Valentine's Cookies

Gotta get prepared for the Valentine's Day weekend coming up. Last night we decorated some sugar cookies, ate some, and delivered some to our neighbors. We tried a new sugar cookie recipe from my friend Carrie. We like them rolled out a bit thick--so delicious.

Alecia's Famous Sugar Cookies
2 c. margarine (DO NOT use butter) softened
2 c. sugar
6 XL eggs
6 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
7 c. flour

Cream together margarine & sugar.

Add baking powder, eggs & vanilla, mix thoroughly.

Add flour, chill overnight. (Must chill overnight!)

You might need to knead in a little more flour to make it a nice pliable dough once you get ready to roll them out. (I definitely had to do this with my dough)

Bake at 350 degrees until they rise up then barely start to fall...they will be a tiny bit gold on bottom (between 10 and 12 minutes).

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cube butter
2 pkg. cream cheese
powdered sugar (1/4-1/2 pkg. ...depending on taste)
1 tsp. vanilla
(**I did not make this frosting recipe as my kids don't really like cream cheese frosting. Too bad, because I sure do.)

The Quilt Hanger

This is where my quilts live while they are in progress.

The quilts change, but the scene remains the same.

Sometimes I feel like they take up permanent residency.

Where do your projects live?

Now you see it....

....now you don't.

This little half wall was located between our kitchen and dining room. It used to have wooden slats attached to it going up to the ceiling to make it feel more like a "wall" without actually being one. Those slats got removed a couple of years ago and since then we've been talking about removing the half wall--and then ultimately the remainder of the wall as we do some remodeling in the kitchen.

Mr. C and I had a fun time taking it all down. He told me more than once, "This is so cool!" Every 4 yr. old boy should get the opportunity to do some demolition. He loved pounding with his little hammer and playing with the hole that was revealed once we got things off.

I hadn't told Hubby that I was going to do this on this particular day. I just decided in the afternoon and started. His reaction was what I thought it would be...exact words, "Oh Crap!" Good thing he does love me.

But he was great, really wasn't upset, and completed the section when he got home and filled in the hole that gave us "access" down to the laundry room. And then later that night admitted, "We should have done this a long time ago." (Don't you just love those "I told you so moments"? Savor those when they happen.)

I can't tell you how happy removing just this much has made me feel. This little bit has made the kitchen feel so much bigger (and it didn't hurt that the dog kennel for our chocolate lab got moved outta there too.)

Mini Quilt Monday

The mini version of the big version.

It measures only 12" by 15".

I'll be hanging it on my quilt wall when my sewing room gets finished.

I can't wait to show you the big one! It will be done soon. I hope.

Kid Tent {Sesame Street Style}

I made a tent for the nursery kids at church.

Mom gave me 2 of these sweet flat sheets awhile back. They were brand new! But they look sort of retro, don't they?! They are a cotton/poly mix ~ probably 60/40. While that's not so good for quilt backs it works perfectly for tent making. Besides, what 2-3 year old doesn't love Sesame Street.

I'm not kidding when I say that my 5 years old keeps asking when we can go to the church and play in the tent. I'd call that success! I can't wait to show the kids on Sunday.

FYI: Here are the measurements for the standard classroom table in every LDS Church

29.5 inches high

24 inches wide

35 inches long

107 inches circumference

Guest Blogger: Mitered Corner Flannel Baby Blanket

Mitered Corner Flannel Baby Blankets

by guest blogger: Tiffany

(a.k.a. our favorite interior designer cousin)

Supplies needed:
1 yd. flannel for front
1 1/4 yd. contrasting flannel (for back and contrasting sides)
Thread
Ruler

Finished size:
38 1/2" square With approx. 2 1/2" wide border

Directions:
Cut the back fabric to 44 inches square (or whatever width your fabric may be, could be 43 or 42 depending on the selvage waste)

Cut the front fabric to 34 inches square (or 10 inches smaller than the back fabric, 33 or 32 inches, etc.)

