one quilt : march

Yep. I do realize it is now September and this quilt block is a bit late. March was Sarah's month for One Quilt. She chose some very fun fabrics including some great typographical pieces (I couldn't resist using the A since it is my first initial). And I loved this little "ruler" piece...

Hmm, looks like I need to make sure to clear off the lint before I send it on it's way. I now have to finish Maitreya's block and I will be all caught up! Yay!

one quilt : january

Yes, January was a few months ago but I just finished Nanette's block for One Quilt. You can see her inspiration here. She wanted us to try a bit of sashiko embroidery on the block.

I enjoyed the embroidery and it was quite simple. Now I need to work on Sarah's for March and I will be all caught up!

one quilt : february

Just in case you didn't get enough red and white with my last post, here is a little more for you. February is my month for one quilt. Obviously I am going with a red and white quilt. I just can't seem to get enough. For my fellow one quilters, I hope to get these mailed out to you tomorrow and instructions will be arriving in your inboxes soon.

one quilt : december

As promised here is my block for December's one quilt. I sure hope Chara likes it. I loved working the orange and white. Very refreshing during these cold days.Oh, since I am showing and end product, I should mention that I am still enjoying yesterday's end product. Maybe a little too much! I can't stop eating them!

process

Why the photo of cookie dough? Well, last week Beki inspired me to think more about the process of making things. I will admit that although I enjoy the process, I am more driven by the end result. Which, in some ways, is a little surprising. I thrive on processing things in my head. I am definitely the slow to speak type, especially when it comes to giving my opinion. I like to mull things over in my head in an effort to ensure that I say just the right thing. Sometimes this has been misinterpreted as me not listening/caring/having an opinion, which couldn't be further from the truth. I just really like to process my thoughts. But apparently that is where it ends.

When I am creating, I mostly just want to hurry and get to the finished product. But I know that by doing that I am missing out on a lot of the learning and enjoyment of creating. So, yesterday as I was baking these cookies I decided to focus on the process a bit. Because, truth be known, the wonderful strawberry aroma was amazing (I chose to use strawberry cake mix this time and it is my new favorite.) My kitchen smelled delicious! And it hit me that other than knowing how happy Larkin and Lucy would be when they came home to fresh-baked cookies, I had joy in simply mixing the batter. The process. And yes, I still enjoyed the finished product...

*updated to include recipe

Cool Whip Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix (any flavor)

1 8 oz. container Cool Whip

1 egg

powdered sugar for coating cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix all ingredients (batter will be thick).

2. Form into small balls.

3. Roll in powdered sugar.

4. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

5. Cool on pan a two minutes before moving to cooling rack.

And I decided not to stop with just the cookies, but to also enjoy other processes of the day like making the December One Quilt block (the final product will be revealed tomorrow)...
So, here's to enjoying the "doing" more and not rushing through life just to get things done.

one quilt : november

i finally completed my block for november's one quilt. yes, i am a little behind. rashida asked for a block with a house. oh, by the way check hers out. it is adorable! i went for a quaint cottage. i am very happy with the curtains...
I also tried my hand at some chicken scratch for the first time. I thought the chimney could use a little sprucing up...
Now I need to complete the December block for Chara...

one quilt: october

i completed my october block for one quilt. this will be making its way to beth this afternoon. the inspiration came from some of the gee's bend quilts like this one. the colorway beth chose was a lot of fun to work with. here is the full block...

one quilt : september

this is not the best photo, but i have waited several days hoping the clouds would part and lend some decent light for a photo. it had not rained here in something like 29 days and wouldn't you know as soon as i finish a few projects for the blog, it would rain and be cloudy for three days. remember, i only have a little point and shoot, so i rely heavily on some good 'ol sunshine. anyway, i had to go ahead and take a picture because i am sure that leah would appreciate me sending her block to her for last month's one quilt, since i am already ten days late. and while we are on the subject of one quilt, look how cute the package is that beth sent for october...

have a great weekend everyone!

doll quilt swap four

as i mentioned before, i took part in doll quilt swap four. and it was a lot of fun! my swap partner, cecy, loves solids and bold fabrics, so i sure hope she likes this quilt. here is the back...
oh, and she likes owls, so i embroidered one on the quilt label. i think he is quite cute. i used three different colors of thread together for the embroidery and i like it. i have never used more than one color at the same time...

i hope to get around to some more sewing this weekend. we are finally getting into a groove around  here with homeschooling, so my thoughts sometimes drift toward sewing...imagine that! of course some of my ideas are for school, so i am not drifting too far.

