Office Supplies + Cute Tape

Do you all love office supplies as much as we do? 

I think along with the fabric store, we sisters can get lost in the office supply section pretty easily as well.  Mini legal pads, Sharpies in every color, colored envelopes, fancy pens... you name it, we love it!  I'm pretty sure that's a trait handed down from our mom.  She's been know to spend a few bucks on that kind of stuff! :)

So, I'm sure you've all seen (or heard) about Washi tape.  I was curious about all the hype so I ordered myself some.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  

Here's what I bought:

Isn't it cute?
It has the same feel as masking tape only it's a lot narrower (more like the width of regular scotch tape) and not real sticky.

  I really have no idea what I'm going to use it for except to decorate my bee/swap envelopes.  So a frivolous purchase?  Probably.  Am I going to go crazy buying the stuff?  Probably not.  Is it super cute?  Yes, indeed!

Do you have a favorite office supply?
Emily

Details:
Washi Tape from Pretty Tape on Etsy.  It runs around $2.70 - $4.50/roll + shipping
(I spent $22.50 w/ shipping on 5 rolls)

Mustache Duck Tape: $3.97 @ my local Wal-Mart
I also bought some BYU Duck Tape for one of my nephews who has a duck tape "collection."
You can find your favorite college or NFL team HERE.

Can you guess our costumes?

Saturday night was our church Halloween potluck and party.  It is usually a fun time and most everyone dresses up and we all get a kick out of the costumes.  This year one of the men from our congregation set up a photo booth and hubby and I took advantage of it.

Can you guess which movie we represent?

Need another clue?

Hubby's line of the evening:

"My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die."

Therefore, I am The Princess Bride.

Unofficially, because there wasn't actually a contest, we won for best costumes.

All night the adults kept telling us that.

Actually it was hubby who sealed the deal for us.

Spot on rendition of Inigo.

Next year maybe we'll go as Miracle Max and his wife.

That could be fun.

Quilting Deal from Lynn

Just a quick note to let you all know that our long arm quilter, Lynn, is offering FREE return shipping on any quilt sent to her BEFORE December 1st.  

(Her rate is still 1cent/per square inch with no loading fees.)

If you are planning on giving a quilt for Christmas, this would be a great time to send it her way.

You can contact her through email at:

petersonbrad96@gmail.com

Just include a note about the free shipping and she will do the rest.

If you are new to our blog and don't know about Lynn, you can read about her here.

Happy Friday!!

Robin Costume--as in Batman and...

So when all the kids were deciding what they wanted to be this year for Halloween, my middle daughter told me she wanted to be a superhero.  I wasn't really on board, because sometimes I just get tired of sewing all the things THEY want.  And we have lots of costumes that she could use, so I tried to persuade her into something else.  I even told her I would make her a cape out of this luscious dark green stretch velour and she could come up with something using that.

However, when little Mr. C. decided to be Batman I kind of decided that it would be fun if someone was Robin.  And daughter #2 (who is 13 and C. is 6) jumped all over that.  Really?!  O.K....  And then when I realized that I had all the colors and fabric I needed already in my stash that made me even more excited.  'Cuz I really am trying to reduce the amount of fabric I have.  Hubby isn't convinced, but really I am trying.  Trying being the operative word.

So here is what we came up with.
This is old school Robin--circa 1966.

Details for Robin:

• Basic t-shirt pattern--red body and green sleeves. Finish neckline with neckband.
• Copied Robin emblem from here and made from t-shirt fabric and WonderUnder.
• Black oval is about 3.75 inches wide and 2 inches wide. "R" is about 3 1/2 inches tall.
• Green leggings pattern combo of McCall's 6360 and 6173 (only because I didn't have the right size in one and did in the other).
• Black swim shorts that we already had for the bottoms.
• Cape pattern based off of Butterick 4319 (just added a collar). Closes with just a hook and eye.  You could use ribbon if you preferred.
• Mask template from here.

Linked up HERE

Batman Costume

Little Mr. C. decided he wants to be Batman for Halloween.  Lucky for me we already had a cape that would work--I think I made this cape for son #1 for him to be Batman just for fun--(because the Zorro cape we have, that he did wear for Halloween one year, is lined with red).

Pulled out the cape, he'll use the black sweat pants I already made and then he informed me I had to make a shirt (and socks, but we'll go buy those.)  I might have bought a black t-shirt and saved me some time, but I had a slew of black t-shirt fabric in the stash.

Made a basic black tee and then I used WonderUnder and a little topstitching to secure the batman badge.

I used t-shirt fabric instead of felt, mostly because that is what I had and I didn't want to go buy anything else.  And Mr. C. said that he wanted to wear the shirt afterwards, and I didn't think that felt would hold up well enough under multiple washings.  Hope this way does.

Scalloped edge on the Batman cape to resemble bat wings.

Nice hair!

Not sure what that is all about.