Find the centers on all sides and use a pin to mark them.

Placing right sides together, pin the edges, matching up the center pins. Your backing fabric will be longer than your front fabric on both sides. This excess will become your contrast fabric on the front of your completed blanket.

Start by pinning two opposite sides at a time, making sure to match the center.


Start stitching 1/4 inch in from the edge of your fabric and stop 1/4 inch from the end. Sew using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.





This 1/4 inch is the corner of your miter. If you do not leave this much of the seam allowance free it will not flip through. See picture below.


Repeat the process for the two opposite remaining sides. Remember to leave an opening on one of those edges, so you can flip the entire blanket right side out.


The following pictures show what the corners look like once all the sides are sewn up.



The next step is to create the miters.


With the front fabric facing up at you, fold the corner to create a large triangle. Make sure the fabric lays flat and the fold is closest to you.



I used a straight edge with a 45º angle marking to make sure I drew a straight line at the very end of my stitching line.

(The 45º angle mark should line up along the sewn edge of the blanket. You will be drawing a line perpendicular --90º-- to the folded edge of your blanket.)

Pin, sew and trim all corners to 1/4 inch.


(Be careful not to sew over your original stitch line otherwise your miter will be puckered when you go to turn it.)

The piece I cut off was at a 90º angle to the folded edge.

Flip your blanket right side out and iron the seams towards the outside edge.

The mitered seam may be ironed any which way it wants to go.

Pin the two fabric together once its ironed so it won't move while you top stitch the two pieces in place.
Use whatever topstitch method or stitch you prefer. On this blanket I used a triple zigzag or multi-stitch zigzag.____________________________
According to Tiffany the first time she made one of these blankets it took her about 2 hours from start to finish. However, after the initial blanket her time was greatly reduced and she says she now can finish in about 1 hour. We love quick projects that look like we "slaved all day".

I'm obsessed {Oliver and S}

I've got a thing for Oliver and S. A big thing. Love it, love it, love it. Here's my latest batch of tops for L and her cousin, S.

That Liesl gets me every time.




Sorry about the lack of detail photos. These pics were more about the girls than the clothing. But I was so pleased with the tops and coordinating cousins. I'm about to do it again for Easter. Get yourself the sailboat top.....It's so EASY!

On cousin S
On my little L

Pleated pillow cover

I already posted this on my personal blog, but thought I would share it here too. I made this for a gift, but like it so much I'll be making one of my own. It was inspired by this (used to be available in mustard).





I just used a quilter's cotton I had in my stash . And after a major miscalculation trying to make an envelope style cover the hubby suggested the buttons. Which turned out even better.

Quilting Variations

I have been trying out different quilting options on some of my little quilts before doing it on any larger ones. I don't know about you, but I'm not real comfortable with free-motion quilting. (It may be me; it may be my machine.) However, I do like the idea of using what options are available on my machine.

So here are 2 different stitches that I've used on little quilts to see what kind of effect they make. Both stitches are actually stitches used for working with stretch fabrics, but they also make nice little decorative stitches on woven fabrics.

The first is this stitch--Multi-stitch Zigzag or Triple Zigzag

The second stitch was this one--Honeycomb

For sure if you are going to use the honeycomb stitch make a sample first to see if you like the look, because even on a short length this stitch is a B.E.A.S.T. to pick out!

I specifically used a contrasting thread on this quilt because I wanted to see how it would turn out. You can't really see it on the black squares or on the back. If I had thought about it more I might have used an orange/yellow thread that matched so that it would show up on all the squares. Regardless, I do like how it turned out on this little quilt.

I debated on whether or not to used this stitch to secure the binding, but decided that wasn't really where I wanted the focus. I'll have to do a little sample of it sometime to see what I think, but for this time I just machine topstitched it down.

Details:

Finished size: 41" square

Cut 6" blocks

Cut 2" sashing strips for between the squares

Cut 3" sashing strips for outer border edge

How many is TOO many??!

