Winner

If you haven't read the post below, go there first. The Pinewood Derby was a hoot. Timothy, our cub scout, didn't do all that well and was a bit disappointed. Then we moved on to the family race. My husband (car shown below) was racing against our six year old Lily and other brothers, sisters and parents of scouts. Mark was surprised when his police car turned out to be fast. He was counting on it being slow and trailing the other cars with its lights on. As it turned out, it was second fastest. Lily, with her pink car, completely designed and painted by herself, was the first place winner! Her car blew the others away. It was quite hysterical. People were cheering for her. Her car is pink with green on the front for grass and a pink paper barn on top (using my barn template on the sidebar). Daddy had spent all morning telling her that the race was just for fun and that there was no way she was going to win with the barn on top of her car causing drag. He wanted to make sure she wasn't crushed when her car was slow. She got a trophy and definite bragging rights.

Why no Seam Rippers?

If you have been wondering why my husband hasn't gotten any new seam rippers into my shop lately...this is why. He has been spending every spare second on his Pinewood Derby car. No, he isn't a cub scout...my nine year old is. He is the den leader for my son's troop and likes to make a car each year as well. He printed many an image of police cars from the internet to sketch the profile of the car, the front, the back, the top. Everyday when he'd get home from his commute into Cambridge, he would report on the coloring schemes of various police cars he saw in his travels. He made water slide decals for the sides of the car and for the top, using the den number. He then dissected light up balls from the dollar bins at Target in order to use their blue and red LEDs for the lights on top of the car and in the front. He welding them all together and there is a little mercury tube in there and when it is flat, at the bottom of the ramp, the lights should go on. Let's hope it works as he plans or he will be so disappointed. He expects his car to be slow so it should have its lights on as it trails the faster cars in the race. I am off to see the race now and hoping to sell some of our excess girl scout cookies from our Daisy troop while I am at it!

Sew What

Not much sewing is getting done at the moment, or cleaning, or laundry. My middle child has not been feeling well for awhile now and is having a particularly hard week. We are hoping that things will improve when she gets her tonsils and adenoids removed next month. In the meantime, I thought I'd show you this little project that I made for BasicGrey about a month ago. I used three monogram chipboards to make the word "SEW." I created a silkscreen in a typewriter font with repeating lists of sewing terms. I'm calling the design "sewing abcs." I printed it in pink ink over the chipboard to give it some texture.

Each letter was filled in with a patchwork of BasicGrey's Hello Luscious and embellished with a little machine embroidery. I connected the letters with zippers from Zipit. That was actually my husband's genius idea. Then I used an awl and hammer to punch holes along the upper edge. I hand stitched through the holes with embroidery floss and a few tiny essential buttons. In the lower right hand corner, I added a die cut tag and another BG essential button to secure it. I stamped the word "what" since the monthly series that I participate in on the BasicGrey blog is called Sew What.

FQS Designer Mystery BOM

The Fat Quarter Shop asked me to help spread the word about their 5th annual Designer Mystery Block of the Month program. This year, the quilt will feature the Vintage Modern collection by Bonnie & Camille for Moda Fabrics. That alone tells me that I will like it! It's going to be a vintage sampler full of traditional blocks. The monthly designers include: Aneela Hoey, Blackbird Designs, Bonnie & Camille, Bunny Hill Designs, Cosmo Cricket, Fig Tree Quilts, Me & My Sister Designs, Kate Spain, Minick & Simpson, Pieces from My Heart, Primitive Gatherings and Sweetwater. Each month a new block pattern will be revealed and you will be sent the fabric needed to make that block. The blocks are all designed with the beginner to intermediate quilter in mind. They are all pieced blocks finishing at 12." Does it sound like fun? Click here to find out more.

Be Mine Wreath

I am participating in Basic Grey's Cupid Countdown! I crafted this Be Mine Wreath using Basic Grey's new collection "Kissing Booth."



The papers and embellishments in this collection are so beautiful and perfect for Valentine's Day. Next, I am hoping to find the time to make some Valentines for my family using the papers I have left.


Pop over to the Basic Grey blog if you want to know how I made it!

Christmas Cogs

We've only had a dusting of snow since I finished my Blitzen quilt top. I decided to just take some pictures for now and more later if we get snow! I'm calling this quilt Christmas Cogs.



The top measures about 56" square and is made of interlocking cogs. I used Basic Grey's Blitzen exclusively for the quilt top and binding.



The backing incorporates a large 27" pieced block made of Blitzen scraps. The rest of the back is Ruby Dot in Aqua and Grey. I found it at Fresh Squeezed Fabrics.



I will be posting a brief tutorial for making this quilt on the Basic Grey blog in March. I'll be sure to let you know when it is up.

Pretty Laminate

I swear that this is the prettiest laminate I have ever seen. It's Belle Rose from the French Journal Collection by London Portfolio for Michael Miller Fabrics. Kristina sent me a strip of it as a gift and I can't tell you how much I love it. I would like a raincoat or umbrella out of it!

I settled for a cosmetic bag. I only have two pieces of laminate besides Belle Rose and it just so happened that one of them, a laminate by Jennifer Paganelli, is a perfect coordinate. I used it for the lining so that the bag is laminate both inside and out making it a very function bag.

I did find it tricky working with laminate for both the exterior and the lining. I tried putting tape on my presser foot since I don't have a Teflon foot but I needed to put tissue paper under the project so that it didn't grab hold of my sewing machine. I wanted the Belle Rose on the exterior though so I could enjoy the beautiful print with the handscript but thought that a laminate lining made more sense for functional reasons. This was the end result.