the original site that I found the recipe on, but I did find a new link to her recipe: Adrienne's Fudge Recipe.  It was funny to see that her story on finding the perfect fudge recipe sounded so familiar!  I hope you like it! 

As for crocheting.........I'm still not ready to tackle that one again.  I'm ok with not being able to do it.  But it does bug me that I haven't been able to overcome that challenge.  So, maybe when I'm 80 and have nothing else to do I'll give it a try again! :)

Online Quilting Fun!

Here's a little sneak peak of what I'm working on right now...

 
I have been trying to decide which quilt top I want to try out next. I am determined to learn to machine quilt (and actually do a good job) this year, using up my stash.  So I have been looking around online, finding all sorts of free quilt patterns and tutorials (and some that are not free) that I would love to try.  One website proclaimed that 2013 is the year of the "stash"!  It is the year to use up your fabric stash instead of buying more fabric!  Perfect!  Right in line with my thoughts!  I have found several quilting sites that I enjoy checking up on.  In case you are looking for some fun quilt ideas, I'll share my favorite sites so far with you (they are more or less in the order that I found them):

1. Melanie at the Crafty Cupboard.  She has made some cute, cute quilts and even sells some on Etsy and at what looks like a few local (local for her in AZ) boutiques. 

2. Camille at Simplify.  This is Camille of Bonnie and Camille- she designs fabrics with her Mom for Moda.  Their fabrics are always some of my favorite lines.  So, so, so cute.  When I find cute quilts online, they frequently turn out to be one of Camille's patterns (once you follow the blogs back to the source).  When I saw the Firework quilt (made up) on Pinterest, I absolutely loved it.  I followed the link, and had to smile when it took me to a newly released pattern from Camille.  It is my new favorite quilt.  She does such a good job.  Her Mom, Bonnie, also has a cute quilting blog, Cotton Way.  She has some adorable quilts.  They are frequently detailed and intricate quilts.  A lot of work, but worth the result in the end.  Super cute.  I love their taste in fabric.  I am not a fan of the busy- looking quilts where there is so much going on whether it is the pattern or fabric that it just doesn't look good.  I love most of Bonnie and Camille's quilts because they usually do a great job of having them look clean, neat and orderly while being beautiful and not too busy.  In other words, they fit in with my style- or the "look" that I am going for.  Love their stuff! 

3. Leslie Unfinished.  This blog has lots of cute quilts, too.  She made me laugh a little because she mentioned that the whole reason she is quilt- blogging is to help her finish all of her unfinished quilts.  I can identify with that!  :)

4. Amy Smart's Diary of a Quilter blog.  She has lots of fun tutorials and quilts, too.  All this quilting going on in blogs, and I had no idea until I started looking up quilts.  Awesome.  I feel like I've found quilting friends (even though they don't know me!)

5. This gal's name is Sarah, and her blog is all about her life and her quilts.  I wasted far too much time yesterday looking back on her quilts and her life.  I sometimes have to remind myself that I'm not a creepy person for reading up on these blogs- but it is strange to feel like I know some of these ladies from their blogs, when I don't know them at all... Anyway, Sarah has made lots and lots of cute quilts, all with being a Mom of 6 kids.  Amazing lady.  And, I swear, she looks like she's 20, even though she's my age.  (Older than 20)!  And, you know it's going to be an interesting blog when the blog is called "Orange you glad" but then the URL is "I didn't say banana"!?!  So fun!  I was also delighted when I discovered that she is related to Stephanie from the Nie Nie Dialogues, who I have been reading for ages now (way before the plane crash).  That isn't why I look at the Orange you glad blog, or even how I found it, just one of those "it's a small world" coincidental moments!

6. Allison from Cluck Cluck Sew.  Most quilts that I like seem to be either from Camille or Allison.  Allison is another quilter that I really like her knack for putting colors together and her quilt patterns.  She has lots of fun ones, too.  She is also all over the web and Pinterest with everybody pinning her awesome quilts.  My favorite quilt patterns of hers are the Kaleidoscope (although you should see the quilt Melanie (the Crafty Cupboard) made using Allison's Kaleidoscope pattern--- absolutely beautiful!), the Seville, and the Pow Wow.  All super cute! 

