kids.

Dear Oldest Daughter wanted three of these.

I wasn't going to make them....

and

I wasn't going to make them....

and....

I wasn't.......

But she had some sweet words.

"I'll never ask for ANYTHING again!"......

"I could do it, but you're so much better at these things!"......

"My sewing machine's not working!"......

"You're the BEST mom EVER!!!"...

"I LOVE the stuff you make for me!".........

and ON...and On...it went......

I CAVED in.

I did it.

I smiled.

She said...."Now...aren't you happy you made them??"

I don't know?

Am I?

She was doing the same kind of thing years ago....

Kids!!!!

You've gotta LOVE 'EM!!!!

Storage Cubes tutorial from

Crazy mom quilts

Found HERE.

Pineapples in Bloom

The hard part is over!!!

Just a

HOP

SKIP

...and a

JUMP

translation:

BORDER.

QUILTING.

BINDING.

And I'll have a summer quilt!

Hey!

Have I told you how much I love being in this

sweet. sweet.

blogland Neighborhood??

Thank you for being such an

ENCOURAGING

bunch of quilting friends!

I appreciate you!

patio redo

This is an ANNUAL project.

My poor old furniture needs some covering!

I NEVER spend much on this operation...

in fact...

this year it was FREE!!!

My cushion covers NEVER last more than one year...

so I really don't like to spend much on the fabric.

This year the heavy duty fabric was given away a few months ago

and I GLADLY took it!

Both the rust and wheat colors only had enough to do

HALF the job....so I put them together.

THEN....

I added some leftovers from my last quilt.

After piecing a panel for the fronts of the cushions...

I pressed the edges in....

Centered it....and pinned.....

Zigzagged....;)

TaDah!!!

My cushions are READY for the season!

Then...

I had some leftover fabric.

and couldn't let it go to WASTE!

Kind of cute, huh?

I drew some circles with a chalk pencil....

and "stitch doodled" them in.

Hmmm...

I think I like it.

happy half square triangles!

These little triangles are a happy bunch!

So am I!

Everything came together....even the back!

I just added this one to my little etsy shop.

;)

And here's a sentimental.

Sweet.

Homemade.

Video.

made by a friend.

I loved it...hope you do too!

Perfect for Father's Day.

Pizza and Packing

It's summertime!...and we're having some fun!!!

Except

when it's time to clean up!!!

The play tent is on the LEFT

the bag is on the RIGHT

What's wrong with this picture???

Who packaged this???

A MAN or MACHINE???

I bet the machine was HYDROLIC!

Packing away ANY kind of a tent

deserves a medal....don't you think???

I had some old fabric....nice and bright.

Maybe....

I'll be able to FIND it in the garage when I go looking!

Much BETTER!

It's times like this I'm SOooo thankful I know how to sew.

;)

These little TABS are my favorite part!!!

Aren't they cute?

I know the new bag will take up more room....

but I'll be a MUCH happier

CAMPER!!!!

 +++++++++

We had a great pizza last night....

HOMEMADE!!!

Did I mention.....

I made it myself????

;)

This recipe was recommended to me by a friend.

I'm So glad she shared...

so I'M sharing it with YOU!!!

Then.....we can ALL add:

"Able to make homemade pizza" to our RESUMES!!!!

And NO one will let on how easy it is....o.k.?

1 package yeast (.25 oz.)

1 teaspoon sugar

dissolve in

1 Cup warm water (110 degress F)

Let it stand until creamy.

about 10 minutes.

stir in:

2 1/2 Cups flour

 (I used 1 C. wheat and 1 1/2 C. white)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt.

Beat until smooth. Let rest 5 minutes.

Turn dough onto floured surface and pat or roll into a round.

I divided the dough in half and rolled

RIGHT onto my baking stones...

Using this!

Wow!

It worked GREAT!

Add your toppings.

(mine included leftover chicken, cheese,

peppers, onions and mushrooms)

Here's the adult pizza using meat and vegetables....

and here's the kid's pizza using just meat and cheese.

I did sneak in some mushrooms....

but can you believe it???

They noticed!!!

;)

We even had some fresh lettuce from the garden...

Ready for salad making!!!!

Thanks to my husband!

Pizza and Salad!

The perfect meal.

Binding 101

This is all about binding.

I'm documenting this mostly for a friend

who asked the favor.....

And for anyone else who wants to know

the ins and outs of how I make a continuous binding.

I've seen other tutorials on this...

but they were slightly different than my way.

So....

 I guess I'm adding my TWO cents

to the blogosphere.

;)

I begin with a 2 1/2" strip

usually cut selvage to selvage

Pieced the length I need and pressed in half.

UNLESS.....

I'm going to do a fancy scalloped edge!

If that's the case, I cut the strips on the bias

so they will easily curve as I sew.

I begin attaching the binding in the middle of the side of the quilt

Leaving a nice long tail.....10" or so.

Oops!

Looks like I was in a hurry here and didn't put the walking foot on.

:0

I'm attaching the binding to the FRONT of this quilt

because I'm going to turn it over and

HAND stitch it to the back.

Often times I attach the binding to the BACK

and then roll it over to the front,

top stitching it down with my machine...

especially quilts that I donate.

Here's the corner.

STOP about 1/4" before you get there

and.....

make a little diagonal stitch to corner.

Did you notice my binding is not RIGHT next to the edge?

I kind of like having that extra filling there in the binding.

fold up.

Fold down....right there on the corner.

Begin stitching again.....

Only 3 more corners to go!

When you get close the end....

STOP.

You should have two tails.

10" or so long.

Trim the left side of the binding

 working in the middle of your unsewn section.

Fold the right side of the binding back.

You should have an EDGE (on the left)

meeting a FOLD (on the right).

MEASURE.

2 1/2" from the fold

and draw a line....

Then TRIM.

Your binding should now be EXACTLY

2 1/2" longer than the measurements of your quilt.

Question:

What if you cut your binding 2 3/4" instead of 2 1/2"???

Answer:

You would cut the binding

2 3/4" Longer.

This is why you have LONG tails.

We need some room to WORK. ;)

These are the ends of your binding.

Put them right sides together at a right angle....

making sure it's not twisted!

Pin.

Draw a diagonal line.

Sew and trim.

Before you trim....check that you did it right!

Oh good!!!

It worked.

Pin and finish sewing your binding on!!!!

No one will ever know

where you began....

or...

where you ended!!!

They will just know that you loved them....

Because you made them a quilt!!!