prizes, finally

At last. The name-that-fish prizes have been sewn, sealed and delivered. The pillow pictured first is for the sixth grader who gave our new family pet the name Creamsicle. The fabric is mostly Tula Pink’s Flutterby mixed with some solids and a fish print that was imported from Japan. I used the disappearing nine-patch pattern, but took it one step further by cutting the blocks in half two more times than is standard. I did this because I wanted smaller squares of fabric in the design. I first learned about the disappearing nine-patch here. The border and backing fabric is chocolate brown corduroy.

This second pillow is for Barbara, the winner of the random drawing. The center flower is from Amy Butler’s Lotus collection and the rest of the prints are Freshcut by Heather Bailey. I used scraps leftover from this quilt. The off-white material framing the patchwork is cut from an old tea towel. This pillow is backed in brown corduroy as well.

This was my first attempt at pillow making and I was happy with the results. It was particularly rewarding to be able to give the pillows away to two wonderful people. Thanks again for playing my silly name-that-fish game. Creamsicle is doing great and is loving his new name.

prize in progress

Not a lot of time this morning so the little guy and I took a quick snapshot using the funky features that Photobooth has to offer. He is holding a prize in progress.

The good news from yesterday is that we had a visit from the Italian pastry fairy. (Thanks Godmum!) Sometimes on weekends we have visits from the bagel and blueberry muffin fairy.  (Thanks Grandpa!)  Have you had any fairy-godmother moments lately in which someone has been super sweet to you for no reason at all?

Have a great weekend!

creamsicle

I had the perfect birthday a week or so ago. The Cydermaker took the 6 a.m. shift with the kiddo and made pancakes for breakfast. Grandmama took me to lunch, accompanied by a trip to the bookstore. I was greeted later that evening by three bouquets of flowers, some extra special chocolate, and a bottle of my favorite potatoes…from Poland…in liquid form. We had a nice family dinner at a local restaurant and shared a delicious piece of chocolate mousse cake from a local bakery. My kind of day! I was also treated to an on-line fabric shopping spree. The Cydermaker ordered up a bunch of Japanese imports and Grandmama treated me to a whole bunch of fabric squares. The pile of goodness is right there in the top photo. Do you see those cute green hedgehogs at the bottom peeking out?

I am really loving this new line of fabric called Flutterby by Tula Pink. I think it’s my favorite thing to stare at right now. I do that. Just stare at fabric. The Cydermaker catches me in the act all the time. I suppose I could have worse quirks. Oh wait. I do. But I won’t get into that right now.

These “fish cakes” may seem a little odd, but I have something in mind for them and they should do the job nicely.

And this sweet fabric is populated with the most adorable apple trees. A yard or two flew over from Japan and landed in the home of a gal with a blog named apple cyder. It only makes sense, right?

So now you are saying to yourself, “Nice fabric lady, but why the heck is this post titled Creamsicle?”

Because Creamsicle is the name of our new fish! Now go back to that original post and have another gander at our first family pet. I think you’ll agree it’s the perfect name. Thanks to the “C” Girls for the suggestion. Something handmade will make its way to you soon. Barbara was the winner of the random drawing. Her name, Jeremy, was also a good one, but we felt like the little guy would have gone with Creamsicle if he could have had a say in the matter. So Barbara wins as well. I will be in touch when the prizes are ready. Thanks to everyone who played along. I appreciate all of the great name ideas and love getting those comments.

Speaking of contests, I won one recently and a very talented woman named Mary (a self-professed craft addict) sent me these beautiful tea towels. Check out her blog if you have a chance. I am so impressed by everything she creates and was thrilled to find such a beautiful gift from her in the mail.

One last thing. We just returned from a really fun (yet slightly soggy) ski weekend in Vermont with Grammy, Grandpa and the Aunties and Uncle. More on that soon.

name that fish. win a prize. woo hoo!

Our little guy needs your help. He received this spunky goldfish on Valentine’s Day from his Grandmama, but we haven’t decided on a name yet. We considered the obvious holiday-related name, Val, but it’s just not working for me. Not sure of the gender, but I think he’s a he. If you’re so inclined, post a comment and name that fish. (If you are an email subscriber, you can post a comment by clicking on the “comment” link at the end of the email message. This will bring you to the website where you will be able to type in your comment.)

There is a handmade prize in the offing for the person whose comment is picked from a random drawing. I can’t tell you what that prize will be exactly, but I will try to take the winner’s tastes into consideration. For those of you cruising the internet in far-off places, I will ship wherever you are, so don’t be strangers. I will keep this silly little contest open for a week and will draw a name the evening of Monday, March 10.

Thanks for the fish, Grandmama! We love our first family pet.

 **********UPDATE************

Our fish now has a name!  We decided to go with Creamsicle.  Congrats to the ”C Girls”, who named the fish, and Barbara, who won the random drawing.  I will get to work on those prizes and be in touch.