novamade

the least functional quilt ever

A while ago, I signed up for a quilt swap (of course I waited till the last minute to make the quilt, but this is how I do my best work.  If you only have a minute, it only takes a minute...right?).  I liked the parameters for the swap, there weren't any, really; but, it was suggested that we try a new technique.  I decided to try my hand at free motion quilting since I have never done it before and it scared me.  Seriously, the idea of it made me nervous to get close to my sewing machine.  Sometimes, I can be stupid.

Look at all the happy yellow free motion quiltling.  I don't know what I was so afraid of, it wasn't really that difficult; and, it was fun.  Maybe I will try something bigger next time.  Maybe.

I hope my swap partner likes it.  I seriously hated to send it away. More details in the gallery. 

ketchup and caramel

Hey, Little Tomato, ketchup!  Actually, catch up.  I was going through some pictures and realized that I never posted pictures of a quilt I finished last month.

I made this quilt for a special little guy named Dru.  I was sending a quilt for his new little brother, Marley, and I didn't want him to be left out.

Also, the quilt that I originally started for Dru before he was born two years ago crawled under a rock in my basement (aka "craftland" or my "studio", you pick) and died.  Seriously. I lost it.  A whole quilt waiting for binding.   But that is okay, I like this one better (with the exception of the center strip that taunts me with its imperfections even now).  I'll put further information in the gallery, should you be so inclined to know it.

The perfect quilt for a lil' cowpoke (which just seems so much funnier to say--and type-- than cowboy).  Little Sir helped pick out the Robert Kauffman prints, which were floating around in a local Jo-Ann's for whatever reason.  I like the bright vibrant colors of this quilt.  They are fun.

You know what else is fun?  Caramel (I know, terrible segue).

Today/tonight (details), I made you a Carmelized Nut Tart.  This is a great tart/pie.  You probably have everything you need for this tasty treat in your cabinets.  You can sub in any sort of combination of nuts and it tastes amazing (probably because of the caramel).  I also made the crust called for in the recipe which provides the most unexpected and tantalizing dose of cinnamon to which compliments the earthiness of the nuts and the sweetness of the caramel perfectly.  Sublime.  And easy; actually, quite easy.

quixotic celebrator

Quixotic, is quite possibly, my favorite word in the English language.  It has a "Q," and an "X" and ever since I was able to assemble it on a Scrabble board with someone else's "C" I have been a fan.  Aside from all that,  it is the word that best describes my way of celebrating birthdays.  You (and I) never really know what kind of fun I will come up with.  Special K thinks it's a little crazy, the lengths I go to to celebrate a birthday, but I disagree.  I think birthdays should be celebrated with great fervor.  Sometimes it takes a little work to celebrate just the way you want.  But who says work can't be fun?

After seeing this great birthday banner that Rae put together, I knew I had to make one for Little Sir and the celebration of his second birthday. 

I saw all sorts of potential for the banner and using the distribution of letters from Scrabble as my guide, I made a whole bunch of letters (see first photo).  Should I ever have the opportunity to meet and throw a party for a Quincy, Xavier or Zarathustra (you never know), I totally can.  And I can do it in a very colorful way.

It was easy (albeit a bit time consuming, because I did 64 letters--plus one exclamationa point-- you don't have to do that many, but you totally could) but it was fun, and really I will take advantage of any excuse to whip out the hot glue gun (but with this project, I found cutting the letters out by free-hand to be kind of the best part).  I cut out sets of felt circles in 3.5" and 3.75" glued them together with a folded ribbon in the middle.  And, like Rae, I used ric rac for suspension.  And because I wanted to go crazy with color, I used 14 colors of felt (I left a lot of colors at the store, so I think I showed some restraint here).  That's a ton of fun for very little moolah.  You should make a banner too, you will be glad you did.

 

And I do have to apologize, if you came here looking for pie today.  I gave myself on out this week, or rather, it was a bye week for pie.  Because for birthdays, most people (especially if I am involved in the equation) get cake.  Little Sir is sort of a minimalist when it comes to desserts (sadly).  He usually opts for plain fresh fruit but he knows how to celebrate right and asked for a "banilla" cake with "banilla" frosting. 

