Ginger molasses cookies, fresh out of the oven. I even got to use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer to make these babies. I used a recipe I found on this blog. If you make these, be warned. You will NOT be able to eat just one.
Recent Posts
October 2009
October 29, 2009
October 22, 2009
October 19, 2009
Quilting.
I've been asked a few questions about quilting, so if it's not your thing, go here for some home decor eye candy. Or go clean out your belly button.
First of all, I'm not a seasoned quilter. I'm a 100% amateur who has been flying by the seat of her sweat pants with the help of the internet. My quilts are not perfect and there's a pretty good reason why I don't feature close-ups of my seams, machine quilting or hand-binding. But I'm learning and making and screwing something up with each quilt I make. But that just adds character, right?
Much like scrapbooking and photography, I'm developing my own style, discovering new preferences, trying on new things and spending WAAAAY to much of my kids' college fund buying fabric, and WAAAAAY too much time browsing through quilter's blogs and Flickr quilting groups. I'm a tad obsessed, I guess.
Second of all, I'll share with you my basic tools:
A good pair of scissors used only for fabric (please ignore the fuzz on the tips of my scissors), a rotary cutter, and a pack of replacement rotary cutter blades.
An Omnigrid (or similar brand) ruler or two or three, and an Omnigrid (or similar brand) self-healing cutting mat (the green thing in the background). I have several different sizes of the rulers and my cutting mat is quite large. Because bigger is better and you know it.
A sewing machine and an iron. Sure, you could sew everything by hand and press your fabric between books. But, um, no. My machine is a very inexpensive and basic thing that I got at Target several years back for about $80. It has a pretty good number of stitch styles and is quite easy to use. (Before I bought it it had been since home ec class in junior high that I'd done anything on a sewing machine. Yeah, a VERY long time.) And a basic iron to press seams and wrinkles and to steam things up a bit.
Sharp things, like needles, pins and quilter's basting pins (curved safety pins). For basting, which is the process of making the quilt "sandwich" of your quilt top, batting, and backing, there are several methods: pinning (like I do), basting spray (comes in a can - I've never tried it but many use it), and stitching. Stitch basting involves running a threaded needle through all three layers to secure the sandwich. Again, I've not tried this method. Pinning works for me for now.
And then you'll need some fabric. Pre-cut coordinating fabric and fat quarter packs are a great way of getting out of scouring fabric stores for things that coordinate, and are a great way of stashing up. Wal-Mart has fat quarters for a $1.00 and their "jelly rolls" are an inexpensive alternative to the designer pre-cuts. Jo-ann has a great selection of FQs in a full range of colors and patterns for $1.49, though I just bought a huge stack on sale for 99 cents each. If you're just starting out, like I am, make your first few quilts with the inexpensive fabrics. In this stack, the bottom is a Moda jelly roll (about $35.00), the blues are the individual fat quarters from Jo-ann (bought on sale at 99 cents), and the girly pink/green fat quarter set is also from Jo-ann and cost about $10.00.
This weekend I put the finishing touches on one of my Christmas gift quilts (this one is for my nephew whose favorite color is.....wait for it.....green!). For this one I used primarily the Jo-ann FQs, and one or two scraps from my stash. My backing is from a sheet set I bought on clearance at Target, and the quilt is bound with a solid dark green from Jo-ann, also on sale. In all, not including batting, this quilt cost around $20.00 to make. (11 fat quarters at about $1.00 each, one half of a twin flat sheet (the set was $9.00 or so), and 1/2 yard of solid green for the binding at about $3.00.
This quilt went together really quickly and was super easy. What I love most about this kind of random quilt is that there are no seams to line up. I kept things really nice and random and I love this kind of look. I did some simple straight-line quilting with my machine and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Oh, and for batting I've been using Warm & Natural and I really love working with it. If you plan on doing a lot of quilting, buying a whole roll (or bolt) vs. by-the-yard is more cost-effective.
And if you want to know where I go for quilting inspiration, tutorials and virtual hand-holding, check these out:
And once I found these sites, with their wealth of tutorials, quilted eye candy, and linkydinks, I felt I had enough information to venture forward. And I have not looked up from my sewing machine since.
