celebrate

Happy anniversary to my fabulous husband! Three years and counting!

He still loves me even though...

I hit the snooze button again and again and again every morning
I leave wrappers on the kitchen counter right above the trash bin


I lose my keys/purse/wallet/etc and blame him for it
I steal from his "secret" chocolate stash
I play songs on repeat all the time
I still don't know how to work our tv and whine for him to help me turn it on
I forget to clear the remaining time left on the microwave so that the clock shows instead


I'm really sneaky with my bad shopping habit
I fall asleep at the end of movies
I post really embarrassing pictures of him on my blog

preppy quilt top

I started this quilt top back in January after going on a little fabric shopping binge.  It's been sitting in my closet waiting for two sides of turquoise strips to be sewn to the blocks since then. I bought this pack of 5 half-yard prints from the Erin McMorris line. I think this type of quilt is a great way to showcase favorite prints from a certain line of fabric, while making something substantial.

I'm call this my preppy quilt, because it's in the style that Melissa so often uses for her cute little baby quilts.

The blocks on this quilt are 11" square (11.5" before seaming) and the sashing is 3.5" wide (4" before seaming).

This quilt is about 64" x 79". It will be a great lap quilt for lounging around the house. I think I want to use a hot pink for the backing and a lime green for the binding.

Saturday Quilting

It's spring break next week for school, so I'm planning on using my extra free time to work on some quilt tops that have been sitting in my closet for a few months.

But, before I get to those older projects, I wanted to work on my new quilt project. Today I finished the Mod Sampler Quilt Along quilt top. I cut everything out last night and spent this afternoon sewing the blocks and finishing the top. I'm so excited that I was able to make this entire top out of my fabric stash! I think I'll have to wait until my shopping hiatus is over in order to finish the back of this quilt. I just don't have a lot of big pieces of fabric in my stash that will work for the back.

This shopping hiatus is definitely teaching me to use what I have and be satisfied with what I already have. I've been trying to use up my extra bobbins and thread and have saved a lot of money by not buying new matching thread to quilt blocks. It's really nice to empty some spots on my thread holder and empty out some bobbins.

mod sampler quilt along

I've been a little slacker in the sewing/quilting department lately. Oh Fransson's quilt along came along at just the right time!

I've given up shopping for Lent, oh horror of horrors. Don't worry, I'm still allowing myself to go grocery shopping (but, no magazines at the checkout stand). It has actually been a pretty freeing thing to abandon shopping for 40 days. I spend way too much time thinking about shopping, browsing online, arguing with my conscience over whether or not to stop at a store on the way home, and, well, you get the idea.

Because I'm on a shopping freeze, I pulled out my fabric stash and found a mix of fabrics that will work with the quilt. I'm not going the light/dark route as recommended, so I hope this quilt will turn out to be a little flowery and a little vintage-y. The fabrics are mostly from my visit to Japan (lots of Lecien and Quilt Gate fabric), with a few vintage reproductions thrown in for good measure.

Although I've been following Elizabeth's blog for quite a while, I just now realized how many great tutorials and patterns she has on her site and how thorough and well photographed her tutorial pdfs are. If you're a new sewer or quilter or just want to pick up some new skills, her site is excellent!

Central Park Hoodie

Oops! I didn't mean to go so long without a post. I actually had to remember my password to sign into typepad this time.

I've been busy lately mostly with school responsibilities but also with this sweater WIP. Thank goodness I live in Michigan and still have a good 2-3 months to wear this wool sweater this winter (ahem!).

Here are the details:

I started on January 30 and finished this afternoon (the hood and bands aren't blocked yet, but I couldn't wait to post pics).

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie
Size: 40"
Needles: 7 for ribbing, 9 for the rest
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers
Color: Satine
Mods: Lengthened the body from 14" to 15", lengthened the cables from 10 rows to 12 rows between, used an i-cord bind off for the button bands. I will eventually get around to sewing in a zipper on the button band.
Ravelry Link

Comments: I always thought Cascade 220 was too itchy, but it REALLY softens up after washing. I will definitely be using this yarn again.

Picking up stitches for the button band and hood was killer, but I'm getting much faster with all this practice.

This was a quick sweater to make. I really only worked on it during weekends, so it's definitely doable in less than a month.

Table Runner

Cami's aunt is hosting a raffle to raise money for the Relay for Life, so Cami put out a call for handcrafted items for the home. Originally I had wanted to put together a kitchen towel and potholder set, but the pre-made towels I bought were horribly crooked and I didn't want to have to remake them in order to embellish them.

Instead, I improvised this table runner with some of my new favorite fabric line, Lizzie Dish. I had the two solid fabrics already in my stash, so I ended up combining the three fabrics into the table runner top and then quilting it with diagonal stripes. I forgot to measure it before I sent it off to Cami, but it was about 40" x 14". I like this runner so much that I might even use the remaining fabric to make one for our kitchen table.

Recipe Binder & Oatmeal Jumbos

I was on a big organizing kick earlier this year and finally had the chance to set up my recipe binder. I've had this binder in the work for a few years now, having already put all of my recipes into plastic sleeves and into the binder. I went through the binder and took out recipes that I have never made and that don't look too appealing to me anymore and put all my floating tear sheets from the front pocket into plastic sleeves. Previously all of the ripped out articles were jumbled in the front pocket and hard to find. The recipes in the binder are from friends, magazines, websites, blogs, and photocopied from my personal cookbooks that I don't want to ruin with food splatters.

This time around, I added subject dividers with card stock and plastic tabs for ease of searching. For the tabs, I separated the recipes into the following categories.

Favorites
Breakfast
Appetizers
Breads
Vegetables
Soups
Salads
Asian
Main Dish
Fish
Pasta
Pizza
Christmas Cookies
Cookies
Desserts
Beverages





I added a new favorite cookie to our Christmas cookie lineup this year, although it could be used all year. These cookies are so peanut-y and really delicious.





Oatmeal Jumbos

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda*
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate pieces
3/4 cup chopped peanuts, walnuts, or pecans (I used peanuts)

* corrections to my previous post are in bold. Sorry for the error!

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Beat the peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugars, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in the rolled oats, the nuts, and candy-coated milk chocolate pieces.

2. Use a 1/4-cupmeasure or scoop to drop dough 4 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a preheated oven about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. (For smaller cookies, use a teaspoon to drop dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven about 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned). Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes 26 large or about 60 small cookies.