Here is my most recent freebie acquisition. A lady at church sent out an email that she was getting rid of a Kenmore (which I love that brand) sewing machine and anyone who wanted it could come get it. Well, apparently I was the first one to respond. Yeah, for me!

However, then the question arose, and not from my hubby, but within my own head, "How many machines is TOO many to have in one house?" I was feeling a little guilty because I have a couple machines already and I know that a friend or two are looking for one, and I straight up refuse to sew with one of my friends because her machine is a nightmare (Sorry Cindy--but she knows it too and completely agrees). But here it is at my house nonetheless.

Anyone else have this dilemma? Are sewing machines multiplying while you're not looking? (or other crafting items?) How many sewing machines do you have in your possession?

O.K., the answer for me is that this makes machine #7 at our house. Yikes! I sound like a hoarder.

In my defense, one is currently being used as a lamp table in my living room.

I have no idea if the machine attached to it even works because it too was a "gift" when a friend was moving. I looked closer at it the other day. It is an O-L-D Singer and a number of things are missing--including the bobbin case and the lid to cover the bobbin and underside of the machine. So it may not ever be worth the effort to repair and besides I love the little table and so don't really care one way or other about the machine. I doubt I'll ever use the sewing machine. (Does that put me back down to 6 machines?)

Another machine is a treadle that I bought last summer for $25 at a garage sale. I've always thought these were the coolest things. I am pretty sure it will work, after I send it to my sewing machine repairman and let him work his magic, but I haven't done that yet. So it sits down in the basement waiting for some loving care.

Then I have a serger and an embroidery machine.

So really this will only make regular sewing machine #3. (See the justification at work here?) And one of those already belongs to daughter #1. (More justification) So now daughter #2 is convinced that this machine will be hers. I'm still thinking about that as this machine does some cool things that my current machine does not (like decorative borders). Even if she gets it (and she is extremely possessive with "her things"), she isn't moving out of the house for at least another 8 years or so, so we should be fine "sharing" until then.

I have to say when I went and dropped the machine off at the fabric store for my favorite repairman to clean it and adjust the tension (which as far as I can tell is the only thing wrong with it) the lady working there admitted that she, too, had 7 machines--because in her words, "you need to have one handy if one of the others are getting serviced, and so that others can sew along with you at your house without having to haul their machines around." I guess I'll be in good company. Can't wait to play with it tomorrow after I pick it up.

WIPs in January

Here is what a little OCD looks like:

These are 3 projects I am either working on or started here recently. I really wish my brain would let me just focus on one thing at a time, but I really can't seem to do that.

I've got a mini 9-patch quilt in progress. Started it while M. was working on hers. Although I don't intend mine to be quite as crazy and random as hers is it will still be loud and fun.

This disappearring 9 patch is from some fabric that I bought last year some time when one of the locations of my favorite local fabric store was relocating to a new building. They had some smoking deals on fabric that they didn't want to move. Love this wild and crazy color combo. I think I have enough of the multi-color "watercolor" print to use as the binding.

I just started this quilt but I have to get it done before Jan. 24th because I am pretty sure it is going to be a gift for a friend. I have all the blocks done--12 of them at about 17" square (I used 6" squares to begin with). Today or tomorrow I have to find some sashing piece that coordinates with it all because it needs to be a bit bigger and I don't want to make any more stars. It will end up being 3 stars across and 4 stars down.

Good luck with your own WIPs (works in progress).

Would that be 66 days late or 299 days early?

After starting it a mere 426 days ago my Halloween Quilt is now finished! Never mind that Halloween was 66 days ago. I'd like to think that I'm 299 days early for 2010.

I used yellow thread for my quilting. That was a pretty bold step for me. It looks really great in the places where my quilting looks good, but it also shows all the flaws in places where my quilting is less than stellar.

Now that it's washed, the flaws are less noticeable. Even with visible flaws I'm pleased I chose boldness over safe.

I LOVE the purple binding!! It goes perfectly with the backing.

