Creative Update

I think it is about time for an update on all my WIPs. Blogging is just not what it use to be anymore. I have sat down intending to write a post so many times and then just started doing something else. I am really getting into the Instagram as far as keeping up with people that share my interests. What I like the most about Instagram is how much time I save compared to blogging. It really is instant. It is nice to get immediate feed back and to know someone has seen what you have posted. If you are on Instagram and want to see what I am up to use the link on my side bar or look me up under tiki_tami or click this link http://instagram.com/tiki_tami I think I will continue to post to this blog to keep track of my projects, but can see the posts being few and far between. Anywhoo, lets get to the update. First up is my Designer Mystery Block of the Month 2013. Yes This started back in 2013 and I am just now getting started with it. I decided to make 2 quilts at the same time. Here is a photo of the first three months for the quilt. The top three are made with the fabric they sent with the pattern for each block. It is Avalon by Fig Tree. The second quilt I am making with 30’s reproduction fabric from my stash. For the back ground on this one I am alternating between Baby Pink & Pastel Blue by Bella solids. The very first block in the top left corner I need to pick apart. I did not realize that the back ground cream has a definite front and back. The back is slightly darker than the front. So I sewed a few of the pieces facing the wrong way. It is not as noticeable but I think since I am aware of it I will always know it is wrong and it is just easier to fix it and move on. I am just glad I realized it on the first block and did not continue with all the blocks wrong. I have already received my last month so I am completely behind on this one. The final quilt is amazing and I just love the Avalon fabric.

 

Here is my quilting bee blocks for June. Our queen Daisy from Ants to Sugar requested blocks with a butterfly theme and also wanted a bit of low volume fabric in the mix. I loved having so much creative control on the blocks, plus a butterfly theme was perfect sewing for summer. I am looking forward to see how she puts all her blocks together.

 

I have completed 16 of my six point star blocks. This is all the diamonds I had cut out. So now I am back in my stash and have pulled out a new stack of fabrics and am currently cutting out diamonds. I think I might go ahead and sew these 16 together and then continue to sew the new ones on in small groups. I think if I waited till I had enough 6 point star blocks to make a whole quilt I would be overwhelmed and never sew them all together.  Still in love with this project and it gives me something to do while my husband has control of the TV remote control in the evenings.

 

Still chugging away on my Mirabilia cross stitch “Under the Friendship Tree”. I completed the chart on the top all the way across. It will be nice when I can get down to some of the other colors.

 

I took a local Hawaiian Quilt class and had a blast. It seems like this is the first time I have done something like this for myself since before Chloe was born. I love Hawaiian quilts and even have several Hawaiian quilt books. I just have never taken the plunge and tried it on my own. So when I noticed the local shop was having a class I did not hesitate and signed up. The class was like 6 hours and had a handful of ladies and none of us had ever made a Hawaiian quilt block. I learned so much and feel confident that I could possibly make a quilt. My block is the top left blue and white one in the turtle motif. I did not get a photo of everyone’s block but was able to get these few. They all looked amazing. I liked the red and white one and thought it would be cool for Christmas. There was a pineapple motif example quilt block the instructor brought that I think Might be one I will try. I have a zillion mistakes on mine and I might start over using what I learned. Overall so glad I took the class and pretty confident I will be making up some Hawaiian blocks some time soon. We are taking a family vacation this year at the end of summer to Maui and I plan to take a bunch of photos of any Hawaiian quilts I see for inspiration.

 

This is what I am working on right now. This is a kit I bought several years ago I recently found called American Wave. It is a wall hanging that comes out at 19″ X 27″. When I bought the kit I did not realize it had curved lines. It was one of those moments where you look at it and say what was I thinking, I don’t know how to sew this. On my want to make quilt list is the Single Girl quilt by Denyse Schmidt and it is all curved lines. I thought if I tackled this wall hanging it would build my confidence so I can finally make the Single Girl quilt. Summer Time I always feel like sewing patriotic stuff so I am feeling this at the moment and hope to get it done before the end of summer. If you have any tips on sewing curved lines let me know.

