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!

Steiger turned five

(his birthday was actually April 10 -- I am a little late on this...)

Oh my Steiger Jay. (his name rhymes with "Tiger," by the way)...

I really like being your mama. At this moment, you are battling a mylar balloon we got you for your birthday, telling me how great your fighting skills are.

There are many things about you that are very stereo-typically "boy" (as pictured in the Iron Viking costume above). While I was typing, you put down the balloon, and climbed in to the chair with your sister, surrounded by pillows and quilts. You two are chatting about something. You are an excellent brother.

For your birthday, I gave you a "yes" day. The rules were that as long as you were being nice, I'd say yes to your requests. You had pretzels for breakfast, PB & J for lunch, and dinner, at your request, was "chicken, rice, crunchy carrots, cheese, and pizza for dessert." We changed pizza to ice cream and Dad pulled down a candle off the mantle to light. I wanted to ask you what your wish was. :)

All morning, you watched videogame walkthroughs on youtube. I think MineCraft battles is what you were on. I make you mute the volume, because some of the people who do videogame walkthroughs, even for kids' games, do not have the nicest language. You then love to tell your dad and I all about the "mods."

When we took you to your friend Jack's farm a few days ago, you didn't really show your farmer's boy roots... You were squeamish of moving the chicks, and your dad can't get you to grab worms. I will take the blame for those genes my dear boy... along with a few others. BUT, you sure do know how to play. You guys ran, and squealed, and poured water down the slide.

You love to be squirted and play games. You're actually very, very good at playing games with other kids. So conscientious. Almost too conscientious at times... when we were watching the pigs, you were more concerned with making sure the smaller kids didn't get too close to the electric fence than you were with watching the piggies. ♥ You notice everything and care mucho.

You and your sister are best friends. And it is my greatest joy.
I love snuggling you, listening to you, going on "dates," and being your mama. You are an exceptional boy my Steiger, and we all love you.

Your birthday Interview
Nicknames: "I don't have any nicknames" (with a name like Steiger, who needs 'em, right?)

How old are you? 5

What is your favorite color? Red

What is your favorite animal? Bears

What is your favorite book? Creepy books

What is your favorite TV show? Power Rangers (He also loves Wild Kratts)

What is your favorite movie? Star Wars

What is your favorite song? "I don't have a favorite song"

What is your favorite food? Rice (now that's fitting)

What is your favorite drink? Milk

What is your favorite snack? Pretzels

What is your favorite outfit? Black

What is your favorite game? Star Wars on the Wii and computer

What is your favorite toy? "I don't have a favorite toy"

Who is your best friend? Cooper (his cousin)

What is your favorite thing to do? Snuggle (for real... you see why I love him so much?)

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Running and squirting the hose

What is your favorite holiday? "My favorite holiday is Christmas"

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Bears

Where is your favorite place to go? Cooper's house

What is your favorite restaurant? "the toy restaurants"

Where do you want to go on vacation? to the beach.

What do you want to be when you grow up? a police man 

What did you do on your birthday? go bowling

Dreaming of rainbows.

If you aren't familiar with that quilt there, it was made by the lovely Lindsey at Happier than a Bird Quilts. She made it from my Linky Love pattern, and Vanessa's Simply Color ombré jelly roll.

She sent it to me this past week. ♥

This winter has been very bittersweet for me.
This blog has been quiet because I had been working on the best kind of WIP, but the baby lost his or her heartbeat around the end of 2013. :( It was our second loss in a row, and just hard. And confusing.

My heart has been so soft to the women who go through these things without two littles at home to snoogle. And I've been even softer to those two littles at home. Appreciating them more. Seeing them better. And their wonderful dad too... who has been so incredibly good to me.

So I hadn't been doing a lot of sewing. But it's picking back up again. And it felt like time to get back to the blog. I anticipate you'll be hearing more from me again, more often. You can find me on Instagram too (Hubby bought me an ipad for Christmas). :)

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I'm going to be running a few pattern sales in the next few weeks, because not only have the last few months been kind of rough, they've also been burdeningly expensive. So the Linky Love pattern is on sale for $6 for a limited time if you'd like to buy one! Here and on Craftsy. :) Thank you! ♥

(and P.S. Go look at pinksuedeshoe's version of Linky Love that lives on her bed! It's amazing!)