Inspiring Quilts

I was browsing through my Crate and Barrel catalog earlier today and came across this beauty. The patchwork is rectangles of fabric in shades of blues, reds, and greens. The quilting is closely spaced horizontal lines. It manages to feel more gender neutral than most quilts. I like this. I like this alot.

Also inspiring me:
Orange quilt by cluckclucksew
Spider web blocks by handmadebyalissa
Whirly pinwheel quilt top by mayaeliseboutique

What's inspiring you today?

The Archives

Here’s something from the project archives. It was my Valentine to Little Miss Lou last year. I’m not sure how or why I missed posting it then because it’s a great project! (I think it has something to do with the horrible picture.) With just some fabric and trim scraps, a bit of heat-n-bond, some fiber-fil and a free evening I created a cute, toddler sized pillow.

It features two of my favorite things, ball trim and letter appliques. If it hadn’t been intended for my (then) favorite 2 year old, it would have been impossible to part with. I’m glad I did though. It became her most loved pillow and was dubbed “the Auntie J pillow”. Too sweet!

In the mail - finally

I had the best intentions for a handmade Christmas last year, I really did. But then school and rearranging our house to accomodate month-long visitors took over and my plans went up in smoke. Things got so out of hand that I didn't even manage to finish my gifts for my niece and nephew which I feel pretty guilty about. And they were going to be such good gifts.


For my sweet niece, a patchwork pillow in green and purple to coordinate with her bedroom. The center panel is an embroidery based on the Wee Wonderfuls Peppermint Fairy Stitchette. I swapped her candy cane for a bouquet of flowers and the peppermints for sparkles and gave her a coordinating outfit to the fabrics I wanted to use. The fairy tale print fabric is from Superbuzzy, as is the green umbrella print and the purple/orange flower print. I put a hidden zipper along the bottom seam and lined the patchwork panel with muslin to make it a little sturdier. Plans are in the works for a coordinating doll quilt for the gorgeous doll bed that my brother made for my niece's last birthday.

And for my car and train obsessed nephew, a pillow based on one of the Christmas Wishes Stitchettes stitched on linen. The cars, stripes and blue/red fabrics were Superbuzzy purchases, but I'm sure I've seen these prints elsewhere. In all honesty, this didn't turn out exactly how I had imagined. I wanted to use train fabric instead of the cars, but it just didn't work so I swapped it out at the last minute. Also, I would have like to do the embroidery on black linen but for the life of me couldn't transfer the drawing satisfactorily. Anybody have any hints? Hopefully it's good enough to impress a four year-old boy.

I added an outfit for each of them and a couple of these awesome Glitter Balls to the box and sent it off this morning. Hopefully it will get there for Valentine's Day. Better late than never, right?

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Avocado-Tomatillo Dip with Cumin Pita Chips
Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients: ****
Having been Super Bowl weekend avocados were abundant and cheap at my local supermarket so I had to find an excuse to use them. (Not that I really needed an excuse.) And you already know how I love cilantro and cumin. This recipe does call for cumin in the seed form. However, I opted to use ground cumin because I always, always have ground cumin. I think it worked just fine.

Preparation: ****
All you need to do is boil the tomatillos, chuck everything into a blender, and ta da you’ve got dip. Making the pita chips was a bit trickier. The recipe suggests 15 minutes in the oven to achieve golden brown. I slid mine in for 10 minutes and had passed golden and was well on my way to dark brown. I’m sure this varies by oven so just keep an eye on it.

Taste: *****
Oh, my, oh, my. It was crunchy goodness topped with rich creaminess. Since eating the dip I haven’t been able to get the vision of a big pile of crisp romaine topped with salty, seasoned beef, cheese, tomatoes, and crushed tortilla chips out of my mind. At the top of the mound a generous serving of this dip sits alongside some salsa. You know a recipe is good when you envision other ways to ingest it. Make some. You won’t be sorry.

no. 14: Best of January

When I decided one of the 32 things I wanted to do this year was take a picture a day I thought it would be pretty easy. Well, January set me straight. Light in January is terrible when you have a full time job and need to take pictures either before or after work. I did feel like giving up about day 6 but I stuck with it and somehow managed to take 31 photos, some of questionable quality. I did have some favorites though. I think of them as the highlights of the low light.

For Baby

Pajamas and slippers are the best. Pajamas and slippers for a newborn are even better.

These are the Kimono pajamas and cutie booties from Amy Butler’s Little Stitches for Little Ones. The Kimono pajamas came together very quickly and easily. I did find the directions for putting on the bias trim a bit strange. You start by attaching the bias trim as you would on a quilt, then folding it over to the back. Rather than stitching in the ditch the directions have you create a visible stitching line all around the trim. Why see stitching when you don’t need to?

Now about those cutie booties. Upon first glance I thought they’d be an easy project. Wrong, but that’s partly my fault. You see I skim directions more often than I read them. This leads to more time spent with my seam ripper than is necessary. If you want to avoid attaching the velcro four times I highly recommend carefully reading the instructions. OK, so I corrected those mistakes only to reach the end and find you have to hand sew the lining bottom in. Ugh! I hate handsewing! After much pinning and cursing and stitching while listening to This American Life podcasts I finished them. And they were worth it! Along with the pajamas they make a stunning baby gift, don't you think?

A whole lot of pink

Another pair of the Stay-on Baby Booties from Knitting for Baby, again made using the Filatura Di Crosa Italian cotton. They are for my hair stylist, who is having a little girl in a few short weeks. Aren't they yummy? Every time I make a pair of these I bemoan the fact they they don't come in my size. But this time I actually did something about it.

Behold, my new MP superwash wool tights from Cambridge Clogs in Porter Square (formerly Vintage, etc.) I've been wanting some warm tights for winter skirt wearing but have never been able to wear wool next to my skin for more than, oh, ten minutes or so without serious consequences. These MP tights are lined with cotton and are not itchy at all (they even come in organic cotton for those of you who are so inclined). I might have to go back for the blue pair, one can never have too many pairs of striped tights, right?