Anyone Can Quilt

A gift to love...

My oldest daughter is having a birthday next month.  Already 10.  I can't believe my chubby little baby with the full head of hair is such a beautiful young girl.  Each year we try to get our girls one extra special gift.  This year my girl has been wanting a Waldorf doll.  We get online together and look at all of the wonderful dolls, and their history.  We love that they are not mass produced, and are lovingly handmade by skilled dollmakers.  Mostly mothers that have learned to make these special dolls for their own children.  We were searching on Etsy and found Moonchild Studios, and the most beautiful dolls we've seen.  I secretly ordered Clover, and couldn't wait for her to arrive.  The box came and L.  just knew it was a gift for her.  "Mom can I open it early pleeeeease?"  "We'll see..."  I say,  as I always do.  "But my brain is burning with the fire of curiosity!!!"  Yes, this one has a flair for drama... I say she must get that from her Father.  We caved, as we always do.  But I think I wanted her to open it just as much as she did.

Meet Clover.  Isn't she just beautiful?  And her clothes!!  I can't get over her gorgeous outfit, stitched so skillfully.  Waldorf dolls are made with all natural wool, mohair and cotton.  They are stuffed with wool and have a nice weight to them.  The wool helps them to retain heat nicely, so they seem to give warmth back to your childs hugs. 

Berrie of Moonchild Studio is a true artist.  Clover and her outfit are expertly stitched.  She came in a brown floral dress, with a green pinafore, and white pantalons.

I love how her pinafore has side vents, and her pantalons are trimmed with the green pinafore fabric.

She came with a nice little booklet that tells how to care for her.

Now, this darling doll couldn't have just one outfit right?  Well, her wonderful maker also makes darling outfits to purchase for your doll.  I had to buy this one.  It is so cute I almost lost my water. 

Gnomes!  I love Gnomes.  How cute is this??  L. has decided that she must wear ponytails when she wears this outfit.  I want some Gnome jammies for myself.

I love seeing how much my girl loves her special doll.  It makes me sad to think that it won't be too long before she is 'too old' to play with her dolls. 

Time.... please go slowly.  x

The Wooden Boat Show! And The Cutest Purse...

I just love living in my small town.  We have a population of about 3,000 and are situated along the mouth of a bay going into the Pacific ocean.  We have one gas station, owned by my Dad's cousin of course... and one grocery store.  We also have a cute Main Street that has some great little mom and pop shops.  This weekend our little town hosted it's annual Wooden Boat Show.  People come to show off their wooden boats.  There are also little races and boat building.  We live within walking distance of everything downtown, and had a nice little stroll to the Wooden Boat Show.  Come see!

Our favorite part of the boat show though, is the boat building for kids.  There is a big table set up with wood scraps, corks, tools and paint.  The kids love building their own boats every year.  With the help of Daddy of course. 

Where was I during the boat building you ask?  With this....

...and eating all of the Kettle Corn of course. 

After they finished their masterpieces, we were on our way home.

Walking down Main Street.... I still have the dog and the kettle corn.

The walk home is always a pretty one.

And now.... I know this post is getting long.  But I just have to share this with you.  The wonderful Monica, of The Happy Zombie, the genius that she is, has a couple of new bag patterns in the latest issue of Quilts and More, from Better homes and Gardens!  Monica's blog is beautiful, and inspiring, and her sense of humor always has me cracking up.  She designs wonderful quilts and tote bags.  The one I made from this magazine is really easy and so cute!

This cute bag has pockets all around the outside, so everything is easy to get to.  I hate fishing around my big tote bags for my keys, or my lip gloss, or my ringing phone!  With this bag everything has it's place. 

Now, this wonderful pattern calls for regular quilting fabric, and a bit of batting.  Which would have been easy and smooth to sew.  I, on the other hand, had the bright idea to use some decorator weight fabrics that I have.  Not a good idea.  When I got to the parts that have many, many layers to sew through, I broke three needles.  Three!  I should have switched to a heavier needle, but I was too lazy to go search for one.  I almost didn't make it through the corner gussets.  But I finally got that mo-fo finished!  Without committing suicide.  Thank you.  And thank you Monica, for this great pattern.  I promise next time I'll use the right kind of fabrics. 

And now, I need to get back to my little school girls (we're homeschoolers).  We started our school year this week and are all happy and ready to learn!  It is always so exiting when we get their new school books and supplies.  We have some fun things planned for this year.  Hope all of your school years get off to a great start!  x

...and after.

