Wednesday WIP: two quilt tops

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced again this week. I've been a busy bee in the basement this month!

Once I started working on my purple diamond quilt I couldn't stop. I made some more errors along the way while visually trying to figure this thing out. But after more seam ripping and diamond making I have the top almost finished. My plans are to add more border to it. I'm thinking a strip of Kona Natural and then some lavender. I had a hard time getting a straight line to cut the edges out but I'm impressed with myself and how well the diamonds actually line up. This was a tough quilt and I absolutely LOVE it! This will be a twin size for my daughter Gretchen's bed.

diamond quilt top

Then I also started working on the second quilt I will have made for myself. Last year I purchased the entire Innocent Crush line in Fat Quarters. I hunted and hunted until I found a design that I loved. I found a pinwheels quilt top here at This Domestic Bliss.  However, after putting this top together, I am so NOT in love. It's grown on me a little, but I'm very disappointed. I got all the points to match up but I had a lot of warping in the triangles and that got me frustrated. I'm also going to add a white border on this one in Kona Bone. I'm going to have to add a little more Innocent Crush on the border too. Finished size is a lap quilt.

What do you think? Hate it? Love it? Suggestions?

pinwheels quilt top

Lastly I whipped up an adorable flower belt for my sister. She fell in love with a flower belt from White House Black Market and I had to duplicate it in pink for her. At $38 in the store, it was a no brainer that this one cost like $7 to make. It was made from pink organza, silk and tulle. It turned out really good and was super easy to make. I singed the edges with a lighter to prevent fraying. Then also used the sewing machine and hot glue to hold it all together. 

flower belt

organza & tulle flower belt

Simple short instruction: Starting with a felt circle, I sewed the 2" strips in a circular pattern around the felt, going from outside edge to inside. Be sure to smoosh the layers together to get a nice flower pattern. I added the different fabrics for texture. When I got to the middle, I rolled some layers together (think middle of a rose) then sewed the bottom together and hot glued it into the middle of the circular layers.

can't resist enchiladas

I don't eat a lot of authentic Mexican food. It's probably because I don't know how to cook it. I'm not sure what is supposed to be in an enchilada, but this is my recipe and my family can't resist them. I came up with this on a whim after knowing that there was no way a true enchilada would have cream of chicken soup in the recipe. It makes at least a 9x12 pan and sometimes an extra 8x8 pan too. Stuff 'em full and stuff 'em in the pan. After they are baked and topped with sour cream and guacamole...they are so yummy. Are you having a lot of people over? Even the big guys are stuffed after just ONE.

enchilada ingredients

Ingredients

• Box Zatarain's Black Beans and Rice mix (follow box directions)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can refried beans
• 3-4 chicken breasts (boiled and shredded) or 1-1.5# ground beef
• 3 cans enchilada sauce
• Shredded cheese
• 10-12 LARGE burrito shells

assemble the enchiladas

Directions

1. Cook the meat
2. Cook the black beans and rice box according to box directions
3. After the meat is cooked, add one can of enchilada sauce
4. Set up assembly station
1. Lay out burrito shells
2. Smear on refried beans
3. Layer on a scoop of black beans, rice mix, meat, and cheese
4. Fold in ends and roll up
5. Lay in greased 9x12 pan
5. After your pan is filled with lined up enchiladas, dump the two remaining cans of enchilada sauce all over the place. Trust me, you can't have too much sauce.
6. Sprinkle more cheese on the top
7. Bake at 350 degrees for around 45 minutes. I do find that even though everything is pre-cooked, it takes awhile to get the inside really hot. You can of course modify this.

Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy! Just one of these will stuff you up and it doubles as excellent leftovers. 

Wednesday WIP

Another post to go along with Lee's (Freshly Pieced) Wednesday Work In-Progress projects.

I've had the diamonds cut for Gretchen's twin-sized quilt for a little while now. Slowly, I've been adding the ivory sashing to each diamond. This week I decided to really start finishing the quilt top and started piecing the diamond together. This, of course, meant that I had to take over the basement floor. (Sorry Kevin!)

In true Erika style, I realized that you can sew the sashing on the wrong side of the diamond. I sewed a really good portion with the sashing on the wrong angle...bummer. The seam ripper and I had a nice evening together. Now I'm laying the diamonds out and putting the top together. Visually, this was a challenge for me. Sewing the diamonds on point has been hard but this is going to look great when finished. I was inspired by this quilt from The Blue Chair and found helpful tutorials here and here.