And how fabulous is my new cake stand?!

For me this meant a classic white cake (best white cake recipe I have made to date) with buttercream frosting (the kid and I just made the frosting up as we went along).

Because he was helping me make the frosting I have no idea how much confectioner's sugar he scooped into the bowl, so I added butter, heavy cream and vanilla until it tasted good and looked spreadable. 

His enthusiasm for fire is not just a little concerning.

A little imprecise, but it was fun and tasty, so whatever.

I also wanted to make a quilt for the kid's birthday, but sometimes you have to cut your losses (so much for quixoticism). 

It became apparent to me that I would not finish this quilt in time, so I am saving it for the weekend (because it's just an excuse to drag the celebration out even more, in my opinion--yay for being quixotic!). 

So yes, it was a lot of work, but really when your kid thanks you with kisses, it's totally worth it.

welcome to the world, here's some pie

One of my oldest friends (perhaps the first I can remember having) had a baby recently (our parents grew up together in Florida--the dads-- and Korea--the moms-- and we lived across the street from each other when we were kids, she is kind of like my big sister, actually).  The baby is cute.  Cute babies deserve cute quilts (though I have made some quilts for some ugly babies too, so I guess cuteness isn't really a prerequisite for quilt making for me).  I am not sure if there is anyone else in Angie's life who feels the same way I do about the babies and the quilts, so I thought I should probably make sure Marley (that is said cute kid's name, how cute is that!) had a quilt to soil in creative ways love.  (Also, it was a great way to avoid weaving ends. And no, Minty, I am still not done.  That is how pathetic I am.)

I am not trying to kid myself or anyone else, my sewing skills are craptastic rudimentary, at best.  I need more practice to achieve the awesomeness adequate results that I can produce from knitting; but, honestly, I don't think I have it in me to knit a baby blanket.  I have crocheted them (though I really know very little about crochet); but knitting a blanket is like knitting a really wide and short scarf to me.  I hate knitting scarves. 

Anyway, this quilt...  I did a re ally good job piecing this quilt (if I do say so myself, and I do) and the layout is pretty cute--nothing like a charm quilt to emphasize fun creative fabric that one stumbles upon in Jo-Ann's.  Binding quilts make me nervous, but I think I did okay with that. 

I used Joelle Hoverson's method of machine binding because she is a genius (and also Marley had already entered the world at this point, so my deadline had come and gone so the binding needed doing lickety-quick-like). 

My problem is always the quilting.  I basted this thing like crazy; but, maybe I need to switch to basting without all the pins.  Also, I suppose it is a good idea to know how you are going to quilt the quilt before you baste.  I kind of made it up as I went un-clipping safety pins along the way.  Very inefficient (and just a little stupid) and, it didn't produce quite the finished look I was going for, but it is quilted.  It has also been packed, shipped and received.  Welcome to the world Marley. 

I hope you enjoy your quilt, because you certainly can not enjoy the pie I made for this week's cyber consumption.

It is a simple pear pie.

The filling is quartered pears with sugar, cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon.  It was supposed to have a walnut pastry crust; but, I left out the walnuts. 

It was still pretty good though.

I left out the walnuts because I got distracted.  I was working on Marley's quilt.  You know, priorities. 

procrastination in e major

This post might make you wonder about me a little; but hey, I walk around wearing chocolate as an accessory, so there you are...

Because I have become an expert in the fine art of project avoidance and procrastination in general, I thought I would deliver today’s post in song (or lyrics), to the tune of the Major General Song with some a ton of variation here and there (with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan and to you, really).

I am a fine example of a modern knit-procrastinator

I have so many ufo’s they can’t be counted with a calculator

There is a tomten needing ends weaved in

But weaving ends does not make me grin

Even though it involves touching wool

And though that usually makes me drool

I just don’t think weaving ends is that cool.

To avoid weaving in my ends

I make the most of gifts from friends

Kirsten sent me merino, take a look at this:

I spun the wool and set the twist

I really think it’s fabulous

I have no idea what to do with it

I don’t want to let it sit

But I try to be good and put it down

Then I pick up the tomten and go to town

But I want to knit everything I see—

This has been made worse by Ravelry.

