33 Weeks

Pregnancy is funny to me. It's so oddly... not lonely, that's the wrong word completely... but you're truly going through it alone. People can (and do, most certainly do) sympathize and show concern. They always want to know how you are and if you're feeling OK. "Can I get that for you?" they ask. "No, I've got it," you tell them, but they still look at you like you're going to drop whatever .00000005 pound item you're carrying.

But still, it's almost like you can fold in on yourself, you and the little life growing inside of you. This boy is getting big. I hope not too big. At times I feel what I know is an elbow or a foot and I think how in just over a month I'll touch the skin on that foot. I'll put it in my mouth like I did with my daughter when she was a tiny baby because I'm a totally weird mama like that. My daughter who will be nine in a matter of days. Who was just a baldy bouncing baby just two days ago, wasn't it? Didn't she just start sitting up, watching me try to get back into shape with the Pilates tape I bought? Where she'd laugh and laugh every time I tried to do the walrus or the mermaid or whatever it was because I can't remember. Even though it was just two days ago. And now I see the emerging face of a young woman, peeking out behind the still soft cheeks of a child. She will love you baby boy, know that she will love you.

xoxo,

Pin It

Central Park Quilt

I'm so proud of this quilt!

I used a Central Park charm pack and some Kona for the front (Snow maybe? Or natural?), then some Maybley by Max & Whiskers (you can buy it here - it's so rad that I'm going to use it on another quilt), and the binding is Kaffe Fasset I think with a little of the binding I used on my nephew's quilt.

 

    

I got the quilting pattern idea (a really big spiral) from Alissa Haight Carlton. She came to our OCMQG meeting in November and brought a bunch of quilts for a show & tell. Her quilt with the spiral quilting pattern was much larger. This one came in at about 42" x 52" but her's might have been a full sized quilt. When she pulled it out it was literally breathtaking.

The quilting caused a few problems for me because I had to get it done in one evening. I just kept sewing through all these mistakes (of which there's about a dozen), but after washing & drying they weren't too noticeable. This fabric also helps cover a multitude of sins!

 

I do plan on using this quiling spiral again, and when I do I'll be more diligent about puckers! That being said, Imaking "perfect" items for giftins is not a huge aspiration of mine. I honestly feel that when I am making something for someone the most important thing is to think positive thoughts. I just feel that the piece gets infused with love if I think loving thoughts, and that makes it the best kind of gift I can give.

It's a little cheesy, but it's something I love to do. :)

I hope the new year is jiving for all of you!!

xoxo,

Pin It

Winter Baking

My daughter and I made some of my mom's poppy seed cake. I've eaten this every Christmas for as long as I can remember remembering. It's something I make throughout the year, but I must make at Christmastime. Here's the recipe if you'd like to make it.

Poppy Seed Cake Recipe
2 c sugar
1 ½ c vegetable oil
3 c flour - sifted
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
4 large eggs
4 heaping Tbsp Poppy Seeds
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a very large bowl, combine the sugar and eggs; beat well. Add oil and cream well, about 2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the can of milk to the egg mixture until well combined. Gently fold in poppy seeds and walnuts. Pour into a greased bundt pan & bake 1 hr. For cupcakes, bake 25-30 minutes. For jumbo cupcakes, bake 35-40 minutes.

xoxo,

Pin It

Sewing 101 - How to Use Your Auto Threader

This is for Yolanda. xoxo

Some of you may have an auto threader on your sewing machine. Let me tell you, they are rad. I love mine and never thread my needle myself anymore. How do you know if you have an auto threader? Well, hopefully you've read your manual which will tell you. You can also look on the machine itself. If you've only got this little guy that comes down, you've just got an auto buttonhole maker:

You can tell because of this symbol, which is universal for buttonholes.

If you pull that guy down and you still have another guy to pull down, congratulations, you have an auto threader!

Here's how to use it:

Thread your machine as normal, but don't thread the needle.

Make sure your needle is all the way in its up position and pull this guy down. A little hook will go into your needle's eye.

Wrap the thread around the mechanism like so, and hook the thread on the little hook peeking through the needle's eye:

 Release the lever, which will pull your thread through the needle's eye.

Not photographed - pull your thread all the way through, et voila! You are now threaded!

xoxo,

Pin It

Chevron Baby Quilt

Full disclosure, I totally took every single aspect from this quilt (with the exception of colors) from this tutorial via Aesthetic Nest that was featured on UCreate a few weeks ago. She even provides you with info on where to buy your fabric. I used Premier Prints ZigZag Village fabric, which is a duck so it was a little heavier weight than normal quilting fabric.

I loved making this quilt. I really like wholecloth quilts where I don't have to piece anything, and it's rare for me to find one I love so much. It's truly the chevron print that makes this particular quilt because you use them as a stitching guide which gives the chenille back it's fun zigzag (all explained in the tutorial I linked to above).

I used four layers of flannel on my back, and had only washed it once. It'll get fluffier than this apparently. I used a blue & white plaid, a chocolate brown, a white with teensy blue polka dots, and a light blue in that order from bottom layer to top.

