quick update

The last few weeks have been crazy:

getting ready to move,

snow days

and just this week end,

Miss C. had emergency surgery!

She had a fewer on and off for a few days,

but on Sunday it became obvious that something was very wrong,

so we rushed to the ER at 4 am.

She had appendicitis, and had surgery at 4 pm.

She is doing well now,

but it is not easy to rest when the house is being pack,

we will be homeless tonight.

We should move in our new house sometime next week.

We are planning to take 2 days to do the 9 h drive

to our new location to make it an easy as possible

for Miss C. to rest.

Hopefully in a week from now,

life will be more "normal"!

doll bed, finally!

Remember the doll bed I was working on?

well I finished the bedding on time

but I did not get to paint it

for a while!

So here it is finally,

all together!

It turns out that it is a bear bed,

not a doll bed!

Larry, Miss C.'s bear, was in need of some better

sleeping arrangement,

so dolly agreed to give up the bed....

it is usually best to not argue with bears!

The quilt turned out really cute.

It took a while to sew all the little squares together,

but it does not require too much thinking,

so perfect sewing with a movie!



I used the same off-white fabric for the back and

binding.

I quilted simple straight lines on the plain fabric,

making a simple diagonal design.

Just right for a country bed!

Happy day,

I mean sleep!

baby, it is cold outside!

Yep it is snowing again!

and the babies are going to be cold...

fear not, Santa sent some nice winter knit!

My mom was very busy last fall,

knitting winter clothes for Miss C.'s babies.

She made 2 complete ensembles for the big baby/little girl.
The dark blue one even has booties and a beret!

The light blue one has a scarf and cute butterfly buttons.

She did not forget her big girls

and so she also knitted this cool coat:

with a matching bonnet and scarf.

And of course the tiny baby got one piece outfit

with matching hat and scarf.

He is quite fashionable with his jacquard jump suit!

We can all agree: my mom has so serious skills!
Best and worst part: she makes up the patterns!!

We are all ready,

bring the white stuff!

Happy day!







ten years ago

ten years ago,

in the land of enchantment,

my little boy was born!

He was a very happy baby,

with little crying and lots of smiles.



first valentine's day

and I was/am a proud mom.

with his best friend, both of them young!



and now they are both 10 years old!

Brick master grew bigger

and Black dog grew greyer!

but they are still best friends.

Happy Birthday my son,

I love you!

3000 lbs to lose

yet you read it right,

I need to lose 3000 lbs!

Right now you are looking at my picture,

and start thinking:

"OK I can see she could lose some weight,

may be 30, but not 3000

so really it must be a typo!"

It is not a typo,

the house got fat!

The upcoming move is paid by my husband's company,

but up to a certain amount,

and apparently we are way pass that number,

so it is major cleaning time.

We started strong:
Brick master gave up 6 years worth of old Lego catalog (26 lbs!)
Miss C. gave her board books to the neighboors' little girl
(I could not move the box so it was heavy!)
I gave up my old magazine collections of
Threads, Stamping and other craft,
it was quite impressive.
Mon cheri gave a old desk he made out of oak,
and the dogs, well they do not have much,
so we are not counting on them!

It is a good beginning
but still a long way to go!
I am going to do the unthinkable:
not keep some of my older fabric!!
I know it is sad....
but I have "too much" and some of it is a little old,
and dare I say it, some I do not like anymore...
So I will bring a few bags to the school
and retirement homes in our area,
I am sure they will find people willing to work with them again!

Happy cleaning days!

bonne annee 2011

Je vous souhaite une bonne et heureuse annee 2011.

I wish you a Happy New Year.

To celebrate this occasion,
I made one of my family's favorite:
Panna cotta.

It is a pretty dessert, but not a very healthy one,
just cream!
I like to use this recipe from Epicurious.
The only change I made is to use a little more gelatin.
I also drive the extra miles to Wholefood to buy a pasteurized organic heavy cream,
it is much tastier than the ultra pasteurized from the regular grocery store,
since it is almost the only ingredient, it is worst it!

After the cream is done, it is really up to you to serve it your way:
easiest: in pretty glasses, or with fruit inside
easy: unmolded with some sauce/fruit.

