Craft Sew Create

Farming Again!

2012-01-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

Been away from this project for a while and been itching to get back! I know that I'm WAY behind the group, but luckily it's a very forgiving group.

Tried a couple of pink and red blocks....

Then I can't stay away from my roses too long. Is there anything better than red & aqua?

Maybe orange? It's never been my favorite color, but I am loving this block!

But lest you think this is all I've been up to this past month, all be sharing some of the projects I've been working on soon! In the meantime it feels good to be back on the farm.

Heart Garden Quilt Tutorial

2012-01-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

Today's the day! My Heart Garden Quilt is the featured tutorial on Moda Bake Shop today! When I first conceptualized this quilt I was going to do a tutorial and then the quilt took on new meaning.

I decided I would still put the tutorial together to share. I hope you can make it for someone special in your life. I love the concept that love will always grow and hearts are bound forever.

If you make it, I would love to see it! Please share it in my Flickr group!

Fabric Remnant Sale!

2012-01-20T22:11:00.000-08:00

Not so long ago I was a Power Seller on Ebay. What did I sell? Well, fabric of course! I specialized in Children's Decorator fabric but also had a nice stash of quilting fabric. Mostly from Michael Miller, but a few others as well.

It seems like it's been a lifetime since then, actually just a lot of life has happened! But I still have a decent amount of fabric, and one of my New Year's Resolutions is to be done with it! So I wanted to let you know on Ebay right now I am having a huge de-stash SALE! Here is a link to my auctions: EllieBella Ebay Auctions . Everything is at a great Buy It Now price and a lot of it is discontinued fabric! Hope you find something you've been looking for (or something you weren't but had to have:)! I will be adding more daily, so keep checking back.
Oh and check back here on Monday, I've got one of my favorite quilts at Moda Bake Shop!

2012, Here We Go!

2012-01-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! I think it's already been a busy one. Getting Christmas put away, entertaining friends from out of the country, and a lot of projects for church. All good stuff and I think we're off to a great new year! I have a list of projects a mile long and can't wait to get going again. I'm anxious to start up with my Farmer's Wife blocks, have a new Moda Bake Shop tute in the works and at least 5 quilts I'm ready to role on.

Here is a collage of some of the projects I did for 2011. It was a fun year, with some special projects. It was also year of adjustments for us. A new home, new schools, new church congregation and jobs within. Now that we are a bit more settled I look forward to a bit more time to spend on fun projects. Here's to a productive 2012!

Holiday Wrap-up

2011-12-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Oh yes I did! We have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve, and that present is always a new pair of jammies. This Christmas I thought it would be too funny if we all had matching p.j.'s! I made everybody open them at the same time, then we all jumped into them. We were colorful to say the least! We drank hot chocolate and read the Christmas story from the bible. Then it was off to bed (for some of us at least).

Cookies and milk for the big man were devoured, he must have made it!

The kids got up nice and early, Mrs. Clause had only about 2 hours sleep (note to self-start wrapping sooner!), and the unwrapping began!

The girls were excited about their new robes, slippers and hat.

After the unwrapping melee, it was so nice to be able to go to church. It was a lovely Christmas service and we were all in black and red.

That evening we had our "fancy" dinner. Prime rib, potatoes, North Pole broccoli, salad and homemade roles, good stuff.

My younger brother, Andy and his lovely girlfriend, Alicia joined us.

Another tradition we have are Christmas crackers. It's fun to find them each year and this year they matched my china perfectly!

The best part about crackers are the goofy crowns that everybody wears.

It sure was a beautiful season. It came much too fast for me and is gone just as quickly too. I'm grateful to have time just to be with family and friends and celebrate the birth of our Savior. Perfect.
Hope your holidays were wonderful too!

Christmas Fun Day 2

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

We had family pictures taken for our Christmas cards this year. They were done by the fabulous Melissa Thompson.

They turned out beautifully, but I have to say there is nothing like getting your picture taken to start getting those New Year's resolutions going, sheesh!

My little brood!

Sam (14)

Sophie (11)

Maggie (8)

Charlotte (3)

Here is the finished card! Some people might not think it's fun to address cards, but I love the process. I had some little helpers and we got them all sent. I love receiving cards too. It's so fun to see other styles and the pictures. I put them right in my Christmas tree card holder so we can all enjoy them!

Christmas Fun Day 3

2011-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Chris and my 15th wedding anniversary! It's a big one, but we celebrated small. With Christmas, work, a birthday and four kids that's about all we can do these days. What were thinking getting married at Christmastime? I will just keep Paris in my dreams.

I am so grateful to be married to this man. He is my best friend. A great father and provider. An all around boy scout. And so darn handsome! I'm one of the lucky ones.

We went to Simply Fondue restaurant in San Juan Capistrano. Here is our self-portrait. We had a nice time and closed the restaurant!

Happy anniversary honey, I love you!!

Christmas Fun Day 4

2011-12-21T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my little Charlotte's birthday! She turned the big age of 3. It's not easy to have a birthday around Christmas as I'm sure some of you know.

But it's nice that she's still little and does not have any big expectations (yet!). At her request we had a donut breakfast via Krispy Kreme and then had a big night out planned.

We headed to Fashion Island in Newport Beach! They have a fabulous big Christmas tree, good eats and shopping. Well, of course on the way there Charlotte fell asleep in the car. So we put her in the stroller and went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Then Daddy was supposed to be coming up from work in San Diego but we couldn't figure out what was taking him so long. Turns out he had gone to the wrong CPK, 20 minutes away! So we finished up, Charlotte woke up, we took this quick pic and headed back home. So much for the tree and fun shopping. But that's life right?

It was time to party! Charlotte wanted an ice cream cake and blew out her three sparkly candles. Then it was onto present opening. It all worked out and she was a happy girl.

I'm so grateful for this little squirt and the joy she brings to our family. Celebrating her birthday adds to the Christmas fun every year.

Christmas Fun Day 5

2011-12-20T01:07:00.001-08:00

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? We've had our little sprite named Link for about 5 years. He has definitely become one of those traditions that the kids love. If he "forgets" to go check in with Santa and is in the same place the next day, they are none too happy I tell you!

I usually just move him to different places everyday, but some people out there get so creative with it!

Check out this fun eBook that Amy Locurto published on her blog for some really fun ways to sneak that little elf around.

How cute is this marshmallow bath? I am totally going to try some of these! My kids will wonder what got into their little elf. I would love to hear more ideas of what kind of mischief your little elf is getting into, please share!

Christmas Fun Day 6

2011-12-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Christmas music! I think I start sneaking in some carols in October and by Thanksgiving it's all I listen to. I have some favorite albums that I remember from my childhood like Andy Williams and Barbara Streisand. But I also have newer favorites like Celine Dion and Linda Eder.

This year I bought the album of one our new favorite artists, Mindy Gledhill called Winter Moon. If you have not heard of her, check her out! My girls and I just love her. In fact we found out that she was going to be in the area for a little concert and I surprised Sophie and Maggie with tickets!

It was during the Queen Bee Market in Del Mar. It's a fun little local crafter's show. So we got to enjoy a fun night of shopping and then a bonus concert with Mindy Gledhill!

It was quite intimate and we were sitting four rows back so the girls were really excited. Afterward we were able to meet Mindy and take a quick picture. Sophie is as tall as Mindy! I also took a picture of the girls on the stage backdrop. Isn't that cut? Hundreds of little bow ties. I just love creative folks.
It was such a fun way to start the holiday and will be a wonderful memory with my girls. Thanks Mindy!

Christmas Fun Day 7

2011-12-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to a share a little holiday inspiration via pictures of my cousin's house. Her house is amazingly beautiful and she really does it up for Christmas. Her home has even been in Christmas holiday home tours in her area.
I shot a few picts when we were there for Thanksgiving. I apologize for the picture quality on some, they were taken with my phone. :)

The entryway tree and staircase.

The elegant living room.

Another shot of the living room mantle.

A shelf in the hallway, there are little details everywhere!

Cute little snowman

Family room mantle

Hutch in the kitchen

Even the entertainment center was decked out.
Hope you've enjoyed some holiday inspiration!

Christmas Fun Day 8

2011-12-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

As usual the Christmas season is flying by! I keep waiting for those moments when I can stop and enjoy the season I am trying so hard to plan for. Like, I was planning on doing 12 Days of Christmas Fun here on the blog. But here I am what 4 days late! Oh well, I'll start today! You don't mind right? Without further ado, here is Day 8 of Christmas Fun.

Sophie had her school Christmas concert last night. The kids sang and played instruments. Sophie played the flute which she just started a couple of weeks ago. (She said she had to fake it on some of the songs lol!) She is the tallest one on the back row. Next to that um, ghostly figure.