FYI: I used my old standby six inch squares for this quilt.

If you care, you can read more about this quilt in my original post, found here.

Are you craftier than a 5th grader?

M. has been wanting to sew something for a long time now and has bugged and bugged and bugged me about it. Earlier in December she started this quilt with the intention of finishing it in about a week so that she could take it to her school class and show everyone. Well, it took a lot of time--9 days by her account--and a couple of those were with her sewing almost the entire day.

During the Christmas break she got it finished--and she did all the sewing by herself, except for the quilting and binding which I did. The only other things I helped her with were the cutting and some pinning. But she was a trooper and did a great job. Now she is ready to take it to school and show it off.


I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about the CRAZY 9 patch theme. I thought it would be too much--however, I have to say that I really like it. So I guess my point of this post would be even if you think you aren't color savvy or design savvy, you can make a great quilt. If a 5th grader can do it--so can you.

Quilt tag that Aunt Emily said she "had" to have since it was her first quilt.

Here are a few of the blocks that she put together. After 42 blocks she got much better with sewing straight lines. Therefore, some of the beginning blocks are not as straight as the last ones. She didn't care, and it wasn't anything that we couldn't overcome.

Here is the back strip border that we included. The wild print on either side is the same fabric that we used for the binding.

All smiles, and all done!

And good thing too as the next morning after she finished we woke up to a "balmy" -14 degrees.

Details:

Finished size: 64" x 72"

Blocks:

Cut 3" squares--378 total

Sew into mini 9 patch

42 total 9 patch blocks (6 across by 7 down)

Sashing:

Cut 3" strips of white

Borders:

Orange cut 3" strips

Blue swiss dot cut 2 3/4" strips (due to limited amount of fabric we had)

Binding:

2 3/4" strips cut

Sew 3/8" seams

Machine finish

Finishes {and some Starts}

When I joined Jacquie's challenge I intentionally kept my number of unfinished projects low so I'd had a fighting chance of actually getting them done. My two little ones were pretty easy to accomplish, but my big ones lingered over my head. I started quilting my Nine Patch, but ended up unpicking it (or rather my sweet husband unpicked for me!). In the end I decided not to beat myself up over the challenge. It's not a competition after all!

I have figured out that the quilting is my least favorite part of the process. Probably because I'm not very fast and my technique could use some work. But I am happy to report that after starting it 426 days ago, I did manage to finish my Halloween Disappearing Nine Patch. I got it done just in the nick of time--if you can call 426 days "in the nick of time!" I'll have to post pictures after it gets out of the wash.

So, that makes three finishes for the challenge. They were:

Tree Mini Quilt

Baby Boy

and Halloween Disappearing Nine Patch.

{I have two more tops (one little and one big) that have been sitting unfinished for a loooonng time. I am hoping I can finish them up before spring and send them on their way. I don't know about you, but projects that sit for a long time weigh me down.}

But while I finished three, I also started another three. Like I said, the quilting is my least favorite part, and the piecing would be my favorite.

Old Red Barn Quilt Along

Alumni Plain Spoken

and Maverick Star Christmas

Simple Girls Finished Quilts of 2009

Quilt Block of the Month Project
{Lucky Me} Triangles in Green
Cherry Chocolate Bento Box
Kidz Quiltz
Leslie's Baby Blanket
Fabulous at Forty
Zig Zag Doll
Handprint
For Baby William
Family Reunion
Colorful Coins
For Baby M
Count Your Blessings Advent
Christmas Countdown
Borderless Momo
Tree Mini Quilt
Charity Boy Quilt No. 1
Halloween Disappearing Nine Patch

Quilting Challenge

After seeing Em's post about the Alumni quilt, it reminded me of a little experience I had earlier this fall with our little neighbor friend. Miss J., who is in kindergarten, brought this picture (shown below) to me one afternoon and asked me if I could sew it for her.

