quilts, sewing

Other February Makes

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A small collection of photos of some of the other things sewn in the last month. The light is all kinds of weird in these photos, mostly because it’s February in Seattle. These were all made from stash fabric, so they qualify for this month’s Stashbusting “goals.” And since none of them are for me, they even meet the Challenge criteria (make something for someone else). That’s got to be a first for me. The January/February blocks for Sew.Quilt.Give. (Ok, I also made my blocks for March since I’m hosting, but those will get their own post.) These are all …

media

Adding music to your projects

Maybe it’s my reading list, but I’ve got this notion that lots of us quilter/seamstress/sewasaurus types put a movie on while we’re working. Let me just say, I’m jealous of all you who can sew and watch Downton Abbey at the same time. I tried sewing and watching Serenity once; the project I was working on took twice as long as it would have normally, and I felt like I missed half the movie. But, around here, we listen to music constantly. We cook to music, clean to music, work to music, sew to music. And because Ian is also …

sewing

Laptop Love

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While digging around in my scrap box, I turned up a small collection of 60-degree diamonds in assorted batiks, mostly green and pinky-peach, with a little yellow. They might be left over from a shoulder bag I made for myself years ago (which I don’t have pictures of, apparently). I had to add to them, mostly purples, and here’s the end result: A laptop sleeve. This one is sized for an 11-inch Apple MacBook, conveniently just the size of my sister’s computer. I probably could have made the flap on this side just a smidge longer. But I’m going to …

in the kitchen

Rice Krispies Can’t Fix Everything, and A Favor

 

A few days ago, I attempted some cinnamon divinity. It’s a light and airy candy, just a little on the dry side. It falls apart in your mouth like some after-dinner mints or a meringue cookie. I goofed somewhere on this batch. Possibly, I didn’t beat the eggs whites enough, or maybe I didn’t heat the syrup to a high enough temperature (the recipe said 155 degrees, but the thermometer markings suggest I should have held out for 160 degrees). Or maybe I was worried about over-beating like I did the opera cremes in December and so didn’t beat it …

Caitlyn, sewing

Collaborations

 

We recently had some gift-giving occasions come up. I nudged Caitlyn a bit (“I bet Grandma would really like it if you made a little something for her…”), and then she surprised me with a request to borrow the fabric markers. We talked it back and forth a bit (“It would be weird to draw on a piece of fabric and then not turn it into something…”) before she settled on potholders/mug rugs. The results are almost all Caitlyn. She pressed the fabric; I cut the squares and marked seam allowances. She came up with and drew the designs. She …

in the kitchen, Seasons

Valentine’s Leftovers

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Turns out, when confronted with petite homemade cookies topped with cherry jam and Safeway bakery cupcakes with 1.5 inches of frosting, most second graders will choose the frosting. I can’t say they’d choose the cupcakes since many of them licked the frosting off and disposed of the unwanted cake. Too bad I can’t bring myself to just bring cheap frosting and a bunch of plastic spoons to classroom parties. I now have a large quantity of jam-topped sugar cookies. They go really nicely with tea. Does 4pm work for you? Save