Mid-May Goal check-in

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Today, I am squeezing under the wire to report my mid-May goals update. I am linking up with “A lovely year of finishes”.

My goal for May was simple….finish 9 small projects (which included the list below)

Etsy order for Chair Bags
Completed and sent. See this post
Madrona Road Mini Quilt
Finished and posted yesterday.
18″ Pillow for Quilt Guild Pillow Swap
Underway, pattern chosen – using a pillow pop design.
Finish machine quilting “Four Seasons in One Day” Quilt
No more progress
Start one of the mini quilts (see side bar)
Not started.

So overall, I don’t think to bad, about 50% of projects finished or underway. I also completed a set of pot holders which I blogged about here.

Bloggers quilt festival: My first quilt finish

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My first quilt is now complete; a mini quilt that was originally for our quilt guild Madrona Road Challenge!!! I decided that it is, also perfect timing to take advantage of the Bloggers Quilt Festival, and live the experience first hand.

As mentioned in my previous blog, the center block designs stemmed from tiles pictured in a recent dwell magazine. The overall design was influenced by this Portuguese tiled bath floor:

I loved the blue framing of the black and white tiled bottom of the bath (at least what looks like a bath). So taking that concept I came up with this quilt top using the madrona road fabric and a lot of blue kona cottons, and a splash of yellow and a single crimson tile.

I machine bound my quilt in navy. I love how the darker edge makes the rest of the quilt pop and also pulls out the darker blue prints.

The backing consists of navy blue kona cotton, with a stripe of Madrona road blocks and a stripe of ash grey and yellow solids. The stripes were made from scrapes left over from the front and I improvised the piecing.

I kept the quilting relatively simple. To highlight the blocks, I used yellow cotton for the edge and diagonals of this section (see above the details). I then used light grey cotton to quilt rectangles from the center to the diagonals in a web like radiating pattern. The blue tile framed edges I just used lines to highlight the rows – again in light grey cotton.

I love the crinkly look of the quilt after it was washed and dried. Here are some more summary details:

Finished size: ~33″ x 28″
Pattern: Improvised and designed by me
Fabric: Madrona Road (7 fat eighths), Kona Cotton blues, ash grey, crimson and gold
Binding: Machine sewn
Quilting: Simple lines, created with my walking foot on my brother sewing machine

I hope to add new photos once it stops raining here .

Fabric Stash Additions {19.05.2013}

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I am in a fabric buying hiatus this month, while I save my pennies for my trip to New York to attend Lotta Jansdotter’s workshop. Woo-hoo!! Needless to say, I have bought lots of fabric, this year, that I have not shared as of yet. I think I am going to do this by store.

I mentioned last month, that one of my favorite stores is Westwood Acres, an Etsy store that is run by Amanda Woodruff (her blog is A Crazy Fox). The current bundles (they can never be just one bundle right???) I have my eye on are the “Inside voices IV - low volume bundle“, the navy blue bundle and lastly the “Stripes that bind bundle“ - these are great collections. Oh well, hopefully they will be around next month (or hint, hint, wink, wink to my husband….my birthday is in 3 weeks).

Here are some of my recent purchases from Westwood Acres:

Now, one by one , here we go:

Color Me Retro Fat Quarter Bundle by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery Fabrics

Architextures Fat Quarter Bundle of 21 by Carolyn Friedlander

A Close-up of the color prints:

You can still get 18 of the 21 in the fat quarter bundle here at Westwood Acres.

Full Moon Lagoon Fat Quarter Bundle by Mo Bedell for Andover

I was so delighted when I saw these prints. For those that don’t know, my BSc and MSc are in Marine Science, so I love the featured echinoderms (sea urchins) and the sea horses in this line. I thought it was a little strange to mix these salt water creature with the flower prints – but the colors in this bundle are amazing, my favorites being the orange and lime greens.

The echinoderms:

Field Study by Anna Maria Horner Linens

I ordered separate 1/2 yards for each of the feather and butterfly prints, as they were my favorite pieces of the line. I am thinking of using this line in making some bags/pouches.

Finally the other two big bundle purchases were:

Glimma by Lotta Jansdotter, which I showed in my last fabric stash post and,
Constellations by Lizzie House, which I used in the wonky universe pillow I finished a couple of weeks ago.

I am linking up this week with Sunday Stash which is being hosted by Sew Happily Ever After.

Meal Plan {18.05.2013}

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Wow, this week was a crazy busy at work. I did not get to work on much at home and I definitely missed some blogging. I really missed doing the finish it Friday this week….isn’t funny how breaking a routine can be so disorientating

I am hoping, leading up to Memorial day weekend though, things will calm down. I am looking forward to the long weekend and spending time at the beach in North Carolina. Until then, here is our meal plan for the week:

DAY	BREAKFAST	DINNER
Saturday	Egg+Ham+ Hashbrown	Salad; Hot dogs (my son has his first friend over for a sleepover)
Sunday	Bircher Muesli	Roast Chicken + Potatoes + Vegetables
Monday	Rhubarb+Apples Compote + Granola+yoghurt	Meatball + Spinach Pasta Bake
Tuesday	English Muffin + Banana + Almond Butter	Grill + Vegetable Stack
Wednesday	Bircher Muesli	Omelet or Frittata
Thursday	English Muffin + Marmite	Vegetable Stew
Friday	Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie	Sandwiches (while traveling to the beach for Memorial Day)

