potluck gold

i know a lot of folks are celebrating the 4th this weekend, with fish fries and campouts.  we had a family BBQ to go to today, so i whipped up a potluck favorite and wanted to share! 

candy apple salad:

super easy and kid friendly.  my only warnings are this:

1.  label your dish.  it looks a bit like potato salad after it gets stirred, and so people may not know what it is!
2. don't freeze your snicker bars first.  you don't want aunt edna breaking a tooth.
3. unless you have a lot of self control, you may need to buy extra snickers so enough ends up in the dessert.  i tend to nibble them up while chopping.  those little pieces are calorie free, right?

for mine today i used:

a large box of vanilla pudding, 3 c. milk, an 8 oz. tub of cool whip (but should have used 16) 18  17 16 fun size snickers, about 9 med. apples, and 1/2 c. caramel sauce.  mix pudding & milk, let sit 2 minutes to firm, fold in cool whip, peeled chopped apples and chopped candy bars.  drizzle with caramel.  chill until serving time.

need another side dish?  we love this cole slaw recipe.  happy weekend everyone! 

small projects, gettin smaller!

just need to bind this dish mat and i can cross it off my small projects list!  woohoo!  and i used up a remnant and a fat eighth or so of two other fabrics from my stash.

i made one awhile back, but it wasn't big enough to hold all of the dishes that air dry after unloading the dishwasher.  yes, i know, i could hand dry them as i unload it.  but for me, setting them on the counter is an easier solution, since half of what gets washed is cups and cereal bowls. they get used again about as fast as i unload them.  win win!  (in my book anyways)

anyways, i'm using store bought binding for this one.  we have a stack of dvds from the library and it's a scorching 102.5 degrees outside.  sounds like a good day for movies and binding!

by the way, is it common for dishes to not dry in the dishwasher?  even if i use the drying cycle, they never get all the way dry.  any brand you'd recommend? we may be in the market for a new dw soon, ours is making strange noises...

decisions, decisions...

it's so hot here, 106 heat index yesterday, so we're staying inside and having another playdate this afternoon!  i'm hopeful for some stitching time.

i made these HST back in oh, 2010, i think?  jeez.  they were in a basket that got some more fabric set on top of it, and then stuffed under another pile...  yes, i'm a hoarder.  it was originally going to be pinwheels, (for this quiltalong!)

and then i liked this layout,

but today i am thinking they look pretty good like this:

hmm.  what to do.  i ♥ ♥ ♥ playing with HST!  there are so many great blocks you can make with them!

(fabrics are heather bailey's pop garden)

12 angry men

jury duty is over.  it was an emotional ride, from listening to a (then 16 year old) girl recount a sexual assault from 12 years ago to determining the guilt of another human being.  not something i care to ever repeat.  i am saddened and frustrated and some other conflicting feelings, by many things in general, so i think i needed a day or two to decompress and do some mindless sewing.  if you're interested in the case, here's a link.  i'm confident we made the right decision, but it was difficult to say the least. 

in happier news, emma's ready to make another skirt, and she's planning to enter it in the town fair in july :)  maybe she'll win a ribbon!

i have been keeping up with the beginner's quilt-along hosted by pat sloan and the quilting gallery, and we are on week 3.  there's still plenty of time to join in, and did i mention there are weekly prizes?!  just share your completed block in the flickr pool!

here's my fabrics, i dug in the stash and picked some kona espresso, amy butler prints, hushabye and i can't remember, is the far right floral is heather bailey or AMH?  not knowing the blocks ahead of time made it a challenge, and i'm still not sure how the deep brown will look at the end.  i may have to add ivory or something to lighten it up. 

and my first two blocks:

as you can see, i haven't stitched the front block together yet.  that is the layout the pattern called for, but i might like it better like this:

what do you think i should do?

this week is a churn dash block, and i think i'll go make it right now.  laters baby. ;)

ok, i'm back.  here's block three.

and all three together.

still not sold on the brown. :/

out of the office

i am on jury duty this week, so i will be offline (gasp!) for much of the next three days!  it feels weird and disconnected.  but on the plus side, i get a lunch break (it's been 8 years since i had one of those!) and nobody is saying mom!mom!mom!mom!mom! every five minutes.

last night before bed, emma had her 2nd sewing lesson.  she's 7 (and a half, as she's fond of saying) and she's been asking me to teach her to sew.  usually while i am working on a project and don't have the time or patience to do it right then.  so i had troy put the boys to bed and we made a skirt. 

i say we, because i did the cutting and ironing, but she chose the fabric, ran the foot pedal, helped steer the fabric and learned about the parts of the sewing machine.  she was impressed with the selection of presser feet and wanted to use the walking foot.  so i think she'll be a quilter someday too.  ♥

sew full of summer

i'm hosting another sew full event!

