chickenfoot

gas prices friday!!

we are just 4 cents away from hitting $4 a gallon. this is actually an improvement, as i noticed wed. that the price was $3.99. what are some of the prices around the country?  i have heard that chicagoland has some of the highest gas prices in the u.s, but i dont know....

i am feeling kind of strange right now, i dont have a swap that needs working on!  it feels kind of nice tho.  i have mailed out the last two swaps i entered this past week, both the lemonade stand doll quilt swap and the 6"-12" quilt swap. which leaves my little coin quilt that i started last month. it is the first quilt i have made especially for me. i am working on the hand quilting, and hope to be done tomorrow with that, and possibly get to binding it this weekend. i decided to quilt it with circles. i will post a pic when its done.

just a pic of the sun going down across the street.

jill tagged me for a meme, so here goes

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. what was i doing ten years ago?

um geez. pretty much what i am doing now. homeschooling my, then, almost 5 yr old daughter.  doing some sort of craft or another. just you know, being a mom and a wife.

2.five things on my to do list today:

laundry, cleaning the bird cage/taking care of the bird, dishes, do the bills, work on my quilt

3.snacks i enjoy:

pasta salad, raisins, fruit, popsicles,fudgesicles

4. things i would do if i was a billionaire:

make sure that everyone in my family and close friends has the main things they need(cars, house, etc.). open my own shop, some sort of art/crafts/quilting store.buy that house that i love in lindenhurst. donate like crazy

5.five places i have lived:

racine, wi, kenosha,wi, mundelein,il, gurnee, il, altamonte springs, fl.

6. people that i want to know more about:

barbara, pasha, jacquie, laurajay, and sarah you have been officially tagged!

i wanted to give you this link, because i thought it was so pretty, at lionbrand. the way they have it set up tho makes it look like a bikini bottom a normal person would not be caught dead wearing!

done!

it took longer then i thought it would but i finished my three little dresses. they all turned out well, except for the one that i was going to put in my etsy shop or use as a giveaway. the problem is when i was sewing the binding on, i had to take out some stitches. and they show. badly.

granted it is hard to tell in this pic, but almost one half of a side of binding area is affected. any suggestions on something i could do to save this? it really turned out nicely otherwise. i would keep this one for myself and give away the other, but i made the other one for me, and besides i used my hubby's old boxers on it! the area is at the bottom of the dress, the pic is upside down.

i bribed the teenager to do manual labor and it worked! i now have my garden dug. i just need to rototill it. altho we dont have a rototiller so i will be using one of those big fork like things. that is to say, said teenager will be using the big fork like thing.  it looks like i might get some seeds/plants in the ground this weekend. IF the weather cooperates. do you have a garden?? what kinds of things do you have in it?we will mainly have tomatoes, cucumbers, and lots of lettuce. i will be putting in some herbs too, but i havent decided which yet, altho i think cilantro would be a goodie. i am trying to talk the teenager into planting some pumpkins and watermelons, but we will see...

The Dresses, finished(altho they still need a washing).

today something scary happened. i almost killed my bird. no not on purpose. i had my lovely little blue vase of lily of the valleys sitting on my desk. peaches likes to be helpful with the typing so of course he was on my desk. he started nibbling on the lily, and ate one of the flowers. after he had eaten it, (which i was not worried about because i let him nibble plants and leaves) i started to think, maybe i should check the toxicity of lily of the valleys. guess what..... they are highly toxic to pets. all lilies are as a matter of fact, but lily of the valley are the worst. they act like digitalis (fox glove) in the system. luckily nothing happened, which i credit to the fact that they had been sitting on my desk for over a week and were dried out. i was sick for a few hours tho worrying about him. it has been about 7 hours with no ill effects so i think we're in the clear. phew

a few days ago i received something super gorgeous in the mail, from a fellow bloggerthat is from turkey, eda suner. she sent it just because. isnt that sweet?? dont look at my dry skin, pleasssse. the center stone is turquoise, and it has some charms and crystal danglies, with a leather strap. it is so me! she made it so the clasp hooks on to the side of the center stone, so there is no "back". clever. 

i wanted to give you a link to this. because that has to be one of the most creative and beautiful things i have ever seen. i cant believe what this woman can do with a bar of soap or a watermelon.