 

Now for the thing I am most looking forward to. This is my next Block of the Month Quilt I recently signed up for that starts in July. The quilt is “Amish with a Twist II” by Nancy Pink in Marcus Brothers fabric. I don’t know what it is about this quilt but I could not get passed it. I would never pick out these colors or think of putting it all together like this. I am star struck and would totally hang this up on my wall. I am so excited for this BOM to get started next month. This is a mammoth beast and will consider myself to move up a notch on quilting experience after this one.

Well that will wrap up my crafty creative stuff at the moment. We have been in full swing summer around here. Never a dull moment with a five year old.

Mother’s Day 2014

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day this year. The day of we had reservations for a Mother’s Day Brunch at Southerly Restaurant and Patio. It was wonderful great atmosphere and tasty food. Next door was a specialty foods store that also had cooking classes. We will definitely go back. We did a little bit of a photo shoot in the front yard before leaving for brunch. Since I am the one usually taking the photos I tend not to be in many of them. I try to make a point to have Chris take Chloe and my photo together every year on Mother’s Day. (P.S. you might have noticed I am wearing braces, My husband the dentist is learning how to do them and is using me as a test patient. Isn’t it nice of me to help him out, let me just say if I knew then what I know now about  wearing them I might not have been the happy helper.) Anyhoo, back to Mother’s Day.

 

That week Chloe’s PreK class had all of us Mom’s join them for a Mother’s Day Tea. The kids all put on a show singing “You are My Sunshine”. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched my daughter and her class sing to us. I get so emotional about these things.

 

The kids had the tables all set up with fresh cut flowers in glass vases that they decorated for us along with a special card. We had a lovely meal of finger foods along with little ham sandwiches the kids all helped make for us. It was wonderful sitting and getting to know some of the other Mommies and spending time with Chloe in her classroom.

 

That Saturday I was feeling motherly and whipped up a dozen of these Strawberry hand pies made with local strawberries. I forgotten how great hand pies are and how well they travel for picnics or days at the beach. I think I will be making more of these little lovelies and experimenting with different fillings.

 

 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to spend it with their loved ones. So much going on around here and I am only able to find the time to share a little bit of it. Seems like the more you involve yourself into your life and the more you have to share the less time is available to share it. Life is Good and I am going to Keep Keeping On!

Koda’s First Birthday

Our Golden Boy turned one year old today. Last year I signed up with the local golden retriever rescue in hopes to find a match for our family. It took several months of waiting then we got a call in July that there were to male puppies in need of a home. We had both pups over to the house to see which one would be a good fit for us. Both pups were beautiful. One was a little mischievous and the other one just wanted to hang with us and be loved on. We chose the lover boy and named him Koda. The name comes from the Disney character in the movie Brother Bear. Here are a few photos of his the last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Koda looking adorable on his birthday. I love this boy and am so thankful that he is in our lives. Cheers to another year of long walks, special treats, cuddle time, and good old fun.

Easter at Middleton Place

Happy Easter! We went to Middleton Place yesterday for their Easter Extravaganza. It is a beautiful place with lots of gardens to explore. It has been raining for the last few days but that did not stop us. It was actually almost better because there was less people.

 

I could wonder around this place for a long time. It makes me want to find a hidden bench and read “The Secret Garden”.

 

I have a thing for statue butts. Ha ha ha, what can I say they make me smile and giggle.

 

They had several areas for crafting for the kiddos.

 

Here is Chloe sporting her new Easter bonnet she put together. I think the peacock was a little jealous.

 

This is the area for the egg hunt for Chloe’s age group. You can kind of see all the white eggs peeking out of the grass. All the eggs were hard boiled eggs that you could take over and die them different colors after collecting them.

 

All the kids ran in when it was time and scooped up the eggs. There were a few ceramic eggs in the mix that you could exchange for a gift. We did not find any of those.

 

Lots of fun and several egg casualties left in the field.

 

The Easter Bunny made an appearance and was casually spotted through out the festivities.