After the concert the kids and I decided to go look at holiday lights. We came to one of those homes that synchronizes the lights with music. My teenage son was so excited. He'd seen these on YouTube but not ever in real life. You tune in your car radio and listen along. His favorite part was the little marquis. You can send a text message and it will display it. They were also serve hot apple cider across the street!

Then we noticed people were going inside the house. We all jumped out of the car and scurried inside. So magical! We were welcomed by an upside-down Christmas tree!

Next up, a classic Christmas village. Love the snowman water tower.

The next room had a carnival village, a nativity and a Mickey Mouse village. The kids LOVED that one.

The last village was the North Pole village. I actually have a few pieces of this village, I didn't even know there were that many! I love the snowy mountain background. I mean this people know how to do it! Charlotte my almost 3 year old was just in awe. The last room had their regular Christmas tree and I would've gotten that pic but there was a family there taking their family picture!
I just love little accidents that turn out to be so much fun. Turns out this house actually has it's own website! If you are in South Orange County, here's the info: 25473 Nellie Gail Road, Laguna Hills, California. Web: http://www.orangecountychristmaslights.com

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T10:35:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! We are in St.George, UT again to be with my family. I just love coming here. We have all of our favorite haunts. I may even do a little blog tour of our adventures here. Basically this week is about family, shopping and food! Yee haw!
Here is a quick Thankgsgiving freebie! It's a table place card. Just copy the jpg and insert it into any program you like to use. Make sure the width is 3.5", print it out and write in the names.

Happy Feasting Everyone!

Grateful

2011-11-10T08:16:00.001-08:00

November naturally brings thankfulness. It's time when you think about family and events of the past year. Today I am feeling extra grateful. We received news yesterday that my Father-in-Law's cancer is in remission. This comes after just a few weeks ago when we almost lost him. We have seen so many miracles! We feel so blessed to have my wonderful in-laws with us for years to come :).

I also just finished up some major projects for something I will tell you about soon. I'm very excited about them but also so glad to cross those off my list! I have so many things I've been wanting to do around our new house. Painting, decorating, sewing, it goes on and on. I guess the first item is to get to those dishes that have been piling up, oh well, the decorating will have to wait!
Have a THANKFUL day!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2011

2011-10-29T01:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share my Walk in the Park quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival! If you are interested in making the quilt I shared a tutorial for it a few months back. It's made with the lovely Central Park fabric from Kate Spain. If you make it, I'd love to see it!

Don't you just love browsing the festival, enjoy!

Back to the Farm

2011-10-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

I would love to live on a farm. At least the idea of a farm. Lots of land, fresh air, fresh eggs and most of all a farmhouse with a huge wrap around porch. Aaahhh. I know the reality means a lot of hard work but it's still fun to have that dream.

I have really enjoyed reading the stories of real farmer's wives in the Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long book. It doesn't do much to cure me of the desire to spend my days on the farm though, quite the contrary. But at least I can make my blocks while I daydream. It feels good to be back in the saddle again after our move and school starting up with all of our new crazy schedules! Here are my blocks for this week:

I used a strawberry lemonade theme. Pink and yellow together are scrumptious! I might have to use this combo more often.

Our house is coming together little by little. I put up the Halloween decorations yesterday. Though it's funny, they all fit my old house perfectly. But in our new home I just don't have a place for everything. I think it's time to do a holiday purge and start fresh. My husband didn't just hear me say that, did he?

Maggie's Big Day

2011-09-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

In our church children are baptized at the age of 8 when they are accountable. It's a special day for the children and the families. Maggie had her 8th birthday and her big day was last Saturday!

Her favorite color is yellow, so I used yellow, white and grey in her invitation.

Her pictures were done by the fabulous Melissa Thompson. She did it at the last minute for us and they turned out beautifully! Thank you Melissa!

She just looks so grown up!

Maggie with her dad right before the baptism. I love that they wear all white to symbolize being clean and pure.

I got one shot of the table all set up and sadly it was a little dark. I made coordinating programs, a sign-in sheet, welcome sign, a flower pen and music book. And of course we had to have roses for our Maggie Rose.

I also made Maggie a special towel for drying off when she came out of the font. It has the symbol CTR which stands for Choose the Right.

I got the from Rachel at Made with Love & Glue. I loved the poem that went along with it. Just cut it out, used my Steam-a-Seam, ironed it one and stitched around the edges.

The best part for Maggie was having both sets of Grandparents there to celebrate with her. My mom and dad came from St. George. It was fun to show off our new home and *bonus* my dad helped me hang all my pictures!

And we were so grateful that Chris' parents came from Albuquerque. Chris' dad is currently going through chemo treatments for Stage 4 lymphoma. But he braved the airports and exhaustion to be there for Maggie's special day. Thank you Ron & Jan, we love you!!

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful weekend. Maggie was all smiles :).

Little OPA Shirt

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Fridays at OPA, instead of their uniform Sophie is allowed to wear OPA spirit wear or a university shirt. We didn't have either so she asked me to make her one. How could I resist that?

I found a "school" font at Dafont.com for free, yay! Typed it in, printed it out and used it as a pattern for the fabric. Then I used Steam-a-Seam, ironed it on and stitched around the edges. Who-la! Quick, easy and cute! Felt good to be crafting again.

Back to School

2011-09-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, the last couple of weeks have really kicked my booty! Adjusting to all the new schedules and carpools has been a trick. And I'm still at work making our new house a home. Today I thought I would finally post some first day pictures.

I can't believe I have a High School freshman! I think I have been way more freaked out than Sam has. He says, "It's just school mom". No it's a lot more than that. Someday he'll look back and know that. Hmmm, just takes me back to "the days" that don't seem so long ago! Sometimes I wish I could go back, but that probably would freak him out ;).

Miss Sophie had her first day at a new charter school that opened in our district this year. The students were chosen by lottery and we had been on a waiting list. We found our a week before school started that she got in and we're really excited. It's called Oxford Preparatory Academy. Besides the wonderful education she will receive, I love that they wear uniforms! I always wanted to wear uniforms in school. Each class has a University "mascot" and her class is Harvard. It's fun to say that my daughter got into Harvard! She is loving it so far.

And little Miss Mags also started at a new school. She's in the 3rd grade this year. She was nervous and tired (she just couldn't get to sleep the night before!) and it shows in her smile. The school is just down the street so we can walk everyday. It's a great little school and friends are being made.

Charlotte also started in a little Joy School that I'm doing with some friends. She is super excited and it's only one day a week, so I think it will be perfect for her. Basically a structured play group.

I think maybe all these new schools and adjustments are harder on me than on the kids! But I'll adjust too, right? Here we go!

I'm Ba-ack!

2011-09-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

Whew! I have been up to my eyeballs on these ugly things for weeks! First with packing, then unpacking. It feels like a never-ending process, but we are making progress and I'll be glad to be settled in. We are really enjoying being in a house again after the past two years.

Since my last post we've had two family birthdays (mine included:), two different first days of school at 3 new schools (my commuting is insane this year), and I taught a class on Menu Planning. Of course there were a kazillion things in between, but those are the highlights.

The class I taught was at a church function that we called "Back to School Night" for the women of our congregation. The ladies came in and were assigned a year (Fresh, Soph, etc.) and they rotated to four classes and had a lunch break.

I helped with making the tags for the lunch bags and water bottles. I used free printables from DimplePrints.com. Because the sack was red, I changed out the red polka dot to black houndstooth.

Then I made a houndstooth band and stuck the circle tag on with a puffy dot. The whole evening turned out so cute and the class went well. I used my Menu Planning printables for the class. I'll admit with all this moving and change, I've been terrible with cooking! Time to take my own advice and start back up again. Hmmm...maybe I don't want to be back yet;).

Packing & Stitching

2011-08-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

The packing for the move has begun, yuck. Actually I don't mind the packing, I just don't like having a house full of boxes. And that half-in, half-out feeling. It will be nice when we can start moving things over (Wednesday, yay!). It's been great though because my oldest daughter, Sophie is so excited to move she is packing like crazy. It's so nice to have the help! We've been getting a lot done, so last night I didn't feel too guilty about making a couple of new blocks.

I'm actually dedicating this week's blocks to my daughters Sophie and Maggie. Sophie's favorite color is green, Maggie's is yellow, simple as that. And they look so pretty together, so lemon-limony and fresh. Now I just wish I could get my daughter's to get along as well as blocks do! :)

More Blocks and More News

2011-08-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

I was able to work on a few more FWQAL blocks this week. I'm still not totally caught up, but I'm getting there. I like the way Buckwheat turned out. I'm trying to incorporate more of the orange and yellow into my blocks. Of course I love Butterfly because it features roses and just looks sweet and delicate.

But I have to say that Buzzard's Roost has been my least favorite block. I think I re-did it like three times. It's not hard, I just don't care for the layout. I think it looks like a beetle bug, or maybe it's just the name? I don't know. I guess I'll live with it for now. Calico was simple and straight forward and features my very favorite fabric, the strawberry on blue.

