Patchwork

When I went through my scrap box to find fabric to ship out for the quilting bee, I was pleasantly amazed by the large array of scrap fabric I actually have. It's also funny to me what construed a scrap in the beginning of my sewing adventure. I found large tracts of cute fabric in there. Nowadays only relatively small scraps end up in there. It was like shopping for fabric in my own basement. Weee! So what makes a scrap a scrap to you?

I actually cut into yardage to patchwork this purse last week.



I adore it, but I have now seen the error of my ways. I've spent all day immersed in piles of scraps making little scrappy wallets. I'm excited to share them with you, but I need to run to the store for more snaps. Unfortunately there are no scrap snaps.

I also scrapped together this cutie:



Here is the pouch resulting in from my flyer applique:



It makes me so happy to see it in my purse!

I can't believe I almost forgot to mention this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRIS!



Sorry I couldn't find that many awesome pictures, but both Kris and my little brother Ross are clean in this picture. What more could you ask for?

So happy birthday to this lady who is brave enough to hang out with my dad full time (and even marry him!).

New things in the shop. Free shipping for mamas still applies!

Happy Scrappy!

I'm so excited that this month I got to send out fabric for the Cottage Quilting Bee. Feel free to ignore this post if you're not on this particular team of cool kids, but don't feel left out. There are cool kids everywhere.

For my quilt blocks I sent everyone scraps. My favorite color is rainbow, if that's possible, and I tried to include some of every color for everyone. I'm afraid this is going to be another one of those follow your heart, go crazy, make cute blocks. I'm going for the scrappy look. Feel free to add any of your own scraps and any size will do. I made a little mosaic of some scrappy blocks I like.



1. project improv~ charity block, 2. Scrap Quilt using 1 inch Squares, 3. Wonky Scrap Doll Quilt, 4. Scrap patchwork mat, 5. boxed scraps school bus yellow, 6. triangle block

Pesky number three doesn't show up, but you can still click through to it.

So let's recap:

1. Any size is a good size!

2. Feel free to add your own scraps, any glorious color is fine by me.

3. No embellishments that stick out like buttons or beads. It's probably going to get washed eleventy billion times. Embellishments that lay flat like embroidery or ric rac are a-ok if you're so inclined.

4. A rainbow design is not required. I just threw in every basic color because I like them.

5. A super scrappy look is encouraged.

I'm so excited! Thank you for the opportunity ladies and QuiltDad.

Cottage Quilting Bee April

Block for Katie.



Block for Katy.

Yes, Katie and Katy.

I'll be posting about my block ideas later today.

If you're looking for something shiny, look no further

than Spotted Octopus Jewelry.

I have a necklace like that one in green that I LOVE. The jewelry is beautiful and obviously made with skill and love.



She also makes glorious ear bobs. Is that a correct term? I hope so because it sounds way cooler than earrings (personal opinion here, folks).

http://girlpirate.etsy.com

Flyer!

Check out the cute flyer I made today:



Your mom really did call, and she does really want Hot Butter for Mother's Day.

*cough*

I patchworked and appliqued a piece of repurposed denim (from on old pair of jeans), scanned it, and then turned it into an adorable pouch. I'm really bad at keeping things I make for myself. I love to give them away or put them in the shop. I thought this pouch in particular was so adorable that I had to take my pesky lip gloss/balm collection and house them in it. It's mine. All mine. You can't have it.

It does have a friend that I'll try to show you tomorrow. I also have some new bags, quilt blocks, and quilting bee info to share.

Ding! Ding! Taco time!

That was my dinner bell sounding. Did you hear it?

I mentioned (on facebook) a couple new recipes I was trying and had some people wanting to know more about the deliciousness I was bragging about. I go through phases when I love cooking dinner and trying new things. Then I go through phases where I'm feeding my fambly hamburger helper several times a week. *cough*

I am apparently in a "new recipe" phase right now.

So the first glorious new recipe I tried last week was Lime Chicken Tacos. I love taco feast and thought it would be fun to have a more different feast than the usual ground beef and refried beans filling. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, which is my go to recipe website. Love it. So I'll just be copying it here and putting my changes in parenthesis.

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

INGREDIENTS

* 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
* 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
* 1/2 lime, juiced
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 2 green onions, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano (I omitted this. I read in the reviews that it made them taste Italianlicious. Others suggested cilantro instead, but I think that tastes like soap)
* 10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
* 1 tomato, diced
* 1/4 cup shredded lettuce
* 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
* 1/4 cup salsa


DIRECTIONS (as stated, my directions below)

1. Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
2. Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomato, lettuce, cheese and salsa.