toodles

 

prints charming 2 and wip

today was a happy day. =) i have been saving my change for the past two months and i was finally able to get to the quilt store that i havent been to in over a year! i was really excited because their newsletter said they had gotten in fresh squeezed in charms, and i have been hunting for them for about a month.

thats chez moi on the right. i dont have any collections of designer fabrics, so i thought i would get 6 fat quarters of this and maybe make myself something pretty! about a week ago, while i was reading blogs i ran across this sweet little quilt on hedgehogquilts and she mentioned that the pattern was in the april issue of american patchwork. i was able to pick up the back issue at the shop for half off. gotta love that!

and of course the latest shop hop!! i love looking to see what delish stores everyone else gets to shop at.i also grabbed this block of the month kit too. i just loved the packaging, you know i am all about the cover!! it has gorgeous flower applique patterns that i cant wait to try.

i was able to grab a pack of some 1/2" hexagons too, which is great because i only had about 25 that i had cut out by hand. not fun let me tell you.after i finish up my block for the 6"-12" quiltie swap i am going to mess around with some more hex's. i have this book that has such yummy eye candy, that i really need to make something soon.

i am working on two more dress blocks. the first one has flown off to sarah. i was having a hard time trying to find tiny buttons in my button stash that were in the right color, so i decided that i am going to make little beaded necklaces instead. i am hoping that the little green seed beads look like a tiny little pearl necklace. ok, i have to ask, how many times would you have to sew, rip and sew before you realize you are sewing one piece upright and one piece not? apparently it takes me almost three. starting my third attempt, and not understanding why the block looked so wonky...it finally hit me. duh! turn it around.... thats better.

just gas

im not feeling well so i am going to bed early. before i do tho, i wanted to post the gas price. i did notice this same gas station had the price up to 3.89 yesterday, so this is an improvement!

off to bed with me. hope everyone is having a good friday nite.

6" inchers

a trial block for my 6"-12" swap group. i think i like it. i dont know if i think its too busy or not. either way i will be making another, because someone saw it in my flickr and wants to swap for this one. i couldnt turn down krom mama and her lovely little houses!!  this turned out 6". i wasnt sure if i would be able to do one that size, but it worked out perfectly.

i picked the lily of the valley from the front of the house. it is sitting on my desk so i can sniff it all i want. dont you love the smell of fresh picked fragrant flowers??

hexagons and lemon butter cookies

i feel the need to get on a soapbox briefly tonight. i just want to state that i am morally opposed to horse racing, dog racing, and while we're at it any type of bull/horse riding. these things are not sports. they are cruel acts inflicted on animals that have no choice in the matter. bottom line, if eight belles hadnt been racing she would still be alive. it made me sick to my stomach to hear them say they had to euthanize that beautiful animal.  off box. thank you

midnite tonight was the deadline for signing up for the 6"-12" mini quilt swap, so like a good swap mama, as soon as the clock struck 12 i posted the partners! i cant wait to see what everyone does with this. i am really intriqued by the finished size of these little guys and some of the practice quilts are looking awesome. i started to play with some hexagons once i saw a great article on them in the latest quilts and more.

i think this is my favorite quilting mag. they have projects for things other than just quilts. its more of a patchwork mag. this is my first attempt at hexagons. can i say, i love them???

i was really proud of my tiny stitches that attach them to each other, and i dont often think that my work is all that and a bag of chips....but this...this is! i am going to attach this to a backing of the orange polka dot. it turns out to be a little coaster for a cup or teapot.

martha is having another one of her contests. this time its for cookies. and its time for the recipe box swap again, i know i am two days late, but better late than never

lemon butter cookies

1 c. butter

add gradually, creaming well

1 c. brown sugar

add 2 eggs, well beaten

grated rind of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. clove

1/4 t. salt

mix well. blend in

2 c. flour

add more flour if necessary to make the dough thick enough to roll out. chill. roll 1/8" thick, cut out and bake until delicately brown at 350, for 10 minutes. makes 60.

recipe by fannie farmer boston cooking school cookbook, tenth edition, 1959

dont forget to check out all the recipes for cookies at i have to say. randi posted the most delish looking lemon bars ever. so get over there and get chubby.