My new news is that we're moving! In like a week! We are so excited to be moving back into a house. It's a long story but I can try give you the short version. If you want to read about it, just click below.

We had a home that we sold because my hubby took a job out of the country in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Yes, the Middle East. Crazy right? But it's a relatively safe area (just south of Dubai) and it's would have been one of those everything paid for situations. Private school, home, travel, the works. We were actually pretty excited. Because I was pregnant at the time, my husband went first and the rest of us would come after the baby was born. Chris loved it there and things were going well. But then layoffs started taking place and that's when the economy tanked, so you guessed it, we lost the job.

We already had most of our stuff in storage and had to be out of our house, so we packed up and headed to my parents two bedroom house in St. George, UT until Chris could find new employment. We had no idea at the time that it would take 9 months! Yes eight of us were living in a two bedroom, new baby and all for a whole year. The kids started school there and it was actually fun to be back where I grew up. I also started my blog while we were there as my little outlet. :) Finally Chris secured a job right back here in Southern California.

School was starting and finances were tight so we landed in a two bedroom apartment where we have been ~~squeezing~~ living for a year. Though we were back in the same area, the girls were in a new school again but they adjusted and made friends. Thankfully Sam was back at his old school with his friends.

So.... the last few years have been very up and down as I know it has been for a lot of people. It's been hard, but I know there are plenty of things we have learned and have probably grown in ways we may not even realize now.

It also makes us so grateful for this move! It will be so nice to be back in house again with a little more room. We are just renting for now and the house is not perfect, but I am not complaining. There is a nice park just a few houses down and the kids are in great schools. We will have to change our church congregation, but I'm sure we'll adjust.

So catching up on my blocks will just have to wait, I've got some packing to do!

Day at Zoomar's

2011-08-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Groupon I got a great deal on a sweet little petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano called Zoomar's! My three little lovlies and I went down for the day and watched the trains come in, played on the playground, walked around the shops and of course saw the animals! Sophie loves creatures and animals so this was right up her ally.

Charlotte and Maggie caught all really fast too. They have a huge play pen of bunnies and guinea pigs that you can hold (if you catch one!) and feed.

Sophie feeding a llama.

Cool Zedonks that arrived just that day!

Taking a train ride..

Panning for "gold". The girls LOVED this.

And swinging on the playground. It was so fun to be here because both my older girls used to come here on field trips with their preschool class. A little walk down memory lane:). Nothing better than that.

Celebrating the Boy

2011-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

My oldest, Sam turned 14 this week. And he's starting high school in a few weeks (insert hyperventilating here). He is a wonderful kid. Really. I'm not even exaggerating. I feel so blessed that he is mine. He never asks for anything and is happy with whatever.

The girls thought it would be fun to kick it old school and go to Chuck E. Cheese's. Sam was fine with the idea. So we dined on pizza and racked up the tickets. And we all had a great time, even Sam had fun. See that smile?

Afterward we celebrated at home with cake and ice cream of course. And presents. He liked his new jammies. They were NOT a fail.

My brother Andy came for the party and the kids just love him. He entertained us with his witty stories. Can you see how enraptured we all are?

He's one of the few people that can get Sam to laugh like this...

and this.

I'm so grateful for my fun family. And grandmas and grandpas that were so generous. Though it was simple, I know that Sam had a great birthday. He's just so easy to celebrate.

I love you Sam!!

News

2011-08-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a delightful email! I've been asked to be a part of a project I am way excited about! I wish I could share the details with you now, but I've been sworn to secrecy. I'll keep you posted when I can. Don't you just love things like that that make your day (week, year!) ?

Of course I have a couple of more blocks to share. When I get caught up with the FWQAL Group, I promise I will post some other projects, but this is what I'm working on for now!

Catching Up

2011-08-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Been working on my Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along blocks and having a ball. I love choosing the fabrics, cutting them out and putting back together. Sounds insane, but it's my sanity. Look forward to the kids being in bed, getting out my stash and getting to work. Still a couple of weeks behind, but I will catch up!

Totally Addicting

2011-07-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

I started my Farmer's Wife blocks last Sunday and it's so hard to stop! I'm actually glad I got in on the game a little late. It's been fun to play catch up. And I'm only half way there! So without further ado, here are my first two blocks:

I didn't have any trouble with these first two. I am finding that I love to use the templates. I know a lot of people are using paper piecing and "doing the math" to avoid the templates. But I actually enjoy cutting them out and having teeny tiny triangles that turn in to a beautiful square. Each one is like completing a mini quilt. It's totally fun. And totally
addicting.

Resistance Was Futile

2011-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

You might have seen the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long floating around sewing blogs. It looked like fun, I admired the blocks, but I swore I would not partake. Then I found myself thinking about which fabrics I would use, dropped by the flickr group, I just couldn't stop thinking about it! Then they actually had the book on the bookshelf when I was in St. George at Barnes & Noble. And that was it, I was sunk! Not only did the blocks look interesting and fun, the stories were fascinating! Haven't you always glamorized the farming life? I could not resist any longer and yes, I bought the book.

So with book in hand I have been enjoying reading the letters and contemplating the perfect fabrics for this quilt. It's not a small project and just any old fabrics would not do for me. I wanted bright colors and country prints that I could pair with white (I love white!). Well, I found the perfect fabric. Annie's Farm Stand by Holly Holderman. I mean seriously it even has Farm in the name! It has sweet little roses, ginghams, polkadots, strawberries, stripes, oh me oh my! I sold some stuff on Ebay, and these cute little fat quarters landed on my door step today. Yippee! I am so excited. But really, like I needed another project?

For more information on the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along visit the gals who started it all,

Angela at Fussy Cut and Amanda at msmcporkchopquilts . But be careful, you might get sucked in too! :)

Productive

2011-07-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

One thing I love about summer is that I get a little more free time to work on projects. And I've been productive! I finally finished the Oliver + S Jump Rope dress for Charlotte! I LOVE how it turned out. And the pattern was so great and easy to follow.

I used Oliver + S City Weekend fabric. I just loved the shade of blue and decided to accent using the yellow mini dot.

Back View...I just love all the little details on this dress.

Detailing on the sleeve, how cute is that?

Patch pockets

I could not find the right shade of blue or yellow buttons, so I decided to cover buttons with the same fabric. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I like how it turned out.

I also made an apron for my mom (but forgot to take pictures!) and I'm working on this new quilt using Summertime fabric.

Last, I'm usually working on a new project each week for the children's singing time at church. Last week we played Battleship! The kids picked a square and on the back they either sink a battleship piece (each piece had a song to sing), or they "miss" and pick water. It was a hit! I really enjoy being with the kids.

It feels so good to get things done and be productive!

Adjusting

2011-07-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

So, we're still adjusting. It takes me a while to adjust back to life after a vacation. A friend just said it's like that scene in "Somewhere in Time" when he sees the penny from 1976 and he sucked back to that time. You're just not ready! Why can't the whole summer just be a vacation?

But I can't complain. We live in SoCal where everyone loves to come on vacation. And we spent this weekend at the beach. My parents were visiting and we had us a picnic on Salt Creek Beach.

And the hubs swam the Newport Beach Pier to Pier swim, so we spent the day on Newport Beach after he was through. It was a great weekend, can't you tell by all the smiling kiddies?

I mean seriously, is there anything better than that?

Look at the smile on this teenager? I could adjust to that. :)

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Wishing all of my American friends a very Happy Fourth of July! We're spending ours in beautiful St.George, UT with family and friends. I love spending holidays in small towns, they know how to have fun! We've already had a great time at the annual Gunlock Rodeo, swimming and barbecuing with family, and enjoying wonderful church services.

Tomorrow's docket includes an early morning 5K (I'll be walking, not running:), pancake breakfast and parade at the park, games and launching rockets with my brother, more swimming and BBQ'ing and of course fireworks!
Hope you have a blast!

Done!

2011-06-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

I took Amy's One Thing, One Week Challenge and I accomplished it! I had done the quilt top but I needed to quilt and bind it. I actually finished it in a day. The friend I was making the quilt for had her baby and I was assigned to bring dinner to her last Tuesday. So I went into turbo mode and got it finished that day!

I used Thimble Blossoms "Pint-Sized" pattern. Been dying to try this one and it went pretty quick. I want to try the pinwheel version that also included on the pattern too.

The fabric is Arcadia from Moda by Sanae. I discovered this fabric when it was too late to really get anymore. But I found a honey bun and somebody on Etsy had a couple of yards that I was able to use on the border and the back, whew!

I really wanted to try some straight line quilting on this and I decided to just do horizontal lines. I don't have a walking foot, so I like to draw the lines with a disappearing ink pen. I drew the lines on about half of the quilt and realized that most the lines had already disappeared! It's supposed to be 48-72 hours, not a half-hour! So I ditched that idea. Maybe it was the weather? Who knows.

