Girls Night and Block of the Month: March

Here is my finished quilt block for March. I got a crazy idea last month that I was going to start another quilt in addition to this current project. I even started looking at fabric lines that I liked online and even bookmarked a few.

Then I realized I was having a baby in the not too distant future, and I was completely insane for thinking I would have the time for something like that. So it's back to focusing on this one little quilt and taking my time with one square a month. I know (from experience) that this little lull before the baby comes is the calm before the storm. I don't think it's the best idea to start something big right about now. Maybe in a few years I'll start that next quilt!

Speaking of babies/ pregnancy, our old friend A. was in from the opposite coast for Girl Nights a couple weeks ago.  It was great to see her and her pregnant belly. (She's due a month after me). K. hosted (I'm still dreaming of her baked ziti, spinach dip, and oreo truffles!) and it was so fun to get the old gang back together, even if it was just for a short time. Sigh. Of course I forgot to take any photos.

I'm still enjoying making quilt blocks each month, and I just saw the new design for April-fun pinwheels! I'll have to get the girls to update me with their blocks and get started on mine soon too.

Quilt Block of the Month: February





Believe it or not, I am just recovering from yet ANOTHER bad cold. What gives? This is really getting ridiculous.  I figured I better post something and get some craft/ knitting work done quickly before I get sick with my next one! I'm sure the rhinovirus is not done with me yet.

I finished my next quilt block for the Quilt Block of the Month-along. This is a variation of a flying geese pattern. I tried to be very precise again. It's only slightly off here and there. Not too shabby.

I hosted Girls Night last week and we talked a little about our quilt blocks. K. brought her Feb. block but I forgot to take a picture. Here's a shot of Jan.'s block that she emailed me. She's using It's a Hoot fabric by Moda. (I'm using Sassy by Moda).

I think P. is making two each month for her two boys? I'll have to double check with her. That's a good idea. I'm sure at the end of the year, I'll have wished I had done that too!

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In other crafty news: I almost have C's Big Boy blanket completed; I just have to weave in some ends.
I'm also 75% done a little Presto Chango sweater for the new baby. AND, I ordered some beautiful, quality yarn to make the little baby some things for next winter. It's so soft-I can't wait to use it. It was all on sale from here.

Girls Night: November

K. hosted Girls Night last week and it was the perfect opportunity for me to finish adding C's name to his Christmas stocking using duplicate stitch. I had planned on lining the stocking so gifts don't get stuck on the floats inside, but there's a 50/50 chance that I will actually get around to doing that. At least the name is finished though.

Another project that's finished? P.'s Koigu Ruffle Scarf.

The yarn colors are so pretty on this--of course my camera does them no justice. If I recall correctly, P. said she had to cast on something like 600 stitches for this? I have a headache just thinking about that.

After dazzling us with her scarf, P. whipped out this ongoing project she's been working on: a cute punch needle design.



It was interesting to watch her work. Punch needle looks fun. I can definitely see myself getting into that in the future as well as embroidery. *

I don't have any pictures of K's projects, but she was working on some applique letters for personalized towels (these are great gifts) and she is still struggling with that knitted cupcake hat. It's very cute, but it might be a love-hate relationship at this point.

Hopefully I also can finish up some projects that have been hanging around too long over the Thanksgiving weekend.

K. was a lovely host as usual and the food and company were a wonderful break before a crazy holiday week.

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*Painting, knitting, sewing, embroidery...what am I? A reincarnated Victorian lady?! I can't carry a tune though. So I definitely don't possess that Victorian skill. That's a real bummer too, b/c in every Jane Austen novel (or movie adaptation) there comes a pivotal scene where the heroine impresses the man she loves with her singing skills while accompanied by the pianoforte. Thank God it's 2011 and I didn't have to impress my husband with the sound of my voice.  Yeah, it must have been my knitting that did it. What guy isn't impressed with knitting?

Girls Night: September

P. hosted a sewing-intensive Girls Night last week, which gave K. and me a great opportunity to dive into some projects that normally might be a little scary to tackle on our own.

I find that martinis, especially cotton candy-esque ones, really help one deal with fears-craft related or otherwise.