My very first quilt was made from one Moda jelly roll. I sewed all the strips together in one night. And it sat for nearly six months before I got up the nerve to do anything else with it. Then I read up on tying quilts and binding, put "You've Got Mail" in the player, and got it done.
This quilt came together pretty easily and is my son's preferred blanket every night. It's not quite wide enough to be considered twin size, but it's close. For tying my first few quilts, I just used some yarn and did a surgeon's knot (or box knot) about every six inches or so at the seams. Is this the proper way of tying a quilt? I don't know, but it's how I did it. This quilt has now been washed about 10 times and it's holding up beautifully. I'm mostly machine quilting now, but I do love the look and simplicity of tied quilts.
I also want to say that I don't pre-wash my fabrics before starting projects and I don't think that jelly rolls, honey buns, charm packs, turnovers, layer cakes and other pre-cuts were designed for prewashing anyway. Things like prewashing, basting method, pressing seams open or to the side, binding method and quilting preferences are 100% up to the quilter. Whatever floats your boat, baby.
Oh, sweet internet, how I love thee. How did we ever live without you? So far I've taught myself to knit and to quilt online. For free. Pretty freakin' cool, right? Pretty freakin' cool.
October 16, 2009
If you've ever wondered what...
...is outside my window: men working on the house behind mine - work that started with a cement truck outside said window at 6:45 this morning. Before my alarm clock went off. Resisted temptation to hurl alarm clock through the window at said cement truck. Opted for a shower instead. I even shaved my legs.
...I am thinking: that it's time to seriously purge my scrap crap. I saw what Susan Weinroth did and I'm totally inspired and motivated to do the same. Maybe this weekend. I'm also thinking that I need to watch the Netflix DVD that's been on my desk now for well over a month.
...I am thankful for: way more than I can possibly list. But for right now, it would have to be my husband and the awesome chocolate chocolate chip cookies he baked last night (I swear I've only eaten one. Nadia ate all the rest.). A man who bakes nummy things and has a cute tooshie and a sexy accent - yeah, I'm a lucky girl.
...I'm making for dinner: a phone call to Mountain Mike's pizza. One medium cheese, one large half pepperoni, half veggie.
...I'm wearing: a smile. With jeans and a purple shirt. And, for the first time in a while, just a little bit of make-up.
...I had for lunch: a turkey sandwich with red onion, lettuce and tomato, mustard and mayo, and a bag of Fritos that I shared with Nadia. She had a parfait of raspberries, vanilla yo and granola before bogarting my chips. (You know, I can't talk about parfait without hearing Donkey in my head. And you'll only understand what the hell that means if you've watched Shrek 284 times like I have.)
...I'm creating: a really simple quilt for a Christmas gift, just after I finish this post.
...I'm reading: the latest issue of Real Simple and "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson (just finished "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Loved them both!)
...I'm hoping for: a new sewing machine, a flat-screen TV for my bedroom, a snot-free house, comfortable panties and an iced coffee. And world peace.
...I'm hearing: the dryer beeping at me. SHUT UP already!
...is happening around my house: not a darn thing. Nadia is sleeping and The Bigs are in school. Niiiiiice.
...is one of my favorite things: a sushi dinner date with my husband
...are my plans for the weekend: a sushi dinner date with my husband tonight (mom is babysitting), a mini photo session with a previous photography client, photo editing, family movie night under quilts and with lots of popcorn tomorrow night, church Sunday followed by a visit with Nadia's birthfamily, scrap crap purge.
...Nadia looks like when she's pretending to cry:
(Today's post format was inspired by Ali's post today. Thanks as always, Ali, for all the inspiration!)
Have a lovely weekend!
October 14, 2009
I'm still here.
It's been a busy month or so, and stupid TypePad just ate the post I spent an hour working on. (Enter expletive of your choice here: ______. I've already said them all, though. Yep, every last one.)
So I'll just spare us both the regurgitation of that post since a) it's late and I'm cranky now and 2) I can't remember a damn thing I said in that last post.
Hmpf.
Instead, here are some pretty pictures:
This sweet baby is three now. And potty trained. She loves to call me daddy and loves it even more when I lower my voice and imitate my husband's accent to talk to her. She and her big sister are no longer sharing a room and we're all much happier for it. Aussie Bites (from Costco) and cereal are her favorite foods. She still prefers everyone else's shoes to her own.