Here's what I really did:

1. I doubled the vinegar/lime juice blah blah mixture and marinated the chicken in half of it for several hours. I put the other half in the fridge for later. This saved me time when I actually had to make dinner.

2. I grilled the chicken for maximum deliciousness. You know how meat always tastes best from the grill, right? Then I chopped the chicken up into little pieces and threw it in a pan with the lime juice mixture I saved from earlier (not the marinade, I tossed that). I simmered it until the juices were pretty much gone, maybe 10 minutes?

3. Assemble into delicious tacos. Guacamole was a perfect addition.

The verdict:

These tacos were awesome. Super limey. They slid down the gullet trap perfectly for lunch and dinner the next day also.

Happy Friday!

This is how I feel about the upcoming weekend. That is a look of excitement, and yes, I may even have fruit snacks currently stuck in my teeth. Don't tell Felix that I partook without him.

At this point in the blog post I must admit that it is 2:57 pm, and I am eating fruit snacks in my pajamas. In my defense, I ate brunch (too early for lunch, too late for breakfast) at 10:30 and need to raise my blood sugar. I am in my pajamas because I've been too busy sewing to take a shower. I'm considering that as my next activity for the day though.



Yesterday I finished this cutie and went so far as to post it in my shop. Sooo ambitious! I think I finally got my pattern for that style of bag down pat, but after making three of them I think I'm burned out.



Speaking of the shop, I decided to do free shipping fo yo mama. So if you're buying a mother's day gift (it could totally be for yourself, and you could be the mother of a cat/dog/actual human being). You do need to mention it in the notes to seller section when you check out to get the shipping refund.

Water you doing this weekend? The word on the street is to expect some chilly weather (snow? are you serious?) around here this weekend, which seems crazy pants after the beautiful week we've had.

I need to mail eleventy billion things and possibly clean carpets. Last week's sick was hard on them.

New Style

I desperately needed to work on new bags for the shop, and although patchwork bags are always my best sellers (in real life, but not in the shop, curiously enough), I couldn't make myself make another one right now. It's time for something new.



This is the denim envelope bag. I have to admit that I actually made this messenger style bag pattern last year. I made a couple bags that were never photographed but have moved on to happy homes. I decided I didn't like making them. This week I thought they deserved another chance. I lost my flap pattern piece and had to make a new one. The flap on this bag isn't quite perfect, but I still think it's adorable.



I appliqued some free hand flower like shapes onto the flap. I'm trying to incorporate more cute little details into my work. It used to be more about getting things done, but now that I have confidence in my ability to actually finish things I can afford the extra time to make things special.



I also invested in some magnetic snaps from the etsy shop Being Bags. They were a pretty good deal- technically a bit more expensive in price than some other places, but the free shipping made them a cheaper overall purchase than the shops with cheaper prices but not so free shipping. I will definitely be reordering from Being Bags.

I put a couple items in my shop in the new CLEARANCE section. They're the only items that are still sitting in my shop from when I first opened. I'll be adding the bag from this post and a few others soon!

Lady Bug Bag

Yesterday I showed you my antennae-less lady bugs. Here they are with all their adorable lady bug parts.



I tried to keep them on the bag body. I swear I did, but one of them crawled right up the strap, and I let her stay there!



We are now on day two of Felix not being sick. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way. He fooled us last weekend, and by us I mean Chainsaw because I was in Denver slurping overpriced drinks and wearing borrowed impractical shoes.

We are having a beautiful, 65 degree (real feel of 71 degrees) Earth Day. I'll be showing Mother Earth some love by having a no tv afternoon, hanging the clothes in my washer on my drying rack, reusing glass salsa jars to hold my new magnetic snaps, and keeping the windows open to let in some sweet spring air!

What are you doing today?

Lady bugs!

A friend of mine requested a new bag with some appliqued lady bugs. I thought I had some red fabric with black polka dots, but I didn't. Necessity is the mother of all invention right?



I cut red fabric in the shape of a lady bug and used fabric paint to make them adorable. Um, if I do say so myself. They have safely made it to their bag destination where antennae were painted. I'll be taking pictures of the finished project later this afternoon.

I'm envisioning lady bugs crawling everywhere now. I saw a couple real life lady bugs outside today. Oh spring, I'm so happy you're here!

Another sad post

After our return from the trip that never should have been, I personally came down with the stomach yuckies for several days. Then Felix decided it was his turn to make large partially digested messes. Is that gross? I'm sorry. It's just NORMAL around here.

Of course last week was my week off. No babysitting anyway. I had such great plans involving cleaning and sewing like crazy. Of course my house was in shambles all week. I couldn't even muster the energy to unpack the piles of birthday presents and auction goodies that plagued my table.

