Hungry Caterpillar Quilt completion!

The Hungry Caterpillar Wall hanging

The completed Wall hanging!

December 22-24, 2012

I have a commitment to complete things and have some fun with projects.  I went on a 2.5 week vacation from work.  A much needed vacation.  Of course, I spent 2-3 days relaxing and taking an easy, but by the 2nd day, I was starting to get bored.  I spent 2 days cleaning up my sewing room up and I realized that I've committed to a lot of projects, but I would never finish them.  So, the first project I focused on was the "Hungry Caterpillar" wall hanging.  I spent a long time trying to finish quilting it.  It was a challenge to decide how to quilt since I'm still a novice.  But I did it!  It took me a day to finish quilting it.  Then the next day, I focused on getting that binding on which went fast by sewing machine.  I had to finish it by hand and the miracle is... I finished the hand stitching at 10 pm on Christmas Eve.  I thought, "Why not give it to my 15 month old son for Christmas?"  In a box and under the tree it went! the next morning, my son stared at it and smiled and hugged it.  It was a better reaction than I could ever have expected especially from a 15 month old.  I'm so proud that I finished this project and it will be displayed in my son's room!  On to the next project!!!

Time to hand stitch to completion!

Sewing the binding on! Getting close!

Christmas Table Runner

Christmas Table Runner 

December 1, 2012

Christmas Runner from Pieced Tree Patterns (Forest City Iowa)

I've always wanted to take the time to make a festive Christmasy table runner.  So that is what I did!  I used the pattern from Pieced Tree Patterns (Forest City, Iowa).  I immediately went searching for the perfect fabric.  I wanted something that was a little old fashioned, something bright and cheerful, and of course, Christmasy.  I managed to find some cute green reindeer fabric (if you look closely, you will see that the reindeers all have red shiny nose.  I found dark red and gold swirly fabric that matches my reindeers.  For me, that is a match!  I could've used any fabric for the backing, but I just had to pick something that was a nice contrast... hence the pine needles and pine cones with berries.  I'm pretty proud of this and I even made one for my mom.  I took the time to enter it in the Quilting Gallery weekly contest.  Go and check it out at this site.  There are or will be more Christmas runners by other quilters/sewers.  http://quiltinggallery.com/   You can even vote for your own favorite winner.  The winner is determined by the most vote and will get a prize.  Imagine how many more inspiration you could get from checking out the site.

On to my next project.  I wonder what it will be!

Close up of the front and back of the runner sewn and quilted by yours truly

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

My first Halloween Tree as an Adult!

October 31, 2012:

I love Halloween.  I've always loved the spirit of it.  Getting dressed up in creative costumes and trick or treating for candy.  My mom did create us a Halloween Tree, and she was creative with our costumes.  One year, my sister, brother, and I went as the 3 blind mice.  We wore sunglasses, had a mouse costume on and our tail was bandaged.  Totally cool!  When I got older, trick or treating was still a big deal, but it would be followed by Halloween Movies!  Once I became an adult, I grieved for awhile because it wasn't quite right to go trick or treating and I was in an apartment in a far out of the way place that no one came to for candy.  My husband and I finally bought our first house and 4 months later, I was so excited to discover that we lived in Trick or Treaters Heaven.  This year was especially special because my son will be 14 months tomorrow and he got to go trick or treating in his lion costume... collecting candy for his parents.  It was great.  This year, I finally found some time to create a halloween tree.  it is not much since I ran out of time, but I used Chinese Lanterns that I had grown in my yard and dried.  Scrap fabric for bows,  Branches from the last storm, paper for ghosts.  Not bad for a beginner.  My only regret was, I didn't have strong enough branches to put my orange lights on the tree, but I learned something new for next year.  Hopefully I will have orange lights next year.  

Of course, I have to spoil the kids in my family and my friends kids.  I made them "poop" bags (Ghost poop, Pumpkin poop, and Bat Poop).  I saw the idea on Pinterest and just had to do it.  I used Marshmallow  Candy Corn and Raisins.  The kids got a good laugh.  On to the next holiday!

Silly treats for the kids

A finished "A Very Braidy Cowl"

Completed Cowl!

September 16, 2012:  Yesterday was a busy day!  Celebrating my little boy's birthday with families and friends.  It was so much fun.  However, I had to remind myself that I did everything for my family and friends.  So today, I finally finished that knitting project I started awhile back.. "A Very Braidy Cowl"  I am so proud that I got it done!  It took a lot of unraveling or "tink"-ing as the hard core knitters call it. But I finally did it!  I have a pretty purple cowl to wear this winter which is something I've never done. I've knitted before but I've never down knitting with cable.  I feel refreshed and ready to start a long week at work and being a mom and wife during my off time.  I am definitely ready!  Looking forward to the next weekend and wonder what I should work on next or at least finish.

Dump Truck Cake

September 15, 2012:  My sweet darling little boy turned 1 year old a few weeks ago.  It was a wonderful day because he chose his birthday as the day he stood up by himself without help and took his first few steps without support.  It was incredible.  We decided to celebrate his birthday a few weeks later with friends and family.  To make it extra special for all of us to remember, I decided to make him an extra special cake.  I searched many different blogs and websites for inspiration and I decided that my little boy deserved a truck cake since he spends a lot of times playing with his trucks.  I found this idea from Taste of Home and was inspired to make a close duplicate http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Dump-Truck-Cake.  The difference is that I chose to make my own cake recipe that was less in sugar and oil.  I did use their frosting recipe but I chose to only use butter... not lard.  I didn't use all of the candy they recommended since we don't eat some of the candy.  And I put the candy or frosting where I wanted as well.  The direction to put the cake together was a little confusing, but I ended up looking at the cake for reference instead of the directions. I   It started off stressful, but once I started working on it, it became easier and more fun. This was my first time making a cake like this and it makes me excited for next year!

Apple, Beet, & Mint Juice

Apple, Beet, & Mint Juice

Apple, Beet, & Mint Juice

September 7, 2012: I was fortunate to be able to borrow someone's Juicer and I thought it would be great to make a bunch of juices to freeze to drink later.   Often I find that I don't have enough time in the morning to get everything I need together for work when I am focused on making sure my little guy gets a healthy meal before going to school.  I came up with the idea of freezing some juices to have defrost on my way to work or to have with my lunch.  It's a great way to add some extra veggies or fruit to your diet.  I've tried quite a few recipes and really like them all.  Once recipe that I 

tried was Apple, Beet, & Mint Juice and I got it from this website: 

http://www.wholeliving.com/151378/beet-apple-and-mint-juice 

However, I was very concerned about adding so many carrots since I've had some bad experience in the past with carrots in my drinks... strong carrot taste.  I modified the drink to fit my taste by adding more apples and mint and I recommend you experiment yourself to have it fit your needs.  Just remember, the beet will make the drink very red as well as stain everything you own.  

Red Apples, Beet, and Mints Juice

2 carrots

2 apples

1 beet

1/3 cup of Apple Mint.

Put in juice and Juice.  Drink immediately or freeze.

September 6, 2012-  My apologies for not posting for awhile.  So many events has happened and I wasn't given a lot of time to do things for myself or to post.  I am back at full force and will be making a few things to post over the next few days.  While you are waiting, I've been very excited to read about Pat Sloan's blog.  She has been talking about patterns, colors, and designers.  I probably spend more time reading than sewing.  But today is a sewing day!  I will be back with pictures.