Instead of weaving in my ends

I imagine purchasing new project bins

And filling the bins with yarn I do not need

Due to my very slow knitting speed

And my stash is larger than it seems

It is the stuff of knitting dreams

I’m not complaining

I’m just saying

I have a lot to occupy my time

And fitting in all my interests is an uphill climb

To achieve some balance I try and take a rest

But my conscience always becomes a pest

And I think about the tomten sitting in the wings

I know all the other projects are really flings

But every time I take time to sit

I find a way to procrasti-knit

In my weaker moments I rediscovered the quilting bug

Because to me, sending a quilt is just like sending a hug

I sew badly but make great haste

I take the time to pin and baste

And when it’s time to bind the quilt

I leave that too to try and spin some silk

(My procrastination knows no bounds

It’s not as bad as it probably sounds)

When my hands get tired, I turn to the internet

There’s so much inspiration there, I kind of need some limits set

First Brooke began her weaving kick

Her work is so amazing it kind of makes me sick

I would love to weave things half as good

But I don’t weave and instead of knitting as I should

I troll the web for some sort of simple loom

Special K says, “you’re crazy we have no room”

But I think something small and simple would be fine

And it would likely not take up a lot of time

And time is quite the commodity

But still I return to the internet to scope what else there is to see

But I try to avoid spending more time on Ravelry

And then I go to flickr and note that Mandy dyed some wool

That struck me as really cool

Have you seen the singles, I don’t think the yarn will pool

When all is said and done, I just go and bake a pie for fuel

Because it’s Wednesday and I am a pie-baking fool

And I am still avoiding all those ends

I need to find a way to make amends

But there are so many ends to weave in it’s ridiculous

They make me feel like Sisyphus

But I am not discouraged because I like to procrasti-knit

And I’ll always find a way to let the knitting sit

It’s not as though I’ll every quit

Because I love knitting and it loves me

But weaving ends is as dull as dull can be

And I’d rather ignore all the ends I see

But then Little Sir gives me a face

And it puts me in my place

So I pick up the knitting and weave in ends

Keeping in mind advice from friends

I’ll finish the tomten, but bit by bit

Because I’ll still be prone to procrasti-knit.

I know.  It’s a special kind of crazy.  Info about today’s pie is in flickr.  Things should return to normal (which for me, admittedly, is still a little crazy) at the end of the week.  There may even be an fo!  No, not the bain of my existence tomten...

pie for everybody!

Pie, the banana cream variety

Today is National Pie Day.  I have no idea why the 23rd day of January was designated to be such an auspicious day, it is sort of random, really.  But far be it from me to argue; because, as you all know, I am a fan of pie.  So in honor or National Pie Day, it's randomness and its tastiness, I am going to give you a few bits and bobs that I have been thinking about lately.  Also, Kwana tagged me for randomness, so here you are:

I recently got a pair of new glasses.  Due to the weird shape of the bridge of my nose, I can only (really) wear glasses with nosepads.  The new glasses have nosepads; they are also pretty shiny.  I heart them; but, they are hip and funky.  I am not.  Every day I fail to live up to the expectation of coolness set by my glasses.

It's no secret that I like to bake pies.  But I actually enjoy making cookies more than I like making pies.

We are scrumptious.  Ice box cookies from Martha's Baking Handbook.

And as much as I like making cookies, I like baking cakes more.  I think it's because cakes make me think of birthdays (which I also like).  A whole lot.

Maida Heatter's boston cream "pie", it's not a pie, actually.

I really like baking and sweets in general; but if given a choice, I would pick savory over sweet every time.

Martha's mini-corn puddings, they want to be sweeter next time.

Before I started knitting, I was a quilter.  I had no idea what I was doing; but, I was really into it.  I think it's fair to say that I am into it again. 

washed, pressed, and ready for a good time

I recently prepped fabric for five quilts.  Five.  That's like saying, "oh yeah, I cast on for 5 sweaters for Special K last night."  It sounds and reads a little on the ridiculous side, doesn't it?

we want to be ironed and then cut into pretty pretty squares

That's it.  It was random, and it is what has been going on around these parts...lots of baking, quilt prep and Tomten avoidance (I have no idea why I thought striping it as much as I did was a good idea). 

