Max's Blankie

I've got one more baby blanket ready to go for my friend's baby, Max!

If Max is anything like his parents, he will go bananas for the orangeness of this blanket... I just know he will.  I love this 2-D zoo print, and have for a while.  I'm so glad I have an excuse to finally use it!

And my new favorite binding is the faux bois, any color will do.

The other babies are enjoying their quilts, and  I hope Max will too!

Look Familiar?

I have a pretty fabulous group of girlfriends.  Three of them decided to simultaneously get pregnant with boys.  Ok, maybe it was a coincidence, but they all had healthy, beautiful boys within the last 2 weeks!  Nothing like the birth of a baby to motivate you into finishing a gift for them!

Here's Baby Celio's quilt:

We didn't know the sex, so I tried to make something gender-neutral.  And luckily, the quilt matches his room perfectly! 

 

I used green faux bois for the binding and I love it!

He is such a beautiful, perfect, sweet little baby and he smells delicious! I can't wait to babysit!

Bikey Blankey

My good friend just had her first baby boy! His name is Freeman - isn't that such a great name??

Daddy is a big cyclist, so I simply had to include bicycles in the quilt!  I love how it turned out.  Sweet, simple, and wrinkly.  Nicey bicycles! 

I hope there will be many snuggles, cuddles, tummy-, nap-, and play-time, drool, and forts made with this blankie.  Welcome, Freeman!  I can't wait to meet you!

You Make-a Me Blush

Kate is such an awesome friend.  We had a super-fun sewing play/sushi date the other day.  Well worth the drive to San Jose.  She is super-awesome for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that she takes great quality photos that you can keep forever and ever in your treasure box.  To me, they're priceless... even the ones where you're wearing a mustache and fake-smoking a cigarette.

Oh, my fruit salad profile photo is by Kate too!

Anyhow, she just started snapping while I was doin' my thang.  Of course, I took off my super-sexy quilting gloves for the occasion.  Check out the whole post here.

(photos by Kate)
Next time, Kate gets her photo taken behind the "wheel".

Thank you, Kate. You're la cosa!

Peep Yourself Some Pips

One of my besties, Kate, is giving away some cutie-patootie fabric that you probably should have. Hurry though, you only have one day left to enter the giveaway!!

Need some inspiration? She's got that covered.



And while you're at it, you should probably also peruse her bitchin' new blog, PeepThread. Not only is this girl talented, she's fun as hell and super smart - one clever grashopper. See why she's one of my besties??

All photos by Kate

I Love It, I Love It, I Love It

This was probably the greatest gift of the season (and of all time). A big box of pomegranates, persimmons, and jars!!! Oh, and the best part was a written open invitation to pick fruits and vegetables from the Palmers' garden. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!

This one gets 10 high kicks. Thank you, Palmers!

photo credits: DMF, while I was shelling pomegranates and creatively directing from the kitchen.

Plus Macarons

(that's supposed to say "more macaroons" in French)

I'm always pretty awesome about thanking my friend for doing my taxes in a timely fashion. Last time, I thanked her in November, so "repaying" her in September is like - Whoa! I decided that it might be a nice, unexpected surprise to give her something a little indulgent, yet consumable. It's the new black.


Paulette kept calling me back to buy more macarons, and I thought this the perfect occasion. Oh, and Blue Bottle Coffee, of course. I had to keep them in the trunk of the car to keep myself from eating them during the 4 hour drive home. Ooh, they were so beautiful and tempting!

(She, by the way, ALWAYS completes my taxes on time. I could learn a thing or two from her)

In a Pinch Notecards

My good friend just got engaged! Yay! So I made her these little notecards until the official "invitation suite" arrives. Because you never know how soon you'll need some joint stationery.


I made 2 (very sophisticated) variations.


I'm probably breaking all kinds of wedding etiquette. Although, I do know you're not supposed to use a joint monogram until after you're married - but that's all I know...and if nobody else knows, who cares?

The envelopes and cards (and inspiration) are from Paper Source. The fabric is from Purl. I might be a little bit obsessed with Paper Source these days. Maybe when I change careers again, I'll be a greeting card designer...*sigh*

Frogs and Snails...

...and Necktie Onesies... that's what little boys are made of.


(and double-decker bus onesies with matching burp cloths)


My friend is having a new baby soon, so we have to make sure he's well-dressed when he arrives.

Welcome to the world, little man!

More Pillow Talk

I made a Christmas pillow for the Twitty Committee "Cut-Throat-Eyeball-Scratching-We-Are-Not-Friends-Until-This-Is-Over" gift exchange...

And what started as this:

Ended up this:

I was tidying my scraps at the end of the "session," and decided I liked the look of the stripes instead. Total (happy) accident.

Here is the back, using a vintage Auntie Fern button. More on her another day...


I'm still working out the kinks with the free motion quilting. Anyone out there know how to prevent the obvious tension problems on the underside? I'm still safe with pillows, but once I move to quilts, forget it...

By the way, in a very composed, polite, diplomatic way, Kat is now the rightful owner of the pillow. Don't stress, it's machine-washable.

Get Out of My Kitchen!