rainbows and gasoline

i have decided to call this gas prices friday. my family at the present only has one car. because of this i dont always notice the price of gasoline. i thought it would be interesting to keep track of the price over the summer. hey it doesnt take much to impress me, i tell ya! so for this week we are at $3.75 a gallon. does anyone know why gas is sold with the tenths of a cent thingy there??? i mean do they think we are getting a bargain because they dont charge us $3.76?? i say aw heck they are taking so much of my money anyhoo, they can have the extra 1/10th of a penny!

most fridays you can find me in a coffee shop hanging with the girls. we originally met and beaded together. now we mostly just yak.  one of our favorite things to do together tho is too eat and watch scary movies(cheesy scary movies are good too). a few fridays back my one friend kelly wanted to know how to crochet, so she could make a plastic bag, out of plastic bags. per usual, she sent me the link and i checked out how to do it and told her what she needed to bring......

first pic is of what i accomplished

and what kelly made....

isnt it great??  its made entirely of target bags! it is a nice sized bag too. i cant imagine how many she used. the little circle that i made up there was i think two bags. i did make it a bit bigger but not much

her daughter has of course confiscated it, but i just love that it is a bag made from bags that might have been thrown out . i need to finish mine. i think i need to start a list of things i need to finish!!

while we were at barnes and noble tonight there was a storm and then this lovely double rainbow

you can tell i took the photo from the window inside as there is a backwards cafe sign in it!! nice photography skills, huh? in case you cant tell im being sarcastic

this is the doll quilt that i am sending my partner in the lemonade stand doll quilt swap. i had originally made it for doll quilt swap 3, but wasnt happy with how many seams it had, since i like to hand quilt. it would have been a bear to hand quilt!! but this swaps quilts are more likely to be actually used by a child, so i decided that it would be ok to use this one and machine quilt it.

here's the back. the fabric is dick and jane. thats a battery on top of the label to hide my partners name

i know im not supposed to.....and a binding tip

ok, i know i have been trying to be really good and not spend money frivolously, but i hadnt gone to my favorite antique mall in ages. the lady that owns my favorite booth even said she hadnt seen me since before christmas.....so thats good, right??? what i am trying to tell you is i fell off the wagon tonight. i wasnt too bad, i spent $30, and i was really happy with everything i got.

here is the breakdown for you folks that are keeping track. the lovely floral jug/vase(8") was $12, the adorable little pitcher(5.5") was $9, i got the little pups(a teeny 1.25") for $3.50, 10 quilt blocks for $6.50, and a small assortment of buttons for i think about $3.

i have a question for my bloggy quilting friends. i figured that i need to sew these together, but what i dont know is what do i do once they are all sewn? do i have to applique it to another fabric? it will definately be doll quilt size when done. its about 16" long by 12" wide. zoom in on those fabrics will ya?? they are gorgeous, what i wouldnt give for a pile of all these beauties!!!

i wanted to say thank you to my friend shelly. she is such a sweetie. she works at my local quilt shop(no not the one going out of business), and she quilts really big quilts (well they are big to me because i make doll quilts) on a long arm. one of the things that is great for me about that fact is that you need extra batting and fabric on your quilt to use the machine. here is where i come in to the picture. she has no need for these odd smallish bits, but they are perfect size for my doll quilts!!! every so often she gives me her bits. aint' she sweet?? i dont know if it was a booboo or not but this time there was 4 1/2 yards of some adorable tan fabric..... i need to call her to find out.....and

i have a little quilting tip for you. i wont call it a tute because it isnt that much, but it is very helpful.

it is a great tip for making perfect miters on your quilt binding.

ok, so you know how you are suppose to sew up to the edge of the quilt and then do the fold up and flip down bit??? well with my tip you dont sew to the edge like normal...

i hope this makes sense and my pic isnt confusing. if you are sewing 3/8" away from the edge sewing your binding down, then you would stop that same distance from the edge(3/8") and sew diagonally out to the edge, like in the pic above. capeesh?

you fold your binding upwards as normal, and see how it just automatically goes up into an angle?

then fold down as usual and sew starting a smidge from the top like you normally would. 

now when you flip your quilt over you can see that it just becomes the perfect miter!! voila!!

