Potholders

I had some fabric squares left over from my quilt so I decided to make them into potholders.

There is a special kind of batting, called "Insul Bright," designed specifically for making potholders and oven mits.  The metalic lining directs heat back towards the source and away from your hands.  I cut the Insul Bright squares the same size as my fabric squares and pinned them together to make the potholders.

I used a water soluable marker to trace the flower pattern onto the center of the potholder and then stitched it with quilting thread.  Then I used double wide quilt binding to finish of the edges.  Now I have to bake some chocolate chip cookies and put these potholders to the test...

Antique Shelf

Here is the other purchase I made with my grandmother this week.  Its a blue, wooden shelf that was actually being used to display items at the antique store.  We struck a bargain with the owner and I walked out the door with it.

The blue is a good accent to all the pink we have in the room and its the same shade of blue that we incorporated into the drapes.  Overall, a successful day of antique shopping for us.

Vintage Icebox

My grandmother and I went antiquing today and we found this adorable vintage icebox.  It was in mint condition so I sprang for it.  I just love the jade green against the white.

There are three wire shelves on the left and a ruffled shelf on the right that covers the drain hole.

It blends in perfectly with our dining room and will provide us with a unique little serving table.

Flitterific

We connected the canopy to my daughter's four-poster bed last week (the same bed I had when I was little).  Later that evening, I went to the fabric store in search of inspiration.  I found this beautiful silk organza and fell in love with the pedal pattern for across the top of the bed.

I also found some Tinkerbell ribbon that I decided to use along the front and back edges.  The dangling fairies are my daughter's favorite part.

I used a sheer purple ruffle along the sides which worked out pretty well.  The organza is difficult to work with because it is so delicate, but I managed to get the project done in one evening so I can't complain.  Of course, the most magical part of any canopy is the view you get from underneath.  As Tinkerbell would say, its "Flitterific!"

Beautiful Butterflies

Tried the stained glass cookies again.  This time with a butterfly theme.  I'm thinking spring...

Stained Glass Cookies

Here is another idea I stole from http://www.marthastewart.com/  These 'stained glass' cookies are created by crushing Jolly Rancher candies and melting them into whatever shape you choose.  You grind the candy in a food processor until it becomes a very fine powder and then fill the empty space of the cookie 3/4 of the way full with powder.  You will see that I used both red and green for my cookies.

I also used Martha's Royal Icing recipe to decorate the cookies.  Royal Icing = 1 cup water, 1/2 cup meringue powder, 2lb powdered sugar.  Before adding the powdered sugar, it is important to mix the meringue powder and water until soft peaks form (otherwise your icing won't harden correctly).

As for packaging the cookies, I bought a variety of different boxes at Michael's craft store.  I stuffed each box with crinkled paper and then sealed the box with a sticker. 

I'm excited to try this idea with spring themes...like flowers, butterflies and Easter eggs.  Stay tuned! 

Hand Quilting

We attached the quilt to the frame last night.  Now the hand quilting begins.  There are a total of 88 squares so if I quilt 3 squares a day I should be able to finish in roughly a month.  We'll see how that goes...

The London fabric is my favorite because it includes all the famous city icons.  There is a double decker bus, a black cab, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben.  I'm also excited about the variegated thread I found to quilt with...its several shades of pink and should look great on the back side of the quilt, which is a pale pink fabric.  The name of the thread color was "Vintage Rose" so I couldn't pass it up!