Butterfly Wings

Art and Stitch Design Day 55

2011-11-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

So recently I have been playing around with embroidery designs, butterflies designs to be more precise.

I have an Accuquilt Go! so I used the butterfly die to cut out the shape I wanted, I scanned the shape and digitized the shape. I then played around with different motif fills and motif stitches to come up with a variety of designs.

Here are a few of the first designs:

I had fun tonight trying out my new Babylock Ellisimo and stitched out 2 of the above designs:


iPhone didn't take a great picture

The first one I used a fabric applique and discovered that I need to go back and fix a few places in the digitizing of the Accuquilt digitized shape as in a few places the applique didn't fit exactly in place. The satin stitching outline covered this up but I would like to go back and make it fit better.

I also didn't like where I placed the body and antennas and also didn't like how that section stitched out. Need to go back to the drawing board on how I will do that part.

In the second design I forgot to add the fabric after the first stitch out but I did like how it turned out.

Still lot of more work to be done to make these perfect but I did have a wonderful time designing and stitching these out tonight.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

Another Vector file imported need only a little rework to complete

Art and Stitch Design Day 56

2011-10-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch Design Day 55

2011-10-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch Design Day 54

2011-10-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch Design Day 53

2011-10-22T05:29:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch Design Day 52

2011-10-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch Design Day 51

2011-10-20T01:46:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch Design Day 50

2011-10-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

More playing with last night base shape and I came up with this

Art and Stitch Design Day 49

2011-10-18T01:48:00.000-07:00

Played with a simple shape in magic circle and the magic square can produce interesting designs

And then I duplicated the original design and played again and got this

Art and Stitch - Design Day 48

2011-10-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 47

2011-10-16T01:55:00.000-07:00

Started with this:

And after some playing I get these:

Art and Stitch - Design Day 46 Dragon

2011-10-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

This was another vector file that I imported into ANS, I had to do allot of clean up as at some places it seems like there was lots of over stitching and I discovered that there were a number of small holes in a number of places that was causing it. Allot of use of the rework tool turned him into this cute...............or should I say fierce design.

What should I call him?

Art and Stitch - Design Day 45 Maple Leaf

2011-10-14T01:29:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 44 Racing Flames

2011-10-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

another vector file this time one of Racing Flames was the basis for these interesting design.

Vector Files Used

Art and Stitch - Design Day 43 Flame Magic

2011-10-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to play with a vector image of flames I found online and it produced some interesting designs both using the Magic Circle and the Magic Square.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 42

2011-10-11T01:46:00.000-07:00

Today I played with the Import Vector Art feature.

I found this vector image of a Ornate Door Hinge and imported it and then played around with it for a while and then used the magic circle and magic square to produce a number of different designs.

More progress on the Hickory Star

2011-10-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Joined the background to the star points tonight.

Next steps is to join the sections to finish the star and then add the border. I really like how it is turning out.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 41

2011-10-10T01:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight I did some playing around with True Type Fonts as described in Section 3.31 in the User Guide and it is as easy as described. I installed the Hawaiian Fonts by Pokelele and here are a few I converted.

Hawaiian Font 1 - B & D

Hawaiian Font 1 - E & F

Hawaiian Font 1 - G & W

Great progress today on a Cherrywood Hickory Star

2011-10-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

This morning I was trying to decide on what project to work on, I really wasn't in the mood to do the backing for the Twisted 9 patch and put it on the frame as I am still deciding on how to quilt it. I could take my Labyrinth out again and get it finished, it currently is on the bed in the spare room but it didn't really talk to me today.

I decided to work on an Embroidery Christmas tree that I want to make this year, had to search my computer for the instructions and when I found it, I discovered that I needed water soluble stabilizer, which I knew I had but couldn't find it. I can see where it was in my old apartment but couldn't find it today in my new sewing room. As I looked for it, I came across 2 Cherrywood jelly rolls and pattern that I bought about 3 years ago at PIQF and I decided to give it a go.

The first step was to decide how to divide the strips into 4 groups of nine, which Lar helped with and then sew them together. Next the strata needed to be cut into 4 triangles each which become the star points. The template on the pattern was not that great and as the instructions said "be careful when cutting there is no room for cutting errors" it was a little nerve racking but it turned out fine!

Here is what it looked like just before dinner

I have added on some of the background tonight a great navy color and hope to get the rest of the background on and join to all together after work tomorrow.

I loved working with the Cherrywood, the colors are just wonderful and the fabric has a lovely soft feel to it.

