Sis Boom Apron inspires Rocky and Bullwinkle Pie Baking

Some time back I won a giveaway that Nancy had on her blog http://darkhorsefarmdesigns.blogspot.com/. It is a wonderful Ms Willy with pink stripe Sis Boom apron and is absolutely beautiful.  Quite the sexy flare. Thank you so much Nancy for such a wonderful giveway, everyone needs one of these aprons!  So I took a break from packing and other craziness and was inspired to do some baking. I made some strawberry rhubarb pie filling a few days ago and needed to get the pies made.  Using our family recipe for crust I went to work.  They took on a Rocky and Bullwinkle theme thanks to cute Ikea cookie cutters.  Seriously cookie cutters are not just for cookies.  I do all my biscuits and baked goods with cookie cutters.  The kids love it and who says biscuits have to be round?  Anyhow back to the subject at hand, pies, I love em!  I made one pie with just strawberry rhubarb, one strawberry rhubarb cheesecake pie and one cherry cheesecake pie.  Yummy.  Fresh out of the oven I fixed up a slice for my hubby and I.  Who, I might add, I caught with my strawberry rhubarb pie!  Maybe he married me just for that, or because he likes me barefoot in the kitchen with my sexy apron;-)  I served the pie with homemade strawberry rhubarb cheesecake icecream, in case you are wondering we love strawberry rhubarb around here, I also love my KitchenAid icecream attachment.  I get the strawberries and rhubarb from our local Fifer Orchards.  Alright, now that you are drooling, here are some pics.  The self shots are just that, so you'll have to survive my poor self portraits. Click the photos to see a bigger image.

Bloggers Quilt Festival ~ Spring 2010

Here is my entry for the Bloggers Quilt Festival ~ Spring 2010

The quilt has been more of an adventure and trauma than I ever imagined quilting would be.  I have only done 2 doll quilts prior to this and I know now I am very much a quilting newbie!  

I have wanted to do this quilt for quite some time. And although its not fancy or perfect every stitch is made with love. Here is the story of how it came to be.

When we first heard that Ethan had been diagnosed with Diffuse Pontine Glioma, a brain stem tumor, we were devastated for Ethan and his family.  Jon, his step dad, is a friend of ours through an archery forum and was our first friend when we moved to Delaware. Ethan was diagnosed in December of 2008 at only 8 years old.  After 14 months of bravely fighting this horrible tumor he became an Angel in January of 2010. You can click on his photo to read more about his brave battle.  I knew immediately that I wanted to do a photo memory quilt to give to his big brother Jacob.  I designed a photo collage on adobe illustrator cs4 and headed on over to www.spoonflower.com to have it printed out. I had it printed on the cotton sateen which turned out fabulous.  That was the easy part. I designed the pattern of the quilt myself as I am a rogue and don't like following patterns.  The top went together well, but I did run into a few snags.  I will never use tear a way quilt piecing or wash away stabilizer and I will always prewash everything. I could go into details but reliving it is harsh.  I did free motion quilting following a continuous line stencil for part of it and just free handing the rest.  I also added Jacob and Ethan's names in applique at the top.  It certainly isn't perfect but I hope that it will be well loved regardless.  I have to say it turned out well for my first full sized quilt and I know I will continue with quilting.  I will be presenting the quilt to Jacob later on this week. Smaller thumbnails are clickable.