We are usually spending ~$70 a week for our meals. Here is this weeks shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK)	IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
Banana (TJ) Strawberries (TT) Grapes (TJ) Bell Pepper (TJ) Tomatoes (TJ) Zucchini (TJ) Cucumber (TJ) Hot dog Franks (TJ) Ground Beef (TJ) Milk (TJ) Butter (TJ) Juice (TJ/TT) Hot dog buns (TT) Whole Chicken (TT) Sliced Cheese (TT) Bread (TT) Yoghurt (TT) Can of Beans (TT)	Spinach (from the garden) Broccoli (from the garden) Potatoes (TJ) Mushrooms (TJ) Onions (TJ) Grated Cheese (TT) Eggs (TJ) Gluten Free Pasta (TT) Oats (BJ) Chicken (BJ) Sultanas (TT) Rhubarb (LF) Granny Smith Apples (LF) English Muffins (LF) Soy Milk (TJ) Cereal (BJ)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.

Madrona Road mini quilt

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Our Modern quilt guild had the showing of our Madrona Road Challenge on Sunday. I was able to squeeze something out….though a little tight. I did managed on Saturday and Sunday to get my mini quilt top complete.

My original idea was to build out 9 blocks that were based on these cool tiles in a recent dwell magazine. I only had two blocks done when I started on Saturday….I needed a new idea, as I knew I would not have the time to finish my original idea.

So, I was inspired by this picture, which I had pinned a while back on my design ideas board. It is of a Portuguese based tile design. I think it is of a bath…I love the low tone black and white center with the cool blue color edges with all those solids.

This is my interpretation, incorporated in my Madrona Road Challenge as a mini quilt. This is my first mini quilt and only my second quilt top, so I am really happy with how this turned out.

For the border, I designed it so the middle blocks were off centered and mostly in solids (a few scraps of Madrona made it in). I had one 8 x 8″ block of the chess board block and I am so pleased I added to that block to make a 8 x 16″ block in the middle. I like the balance it brings. All the other blocks are 8 x 8″. A close-up of the Madrona Road Blocks and the borders…..

My favorite block is one of my interpretations of one of the Dwell pictured tiles. It is similar to a X and + block but it has a few extra details with added borders (I can’t wait to take these photos with the finished quilt so the light doesn’t come through the fabric at the top here).

On the other side, are two more geometric basic shapes….Zig-Zaggy block (my son calls it the zig-zaggy as it’s the term used in the book, Russell the Sheep) and an improv block from scraps.

At some stage, I would like to make a larger quilt and build on the design past the blue borders. I think that would be a good-looking quilt. For now, I am hoping to spend some time this week on this mini quilt, finishing it up by quilting and binding it for Friday.

I am linking up with Plum and June “Let’s get acquainted” and Janice @ Better of Thread “Sew Cute Tuesday”.

Since this is my WiP this week, hate to post again but I am, linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced for WiP Wednesday.

Taking time out – Mother’s Day

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What more can you ask for, for Mother’s Day but a relaxing time with family. That is exactly what my day was like yesterday. I got my favorite flowers – tulips in amazingly bright colors and a Raclette set (see yesterday’s post) from the hubby. My son made an amazing flower and wrote the nicest things about his mum. Isn’t it amazing how the simplest things from your child can bring out so many emotions of happiness?

Sean is 5 years old and is in Kindergarten, for non-US folks 1st year in primary school. They made a flower and each petal is an adjective to describe their Mum. His said “My mom is….Artistic, Good Cook, Helpful, Pretty, Smart, ? we aren’t sure what this last one is”

This is now hanging in my office (note to self – mod-podge does not work well with ink). He also wrote a note which just in case I will add the translation and my comments are in blue :

She is as pretty as a beautiful butterfly.
She weighs 1 pound and is 5 feet tall (for starters…why would you put this on a note such as this – right??? Anyway, I thought it sweet that I was only 1 pound )
My mum’s favorite place to go is the mountains. (which is so true)
I think my mom is really funny when she takes a shower (I think I need to explain to my 5-year-old that I don’t think that was exactly the right meaning of the question, oh dear…the honesty of a 5-year-old )
My mom is so smart, she even knows how to sew (I was surprised and delighted that he considers my craftiness/sewing as being smart)
I like it best when my mom hugs me (I do too, he gives the best cuddles)
I wouldn’t trade my mum for toy Lego (well wouldn’t you know that I am more valuable than his Lego’s)

Again it amazes me at the thought and perception one already has at 5. Love all my thoughtful gifts.

The rest of the day was wonderful, quilted my Madrona road challenge quilt top (just in time for the guild meeting last night…will post details tomorrow), went to the Durham Life and Science Museum and then had fun sharing projects at our modern quilt guild meeting which is now held at Spoonflower (my favorite place to visit at the moment). I really enjoyed having a laid back kind of day with the family!

I hope you all had a great time too. I would love to hear what made it special so leave a comment or a link to your blog and I will come and take a look. To finish up I will leave you with a couple more photos from our visit with the Dinosaurs.

Mother’s day gift + Meal Plan {12.05.2013}

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