Missed it by *that* much

So this is post #102. How did I miss #100? I am swamped in preparations for Pattyfair, but I feel a giveaway coming in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

I have officially finished the top of Jaxon's quilt. I had to order more fabric for the backing, I ran a little shy. Then I am able to get it to a machine quilter, if I can find one willing to do it before Christmas.

Here it is in all of its glory:



I didn't brave the crowds of Black Friday this year, but I did head to JoAnn's for an excellent Saturday sale. Interfacing was on deep discount, and I also picked up all this:

Three fat quarter sets (two Christmas and one antique toys), black and white fat quarters with a dash of red, and a few half yards of this cute brown and green line

I also ordered this purse pattern from Nanette, and she included a super cute covered button:



And now every waking hour is being spent on items for Pattyfair. I'm removing everything from my Etsy shop on Friday. Whatever doesn't sell on Saturday will be relisted, with a Christmas sale coming. Here is the start:

16 diapers and wipes cases, all of which need grommets and handles, half of them still need top stitching

I also plan on two blanket sets, and two Christmas blankets. I also need something for the silent auction. Doll quilt?

I did manage to get all the Autumn decorations put away in anticipation for the Christmas decorations, and the holiday movie marathon has begun: so far, a modern favorite of mine, and one of Charlie's favorites.

Feeling Fluish

I like adding "ish" to the ends of word. Or sometimes using "ish" as a word. About the only good thing about having the flu is being able to say, "I feel fluish."

Last Tuesday we had our first real snow of the season, and Tuesday night I was up with the first (and only, I hope) stomach flu of the season. There is never a good time for the flu, but this was particularly bad. I have an excellent colleague who sat in on final presentations for my production class, and Charlie stayed home to care for Jaxon. I've felt well enough to go to work beginning on Friday, but still not 100%. I've spent the last week grading finals, and warding off the cold that is attempting to highjack my weakened immune system.

One bright spot in a bleak week, my new winter shoes came:

Snazzy! From Lands' End.

Also, I pieced the top of Jaxon's quilt. This was really quick to sew and I think shows off the prints well.

Here's one corner. I still need to add an inner and outer border.

But here's the bad news...I've been practicing my machine quilting, and I am still only confident with straight lines. Here is the front of my practice FMQ:



And here is the back:



What am I doing wrong? Obviously there is an overall tension problem, but am I pulling too hard on the turns?

Whatever the issue is, I am not going to have it remedied in time to finish this quilt by Christmas, so I think I am going to have to have it professionally quilted. I don't know the first thing -- advice? How should I find a quilter? What should I ask? How much should I expect to pay? I think this top is a quilter's dream -- lots of big patches of fabric to show off quilting, and an opportunity for some fun patterns. But at this point I'd take some nice looking loops if it means having it for Christmas.

Instead of ending this post on a disappointment, I thought I'd share a picture Charlie took this weekend. He was touring here, and this should be familiar to any fans of The Shawshank Redemption. One of my favorites.

Fabric Glutton

Is that possible? A fabric glutton? The 20 yards of fabric I have in the washing machine say "YES!"

But all that fabric is necessary. Really.

Lots of yardage of Tot Town by Michael Miller for Jaxon's big boy room

Yardage of Chic or Treat from Moda (at half off!!) to finish...

...this! Yes, I am still working on Halloween.

And I forgot to take a picture of the Christmas fabric my sister brought with her for her visit. I need to get started on my Christmas projects, and Pattyfair, but first:

My Halloween runner is finally in use...but now it's a Thanksgiving runner! Unfortunately you can't see my favorite part -- rick rack trim!

And in between all the crafting and grading (one week of classes left!!) we've been auditioning hairstyles for Jaxon:

No more Jackson 5, now it's Jaxon 6!

Look.

Look what I did:



Look what WE did:

From CNN.com

Over and Done.

Halloween is over, and my tenure case is done. Here's a photo recap:

Friday morning, Jax comes to work with me to trick-or-treat with my colleagues. He refuses to wear the costume (even through he wore it at home all week).

This is the face of an unhappy Danish viking.

I took Jaxon to his school, and came back to finish up my tenure case. Here it is the moment I turned it in to our director.

Excuse the glare, my transparency film overlays look great in person but not with a flash.

Then it was back to get Jaxon and up to the big city for trick or treat.

Finally, he puts on the costume. White fleece appliqued onto a red sweatshirt, no sew fleece cloak (fur trim is glued on), and a purchased "helmet." Charlie and I bought the shield at the Viking Museum.

Some of the houses were overly decorated for the holiday.

Jaxon clings to daddy while we walk in front of the house with scary music and a smoke machine.

And then a late drive home to find this waiting in the mailbox:

Quarter yards of Sweetpeas on White and Park Slope Pebbles in fuchsia, and one yard each of Lightning Bugs Dog Park and Super Dots, and Alexander Henry's Leap Frog all from Sew, Mama, Sew!

Home.

We've returned from our grand tour of Copenhagen, and it is good to be home. We had a good trip, and my conference presentation went well.

