30 September 2016

Friday Fun

Makes me yearn to attend the high school marching band championships and Drums Along the Rockies...

29 September 2016

A New Nephew

Literally Last Minute

Josiah caught me off guard and made his first appearance just a couple of days before we embarked upon our Deception Pass Classic adventure... Four days of driving, two days of riding, two days of visiting, then four more days of driving. I was so buried in work, cycling training and then the actual event, I forgot I would be needing another boy baby quilt this month!

I'm still on a quest to finish as many WIPs as possible, and part of the challenge has been making niece, nephew and cousin quilts by Christmas. However, I've been trying to get baby quilts done as new babies arrive instead of tacking them onto what is becoming my annual Christmas mailing deadline.

Before going to bed the night after Josiah was born, I rifled through my ever-growing stack of WIPs to see if anything might work for a new little baby boy. Nothing. Not a single WIP would be appropriate. Everything is too feminine! I went to bed frustrated. What on earth could I do?


That night, I remembered the fabric I bought last summer for The Lizard when he first began quilting. I'd picked up a clearance fat quarter bundle suitable for little boys I thought might make great practice for my dear hubby. He promptly turned out his first rag quilt, which actually sold at the annual craft fair at my work last November! Perhaps there were enough leftovers...

The next morning, I rummaged through my stash, and sure enough, I had enough remnants to craft a quickie 12-block baby quilt! I sliced a dozen 12-inch blocks and sewed them all together before leaving for work. I got off late that night, wee left town immediately afterward, and I didn't get to go home first. No more sewing for about two weeks.

I picked up two yards of light blue Kona while on vacation, hoping to be able to crank out the quilt and get it in the mail a day or two after we returned home.

We got home to a mostly dead garden that needed some immediate attention, we had to do laundry and make meals for the week, and then I had to go back to work. My neighbor brought over a big bowl of fresh tomatoes from his garden at 8 p.m. the following night, and I had to do something quick with them so they wouldn't spoil before I had a chance to devour them. More kitchen time. Yummy kitchen time, I might add. Nevertheless, Josiah was a day older and growing...

Three days after we got home from Washington, I finally sat down to the sewing machine again and layered and quilted Josiah's quilt in a single night after work. Two nights later, I got to attach the binding, and the next day, it was in the mail. Mission accomplished! Josiah's quilt was in the mail before he turned a month old!

For Josiah

For Josiah



For Josiah

For Josiah

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

27 September 2016

Book Signing


If you live along the Front Range, please stop by to say hi between 2 and 4 pm Saturday, October 1, at the Parker Library, 20105 East Mainstreet. I've been stocking up on wonderful snowflake schwag, I'll have copies of "Heart Strings" available for autographs, and it's my first public booksigning ever!

26 September 2016

Snowflake Monday


What a crazy, awesome, wonderful, hectic and draining trip this year's MS-150 was! I'm still trying to ease back into my normal routine, but the seasons are changing, the days are shorter, we're headed into fourth quarter at work (the busiest time of the year), and fresh chilies, peaches, tomatoes and onions have been redirecting a lot of my time into the kitchen.

Can't complain though; with a bushel of freshly roasted hot Hatch chili peppers, we made homemade salsa, homemade mole (first time ever, and The Lizard loves it!), chicken enchiladas, chicken stew (the best I've ever made; I'll have to write it down so I can use the same recipe for the next Super Bowl chili cook-off!) and Mexican wedding cookies with no white sugar but featuring cinnamon and roasted Hatch chilies. Another first! I can't stop eating them!!!

We loved the cookies so much, I made a second batch for one of my bosses' birthday today. Then we made flatbread pizza with fresh tomatoes, fresh spinach and fresh onions from my garden, topped with chicken, roasted Hatch chilies and fresh mozzarella. Oh, my heavens, I think we've found a new favorite meal...

We still had more chilies after all that, so we packaged them in freezer bags, six at a time, and I think we will be able to enjoy chilies every two weeks or so for six more weeks.

YUM!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!


Finished Size: 1.75 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Whirlwind Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 11 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Don't pull magic ring too tight.

Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc in same ch as sl st, ch 3, * sk next dc, 3 dc in next dc, ch 3; repeat from * around 4 times; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 3: Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr), [in next ch 3 sp work 1 tr, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 tr] 6 times, omitting last tr of final repeat; sl st in 3rd ch of starting ch 3; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

23 September 2016

Friday Funny


I think one of my grasshoppers has quilting aspirations.





22 September 2016

Heartless

(affiliate links to my fabric designs)


When I first designed this Spoonflower cheater panel, I planned to do a scrappy border or two all the way around to make it big enough for one of my cousins this Christmas, then move on to the next panel and do the same thing. I am trying to finish 14 quilts again this year by Christmas for my cousins' kids, as well as a niece and nephew who didn't get quilts last year because I didn't get them finished in time. I need a bunch of quickies, so to speak, in order to finish on time. This year is really getting away from me!


The first border, made mostly from leftovers from Hearts of Gold, knocked my socks off and inspired all kinds of new ideas.




I so enjoyed playing with my leftovers!


The second border used up nearly all the scraps from Hearts of Gold! I think I have three triangles left!


With two pieced and two solid borders, the quilt top is almost big enough for a little kid now. I thought I could make it just a wee bit bigger and add a just a bit more color pizazz if I made a rainbow border that goes all the way around, unbroken. I pieced 2.5-inch strips of almost all of my Kona colors with the intention of slicing it into striped 2.5-inch strips.


But now that it's done, I'm not sure I can cut it up!


It's crying out to me that it can be a quilt of its own! It doesn't want to be cut into pieces!!!










Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
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