if this is muddy or if you want pix of the steps i left out, just let me know

this really does make a difference in the look and ease of your miters. try it, you might like it! mikey does.

dollquiltswap3

oh ladies i am in such a good mood, i think i will do the happy dance....happy happy joy joy!! my partner received my/her quilt today! yippee, and she loves it!  i think that is the whole reason i do this swap, to have a partner that loves want you send and is something that they would have picked out. i love reading their blog and surfing their flickr account (oo sounds kind of like stalking, doesnt it?).  i like to make something my partner would like, not necessarily what i would like, but hey if they happen to have the same kind of taste, all the better!! altho to be honest, if they dont have the same taste i think its easier to give it away! which brings me to this little quilt

now before you say, hey, thats the same quilt as the one in the pic above....its not. this is quilt no. 2 for the quilt swap. the one above is quilt no.3, and the one i actually sent. it was taking so long to quilt this one (bad choice of stencil) that i couldnt part with it. when i was about 2/3 done quilting, i stopped and made quilt no.3. which still took awhile to quilt, but not quite as long. and i really do love how the one i sent turned out. the stencil that i used was so much easier to follow and i just like the pattern it made. the quilt that i kept i just finished the binding tonight and chucked it into the washer. it scrunched up nicely.

i hope you dont think horribly of me, but i had to drop out of the lemonade doll quilt swap. for all the reasons i mentioned earlier about these little doll quilts in general.  plus with the flickr group of 6" quilties starting up may 1, i was worried about the amount of time i would be spending on making my quilt for the swap. summer is coming soon, and a trip in the beginning of june to denver to my nieces grad school graduation.....i was just getting stressed thinking about it all. so i am hoping now i will feel more peaceful and relaxed!

scratch that. it hadnt occurred to me that the lemonade swap was already a month in when i decided to drop out. i guess i was caught up in myself because i wasnt planning on starting until doll quilt swap 3 was over. but i found out my partner had already started on my quilt and it would have been terrible of me to bail, so i am still in the swap. matter of fact i finished up my quilt for it already!i will post a pic in the next day or two.

last week i went to visit family (the great nephews baptism dontcha' know) and i had time to kill in between baptism and the party(which we ended up not making it to, long story, dont ask). so of course i stopped in at my favorite local quilt shop and to my horror(yes horror, folks this is a biggie), they are closing at the end of may!!! aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh, say it isnt so. since this might be the last time i have a chance to get some goodies.... i spent some money i prolly shouldnt have, but hey, it was an emergency, right???

i just had to buy some polka dots.

everything in the store was 20% off except the bear making supplies, which were 50% off!!!! i got two sweet patterns. these are both big guys, because i have a lot of smaller bear patterns, and i thought it would be nice to have some bigger ones for  gifties for the wee ones

i had just come across a bag online that someone had made with this amy butler pattern that i thought was so sweet, so i had to have this. the quilt pattern looked too kewl to pass up, dont you think??

saw these online last week and couldnt believe my luck, that they only had one and it was the one i wanted. be on the lookout in the near future for sweet little felted flowers here!!

and lastly i got this pattern, its just a sheet of paper, for a super adorable bag. its by moda and its a "just for you" pattern. let me know if you cant find it and i will be happy to send you a copy

it doesnt say anything on it about copyright, so i just may have to make up a few of these for my etsy shop! g'nite everyone

this lovely photograph is by the talented joe wigfall, not me. he so kindly let me put it up on my little blog here. please go check out his flickr pix...you wont regret it!!

today was not a pretty day. it was rainy and cloudy most of the day. not to mention it has been awfully gusty out (notice i didnt say windy, this my friends was no wind). i even had to go get an umbrella because apparently the umbrella faerie took mine. i was afraid coming out of target that i was only going to get this one chance to use the umbrella, the wind almost turned it inside out. auntie em, auntie em!

finished up my little quilt. i added a wonky kind of stitch to the outer wheel, and some beads to the center. i dont know if i want to keep it or not.... you cant tell here but it has a lime green binding, and its just about 10" square.

this weekend looks to be a busy one. great nephews baptism is tomorrow and we have a spaghetti dinner fundraiser on sunday at daughters church. i am hoping to be able to sneak to the quilt store while i am in town tomorrow. if i do i will make sure to post pix of my goodies.