A couple weeks ago I spotted some cute Christmas fat quarters at a local craft store. At $1.49 I couldn't resist snagging a few, even though I had no idea what I was going to do with them.

I threw around the idea of making wine gift bags, but P. suggested a little quilted wall hanging or table runner. I was kind of nervous b/c of my mediocre sewing skills, but P. helped me do the whole thing--from the measuring and cutting to laying out the squares. (By the way, that telephone-looking suction cup thing above? What an awesome tool! It makes cutting so much easier).

Again, I know very little about quilting (so far) but P. told me this is a log cabin design.

While I labored with my log cabins, K. went to work on a Cat in the Hat hat for her daughter for Halloween. (I'm not sure, but I think she was following this tutorial).

Unfortunately, there was a slight mishap: sewing in the lining backwards. I once sewed the hem of my workout pants backwards three times, so I can totally relate. She had to rip out all those stitches, and they were made with a serger! Not fun. I can't wait to see the finished product.

I'm hosting Girls Night next and I have a lot of homework to do before P. shows me how to attach a binding and finish the quilt. I have to sew strips of binding, sandwich the quilt, and quilt it before our next meeting. Gulp. I don't know if I'm ready for this. I feel kind of freaked out. Where's that martini?

Girls Night: June

It was my turn to host Girls Night last week and P. showed up just in time to give me a refreshed interest in sewing again.

While K worked on her cupcake hat and I barely worked on my blanket, P. managed to whip up this skirt with ease. She still has to add a zipper, but it was really cool to watch her work.

She used this pattern for an a-line skirt--perfect for summer.

Action shot of her working with the pattern. (I've never seen this done before. K and I were mesmerized).

And the coolest thing was checking out this fine piece of machinery! A serger which P. brought over!

I kind of just sat there with the crochet blanket in my lap, and my mouth open, staring at P. work.

I also took breaks to shove these brownies and shortbread cookies in my mouth.

The chocolate chip cookie/ brownies were from a Betty Crocker mix (they were very good though) but these shortbread cookies I made following a recipe I found here. (They look much better in her photos so check them out). And they were incredibly easy. I will definitely be adding them to the Christmas Cookie list from now on. (I'm imagining them rolled in red and green non-pareils or raw sugar). They could easily be rolled in red for Valentine's Day, green for St. Patrick's Day, red white and blue for July 4th, orange and black for Halloween...ok, I'm sure you get it.

Even though I didn't get much work done on the crochet front, I found a keeper cookie recipe and learned a lot by watching P. P. also said she'd make K and me a skirt now too. That would be a good Girl's Night activity, actually. Maybe she could help us make our own skirts? I'll have to discuss it with the girls.

Girls Night: April

Last week we met at P's with husbands and children in tow for Girls Night. I worked on my flower pillow (and finished it the next day--hooray!) and K. started working on a knitted cupcake hat for her littlest one.

P. really put us both to shame because she has been going crazy lately with crafting at her house.

Here's a fun scarf she's knitting with novelty yarn. It produces a very soft and fluffy texture, but takes a little getting used to when knitting; you have to knit in between the puffs of yarn and P. said the stitches didn't always match up with the amount of space she had, etc.

And here's a beautiful ruffled scarf that I love. P. got this kit at the yarn store we all visited together. I hope she's able to finish it. Unfortunately she's had a lot of issues with yarn breaking on this one.

Hopefully she can continue it.

And if that wasn't enough already, the girl went and made herself a dress too!

It's Simplicity Pattern 2369. Now that she's played around with it in brown jersey knit, she's going to try it again with this print:

As K. remarked, it's very Diane von Furstenberg. I'm so impressed. Now she's getting me inspired to try my hand at an actual sewing pattern. I don't know though. The sewing machine and I don't always get along.

I was so excited by all the craftiness going on. But I was even more excited about this cotton candy vodka drink (left) and whipped cream vodka (on the right). Who knew they made vodka in those flavors?

I can't forget my hastiness to eat these desserts either (the scale certainly didn't forget). Gotta love Cowboy Cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.

