Hi! I think I mentioned before that I'm having a booth at The Crafty Maverick's Spring Show toward the end of April. I'm pretty happy with the productive creativity I've been able to keep going out in the studio on almost a daily basis. I hope to have some things photographed soon and share with you here. (It's all baby related items). One thing I wanted to share is a comparison of fabrics used in the same quilt pattern. I've always wanted to do an Eye Spy quilt. I thought that if I did two blocks of each fabric it would cut in half the different fabrics I'd need to find and could also be a Matching Game quilt! Here's one I did in 'boyish' fabrics.
I like it!
Now, I thought the 'girls' version would be even better, as I would get to use some of my White Background/Novelty prints that Kim at True Up referred to as a potential addiction in a recent post. :-) I generally try and stick to the old saying "A true artist knows which ones to show and which ones not to" but I'm hoping someone else will learn from my mistake, so I'll show it to you.
Blech! It may be better if I were to sash it in red (as there is red in nearly every block) as opposed to the white, but...blech. I don't even have it in me to finish it off, let alone redo it. I think the only reason I haven't already thrown it away was because I wanted to share the mistake here. The 'boy' one may be the ONLY one offered at the craft sale because that last waste of time took the fun out of that quilt pattern for me!
I had round 2 at the French Macaron making process last week. I have to have a place I'm going that day in order to make them, or I seriously will eat ALL of them! This time I got much better on the size (just went over the 1.5" mark by a smidge) and got a pretty decent 'foot', too.
Can you tell what I still need work on? The filling. I keep trying to make White Chocolate Ganache and both times I've accidentally bought and used whipping cream instead of heavy cream. Tastes delish but doesn't stand up.
Kadence just barely licked the shell of one and said they weren't for her, but for Madison it was a different story!
Here she is finally slowing down on her third one in less than two minutes! I think I'll try again next week for quilt guild. I want to get good enough at them to do a tiered plate full of them in Kate's wedding colors this July. Any better suggestions for filling as opposed to a ganache?
I'm being random as usual, but I'm trying to cover the past three weeks. Here's a cute (to us) video of Madison and Sophie the dog at the beach last Sunday. It's kinda freaky how they both flop down perfectly still at my feet, then at exactly 60 seconds is UP AND AT 'EM!
Melissa saw this and nervously asked, "Uh, Mom. Aren't you letting her get pretty far away?" No...it just looks like that on the video. ;-) We rarely if ever have Madison alone, but Caleb had a couple of friends over and Melissa wanted to give them a fun day without lil sis around. It was a good day for everyone. :-)
John and I are going to take Sophie back alone (hopefully today) so I can video her playing catch. She looks just like an aerodynamic skateboard when she runs!
When I was making the macarons on Thursday I turned to watch Caleb reading aloud to me and was struck by the sweetness of this scene.
See the cat in the ray of sunshine on the table? And trusty Sophie, never far away. It's funny to hear him reading Henry Huggins, which was written in 1950. Henry had to catch over 1300 worms to earn $13. And what was really odd was that $13 is what he needed to buy a football. When a weekly allowance was a quarter? Doesn't quite add up in my mind, but it's been a fun read.
Must get up now and start this day. Hope to be back and chat with you soon!
I agree with everybody--you should put that quilt aside until you stop hating it, and then give it a splash of red in the sashings with machine stitching, rick-rack, or even bias strips.
Posted by: KathiD | April 12, 2010 at 05:08 PM
I love that second quilt and it's got a load of potential. If you squint your eyes and look at it you can see where it's over-loaded. I'd remove the two blue geometric squares and some of the darker blocks, then you'll see that it will all hang together prettily. I really like the white/cream backgrounds mixed with the linen coloured ones. No need to change the sashings at all.
Posted by: Clair Acres | April 07, 2010 at 12:34 AM
Happy Easter Jen!!
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If this is possible, could you let me know how much you would charge for a basic text link. My site is located at http://www.genuinestyle.net.
Thank you for your time, I look forward to hearing back from you.
Posted by: Kathy Baker | April 02, 2010 at 02:03 PM
Well the boy one may be the cutest, I still like the girl one. I can see how red would have added to it but it certainly has a personality and I like it.
Posted by: nanette | March 29, 2010 at 11:48 AM
I think those are the cutest "I spy" quilts I've ever seen!!! Have a wonderful time with your craft show...can't wait to see more pictures!
Posted by: sherri | March 28, 2010 at 08:49 PM
Love the quilts and the videos! I can't believe you can have Sophie off leash, and that she will drop the ball. Beula could never be off leash, and whenever I throw the ball, she grabs it and then never drops it. She just wants me to run around and chase her. I prefer the Sophie way! LOL!
Posted by: Barbara | March 28, 2010 at 08:38 PM
love the idea of the red rick rack! Miss you, haven't seen you in a coons age. I'm yearing for macaroon....there goes my diet. We have a huge bag of selvages for you too.
Posted by: BrendaLou | March 28, 2010 at 03:02 PM
Try the red sashing, it might surprise you, and guaranteed if you put it in the sale someone will snap it up!
I'm loving Madison's delicate pinky extension for macaroon scarfing, very cute :)
Posted by: Sue McGettigan | March 28, 2010 at 02:11 PM
REgarding the "blech" I-Spy quilt - you could run red rick rack down the center of all the white sashing strips, might brighten it up in a fun way.
Posted by: Cathy McMann | March 28, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Does your machine have any fancy stitches? Try running a RED (I think you are right about that) stitch up the white borders. Or if you are really writing it off - take out some fabric markers and have fun! Why not play?
Oh - or you could try a multi color thread for the stitching. It has to be a fairly THICK stitch - like something with leaves that would be filled in.
Or truthfully - use BLACK - that ALWAYS frames things great.
Posted by: Kathy | March 28, 2010 at 10:13 AM