 

I will add a few more photos from the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Today we had an easy relaxing day. Chloe found some eggs in the front yard from the Easter Bunny. I made cinnamon vanilla French toast for breakfast. We all had a little bit of chocolate. Everyone seems to be entertaining themselves which gave me some time on the computer to write this post and catch up on my blogroll. May is my month to be Queen for my quilting bee. I think the rest of the afternoon I will get working on my block choice.

Quilt Blocks & Cross Stitch

March was a busy month with family visiting and Chloe’s birthday. I will share more of her celebration when I get the photos together. Right now I would like to share all my Work in Progress and a finish. This quilt block is for my quilting bee. This is the March block requested. It is a four square block consisting of two square in square blocks and two 9 patch. She wanted solids for the square in square and scrappy for the rest. I love how this turned out and can’t wait to see all her blocks put together. This is a great quilt to use up all that stash.

 

This was the February block for the Bee. Colors requested were green and blue. The block type is a modified bento box. I think her color choices are very calming and the blocks should all look good together.

 

Still working on that baby quilt for my nephew. Maybe it will be done by the time he graduates high school. I think I am stalling because I plan to do a strip of applique letters for his name across the top and have not taken the time to print out some letters and pick my font. They are planning to move with in the next 2 months so that buys me some time to finish and send after they have moved.

 

I finished my Woodland Sampler. Woot Woot! I changed up the colors on the house in December, now it feels more like a house I would live in. I love the last block indicating the year and the little birds are so sweet. I think I am going to try and frame this myself. My Mother-in-law framed some art work last year and she has given me hope that I could possibly frame my stitching and it look half way decent. I think I will go to Hobby Lobby when I have some time to hang out back in the frame section and see if I can figure something out.

 

After finishing my Woodland Sampler I pulled out my Mirabilia “Under the Friendship Tree”. This one is slow and steady The rose border along the top is lovely but I can not wait to get to those little girl dresses. Right now this is my only cross stitch in progress. I like to have 2 going so I can switch back and forth according to my mood. I have decided on my next pattern to start and will be kitting it up soon.

 

Here is a little something I have been working on to hang up in Chloe’s playroom. It is a handful of yo-yo’s I sewed onto a piece of fabric spelling out I Love You. I just need to sew on a border and make a backing. Well that is my update for March. I am looking forward to April and hopefully some warmer weather. Take Care.

Quilt Show 2014

I snuck away last Friday to check out the Cobblestone Quilters Guild Quilt Show. This quilt above was the one on the flyer advertising the quilt show and is why I decided to go and check it out. This quilt is titled A Quilters view of Charleston. This landscape quilt was made by Lynn Gettelfinger. It was amazing to see in person.

 

This was my favorite quilt. It is the one I could see throwing on my bed and dragging around the house cuddling up with. It looked so cozy and pretty with all of the pretty plaid fabric. This one is titled “Hours of Waiting” Made by Enid Edgeworth. Here are some photos for a closer look.

 

I need to make a bear paw quilt. This one took the quilter from 2008 to 2013 and she mostly stitched it by hand in Hospital waiting rooms. Love it, very inspiring. Here are some more quilts that caught my eye as I walked around aisles and aisles of hanging quilts.

“Stars by Magic” made by Freida Kinard

 

“Stars Over Fort Sumter” made by Mary Patterson

 

“Decade Plus” made by Nancy Coleman

 

“Quilt of Many Scraps” made by Linda Knutson

 

“Clowns for Oscar” made by Katherine Abrams

 

“Redwork in Brown” made by Ginnie Lebosse

 

“Mandy’s Surprise” made by Janica Felsher

 

“The Pink Tree” made by Keri Davidson

 

“Rocky in the Garden” made by Kathy Aparicio

 

“Mostly Charleston Calico” made by Christine Taylor

 

“Paradise Island” made by Brenda Rakowski

 

“Organized Chaos” made by Libby Law

 

“Celebrate” made by Susan Clark

 

“Le Jardin” made by Kathryn Masuga

 

“Spooky Boo” made by Mary Pease

This last one I was taking a picture of and then someone else wanted to take a photo and told her friend to stand in front of it. I jokingly said put your finger out and point at it so it looks like you made it. Then the lady said I did make it. We laughed. I told her she did a great job and should be proud. Then I forgot to take a picture of Mary in front of her quilt. After getting my fill of seeing all the wonderful quilts I then started exploring all the venders and picked up some quilty loot.

