Gauging interest?

*ATTENTION -- SIGN-UPS ARE HERE ON JULY 2 AT 9 AM PST!*

I am considering organizing a 10" square swap of all the Cotton + Steel prints, and gauging interest ahead of time. It would involve the quilting cottons only from the designers' individual collections, which you can see here. 

Comment below if you're interested, and more details will follow if it looks like we can get 68 people to play along!!! :)

what am I thinking??? Not sure... ;)

A little giveaway

*Giveaway now closed - Barbara Woods was the winner*

I am hosting a little giveaway on Instagram, but will share here in case, like I wasn't for a long time, you're not there. 

You can enter for the Grand Prize on Instagram, or comment here with your favorite pattern and which essential oil sample you'd like to try!

Find the patterns here, and a list of the oils to try here! (Frank and PanAway not eligible for the sample). 

Thank you all for the support! ♥

Easy, lacto-fermented pickles

About a year ago or so I learned about fermenting veggies, and as requested, here's my little blog post on how I do pickles. 

Supplies:
- mason jar
- fresh cucumbers (I picked these last night)

- real salt (NOT iodized - I use the himalayan pink salt from Costco)
- pickling spices, herbs, garlic, etc.
- NOT chlorinated water (we have well water, so I use from the tap)
- optional: starter (will explain in a bit)
- optional: airlock type lid (I use this Perfect Pickler)

- optional: tea leaves or grape leaves (for their tannins; my pickling spice has bay leaves in it, so that works for me)

1) Fill your jar with cucumbers and herbs and spices. (My jar is usually stuffed full - it's OK to pack those cucumbers in tight, and actually can help with the ferment). 

2) Make a brine with some salt. I don't measure in anything but quilting, so I just go for salty. My book, Real Food Fermentation, recommends a ratio of 1/2 cup of salt to 2 quarts of non-chlorinated water. Remember: NOT iodized salt!

3) Here's where I cheat:
Sauerkraut is my only ferment I do that I don't add a starter. For these pickles, I saved some of the brine from my last batch of Bubbies (you can get them at a health food store in the fridge). They're fermented pickles. 

4) Add the brine and starter to the pickles (I think it's about 1/2 cup of starter -- for the next batch; I just reserve some of the brine and herbs from this batch and that has worked really well for me).

Make sure the pickles are covered with brine!

5) Let them sit on the counter for 3-5 days. They will bubble and change color, but they're delicious! My Scarlet especially loves them. If you don't have an air-lock lid, open once or twice/day to release some of the pressure. If your home is especially warm, they will ferment faster. I sometimes put them in the fridge in the middle of the day to slow down the process. Move to the fridge and they keep for a long time!

This is my fresh batch, and my last batch after 4 days of pickling!

I use cabbage leaves, a little stainless cup, a smaller jar inside a jar, or other ways to keep the pickles below the level of the brine. I went back and added more to this batch because I noticed my pickles had floated up a bit. 

Enjoy!

#getbacktothegarden
#probioticsforthewin

"Emily's wedding quilt"

My sweet friend has a sweet baby girl named Emily. Emily's big sister already had a quilt, but we didn't know if this little lady was a baby boy or girl, so her quilt wasn't ready when she was brand new. 

Emily just turned one, and over the past year I've had many, many different ideas for her quilt, until I saw this fabric, and knew I wanted to design something around it. 

I asked Instagram and some friends for ideas, and Kelly showed me this quilt, called "Emily's Wedding Quilt" from Fons & Porter. I reworked the block sizes, and got to fussy cutting! 

Here was the plan. 

A couple cute blocks

Almost there! 

Now to make a border and quilting plan!

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P.S. I still have a bunch of destash items available. Free PDF pattern with a purchase... I'm even happy to take offers! :)

a baby quilt and destash this fine Monday morning. :)

Good morning friends!

I've had a few quilt finishes in the last couple months believe it or not! ;)  One I can't blog yet (bummer), but a couple I can (even if they're small).

This first one I started when the little owner of this quilt was just brand new, and for some reason, her name inspired me. And then it sat. For a very long time. Not sure why... but it just happened that way.

Until one weekend I decided I wanted to finish something.

I knew I had to use this map fabric from SarahJane, not only because of the color scheme, but the symbolism. (The year of Jubilee, Biblically, was when slaves were freed, and all kinds of mercies were bestowed - I like the idea of that covering the whole world).



The quilt is very simple. Just some pretty patchwork squares and a name from Kelly's Wonky Alphabet pattern. (Lindsey even got a whole 'nother quilt out of the extra squares! :D

Infinity loops and loop-di-loops for the quilting.





I hope miss Jubilee loves it!

(You know what's kind of funny? She is one of Scarlet's little dopplegangers... see???)

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In other news: 

Big destash going on in my pattern shop! I'm giving away a free pdf pattern with each purchase -- just leave the note of your choice in the little check out note and I'll email it to you. :) Most things are priced at $5/yard!