All washed up and puckery.  I love the feeling of taking the warm finished quilt out of the dryer.  So cozy.

She is now sitting contently on the little table that she was made for.

But I must protect her from the random things that end up on this table.  Like drinks, crayons, a marker without a cap perhaps.... string cheese wrappers, half eaten pop-tarts... need I go on?  You Mama's out there are digging me right?  So, in comes the old aluminum tray that I found at the thrift store for $4.99 just last week.

It's old, and a little bit bent up.  Not as fancy and pretty as so much of the old aluminum-ware that I love.  But somehow just perfect for this spot.  I know it'll do it's job proudly.... and maybe collect a few cat hairs and Barbie heads.  x

Her 'before' pictures.

I stitched the last stitch on my binding today.  Oh how I love to hand stitch the binding onto a quilt.  I was so eager to get this baby finished that I used a thread that was a biiiit too light.  I should have gone out to get just the perfect brown, but I was too impatient.  Still, my stitches are small enough that it isn't too obvious.

Here's the back, see the teeny little stitches along the binding?  Pretend they just blend riiiight in.  Thank you.  Now, this quilt is almost finished.  The last step is a trip to the washer and dryer.   Then it will shrink up a bit and get all soft and puckery.  I use all 100% cotton fabrics and batting, and I also don't pre-wash my fabrics.  That guarantees me a nice antique puckery look to my quilts.  It is very important when washing your quilts to use a phosphate-free laundry soap.  There are great 'quilt washes' out there just for this purpose.  I have some Woolite on hand for my quilt washing.  I dry them on low, and take them out of the dryer when they are almost completely dry.   

I really enjoyed making this little quilt.  I also enjoyed sharing with you all how I do the quilting.  My next tutorial will be all about binding.  I just love nice pointy binding corners!

  

What do you think of my backing?  I saw this recently and had to buy bunches of it!  I know some quilters who kind of treat the backs of their quilts as an afterthought.  But I feel that the back is so important!  Having an equally gorgeous backing on your quilts makes them seem so much richer, and more important.  And reversable!

I must go now my friends... the washer and dryer are calling.  I can't wait to show you the 'after' in all her puckery beauty.... puckery beauty, that description can really only be said about a quilt.  x

Taking the road less traveled...

It's a beautiful summer day on the Oregon coast... sun peeking through overcast clouds, and fog rolling in from the ocean.   Come take a drive with my family. 

I love love love fog and the smell of the ocean. 

On this particular day you could watch the fog rolling in.  It wouldn't be too long before you could barely see the ocean and the rocks.

I took a lot of pictures on our Saturday drive.  Unfortunately I had been fiddling around with my camera earlier and had set my ISO to some psycho crazy high number.... and didn't realize it till I got home and downloaded my pictures.  Huge ISO's result in grainy pictures.  So, my pictures aren't perfect, but still reflect the beauty of the day.  Now hold on my friends, they get better.  Sometimes I can't believe I get to live somewhere so beautiful. 

Here's a whale watching boat coming back into the Depoe Bay harbor.  A teeny tiny harbor with a very narrow opening through the rocks.  This day the sea was quite calm.  These boats come through here even when the sea is insanely choppy. 

The boats go under this bridge and into the harbor.

Here comes another boat!

Hello sea sick whale watchers!

Goodbye sea sick whale watchers!

Here's where I lovingly watch my dear family walk to the ledge for a closer look..

Here is where I watch my husband lift my baby for a closer look....making me nervous...

Here is where I drop my camera and run to save my first born.....ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, and of course my husband would never let anything happen to our babies, but still...

Here is where the love of my life thinks he's hilarious.  Deep breath... onward.

This is where I find my dream house.

While I'm staring at my dream house, here's where I notice the crazy person...fishing.

Let's give this a little perspective shall we.

See him out there?  Onward again, we continue down the little one way road.

Here's where I can't take all of this beauty anymore and I wet my pants.

When I'm coming to my senses, I notice my darling husband taking the girls up for a better look....

...and Here's where I drop my camera and run to save my children's lives..... with my wet pants.  Ok, me exaggerating again, it was a safe spot and my pants weren't really wet, but you can imagine.  Deep breath....onward.

Our next stop is the Cape Foulweather lookout.  That white building up there is the gift shop. 

Here's where I wet my.....nevermind.

This is the gift shop.  It was closed, but the views from inside are amazing.

The perfect afternoon with my loves.

Thanks for coming along.  x