Overall a wonderful day in the sewing room.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 40

2011-10-09T01:31:00.000-07:00

Some love hearts for you all today

Art and Stitch - Design Day 39

2011-10-08T01:30:00.000-07:00

Twisted Nine Patch - top done!

2011-10-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

So I had to make another quilt for my Ronald McDonald Raffle quilt as Lar like the first one too much so I worked on a Twisted Nine Patch that I found on Maryquilts.com. I decided to make my blocks bigger with a 12 1/2 inch nine patch and 15 inch finished block.

Here is how it turned out:

Now I have to decide how to quilt it as it will go on the frame tomorrow.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 38

2011-10-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 37

2011-10-06T01:55:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 36

2011-10-05T01:53:00.000-07:00

So I said I would do a month of designs

2011-10-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

In my first post about Art and Stitch, I said I would do a month of posting designs to learn the product. Now I am on day 34 with 8 more posts waiting to be published and I am wondering what to do as I am having so much fun!

I read in a number of places that it takes 30 days for something to become a habit but not sure how many days to become addicted and I truly think I am addicted to digitizing in ANS. I was in a meeting today and all I could think of was that the pattern in my colleagues shirt would be a wonderful quilt design.

I think I will continue to post my designs and but reduce it down to 3-4 a week for designs and on the other days post about some of the other quilting stuff that I am doing. I am little behind on stitching out the designs to test them and hopefully I can catch up on that.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 35 - More Swirls

2011-10-04T00:39:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 34 - Tulip

2011-10-03T01:41:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 33

2011-10-02T01:32:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 32 - Flower Play

2011-10-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

Another example of using the magic circle and magic square.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 31

2011-09-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

Interesting how one base shape can be used to create different designs using the magic circle or magic square.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 30 - Butterfly

2011-09-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

How could I not do a butterfly during my month long design creation.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 29 - 3D fun

2011-09-28T02:17:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 28

2011-09-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 27 - Dove

2011-09-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

Art and Stitch - Design Day 26

2011-09-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

Some spiral fun today

Art and Stitch - Design Day 25

2011-09-24T01:29:00.000-07:00

Not sure what to call this one

Art and Stitch - Design Day 24 - Square Celtic Knot

2011-09-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

Tried a square Celtic knot today, cannot wait to see how this stitches out.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 23 - Fleur de lis

2011-09-22T01:02:00.000-07:00

Today I had some fun with Fleur de Lis.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 22

2011-09-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Today I played again with the Feather Wreath from day 20 but used a different fill and hearts instead of the circle. It looks interesting!

Art and Stitch - Design Day 21

2011-09-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

So for today's design I started off with this design that I found on the web

I opened it up as backdrop in ANS and decided to try and see what the Magic Wand function would work on it. I was amazed to see that it worked perfectly and very quickly I had the following design:

And I stitched it out and it looks cool:

Art and Stitch - Design Day 20 - Feather Wreath

2011-09-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight I reviewed the video on How to create a feather wreath which is also chapter 5.5 of the User Guide.

I generated a wreath as the tutorial described then I decided to add some circles to mine. What do you think?

Art and Stitch - Design Day 19 Double Heart Knot

2011-09-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

Cannot wait to stitch this one out.

Night Gallery quilt top is done!

2011-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

This one has been a long time getting finished, I really like how it turned out:

Lar has christened it Night Gallery as it reminds him of the the intro from the seventies TV show. I never saw it but never fear YouTube has the following:

So now I have a problem, Larry really like this quilt and as he has never named a quilt before and raved so much about one, I really don't think this can be my Ronald McDonald Raffle quilt. So I am sitting here surrounded with quilt books and magazines to decide on what to make as my raffle quilt, good job I have lots of lavender to purple fabric. Any ideas on what pattern I can use? It need to be modern, fresh and quick!

Art and Stitch - Design Day 18

2011-09-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

And how about this knot

Art and Stitch Design Day 17 - Another Celtic Knot

2011-09-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

And here are 6 knots in a circle:

Or how about this:

See how much fun you can have from just one shape.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 16

2011-09-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

And now for some swirls and hearts

Art and Stitch - Design Day 15

2011-09-14T01:45:00.000-07:00

Played with feathers and swirls today, I like this one the best

And this one:

Art and Stitch - Design Day 14

2011-09-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

Today I played with a 10 inch block which I put on point and then added some motif fills and then a circle with hatches and a set of circles created with motif stitches to a line.

Here is the ANS version

And I just love how it stitched out:

So looking forward to trying this with other motifs fills.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 13

2011-09-12T00:37:00.000-07:00

Another Celtic knot

Art and Stitch - Design Day 12 - We will always remember

2011-09-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

In memory of all those who lost their lives 10 years ago and praying for all those who are still impacted by the tragedy.

