Long weekend...

It was a long weekend, and not in the good way... I ended up not going out to Beverly Hills Friday night, which was a bummer and I was a bit disappointed. The little guy had a rough weekend with a lot of not sleeping well or taking his naps, so I didn't get that time at home to recharge and take care of the things I like to do. I did, however, get to do some baking! I love having a bread machine to do all the work, and my guys love to eat bread, so I made a loaf of buttermilk bread. I also made some super yummy chocolate cookies. I've been using the same recipe since I was given a Klutz Kids cookbook when I was 9 or so, and it's still one of the best I've ever eaten! Two dozen were baked last night, one of which got sent in to work with Dex to give to a friend for his birthday, and there's still dough in the fridge to bake today! There are only four left, really, so I need to bake some more. They just disappear so quickly! I thought I'd give a little update even though not much was accomplished this weekend. Hopefully it will get better today...

Purse!

Yes, this is my second post today, but I just have to share this!

I decided I needed a new purse for this evening since I'm going to the Beverly Hills Fashion's Night Out event and decided to just go ahead and make one. This is what came out of that decision, using Kona charcoal grey and white fabrics. I rather like it! It's a little messy inside...

... but that's ok. If I had planned it a little better I would have turned the lining and such, too, but not bad for a morning's work! The only thing I really can't think of from what I have is some kind of closure. I really do not want to use velcro, so it may not really close at all for now. Maybe in the future I'll find magnets or something, but not by tonight. The other thing would be a strap of some kind, but I'm not liking anything I have around. It's good enough to use for tonight as is. I just had to share!

Projects...

It's been a couple of days, so this is going to be a long one!

First off, here's a photo of a skirt made with the same pattern I plan to use as the base for my new skirt!

Second, this is a set of cards I've been working on to send to my mother in law... and maybe make enough to keep some for myself or stock up for a future swap or who knows! I just really like the way they look... (It's the "Chic Boutique" stamp set from Stampin' Up!, using their Real Red and Not Quite Navy and the new scallop border punch)

Third, I made some pretty yummy calamari last night! Dex wanted fish or pasta, and I wanted something fairly quick and easy along the lines of Italian food, so I opened up the cookbook my father got for me in Boston's North End to the seafood section and decided to try the Calamari with Fresh Tomato Saute, with zucchini to add more veggies. I was also missing a couple of herbs so I just left them out. This was the first calamari I've ever made, and other than all the chopping prep, it was really easy! I tossed in some fresh spaghetti to finish it and everyone loved it! Well, Two really only ate the pasta, but that's to be expected from a two year old!

If I get a chance today, I'm going to try to finish off those cards and make some more progress on my quilt creation. It's really making me feel like it wants to become a table runner, I think, so we'll see how that works out! Tata for now!

Fabric!!!

I really love the new fabrics I got Saturday from the LA Fashion District! I am going to try to finish the project I'm working on before I start anything else, though. So, I promised pictures! Here they are!


The fabric on the left is for a skirt, from the Drawing Room line by Anna Marie Horner, the purple grouping is Tufted Tweets in Orchid, the red, black and white is from the Poppy Lane collection and then there are the solids.

This is a little gift bag I whipped up yesterday morning from my stash for a friend's birthday present. I thought it turned out pretty well, especially when I filled the top with tulle strips instead of tissue paper, it was really cute!

I'll keep you all posted on what gets worked on next!!!

A very successful day!

Today Melissa and I went on an adventure to the giant Michael Levine fabric store in LA's Fashion District. That store is a dream. There is so much fabric!!! I found the fabrics I was looking for, and was able to restrain myself from getting more than I had planned, other than picking up some really great fabric for a new skirt. I had been considering making a new 50's style dress for myself, but the 2.5 yards needed for the skirt was much more reasonable in my mind than the 4.5 for the dress. I just knew I'd obsess over trying to find it again if I didn't get it today, and it was a lot less than just buying a skirt in a store! I'll take some pictures of my new treasures to post sometime in the near future, as well as one of the skirt I'm going to be making (I've made two from this pattern already) with my fabulous new fabric. I also found some great tiger "fur" to mail to Nana, my mother, who wants to make Two's costume for Halloween this year. It's a lot harder to find than you would think!

This evening, I decided Two and I should make some "cookies" for our friends' puppies we're going to go visit tomorrow. Yes, I let my two-year-old little boy"help" me in the kitchen for the first time. He had a blast, we made a big mess, and there will be two very happy pups tomorrow! I wish I had gotten some pictures while we were working, but Daddy was busy elsewhere and Mommy's hands were just too messy... oh well... I'm sure there will more opportunities to get pictures of my little man working in the kitchen.

Project in Progress...

So here are some of those photos!

The fabrics cut into crazy strips, one of which I pleated for a special texture element

One block... or strip... something pieced together with the remaining strips

I don't think I'll get to work on it much more tonight, but I like where it's starting to go! I think I'm going to use a charcoal grey for sashing, spacing, border, back, etc, to anchor it all together. We'll see where it actually goes!

A work in progress

So the other day my friend Melissa posted about some new fabric she got and since then I have had a very strong sewing itch. I pulled out my stash (yes, it is small enough to actually pull it out... I have a smallish box not quite full) and started considering various fabrics to turn into... something. I've decided to take a very organic approach to it and just start creating. I have a vague idea of what I want to do, but I just want to see where it takes me. Last night I cut some fabric and plan to start piecing today, hopefully. It's definitely going to be a "modern" and "wonky" quilt, but I think it will be fun. I'll try to post some pictures of the work in progress later.

I have also decided to try and participate in Project Modern, a four challenge year-long event by the Modern Quilt Guild. The first challenge was posted yesterday, and I already have two possible designs sketched out! I'm really excited about trying to get back into quilting, and I think a more modern approach may be the way to do it. I'll keep you posted!