I decided to use my old stand-by and just do an overall stipple. I love to stipple and I always like the result. The lines will just half to wait for another quilt.

So glad for the challenge and the birth so I could finish this up! Thanks girls! Now, what to do next....

School's Out for Summer!

2011-06-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of school, finally! We get out later than the rest of the planet and here we are in SoCal with the sun just taunting us! It was a great year with wonderful teachers. This is my Maggie with her teacher, Mrs. Hoffmann.

Maggie also had a great group of silly friends.

Sophie had her 5th grade "graduation". They had a Hawaiian theme. This is her fabulous teacher, Mrs. Kissel.The ceremony was so emotional! They had the kids sing "Because You Loved Me" to the parents, boo hoo!

Sophie also made some cute friends this year. We're so grateful for that. I can't believe she'll be in Middle School!

Speaking of Middle School, my oldest, Sam graduated from the 8th grade! This is a picture of him with some of his friends at the big 8th grade dance. I just love all his geeky friends.

Sam also got an award from the principal (yes, he is that much taller than the principal. At 13 he's 6' tall!) for getting a 3.5 or higher all three years! Go Sam!

Sam's summer started right away. This morning he left at 4 A.M. to go to Scout Camp at Zion's National Park in Utah. Thanks to all the great leaders!

I'm so proud of my munchkins. The years are seriously flying by too fast though. I will have a High School-er, a Middle School-er, a 3rd grader and a toddler. Should be a crazy year. I think for now we'll just focus on SUMMER! Yay!

Time for a Challenge

2011-06-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

I need a challenge! It's a great motivator to get things done. Amy is having her One Thing, One Week Challenge and I'm taking it on!

This week I want to finish this baby quilt. I have the quilt top done, I just need to baste and quilt! I am still trying to decide how to quilt it. Should I stipple it, or I may try just straight lines. Not sure...but I better figure it out quick, I only have a week!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful men in the world who hold that title. I hope they know how blessed they are to have little ones (and big ones!) that call them Dad".

I did not want to leave the dads of my church congregation out after what I did for the mom's on Mother's Day.

So when the children sang to the congregation for Father's Day, I made ties out of card stock for each of the children to hold. It even looked like they were wearing the ties! It turned out really cute. They sang a couple of songs and then gave the ties to their dads when they finished.

Each tie had a Father's Day message and a little piece of chocolate. As you can see this tie's chocolate was gobbled up before I could get a pic. The dads were so grateful for their little treat and to be remembered.

Speaking of remembering great dads, I would be remiss not to mention the wonderful fathers in my life. I am so blessed to have a husband who is also a wonderful father. I feel so lucky to have him! I have also been blessed by my husband's father, Ron. He is wise, generous, and has taken such good care of his family. He has also been recently diagnosed with Lymphoma that has spread to his bones. We are heartbroken but also believe in miracles and are praying he will be with us for many years to come. Love you Dad!

And last but not least, my own dear father. I was so blessed to have my wonderfully talented dad for my dad. Any artistic talents I have are from him. He is kind, giving and gentle. He always made me feel special, loved and safe. I am in awe of him and the life he has lived everyday. And at 82, he is still doing amazing things (not to mention he still looks amazing!) . Thanks for everything Daddy, I love you!!

A Walk in the Park Quilt Tutorial

2011-06-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

What you will need:

One Central Park by Kate Spain Jelly Roll
One Bella Basics White Jelly Roll
1/2 yard Central Park fabric for the border

1/2 yard Central Park fabric for binding
3 yards fabric for backing

You will be making 40 printed rectangles (with white in the center) and 5 white rectangles (with a print in the center).

Take your Central Park Jelly Roll and cut EACH strip as follows:

TWO 8 1/2" pieces

TWO - 6 5/8" pieces

You will have 40 sets of printed strips.

Then from FIVE of the strips cut an additional 8 1/2" piece. (These will be for the inside of the five white rectangles.)

From your Bella White Jelly Roll you will need:
50 - 8 1/2" strips and 10 - 6 5/8" strips

Next Step:

Make your rectangles!

All seam allowances are 1/4".

For the printed rectangles:

Take each set and one 8 1/2" strip from the white fabric.

Join the white strip with the two 8 1/2" print strips on each side. Press the seams.

Join the two smaller strips to each end. Press seams.

For the white rectangles:
Take each white set and one of the 8 1/2" printed strips.

Join the printed strip with the two white strips on each side. Press the seams.
Join the two smaller white strips to each end. Press seams.

They should look like this:

Now take all of those fabulous rectangles and lay them out in a way that pleases you:). You need two rectangles on top of each other horizontally and then one next to them vertically. There should three sets in each row. Alternate the rows. Here's what mine looked like:

Next step:

Let's put this quilt together! Following your layout, take the first two rectangles and piece them one on top of the other.

Then piece another rectangle vertically next to the two. You'll have one rectangle "set".

Keep piecing until you have a row with three of each set of rectangles (two horizontal and one vertical).

Piece each row this way alternating starting with a vertical or horizontal rectangles.You will have 5 rows. Now you can piece the rows together! Make sure you pin well and match seams where they come together.

This is what it will look like when you get all the rows together. I think it looks great like this and you could quilt and bind it as is! I just wanted to make my quilt a little bit bigger so I added some strips.

Use your leftover white jelly strips. You'll have to sew two together for each side. Attach the border all the way around. Like so:

Next, cut the border print into 2 1/2" strips and add that around your quilt in the same manner:

Finally I placed one more row of the white strips all the way around and ta-da!

Now all you have to do is baste:

Quilt...

and Bind!

Just FYI, here's is what I did on the back:

My backing fabric is White Bella Solid. I used the leftover Central Park fabric and cut more 8 1/2" strips and used leftover white jelly roll strips in between.

I would love to see your finished quilt if you decide to make it! Add your items to my Flickr group! Questions? Email me at craftsewcreate@gmail.com.

Happy & Sad

2011-06-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been really busy and really up and down. For one thing I have to stop watching the news, sometimes there is just too much information, you know? It's the last few weeks of the school year and there is so much to get done and events to get to. But there are also parties and fun to be had. But that's life - you take the good with the bad and the happy with the sad.

Here are a few of my happy and sad moments this week:

I'm sad that my father-in-law was just diagnosed with lymphoma. Especially after spending the last few years helping my mother-in-law get through two cancer diagnosis.

I'm happy that so far the prognosis is good.

I'm happy for my friends who made the lottery for an awesome new public charter school.

I'm sad that we didn't.

I'm sad that my husband turned 40 this week (how did we get so old?).

I'm happy that I am married to such a wonderful man and that we get to spend the next 40 years together.

(we made him a brownie "Oreo" cookie cake, yum!)

I'm sad that my darling daughter decided it would be fun to swing my Canon Rebel camera around and then accidentally knock it into the furniture and dislocate the lense so now every picture is blurry. :(

I'm happy that we still have an old point and shoot camera that will get us by.

I'm happy that I was able to finish these mini teacher auction posters for a silent auction at the school this week.

I'm sad that I won't be there to see it and help.

I'm happy that I got pictures of the project.

I'm sad the pictures did not turn out well (point and shoot).

I'm sad the kids are missing this week of school and some fun activites.

But I'm really happy that thanks to my in-laws we get to spend this week vacationing with family and get to wake up here:

Can't complain, right? What's on your happy and sad list this week?

WIP Wednesday

2011-06-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Among the many projects I have swirling in my head, I actually have a couple of projects I have started.

As soon as I get the binding of this quilt done (I'm so close!) I will finish them up.

I have the Oliver + S Jump Rope dress all cut out and ready to sew up.

And I've been working on this baby boy quilt for a friend who is due in a couple of weeks. I hope I can get it done before she's done! You can't go wrong with Arcadia (though you can't find Arcadia anymore either(sad face here)). So I have some work (can you call it work when you love it?) ahead of me.

Plus I'm helping a friend make signs and a gift basket for an auction at school and need to make 100 paper ties for a Father's Day presentation at church. I might just be a bit busy....

Quilting Complete!

2011-05-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Done with the quilting, on with the binding (and some sore fingers!)

Giveaway Day!

2011-05-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hope you have visited Sew Mama Sew's awesome Giveaway Day! There are wonderful prizes from fabric to homemade goodies. And you can visit some wonderful blogs from crafters around the world. Hurry, most end this Friday. Too fun, fingers are crossed!

Basted and Ready

2011-05-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

Now I get to start one of my favorite parts of quilting, quilting! I really do enjoy the process of machine stippling. Which is good because until I have the moolah to send my quilts to a long arm quilter, I'll be doing a lot of it! This quilt is my next Moda Bake Shop project. Hopefully you'll see it soon!

Blogger's Quilt Festival!

2011-05-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'ts time again for the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side! I always look forward to seeing all of the beautiful quilts that are shared and excited to share my own!