one quilt : august

i completed my quilt block for one quilt this weekend and mailed it to meg today. she asked for a rectangular block with a textural three-dimensional element. here is the detail of my three-dimensional element. it was quite fun to do...
you can check out other blocks for meg's quilt here. i finished another project this weekend that i am excited to share with you. i haven't sewn in so long that i want to bask in it for a while here on the blog so i will save it for another post. i am now going to watch an episode of arrested development. wasn't it one of the greatest shows ever? absolutely brilliant.

hidden star

i completed my first block for the one quilt project. this is my block for dorie's quilt. and it was my first attempt at piecing. i rather enjoyed the piecing aspect of it, but i could use a bit of practice. this block pattern is called "hidden star." i added a few of my own fabrics to the mix. you may recognize the two red polka dot fabrics from lucy's quilt. dorie sent the green handwriting print. and how about the white handwriting? i won it from dorie (along with some of the green and some in black) almost a year ago! the block is on its way to her today. here is the full block...

more about quilts

i am so excited to be part of a new project called one quilt. dorie emailed me a while back to see if i was interested and of course i was! a group of twelve very talented women are joining together to help each other make a quilt. each month the selected block recipient will decide what they want their quilt to look like and they will send the fabric out to each of the other participants who will then make a quilt block and send it back to them. and the other months they will receive fabric and do the same for the other participants. so by the end of the year each participant, after they assembly their blocks and quilt them, will have their very own quilt made by women from all over the world! that is twelve quilts! i am so excited. dorie started us off this month with the fabrics above. my month is not until february, so i have a little time to decide on my theme. you can see all the participants and check our progress here.

in other quilting news...dana is having another quilt giveaway. and again, i hesitate to tell you about it because i really want to win. but it is so beautiful and her blog is a lot of fun, so go and enter the giveaway here.

and just because, check out these great finds i got while we were in florida last week. two books from a thrift store for only fifty cents for both!

and i got two yards of this cute fabric and vintage pattern from a great little shop in ybor city just before eating at mr. empanada (a place dedicated to empandas? yes. need i say more?)

well, i am off to work on that same project for this weekend. stay tuned...

hello!

wow. it seems like so much time has passed since i last posted, yet it has only been a week! thank you all for you warm wishes for our anniversary. i am truly blessed with an amazing husband. for our anniversary we traveled down to florida. we spent a few days with our dear friends rick and kristi for rick's birthday and since we were so near the beach, we spent an extra couple of days just hanging out and enjoying the sun. oh, and for those of you who live in the st. pete area and haven't tried ceviche's...stop reading now and go. we had dinner there for our anniversary and my goodness do they have wonderful tapas! so now that you know where i have been this past week, let me show you what else i have done...

could it be?
yes, i have finally finished lucy's quilt! i can't seem to stop looking at it. i just love how it turned out. here are a few more shots...

i have more fun stuff to share with you this week, but for now i have to go start on a project that i have to complete by friday.

keeping on

i kept the sewing machine hot on tuesday. i am still working on piecing lucy's quilt together. it is quite easy. if i dedicated a little more time to it, i could finish the top rather quickly. however, i am working on other projects at the same time.

my aunt deborah gave the kids some character fabric a while back. they have been asking relentlessly for me to make them some pillowcases, so i whipped up two for each of them.

pillowcases are so simple! i kid you not when i tell you that each one took no more than 15 minutes, including cutting the fabric and ironing. i hope to complete my mom's mother's day gift today and i need to post some pics of my recent thrifting finds. hopefully, the light will cooperate later today, although i am not going to hold my breath since it is supposed to rain today.

quilt

i finally started on a quilt for lucy. i have all the pieces cut and ready to go. i am leaving to visit with my family for several days and am now faced with the dilemma of whether or not to take my sewing machine. i can't stand the thought of not working on the quilt in the next few days, because once i get started on a project i find it hard to stop. however, do i really want to lug the machine with me? but i guess the biggest question is whether or not the fabric store there carries the right thread. wouldn't you know i would sit down to sew and be out of thread? and i went the the sewing store up the street from my house and they were out of the color i need. talk about frustrating. hopefully i will get to post some progress in the next few days. have a great weekend! 

a finished quilt-finally

i am so happy that I finally finished the quilt for sandi's baby. i had this quilt finished for a couple of months, just sitting around waiting for a binding. for those of you who have not discovered the beauty of the clover bias tape maker...wow. binding has never been so easy. i actually enjoyed it! i was a little sad to see this quilt go, but very happy to gift it.