 

On the far left is a fabric panel it has 6 pictures total: Flamingo, crab, dolphin, 2 turtles and a pelican. I love fabric panels. On the top is a bundle of precut wool squares and a half yard of flannel plaid. Also a cute fall table topper or wall hanging pattern “Crows & Pumpkins”. Bottom center one yard fabric of the big flower print. In the center is a Spell it with fabric pattern book showing how to piece out the alphabet by Moda. The rest are fat quarters most of them $1 a piece. Lovely hall of goodies. I could have went crazy but I was trying to hold back. Overall so glad I was able to go and experience the quilt show. I will keep a look out for more crafty things to attend that might be driving distance.

 

My Life in Flashes

This year is already getting away from me and I need to unload some photos of what we have been doing so far this year. This post will be my first Life in Flashes. Starting with Koda and how lovely he looks after a bath and nail trim. He stays clean all of 5 minutes.

 

Chloe was invited to a Princess birthday party last month. She was so excited to put on a princess dress and meet up with some girls for an afternoon of fun.

The birthday girl is in the center back row with blue dress in front of Cinderella. I think she will remember this day forever. Lots of fun, and Chloe slept good that night.

 

We went to a boat show in January. No plans to buy a boat just wanted to go look at them. It was fun to walk around in some of the big boats that you could live on. Some of the restaurants we go to are waterfront seating and we watch all the boats drive by. It was cool to get on some boats to see what they look like when you are on them looking out. I think I heard some where that B.O.A.T. stands for Bust Out Another Thousand. I guess that means that boats are high maintenance and a money pit.

 

Chris got tickets to go to the Disney Jr live show. Here is Chloe all dressed up and ready to go. Chloe loves these red shoes. I think this is the only outfit she has that actually goes with the shoes. She owns a lot of pink stuff and to me it clashes with the red. It is already starting to get hard for me dressing her and what she wants to wear. If it were up to her she would wear ball gowns every day with too many accessories to count. I think I need to start buying a few neutral items of clothing to kind of help with all the glitz and glam.

Enjoying the show with some Cotton Candy. That came with a princess crown.

These ladies were my favorite characters in the show. They are the fairies from Sleeping Beauty Fauna, Flora and Merryweather.

Lots of fun, singing , and dancing. I remember going to a few live shows when I was a kid like Sesame Street on ice.

 

Yesterday we went to a charity event called Pork, Pints, & Pearls. A festival of BBQ, Beer and Oysters to help a children’s charity.

They had long tables where they would dump pails of oysters for you to shuck and eat.

I love that Chloe likes to try new foods. She ate as many oysters as Chris put in front of her.

All the food was tasty at the festival. Chloe and I grabbed a plate of pork sandwiches with mac-n-cheese and a side of slaw.

There were a few farm animals at the petting area.

Chloe insisted on face painting and of course she picked the one with the most paint. Now that she has had her face painted a few times I am not as afraid of it. It washes off pretty easily.

The bunnies were adorable. These seemed to go into a hypnotic state when you carried them like a baby. Overall a great festival and awesome that the money went to a children’s charity.

 

Chloe and Koda have been spending more time together building up a bond of a girl and her dog. She will hug him and tell him how much she loves him. It is so sweet.

Well I hope you enjoyed my Life in Flashes. I think that catches me up thru February. I have been working on lots of sewing and crafty stuff and will be sharing soon. We have had a glimpse of nice weather. My fingers are crossed that Winter is finally over.

Linking Up to Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch

Valentine Love

For Valentines Day I gave my daughter a ton of smooches and “I Love You”s and also a teddy, chocolates and cherry suckers.  Does Valentines day ever go like you plan it? With the ice storm and power outages this week Anything we had planned did not happen instead we just went with the flow of the day.