Well, it was actually Trista's kitchen, and Gina did most of the cooking (both were fab-u-lous). Kate took all the photos, and I just showed up for world's most awesome 1950s housewive-themed 30th birthday brunch (yes, we're still celebrating, and I'm not complaining).

Thank you ladies for being so good to me!

Sisters in Sisters

I just spent the greatest weekend in Sisters, OR with my best, longest-time (since 3rd grade) friends, Emily, Elyse, and Abby. You might recall I stayed with Emily and Abby a couple months back (rancher fantasy camp ring a bell?). This time, Elyse was in town for a bit between 2 years teaching art in Kuwait (yes, Kuwait) and another 2 years in Hong Kong. She's such a globe-trotter.

We had a lovely time hanging around the ranch, cooking, eating, reminiscing, shopping, walking around town, attempting hikes (too windy), and doting on Cade.

Emily (blue shorts) & Elyse (green pants) "swam the horses" while Abby, Cade, and I sat on the sidelines:



Look at this barnyard hottie:



Elyse, donning the new school apron she made holding the cutest baby Cade:



Anyhow, upon landing, I realized it was the Sisters 32nd Annual Quilt Show - BONUS! I was a very bad girl... more on that later.

Being with these girls is like being with family (I pretend I'm the 4th sister). Each time we see each other, we just pick up where we left off. It's the greatest luxury. And the best part was, I got bumped off my flight until the next morning, so I "had" to spend one more night with my girls! Waking up at 4:10 in the AM to catch a flight, however, is another story.... ha!

Apricot Zeal

I love apricots.

My friend Jenelle (and her 4 year old son) taunt me in June and July about all the apricots on their tree, "oh, we're going to cut it down...oh, the limbs are breaking with all the fruit....oh we threw out so many apricots on the ground." That's it! I'm driving to San Jose to get me some apricots!

Upon arrival, the tree was OVERFLOWING with apricots...branches with strings of apricots down them. I probably picked 20 lbs of apricots and didn't even scratch the surface of what that tree held. It was one of my best days ever!

When I got home, I made 24 jars of jam! Yipes. (Act surprised, y'all when you get a jar for Christmas...or your birthday...or as a thank you...or...) I dehydrated about 6 dozen in my Snackmaster Junior Food Dehydrator (this thing RULES!)...



...I pureed a bunch for my new baby niece, for when she graduates to solids, and I still have about 5 lbs for eating.



And check out these awesome little squatties I found, for "contemporary" canners.



I think I may have fed my appetite for apricots... this year at least.

And did I mention this jam is RIDICULOUSLY delicious?? The best I've ever had. If you need the recipe, give a holler!

"Poor Carol" Pickles

Inspired by my new book to embrace the local harvest, I bought some kirby cucumbers to make pickles with. From my Everyday Food Magazine, and found this recipe to have more instant (delicious) gratification than the one I used before, which produced a crisper pickle as a result of no-heat, but it just took too darn long to enjoy the results (2 weeks = 2 long for Sara to wait).

I'm calling these "Poor Carol" Pickles because (here's another one of my longish, unimportant stories)... there's this bar we go to in Oakland after particularly stressful nights at work. They make the BEST bloody marys, and they garnish them with pickled green beans and olives. My coworker, Carol, always asks for just a glass of green beans and olives, sans bloody mary.

So, I thought I would make these pickles, and experiment with green beans...for Carol. I brought a jar to work yesterday but Carol wasn't working.

"Whatcha got there?...Pickles?...I want to try one...These are good!...Can I try a green bean too?..." And before I knew it, the jar was empty! Poor Carol didn't get any :(

Instead of supplying the PICU with pickles forever, I gave them the recipe instead. And here it is for you:

4 to 6 Kirby cucumbers (about 1 pound), quartered lengthwise
1 cup white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (I used only 1 Tablespoon)
3 tablespoons coarse salt (not iodized table salt)
1 teaspoon dill seed (I had/used dill sprigs instead)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

Quarter your cucumbers (don't use the waxy, dark green ones).



In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, dill seed, and garlic with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve.



Pour over cucumbers.



Use a small plate to submerge cucumbers in liquid.



Refrigerate until cool, at least 2 hours. To store: Transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. To serve, remove from liquid.

J's

My friend Jenelle just had her 2nd baby! She reads my blog (maybe one of four who do), but she's in the hospital for another couple days so I'm safe to show you what I made for Jamis, the big brother, and new little Jered.



Too cute, right?

Rancher Fantasy Camp

I just returned from a little mid-week vacation to Bend/Sisters, Oregon to see two of my oldest & dearest friends Emily and Abby. I had SUCH a blast! It was like rancher fantasy camp for me - I got to bail hay, drive the 4-wheeler, mix grain...it was great.

Here we are, all 4 of us, on the 4-wheeler before we ran out of gas and were "stranded" in the pasture.



And as if my rancher fantasy camp experience wasn't awesome enough, Abby introduced me to World's greatest sewing shop - the Stitchin Post. I, of course, had to buy some fabric, which you can imagine I desperately needed.


Thank you for such a wonderful getaway!

Happiness is...

...Having all your ladies (and Darren) in one room.

I should be so lucky.