Happy day!

pillows

During my Sister's Christmas visit,

she put me to work!

After sewing some coasters

and place mats

as Christmas presents!

Well what is a big sister to do

but to sew some more for her little sister?

She saw the pillows I made

a while back with pictures from The Graphics Fairy.

She liked them so much, that after looking through some pictures,
she found 2 pictures she really enjoyed,
and we went to work!

 

Because of a certain lack of time,
I simplified a few things and forwent the ribbon around the pictures.
As with the other pillows, I just printed the images on muslin
with freezer paper in the back.
I sewed a 2 inch black border all around,
and for the back I used the back and white cotton

that you see on the middle pillow,

which I also made!

It took just a couple hours to make these 3 pillows,
and my little sister was happy!
But her suitcase was very full!

Happy sewing!

place mats

Here is another sewing project

that was to remain hidden,

well at least until now!

To go with the coasters I showed you previously,

I also made some place mats.

They are also quite simple,

yet have a great texture and feel,

well at least to me!

As previously I used linen, flannel (as batting)

and the fabric from IKEA.

To add interest and texture,

I used a beautiful cotton print from Liberty of London,

you know how much I enjoy these fabrics!

I started a rectangle of linen

and appliqued a band of cotton print on the top,

with the raw edges turned under by ironing.

I placed the flannel underneath,

then the IKEA fabric on the top,

and stitched all around it,

leaving an opening to turn it right side out.

Then I stitched all around it

and did some quilting through all the layers.



I decided to vary the location of the band with each place mat,

making each one unique,

but still part of a set.

The back is just the cotton strip fabric,

which once again, makes it ideal for summer!

Happy sewing!

more coasters

Now that Christmas has come and gone,

I can share more sewing projects

I made as presents.

Remember the coasters that I made for my Mom?

Well I made some more for my Sister.

This time I made them even simpler,

with just one fabric for the top.

I purchased a very cute cocktail fabric (a fat quarter)

and was inspired to make coasters for a intimate cocktail party!

I used linen for the tray,

and instead of batting, flannel.

The back is a nice fabric I found at IKEA,

it was just perfect, with a summer feeling,

well just in case, when not in the cocktail mood!

I cut my fabric in 4 squares (4.5 x 4.5) in all three fabric,

layered flannel, top fabric and back fabric,

and stitched almost all 4 sides,

turned it right side out, and top stitched all around!

Yep, it is that easy.

The back side will be perfect for cool lemonade

on a hot summer day!

The tray is made the same way,

with a square 6.5 x 6.5.

The corners are stitched together,

and voila!

I really need to make some for myself!

Happy sewing!

flower

I made mostly simple presents for my Sister

this Christmas,

so to fancy them up,

I made this beautiful flower to decorate her present.

I used silver raw silk and a stunning button,

both purchased at Joann's (small raw silk selection)

it coordinated perfectly with the ribbon and the paper (not on the picture!)

I followed this tutorial from A Girl In Paradise.

It was easy, fast and the flower is just beautiful.

Because I liked it so much,

I added some felt in the back

and stitched a brooch pin.

So not only did it make the present stand out before opening,

it is a great little brooch,

two uses, one beautiful flower!



Happy sewing!

Christmas update

Our Christmas was fun,

the kids outfits were finished just in time,

Santa came,

and we were all merry!

I managed to make Brick master's bow tie

using this tutorial from Kojo designs.

 He also wore a vest that I made in the same corduroy than

Miss C.'s dress.

I used this pattern from You Can Make this.

It was fast and easy.

I made a little shrug for Miss C.'s dress,

I used another Sew Beautiful pattern from Oct 2008

I used a nice white cotton velveteen,

and lined it with the same tartan that was used for the dress.

I think it made a great ensemble,

perfect for a cold night.

But the best part happened a few days before Christmas:

we finally sold our house!

After over 6 months on the market,

it finally happened,

 it was the Christmas present we were all wishing for.

So the next few weeks are going to be very busy:

finding a new place to live,

packing

and moving to DC,

2011 promises to be very exciting!

Happy day!