Details:

• Mask pattern here.  Super easy and 34 cent piece of felt and elastic from the stash.
• Pattern for the batman badge here.  Printed it out at 80% to fit a size 7 tee.
• T-shirt pattern is basic KwikSew.  You just need any basic black t-shirt or pattern.
• Belt made from t-shirt fabric--interfaced both sides.  Attached badge the same as the t-shirt and then velcro closure in back.
• Cape pattern McCall's 3746 (discontinued)--scalloped the edge on my own. Currently McCall's 2854 looks like it has a good variety of cape styles.

Robin costume on tomorrow's post.

C. suggested that I be Catwoman.  As much as I wish I looked totally awesome in a black catsuit, the reality is I don't.  Still thinking about whether or not I'll appease him and come up with something--more along the line of black sweats and a kitty ears headband, and not a little catsuit number.  We'll see....but really I don't think anything can compare to the "cat" costume I had in college.

Make-up courtesy of my roommate, Jenny, who was a theater major.

This was such a blast to sport all day long to my classes.

(this is probably 1990 or so)

Bowtie Blocks

I needed to take inventory of my projects, so a little housekeeping was in order.  

Do you ever do that?

I pulled out my bowtie blocks to see where I was at with that project.

 After 2 rounds of swapping I found I have a total of fifteen completed 12" blocks.

 It's quite the eclectic mix of fabrics, don't you think?

But just as all scrap quilts end up, those "eclectic" fabrics soon become a beautiful mix of color that blend seamlessly.

I'm hoping for a good-sized throw so a few more rounds of swapping should get me there.

What swaps are you doing these days??

Emily

Canning Venison

It's deer season already--archery starts in mid-September and goes through the end of the year. Hubby is involved in some metro hunts and has had one already as well as one for our oldest daughter. They haven't had the chance to shoot anything yet, because so far their hunts have been antlerless deer only. So the bucks got to just walk on by this time around.  And so did the turkeys.

However, on one of those hunts another guy shot 2 and then didn't want them because he still had meat in his freezer.  Guess he doesn't have 5 carnivorous kids living at his house.  He gave them both to hubby and he brought them home to process.

We are still not done cutting and packaging it up for the freezer, but I had enough stew chunks to pressure can a batch of 6 quarts.  I'm hoping for at least 6 more by the time we're done cutting.

Basic Directions:

Check the Ball Blue Book for more detailed instructions.

1. Cut meat into 1" chunks (venison, beef, pork)
2. In a large pot, cover meat with just enough water and heat through.
3. Add 1 tsp. salt to each quart jar, 1/2 tsp. to pints.
4. Put hot meat into jars--leave 1 inch head space.
5. Cover with hot water. (I usually heat up plain water instead of adding the liquid I used to heat the meat up in the first place.)
6. Remove air bubbles.
7. Place lid and ring on jar.
8. Can in pressure canner at 10# of pressure (adjust for altitude) for 1 hr. 30 min. for quarts or 1 hr. 15 min. for pints.

Usually we just open this up and add it to our soup starter for an easy winter stew--1 qt. of meat to 2 qts. of soup starter.  You can also add some diced tomatoes or a little bit of salsa to spice it up--both to taste.

Rachel over at Adventures of a DIY Mom also has instructions on how to can deer meat.   

She adds peppers and onions to her jars.  I might have to try that version and do a comparison with my family.

Friday Finds

Here are some of the recent items I've found while thrifting.

Pretty 2 yd. piece of paprika colored faux suede for $1.49 that I turned into a Fall tablecloth and a spiderweb print piece (also about 2 yds. worth)  for $1.12 that I can use as a table covering, make into a couple pillows or maybe a piano seat covering for the season.  Not sure yet....

Added the decorative hemming using an embroidery stitch off my machine.

Wire pumpkin/squash (or pear if you ask my kids) for $1.99

Measures 13 1/2 inches tall

$.39 candle

Debating on spray painting it orange, but I think I prefer it as is.

Metal base for $.69

Here is how I have it arranged on my little table.  

Canning ring pumpkin idea from here.

Halloween sign for $.74 that I added to last year's wreath I made for Halloween.

Measures 2 1/2 by 6 inches

 

Twiggy pumpkin for $1.21

I'll probably put this on my piano with a couple other items.

Unrelated for the season but a pretty rose wreath for $1.06

Measures about 13 inches tall.

The roses are light pink and I'm thinking of spraying them a darker color--sort of 2 tone look 

and then I'll use this near my front entry in February.

These are coasters.  I think I got them for $1.49

I have ideas of either turning them into a small wreath for fall or spray painting them white/sparkly and using them as tree ornaments.  Or even leaving them plain and using them as ornaments.

Silky Top

I was at Jo-Ann's awhile back to get some thread and happened to browse through the patterns that were on sale.  I love it when the patterns go on sale for $.99 each. It makes my sales receipt look so awesome at the bottom when it says I've saved $75 or something crazy like that.  Found this fun top/tunic/dress--just name your length.

Love these sleeves!

They remind me of Calla lilies.

Here is my version.