sew full of summer will run july 9-16, 2012 with a week full of giveaways and guest posts!  feel free to spread the word and post the button on your own blog!  i've got some goodies lined up, it's going to be fab!

pssst - if you'd be interested in sponsoring a giveaway or being a guest poster, just shoot me an email (craftytammieATyahooDOTcom) with your ideas!

dress to skirt upcycle

some good friends of ours tied the knot yesterday!

i wasn't sure what to wear, so i refashioned a dress into a skirt. i had bought a fun tank dress on target clearance, even though it was an XL.  the xhilaration brand is sized for juniors, so i figured i could just take the top in a little.  but when i tried it on, i wasn't loving it. 

hmm, what to do.  mind you, this was at 11am and we needed to leave at 2!  i decided to chop off the straps and make a skirt out of it. 

i didn't have any wide elastic, so i butted up two lengths and zigzagged them together to make a wider piece.  once it was threaded, i also tacked the dress and elastic together in several spots so it wouldn't fold over inside the casing.  i didn't need a lot of stretch so this worked.  (if you had to stretch the elastic very far, the zigzag stitching would pop.)  but in a pinch, it worked!

this was actually the front of the dress, but i made it the back of my skirt.  i like to think that the diagonal lines gave the illusion of a smaller butt, heehee.

i love the border around the bottom.  i think it turned out really cute, and more flattering than the dress too!  the halter is an ancient one from old navy (fall '06 actually) but i was cool & comfortable, even though the hall was stifling.  we had a lot of fun, and are so happy for you, red & mariah!  congratulations!

exciting news!

if you know me very well you'd appreciate how hard it's been for me to keep this piece of news to myself.  but i just got the ok to share, so here it is!

have you heard of the book one-yard wonders?  what about fabric by fabric one-yard wonders?
guess what.
there's a third book coming out next summer, called one-yard wonders little wonders, filled with projects for kids and their parents.

and i have a project in the book!  yes, i am on team one-yard wonders!!

i don't do much tutorial or pattern writing.  it's super hard for me.  and i almost didn't do it.  but i managed to make my samples and get them mailed and find all the mistakes in my pattern (i hope!) and now i am just relieved that the project is in their hands. 

it has definitely made me appreciate what goes into writing a book.  so it was fascinating to hear jacquie gering speak about writing a book at our KCMQG meeting last night.  she showed us the quilts from her & katie pedersen's new book,  quilting modern.

there are some really cool quilts in this book!  i bought a copy and am excited to try the projects.  as she mentioned in her program last night, none of these techniques are new ones.  but for me, the way they used the techniques to create exciting designs was one of those "aha! wish i'd thought of that!"

i love the combo of the bright blue with ash.

you know what the most inspiring thing of the night was for me?  learning that she started quilting, like,  four years ago, and that she taught herself with some help from mr. google. great job jacquie!!  thanks for visiting with us!  and if you're in the kc area, she'll be at Harper's from 4-6 on saturday!

zippers, the lazy way

so, i am a lazy crafter.  i admit to taking shortcuts once in awhile.  obviously, this doesn't apply to things i am making for beemates, or the occasional paying customer.  but, if i'm whipping up a dolly dress or something for myself, finished takes precedence.  seams are a little wonky?  well, it's probably not getting ripped out.

i was working on a secret project - i can't wait to tell you about it! - and decided to try something.  after googling "inserting zipper for pocket" and finding videos involving interfacing, and measuring, and cutting - i thought, too much room for error.  why can't i just do this?

this, my friends - the lazy gal's zipper, or, how to cheat when making a zippered pocket.

i laid out a  2"x13"strip for the left side, two strips 1.5"x4" for the top and bottom, and a 10"x13" piece for the right side (that will fold under to create the pouch).  i'm putting in an 8" zipper.

be sure to fold under enough fabric to cover the zipper ends

next, iron down the edges that will have the zipper attached to them.  (i turned under 1/4",  more on the top & bottom piece.)  stitch the top and bottom strip to each end of the zipper.  and let's pretend i took a picture of that.

 you get it now, right?

now lay the left side strip along the zipper.  using your zipper foot, stitch the zipper to the strip.

time to attach the right side.  sew zipper to fabric.

tada!  you now have a quick zippered pouch insert!  i think this could be cool using a contrasting fabric for the little top & bottom pieces.  oh - this is made to be stitched into the seams along all three unfinished sides.  i can't wait to show you what this is a part of...  oh the suspense!

so, tell me - do you sew zippers or avoid them like the plague?  is there any reason this won't work?  i'm sure mrs. johnson (my sewing teacher from school) would be horrified over this!

