What a Bunch of Squares

This is my favorite quilt book—ever. I bought it a few years ago when it first came out. It’s really the only way I’ll ever make quilts again, fresh and modern with out fussy patterns. I have dreams of making nearly every quilt in this book.


This is my favorite quilt pattern in the book, seen above. It’s called “What A Bunch of Squares.” Cute name, huh? I have used it to make pillows galore, a quilt for my grandpa before he passed away, and now I have finally made myself my own queen size quilt for my bed.  I used mainly solids—Kona Cottons, Shot Cottons, a few of these fabulous handmade batik fabrics, and many, many yards of white cotton. Some of the squares are totally unique and many were cut using the stack-and-whack (*giggles*) method found in this book. Once I got that method down, making multiples of these assymetrical square block went fast.


I am usually the queen of no unfinished projects so I have no idea why it took me so long to finish this quilt when in reality each block took less than 30 minutes to put together, but that’s my life these last few years. I love 2-hour sewing projects for a reason. I just don’t seem to have more than a 2-hour block to myself (ever) to get things done. Sad, but true.I put all 25 of the 16x16” quilt squares together over a year ago. Then I put the quilt top together last fall. I finally added a 6” white border all the way around it last week. Then took it to the Stitching Corner in Orem, Utah to have it quilted (I do not quilt items this big….they hurt my hands and my brain). I bound it yesterday with 1/2” double bias in a lovely shade of turquoise, tossed it in the wash to soften it up a bit, and smoothed it over my bed by late afternoon. Oh how I love it. Repeat: Oh how I love it! 

Lettuce Wraps

The quest for a knock-off recipe of P.F. Changs lettuce wraps has ended! I have tried many, many recipes to try to re-create those oh-so-famous lettuce wraps with little success. Then I saw this article in Food Network magazine. Success! I used ground chicken instead and added some sweet chile sauce (for heat and sweet) in place of the rice wine and jalapeño. I had never cooked with shiitake mushrooms and I think those may have been the secret ingredient. My kids hated the mushrooms (surprise) so I gladly let them pick them out and pile them on Mama’s plate. Oh, and I eliminated those crispy noodles which I don’t think add much flavor but add a lot of extra frying time. Oh so dang good on butter lettuce leaves with a side of jasmine rice. I’m so, so, happy.

Look who made it to Etsy’s Blog!

Etsy is having a little (probably big) craft party to celebrate their birthday. The party is in Brooklyn, so I doubt I’ll make it.  But this was a little ego boost for me last week. :)
(Click image to read article.)
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How to Machine Appliqué

I just listed a new embroidery design in my shop. It’s an appliqué of letters with some cute Marimekko flowers adorning each letter. Have I ever blogged about how much I love Marimekko fabric? Well, I should because Marimekko is a staple in the modern design world. And has been for 40 (or is it 50?) years now. Yummy stuff.  I want every pillow pictured here on the right.
Anyway, here is a quick tutorial on how to appliqué by machine.
First, hoop your fabric and sew the first stitching—this is calling the placement line. I don’t have a photo of this, sorry. Not all designs come with a placement line, although I think they should. The appliqués in my shop do because I am fancy.
Second, take a scrap of cotton, heavily starch it, and lay it over the first stitching. Make sure it covers the entire stitching area. If there is a hole to cut out for a letter “e” like here, I would carefully cut a little slit in the fabric now, then lay the fabric back over the stitching line. It is very difficult to cut out the little slit later after it has been sew down. Ask me how I know. (Ruined many items this way by cutting through all the layers of fabric.) See the little slit in the center of the “e”? Now you’ll sew the 2nd stitching, called the tackdown.

Now remove the hoop from the machine (do not remove the fabric from the hoop!!!) and carefully cut away the excess fabric using some cheap little applique scissors. I use some curved fiskars that I got at Wally-Mart for $5. Try to get as close as you can without cutting the stitches, duh. If you snip a stitch (or two) it’s all good. Replace the hoop, stitch out the 3rd stitching, as seen below. This is kind of a zig-zaggy stitch to cover most of your frayed edges.

The 4th stitching will be the final satin stitching, seen below. This will be the only stitching that will actually show. The bare spots you see are where the flowers will be stitched out. Good designs always remove unnecessary bulky stitching underneath. If not, you’ll actually see the ‘bump’ underneath your final stitched design. Not to mention it will be thick and stiff in those areas. Ok, enough about that.

Now you are ready to stitch out your cute little Marimekko flowers. All done! Well, with the embroidery part.

I decided to make all my cute little linen squares into a banner. How cute did my linen ‘celebrate’ banner turn out with all the little Marimekko flowers? I sure love it.
 
the final product:

Happy Trails

Our local walking trail has always been a great resource for fun in our little neighborhood. Within a 2 minute walk from our home we are on the river where birds sing freely and the trees abound.

