Not Quite Vintage

PTQB2 April

April is my month for the Pieced Together Quilting Bee and I am happy to say all my packages are in the mail - and it is still March (at least for a few more hours). 

I am going simple this round and asking for simple block of half square triangles made from 5 inch charm squares - four squares by four squares. I was inspired by a quilt I remember from my childhood. My great aunt Sue made my sister Debbie a scrap quilt for her wedding present - at least this is the story I remember. I remember the quilt on her bed and it being stored in her hope chest when it was too warm. I also remember how cozy it was. It was made from a collection of scraps from old clothing and from old sewing projects. Nothing matched, but that added to its charm. 

I am not going so far as not having my fabrics match (I am sure you aren't surprised) but I am recycling a collection of menswear shirts from my Pops' closet that were on the way to Goodwill (they were all close to new but are now more than a size too large for him). They are a mixture of stripes, checks and plaids in blue, white and tan. I am pairing them with Kona Cotton is Ash - a grayish linen type color. I am really excited for this quilt - I love the colors, the blocks should go together easy and quilting will be relatively simple with all the straight and diagonal lines to follow.

And yes, I am still procrastinating on the cathedral window block for March... Sandy, I promise to work on it this weekend!

my favorite things: taste combo

I would have to say that ever since I watch ET with my Pops when I was 9, I have loved the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. I just love Reese's and PB M&Ms but I really try to keep them as far away from me as possible. I can't just stop at one or two.

A couple weeks ago while I was catching up on food blogs I ran across a post that mentioned Dark Chocolate Dream peanut butter. It sounded like heaven and I couldn't help thinking that it would be disastrous to have it in my pantry. I had never seen it in in stores, so I didn't think another thing about it until I was shopping at Target and there it was staring at me from the shelf saying buy me, buy me. And I did.

MMMM good. Quite rich, but a perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. It is yummy melted on a toasted whole wheat English muffin. And I am proud to say I have only consumed a couple table spoons in the almost two weeks in has been in my home. It is a treat. A grown up peanut butter.

The ingredients list is quite good and short. Yay, I can pronounce every ingredient! (On a side note, have you read Michael Pollan's Food Rules yet? I can't help but here his voice in my head while I am reading it. There is something about his voice.)

So what is your favorite food combination? Do you crave salty, sweet or both?

I love tea towels, don't you?

If you have been visiting for a while, you might remember that I teased you with some secret holiday crafting work-in-progress photos way back in December 2008. I couldn't share more than some close ups at that point and now I can finally share the details with you.

The project I teased you with is now part of the book Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Tea Towel published by Lark Books. 

It is funny to think that my original idea submission was over a year and a half ago and the instructions were complete a year ago. I am so glad to the book is finally out and I can share with you. Two of the almost thirty projects in the book are mine: a hanging towel for the kitchen that was inspired by my Gram's crochet topped towel and a hanging clothespin holder.

If you get a chance to take a look at the book, you wont be let down - you will find patterns from some of your favorite crafters including one of my faves, African Kelli. Plus, the project instruction drawings are really quite nice - I love how the illustrations reflect the pattern of the fabrics the projects were made in.

 

If you happen to make any of the projects from the book, let me know. I would love to see pictures :)

PTQB2 february block

It is year two for the Pieced Together Quilting Bee and our first block is for Valerie. She sent some lovely mermaid fabric (I think my friend Renee would just love this fabric) and asked for modern quilt blocks with symmetry. I love symmetry so this was right up my alley... but I still struggled with it. I kept looking at the fabrics - for weeks - trying to find a way to make my design ideas come to life with the fabrics provided. See this color way isn't one haven't sewn with before and I struggled to find coordinating fabrics in my stash.

After all the thinking and procrastinating, just diving in and making it work, made it work! I really like what I ended up with. I added the blue solid, the gold dots and some of the light and dark aqua patterned fabric. Hopefully Valerie likes them and the block looks okay with the others. I used almost every little scrap of the fabric Valerie sent accept for the white (sorry Valerie I just realized the extra white didn't make it into the package I mailed). 

Favorite part of the block for me are the four little octopus. I can't believe I got it all centered and lined up the way I wanted it.

Up next is March's block for Sandy and is a cathedral window block from the tutorial on the Sometimes Crafter. This one has me scared :)

And by the end of the month I need to be ready for April. April is my month which means putting together twelve packages and getting them in the mail in less than two weeks. Thank goodness I have a plan and just need to get to cutting.