And here is the stitch out of todays design

2011-09-11T00:11:00.000-07:00

I really like how it stitched out.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 11

2011-09-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

Some fun with feather shapes and swirls

I think I need to do some more work on ensuring the inside lines are more uniform but for now it is time for me to get some sleep.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 10 - Eire

2011-09-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

Love how this one turned out - YES it is the map of Ireland.

Art and Stitch - Design Day 9

2011-09-08T01:37:00.000-07:00

Played some more with the Tulips Scroll Block, this time I took the remaining tulip, duplicated it, moved it to a position I liked and used Transform Unite. I then added a hexagon and a wave hatch.

Enjoy!

Art and Stitch - Design Day 8

2011-09-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

Today I opened up one of the existing block patterns in Art and Stitch - Tulips Scroll Block and decided to play with just the scroll part. Used the splice tool to isolate the part of the design I wanted and then used the magic circle to create a totally different design

Art and Stitch - Design Day 7 - Circle Play

2011-09-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

Played with a circle and an oval with the magic circle and loved the result

And then stitched them out:

Art and Stitch - Design Day 6 - Celtic Knot

2011-09-05T01:39:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to show my first Celtic knot since I started playing with Art and Stitch I have been trying different options on how to digitize Celtic designs. For a longarm machine the stitches of a design need to be in a continuous path and you need to draw in the order you want the machine to sew it out. For knots it is not always possible to identify the path without backtracking in parts. Well I tried lots of different options which looked good but stitching them out ended up with lots of oversewing and really didn't look good.
Tonight I picked a simple knot and decided to bring it in as a backdrop and trace the design, backtracking where I needed too. It took lots of attempts and lots of use of the reshape tool but I am very proud of my first Celtic Knot.

I stitched it out on my embroidery machine and it turned out well but I did see an area that didn't quite touch correctly and was able to fix it. Must set up my longarm tomorrow with some fabric to test my designs on it also.

Here it is stitched out:

I really had a very fun Friday night and even better is that the Giants won!

Art and Stitch - Design Day 5 - playing with swirls again

2011-09-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

So today I played with the auto shape swirl. Here is the shape I started with:

Which became this:

And then I split one swirl away to make another base shape and used the magic circle again and here is the result :

Lots of fun with swirls!

Art and Stitch - Design Day 4

2011-09-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Not sure what to call this today, it started out as a kinda feather doodle.

Are they leaves or flowers?

Art and Stitch - Design Day 3 - Swan Fun!

2011-09-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

Today's fun started out with a photograph I took of a swan on The Lough when I was at home recently. I did a post a while back about The Lough in Cork and it is one place that I always have to visit when I am in Cork.

Here is the photo that I started with:

I opened it as a backdrop in Art and Stitch and traced the swan and here is what it turned out like after much reshaping:

And here is the swan stitched out:

Not bad for a first attempt.

And then I decided to stitch it again but this time with 2 swans and my first attempt at water:

Art and Stitch - Design Day 2 - A swirl and a little magic!

2011-09-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

So for day 2 I want to show something that can be done in 5 min

Started out with one double swirl and end up with some interesting designs

As you see above I started out with one double swirl which I duplicated, then used the Magic Circle and then Transform Artwork, Unite and the result with 6 objects and then 9 objects produced some interesting designs.

Fun! Fun!

And here one of the designs stitched out:

Art and Stitch - Design Day 1

2011-08-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

So today's design started out as a very simple doodle

Doodle 1


Did some reshaping, duplication and connecting = Doodle 2


Then used the Magic Square to come up with Design 1

I went back to doodle #2 and duplicated it


Hit the Magic Square again and came up with design # 2.

Just shows you how a simple doodle can become a cool quilt block design and with some quick moves in Art and Stitch you can come up with a secondary designs - the options are endless from the starting point of one simple doodle!

Art and Stitch designs

2011-08-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

I spent two days in Salt Lake City recently where I attended a workshop for the Art and Stitch a digitizing software for longarm quilt and embroidery designs. Loes and Theo were wonderful teachers and the Handi Quilter folks were great hosts.

Theo on his blog is drawing 50 quilt patterns in 5 months with Art and Stitch and so far he has designed some great designs. Check out his frog, his King Tut, his Jungle Fun also got some great block designs.

Theo's blog posts have inspire me to also post some designs that I have created and as tomorrow is September 1, my goal is to post at least one design each day for a month. This will challenge me to keep practicing with this new wonderful software and also provide me with some unique designs I can use on my quilts.

This should be fun!