It's actually about time. I started this quilt almost a year ago and then let other projects get in the way. You know how that is right? But I finished it just in time because it's such a fresh, springy quilt!

I had been really loving coin quilts but I wanted to shake it up a bit. I call this Crooked Coins. I shifted the "coins" and added some triangles. I love the simplicity and the way the colors look like they're floating on the quilt.

The fabric is Moda's Verna by Kate Spain. I LOVE me some Kate Spain! If I only had her fabric to use, I'd actually be a happy camper. I used a Verna jelly roll and a white Moda Bella solid jelly roll. I also used some white yardage. The back is a green Verna print and I pieced the border with the Verna jelly roll.

I did a simple all over machine stipple on this one. I love the crinkly goodness when it is washed!

I plan on making a tutorial for this one, so keep checking back. Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I had a wonderful Mother's Day! My kids were so sweet to me and so excited to give me wishes and gifties. We have 9:00 am church so the morning was a bit of a rush but we got there on time, yay!

I am in charge of the children's music in my congregation and on Mother's Day they get to sing for everybody. They sang a song called "I Often Go Walking" which is about kids gathering blue blossoms and how they remind them of their mother. I thought it would look nice to have all the kids holding a blue flower while they sang together.

Using my Cricut, I cut out these flowers and then added a little Rolo candy for the center. I found popsicle sticks that were already green (whew!) and attached it all with glue dots.

I wish I could've taken a picture of all those beautiful children holding their flowers and singing. So cute! Afterward they gave the flowers to their moms with this message.

We came home from church and relaxed, had an easy lunch, watched a movie together and then we all went to the park and threw Aerobies. I'm just feeling so grateful for the four wonderful children I have been blessed with and the wonderful father that they have. And most especially for my wonderful mother and Mother-In-Law. They have both taught me so much and I am constantly amazed at what they do.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there!

Cole Slaw

2011-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

My hubby loves cole slaw but I have never tried making it. We had BBQ pulled pork sandwiches the other night and I thought cole slaw would make the perfect accompaniment so I gave it a shot! It's easy peasy and it turned out great! Here is the recipe:

Cole Slaw

1 - 16 oz. bag of cole slaw (you can shred your own lettuce, cabbage and carrots, but really, who has that kind of time)

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 c. minced onion

3 TBS Canola oil

2 TBS vinegar

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all together in a bowl and refrigerate to let the flavors meld. I made it in the morning and it was perfect at dinner.

Yield: One happy husband

2011-04-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show off a beautiful quilt made with my Meandering Path pattern! It was made by Jenna from SewHappyGeek and I think she did an awesome job. It's always so fun to see the quilt with different fabrics.

The quilt is made with Fig Tree Quilts Breakfast at Tiffany's line by Moda. I just love the colors. Feeling inspired? All you need is a layer cake and charm pack and you are good to go!

If you have made this quilt or are thinking about it, I would love to see it and share it! Thanks Jenna, you did an amazing job. Shake it baby!

Easter Outfits

2011-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Whew! I got the girls outfits done before Easter. Usually every year we all match and I even find the girls matchy matchy dresses. But I thought I'd be a bit more casual and let the girls choose their own colors. (I'm learning to let go, it's so hard!)

Sophie is of course my blue and green girl. And you can't go wrong with Amy Butler fabrics. The polka dot is Kaffe Fassett. The pattern is Hippy Chick from Pink Fig.

I Grabbed one of the large flowers, cut it out and appliqued it to the shirt. Of course I had to add some bling.

I combined the Classic Skirt with the bottom ruffle of the Bohemian version on the pattern. I like the way it turned out, better still, Sophie loved it.

Next up, my little Magpie. She loves yellow and I couldn't resist the vintage florals of Moda's Dream On fabric line. All it took was a charm pack and a little extra yardage.

The pattern is also from Pink Fig, The Patchwork Skirt.

Charlotte's is also the Patchwork Skirt. Her fabric is Moda's Bliss by Bonnie and Camille. I just love the combination of aqua and red.

I did the same thing on her shirt as Sophie's. I use Lite Steam-A-Seam 2. I don't finish the edges because I like when I wash it and it frays up a bit. And yes then I added bling. I use Jolee's iron-on jewels.

Charlotte was just obsessed with the little lamb Pez dispenser she got in her Easter basket. She walked around with it all day.

Well, another beautiful Easter down. We had a wonderful day at church and then had my brother over and ate a delicious meal. Just love the holidays! Hope yours was grand!

Easter Blessings

2011-04-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Wishing You a Happy and Joyful Easter!

Projects

2011-04-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

I have been in the mood to sew some clothes for my girls. I've made a bunch of quilts lately and it's been nice to do some other projects. I made a couple of skirt for my youngest two and now I'm hoping to complete this Hippy Chick (by Pink Fig) skirt for my oldest by well, Sunday. For Easter. Which probably would have worked fine if I hadn't gotten sick. But I'm in slow motion as we speak! (Or type and read as is the case.;) Wish me luck!

I have also been dying to make the Oliver+S Jump Rope dress for my littlest for a long time. This looks like it will be a bit more work, but I just love their patterns and can't wait to get started.
The biggest project I want to start on is a mini makeover of the family room. I think it may be time to ditch the pink. Which is huge for those that know my Shabby Chic style. The problem is I have $0.00 for a budget which is pretty challenging, no? I think it's time to go on a selling spree!

Excuses

2011-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Excuses for not getting more sewing done (can anyone say 3 WIP quilts that need attention?):

Pocahontas! Okay so not her so much as two different biography reports of her. Yes, both of my girls picked her. Probably because she is their 14th Great Grandmother on their dad's side. Truly, how cool is that? But getting those done and that poster was a bit of work for all involved.

The school's Jog-A-Thon. I helped organize the shirts and of course had to see my girls run their hineys off!

Sophie turned 11! We took her out to lunch and then for a little birthday shopping. Nothing like a new outfit. Later we headed to Downtown Disney and the Rainforest Cafe to celebrate. And can you believe it? I left my camera at home. I almost could not get over it! But it was a fun night.

Can't believe my precious girl starts Middle School next year. Ei, yie, yie!

Charlotte and Sophie 2 & 11 but so much alike in so many ways.

The weather here has been amazing, how could we not hit the beach? After chores were done Saturday we headed to Laguna Beach. It was glorious! We thought we would just take a little stroll, but we stayed for a couple of hours.

Charlotte had not been for months and she just loved it! The water did not scare her at all which of course scared us.

So those are some of my excuses. The kids also had their first swim meet last Saturday. And yes I forgot to bring my camera to that too. What's up with that?

Some excuses would be my busy church assignment, laundry, cooking, cleaning, driving, driving, driving, and just utter exhaustion.

So excuse me! More fun coming soon. Promise.

Spring Break

2011-04-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

The kids had their Spring Break last week. Needless to say I did not get much done. :) We decided not to take any big trips, but we still had some fun. We headed down to San Diego for an overnight and the zoo!

We hadn't been to the zoo for about 5 years so my monkeys were pretty excited. It's the first time Charlotte, my two year old had ever seen most of these animals. Flamingos!

View of Balboa Park from the sky tram. The kids loved riding it. I think we took it like 6 times. It was a cold day, but everyone was bundled. And with all the walking we did, I'm glad it was not any warmer!

The Elephant Odyssey was new since we had been there before and really cool.

Lots of room for the amazing elephants to roam.

The kids loved all of the animal statues around the park. Life size elephants...

An extinct bird, or Charlotte's own Buckbeak...

And Sam almost as tall as the sloth (Sloth, not life size, Sam a life size 6ft. 13 year old).

Pretty cool to be able to get this close to a Leopard.

We had such a great day, I just love my ~~wild animals~~ kids.

So it's back into the groove again. Let's just say none of us had an easy time getting up this morning....

Sara's Heart Garden

2011-04-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

This quilt has been christened "Sara's Heart Garden". It has a story. It was truly a labor of love.

This is Sara. And this is her story. Sara was not supposed to be born. She was the weaker of a set of twins and her parents were told that her heart has not formed properly in the womb and would probably not make it. Sara was born weighing 3 lbs.15oz. Four days after she and her twin Anna were born, she underwent open-heart surgery. At 5 1/2 months she underwent a second surgery. Sara had many complications after this surgery, including suffering a stroke while in the hospital. Despite this, Sara was determined to keep up with her twin and learned to crawl and walk shortly after her sister with no noticeable effects of the stroke. She definitely had the will to live and continued to blossom and grew into a spunky little four year old who is much loved by her sister and family.