Here are some highlights:

Nyhavn
The Viking Museum on Roskilde Fjord
The famous Little Mermaid Statue (with me!)

And now that we are home I must concentrate on my tenure document. But first, some apple crisp.


This recipe is from Pampered Chef. They call it Quick Apple Crisp. The only thing that makes it quick for me is this.

5 Granny Smith apples
1 package (9 ounces) yellow cake mix (I use Jiffy, but if you buy a regular size box you can make this recipe twice!)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use peanuts because they are they only nuts Charlie will eat.)
Vanilla ice cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel, core and slice apples. Place apples in pie plate or casserole.
2. Combine cake mix, sugar, cinnamon, butter and nuts. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.
3. Bake 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream.

Yummy!

Fall is Here

There's a chill in the air and I have the desire to listen to Christmas music...must mean fall is here!

I found a tutorial for making fabric pumpkins and thought how nice a black and white pumpkin would look in my dining room. The tutorial was super easy so I made two:


And Jaxon approved (I want pa-kin)...


The countdown has officially begun for our trip to Copenhagen. We leave a week from Monday and I am starting to get nervous about having my conference presentation ready to go -- and traveling farther than I ever have.

Anyone have any suggestions of things to do in Copenhagen? We have a list of things we would like to see (Tivoli, Stroget, Danish Design Center), but any suggestions or helpful hints would be greatly appreciated!

A good night

Popcorn, quilting, and Presidential Debates....


...I Promise to wash my hands in between the popcorn and the quilting.

My little super model

Today I photographed three blankets to post in my Etsy Shop. Jaxon HAD to be in the pictures. How could I say no to such a great model??

After this he said, "Mommy, I want hugs." *sigh*

I haven't been great about Quilt Month, but this is back to school time and I've been busily preparing my classes. I have found time to work on my Halloween quilt, though.

Here are how my blocks looked last night:



And here they are this afternoon:

From the pattern Diamond Jubilee by Pieces from my Heart

Please stop by Sew, Mama, Sew! today and see my tutorial for making an upholstered headboard. I love making these. In fact, all our beds have them, so I had to ask mom to let me make one for her for the tutorial!

Our Hawaiian/Tiki–themed guest room has a headboard upholstered in bamboo embossed felt.

The headboard in our bedroom is topped with a clearanced blanket from Target.

Thanks, mom, for letting me do the headboard, and thanks to Charlie for being my lovely assistant.
I upholstered my parents' headboard using a store–bought whole–cloth quilt.

And finally, another snap of my little model. I hope all of our southern neighbors are recovering from hurricane weather!

A little more quilting

I worked a bit more with my perle cotton. I finished the panel, and I have started the blocks (it looks much better with the basting ripped out, right??). Here's a quick shot of the panel, you may have to click on the picture to really see what I've done. Excuse the wrinkles, I've been toting it around with me.


The next couple of pictures are a bit blown out -- they were taken with my iPhone with a very bright window beside us.

School starts tomorrow so we had a little end of the summer celebration at my favorite Sushi restaurant. Yes, my dad and Jaxon are sharing the pizza that's in the background there.


The owner and waitstaff always remember us, and our server made Jaxon "training" chopsticks. He enjoyed eating his pizza with them. We did have one strange moment though. Jaxon is really coming along with his vocabulary and we know what he is attempting to say about 85% of the time, but he has started saying what sounds like "f**ky." We can't figure this out. When he says it we start pointing to things to try to interpret "f**ky," but we have yet to discover it. Tonight at dinner he started saying it. My dad asked Jaxon if he was going to eat his cheese. Jaxon responded with what sounded almost exactly like "f**k you."

We all knew that he was just forming sounds -- he has never heard that phrase and wouldn't understand how to use it if he had, but it still takes you by surprise when a two year old yells "f**k you!" And it's really hard not to laugh. I worked a bit trying to figure it out tonight and I think f**ky" might be monkey. We'll keep working on that.


I made a couple of back to school resolutions this year. (1) I am going to attempt to choose my outfits for the entire week Sunday night so I don't stand in my closet every morning wondering what to wear, and (2) I am going to pack our lunches the night before so I am less tempted to eat out (yeah, right) and I don't rush around every morning making Jaxon's.

We'll see how long this lasts!

Laboring through Labor Day

The end of the Labor Day weekend means back to school time. I've been diligently preparing my classes, but also trying to make time for sewing.

One project I can't share with you yet, but I *will* say the project will be posted at Sew, Mama, Sew! for Sewing for the Home Month.


I still haven't used my machine much since the blanket binding, but mostly because I'm finally putting the things I learned in that hand quilting class to use. September is Quilt Month over at Mr. Monkeysuit so I am trying to get on the ball. After a ton of questions to Louise about her beautiful, bold quilting, I got myself some perle cotton (or pearl cotton in the U.S. because we apparently have to Americanize everything). I only wish I could find the right blue!


I also made something new for a Labor Day cookout. It's from this recipe but I substituted two cans of cherries in light syrup (not pie filling) for the peaches and deleted the cinnamon sugar topping. It was a big hit.