Photo Memory Quilt for Jacob The Good, Bad and Ugly

This quilt has been in design for quite some time now. I wanted to make something for Jacob to remember his brother Ethan by. Ethan passed away in January after a 14 month battle with Diffuse Pontine Glioma a rare brainstem tumor.  I decided that I really wanted to get it done so I could start getting organized for the move.  I designed the photo panels through illustrator cs4 and had them printed on cotton sateen through www.spoonflower.com.  This is the most wonderful part of the whole quilt.  The fabric is gorgeous and turned out super. I had an idea of how I wanted it laid out and just sort of played it by ear, I am not one to follow a pattern.  The overall quilt turned out well.  I made my own binding following this tutorial by Priscilla Bianchi called My "All By Machine " Binding Method, click her name for the link.  The binding turned out fabulous. I ran into several problems with other areas though, keep in mind this is my first full size quilt.  First I used a tear away foundation to put my free motion designs on and sew over.  I made sure the stitches were close so it would tear away easily, or so I thought.  Yesterday I spent the entire day picking it out of between stitches, my hands do not love me today.  Then for several blocks I used wash away stabilizer, ummm yeah that didn't work so much either.  Even after several washing and scrubbing there is still little bits under the stitching.....  I will never use either product again.  Then on to the worse traumatizing event of it all. I put the quilt in to wash it, normal cycle cold water mild detergent.  The backing bled all over and now the baseballs are pink! This was with 4 color catcher sheets in the wash just in case. I can't tell you how much I cried and how devastated I was. I rinsed another 2 times and it lightened the pinkness. I did one more wash cycle and its as good as it gets. There are still some discolored areas but I think its ok.  I am not happy at all with it, but I am hoping they will still be able to appreciate it.  The good thing is that the cotton sateen didn't discolor at all!  Yay for spoonflower.  So the photographs are perfect. Now I know there are a lot of quilters who do not prewash anything but I will prewash everything from here on out. Lessons learned.  The finished size is 66x77 roughly. I also used the extra photo fabric and made 2 pillow covers with pillows to go with it.  I can't say I will be doing any full sized quilts any time soon but for my first I guess I can live with it.  Onto the mass amounts of pics. You can click on them to see a full sized image. And I love comments and suggestions but please be kind, I am a sensitive soul.

Thank you fellow bloggers!

I was so amazed at the amount of blogs over at the sew mama sew blog day giveaway!  If you haven't checked it out you better head on over. www.sewmamasew.com The items being given away vary from fabric to clothing to jewelry and everything in between.  I had a migraine yesterday so spent most of the day in my chair vegging out and checking out the blogs.  Everyone is so generous!  I found many blogs that I wasn't already following and that I am in love with.  A lot of overseas blogs as well.  Reading about sewing and crafting in other countries is always fascinating. I really hope to participate in the next giveaway day they host.  Until then I will be having a giveaway on my own.  I will be interviewing the fabulous Terri Allred from Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops and as part of that interview there will be a great giveaway.  So keep an eye out for the post next week it will be exciting!

On another note I have been busy busy working on a quilt for a wonderful boy who lost his brother after a 14 month battle with a brain tumor. This has been a work in progress for quite some time but I was finally able to finish up the quilting so all I have left is the trimming and Binding.  Photos to come within the next few days I hope.

So until then, have a happy week.

Doll Quilt Swap in Woodland Bloom by Lila Tueller for Moda

This is a doll quilt I made for a swap over on the sewing mamas forum.  I just love how it turned out. Especially for a beginning quilter.  The fabric is the woodland bloom by Lila Tueller and is one of my absolute favorite fabrics.  I have had it in my stash and finally got the courage to cut into it:-)  I hope the mama I swapped with loves it to.  I used free motion quilting to do a basic pattern.  3 tulips down the center then a heart/vine design throughout the rest.  I also did a flower applique with beading in the center.  This was a fun swap to be a part of, I love sewing mamas. So without further ado, here are some pics. They are click-able if you want to see a bigger pic!

Maternity Shirt Conversion Tutorial from Existing Pattern

I have had quite a few women who have expressed interest in how to use an existing non maternity t-shirt pattern and modify it to fit a pregnant body.  Well after some trial, error and research I have come up with a pretty good tutorial.  This tutorial will work with MOST existing {non maternity} knit shirt patterns. I have even been so kind to put it in PDF format so you can print it out and use it as you go.  All I ask is that you don't copy and use this tutorial as your own.  I would appreciate a link back to my blog if you do post it on your blog or website. If you have any questions or concerns with the tutorial please email me at coveredbydesign at hotmail.com and I would be more than happy to help. Clicky !
Maternity Shirt Conversion From Existing Pattern