On August 2, 2010, Sara had her last planned open heart surgery. It went well, but the results weren't quite as hoped and it was determined that Sara would need a pacemaker. That surgery also went well and Sara was finally able to be home again. But within a couple of months Sara was just not herself. On January 13th Sara was taken in to have a heart catheterization. Cardiac catheterization is a diagnostic and occasionally therapeutic procedure that allows a comprehensive examination of the heart and surrounding blood vessels. It's a fairly routine procedure. But soon after Sara was put under anesthesia she went into cardiac arrest. She was revived and air lifted to a children's hospital. On January 15th, Sara slipped into a coma.

It was about a month later that I learned of Sara's story from my dear friend, Rachel who is in Sara's family's church congregation. I also knew the family but had not been aware of the situation. We talked about wanting to help, but not sure what we could do.

On Febuary 6th, 2011 beautiful little Sara lost her battle and passed away in her mother's arms.

Later that week Rachel was talking with another mutual friend, Natalie. Natalie had lost her little 4 month old son, Matthew in a car crash caused by a drunk driver 8 years ago. She had said that the thing that had comforted her the most was a blanket that someone had made for their family. They told her that whenever they missed Matthew they could wrap themselves in this blanket and feel his love surrounding them and the love from our Heavenly Father. What a wonderful idea. The three of us decided that is what we would do for Sara's family.

I had already started working on my Heart Garden quilt. I have always loved hearts and just thought it might be a fun holiday quilt. But now I knew there was another reason why I had started making it.

Sara's funeral was held on Febuary 12th. For multiple reasons the theme was hearts. Sara's favorite color was pink and everyone was asked to wear that color. This is the program from that day. There was standing room only in the chapel and overflow and not a dry eye in the room. It was a beautiful program and I felt blessed just to be in attendance.

I worked on the quilt as often as possible. It means so much more when you making things to give away. I wanted to quilt to be cozy so I backed it with minky. I still used batting so it's a nice, soft, heavy quilt.

I stippled the quilt with a kind of curly cue quilting.

For the wide border I traced and stitched a heart pattern.

This is the heart quilt tag that I placed on the back. I did a blanket stitch around the edge as I did with the other heart appliques on the quilt.

We made plans to meet with Sara's mom and give the quilt to her family. This is Rachel, me, and Natalie before we left. We had no idea that we matched the quilt! We prayed that this would be meaningful for their family and hopefully be a little comfort along the way.

We shared with them our story and Natalie her story and how it had helped her family. The best part was Sara's little twin, Anna. She couldn't stop smiling. She started curling herself up in the quilt right away. It was so sweet and touching.

After we left the house the three of us hugged and I said that I thought the whole experience was maybe more for us and little Anna than anyone else. I am so grateful to have been able to share in even a little part of Sara's story. And I know she and her lovely family will be together again someday.

Printable Menu Plan + Shopping List

2011-04-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so can you tell I'm a little obsessed with menu planning these days? I'm just excited to finally be getting on the ball with something I should have been doing years ago. I wanted a grocery shopping list to go with my menu plan. So I made one!

It prints on one page, you can fold it in half and take it to the store with you so you can remember what your plan was. And then when you're done shopping just cut on the dotted line and put the plan on your fridge! Click HERE to download it in Green. Click HERE to download it in Aqua.

The categories on the list work for me, but if you need to add or subtract (like baby or pets) let me know and I will make one up for you and email it to you. Bon Appetit!

Watching England

2011-04-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

I have always loved English period pictures. I think my favorites are Howard's End, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility and Enchanted April. When I am sewing I love to watch a movie or show but don't have a television in my little sewing nook. So I use my computer and Netflix!

I have been instant downloading so many fun English dramas. Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, North & South, Daniel Deronda, you name it! It's been so fun because I feel like I'm being productive (not just watching mindlessly:) and I don't have to worry about anyone else saying, "why do we have to watch this?".

By far my favorite has been the Masterpiece series "Downton Abbey". Talk about your tales of ribaldry! Seriously addicting. I'm just praying they continue with it, I am so hooked! If you love English dramas, do watch (said in my best English accent).

On another movie note; I can't wait to run to the theater to see "The King's Speech" when it's release in PG-13 this weekend! I have been dying to see my Colin Firth in his Oscar winning performance (I don't do Rated R movies). Yay for me!

Sneak Peak

2011-03-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

At the dinner table each person gives their best and worst thing that happened to them that day. It's a great way to share things that are happening in our lives. So here is my best and worst today:
Best: Working on my next Moda Bake Shop project coming in April- the pic is a sneak peak!
Worst: I had my iPod stolen and then someone backed into my car. Seriously the best day. But it can only get better, right? Right?

Monday Menu Planning + Free Printable!

2011-03-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

It's a Monday. My parents were visiting this week and they left this morning (insert sniffles here). So it's back to the business of running my little household. Mondays (and Thursdays) are laundry day. It's also the day I plan my menus for the week, make my lists and go grocery shopping. I post a simple menu plan on the fridge so the family knows what's for dinner. I've recently discovered E-Mealz.com. They send you weekly menu plans with a grocery shopping list catered to the specials at your grocery store. Talk about easy. I'm going to try it out.

I also post a simple menu plan on the fridge so the family knows what's for dinner. Here's the one I created for my family. You can download it yourself here. I print two to a page and then it's the perfect fridge size.

I also made a version that says "What's for Dinner?" at the top. You can download that one here. If you have any problems, just send me an email at craftsewcreate@gmail.com and I can email it to you directly. Happy planning!

Blueberry Jam

2011-03-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is what my kitchen looked liked this weekend. Full canning mode! I have never made blueberry jam before and blueberries were on sale for $1.99 a pint, so I had to jump on it.

Seriously, doesn't that look divine?

Of course I had to make some labels. And I've already given away half of what I made. That's the best part. Share the love! For great canning tips and recipes go to freshpreserving.com.

Just a Little Sign

2011-03-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

I have this black arrow sign hanger that holds cute plaques over the holidays. It's in the kitchen and seen when you walk in the door. I didn't want to take it down, but I needed something that could be there year-round.

It needed to be simple and cheap! I got this wood plaque from Michaels with a 50% off coupon. I rummaged through my scrapbook paper and found these. And then some off-white paint and some fun brads.

And here you go! A little Cafe Roberts sign. Here's what I did:

Painted the wood with the off-white paint

Traced the green polka-dot paper with the sign

Cut it out and stuck it on with spray adhesive

Made the flowers with different flower shapes and papers

Stuck a brad in the middle of each

Stuck those on the sign with a little E-600

Cut out lettering with my Cricut on vinyl

Stuck those on

Used Distressing ink and inked the sign and the flowers

Done!

Here is a close-up of the flowers. I bent up the edges on everything to make them more "3-D".

Cheap and easy, yay!

Fifty-One Percent!

2011-03-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

This makes me so happy.

Seriously.

I'm going to try and beat it next week.

Not bad for a week's worth of groceries for a family of six.

I'm still smiling.

Happy March!

2011-03-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

The last part of February has not been the most fun. 4/6 of us have been sick in one way or another, there have been lots of big homework projects, hubby has been really busy at work, and just life stuff, ya know!? I'm just happy it's all behind us!

My 7 year old, Maggie is part of a cute little book club. Each month the girls take turns picking out a book and then hosting the book club at their home. March is our month, so we chose a "green" book! I made a little invitation and a book mark for each girl to go with the book. Now I've got a couple of weeks to figure out what we're going to do for the club. Any fun recycling crafts for kids out there?

In my "spare" time I have finally been able to baste and start quilting my "Heart Garden" quilt. Hoping to have the quilting done by the weekend. Fingers crossed!

Quick Treat

2011-02-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

I would like to say that I'm a from scratch kind of gal. Occasionally it's fun to make homemade rolls and bread, but really, who's got that kind of time all the time?

But we still love a quick, fun treat right? Well sometimes it's got to be right out of the box.

All it takes is this:

+ this:

( a mini cupcake baker that bakes in 7 min. from my MIL, how cute is that?)

+ these:

+ this:

= the cutest little holiday yummies in no time flat and who can beat that?

Valentine's Day Wrap Up

2011-02-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

I have to say we had a fun Valentine's Day! The best part was that my wonderful husband got home earlier than he thought he would and he was able to join us for dinner-yay! See Sophie's smiling face? That says it all.

Here's what our Valentine's table looked like. Nothing fancy, just fun. Chocolate hearts for confetti and everyone got a book this year thanks to an awesome B&N Groupon I got. We had pink heart-shaped waffles, hash browns, bacon, eggs and sausage, whooo eeee! Which way to the gym? The best part was doing the Valentine Mad Libs.

This was Maggie's valentine. She loves the cherry jelly hearts. We put them in a cute polka-dot bag and then I made a printable with her picture on it. (Maggie likes to be in the spotlight:)

Here's my little rascal with her valentine before she left for school. Some of the bags had valentine candy corn, yum.

Though the Silly Banz craze has died down (thankfully) Sophie still loves them and wanted to give those out this year. I wanted to put them in boxes or bags and cute them up with a tag like Maggie's, but Sophie just wanted it really simple and no way did she want her picture on it. So I made a little tag and we tied it together with some baker's twine. Simple enough.

