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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Blogger's Pillow Party
I really should be sleeping right now, but I can't resist a challenge. Here is my pillow! I wanted to try circles, and after several almost but not quite perfect attempts at this way of doing circles, I tried this way by Anna Maria Horner. I would like to perfect the former way, but time is of the essence, and with my husband away and 2 small children, speed was essential. And this way of doing circles is fast! I loved it and will definitely make circles again. I'd like to embroider a bit around the circles in different colours, but for now it is done. Maybe next pillow. Also new to me is the quilting - I know there is a name for it - echo quilting? Anyway, I like how it adds substance and interest to the negative areas. And I usually use all patterned fabric, and this pillow has mostly solids and one pattern (Anna Maria Horner) and I chose my solids based on it. I love the colours!!! Thanks for looking, and I enjoyed the challenge!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Earth Day
Okay, a day late for Earth Day, but aren't we supposed to make every day Earth day? We try our best to do what we can - buy in bulk to save on packaging, bring bags to the grocery store, recycle, but there is so much more we could do. My latest DIY interests have been in making our own home cleaning products - I already use vinegar and borax for basic cleaning, but laundry soap is next! I have seen the recipes that involve grating soap, but then I found this and it seems even easier to me! If you're Canadian, you know who David Suzuki is. I don't know if average non-Canadians know who he is, but he is a well-known enviro-guy here. Anyway, check out his site, davidsuzuki.org and the Queen of Green's blog, as well as their YouTube videos which show how to make laundry soap, and among other things, shampoo! I love my current hand-made local artisan shampoo, but I do want to give this a try.
So, what can my family do to reduce our footprint on the Earth? So much, but I'm using the library more, buying used clothing or swapping clothing, sewing more from upcycled fabrics (but I'm still addicted to buying new fabrics), making more things at home and skipping buying super-packaged items that travel on a truck - like granola bars (I'll post recipe soon!) and bread. Hoping to be a part of the solution!
Happy Earth saving everybody!
So, what can my family do to reduce our footprint on the Earth? So much, but I'm using the library more, buying used clothing or swapping clothing, sewing more from upcycled fabrics (but I'm still addicted to buying new fabrics), making more things at home and skipping buying super-packaged items that travel on a truck - like granola bars (I'll post recipe soon!) and bread. Hoping to be a part of the solution!
Happy Earth saving everybody!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Feeling Super
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
First Quilt, Almost Done!
I am so excited to be almost done my first quilt!!! I have made some mini quilts - wall hangings - but this is my first full-size quilt, and I decided to just go ahead and make a queen size quilt for our bed! I am going to machine quilt it, but I am not quite sure exactly how to do it. I mean, I know HOW, but free-motion, or straight lines... I am going to do it this weekend, because I want to use it! I'll post a finished picture after it's done!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Pizza Dough in the Fridge
Our little monkey's birthday party was the past Sunday, and we needed food that toddlers like - pizza! But with homemade pizza and an unknown number of adults and children coming, I did not want to be watching the oven for 4 or 5 pizzas cooking. I just made enough for the kids. I also thought I would try rising the dough in the fridge! I had read about doing such things, but never tried it before. It's not a high pressure situation, just 7 kids and the only food they'll eat at the party.
I mixed the dough Saturday night, and per the instructions in my Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook, I oiled the outside of the dough, placed it in a large ziploc bag, and put it in the fridge.
This is what I got the next morning! The dough had risen! I just had to grate the cheese, cut pepperoni, and put the toppings on after saucing it up! It turned out really well, and I can't wait to try rising (raising?) bread dough in the fridge overnight to have freshly baked bread in the morning! Mmmmm...fresh bread and butter...
I mixed the dough Saturday night, and per the instructions in my Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook, I oiled the outside of the dough, placed it in a large ziploc bag, and put it in the fridge.
This is what I got the next morning! The dough had risen! I just had to grate the cheese, cut pepperoni, and put the toppings on after saucing it up! It turned out really well, and I can't wait to try rising (raising?) bread dough in the fridge overnight to have freshly baked bread in the morning! Mmmmm...fresh bread and butter...
Friday, March 25, 2011
Blogger's Pillow Party
I finished my pillow! My first communal blog craft! I started this pillow on Wednesday, and it was born out of the desire to enter a pillow in the blogger's pillow party, (a deadline is my best motivator) and also of the fact that my 2 children were napping simultaneously! I wanted to do a patchwork pillow for our living room, and always had something else to do instead, but not that day! Not knowing how much time I would have, I feverishly cut and sewed, with insanely uneven pieces of fabric and no pressing - not even finger pressing, just go go go!!! My husband was away for work, and accomplishing some crafting feels glorious! I think I could benefit from less speed and more planning, but that's next time - when he's home to wrangle the kids and I'm sewing.
So as you can see, I love colour, and curvy shapes. I am trying to break free of my natural tendency for symmetry. There is a lot to be said for symmetry, but while building block towers with my daughter, I noticed I only built symmetrical buildings, while she was more random. I loved the randomness of her buildings, but had a hard time doing it myself. Hence the different sizes and shapes of the white patches on my pillow - I'm trying. And new techniques used? After piecing a weird shape, I thought about what to do with it, and decided to put it on an angle, but that would make a small pillow, so I pieced additional patches here and there until it was big enough. And I don't think I've sewn curves before. I'll definitely do it again! I love curves! I wish I could say this is my best work - I was always taught to do my best work, always, but the goal was to make a colourful wonky patchwork pillow in a short period of time. I feel I could have made something more appealing had I spent more time making it, but then I would have had to spend more time making it! Instead, I will always look at this pillow and think of my kids, and that is better than a perfect pillow!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Very Random Patchwork
I decided to dive right in and do some random patchwork. This is new to me - the random part. Also new is two children napping AT THE SAME TIME!!! I grabbed some of my favourite fabrics ( a lot of Anna Maria Horner, you may notice, although no one is reading this, so nevermind) and started cutting. I had no idea how long they would sleep, so I had to work fast - no time to think! Just cut and sew! After a very short period of time, I had this shape.
Snap a picture. Notice the dinosaur checking things out. Move to a brighter location for better light for a picture. Spend some time getting some silly shots of the dinosaur with the patchwork. (Don't all bloggers do this?) Seriously, you'd think I had all the time in the world. I could have been doing anything, but I was positioning a dinosaur and chuckling to myself. It doesn't take much to amuse me people. I am a fan of the ridiculous!
Then I cut a nice little curvy shape and now I am sewing some white quilting cotton to fit the curves while I wait to hear little footsteps or a cry... More pics later!
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