More Star Crazy blocks

2011-07-03T23:05:00.001-07:00

Three more blocks done today.

Four more to complete this months.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Star Crazy Month 1 First Block

2011-07-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

So of course I had to start experimenting with making the hst with the foundation paper and loved how they turned out.

I started with 2 61/2 inch fabric and the foundation paper, lined them up and sewed along the dashed line:

Then cut along the solid lines:

And then remove the paper and a little iron and here are some 2 1/2 inch hst:

Made more orange and pink hst:

And then assembled them into the first block which is 8 1/2 inched square:

Overall a very productive and enjoyable few hours.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Star Crazy

2011-07-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

So it seems like all I do lately is start projects and here is another one that I am about to start. Eddies had a July 4th sale this weekend and as I had two gift cards I decided to do some shopping. I got a rainbow of 1/2 yards and had great fun picking them out.

Got some nice shades of blue,purple, yellow, orange, pink, green and red and with a nice white and white as the background I am off and running on my another project.

This is a BOM from The Quilt Show and the HST are done with foundation paper which will be a first for me.

Oh and here is what it will eventually look like:

Now I have to decide if tonight I actually start this or continue on with Labyrinth or the Wonky log cabin.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

And I am a winner again

2011-06-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Oh I am getting lucky lately as I just one another giveaway from a blog buddy. I won this kit

This was from Dee on her wonderful blog Bitten by the quilting bug.

Thanks Dee for having this giveaway, I have a friend who loves Turtles and this will be eventually made for her.

I wonder if I should do the Lottery tonight as winnings usually come in threes!

More progress

2011-06-25T20:46:00.001-07:00

So I finished the rest of the hst and laid out as much as I could on the living room floor and here is the result:

I really like how it has turned out. Today I will start putting the rows together.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Labyrinth in progress

2011-06-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have been making a few half square triangles for this quilt since I cut it out last weekend. Laid them out as I took a lunch break from work today and really like how it is turning out. 24 more hst to make and will be able to lay it all out. Will be back with a progress report soon.

More progress on my Wonky Log Cabin

2011-06-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Have finished 4 more blocks with 2 nearly finished and also made a decision to make the blocks bigger - they are all now 15 inches square.

Enjoy!

Oh I am a winner

2011-05-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Got a wonderful email the other day to let me know that I was the winner in the Go! Bloom Giveaway that Sarah Vedeler hosted on her blog.

I won everything in the above photograph which includes the following:

The GO! Bloom CA
An AccuQuilt GO! Baby
The three dies used for the quilt: GO! Daisy, GO! Tulip and GO! Fun Flower
GO! Bloom Hand Dyed Fabric Collection by Ricky Tims
AURIfil Silk Hearts Thread Collection

I am so excited as I love Sarah's work. I actually own her GO! Be Dazzled CD and so I decided to try out one of the designs today. Here is the end result:

I really enjoyed the process of applique of my embroidery machine and the designs are just wonderful. It was my first time also working on a set of designs that needed the fabric on the hoop to be turned when stitching out, I always was nervous of trying that but it worked great as Sarah's instructions are wonderfully written and really clear.

Looking forward to get my package from AccuQuilt and from Sarah in the near future.

Wonky Log Cabin - in progress

2011-03-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to go with a wonky log cabin for my 2011 Roland McDonald House Quilt Challenge.
I read this Wonky log cabin tutorial and decided that I would give it a whirl.

Here are the black and white fabrics I picked to use:

This is the lavender cascade I am using as inspiration and have picked out lavender fabric to match from my stash.

I completed my first block recently and really enjoyed the process. I had no plan just a number of 2 1/2 inch and 1 1/2 inch strips and off I went. I really like how it turned out.

This will be squared up to 12 1/2 inches when I have all the block completed. One decision I need to make now is to keep it all solids and just use the Kona black and white solids in this block or to use the other black and white fabric in the picture above.

One block down and 24 more to go.

Life is like a bowlful Of __________________

2011-02-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

so I decided on Lavender as my color for this quilt challenge. I love the smell of lavender and the color and also I think it will look great with black and white.

I have looked online for some lavender inspiration so here are a few I found:

And for fabric I found this lovely Batik Lavender Cascade fabric by Avlyn fabric:

I also have been trying to think of a design and thinking some thing fresh and modern. I have been reviewing some of the quilts on Flickr and here are some that caught my eye:

You can read more about this here

From Flickr I found this and other wonderful designs from sewandtellquilts.com

Now I am off to sleep to smell some lavender and dream some great quilt designs!

Spring is on the way

2011-02-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

I was playing around with different aperture setting on my camera and like how this one turned out.