Makena, my toothless girl, is loving kindergarten and already has like six new best friends. She's a good student and loves learning new things. But she still doesn't like chocolate and that's okay. More for the rest of us. We're managing her asthma with daily inhalers and so far this sick season, so good. She also loves to color and draw and has close to a thousand crayons that seem to multiply daily.
And this big little dude is doing much better after scaring the crap out of us with pneumonia last week. Our boy is rarely sick and we were all so upset over just how sick he was. The only lasting side effect is his princely expectation that we still be at his beck and call and that every waking moment not spent at school is spent as a couch potato under a quilt watching endless episodes of Hannah Montanausea and The Suite Life of Cheesy and Predictable. He's enjoying first grade and LOVES to read. Woohoo!
I've also been doing some quilting in the diminishing number of spare moments I've had lately. Like this one I made for Aly Dosdall's sweet new baby, Faith. Faith is the first baby born to a Write. Click. Scrapbook. designer since we launched, though she won't be the last. Mary MacAskill, Elisha Snow and Rebecca Cooper are also expecting!
(For this quilt, I used a Moda Layer Cake (their Sweet Line) and followed these instructions for the pattern. I machine-quilted the triangles. It's not perfect, but I am happy with how it turned out.)
And if you haven't checked it out yet, we have a new gallery, "Eye On Design", at www.writeclickscrapbook.com. Here is one of my submissions - you'll have to click on over to see the rest of the amazing gallery!
And then, struggling to find my waning scrappy mojo, I created this yesterday:
(Letter stickers by American Crafts, birdie die by Stampin' Up!, labels by Avery, patterned paper is KI Memories)
There's lots more to share and say about the past month, but not today. Hopefully I'll get time for another post here over the weekend.
See you soon!
September 09, 2009
Birthday Boy.
It's 09-09-09 and also my husband's birthday.
(And no, he doesn't have a very small noggin or unusually large arms and hands. I'm just a silly photographer.)
My husband is the most handsomest, sweetest, most loving, most patient, and most wonderful father and husband, and it is my honor and pleasure to be his wife. You're my old fart, and I love you.
We have a great birthday celebration planned for you, my dear, with maybe a wee little surprise or two in store.
Happy birthday!
September 01, 2009
Hello September!
It's a new month at Write. Click. Scrapbook. and that means a new gallery as well. Our theme this month is, as you might have guessed, Back to School. And I actually made two layouts:
But that's all that I can share here. You'll have to go check out the gallery for yourself. Go on! Skeedaddle!
If you're still here, you can also see some of what I created for Studio Calico this month, also with the Back to School theme in mind:
But you'll have to go check out the fabulous DT gallery over at Studio Calico for more "Cotillion" kit eyecandy. Have you heard that the fantabulous Miss Cathy Z is the guest designer? Go on! Skeedaddle!
This is our last week of summer. I really am ready for school to start. A quieter house, more time just me and my baby girl, more free time during the day to actually shower, finish a cup of coffee while its hot, put laundry away and maybe have a quiet lunch with my husband, just us. Of course I'll miss The Bigs while they're away at school, pumping neurons and expanding their craniums and learning fabulous new words on the playground. I'm just trying to be positive about it. I'm positive I'm ready for school to start.
My WCS cofounder, Elizabeth Dillow, wrote our first-of-the-month post today and she started off with a few great quotes. Totally made me feel better that my new eagerness for school to start is anything but new or unique to me, or even anything to feel too terribly guilty about. But it's a fine line I walk between wanting to hold them close and cry as I look through their baby albums and hoping the door doesn't hit their little hineys on their way out.
Have a great week!
August 26, 2009
A Note to my Husband.
When you come home tonight you might notice the big bag of fabric and pillow forms from Jo-Ann's and the big heavy box from The Fat Quarter Shop on your way in. Before you have an aneurism in our front doorway, please let me explain.
Now I know we've had to tighten our belts a bit lately and I'm doing all I can. I rarely go to Starbucks anymore (and when I can be found there it's because Nadia made me do it - she just loves those Madeline cookies), we're going to start cleaning the house ourselves rather than pay for the service (how much can we make the kids do?), and I'm using up all the ancient things in our freezer (thanks for your willingness to choke down everything I make - have you lost weight?) in order to save on our grocery bills.
