I'm back!

Whoa. It's been a long time. I had a really busy spring and I guess I needed a couple of months to recover! Don't get me wrong though... I've still been busy. I just haven't had time to share!

After Little Loo's 1st birthday and school wrapped up, I took a couple of weeks to recover before starting my next big project-- Diva's new nap quilt for school. Unlike last year, when I whipped up her quilt (start to finish) in about a week, I wanted to spend some time and create something really special. When I asked Diva what type of quilt she wanted, naturally she told me "something princess-ey." I knew just what I was going to do!

At my first quilt show I had bought a pattern that I just adored called Happily Ever After by Ribbon Candy Quilt Company. The pattern was for a 42" square quilt which was just not the right size, but I was able to modify the pattern to work, and I love it even more.

In case you are wondering, I duplicated the blocks from the top row, adding them as a row to the bottom, and swapped the direction of the bottom (now middle) section. Then, I patterned the words "happily," "ever," and "after" and patterned the dragon from a coloring page I found online. I also omitted the flowers. This was the first time I tried applique, and I decided it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be.

The other thing I wanted to do on this quilt was try out a whole bunch of new and different quilting techniques. I'm so glad I did. I tried all sorts of things. Below are my two favorite blocks, front and back. I love how I was able to quilt in the cobblestones and scales, and I especially love how you see the images from the back of the fabric, a blue minky dot.

And while we are on the subject, I heard nightmarish stories about quilting with minky. But what can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment I guess, so I decided to go big or go home. Honestly though, I had absolutely no issues with it! I used a combination of my 505 basting spray and straight pins and nothing shifted so much as an inch.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this quilt. I had a wonderful time making it. And I know Diva loves it!

I hope to be back soon... I'm half way through a Christmas wall hanging, and I also have another quilt that needs to be done by mid-October. I'll keep you posted!

Linking up with Made with Love Monday!, Market yourself Monday, and Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up (buttons of the right bar).

Come one, come all and join the fun!

Little Loo just turned one!

 I can't believe my youngest angel has just turned one. I know I've been totally MIA over the last few weeks. Between Diva's Beauty and the Beast birthday extravaganza, the school auction and quilt, and getting ready for Loo's big 0-1, I've been a bit swamped! But I'm super excited to get to show you everything I've been working on!

Here are photos of my projects in no particular order. I created the pennant below to compliment the decor. It was super easy to make. I cut out triangles. Sewed them wrong sides together and then sewed them into extra-wide, double-fold bias tape. The quilt (if you remember) is the quilt I made before Loo was born. It just so happened to match! I also made some matching, no-sew, birthday hats. They were super easy and looked amazing.

 The next project were these home-made (or at least home-painted) faux carousel horses. These horses were made from old Radio Flyer spring mounted horses (and other similar products). I took the horses off the springs, spray painted them white, and then hand-painted their details. Before they were painted, my husband cut holes into them and fit them with PVC pipe, which was later painted to match.

There's one of those birthday hats I mentioned above. I also made the display for behind the cake from a giant canvas and some of those great party decoration fans.

And now, the cakes. When I decided that Loo's theme would be "vintage carousel" I knew I wanted to do just that for her cake. Wilton makes a carousel topper that I hand painted and inserted into the cake. I also placed the cake on a turntable so the carousel actually rotated.

Well, that's pretty much it. I hope you enjoyed what I created... I know Little Loo did!

April Finish

Wow. This month was quite the whirlwind with everything going on! But I did manage to finish what I had set out to do. The taggie baby quilt for my friends baby shower (taking place this weekend) was finished yesterday, just in the nick of time!! Without further ado, here it is.

I used charm packs from Riley Blake's Willow collection and taggies in a bright yellow. For the first time ever, I tried the disappearing 9 patch. Considering the fact that I was sooo rushed on this, I think it came out really cute. I also used a satin blanket binding, which I had never done before either. It really gives it an extra baby quality, and the texture is a nice change too. 

I also tried a new quilting technique with this quilt, and was able to quilt hearts all over it. I love love love the way it came out. I only wish I had put even more on there.

Linking up with: (see sidebar for links)

TGIFF

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

2013 NewFO Project

A Lovely Year of Finishes (apparently I'm a day late for this one! Oops!)

It's going.... going....

Tonight is the night of the auction for Diva's school, so I thought I would finally show the quilt. I hope it was worth the wait!

The quilt blocks were designed by middle school students, colored by a high school senior, printed onto fabric and then hand embroidered by parents, staff, and friends. 

For more detail on how this was completed click here!

Custom fabric with the auction's artwork and logo was created for the backing. 

A close up of one of the blocks and quilting-- a swirling meander with random horse shoes.

I also made a small throw pillow. On one side was the custom fabric. On the other we embroidered "2013" and the names of all the middle school artists.

Come Be Our Guest

Diva's birthday party was this weekend, and in true Diva fashion we celebrated like kings and queens with a Beauty and the Beast themed party.

I wanted to do something really special for her 4th birthday, since it was the first one that she was having with friends from school. When she picked out Beauty and the Beast as her theme I was ecstatic! It's my favorite Disney movie and it gave me so many options to work with!

We decided instead of pizza we would have lunch be themed. Our menu consisted of "Selections from the Boulangerie" (croissants, mini muffins, mini bagels, etc.), "Formage," "Gaston's Wild Boar" (spiral ham), "Fritatta with Garden Vegetables," "Les Pigs in a Blanket," and beverages like "Lumiere's Lemonade," "Cogsworth's Cafe," "Chip's Favorite Sweet Tea," and of course "Mrs. Pott's Signature Tea Selections." 

I decided to invite Belle to the party, and wouldn't you know it, but her calendar was free! It was so wonderful for Diva to meet her. She did story time with the kids, pretended to be other characters (like Gaston and Mrs. Potts), and we even had princess training where the kids learned to walk with books on their heads! It was wonderful. Diva had a blast!

After all of that excitement we got ready for some cake. I made the cake again this year, and really liked how it turned out, despite it's simplicity. The cake was the story book, and then I added the enchanted mirror (with a picture of Diva inside) for effect. Both were fondant.

I hope you enjoyed this post, I know Diva enjoyed her party! One down, one more to go!

oh wait... I forgot to mention the birthday bomb that went off in our house when we got home.