There’s a spot on the trail where the river bends and the trees grow into a canopy. It’s always been my favorite spot whether the bare branches are heavy with snow or they are leafy green after a wet spring, like this photo.  Sometimes I just stand here and stare. (Notice the loaf of bread Hallie is carrying to feed the local ducks.)

On this particular day, the wind was blowing all the cotton puffs from the cottonwoods into a virtual snow storm. The girls loved the way the squishy cotton felt between their hands. I was surprised how soft it was as well.

 Treasures abound and the girls even found a geo-cache between some trees. We didn’t even have a GPS system with us! (Notice the cotton still blowing—in front of Ilene’s cheeks. Cute)











I even dared to let Ilene snap a shot of yours truly, covered in cotton as well.






The rain began once again (isn’t Utah the desert?) but not until we’d emptied the bread bag, snapped a few more shots, and made a few more memories. I started coming to the Provo Trail 12 years ago to push a fussy baby in his stroller and fell in love. You probably understand why now.

 

Keep it Pithy in the Kitchen

I’m liking my new embroidery design.  I embrace domesticity. Really, I do. This apron is full of pride, wit, and a little bit of style. I always have a million phrases I want to embroider and very little time to follow through. Here are a few:
“Shun the Twinkies” (I’m actually working on this but I need some clip art of a twinkie, can’t find any. Help me Robyn ‘cause I know you would wear it.)
“Oh I Can Cook”
“Kiss this Cook”
“This isn’t a restaurant” (I’ve done this before. Hee hee.)
“Make it Yourself” (I’ve done this one too but need to resurrect it because it is my mantra. Maybe this time with a picture of a pig trough.)
Please share your sarcastic cooking phrases with me. (Or those not related to cooking….sarcasm has no designated room in this house.)
Short and pithy please.

Strawberries and Cream Tart

Eeeee-gads! How good was this shortbread-like crust with thickened heavy cream and strawberries? So good I forgot to take a picture! My issue of Food Network magazine arrived Saturday and by that night my mom and I had made this recipe. She made the crust, I made the cream layer, Paul topped it with berries and sugar. A collaborative effort. A delicious dessert. A real keeper of a recipe.  Welcome strawberry season. Next up for strawberry season? Strawberry freezer jam.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

It stopped raining yesterday long enough to snap a few photos. As I walked to my mailbox I noticed my happy little flowers standing tall after lots of rain. (I thought Utah was the desert?)These flame tulips,  hyacinths, and bleeding hearts are all in my front yard. And of course as i am laying down on my sidewalk (on a towel to stay dry) cars drive by and stare at me with Nikon in hand. The neighbors must think I'm nuts. But spring flowers don't last forever.
They sure make me happy.

p.s. Have I mentioned how much I love my 35 mm lens Paul bought me for Christmas? Love the wide aperture (f/1.8) I can shoot now! (Aperture gives that nice fuzzy background)

Smocks for Girls

I swore I’d never make this shirt again, but exactly 2 years have passed since I used this pattern last. That’s long enough for me to have forgotten what a pain making this yoke can be. Ok, not really.  Two years later I still hated making it. However, my daughter absolutely has loved this shirt for two years straight. She wears it along when it’s warm and layered with cardigans when it’s cold. Being the saintly mother that I am (cough, cough), I made her another. I like this one even better. Unfortunately, it does take about 3 hours to make.Here is an easier version of essentially the same smock. This one is gathered at the neckline with elastic instead of with stitches. And no blasted yoke. This is the one hour version.  Giddy-Up. As much as I love the above version, I just can’t be bothered with 3 hours per smock. Especially when it will smothered with grape jelly. So I’ll be making lots more of these sweet little smocks for my girls. But definitely with the below version.
 

Mother’s Day

Bacon and eggs for breakfast (made by Paul)…..cards from the kids (no card from Paul)…..Paul spoke in church: that’s the most I’ve ever heard this shy boy speak about the Gospel in years (public or private)…..a beautiful sunny day…… a picture of me and the kiddos in the backyard…..ate lunch outside on my new patio set……Paul made me pizza for dinner…..Nathan made me brownies…..I bought myself tulips earlier in the week just because I deserve them. A great day to celebrate.

Handmade Headboard

I made a headboard! I made a turquoise headboard! I am no expert in carpentry….although I did take a community night class and made a blanket chest six years ago. But my Dad IS an expert with all things handy, so since he was in town, he was my helper. Err….ok, I was HIS helper. Same thing wise guy. I saw these plans by a fabulous blogger named Ana. It is a knock-off of this $800 headboard at Pottery Barn. From what I read, this headboard could be made in around 2 hours. Seriously? Sign me up! (The finishing, however, took days, more on that later.) So off to Home Desperate Depot we went. We settled on clear pine, although I did buy 2 boards of El Cheap-O (official name) knotty pine for the lower boards that I knew would be covered. My dad tried to talk me out of buying my wood at Home Depot, claiming I would be ripped off. I should go to a lumber yard to get the best deal. Yea, yea, Dad, I can’t be bothered. What’s the worst that would happen? I overpay by 20 bucks or so? He’s a purist, I am not.
So we came home with a bunch of 1x3, 1x4, and 1x6 boards. The wood set me back about $90 George Washingtons. Cha ching! So far, so good! Then we got busy with my miter saw and drill.