It was a very fun craft night and good to see the girls. I was so inspired afterwards that I was determined to finish my flower pillow. The next day I added strips of leftover yellow flowered fabric from C's baby quilt. I then top stitched it to the flower top, stuffed in the pillow form, and sewed it closed.

I presented it and the doll blanket to my nieces on Easter.

They really liked them and that made me most excited of all. 

Girls Night: January

It was my turn to host Girls Night the last week of January. Even though we had decided not to do small crafts for awhile, I had to make these pom pom flowers when I saw them featured in Country Living Magazine under Valentine's Crafts.

Since this is in keeping with my stash-busting resolution, I thought it would be nice to make the pom poms with the girls. The stems were also recycled from some of those "stick thingies" left over from Christmas. This time in green instead of gold.

The magazine showcased their flowers in antique glass bottles along a mantel. I do not have any antique bottles hanging about, so plain flower vases had to suffice.

It was definitely a fun and easy craft. And it's provided little pops of color in the house during an especially dreary Jan.-Feb.

And the best thing of all about these flowers? You don't have to water them!

Girls Night Long Term Project: Take 2

I've been diligently working on my basket weave blanket which, as you may recall, was supposed to be my long term project for Girls Night. I abandoned it as an idea for craft night because I was crocheting it so quickly. I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with another idea that I could work on during these meetings. It had to be something easy, fun, and practical. I normally don't make New Year's resolutions (this year I made so many I had to write them all down. I just counted and there are 22 of them--don't ask!) One of the craft-related resolutions was to be more resourceful with the materials I already have. For knitters and crocheters this means "stash-busting."

I really hate waste. Whenever I knit or crochet something I always look at the little ball of yarn left after a project and think, 'Now what am I supposed to do with that?' I always figured I would eventually make a scrap blanket of all these leftover yarns, but I hadn't found a pattern that I wanted to use. Until now! This pattern was exactly what I was looking for.

These little circles will eventually have a white (or cream, or beige, or gray) square border around each one. And then I'll sew them all together. Right now I'm just having fun making the different colored circles though. They're fun, provide instant gratification, and they're helping me meet my resolution to be more resourceful.

They're perfect for the meetings with the girls. I have a lot more yarn to filter in, so I can see this being a very long term project indeed.

Christmas Odds and Ends

So I think I finally got my Christmas mojo back after our annual Cookie Swap this week. The girls all made their favorites: K made chocolate dipped macaroons, and her famous tri-color Italian cookies. P made yummy spritz and delectable chocolate chip,as well as her coconut macaroons. I made snowballs, peanut butter, and snickerdoodles. K was a wonderful hostess and it was a great way to begin Christmas week.

Most of my cookies are bagged or boxed and ready to be handed out as treats to some neighbors, etc. I still have a little baking magic left in me and plan on making some more chocolate chip cookies and a childhood favorite of my husband's: kipfels. I get such a cookie-baking sickness at this time of year. I don't know what it is, but I have this insane compulsion to BAKE, BAKE, BAKE. And the more variety the better.

Besides cookies, I've made some other little food items to give as gifts. Hope this Country Soup warms the gift recipient. The ingredients look pretty all layered together too.

I also made some "Mommy and Me" cookies for K and my sister-in-law. I know their children are into baking right now; this could be a good activity if it's snowy or rainy and the kids can't go outside to play. Although, um, it might be more of an activity for the mommies than the kids. Sorry, Moms!

Well, it's pretty enough to use as a decoration if they don't want to make the cookies.

This idea is from Bakerella. These are her Cowboy Cookies. I loved the idea so much when I first saw it. And guess what? So did K. She also reads Bakerella's blog, and she made me a gift jar for Christmas too! Very funny. Great minds think alike. It is such a cute idea; I guarantee there are thousands of these jars floating around this year!

My final Christmas treat is Snowman Poop. I saw the idea on the web a couple months ago and knew I had to make them for gift toppers--I am really immature. Last year I crocheted pretty snowflakes for gift toppers. This year? Poop. Unfortunately my printer ran out of blue ink, but here's how the label was supposed to look:

And on that scatological note, I hope you have a very merry Christmas!