7. Finding Sweetland- This lady has made some cute sewing projects- quilts and otherwise.  She also mentions the quilt (block) swaps she participates in.  It is something that I keep thinking would be so fun to do.  But I worry about doing something like that because different people have different tastes in fabric, looks, and design.  What do you do if you get something that isn't your taste?  It would feel like such a waste.  I'm sure they get far more that they like than that they don't like, and she has mentioned that they have very strict rules to ensure the quality of what you get.  But still.  It isn't something that I dare try!  My favorite quilt that this lady has made was an aqua and apple green tumbler quilt.  It used to be in her Blog heading, but she recently changed it to pieces of fabric.  If you are curious about what it looks like, I'm sure you can search tumbler quilt on her blog and find it. 

8. Pine Needles- I love going to Pine Needles in Gardner Village (West Jordan, Utah).  They always have the cutest things.  I was happy to see that they now have a blog as well.  It has fun ideas and projects.  They also posted a quilt along that I think would be fun to do.....isosceles triangles.  It looks really cute, and would provide a bit of a challenge since you are sewing all angles, which is a little tricky.  It would be good to learn/try!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these fun quilting blogs.  I know I sure do!  They are all on my favorites list so I can access them easily!  It is wonderful to be able to get so many new ideas and tips.  I know they have inspired me to begin quilting again.  I had been happily stuck in a flannel baby blanket rut.  The best part--- now I'll be able to use up some of my cottons, too! 

Home Sweet Home

To save on storage space, I decided to make my new signs two-sided.  My January sign will have a back that is for the next month and holiday- February and Valentine's.  I did think that it would be fun to have a couple boards that could be used at any time or month.  Hence the "Be The Good" sign.  I needed to figure out something that would also be good for any time for the back.  This is what I came up with:

Sorry- there's a big shadow across the picture.  I'll try to remember to retake it tomorrow. 

P.S.  I don't know why, but I love the fun look you can get from Mod Podging decorative paper onto crafts! 

New Year's Resolutions 2013

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  Like me, do you usually forget about them before January is over?  :)   I haven't made resolutions in years because I hate it when I forget about them and then feel dumb that I even tried.  So, after not doing them for a while, I discovered--- that if you don't make the goals, you for sure won't accomplish them!  Ha ha.  Like it was difficult to figure that one out.  So, for the first time in a few years, I am not making resolutions, but I AM making goals.  Same diff, right?  Whatever progress I make will still be better than me not making the goals!  Some goals are personal, and I won't be sharing them.  But some are not.

1.  I am going to try to get as many of my UFO s (UnFinished Objects) done as I can this year.  But I think saying that isn't quite specific enough.  I will try to finish one unfinished project a week.  I am hoping that it will help clear out a lot of the "stuff" hanging around here!  And getting rid of some of the clutter will feel so much better! 

2. Along with that, I am going to try to post regularly- every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  That will help give me incentive to get some of these projects done!  Monday will be a recipe (one of my unfinished projects is going through an entire packing box full of recipes I've clipped from various sources.  I don't want to include them in my recipe book if I haven't tried them and liked them!  I have lots and lots to go through and try, type up, and organize.  So, please, bear with me on it!  :)  Wednesday will be some sort of craft or homey idea, project, or tip.  Heaven knows I have lots of those kinds of projects hanging around, unfinished!  Friday will be some sort of sewing project, idea, or tip.  You don't even want to know how much fabric I need to use up!  Let's just say I have been trying to use it up, and over the last year have only managed to use up maybe 20%.  Maybe less.  So sad, I know.  So---- I will be restricting as much as I possibly can --- these fabric projects to fabric I already have on hand.  The idea is to finish projects, not just start new ones!  :)

3.  Keep it simple.  As in, that's it.  I think those two public goals (in addition to my personal ones) will take up a bit of time, and I want to try to make it do-able so I don't give up.  So, that's it for the "public" goals. 

What goals do you have in mind for the New  Year?