Here's my Soph with her valentine right before school. The shirt I made at approximately midnight the night before along with this one for my littlest squirt, Charlotte. I did not include her face because it was covered with the chocolates that she kept swiping from the table decorations that would eventually get all over the shirt too :). Little goober.

Whew! One more holiday down, what's next, St. Patty's? Time to think green...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a fun day full of love! The hubby has to work late, but we're going to have a Valentine's lunch. The kids and I will have our annual Valentine's Day breakfast for dinner. Heart shaped waffles and the works! Post picts later, what are your plans for the day?

Hearts!

2011-02-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

I have been up to my ears in hearts! This holiday is in full swing at my house.

Been working on valentine cards for my girls, my Heart Garden quilt, and these little beauties.

These are my Lavender Sachet Hearts that I give out every year.

We give them to the girls teachers, women I serve at church with, and friends. It's been a fun little tradition for me and I love experimenting with different fabrics.

I working on one made with all felt too. Next up - finishing my Heart Garden quilt. This quilt has evolved from a fun quilt to one with a lot of meaning. I will share the story and the quilt soon. Here is a little preview:

Quilted Valentine Hearts Pillow Tutorial

2011-02-04T17:41:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my Quilted Valentine Hearts Pillow Tutorial! This is a great scrap buster project, a fabulous way to try out some new skills and a just a fun, bright pillow for the holiday!

Here's what you are going to need:

Scraps! I used red, pink and one aqua for a color pop.

1 1/4 yards white fabric

3/8 yard of coordinating fabric for ruffle

19" square piece of batting

3, 7/8" covered button kit or 3 regular buttons

Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 (or other fusible web)

Step One: Download the heart pattern here.

Cut out 17 hearts from different scraps. Cut 17 hearts from Steam-a-Seam (or follow the directions for your fusible web). Peal off the backing and stick one Steam-a-Seam to each heart.

Cut the white fabric into the following pieces:

2- 19" square pieces

1- 18" x 12" piece

1- 18" x 15" piece

Take the ruffle fabric and cut 4, 3" strips by the width of fabric.

Set the strips aside, we'll get to those later. :)

Take one 19" piece of white fabric and arrange the hearts evenly as shown in the picture. The pink and red hearts should be 1/2" apart horizontally from the widest parts of the hearts and 1" apart vertically from the bottom tip to the dip in the top. The aqua heart is 1" apart horizontally from the widest part of the hearts and 1" apart vertically from the bottom tip to the top of the aqua heart.

After the hearts are placed where you want them, iron them onto the fabric following manufacturers directions.

Next step: Make a quilt sandwich! Lay the other piece of 19" square fabric down (you can tape down the sides), place the batting on top and then your finished heart top on top of the batting. Baste with basting pins.

The next thing I did was use a disappearing purple ink pen and draw a 1/8" line around each heart and on the inside of each heart. Then with free motion quilting, I followed the lines and stitched around each heart with white thread. Then I used a hot pink thread and stitched around the inside of each heart. You don't have to do this step if you don't want to, but it gives the hearts a nice finished and puffy look.

Next is the fun part! I have learned to love free motion quilting. It's really soothing and therapeutic for me. If you have not tried it, this is a great small project to try it on. Try practicing on another quilt sandwich first if you are not comfortable. Remember to use your darning foot and lower you feed dogs!

When you are done quilting, cut down the sides so that your pillow top is 18" square.

Great work so far, isn't it cute!? It actually took a few days for those purple lines to go away, but they did go away.

The next thing I did was was a simple straight embroidery stitch around the aqua heart with 4 strands of bright pink embroidery thread.

Wha-la! Gives it a little more pop!

Okay, it's time to grab those ruffle strips. Cut the selvages off of each strip. Next we need to sew them together to make one long strip. Use the same method as you would for binding strips. Place the two strips at right angles. Using a ruler, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner just off center so the line is centered.

Pin the strips together and sew along the line. Repeat until all strips are together.

Fold the new strip in half and press.

Set your machine length to between 4 and 5, a basting stitch.

Stitch your ruffle strip 1/8" from the edge and then again 1/4" from the edge. Pull the threads and gather the strip evenly.

Pin the ruffle onto your pillow top.

Still using a basting stitch, baste the ruffle onto the pillow top.

Final stretch baby! We are going to work on the back of the pillow. *Note: if you don't have a button hole stitch (or don't want to deal with it:), you can just sew an 18" square piece of fabric to the back.* Take both back pieces and press up 1/4" along the 18" side.

Then fold over 3" and press again.

Stitch the flap closed using the 1/4" pressed seam as your guide. Do this for both sides.

Place the longer side flap over the shorter flap so it covers it. Stitch a basting stitch along the top and the bottom to keep those intact.

Pin the back pieces onto the pillow top with the ruffle inside.

Stitch a 1/2" seam. If you have a serger, serge the edges to get rid of fraying and bulk. You can also use a zig zag stitch on a regular machine. Yahoo! You are almost done!

The last step is add your button holes and buttons. Use this picture as a guide for button hole placement. The middle button is centered at 9". The side buttons should come in centered at 4" from each side. Make your button holes according to the size of your buttons.

I used 7/8" covered buttons and used more scraps to make matching buttons.

I also decided at the last minute to add another heart to the back of my pillow. I used the embroidery stitch around it as well.

Congratulations! You did it! If you make this pillow, I would love to see it! Please add it to the Craft Sew Create Flickr group and I might just put it on my blog!

Happy Creating!

Valentine Surprise

2011-01-31T22:47:00.000-08:00

I have the best MIL! Look at the package of goodies she sent us today! She never fails to send a box full of fun for just about every holiday. The kids so look forward to it and makes them feel so loved. And she does it for all 14 of her grand kids! I hope I will be half the grandma she is someday. I couldn't even begin to tell you all the wonderful things she does. Let's just say we are very lucky to have her. Thanks Momma!

In other surprises, I have a couple of fun Valentine tutorials coming up, here's a sneak peek, keep checking back!

Mission Accomplished!

2011-01-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad I joined Amy's One Thing One Week Challenge! I finished my Fandango Posies quilt top! It's made from Izzy & Ivy's Poppin' Posies pattern and Kate Spain's fabulous Fandango fabric. I added the strip and patchwork borders just to make it a bit bigger. Yay!

I was also able to finish (finally) the actual quilting on my Crooked Coins quilt. Also made from Kate Spain fabric (I should really own stock). Now it's onto the binding!

Thanks Amy!

Moda Bake Shop Progressive Dinner

2011-01-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

I just love the Moda Bake Shop! And I love that I have been able to contribute a couple of tutorials to their site. If you haven't heard they are hosting a Progressive Dinner this week!

They have a new book called Fresh Fabric Treats and each of the contributors are having incredible giveaways on their blogs! Don't miss out on a great chance to win copies of the book and fabric!

Taking the Challenge

2011-01-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad Amy's Creative Side is doing the One Thing One Week Challenge. I needed it! My goal this week: finish my Fandango Posies quilt top. I finished it to pattern specifications but decided I wanted it to be a little bit bigger. So I've been grabbing my scraps and trying to figure out what I can do. Wish me luck!

Picky Pants

2011-01-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Today my little 2 year-old, Charlotte decided to be really choosy about what she wanted to wear. As I showed her an outfit she would come back with "No, I don't want that!". After three tries I said, "Alright Miss Picky Pants, what do you want to wear"? Her reply? "Picky pants! I want picky pants!" Little rascal...

Valentine Heart Sachet

2011-01-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I thought I would remind you of my Lavender Heart Sachet tutorial! I do these every year for teacher gifts, friends and family. They come together quickly, are fun to make, and girls really love 'em!

If you make one, share it with me! I'd love to see your creativity. I was just thinking they would look so cute made with felt! I've got to get on that....bye!

Sewing Summit

2011-01-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

I am sew (sorry, I couldn't resist) excited about the Sewing Summit! It's a sewer/blogger conference that will be in October of this year. I can't wait to connect with other crazy people that are as fabric obsessed, sewing inclined, and blogging about their adventures!

Amy over at Amy's Creative Side and Erin from Quilting Bee Blocks are the duo behind the action and here's what they have to say about it: We are a sewing and blogging conference for the modern sewist who wants to connect with others in a fun and inspiring setting. We are planning classes, panels, speakers, vendor demonstrations, networking events and more.

Sounds great, right? Better still it's in Salt Lake City, UT so I can connect with family along the way. And it's at the Little America Hotel where my wonderful in-laws put us up after Thanksgiving. It's a lovely hotel and the perfect venue.