 

I tried a new recipe for dinner and it was delicious and easy. Hubby even said it was good and he has put it in his top 10. It is Slow cooker Moroccan Chicken. I made rice to go with it. I make my rice with chicken broth instead of water. I followed the recipe exactly and cooked it for the 4 hours on high in the crockpot. I love crockpot recipes. This recipe is from Disney Spoonful one-pot meals, found HERE,

 

Why did I bake a cake yesterday even though I was running around with a million things to do? Because my hubby was working a 12 hour day and I knew when he came home and saw the cake he would smile. I always tend to make a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. I used food coloring on the frosting to make it pink.

 

After Chris worked 12 hours he stopped off at the market and picked up some roses for me and handed them to me along with a smooch when he walked in the door. I can just picture the market in the evening with a handful of Men with a concerned look on their faces. For me it is the thought that counts. He could have come home with a piece of lint  he had found on his shirt sleeve and said it reminded him of me and I would have laughed and thanked him for the sentiment. I enjoy flowers and he knows it.

This weekend we are taking it easy with no plans but to wander around the house and stay in our comfy clothes as long as we can.

Artic Nightmare

This is the second bad winter storm that has swept thru Southeastern US. Yesterday was a nightmare. The power was out all day and the whole town was shut down. Towards the afternoon the trees behind our houses started to snap off from the weight of the ice build up. There were many fallen branches that fell into our backyard including this whole top of a tree. We were lucky and none of them hit any structure. Our neighbor had an entire tree fall onto his fence and shed. Overall it was not as bad as it could have been. It just got real cold in the house so we tried to stay bundled up and used our electronic devices until their batteries ran out.

 

Wool blankets are worth their weight in gold to keep the chill out. This one I have had for many years that I bought in Mexico along with another one. The day I bought them Chris and I were vacationing in Mexico and were laying out on the beach when a local walked up to us wearing a ton of wool blankets and asked if we would like to buy one. The fish and colors on this one caught my eye and he gave me a deal if I bought 2. Anyway this lovely has been with me ever since. I usually drag it out when I have a fever and just can’t get warm. Last night it got us thru the freezing temperatures in our house. We were tempted to go stay in a hotel but did not want to leave the dog or cat at the house so decided to tough it out hoping the power would eventually come back on. Luckily it popped back on around midnight last night and the heat came back on. Yahoo! Today everything is still all closed down but at least we have heat and the internet.

 

Yesterday in the midst of my stress of keeping my child warm and happy I started a little hand sewing project. It will be a little something for my daughter to hang on her wall from me for Valentines. Nothing says happy love like a pile of cloth yo-yos. Maybe I can get it done by Valentines. I best get off the computer and back to it.

 

Here is a photo of Chloe and Koda from the last winter storm that hit a few weeks ago. Notice I am inside and not out in the freezing temperatures. Also notice the icicles hanging from the umbrella. I am over Winter and so ready for Spring. I hope this is the last of the artic weather to come thru these parts. There is a whisper that we might have nice weather this weekend. Wishing all of you warm and cozy thoughts.

English Paper Piecing

I have been working on my 6 point star quilt blocks using the English Paper Piecing method. Slow and steady as she goes. I am trying to decide if once I get a handful more blocks completed if I should start sewing them together as I go along. I love how this is looking so far. I am going to link up with the In Hand EPP Link party.

 

Remember these babies. I was a kid in the 80’s and spent a lot of time with my girlfriends  in a pair of these and went to more roller rink birthday parties than I can remember.

 

Chloe turns 5 in March and one of the things she has asked for her birthday is a pair of roller skates. She had never worn skates before. So I decided its time to bring her to the world of roller skating and found a rink in our town. Today was the second time we went and she is doing great. She falls a lot but laughs thru it and gets right back up.

 

Refueling with some nachos. I was surprised at how busy this place is.  Then after thinking about it this is a great activity to bring the kids. It cost less than going to the movies and you can stay as long as you like. It is great exercise by getting the kids and your self off the couch or your computer chair. I think this will be a regular fun activity for us to share together until she gets to old and doesn’t want her dorky  Mom embarrassing her when she is hanging with her friends. Too bad, I am going to be the Mom that is there and sure enough if they start blaring the YMCA song I will be out on the floor skating around doing the arm motions.

 

In Hand EPP Link Party