Bunny Cakes

Baby Blankets

It’s been a while…a very long while.  As I sat down to write this entry, I honestly had no idea where to begin. If you have been reading BunnyCakes for over a year and half, you might know me…if not, I am A (K’s sister and [new] mother to O). After taking a little bit of a breather (tough pregnancy resulting in a precious baby who doesn’t nap), I am back. Well, back for the time being.

My first post back is not surprisingly baby related, although, not my baby.  My group of friends is experiencing a bit of a baby boom. Exciting stuff! Baby boom equals baby quilt boom. In my opinion, nothing says welcome to the world like some handmade love! Although my free time is now very limited, I still try to do a little something for friends who are having babies.  My old standby was a knitted baby hat and although I still enjoy knitting, I have been lured away to the world of faster gratification that quilting offers (yes, I am a turtle slow knitter).

The first baby blanket is a pattern called “Winner’s bouquet.” I originally discovered this pattern in my local quilt shop and fell in love.  After being convinced that “it’s really not that hard” I decided to take the plunge (which resulted in a generous down and dirty lesson from said quilt shop---I bet they don’t tell anyone that “it’s really not that hard” anymore!). After learning a few quick tricks, the quilt pattern and I came to an "understanding." Since my co-worker is having a girl she wanted a color palette of pink. Luckily for me, my baby is a boy, and so the stash is well stocked with pinks. A majority of the fabrics are from Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern and Midwest Modern II… fabric lines that I just love! 

The second baby quilt is a slightly modified version of a pattern in Jodi Barrow’s Square in a Square booklet. This quilt is also for a co-worker (I seriously stopped drinking the water at work…it’s spiked with something). This was one of the first time I used the square in a square ruler and I have to say, it lives up to the hype! This quilt top came together in just a few short, enjoyable hours. The fabrics are: Alexander Henry’s Teeny Tiny Zoo and the green fabric is Michael Miller’s Zen Garden (in pear).

~A

The Theo Quilt

It is hard to believe the summer is over.  It started out with great expectations and lots of promise.  I had many projects earnestly queued up on my to-do list, but sadly most of them stayed there.  One of the projects was a quilt for a dear friend who [many months ago] 'just' had a baby boy.  To be honest, the quilt should have been finished up before summer even started, but it wasn't.  Then something went bad.  A dark cloud came into my life--Lyme's Disease.  My hair started falling out, my hands and feet hurt, and I was worried about the disease all the time.  And then after many weeks of antibiotics things were suddenly normal again.  My craftiness returned and the quilt was finished.  So it is with much happiness that I share these pictures of a long overdue quilt and other goodies (monogrammed photo album & burp cloths)...

I really love how the blues and greens turned out together.  

-K

P.S. Use sunscreen AND bug spray. 

The Long and Windy Road

I don’t know why, but when I think of the process of making a quilt or any other longer term project this song pops into my head.  Creating something that spans several days/weeks/months/possibly years is like a relationship---there is the excitement of something new, the getting to know you part, the ups and sometimes downs, and after you finish the relationship continues but in a slightly different (but hopefully good fashion) like marriage. 

This relationship feeling rings very true with my NY Beauty quilt.  My first notice of the NYB was one of great admiration---wow, what a beautiful quilt, but soooo out of my league.  There was a flirtation when I found out that perhaps it could be---maybe.  When I created my first square, I felt like the nerdy girl who was going to prom with the [hot] captain of the football team (to phrase it in a very American stereotypical fashion).  I couldn’t believe that NYB could be mine---it wasn’t possible. I was living in a crafting version of a John Hughes movie.

In the beginning of the relationship, we had a great time.  It was new and so exciting. I think back to the good times we had.  Watching the Olympics cutting out the fabric (I learned a great lesson about cutting fabric out on your lap ---my favorite PJs now have a scar).  I also, remember happy afternoons in my craft room quilting and falling in love again with Mason Jennings (it was funny when I went to see Mason in concert some of the songs he played gave me happy déjà vu of those afternoons). 

Like all relationships, we did have our issues---I hate to be wasteful and NYB is a fabric/thread/time hog.  I ran out of several of the fabrics and had to swap, search on line, and just replace a few things (a sometimes pricey endeavor).  Looking back, I seemed to be the one who caved on this issue, whatever Lola wants, Lola gets...