It is taken from the deck which is off our bedroom.

Life Is Like A Bowlful Of __________________

2011-01-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Check out this wonderful post from my quilting friend Thearica who is starting to take names for the 2011 Ronald McDonald House Crayola Challenge. Read her post to see what twist she has added for this years challenge.

For the quilt challenge we need to fill in the blanks for this statement "Life Is Like A Bowlful Of __________________ " and then chose a color that represent the word in the blank and using any shade of that color and also black and white to make a quilt.

Of course I have signed up but still trying to decide what my color would be.

This is my third time entering this challenge and you can read about the others here and here! At the end of both of these raffles there was a check of $4000 given to Ronald McDonald House in Texas another check for $4000 given to the house at Stanford, CA.

You can see the quilts from the last challenge that used the Life Is Like A Bowlful of _______ theme here.

Another quilt top finsished

2011-01-30T23:37:00.000-08:00

I bought this kits for the blocks for this quilt when I was at PIQF last October from a wonderful husband and wife who also sell on Ebay.

Most of the blocks were done last year and last weekend I put the rows together and then did the 2 borders together last Friday night when I was at Open Sew at Eddies.

I just loved the colors when I saw the sample at the booth in PIQF and now love how this quilt turned out.

Next decision is what quilt design to use for quilting it, I also wonder how long it will be in the "to be quilted pile"

Trying to catch Santa

2011-01-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

I got this picture on Christmas eve, it is my eight year old niece who was on a mission to catch santa by staying up all night in the sitting room under the tree. Aoife fell a sleep long before Santa arrived and woke up about 4am in the morning amazed that Santa had arrived, left lots of gifts and had drank his milk and Rudolf had chewed up his carrot.

I love this picture for many reasons and one of which is that she is asleep under a quilt I made for her.

Both Aoife and I love butterflies and when I found this fabric I just knew that I had to make her a quilt out of it. I love the inspirational message that it provides and I hope Aoife has lots of dreams that inspire her on the journey of her life as she cuddles and sleeps under this quilt which was stitched with love by her Auntie Leona.

I just love the spirit of giving that Quilters have

2011-01-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

My wonderful quilting friend Therarica put out a birthday wish for her 50 th Birthday in November. The wish was to get enough quilts to denote to the Central Children's Home near where she lived. The request went out to her quilting buddies and the quilts started rolling in. My other good quilting sister, Trish in Australia and I decided to team up and she provided two tops and backing and I would quilt them and bind for her. I had a UFO in my pile that I decided to quilt and donate also.
Here are Trish's quilt tops on Lizzie. For the red white and blue quilt I used a starts and loops quilt design

And for this wonderful colorful quilt I used a flowers and swirls design.

Here are the three quilts that were donated from Trish and I on the swing on Therarcia porch. Don't they look great.

Thearica wrote a wonderful post when she made the presentation of the quilts to the teenagers who currently reside at the home. Here is a picture of the kids with some of their quilts:

A wonderful group of quilters donated 24 quilts to help with Thearica Birthday wish and I believe that the recipients of the quilts had smiles from ear to ear and kept saying Thank You!
One interesting thing to note is that Thearica, Trish and I have never met in person but we are sisters in quilting on the HGTV Quilting message board. It just astounds me how giving most quilters are and they give freely of their gifts to others in need.

What's cooking?? Sunday!

2011-01-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday is one day that I try and make a nice dinner, sometimes it is a traditional Irish Sunday dinner or a new recipe I want to try. Today I made neither of these but made some spaghetti and meatballs, it turned out really yummy so here is how I made it.

Leona's Spaghetti and Meatballs

What you need:

Sauce

28 oz can of diced tomatoes

8 oz can of tomato sauce

Cup each of finely chopped carrots, onion and celery

Garlic

Chopped Fresh Parsley and Basil

Red pepper flakes

2 cups of chicken stock

Olive oil

Meatballs

3/4 lb of ground beef

3/4 lb of ground turkey

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

2 sticks of mozzarella cheese

More fresh parsley and Basil

Heat olive oil and then add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent
Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce and add some of the chopped parsley and basil, one cup of chicken stock and the red pepper flakes. Combine well and bring to a boil.
Simmer immediately and continue to cook for at least 30 mins ( longer if you have time)
Stir occasionally and add some chicken stock if needed
When cooked, use an immersion blender to combine the ingredients into a smother sauce.
While the sauce is simmering, combine the meat, parsley, basil and parmesan in a bowl, mixing well.
Chop the mozzarella cheese into about 1/4 inch pieces
Take some of the meat meat mixture ( enough to make about a 1 - 1 1/2 inch ball) in your hand and smash it flat, add a piece of mozzarella and roll into a ball. Make about 25 meat balls, try and keep the size consistent so they will cook at the same rate.
Add the meatballs to the sauce and very gently stir so the meatballs are coated with sauce, simmer for about 45 mins. Stir gently occasional as the sauce and meatball combine beautifully together.