I don't know whether to be excited about this or afraid of this. We'll see.

Nervous Nelly

OOHH, I still get a little nervous thinking about it.

I've been eyeing this machine for awhile now, but couldn't get over the price. Mom and I visited a quilt store last weekend and they still had two left at the sale price from NQA so I got it (with a little bit of help from mom for my Christmas present). I had a nervous stomach the whole time -- this is the most money I've spent on myself (excepting a house or car).

Here it is in all of its (dim) glory. I was finishing up some curtains I promised to make Jaxon's daycare. Four layers of heavy weight home dec fabric?? No problem!!
Needless to say I love it. It is SO much quieter than my old machine, I don't have to worry about waking Jaxon up. I've spent the last couple of evenings playing with the different stitches and finishing up a few projects I was having trouble with on my old machine.

Here are a few of the specialty stitches...I love the Christmas ones! Charlie wants to know if I will make a blanket with bad words stitched all the way around the edges.
And these three blankets have been in my Etsy WIP pile for awhile because my machine wasn't handling the satin bias (tension issues). I whipped through all three in one evening! This will be up at my Etsy shop as soon as I have a nice day to take pictures.

Switching gears, I'm sure many of you in the blog world have heard about Nie Nie. For those of you who haven't, Stephanie (of the great blog The Nie Nie Dialogues) and her husband were in a horrible plane crash a couple of weeks ago. The flight instructor was killed, both Stephanie and her husband Christian survived but have a long road to recovery (read more here). Thankfully their four children are able to be cared for by family, and the support from all their friends (both "virtual" and "live-action") has been wonderful.

This has really hit close to home for me (as Charlie is a flight instructor) and I'd love it if you could all contribute in some way to Stephanie and Christian's recovery. You can do this by taking part in Nie Nie day (today!!) -- simply bid on one of the numerous auctions found here (there are also others if you search):

• DesignMom
• A Room Somewhere

I am currently bidding on:
Lemon Yellow Jade Drop Earrings edited: Drat! Outbid!
Pantograph Pattern Quilting Service

ed.-- Now also bidding on:
Dress #1
Dress #2

So don't outbid me!

If you don't have time to babysit an auction, you can make a donation:

Thank you!

Back from the Left Coast

I've been back a few days and have unpacked and done laundry...after a trip my baggage always sits on the bedroom floor for a couple of days until I'm ready to forget about my trip. The suitcase went to his home today.

I don't usually enjoy my trips to LA, because the conference is always downtown and there isn't a whole lot to do. This time was better -- more people from school went this year, we saw two movies, and I got to go to the fabric district. I didn't have much cash on me, but I managed to get a yard of giant rick rack, 10 zippers (for $1!!) and 4 yards of fabric:

1 yard of red and white stripe silk, and 1 yard each of orange, yellow, and pink cotton sateen (60" width)...the salesman called the sateen double-sided cotton. Anyone ever heard of that?

I already used two of the zippers for wristlets.

The red one is for my sister-in-law, the other two are a bit smaller to accommodate the sale zippers. Only one problem. One of the zippers is upside down (the pull tab is mounted to the wrong side!!). It doesn't open easily.

I always bring home a lot of swag from this conference, usually notebooks, pins, posters, and keychains. I always look forward to Pixar's giveaway of a full size poster from the movie they produced that year. This year I have a new favorite. I always come home with an assortment of bags that I use at the grocery store. These are actually MEANT to be used at the grocery.

I had been looking at Baggu Bags online. Obviously I went back to the booth too many times as they ran out after the second day!

And since I've been home I've picked up too fun web addictions. This one to go along with my Olympics TV obsession: Medal Count. And this one that creates images from the words on you blog: Wordle.

Here's mine:


And finally my little man is learning to drive!

Another travel bag

Every year I attend the SIGGRAPH conference, and it seems every year I get ants in my pants to sew a bag to take. You'd think by now I'd have the perfect bag!

I wanted something that could also be used as a purse, and since I won't be lugging my laptop to the conference center every day (yeah, iPhone!!) the bag needed to hold conference necessities but not be too heavy or bulky. That Exhibition floor gets tiring!

So here is the 2008 Travel Bag:


The fabric is Botanical Pop by Windham. It's really nice to work with, maybe only second to this.


The back has a pocket for my boarding pass and other paperwork I need quickly, with a some large ric rac trim. I really like how that turned out. Maybe it should be the front!


I used the new tutorial at U-handbag Blog for a concealed zipper in casing. This was a challenge, but worth it I think. It looks nice -- but mine is a bit long. I should have better heeded the tutorial!


I also used the U-handbag Blog tutorial for an insider zipper pocket. Why haven't I done this before? It was so easy! I also included pockets for my iPhone and sunglasses.

I'm thinking this is the perfect bag for the mom of a toddler. I could fit his diapers and wipes case in it plus all my stuff but it is not as big and bulky as a diaper bag.

I leave for LA tomorrow and return at the end of the week. Anybody have a "must go" fabric or vintage store? Unfortunately we are staying downtown, so I can't travel too far...