At times, our mostly happy relationship would suddenly shift---NYB’s cheery colors did not seem to suit my crafting palette.  I became bored and distant from my quilt.  Like an unfaithful lover, I spent my time with other fleeting projects.  What can I say?  I can be such a pig...but NYB would always graciously take me back.

(admittedly not the best shot, but it was what I could get).

~A

When Divorce is not an Option

Ok, so this is not my best post title.  I was trying to come up with something appropriate that accurately reflects the topic while remaining friendly and did not contain any curse words. Other titles included: When good projects go bad (boring) or When Projects Drive You to the Brink of Insanity During the Holidays and Like a Weight Around Your Neck Drowns You in Misery (but that was a little wordy).

This post has been brewing in my head for several months now, but I guess I was mentally still making some amends (admittedly a bit of a grudge was formed on my end---no word from the quilt on if the grudge is reciprocated). Gentle readers be warned, this is not your typical happy, cupcakes and icing Bunny Cakes post.

So roughly about a year ago, on the eve of my MIL’s birthday, I decided that a quilt would be a really nice gift (one that my MIL would really appreciate). I decided that it was insanity to attempt a quilt in a single night and I deferred the gift until Christmas. (I am a little crazy, but not THAT crazy).  I had plenty of time to plan, plot, and create something that would reflect my very high opinion of my MIL.

The process begins...

I stumbled upon the perfect fabric with little effort.  My MIL is a cat person, more specifically a black cat person (her cat almost rivals my Diddy in personality, scheming, and deviousness).  I found a beautiful cat fabric that does not scream cat lady and all the negative connotations that cat lady brings to mind.  When I ordered the cat fabric, I also found a coordinating fabric on sale.  Thinking why not, I bought half a yard.  At the time I purchased the fabrics, I did not have a pattern in mind (big mistake on my part).  Buy the fabric and the pattern will come...was what I thought.

The project begins to turn bad...

The fabric that I had picked out was great, but it was also pretty busy and required the right pattern that would showcase it’s greatness.  After much mulling, I picked a pattern.  As soon as the pattern was selected, well the relationship started to sour.  I realized the maybe coordinating fabric that I had purchased was perfect, but everyone else thought it was perfect and there was no longer any available.  Ooookay. I begin to search for alternatives.  After buying two sets of alternatives (and after being burned I bought a LOT of each fabric) that did not work, I was right back almost at the starting point with the notable exceptions of now having fabric that I couldn’t (well, wouldn’t) use and a lot less  money in my pockets. Seeing the piles of un-needed and certainly unwanted fabric sitting on my craft table filled me angst. I finally broke down and went online (again---previous searches yielded nothing) and found one place that had the original sale coordinating fabric and paid an exorbitant amount of money for it.

Divorce with this project would have been the most logical and happy thing at this point.  Except, I couldn’t.  M was really pleased with the idea and had broadcasted the gift to several family members.  I had become a cornered animal---dangerous, unhinged, and really, really miserable.

I persisted.  I had no other choice.  The fabric came, cutting and then mis-cutting ensued.  The misery seemed to follow me through the project.  Crafting friends offered sympathy.  On and on it went. Finally, a week before Christmas, the long journey came to an end. I stuffed the quilt into a big gift bag and put it away.  We needed time apart.

The only saving grace for this project was how happy this quilt (of doom) made my MIL.  She really loved it.  I think my MIL’s happiness was the final truce---however, I doubt I would ever cuddle with it. 

I am not sure what the moral of this story/rant is, but I just needed to get this story off my chest. 

Has anyone else experienced crafting misery?

~A

PS- the angst of the project still lives on. I was looking through the pictures taken of the wretched beast, I mean quilt, and ALL the pictures were out of focus.  LOL, the quilt gets the last word!

Japanese Baby Gift Set - Kyuuto!

This collection of *cute Japanese baby gifts* is finally ready to be mailed off.  In the gift set (for our cousin) we have included the Mara Quilt, a larger version of the Ninja Pandas, Japanese motif onsies, a hand-knit hat, a cute not-so-pink outfit, a sushi book that was given to me by my cousin when the boys were born and a few other items.  I could easily continue to collect cute things to add to our gift set, but I am sure A would not be so happy as it is overdue long enough.  Here are a few pix of the gift...