And you've been such a patient and silent supporter of my arts and crafts nuttiness and I hope that you've seen the benefits of the garage full of camera equipment, computers, stamps, paper and scrapbooking paraphernalia, and the skeins of yarn and assorted knitting weapons needles stuffed into the bookshelf in our room. (Are you rolling your eyes at me?) I have made some pretty nice stuff over the years, right? Even got myself published a few times with some of the things I've made.
Well, my foray into quilting has been no different. You have so far been mostly relatively supportive of the disappearing dining room table and you always manage to make all the appropriate appreciative noises when I show you something I've made, just like you've done with my scrapbook pages, scarves, cards, art canvases, and photographs. And those times when you stepped on a basting pin and didn't bleed all over my latest creation or managed to hear your show over the sewing machine screaming in the next room without giving me any dirty looks, well, you must know how much I appreciate that.
Have I said how great you look lately? Are you working out?
So, anyway, back to that big box and that big bag in the foyer. Yes, I went fabric shopping. Twice. Without asking. Look what I bought:
Doesn't it just make you smile and lift up your spirits at the possibilities?
No?
Well, I guess I can understand that. These fabrics are not made of rum or by Rastafarians, at least not that I'm aware of. But this stuff makes me happy. I imagine the gift quilts and pillows I can make and how happy our friends and family will be to receive them. Remember what Annie said when I gave her her going-off-to-college-across-the-country quilt? That it was the prettiest thing she owns? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. And how about how much the kids like their quilts? Did I tell you that they're all requesting matching pillows now? Like the one I made to match baby Liam's quilt that I showed you just last night:
Anway, the good thing is that delicious rainbow stack of quarters was bought at Jo-ann for half the price I've been paying for quarters at our local fabric store. See? I'm just trying to save us money by buying all this. And a few of the things in that box from the Fat Quarter Shop were on sale. See honey? I'm helping! I even sewed together batting remnants to complete this pillow and I'll do the same for the next few projects. More helping with the saving of the money thing!
But I promise. No more fabric purchases for a while. Should I define how long "a while" should be? Have I said how great those jeans look on you?
So now that your heart rate is back down into the safe range and the veins are no longer threatening to pop straight on out of your neck, get ready for dinner. Freezer surprise again tonight!
August 24, 2009
She's alive!
Holy crap. This entire summer has been booked solid and flying on by at breakneck speed. Remember those days when summer days took their sweet time? Yeah, me either.
Here's what I've been up to this past month:
Studio Calico SNEAKS!
The kit and add-ons for September - Cotillion, Foxtrot, Waltz and Tango - are definitely not short on color. Wow! Here's a peekie at what I made:
Our first few months have been very successful and Marnie, Elizabeth, myself and the entire team are so happy with how things are going. So far this month we've had Sara Winnick, Rebecca Cooper and Beth Proudfoot hosting the blog, and this week features the darling Kim Morgan. We've also had giveaways every Thursday from the likes of www.scraplovers.com, Cosmo Cricket, SEI, and Studio Calico. What will we be giving away this week? You'll have to check it out yourself on Thursday to find out.
CHA - Orlando
I had a blast in Orlando! My husband, my amazing husband, had the kids all week while I was away and they all survived. Yeah! It's taken me a bit of time to unpack the things I brought home with me and to settle back into life with my brain on scrapbooking overload. I roomed with Emily Pitts and Paula Gilarde, hung out with the Studio Calico crew, ate some awesome food (the BEST Greek food evah!), got to see some old friends and make new ones.
I was shocked and disappointed at how small and poorly attended the show was compared even to this past CHA-W in Anaheim earlier this year. In some ways it was good to not have such a crazy huge and packed show to get through and I was able to actually get face time with quite a few manufacturers. But it really made me wonder about the state of things. Was it the location of the show this year that resulted in poor attendance? Is it the economy? Is it a result of all the changes in the scrapbooking industry with the closure of magazines and scrapbooking stores? I don't know really, perhaps it's a combination of all of the above. I didn't notice any less enthusiasm for our craft by my peers or by manufacturers at the show which was encouraging. But the small, quiet show was a big topic of conversation and speculation. Hmmm...
