Monthly

I seem to be posting only monthly lately. Too, too busy. I also caught some creeping crud that left me feeling kinda consumptive--but I balanced this wasting phenomenon by learning to make perfect vanilla and chocolate cakes, swiss buttercream frosting, chocolate ganache, and cream cheese frosting in my cake class. So, I'm still nicely rounded out :) My cake class has been so much fun; it's at the town's top bakery. There are just 6 of us in the bakery's kitchen using all the real baker's stuff and getting cool inside secrets. Last Monday, we learned how to make "chocolate plastic" to mold flowers, leaves, and the like; and I also made chocolate ivy leaves by painting on leaves. Fun!!

My children have been sucked into the Webkinz universe, which means I've been spending odd hours playing Quizzy's Word Game so my babies can afford backyards and interactive stoves, refrigerators, and treadmills for their furry obsessions. (Hey, what's so virtual about this place again?) But, one nice quilty outcome is that they want to make quilts for their WKs. Here's the first endeavor:



My daughter (who's 5 and 7/8, just ask her) picked out all the fabrics and then arranged the squares. She wanted a quilt that looked like a rainforest, which is where Pandi the Panda lives. She also pressed the foot pedal on the machine as I sewed and actually picked up speed regulation fairly quickly. I quilted a flower in the middle of each square. Now, I have to make a pirate-themed quilt for Baby Pongo the Dalmation and some pink confection for Ashley the Rainbow Pony.

Here's a quilt I've never shared, but I found it in my closet during a cleaning mania two weeks ago (during a Housewives of Orange County marathon; it makes me feel so much better about my own life):



I made this in 1998 (insert aging cough here) right when Kumiko Sudo's book Fabled Flowers came out. I love hydrangeas and wanted to create a mythical hydrangea plant that could flower in both violet and pink. Over 50 different fabrics make up the origami petals. The background is a fabric that looks like homemade paper with flower petals embedded in the fibers. Here's a closer look at the petals:



I had completely forgotten about this little quilt. I've included it in the three quilts I'll be showing at the college this year. The quilts are shown in the President's Lobby throughout the winter holidays along with trees that student clubs decorate and then donate to families in the community. The whole lobby twinkles, and the display really brings a calming sense to the manic panic of term's end, when nerves of faculty and students alike fray.

My daughter keeps peeking her head around the corner begging to play on Barbie.com, and my son needs a pirate beard and mustache, so I'm off with this request. Consider signing up for the Winter segment of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap (click or see side button). It's great fun!!