-K

A Promise Kept (finally)

Not too, too long ago (in my defense) the wine manager at M's soon (?) to be opening restaurant had a baby...well, his girlfriend did.  My Hubbens, M, asked me to make something for the baby.  Generally, I would jump at the chance to make something---uninterrupted time in the craft room during which I feel no guilt for neglecting M, because after all this IS at his request. You would think I would have been all over this one.  But sadly, the weeks (only a couple) went by and still nothing for the new baby.  Hubbens begin to frown and gently ask if it was ready.  I felt bad, but still I made nothing.  The guilt began to overwhelm me.  To stave off the bad feelings I began to knit a baby hat.  Generally baby hats are easily a one night of watching TV projects.  Not this one.  Time begin to pass (again).

The hat was almost finished.  I just need to go get a darning needle and sew up the top.  Did I?  Oh, No.  That would be too easy.  Things really came to a head when M pointedly asked me, "Geez, how long does it take to make a baby hat?"  We both knew the answer (which is: not long if you aren't being super lazy).

So, I got off my duff.  Finished the baby hat.  I thought about what I wanted to do for this baby. I was at a loss.  Suddenly I remembered a baby quilt pattern that I had been dying to try out.  I rummaged through the stash to see if I had stuff that I could use (of course I did, in hindsight I should have played it off cool and went to the fabric shop anyway). I causally began the baby quilt on Wednesday not sure how long I could stay focused on the task at hand. In just a few short (and mostly pleasurable) hours  I had completed the top.  Feeling the ooze of laziness settling in, I decided that, yes, I definitely needed a new fabric for the back. A trip to the quilt shop would have to happen before any additional work could be done (yes, I do have a Master's in laziness, thank you). 

I had reached the point where I just wanted to be done  so I made it a point to buy the fabric for the back the next day. (Shocker, I know)  Today  being Sunday (football day aka guilt free craft time) I decided to knock this little quilt out.  Thankfully, the quilt seemed willing to cooperate and things wrapped up quickly and without much fuss.

Feelings about this quilt:  This pattern was really easy.  A motivated person could easily get this done in a day.  The zig zag took up very little fabric.  This is an excellent project if you want to use up a lot of little pieces of the fabric you loved so much you could not throw out (no matter how small the scrap was).

Oh, yeah.  The other great thing about this quilt is that the pattern is free and can be found here.

~A

The Mara Quilt

Our cousin J and his wife T are having a baby girl.  This is exciting news because the last time we had a birth in our side of the family was over 6 years ago...so we are definitely due for a little bambino (ahem, A. take note).  Naturally A. and I decided to make a quilt.

This is the first baby quilt that A. and I collaborated on from start to finish.  We spent hours in the fabric store trying to find the perfect boarder fabrics to go with our feature fabric.  Occasionally the sales staff would wonder over to inquire if we needed cutting or other services, which we would politely decline and continue our debate.  Finding a coordinating fabric(s) was going to be a big challenge--it isn't easy to satisfy both our tastes, plus since this was for our cousin, who is an artist married to an artist, we wanted to keep their tastes in mind (no pink frilly ribbon type stuff) and make sure it was extra special.  After many passionate vetoes we finally found a common ground.  And the results....

 

I personally love how the quilt turned out.  I have been very keen on 'follow the lines' quilts and the fabric couldn't have been better suited.  We added an embroidered family seal on the back and a personalized name tag on the front to make it extra special.  Of course what also makes this quilt so special to me is how much I enjoyed the joint quilt making process. 

-K

Just to add a quick note:  The main fabric is Yuu-Gyoka by Kokka. I believe that K picked this up at the Lancaster quilt show.  That's all....carry on.  ~A

Back in the Saddle Again: New Quilt

A little while back, K posted about the quilt show. (It is apparent who got the organizational gene) Both K and I have gone up to the Lancaster Quilt Show and I have to say that this little local quilt show was quite fantastic and gasp, better than Lancaster! Don't get me wrong, Lancaster is great---in fact I always seem to blow my budget and always find something that I regretted NOT getting. This local show was great because there was a nice mix of Japanese items and contemporary fabrics (be still my frantically beating heart!). Also, an important discovery was made. We found an awesome local quilt shop. To be fair, I knew that there are a few local places (that were not so local to me when I lived in the City), but I was always hesitant to visit fearing that, well, the style of the shop would be "traditional."(not saying that there is anything wrong with traditional).  Well, I am happy to report that this shop is fantastic! I was overwhelmed by the selection! (I am still weighing out the evils of living within short distance of both a wonderful quilt shop and my favorite yarn shop---I need to muster up some self control…) I think the only downside to the quilt show was that K did not get her machine. The up side is living closer to each other makes sharing a machine a bit easier, especially since she can just come hang out in MY craft room (saying that will not get old for a while).