Happy Pie Day, everyone!

holiday wrap-up

We are in full Christmas recovery mode here in Casa de la Archivist.  I was able to finish my fetching mitts, I was pleased and so was the recipient:

Fetching

Pattern: Fetching from the Summer 2006 knitty.com by Cheryl Niamath

Yarn: Cashmere Luxury Aran, Light Pink 1 skein

Needles: Bamboo US 6 DPNs

Modifications: Nixed the picot bind-off and did a regular one

I can see why these have been the knit of the season.  Very quick, very easy...a one skein wonder (or not depending our your gauge, etcetera) and all that.  I could see knitting these again, a great way to use those single DB floaters in the stash.

After finishing the fetchingly Fetching mitts, I realized that Little Sir did not have a stocking "hung by the chimney with care" or otherwise.  Since I had gone through the trouble of getting him stocking stuffers, it seemed only fitting that I actually have a stocking to stuff them in.  So I made him one.  The sewing machine, it was a little rusty.

At 3:00 on Christmas morning, it occurred to me that Little Sir can not read, and having a nameless stocking for his first Christmas would not damage him for life, his name will be stitched in next year (actually it will be stitched in by Saturday because that is when Special K has decided we are packing away Christmas...truly wrapping up the holiday.  In this instance the "K" stands for Killjoy.

The stocking, specs:

Christmas Stocking

Pattern: Butterick 5783, stocking "c"

Materials: Various and sundry cotton Christmas themed scraps, 1 yard of muslin, and a rotary cutter (you are definitely going to want a rotary cutter), cutting mat

Modifications: I actually just used the stocking outline/pattern, I pieced together a sheet of squares for the front piece instead of one continuous piece of fabric, it just seemed more fun that way.

I liked the way the stocking came out.  I think I will probably re-do Special K's stocking (as well as mine) next year, as our stockings were my first ever (rather apparent) sewing project 7 years ago...  But that's a project for next December...

of quilts

Once upon a time, before I was a knitter, I was a quilter.  I still quilt and attempt to sew random things now and again; but, knitting lends itself to obsession a little better (it is portable, after all).  In any case, it seems that people are going nuts over the Dear Jane Quilt again.  I got the book a few years ago when it first became popular thinking, "oh, I will make one of those, it'll be fun..." and then I never did.  I have been watching as other people start making their DJQs, and I must say, I want to hop on the bandwagon.  But I will be good and wait to make the commitment, because I can become obsessessed rather easily and there are enough things in my crafting queue to keep me occupied--at least until Christmas.

But I thought I'd share my most recent quilting venture (mostly because I received a thank you note for it last week which made me remember that there were photo files for it).  I hated to give it away after making it, it was quite possibly one of the nicest things I have ever made.  But then, the colors were not ideal for something for me...and besides, I never make things for myself (I know, I need to work on this), so there probably would have been some guilt involved somehow.  It was a wedding gift for my friend Sarah, she had this thing about the imagery of the tree of life (which was the name of one of the squares, coincidently).

So I present to you a Dutch Treat quilt for your viewing pleasure.  It was my first foray into reverse applique, really my first foray into any kind of applique; and, if it looks like those reverse applique squares took a lot of time, it's probably because they did.

Dutch Treat Quilt

Pattern: from Dutch Treat by Judy Garden

Size: app 31" x 31"

Modifications:  I went with an 8-9 inch canvas/square.  I think some people do the 4 inch square thing.  I thought 4 inches was too fiddly for the first applique project. 

Again, I really liked the way this turned out.  I may go through and select some squares not used for this quilt for a quilt for myself at some point, but we'll see.  The Dear Jane Quilt may be my next big quilting thing.  I have other smaller quilting things on the list to get done first...and of course, there is the knitting.  Report on Swallowtail (which just needs blocking) soon to come.