Best of 2013

I am entering this photo into the I Heart Faces photo contest.  The theme is "Best Face of 2013".  I took a lot of photos in 2013 and this, by far, is my favorite.  I snapped this picture for Kate's second birthday. I feel like it captures the magic of a two year old.

Another Photo

Pretty Picture

I got a new lens for my Nikon D40.  Last night I tried it out for the first time.  I am very excited about it!  Look at all that sparkly bokeh!

Circle Applique Quilt

I have been admiring this circle applique quilt for awhile now.  I set out to make my own version of it.  I used scraps for the circles and Kona Cotton brown for the back ground.  Here it is: 

 I think it turned out quite nice!  I decided to leave the edges raw on the circles.  I basted them on using a regular glue stick, which helped to keep them in place when sewing them on.  After the quilt was completely finished, I washed it.  Then, I took a toothbrush to the raw edges to help "fluff" them up.

The back is one of my favorite fabrics ever!  I thought it matched the circle front really well.

Spider Web Quilt

I would like to introduce you to my favorite quilt I have made yet:

And of course, it looks better with Kate on it.

This quilt is called a “Spider Web” quilt.  I first fell in love with the block when I saw this quilt.   I followed the tutorial and wah-la! 

I used scraps from my Kaffe Diamond quilt and from Big Bertha.  This quilt took a long time, from start to finish it took about four months.  But the end result was well worth it.  I really like the solid white background, it sets off the color in each spider web very well. The quilting shows up really well on the white, as well.  

Racetrack Quilt

Check out my latest quilt!  I am smitten.  This was my first attempt at making a quilt since Kate was born.  It is possible!

Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest?  While perusing quilts one day, I came across this adorable baby quilt here and here.  I love the cute take on the traditional Drunkard’s Path quilt block.  I had never sewn a curved quilt block before, and I wanted to test my skills.  The pattern for the race track quilt is found in this book.  I was able to check it out from our local library. 

My mom’s most recent quilt book is all about curves in quilts, and I was able to use her fail proof technique to make the curves almost perfect!  Not one pin was used in the making of this quilt.  Check out her book for this fabulous technique. 

I have a new nephew arriving this summer and I knew this quilt would be perfect for a little boy.  I love it so much I might make another one using girly fabrics. 

After piecing the quilt top, I embroidered the dash onto the road with Perle Cotton embroidery thread.  I thought it would take a long time, but it acutally wasn’t too bad.  I chose denim for the back, it seemed fittingly boyish.  After I quilted it on the long arm, I washed it and threw it in the dryer.  It got all crinkly and soft just like I was hoping.   

Enjoy some more pictures:

 The quilting shows up nicely on the denim back.

The track is the perfect size for a Hotwheels car!

Rocking Horse Redo

Last summer I bought a rocking horse at Goodwill for $10.  I was on a bit of a rampage buying anything cute and kid like.  Our garage has been filled with unfinished projects all purchased last summer.  I decided to tackle this one recently.

Rocking Horse Before

The rocking horse was in tough shape.  The back of the rockers were badly scraped and splintered.  The body was covered with scratches. The entire frame was loose and wobbly.  And the mane and tail were disgusting and smelled a little.

I started by prying the mane and tail off.  I wore gloves for this part.  As far as I could tell, that matted disgusting material used to be strands of yarn.  Next, I carefully removed the bridal, because it was in good shape and I knew I wanted to reuse it.  Then I began sanding the entire thing.  I sanded it down to the bare wood to get all of the scratches off.

Naked Rocking Horse (Sat in garage for 6+ months in this state)

My husband helped me add some structural supporting screws to make the whole thing more sturdy.  I filled the screw holes and the badly splintered rockers with wood filler.  I then stained the horse a dark walnut shade by Minwax.  Next, I coated it in a thick coat of oil based polyurethane.  I read that oil based polyurethane holds up stronger than water based.

The mane and tail were made from ribbon.  I followed this tutorial about how to make a korker bow, except I sprayed my ribbon with starch before I baked it.  It took seven spools of ribbon to make this happen!

Korker Mane

Finally, I attached the mane with a glue gun, reattached the bridal, and found some new eyes!  It actually looks pretty nice in our living room!

After!