For all this talking up the local quilt show, I must say that I showed some amazing self control. I spent less than $50. I think that new mortgage was really the motivating factor, however, in the budgetary wars, a win is a win!

One of the few items I picked up a small kit that had 13 different patterns of Yukata fabric. The kit came with directions for making the quilt on display, which was gorgeous. However, once I started working, I decided or rather it was decided (with the opinions of K and Lep) that I should deviate from the pattern and keep the squares of fabric big. I whipped up the quilt top in a few days, which is lightning fast for someone who sews at the speed of a three legged turtle. Having everything set up was very wonderful and helpful ---it's a real mood killer to have to pull everything out and set it up when you want to work. Yes, it seemed that the crafting stars had aligned: I was working quickly, pulled fabric from the stash, things were going swimmingly, until … I realized that I did not have enough Navy to back the quilt. No problem, a quick trip to the fabric shop should [easily] fix this. Two fabric shops and a broken spirit later, no navy and no finished quilt! What a bummer! (A quick confession: I am a very capricious crafter---I need to finish project while the desire burns bright. If I wait too long I end up not finishing a project or it becomes torturous to complete.) I have one more shop that I am going to try, then I will go to the extreme measure of ordering off the internet---solids off the internet. Sigh.

Close up...

 

~A

Puppy Dog Toile Baby Quilt

One of the joys & benefits of learning how to sew is being able to make gifts for your family and friends.  A friend of mine, W, is having a baby boy.  Of course I wanted to make something to go with her nursery.  She has decided on a dog theme with soft blue, white & navy as the colors.  The furniture is a nice espresso brown and the overall look of the room is very sophisticated.  She is making the room extra special by hanging pictures of her & her hubby's family dogs around the room. 

I was a little nervous about trying to make something to go with her nursery.  If you have ever searched for 'dog' or 'puppy' fabrics then you know why.  This time, however, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the 'Best in Show' fabric from Blank Quilting.  Not only did the fabric pick up the colors and theme, but it enabled me to make a clean & modern quilt.  The other letters for the monogram will be added once the baby's name is decided on.  I attempted an appliqued onesie as seen on a recent Martha show, but my skills on the zigzag stitch are not quite up to snuff yet.  Shim + sons gave me the idea to quilt a burp cloth, she had done the same with dish towels.

 

Here is the attempted onesie...

The burp cloth with the quilted patchwork...

The gift basket with all the goodies inside...the chalkboard dog was a lucky find...

 

-K

Lessons Learned

One night I decided that I hated the pillows on our couch--- The dislike had been slowly building for a while and then things turned a little nasty. Hatred ensued--- you know that hatred that kind of creeps up on you until you just can’t stand it any longer. Well, needless to say, the pillows had to go. But what to do? The only logical thing to do would be to DESTROY, I mean recover, the pillows so harmony could be restored in the house.

Naturally, this boiling point happened late at night when no store was open and online shopping would have been an option if superman was the delivery service. I went to the only all night place around---my stash. I have to tell you that usually when I buy fabric, or yarn for that matter, I buy what I like. Coordination and future planning don’t really play a significant role in my purchase making decisions. I discovered that night, that this is something that I should work on. While I had a decent selection of things to choose from, it became very limited when I tried to combine different tings together. When people tell you to buy things that you like and then down the road you will be surprised how well they will go together---they are not always right. I found myself swimming in an almost hopelessly overwhelming sea of choices that did not go.

The take aways from that night:

1. Buy more fabric. This increases the pool you can pick from.
2. Buy more solids---you will thank yourself later

In the end, I somehow managed to pull this together. I did not use a pattern, just sort of played around until I found something that worked. One pillow down and one more to go…

 

~A