Serve with spaghetti and sprinkle the top with grated parmesan, basil and parsley.

It turned out really tasty and the good news is there is enough leftovers for tomorrow's dinner.

Adding the meatballs to the sauce

Meatballs and sauce simmer and combing wonderful flavors

The finished product - yummy yummy!

A new year.......

2011-01-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

Wow I have been a very bad blogger it is nearly a year since I posted, I made a promise to myself today that I will update this more regularly to share the creative things I do in the sewing room, kitchen and with my camera.

I took a Photography class yesterday and have began the journey of being able to use my camera (Nikon D40) out of auto mode and now using manual mode. The class was fun and I spent some time today going over the handbook we got, making sure I understand the new concepts I have learn - aperture, shutter speed and depth of field etc. Thanks to Nicole and Tom for a very informative day. Also found this website, Digital Photography School and spent time reading through the photo tips and forum, it made for great reading.

Today it was time to take down the Christmas tree to put it outside to be picked up for recycling and put away the decorations for another year. I wandered the Menlo Park Farmers Market and it really was very chill at 44 degrees, bought leeks and a wonderful looking cauliflower. Grocery shopping was done and I am still amazed how one bag of groceries at Trader Joe's cost me $51.

Busy in the sewing room as I have three projects going in parallel, one is a secret project that I cannot share as I am helping to test a pattern that is going to be published later this year. A group of us are testing the pattern and I am looking forward to seeing how each one turns out.

Another project I am working on is a teal and purple batik ( of course) log cabin with 24 blocks completed and currently chain piecing the remaining 12. I really like how it is progressing as I love batiks, especially teal and purple and I love the layout I picked. Should have some pictures soon.

The next project is also a fun one as you strip piece wonderful 1 1/2 inch strips of Jinny Beyer fabric. Oh the shades of colors in her fabric just makes my heart sing. The quilt kit I am using is called Night and Day and the technique used results in 2 quilts - Night is made from triangles cut from the strip sets and put together with a dark background and the Day is made with the remaining triangles with a lighter fabric.

Some yummy smells are coming up from the kitchen so need to go check on dinner.

This month I also finished this for Aislinn for her 5th Birthday

2010-04-25T23:50:00.001-07:00

It is a Winged Whimsey Wallhanging with a Lady bird, butterfly and dragon fly. It was my first time working with appliqué and really had fun making it.

And the quilting on the back with label..........

Love the hanger that it can hang from with a heart in the middle

And the very cute label

A new little baby arrived on April 24th

2010-04-25T23:19:00.000-07:00

And I am happy to say that the baby quilt is ready to be given with the exception of the label and that will be done as soon the name is decided. By all accounts the experience was much shorter than when his Big brother arrived nearly 3 years ago.

Well as soon as the email goes out I can let you know who the baby is but for now I can show you the quilt I made for the new arrival and the new arrivals Big Brother.

Here are the pictures of the baby quilt:

And the big brother quilt is ready with the exception of the binding and label which shouldn't take long to finish. Here it is:

I cannot wait to see the new baby and see how Big Brother likes his John Deere tractors.

Eddies Customer Quilt Show March 2010

2010-03-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the topic below, my quilt has been in a Customer Quilt Show at Eddie's Quilting Bee for the month of March. We were at Eddie't tonight and I got Lar to shoot this video with his iPhone to show as many of the quilts as he could - Thanks Lar!

I wonder which ones will win the three prizes, which would you vote for?

I titled this one "Circle of Life"

2010-03-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I found this amazing pattern when I was at PQIF last October, A Journey Remembered and was so captivated by the quilt I had to buy the pattern. I started it just after Christmas and am so excited by the finished product. I decided to go with a purple and teal version and threw in some gold to give it sparkle!

What I really liked about the process of making this quilt is that it a number of traditional sewing techniques - applique ( my first attempt), log cabin piecing and watercolor blending but it all works together to make this contemporary and modern design.

When mine was finished I decided to call it "Circle of Life". Here are a number of pictures of it:

I loved the quilting design on this one it is called "Circuit Path" by Kristin Hoftyzer, the combination of the square geometric lines with the circles was just perfect for the quilt.

If you would like to see this quilt in person it is currently displayed at Eddies Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale, CA as part of the Customer contest for the month of March. If you like my quilt you can even vote for it - add # 11 to the voting slip :).