The finished measurements are 41" x 49". I know Anneliese's are 45" x 45", but my flannel was 44" wide before sewing, so I couldn't get it that big. The binding is a Kona cotton, but I don't remember the name of the color.

It was a good 6-7 hours for the sewing around the chevrons, and 2-3 for the cutting (which killed my pregnant, arthritic hands), and maybe 2 hours for the binding. Not a ton of time for a quilt so lovely, but one you wouldn't want to whip up in a day. I did it over the course of three weeknights and a weekend and it was very easy to get done in time for Christmas. I cannot recommend this quilt and tutorial enough. Thank you Aesthetic Nest for your lovely tutorial!!

xoxo,

Pin It

My Christmas Tablescape

Hello darlings! I hope you all had a truly lovely and heartwarming Christmas! Ours was wonderful and lovely. The tradition in my husband's family is that we have Thanksgiving at his mom or sister's house, and we have Christmas at our house. I get to cook both meals, which I totally, totally love. I only wish our families were bigger so I could make even more food!! :)

So this was our first Christmas at our new home. Our last place was much smaller than this house, so the decorations all "fit", whereas here we have a few years to go before we have enough Christmas stuff to fill all the common areas. Now I love Christmas and I really, really love decorating for Christmas, but I do not like buying new stuff when I don't have to. I used lots of stuff I had on hand to make my little tablescape here.

Now, as I mentioned on Flickr, I don't feel like I was able to really capture how cute this table was, even with my awesome camera. One thing on my to-do list this year is to get better at taking pictures of compositions.

Because we had seven folks to dinner for a table that really only sits six comfortably, I decided to forgo the placemats. I used a cheap-o silver charger that I had on hand (I saw them for sale this year at the WalMart for $1 a piece) as the base. Then I used my china (Noritake Crestwood Platinum) and a salad plate from my mom's china set that she gave me when she moved to Texas. I got the red napkins from Target and had the rando "silver" napkin rings on hand because I love buying random silver napkin rings.

For the centerpiece, I just got down my two red vases (they're usually on top of one of my bookcases, originally from Target like 10 years ago), got out my "silver" candlesticks and popped in red tapers, and then got a large candle holder, popped in a glass with a votive candle inside, then filled it with cranberries. It was inspired by this wine cork candle holder over at the blog Two Twenty-One which I found via Pitnerest. Because everything bright and beautiful is found via Pinterest. :)

The goblets are Libby brand ($5 for 4 at the WalMart), and the cute coasters I've had forever.

Lastly, I made white chair covers for the chairs which will now be there year round. For all you sewists out there, this was relatively quick and easy. It's not a slip cover, so they don't have to fit perfectly (and they don't), so all you have to do is trace the side of your chair to make two side pieces, then measure the length of the entire front and back for one long piece, sew those puppies together and BLAMMO! New chair covers. I made mine white so I can take them and bleach them when necessary.

How about you guys? Do you do the cooking at Christmas? Do you have any fun ways to decorate your table? I'm always looking for ideas!

xoxo,

Pin It

Low Waste Pom Poms

I love making my own pom poms, but I never know how much yarn I'll need per pom pom, and I always end up wasting a ton of yarn. Until now.

Welcome to the Low Waste Pom Pom!!!!!!!

For each pom pom, you need about 4 yards of yarn for the pom itself, and 10" of yarn for the tie. (Please note that I left the ties long for my pom poms because I'm making this fabulous pillow and need them. In normal case scenarios where you just need a pom pom that doesn't attach to anything, trim the ties as well. This is not photographed in the below tutorial.) Also, I used Sensations Sumptuous acrylic yarn for my pom poms because I need mondo pom poms for my pillow.

Because this yarn is very thick, I'm wrapping it around my scissors. For thinner yarn, you could wrap around a pencil, pen, chopstick; anything small and smooth. Regardless of what you use, just be sure it's smooth so it's easy to slip the yarn off after you're dine wrapping.

1. Cut your yarn (again, 4 yards for the pom pom, 10" for the tie).

2. Take the 10" piece and put it on the back side of your scissors.

Front View

Back View

3. Grab your 4 yard piece of yarn and hold one end down with your thumb...

then wrap around a couple of times to secure the end so that it doesn't come undone.

4. Wrap the entire 4 yards around the scissors (be careful not to get too close so you don't cut yourself on the tips of your scissors!!), taking care to keep the end of the 10" piece free. Pull the yarn taught while you wrap, don't just wrap it loosely around. This makes the pom pom more full when you're done.

5. Holding the end of the 4 yard piece with your thumb, remove the yarn from the scissors.

6. Tie a tight double knot and cut the wrapped yarn.

7. As you will see, your pom pom is already almost perfectly shaped. :) Just smoosh it down and trim the sides to your desired shape.

Side View

Front View

SMOOSH!

Trim

8. All done, and with minimal waste!!

I hope this helps you pom pom lovers out there!! Happy Pomming!!!

xoxo,

Pin It