End of year baking

It seems like the end of the school year is the time for baking. Every class has a party and/or a picnic. There are soccer parties, music recitals with receptions after and more. It's a good thing I like to bake!!!

These are something new I tried - because I'm lazy and I didn't have much time.
I wanted something just a little bit more than chocolate chip cookies.

So... I made chocolate chip cookie batter, put it in mini muffin pans, and when it was done baking, I placed two of these little raspberry and dark chocolate pieces on the top. Divine!!

I found these at Safeway a bit ago - of course now I can't seem to locate them, but rest assured, if I ever do find anymore - no one else will get any - I will buy the whole shelf :o) They are just that good!

First Frivola Scarf - Finis

This was actually a very, very quick knit. It is so cool how you just knit 2 stitches on the string in between the pom poms. No pulling them through, no thinking about placement, no thinking - maybe that's why I like it so much!!

Started: 4/20/2010

Finished: 5/17/10

Obviously I worked on other things in between the start and finish of this :o)

Needles: US13

Yarn: Frivola by Mondial

95% polyester, 5% polyester met

Color: 985

Lot: 43
57" X 6.5"

She loves it and brings it everywhere!! She says it reminds her of meopolitan ice cream :o)

Close up of the "yarn".

Playin' around!

3rd Blanket - complete!!

#3 blanket for DS#1 is complete!!! I can't believe that I have three done so far! Each color looks just a good as the last and these are all so soft and cuddly!

Started: 3/27/2010

Finished: 5/17/2010

Needles: US 13

Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun

Color: #309 Deco (cream)

#373 Black

70 3/4 inches by 53 1/2 inches

Of course the kids see me knitting these.

But I've been able to convince them that we just need more blanket to snuggle with on the couch during family movie night. Only the oldest has wondered why they are not actually on the couch. I have told her that they are not "completely" complete. This is techinically true.......none of them have my labels on them yet :o)

Not such a great picture, but this is the praying matis egg case hatching. The babies are wriggling out of the bottom of the egg case. It was quite exciting to watch.
A little better shot of the baby mantis. They are actually quite cute!

Quilting....Love It!

The first attempt at quilting was very disappointing. I found out how hard it really is to "stitch-in-the ditch" - really hard. I am so greatful to Vicki of Field Trips in Fiber. She commented on my last post and let me know that it would be ok. That encouragement kept me going. After a few days of letting this quilt "rest", I put it back on the sewing maching.

This is how I decided to quilt the border - in diagonal lines 1.5 inches apart. Gotta love the stitch guide that is included with the new walking foot I purchased for my machine. Notice all the loose threads in the picture above - Each row of stitching had 4 of these - they had to be woven in. It really didn't take all that long. Just one show on TV and we were done.

Here is how the quilt looks with all the quilting done. I did not go back and rip out the stitch-in-the ditch quilting in the body of the quilt. I did as told, stood a few feet away and decided that it looked just fine.

A picture of the back. If you look too closely at the rows of stitching, you will notice that some of them are slightly curved and the last two are not equidistant from eachother, but again, as I stood back from it I thought it was ok.

Another shot of the back diagonal rows where they meet up with the main body quilting - not too bad for a first timer :o)

This is the thread I used for quilting it. I just kind of fell in love with it after a fellow classmate showed it to me. It has all the colors of the quilt in it - I realize now that if I had chosen a more neutral color my wobbly stitching wouldn't have shown up quite as much, but I don't think I would change anything. The bright color on the back is really kind of nice. Thanks so much Vicki for encouraging me to continue! This was so much fun I have already picked out and cut fabric for my next quilt!! I feel another obsession coming on!

No straight lines for me.....

I went to class on Thursday night in very high spirits-I was so excited to learn how to put my quilt together and then to quilt it. I had purchased a walking foot for my sewing machine and was completely ready. And then I learned a terrible truth about myself.......I cannot sew a straight line............ I went V. E. R. Y. slowly and really tried to aim for the ditch, but it was not happening. Sure, it happened some of the time, but not with any regularity.

These are just two of my quilting lines. They are not even examples of the worst stitching that is on my quilt.
I was also dismayed to learn that we still have to weave in our ends at the beginning and end of each of our stitching rows. Somehow I thought it would be like regular sewing - just backstitch and cut - nope. I still love the class, our teacher is extraordinary, and the ladies couldn't be a nicer bunch, but I am feeling a little discouraged. Since Thursday, I have woven in the ends and am ready to continue "quilting"; however, I just don't feel like it.

Quilt Update

My first quilt now has borders!! I am so happy with this! There are some mistakes, but nothing I can't live with and I am thrilled that I am finally, finally quilting - "for real".
This is a close up of the fabrics for the borders. You can see that the seam is a little wonky here and there, but overall a pretty good piece :o)

New Foster Kitties!!

Isn't this little guy cute?? He has two brothers and one sister. They are approximately 6 weeks old and were rescued from a place that was hoarding cats. These are the lucky ones. My oldest daughter fosters kittens for volunteer hours - way more than she needs for school - she does this because she loves helping the kittens to find good, forever homes. I am quite proud of her!

He is as soft as he looks and loves to play with his siblings.
Here they all are together.

Look at those little faces!!