Bunny Cakes

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

Made from the World's Best Fabric

As an adult without kids, I sometimes wonder how women with children (especially all the single moms out there) cope when they are sick.  Who takes care of Mom when she is under the weather?  How is it possible to make life continue in a normal fashion for the others when you feel so terrible that you can barely get out of bed?  It amazes me so much.  It's the "mom magic" which also extends to the ability to soothe any pain and, of course, mom spit that cleans just about anything...

Well, last night K casually mentioned that Mom was feeling a bit under the weather---she had pulled a muscle in her back.  This definitely got my mind thinking about what special people moms are (my mom in particular---truth be told).  I begin to feel a little guilt---do I tell my mom enough how much I appreciated all that she had done and does for me?  This guilt was really brought on by the fact that sometimes the people we love most are the last ones to benefit from our pursuits in life.  I had been making these great heating bags and somehow my mom didn't get one.  How did that happen?

Racked with the (deserved) guilt of knowing what a terrible daughter I am, I picked through my fabrics looking for the right one and then I found it.  I quickly set to work and finished in record time. Made with love using the “world’s best fabric” according to my little nephew J, who, by the way, is never shy about telling you when he likes something.

So, my apologies, Mom.  Even though I don't tell you often enough, you are and will always be hands down, with no competition, the BEST mom in the world. I hope that this offers you a fraction of the comfort that you have given me throughout the years...

~A

(The picture, per usual, is horrible. A major deduction minus .8 if you have been watching any of the Olympic gymnastics.  In my defense, there is really not much to the heating bag and I was in a rush to redeem myself.)

Turning Lemons into…Lemon Water

Yes, I know, the saying is “turning lemons into lemonade,” but sometimes the end result is just okay, perhaps not as nice as lemonade, but still quite refreshing. This is such the predicament that I found myself in, or rather, put myself in. I found a nice quilt pattern, not overly complicated, that was until I selected my first fabric. I selected a beautiful and lovely black and white fabric---very graphic (I really just loved it from go).  Such a strong fabric would have to be carefully paired so that the main (Black and White) fabric did not drown out the other two fabrics (this quilt basically used just three fabrics) and the other two fabrics did not compete too much with the main fabric. Very tricky stuff.

I trip to the local quilt shop yielded some pretty great options. I was already mentally patting myself on the back for overcoming such a feat of coordination. Well, my congratulations to myself were a little too hasty. The second thoughts started creeping when I was sewing the pieces together which then turned into serious doubts by the time the first square was sewn up. I ended up sewing three more squares before I consulted K for a second opinion…and the decision was made [definite flop].

I was not quite ready to throw in the towel. Perhaps the quilt could be saved if I cut up and re-glued the pieces back together in some new fangled way. After cutting and frankensteining some of the squares back together, despair really set in. It was definitely not going to work. I have to say, the being a fairly adventurous crafter, I am used to failures, but for some reason this one really sucked the wind out of my creative sails (this post will also unofficially go as the clichéd sayings post). I picked up some books and started flipping through the pages. One of the books was the Denise Schmidt book Denise Schmidt Quilts.

That’s where I discovered her “Hold Me Close Heating Pad Cover” and I decided that I could turn this failure around and even if it turned out looking like something only a mother could love, well, who cares? I decided it was worth the risk, seriously, my heart was already broken, so what did it matter? I went to work…basically, I just took the top that I had already created and used her measurements and finishing steps. In the end, I guess things turned out okay. I mean, I wouldn’t call out the marching band or anything, but I was able to save some beautiful fabric from a terrible fate and now my heating pad won’t look so foreboding when I pull it out of the closet.

~A

p.s. I know that I still owe pictures of the quilt. Coming soon...

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

Quilt Show Inspiration

A. & I went to a quilt show today.  Mostly we went to check out a potential sewing machine, but alas, there was no purchase.  With the craft room still in its unfinished state, I didn't want to bring home a machine without a place to play.  I figured the machine will be good motivation to get the craft room done.  It seems to be working, because I picked out a paint color and purchased two gallons!

Even though I did not pick up my 'dream machine' I did manage to get a few goodies and some inspiration.  My near project will be little pillows for the boys' room so I can bring some Japanese flavor to their room.  Here are the fabrics...

The cute little bunny is to bring some Japanese flavor to my room...

-K