It is also part of a virtual gallery show which is being put on on Second Life .

Enjoy and Happy Quilting Day.

Ronald McDonald Quilt for 2010

2010-03-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

As most of you know from the post below , I volunteered last year to be part of the Roland McDonald Crayola Quilt Challenge on the HGTV Quilting message board, this year was no exception as soon as Theresa posted about it I added my name to the list. A few weeks later I got my crayon in the mail and it was Brick Red. hmmmmm one color that I don't have any of in my stash but I did come across an Asian red and black quilt kit that I had bought at PIQF two years ago that would work perfectly. So I got sew..........

Here is what I sent for the challenge this year:

This year I actually quilted it also myself so it is a very special contribution. I loved the fan design of the quilting and think it added to the Asian fabric fantastically.

So if you would like to win this quilt or 30 plus more - just let me know and I can arrange it for you. The great thing about the draw is that if you win one, you are still eligible to win one of the others as long as your name is in the draw.

First day of Advent 2009

2009-11-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

It is really hard to believe that Advent starts today, where has this year gone - it has just flown by! We are now in the waiting and preparation time for the arrival of Baby Jesus and the celebration of Christmas. As we begin the Advent journey lets us pray the words of Mother Therese:

Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us, and be so in us that every soul we come in contact withmay feel Your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.

Took my Embroidery Machine to Japan ...........

2009-10-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well not literally to Japan but did work on some great Japanese Sashiko design that turned out awesome! Here are some pictures for you to judge for yourself:

Next steps is to bring these squares with me to my Open Sew at Eddies on Wednesday and decide how to put them together to make a quilt.

New quilt project - Nickel Bricks

2009-10-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last week there as a post on the HGTV quilting message board wondering what the following pattern was:

My good buddy Trish, responded with posting the pattern from the book Loose Change and the pattern was called Nickel Bricks.

I then read the post and started to chuckle as I had cut out this pattern a while back and started working on it but then got distracted with my Scraps to Treasures challenge quilt and had totally forgotten about it. I resurrected the fabric to see where I had left off and began working on it. At the end of the first day I had all the single blocks completed:

And one test of what a four block will look like:

The next day my friend Cynthia was coming by for a sewing day and all the single blocks became twos and then fours. This is what is currently on my design wall:

I really like how it is shaping up as I love batik and black together. As tomorrow is a Football Sunday I think this is the project I will work on and hopefully will get all the rows put together. Stay tuned for an updated photo!

One question I am mulling over in my mind is which way to finish the quilt. As you can see in the first two pictures each of them have a different boarder. The top one has a plain black border and the one in the book had a piano key style border. I have the batik fabric cut out but still need to cut the black if I go with the piano key option. Decision, decisions!

RONALD McDONALD HOUSE CRAYOLA CHARITY CHALLENGE - Part 2

2009-07-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Last October, I had a post about the Ronald McDonald House Crayola Charity Challenge I was taking part in with my quilting buddies on the quilting message board on Hgtv.com and it is about time I gave an update on how it progressed. At the end of the last post I has sent my completed top off to Carol in Texas to be machine quilted. She did an awesome job of it and here are some pictures to prove it:

Next I had to add on the binding and it was ready to send on to Thearica by mid December so that the quilts could be pictured and ready for the sale of the raffle tickets which went from January 2009 - July 2009.

Here is a picture of my completed quilt with the binding on it:

Here are all the quilts that were in the raffle.

Roll on to July 3rd, Therica and a number of her friends headed to Gastonia Fire Department to have the raffle drawing. Here are some of the pictures taken that day:

From all reports a great day was had by all on the visit to Gastonia and the best news of all that the final total of money raised for the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas, Texas was $4000.

Next steps was to give the presentation of the money to RMH and one of the board members Sherry got the privilege of doing that and here she is with Sarah from the House Love Built:

The house currently has 26 rooms and a couple of transplant rooms when the new house is opened in November there will be a total of 52 rooms. The money we donated will be put towards furniture for the new house.

Another exciting day arrived when the postman left a nice big box on my front door step, I was on skype talking to Mum and Dad in Cork so I turned on the video and they got to see the beautiful quilts that arrived out of the box.

A big thank you to JeanClaire, Terrimae and Therica for the wonderful quilts that emerged out of the box. The first one was not in fact from the raffle but an extra one that I got for selling the most tickets among the quilt makers. I never win anything so was really amazed to win all of these quilts.