At first I thought she wanted me to somehow sew the actual piece of paper into or onto something. But then I figured out that, no, this was a pattern and that she wanted me to duplicate it for her. J. put some serious time into this design. She used an 8 1/2 by 11 piece grid paper to draw out her design: 33 blocks by 43 blocks which equals out to 1,419 blocks!!!!

Anybody up for that quilting challenge?!

(When her mom mentioned to me a couple weeks later that J. had told her I was sewing something for her, I had to explain the whole story. Her mom just rolled her eyes and we laughed about it. I wish I was that good J., but I'm not.)

Graduation {turned} Alumni Quilt

This quilt has been a LONG time coming. Twelve years ago when my husband graduated from college I had tons of ambition and minimal quilting knowledge. But, I decided that my husband needed a quilt to celebrate his graduation! I designed a quilt, bought and sewed the fabrics and then put it away to finish after we got "settled" into real life. The more I learned about quilting the more I realized that my original idea was NOT going to work AT ALL. (It was basically a huge applique quilt with iron on lettering.) Plus, in all my graduation excitement I was making it to fit on our queen-size bed! (The thought of that still makes me laugh!)

My husband has known that I have this unfinished quilt but he hasn't ever seen it. He wants to be surprised when it's done. At least once a year for the past 12 years he has asked when he's going to get his Aggie Quilt. I just laugh and say "Someday..." Now that I've been making quilts for others this year he's really turning up the heat by asking "Are you ever going to finish MY quilt?" I just smile sweetly and say "Yes, dear! It's on my list."

Since my original idea was no good (and ugly), I've had to come up with a new design. When I came across this quilt I knew I needed to copy it for my husband. It is so fantastic!!

I've been trying my best to get this done without my husband knowing a thing. I've had to sew during the day and then make sure its all put away before he gets home from work.

I have to admit that I had to do some reworking of the rows so the colors wouldn't line up. It was kind of a pain and took some time, but I knew I wouldn't be happy with it unless it looked just so. Now that it's all put together I can see more places that I should've reworked, but it's staying put!

I had plans of getting the whole thing finished in time for Christmas, but life got in the way. I gave him the unfinished top instead (I know, kind of lame...) but he was REALLY surprised and excited none the less. Now I can quilt it without feeling pressured and stressed!

The details:
This is the Plain Spoken pattern from the book The Modern Quilt Workshop.
I used 10 different colored fabrics in blues, greys, and white.

Leotards

For Christmas this year I made Miss B. some dance leotards with matching skirts. Mostly I did it because the leftover fabric I had from making Jester costumes was just enough to make little leotards, and not much else. (Yes, I admit it. It is hard for me to throw away fabric if there is enough to do something with it--albeit it a small something.) I also found some ballet slippers that looked like new at one of our thrift stores for $2.99. Gotta love it! She just loves to dance and although we really can't afford dance classes or lessons, if she has the attire, she really doesn't care. Just turn on the CD player and there she goes.

Don't those over-the-knee sock just make the outfit?

Twirl away!! The b/w/green leotard is leftover fabric from this project. B says this is her favorite one. And yes, I still have paint swatches on my wall. Didn't get it done before Christmas, so it'll have to happen that first week of school when the kiddos go back.
This one can double as a swimsuit next summer.

Patterns:

Simplicity 7351 (dance leotards and accessories)--which is now discontinued; however, Kwik Sew has a number of leotard patterns to choose from. And to be quite honest this Simplicity pattern needed some tweaking in the leg opening. I haven't had those same issues with Kwik Sew patterns.

Kwik Sew 2422 (swimsuit pattern)--basic tank swimsuit. I used this one on the star print leotard.

Holiday Wishes

Merry Christmas

From all of us at Creative Chicks!

Carhenge, Alliance, NE.

We'll be back next week to share some of our Christmas projects with all of you. Hope you have an enjoyable holiday spending time with your family and friends.

Sneak Peek

Here is a little sneak peek of my one Christmas project.

My husband has been saying that he wants to buy me a new machine for Christmas, so I'm holding off on quilting it in hopes that Santa brings me one!