 

charity pillow cases

charity pillow cases, a photo by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

Our Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild is making pillow cases to give to Children's Hospital right here in Wauwatosa. I couldn't stop making them when thinking about the sick kids. They turned out really good and I even used french seams. The thought of a little kid getting to pick a pillowcase for their hospital room breaks my heart. I just want make a million of these. I hope they are loved because I put love into them.

almost famous

If you follow my blog you might recall a few things I did for Columbia Center, the fabulous birthing hospital I had both girls at. A few months ago my friend Brandi and I were asked to do a testimonial with our kids for their website. Columbia Center has been launching unscripted interviews with the physcians as well as a way to get to know the people you'll be dealing with.

I thought it was a great idea to have real moms on the website too! And of course, suggesting that meant I was pretty much volunteering. No regrets. The video is great! Both girls were really good (they look like angels) but I promise, there was lots of editing going on. During one of the sections Charlotte was walking on and off the camera screen-- that part was taken out. :)

Here's the link!!



love my girls

Today I took the girls to Mayfair Mall to have their 3-year and 1-year photos taken. As always, it was an adventure. The ride started out with an annoying client calling and asking me to look up a number and fax something to a physician. I had to try and explain that I do not work on Fridays and I'm driving my kids to get photos taken and it's snowing. But, like a good girl, we compromised and I took care of it (for the 10th time for this guy). Charlotte was also in the back seat saying she wanted to go home because she was tired, yet, she just woke up....

We got to Mayfair early and I fancied up the girls. This time I didn't dress Gretchen until we GOT there. (Note, last year she puked all over the outfit in the car seat and I had to buy another one.) While waiting Charlotte grabbed her butt and yelled, "I have to go potty!" All three of us went into the bathroom and Charlotte didn't just pee, she pooped. A big one. Gee. There were like six squares of TP left. I opened the door and yelled, "Can somebody please get us more toilet paper?!" What a way to start photos.

We ended up getting some really cute photos, but it was just at torturous as last time at JCPenneys. Gretchen wanted to crawl everywhere and wanted to do the opposite of what Charlotte was doing. I really didn't think the lady knew how to work with little children, but, we got some photos.

After we left the mall I walked into a winter wonderland in the parking lot. I mustn't have gotten the memo about the snow. It was a sloppy, slow drive home, but, we're all safe.

Enjoy my beautiful girls!

(Coloring is off because I had to scan them in...)

 

 

rapunzle hair

rapunzle hair, a photo by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

I'm addicted to Pinterest. Yes, you might be too. The ideas are endless!! While browsing one day, I ran across a post at the Weekend Homemaker where she made some Rapunzle (Tangled) hair for her daughter. I just knew Charlotte would love this one. I bought a pound of yarn for $6 at JoAnn's and had an old pair of nylons and purple ribbon on hand. Whole project probably took an hour. Cutting the strands sure took a long time. I think I used 3/4 of the yarn. This is nice and long too for effect.

WIP Wednesday: more stippling

For the first time I'm finally linking up to Lee over at Freshly Pieced for her WIP Wednesday projects. I always have a WIP but never seem to take the time to link up and share what I'm doing.

curly q stippling

I had dinner with Lee last night and the Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild ladies and we talked about projects and how many things we work on at the same time. It was then I realized I hardly have any WIP's at one time because I'm a finisher!! Yes, I usually have one quilt I'm working on at a time before I start another one. This quilt is a commissioned quilt! A co-worker will be giving it as a gift. It will be a generous lap sized quilt and uses Moda Origins by Basic Grey. I've made a similar Grasslands quilt here.

my quilting station

And....here's my set up! Not very glamarous but it sure gets the job done. We also talked about sewing machines. This is my old Janome that seems to still quilt just fine.

charlotte's in preschool

Sorry I've been MIA...I have a good excuse, I swear!

Last Thursday I got to St. Francis Borgia 45 minutes early to sign Charlotte up for preschool. Low and behold, I was the 5th person there! The FIFTH! That means I have to totally step up my crazy. I was really expecting to be 1st or 2nd. My friend was already there and two spots ahead of me and luckily, Charlotte was able to snag the 18th spot for morning preschool. Yippie!! I then toured the school with another mom and 8th grade student. I'm so excited for her and wish she could have seen the place but there will be plenty of time for that. 

That night Charlotte puked in bed. Poor kid. I know the bug has been going around. She was a champ and woke up the next morning pretty chipper. We laid low all weekend and Gretchen seemed to pull through with no problems other than some really messy diapers. Sunday, I woke up and felt like I was hit by a bus! I took two naps and stayed on the couch all day long. We had to cancel our Super Bowl Party too. Kevin was a champ taking care of me and watching the kids all day. Even the kids were pretty darn good.

Then last night Charlotte woke up again saying she had a tummy ache but nothing happened. I guess we'll be laying low today too.

Stomach bug...feel free to leave our house any minute now!