I'm saving my pennies now and can't wait to hear more about the classes and speakers. Anybody else gonna go? Need a roomie? :)

Crafty To Do's

2011-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Making lists makes me happy. I have at least one a day. There is nothing better than crossing items off a list! Done! Finito! I like to make Crafty To Do lists too, though they might takes weeks not days to fulfill. So in no particular order, here is my list as of well, now:

1. Actually the number one thing is in order. It needs to go first. Get organized! Isn't that what this time of year is all about? I just love all the organizing sales going on and cool plastic containers that can be found.

I have a teeny tiny area in our new little place that's my sewing/crafting spot. And it desperately needs to be organized. I have just about everything I need, I just need to actually organize everything. And I'd like to "cute it up". I got those cute buttons for a steal with the idea that I would paint them some pretty colors. So here is a before picture:

2. Finish quilting my Crooked Coins quilt. This quilt has sadly been on the back burner for like months! But it's the perfect springtime quilt. So maybe I'll have it done by spring.

3. Finish putting together my Fandango Posies quilt. I was hoping to make this for a friend for Christmas, but yeah, that didn't happen. I can't wait to see this done though. How I love Fandango.

4. New Moda Bake Shop tutorials! I have two in the works, both quilts. This is where the no particular order comes in. These will probably supersede the other two quilts. Oh well. Gotta have priorites.

5. Fun Valentine shirts for my girls. Kind of a tradition every year and they look forward to it. Doesn't have to be a big deal. Usually just a heart or two appliqued on but I now have 3 girls, so it's a project!

6. Valentines for the girls. I usually like to do something different and fun. The girls and I will have to put our thinking caps on together and figure it out. It will be fun. Here's what I did last year.

Well, that should take me through the middle of February at least. Of course there are always fun little projects that divert me, but for now, this is it!

Some Stuff

2011-01-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

I finally put Christmas away yesterday which always makes me sad and relieved. The kids came home and said, "The house looks empty!" I have to agree, but it also feels nice. Though I am SO in the mood to re-decorate! Actually what I want to do might just take a pillow or two, nothing major. I need to get on that.

In the meantime I worked on a few little projects in the past few weeks but I have taken few pictures of them! I made this nursing cover-up and a car seat cover for my wonderful Sis-in-Law. I also re-covered a couple of chairs for my brother's dining room set (found a picture!).

And I made a dolly blanket and pillow for my daughter's American Girl doll. Whew! I promise more pictures.

I think I'm finally coming down from the rush of the season. I ready to relax a bit, but things seem to be busier as school (and homework!) have started up again.

I did want to share this beautiful quilt made from my Meandering Path Quilt Tutorial at Moda Bake Shop. It was made by Stephanie from Dream Create Inspire. It's so fun to see another quilt made from my pattern. I just love the colors and placement. She did an awesome job don'tcha think?
I have a new MBS project in the works that I'm excited about. Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

I love new! And there is nothing like a new year. It holds so much promise and resolution. The past couple of years have been tougher than expected for our family which gives even more reason to hope and look forward. I am also anxious to start and/or complete many projects that I hope to share. I'm excited to see what this new year will bring in all aspects of my life. Here's to a great 2011!!

A Date With Tron

2010-12-28T09:51:00.000-08:00

I come from the first video game generation. Atari anyone? So my brothers and I LOVED the original Tron. Yes it's slow moving (to today's standards at least) but it was just so cool. I knew my son Sam would love it too. He did. So when the new Tron movie came out I promised him I would take him. We finally went yesterday. Was the movie good? It was okay. The best part? Spending a few hours with my Sammy ♥.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T15:46:00.000-08:00

Just want to wish those who celebrate a wonderful Christmas! It has been quite a week filled with celebrations and each one has turned out great. And we're not through yet! We are actually packing up right now to leave tonight to visit family in Southern Utah. It will be a nice cap on a fabulous week.

Have a wonderful weekend, and here's to New Years!

Christmas Tree Card Holder & an Anniversary!

2010-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

My Christmas Tree Card Holder tutorial is now at Moda Bake Shop! Go check it out, yay!

On another note: 14 years ago today I married this wonderful man, Chris.

We have been through so much together, but I'm just glad we've been together. I love you honey!

One Wonderful Week!

2010-12-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

With Christmas on Saturday, I'm sure this will be a busy week for everyone! I know I have lots of last minute things to make, things to buy, things to send, things to wrap and things to do. But to compound the busy-ness I also have my daughter's 2nd birthday tomorrow (the 20th) and my 14th wedding anniversary on Tuesday! All I can say is what were we thinking getting married so close to Christmas? And my poor daughter is always going to get the short end of the stick having a birthday so near to Christmas.

In order to simplify things we are going to go to our favorite local restaurant, Ruby's for Charlotte's party. We'll just have family and her friend, Lily. Along with Lily's family whose mom is my best friend. I won't have to worry about decor or going all out (like I tend to do:). It will be fun.

Not sure about the anniversary...it's nice now that my son is old enough to babysit. Probably just dinner and movie! Which sounds wonderful as we havn't had a chance to even do that in a long time. I'm thinking Harry Potter...

Though the week with be crazy, I'm looking forward to everything. The weather here in SoCal has been rainy and it's so cozy. It's about as close as we get to winter weather so it's perfect! I also have a project on Moda Bake Shop that will be up on the 21st, so watch for that!
Good luck with getting everything done this week!

No Peeking Emily!

2010-12-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

First of all, Christmas is coming way too fast! I am just getting as much done as I'd hoped, grrrrr. But I am still loving the season.:)

Next, my husband has four siblings, so we rotate each year and exchange gifts with each family. There are two families that each have 3 little girls and this year we got one of those families.

I love matchy sister outfits, so I couldn't resist. I also have an obsession with fruit fabric and have been dying to use this Robert Kaufmann print. Each girl has a different but same polka dot fabric on the border and waist.

I cut out individual fruits and appliqued them onto t-shirts. Each center fruit matched the borders on the skirts. I can't wait to see them wearing them, they are the cutest little girls!

Last, I am bumming because my camera is on the fritz! The edges of most of my pictures are blurry and the pictures are darker than normal. I am so not in the market for a new one, I'm hoping I can figure it out. Maybe I need to read the manual...

Rodon Strikes Again

2010-12-14T00:49:00.000-08:00

I made a shirt with this applique for my brother's newborn son. It's a robot named Rodon that my brother drew and made a story about when he was a little tike. He loved it. So...I thought I make one for him for birthday on the 15th. Grown men can where robots right?

Speaking of December birthdays...my 1 year old will turn 2 on the 20th. I don't know what bothers me more - that my little baby isn't so little anymore or that for forever I'm going to have to think about a birthday party right before Christmas? (insert scream here:)

'Tis the Season

2010-12-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Every year I get each of my kids little chocolate Advent calenders. They wake up each day excited to open a new window and see what shape the chocolate will be in. A little chocolate in the morning never hurt anyone right?

This is my almost two-year olds first experience with this. She caught on real quick! Hey, there's candy in there! So she asked my older daughter for her calender one day and this is how it looked five minutes later.

Guess the meaning was kind of lost on her. But who could say no to that face, right?

GameStop Giveaway! (or my son's dream giveaway:)

2010-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Found this incredible giveaway and had to share it! All you have to do is post your holiday wish list and link to it! Seriously my son would have a heart attack (maybe it's best that I don't win :).

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!!

Before & After

2010-12-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

I bought this chair a few years ago specifically to re-upholster it for my living room. Of course I never quite got around to it. My husband has been very patient with it taking up space in our garage but recently threatened to throw it. I promised I would get right on it. I'm actually glad because it forced me to get it done!

Wholla! I had a yard left of this antiqued toile fabric that I thought would look great and it and it does. I just love the way it turned out.

Now to find the right spot for it....

Sounds of the Holiday Season

2010-12-06T13:13:00.002-08:00

The Christmas season is in full swing! We have already enjoyed so many wonderful holiday happenings. We visited with my family for Thanksgiving and then went up to Salt Lake City to be with my husband's family.

My in-laws put us all up at the Little America hotel and we had such a fabulous family weekend! My kids just loved being with their little cousins. It was wonderful to hear the sounds of their laughter as they played and ran around together.

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the LDS Temple Square and seeing all the beautiful lights and creche and hearing the sounds of amazement coming from all the kids. And yes, the groans too because our California bones were freezing!

This is a typical shot of our family with our oldest not wanting to smile and our lovely girl in pink showing off her fun personality. Little boogers. :)

We also went to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing in their original tabernacle. I was teary eyed with the magnificent voices singing beautiful songs of the holiday.

Earlier this week we were given tickets to the Christmas performance of the OCMCO (Orange County Mormon Choral Organization). It was held in the Segrestrom concert hall in Costa Mesa. What an amazing place and a glorious concert! We thoroughly enjoyed it.

I feel so enriched by the beautiful sights and sounds of the season already. We have been so blessed by others' generosity this year. I Hope you too are enjoying the blessings of this holiday season!