Anyway, I have some modest goals for tomorrow.

1. Fold laundry. You know how when you have a sick kid you do 5 random, mixed loads of laundry a day? Well all those clean clothes (the ones that didn't need to be used again right away) are currently residing in and around the one laundry basket I own.

2. Sew something.

3. Get some things ready to ship. SORRY if I owe you a quilt block from last month. I think this month needs erased.

Weekend Highlights

We finally made our trip out to SD for Felix's birthday party (which was 3 weeks ago).

Trip highlights:

Day 1: Felix, my youngest sister, and I were waiting in the chiropractor parking lot when Felix tells me he doesn't feel good. He proceeds to fall asleep in the car, which he NEVER does. Youngest sister stops mid conversation to get out and throw up in the snow pile at the edge of the parking lot. She spends all day and night camped out in the bathroom with heated floors. Also, Joshua's back hurts.

Day 2: Felix throws up in the morning. Birthday party canceled. Mom starts not feeling so hot and spends the day on the couch. Joshua's back still hurts. Joshua has not left my mom's house since we arrived. I did get to go to my first estate auction though. More about that later! Also, a ham feast was eaten! Then I went out and (like a true dummy) drank so much that I had to get sick in the middle of the night. I think I told you guys that I don't have good drinking skills. Remember the bus story? I heard the clock ding dong at 2 am. I like to be asleep by 10 pm.

Day 3: Wake up. I had a horrible hangover. Every bending over to pack action made me want to die. I am tired. Joshua can hardly walk. We get the car stuffed to the gills and drive home.

Guess how many pictures I took on that trip? Exactly as many as are in this post. It was like the trip that was never supposed to happen. I guess the universe was trying to tell us something when it created blizzards the weekend we were supposed to come in the first place.

I did walk to the fabric store this morning. I'll try to post something more upbeat soon!

Nothing makes a good birthday present like some quivering loins

No, this blog did not take a turn for the x-rated. However, this present I made in honor of my best friend's 23rd birth anniversary hovers somewhere between PG-13 and R.





That's right, it's a trashy romance novel box. I have been reading these since I was in high school. Of course they all have similar stories (a. girl meets boy, boy likes girl, girl thinks boy doesn't like her or thinks she doesn't like him, it gets dirty, they get married or b. same as option a only with pirates or indians) and probably don't make me any smarter, but I seriously can't help myself sometimes. It's like watching reality tv. I don't get smarter, but it's fun to watch.

Anyway.

The first step in creating a trashy romance novel box is to make sure you read the book first. You wouldn't want to tear up such a treasure without reading it first, would you? I read this book and remembered it to be slightly entertaining, but not that awesome. I wanted it to have some good dirty parts, but I didn't want the overall book to be so good that I would cry about tearing it up. This one fit the bill.

I read it a while ago, so step two involved me sitting on the couch flipping pages looking for dirty parts. I tore those pages out! If I'm going to cover a box with book pages, I want those pages to be good. I also tore out funny parts that caught my eye. (don't look at these pictures if a heaving bosom or two insults your morals.)

Exhibit 1:



and Exhibit 2:



After tearing out good parts I proceeded to Mod Podge some good pages on the top of the box. Then I tore off the the cover and stuck that mother down. Working in stages, I finally covered the whole box inside and out with pages from the book without gluing it to the table. I then wrote a little note in the lid.



And covered it in Mod Podge to seal those beautiful pages down.

New header

Jenn at The Village Peddler created my glorious new header. Isn't it so cute? Check out her etsy shop if you'd like your very own custom made header or etsy banner.

I didn't give her any tips or suggestions, she just went with it based on what she's seen here. It's so fun and springy and I just want to hug her.

I'll be unveiling some UFOs that I finished this weekend and also a really fun birthday present I just finished. I'm just waiting for the Mod Podge to dry. Like Lolly, I also call it Modge Podge. It just sounds better. More fun I think?

I vanished!

I bet you guys thought that I disappeared on midnight of my last night of being 22. That is not the case. I'm still here- a little older and perhaps a little wiser.

I have been gone because

a. I got sucked into a dirty book again. I don't mean dirty as in dirty, although there are a few risque parts. I mean dirty as in so good that I can't stop reading. I think my eyeballs are sore, but I'm almost done.

b. I've been feeling a bit down.

So I'm going to remedy these issues by finishing that book, coming up with new sewing ideas (I think I have a few!), and trying to find new ways to market myself. Anyone have any tips on being more successful?

I know leaving my poor blog unattended for days on end isn't a good start.

Anyway, I'll try to pop back in later with some pictures. Smoochers!