Details:

• Butterick 5815
• View A--top
• Neckline calls for just a rolled hem but I made a fabric facing instead.  I felt it would lay nicer.
• I also cut it down some.  The pattern was definitely more boat neck style than their picture shows.
• I also had to adjust the shoulder seam slightly.  To me it seemed to be cut weird--like angled too high towards the neck.  Honestly that neckline was a BUGGER!
• Fabric from the stash--leftover from Leslie's Easter dress that she sent me.  So happy that I actually had enough of it.  

Wore it to church with this necklace.  

Also made a dress version.  Not sure I love it.

I may add some elastic thread to the waist to give it some definition.

Or cut it off and make it into another shirt.

This fabric--$2.00 piece from the thrift store.

Kind of ombre tie dye look with embroidered leaved.

A Dresden Collage

  August was my month for my Bee Vintage Group.  I asked the ladies to make me Dresdens.

This week I did a little mock up of the blocks I've received so far.   I'm excited about how it's coming together. 

A dresden is one of those patterns that involves lots of pieces, so having others help you make them (in the form of a bee) is awesome!  I'm not sure I'd ever tackle a whole quilt like this on my own.

 I really want to turn these into a bed quilt for my daughters' room.  Am I crazy?  I'm kind of panicking over all the white in the background.  Surely no 6 yr old could keep it clean, huh?  But it would look so pretty... What to do, what to do?!

Emily

UPDATED: Finished quilt can be seen HERE.

Paint Box Finish

Oh, how I love this quilt!

As proof, I took 28 pictures when I photographed it! :)

But today I don't really feel like talking on and on about it, so I will leave you with a bunch of pictures and call it good.  Hope you don't mind.

Stats:

Backing and binding are prints from the DS Quilts lines @ JoAnn's.
Block Fabrics are all from my 2.5" scrap bin.
Each Blocks measure 8" finished.
Grey sashing is Kona Charcoal
Measures 76" square -- destined to become a picnic quilt!
Quilted by Lynn
Linking up to Fabric Tuesday

Oval Box Bag

I showed you a sneak peek of this cute little pouch I was making on Friday.

Well, here it is finished!!

So cute, huh? 

I've never really been one whose gotten into the whole pouch madness, but this one was cute/different enough that I wanted to try it out.  

I will admit that the pattern did test my patience a bit.  Not because it was poorly written or a lack of skills on my part, but there was definitely some wrestling and seem ripping during construction.   That made me grumpy...

I'm sure if I make another one, though, it won't take me all day to complete. :)

To give you a sense of the size here's a little look inside.  It's not very big, but perfect for small little projects. (hexies maybe?)  I've filled mine with treats I'm hiding from my kids!

Have you made a pretty little pouch? 

 Leave us a link in the comments and we'll check it out.

Emily

New Project

Look what I tried this week!

I'll post pics of the finished project on Saturday...

Fabrics:  Lucy's Crab Shack and Cherry Christmas
Tutorial From Aneela Hoey

Bee Block Catch-Up

(Warning:  heavy picture post!)

I haven't posted my bee blocks in awhile.  I've been busy...

Here's what I've finished over the last couple months.

BowTie for Liz

 Wonky stars for Linda who is envisioning something like this.
Block tutorials here.

 Another one for Linda
I felt guilty that her blocks, which were supposed to be done in July, weren't finished until Sept. so I made 2.  This one used teeny tiny piecing...

The little stars finish at 3 inches.  That means I started with 1.5 inch squares!! 
They are my smallest pieced blocks to date.  My husband liked them enough to say "Why don't you make a whole quilt out of those little stars.  That would be cool!"  Um...ya...that would take me approximately 10 years to complete!  :)  I still can't decide if ye was serious or not.

A "pastel" block for LaDean for Sept Quilt Club
Same tutorial as above with the addition of some HST's.
I thought they would give it a little more interest as a stand alone block.

Strings for Jodie
I'm almost tempted to make another string quilt using vintage sheets, almost... :)

And finally,
"Value" Zig Zags for Colleen
Tutorial 

Snippets Pinwheels

My oldest WIP is now my newest finish! Yay!

I don't think I'll ever really tire of pinwheels.  I do love them very much.

I love the fresh-looking color scheme of these fabrics as well.  It's definitely a cheery quilt, huh?

I followed copied this Moda Bake Shop Tutorial to the tee, fabrics and all, except I chose not to do the prairie points.  Mostly because I wasn't sure I'd have enough fabric.  But one day I will do prairie points. It's a personal goal of mine.

  You know the story, I started it way back in 2010 when the tutorial came out and then let it "marinate" for the next 2 years. 

Thankfully in the beginning I was smart and picked up some yardage for the back and binding.  That was a happy surprise when I resurrected the project 2 years later to find that I didn't have to hunt for either.

Lynn worked her magic with a little orange peel quilting and some fancy stuff (I don't know what it's called) on the side. :)

 It's done!  And I Love It!!

In other news, I got my paintbox quilt back from Lynn as well, but I'm saving the binding for this weekend when I'll be camped out in front of the tv watching General Conference.

What are your plans for this week?  Anything fun?