My favorites from the show?
Sassafrass - I always love the colorful cuteness!
And there were many others. I won't bore you with the photos I took since at this point, one month later, it's all up there in those links for you to see, without the horrible showfloor lighting.
Tina Cockburn Photography
It was with a very heavy heart that I decided to take an indefinite, and likely permanent, leave of absence from my photography business. My main reasons for doing this, and it had been coming for a while, was to have more time with my family and to take better care of myself. My babes are almost 3, 5.5 and 6.75 and it's just going by too quickly. It's like one day I woke up and I'd aged ten years, gained a ton of weight and had grown our family three times, and felt like I'd missed so much of it. And while I'm very proud of my portfolio and achievements, it was time.
I will always be a photographer. I will always be passionate about taking great photos and I'm always happy to answer photography question and post the random tutorial. I still have a camera and I look forward to pointing it at my family more often.
Quilting
Yes, I've been quilting. A lot. Wanna see what I've been up to?
I made this one for my newest nephew, Liam, the sixth son of my half-brother Mark and his wife, Jenn, one of the most fertile couples I know. (And yes, you read that correctly. Six boys. They tried five times for a girl.) For this one I took a frugal approach and bought all the fabric at Walmart - one of their strip rolls and several $1.00 coordinating fat quarters. I sewed the strips together and then cut them down to create this simple pattern. I then did some very basic machine quilting. I used a pale blue flannel I bought on sale at my local fabric store for the backing, and used some of the strips for the binding. It washed beautifully and I love how it turned out. It's going out in the mail to Ohio this week.
I'm also attempting a string quilt, using this tutorial. Because I haven't been quilting a long time I don't have a huge stash of scraps for this project so, taking once again a more frugal approach, I raided the remnant fat quarter bin at my local fabric store to supplement my stash. I've made 17 or so squares so far, just a few more to go. I started out thinking this one would be for one of my cousins, but I'm thinking about keeping it once it's finished. I like the granny look of it:
This next one is the second quilt I've made from one Moda jelly roll, and I've still got enough left over to make some matching pillows. This is a coin quilt which I've made several of so far. They're easy and I love how they look.
And this next one is for my friend's little boy whose bedroom has a nautical theme. It still needs some more sashing on the sides, but it's done enough to share. Another Moda jelly roll put to good use. Though this one used more of the roll than the coin quilt, I've still got plenty of strips left for my binding and for a pillow or two. Or three.
And did you know that there are a few other scrappers who also quilt? Head over here for some more inspiration:
Family Time
We've also had lots of time with family. A trip to my grandparent's house for a birthday celebration, a visit with my brother and his kids, and my aunt and her family came down for a few days while their high school senior daughter toured San Diego State University.
My youngest cousing Jojo (I'm the oldest, he's the youngest of the Champlin grands, and there is 30 years between us). We went to the park while the older ones went on the campus tour. They had a good time playing soccer and riding scooters.
Aquaboy Aidan enjoying the pool at my grandparent's house. He's quite fearless in the pool (which keep us all on our toes).
These crazy boys always have such a great time together. There is no end to the goofiness with these two. And that's just exactly how it should be.
And here is my brother with his kids. You have no idea how great it is to see them all together. It makes my heart sing with joy. He loves them so incredibly much and it's so easy to see that they're pretty wild about him.
School
And school starts in two weeks and I'm mostly ready. Supplies and clothes have been bought. Aidan's starting first grade and Makena's going into kindy. And that's where the "mostly" enters into things. I might talk up a good show about how I'm ready for summer to be over and get the kids on out to school and out from under foot, but I'm sad about what it all means. That they're growing up, getting older, and inching ever closer to not even wanting to hold my hand anymore. *sniffle*
So seeing that I still have a few more weeks of summer left with three kids orbiting around me, it may just be that long before I'll be back here to post again. Until then, enjoy the rest of your summer.
Cheers!
July 21, 2009
Sneaks!
Here are some sneak-o peeks at some of my layouts for the August kit and add-ons at Studio Calico:
I've got an insanely busy next two weeks with a quick family vakay and then CHA next week. I'll be back with details on August 1st.
Be well my friends!