I used screws to put the whole thing together (screw from behind or else use wood filler) instead of nails. Why? Because I don’t own a nail gun. I do own an air compressor so I really should get a nail gun. So here’s my Dad puttin’ it all together while I held the camera. His poor back hurt the next day. Thanks Dad!

Aside from using screws, we made a couple more changes. We didn’t use the 2x4 Ana suggests putting on the very top. We thought it looked fine with just another 1x4 to finish it off.  I didn’t want it to look too rustic. Just a little bit used. This picture shows where we used some wood filler. In the end, I could’ve used the El Cheapo pine for the whole thing because I really liked how those lower boards looked once painted. Note to self.

We also opted to brace the back in the middle with a leftover piece of wood, per some other bloggers’ comments. They thought it was a bit flimsy in the back as is. Nice and sturdy now!
Now comes the fun part—the finishing. I wanted to coordinate with my turquoise dresser. So I pulled out my trusty fan deck (all brilliant women own one) and chose this color to match. I was tempted to stain it a nice dark espresso like my nightstands (which are from Four Chairs) but I shun bedroom sets. I really don’t like everything to match so I opted for paint.

It’s called Turquoise Mosaic 7605D by Millenium. Just take any color from any chip or fan deck to Lowe’s and they’ll enter the name into their magic computer which contains the name of all other manufacturers’ paint colors, and voila, you get the color you want without having to go to a bunch of different paint stores.

After 2 coats of paint, I notice a problem. You can’t see the boards anymore. Argh! It practically looks like I used a sheet of plywood. I want to see the individual boards! Too sterile as is. (*Scratches head with what to do*)

So my Dad came up with the idea of clamping boards to the headboard and chiseling out the seams again. In hindsight, we should’ve chiseled the boards as the very, very first step, and roughed ‘em up a bit. Here’s Paul with chisel in hand separating the boards again. Drag and smoosh, drag and smoosh. This is an official carpentry term. You can see at the bottom where we put a sample of stain to warm it up. Oh, I liked it a lot. Without the stain I will admit I cried out, “It belongs in Romper Room!” Phew, I felt better once the stain went on. I brushed it on with a sponge brush, then wiped it off with an old t-shirt.

I feel better now. The boards can be seen, stain was smooshed and slathered in the cracks, and now it’s time for 3 coats of polyurethane. If it hadn’t been 30-40 degrees this week (it’s April for crying out loud!), my 2 layers of paint, 1 layer of stain, and 3 layers of poly would’ve dried much faster. I had to sand with 600 grit sandpaper in between every coat as well. I wanted it smooth baby! Did I mention the headboard only took 2 hours and the finishing took 4 days? I was tempted to skip some steps, but I wanted this nearly perfect.  And you all know I am not a perfectionist.

Here’s my recipe for finishing: I got nervous with the brightness of the turquoise on a sample board so I added an entire 2 fl oz. of brown craft paint lying around my house to the 1 quart of Turquoise Mosaic. In the end, I’m not sure it made much of a difference. But it made me feel like I was sprinkled with pixie dust in the moment. (“Pixie dust…pixie dust…calm down!” Name that movie.) I applied everything with foam brushes to avoid streaks. I need a paint gun now, don’t you think?


Take down my 4-yr old pale turquoise silk headboard (also made by yours truly), clear out the bed, and get busy.

But I first take a moment to laugh at Paul’s collection of vinyl from the 1980s found under our bed. I approve of the Psychedelic Furs 45, but not too sure about the Paula Abdul and M.C. Hammer records. “Straight up now tell me are you really gonna love me forever..oh…oh…oh…”  Back to work Cynthia.

Paul the accountant gets busy with the drill and some bolts. Hubbies are handy too. Sometimes.

I put the box spring back and take a moment to show you, my bloggy friends, how I make and attach a dust ruffle. I’ve talked about this before. But I’m showing you here that for this silk dust ruffle I used twist pins and not staples to attach it to the box spring. Never make a deck for your dust ruffle. Only sissies do that. Just kidding. Well, not really. You gotta take short cuts where you can.


I put my very expensive D.I. Thriftstore (new, not gross) mattress back. And then add my goodies. In case you care, the quilt is from T.J. Maxx and everything else (well, the bedding at least) is made my me.


















I love it! I love it! I am all for paying good money for furniture, but when something as simple as a headboard can be very easily made for $100 bucks, why pay $800? Thanks again to Ana for the fab plans.