Overall taking part in this challenge was an awesome experience. I was so new to quilting when I started and was very nervous when I volunteered to take part but in early January when I saw my quilt with all the other quilts I was able to declare - "I am a quilter!". It was also great to be able to take a small part in the $4000 that was presented to the RMH in Dallas, I want to thank all those who bought tickets from me and it feels great to know that the money will give comfort to families who are going through a tough time dealing with a sick child.

So I though the story ended there and on Friday I went to the message board and low and behold there was a post from Therica announcing the "2nd ANNUAL Crayola Challenge". This time there is a different twist as we will be be only getting one crayon in the mail but we can use all shades of that crayon - light to dark and medium and anything in between and then and pick one crayon ourselves but we can just use the true color of that crayon. So what do you think.................have I signed up???!!!!!

Another quilt top finished

2009-05-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

I just finished another quilt top and added to the list of other one that needed to be quilted!
This on is called "Zen", I made this one from the Batik that I had already on hand i.e. in my stash. I am pleased at how it has turned out.

Full Length

Close up

Tomato Success

2009-05-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

We have success in our tomato plants as our first green "little" bud has appeared.

Can you see it next to the two yellow flowers, just above the wire??

Making great progress since they were planted.

Another quilt top finished tonight

2009-05-02T00:44:00.000-07:00

I was working hard on getting this finished today, I just LOVE how this one turned out, it is called Weaver Fever.

Happy Birthday Aislinn

2009-05-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

Aislinn, was 4 on April 7th which was the day that Mum was flying out to visit us for three weeks. So about 2 weeks before her birthday I asked her if she wanted her gift sent to her by the post man or if Nannie could bring it home for her and also if she wanted me to buy her a gift or make her a gift. Her answer was that she wanted me to make her a gift and for Nannie to bring it home for her.

As I had already made Aislinn two quilt and a crayon roll up, I had to come up with something really special to make for her. I asked the ladies on my quilting message board on HGTV for some suggestions and Trish my buddy from Australia came up with an awesome pattern for a Ballerina bag.

Here is how it turned out:

And the inside has ballerina fabric and of course I had to use the one with the red hair inside!

Hope you love your bag, Aislinn as much as I loved making it for you. Happy Birthday.

French Briad Back from the Long Arm Quilter

2009-05-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

In a previous post I should you all my French Braid Quilt Top, I mentioned that Melodee was going to quilt it for me on her Long Arm Machine. Last week she came by to have lunch when Mum was visiting and she brought the finished French Braid quilt with her and what an awesome job she has done:

The reveal

Front

Back

Close up of Quilting

What an awesome job, Mel has done with my quilt. I am so proud of this quilt and Mel has added the icing to the cake!

Tomato time again

2009-05-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

In early April I was at the garden center and they had tomato plants, I felt it was a little early to plant them but the two people working at the garden center told me it should be fine. I bought some Early girls, some cherry tomatoes and some Big Beef tomatoes along with some flowers.

We got home and spent a while cleaning up the pots from last year and got the new tomatoes, planted, watered and all ready. Also planted the flowers, it was great to be work in the garden again as it was a while since I felt the dirty in my finger!

It was a nice sunny April day when we were working in the garden but as we moved into the afternoon the wind picked up some. I really wasn't that worried about it until Lar called me from the kitchen and said "look where the umbrella has blown too." I went to the back door to see the umbrella lying across the newly planted tomatoes. We quickly rescued the plants which were really not damaged in any way the cages were just moved a little from the weight of the umbrella.

The following show some pictures of the planting day:

Would you like to win 30 Fat Quarters

2009-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Check out Thearica's Giveaway , she is giving away 30 Fat Quarters to celebrate her daughters 30 birthday. If you leave a comment tell her I sent you :-)

Thearica is an awesome quilter who I have met on the HGTV Quilting Message board and is the hostess on the Ronald McDonald Quilt Raffle. I was a new quilter when I took the challenge to make a quilt based on three crayons that she sent me and I am so happy I took the challenge.

Therarica, I was at a quilt show last week and took this picture especially for you:

Spring has arrived in California...............

2009-03-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Spring arrived officially on Friday so I decided to take my camera to the garden to see what I could find to see if Spring had actually sprung! Here is what I found:

So I think we can declare Spring is here and it is time to clean up some of my other pots and plant some more plants! :-)

What I should mention is that our Landlord looks after the front garden and Dad planted the bulbs in my back garden when he was here for Thanksgiving 2007 so it was good to see that his bulbs gave us joy again this year.

St. Patricks Day 2009

2009-03-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day this year with a lunch time visit from some great friends the Murphy family - Andrea, Gerry, Bernadette and Maryn all arrived looking splendid in green.

We all had a wonderful time so I think I will leave the pictures tell the story: