Quilt Ladder

I love the idea of taking something very ordinary and truning into something fun and functional! I've been wanting a quilt rack, but all the ones I have seen in the old days are big, bulky and only hold a couple blankets. 

I found this idea on Pinterest.  http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2013/12/10-wooden-blanket-ladder.html

Her how-to is pretty good.  I will just say that I would have made it taller and spaced out the crossbars a little more.  I tried, but someone cut my wood pieces a little off, so we had to adjust. :)  Maybe I'll make anothe

Also, the sanding process is pretty intensive if you are planning on using it for nice blankets, you won't want any snaggy bits.  I may have gone overboard on the stain too, because I had to do a lot of sanding after I stained.  I think if you do a lighter layer, it would have been less time consuming.

BOOTM II: march

This one is extra tricky because almost every piece of fabric was cut on the bias, meaning every piece is extra stretchy. Fabric is kind of funny like that. 

You can stretch it this way 

and it doesn't really go.

Or this way 

and it doesn't really go!

But this way

or this way

are crazy elasticy.  So when you cut pieces of fabric into odd shapes, like triangles, things can get extremely off kilter. And so, if you don't pay extra special attention, your pieces go all caddywampus!

Here's the finished product! I think she turned out pretty well!

Garden Hose Wreath

This one was so fun! As soon as I saw it on Pinterest, I knew I had to do it! It's springy and gardeny and whimsy and I love it!

Here's what you need:

-length of hose (I used a ling hose and cut it into thirds--where I live, Fred Meyer was cheapest, $10.99 for 50ft.)

-hose hardware ($12.00 for 4)

-spring florals from the Dollar Tree

-gardening gloves from the Dollar Tree

-ribbon ($4.00 for 4 yards, cut in thirds)

-bird (I'm obsessed with birds, been putting them everywhere! $3.00 for three)

-glue gun & glue sticks

TOTAL COST: $12.50 per wreath! Wooohoo! Way cheaper than store-bought! 

Here's what I did:

1. I cut the hose into three segments.

2. I gathered the hose in the approximate spot where I would be gluing in the florals with one of the twist-ties that came on the hose!

3. I put hose hardware into the ends that were cut. Since I cut the hose into three segments, the two original end pieces had hardware, but the other four needed additions. You could probably skip this step if you don't care about it looking like a real hose?!?

4. I trimmed pieces of the florals and arranged them on the side of the wreath.

5. Then I placed the gloves (fanned out a bit) on top of the flowers, thus hiding any stems poking out!

6. Lastly, I added a ribbon bow ad the bird in the sprigs of flowers!

And voila! Lovely finished product! 

Special Someone Quilt

In honor of valentine's Day...and how much I love making quilts, I present a Someone Special quilt.  But I don't have anymore space in my house, so now I get to make them for other people! This one will be for a sweet friend that I miss everyday! I know she has mainly reds and browns in her living room and my favorite colors are green and turquoise, so it's a little piece of her with a little twist of me! I'm excited about how fast it is coming together!

This is the finished quilt on her couch! Awesome!

Pieced by Christina Konrad

Backed with twin sheet!

Quilted by Jennifer McCrea

Finished 2015

Superbowl!

It's official! The Seattle Seahawks are the champions! 

Eight years ago, they took a trip to Detroit to play the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are lts of opinions about the outcome of that game. This isn't a rehashing, but I still (probably will forever) have bitterness about that. I was living in Panama, and I had one friend who cared about the Superbowl that year. I missed out on the hype. It was such a bummer.

This year, I watched or listene to every game. I rooted to the players, not because they were on my fborite team but because I love the story of overcoming tht this team represented this year. It was exactly like my fantasy team! I was told I had a crappy draft and pkayed through a season of injuries to become the champion. It was sweet, sweet redemption. I loved being included in the energy of the region this year rooting on our beloved team!

Check it out if you missed it!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uRhHWiiWigU&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuRhHWiiWigU

Winter Wonderland...

It snowed. Snow in Seattle equals quarantined to your home until the great melt-off. I know this seems silly to those of you whose lives can continue with feet of snow, but Seattle snow is wet and Seattle is a city of hills. So, if you want to get anywhere without taking out a neighbor's fence or the community's transformer, we walk or opt to stay home.  I guess I could invest in X-country skis...that would make a trip to the store a but quicker! With that, I haven't left my house in 3 days. I don't do well is such circumstances, so I've been trying to keep myself entertained...sewing usually does the trick. As I was pulling down the Christmas decor, Matt suggested that next year we decorate in Seahawks colors only...the grinch suggests we decorate in a particular motif--I jump! Absolutely, we can decorate in all Seahawks colors! That gives me an excuse to do more projects! I spent a few days looking for quilt blocks that looks like snowflakes. Thankfully, my class provided a good start! So here I am working on providing my husband's request...

Snowflake pattern on L: Block 1 from Lonestar Pizzazz by animas quilts.

Snowflake pattern on R: resized Swoon block by Thimbleberries.

I LOVE Valentine's Day!

To be honest, I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day. The only fond memories I have of the holiday are from my freshman year of college. Those memories are slightly morbid. I lovingly burned things in honor of my poor broken hearts (plural because I had lots of them in my younger years)--"All By Myself" wafting through my mind. Let's just say I didn't really embraced any sort of warm, fuzzy, lovey-dovey feelings. But, if having a bonfire with some of your closest friends isn't warm and filled with love, I'm not sure what is?!? Ah, memory lane!

Anyway...I have been working on updating our home decor because I need it to match. I know, sinister and ocd! I'm ok with that!

Here's the new V-Day selection!