hi all!

the days are just flying by, with me not getting much accomplished.  i blame kids. 

here's a quick recap of craftiness since we last spoke.

embellished this simple tank with some grosgrain ribbon.  super simple, snip and thread.  they made a bow, but i'm not a big bow girl.  the project is from I Spy DIY Style  i got this book at the library, and while i don't think i would make many of the projects, it did make me look at my closet in a new way.  next to try, sprucing up some scuffed up flats of emma's with puffy paint...

i made another of these cute drawstring bags from jeni at in color order.  i used ugly duckling by lizzy house, some MM peppermint dumb dot, and lined it with a red pin dot.  it's on it's way to my friend cara.

side note - i saw jeni at quilt market but i was too shy to introduce myself.  i found that happening a lot.  and the people i did say hi to, i tripped over my words and even found myself saying things about the weather.  sheesh.  i'm a dork.

and i added some craft books to my etsy.  some vintage, others not.  i have to weed out my book collection, because my husband bought an enormous wrestling mat for the kids to play on, and it will have to go where my bookshelves are.  so i may be listing some other books soon, i'll let you know when i do!

fuming at Yardsellr

oh boy, i am hopping mad right now.

i've been trying a few new sites out for my vintage sheet fabric sales.  tophatter, which is fun but hard to schedule items on.  and yardsellr, which is done through facebook, where the buyer pays the fees.

i had my first sale on yardsellr a few weeks back.  a few FQ of vs fabric.  they require you to get a tracking number and enter it before getting paid for the item.  so i did that, mailed it off, and got my $9 check in a week or so.  i put it in the bank and forgot about it.

until i got the mail today.  and found a notice from my bank, saying that yellowdog media, inc. had STOPPED PAYMENT on the check - resulting in me being charged $28 in fees by my bank, plus i am out the fabric, the postage, and the buyer's money!  my bank tells me i'd have to go to small claims court to resolve it.

and of course, i just get form emails back when i try to contact Yardsellr, who (suspiciously enough) has no customer service phone number.  i am so angry right now!  i have bought fabric from other sellers on the site, i sure hope they aren't being scammed.

hopefully, there has been some mix-up, and Yardsellr will make this right and cover the fees and issue me some actual money.

but i have to say, i am not getting my hopes up.  i am going to file a complaint a dca.ca.gov if i don't hear back from them soon.

EDITED 7:30pm- about an hour ago, i got an email and blog comment from them with an apology and a promise to make this right.  i hope for the best, and lesson learned, right?  i had no idea i could get charged banking fees for someone else writing a bad check, or a computer glitch.  did you?

EDITED AGAIN - i received a check in the mail for the full amount - but honestly i'm a little nervous about cashing it!  crossing my fingers!

progress!

since i don't have enough to do already, i joined a few block swaps on flickr.

the amish buggy block swap - these are so fast!  i cut a strip from each of the kona solids i had on hand, and whipped these out after the kids went to bed tonight.

i don't remember all the color names, and i don't have a handy kona card either, so i'm just guessing.  but there's tangerine and ash, khaki with (not kona)red, navy and tarragon, candy pink and corn?, navy and turquoise, and candy pink and gray.  i have two shades of navy, and two shades of pink - but i'm pretty sure they were both kona bought at joann's. 

so help me out - does kona have dye lots?  is it common to have variations in colors?  or is it because it's from joann's?  i know the pics are fuzzy - late night bad lighting - but you can see there is a slight difference between them, can't you?

each strip set makes two blocks.  so i am keeping one and swapping one.  and it looks like a similar quilt is on the cover of the new quilty magazine - see?

and i also joined the granny gone wild swap.  i have had a granny square quilt on the list since i first saw them popping up everywhere.  i really want to make this quilt using my yellow, gray, and aqua charms.  i did this trial block with them, and i love the look of three colors vs. two.  but either way, they are fun blocks!  this block came out small, so i need to check my machine and adjust my needle and stuff.  ugh, maintenance.  then i need to knock out 10-20 of these for this swap.  it will be a great scrappy quilt!

it looks like signups are still open on both, so if you're interested, go check it out!

quilting along

looking for a quick quilt project for the summer?  pat sloan and the quilting gallery are hosting the beginner's quilt-along!

 

i am thinking about joining in this one!  it looks fun, easy, and FAST.  wanna do it with me?  we could motivate one another to the finish line!  even if you don't do it, you should head over, they are having a reliable iron giveaway!

speaking of finish lines, the color run is coming up!  i have been walking/jogging to try to "train" for it, but i am still so not in shape.  i hope i don't pass out or fall down or something!  got new kicks yesterday too - nike pegasus, shiny and new.  so now the guilt over buying them is another motivator.  heehee.