after i weeded out all of the fabric my mom bought online …all by herself …after two glasses of wine… and no approval from me…and then hemming and hawing for hours and hours and driving all the men in our family crazy, we decided on this grouping for our starter color palette…

and so begins my 4th quilt ever!

our beloved superman underwent surgery today.  he was just as brave and stoic as you might imagine, in fact…he didn’t flinch once…!

even immediately following the procedure his face remained unchanged, almost as if… he didn’t feel a thing…

after his surgery, superman was whisked away to recovery, where he was tucked-in nice and cozy in mama’s bed.  and i felt it best he get started straight away on a flexi straw drip of frank family chardonnay…for the pain…which he seemed to really take a liking to…

and this afternoon, i brought him outside for some fresh air.  the two of us enjoyed some quite time together and to perk him up, i told him about how i’d finally come up with a plan for his quilt.  i even showed him some of the blocks i’d sewn recently…

yes… i think our hero is gonna be alright…

okay, supplies:

• white cardstock
• 3 types of scissors: paper, fabric, and pinking shears
• glue gun
• spray adhesive
• fabric (preferably ironed…if you look closely, you’ll notice mama skipped this step!)
• wooden dowels, various lengths

1. first cut large triangles from cardstock with paper scissors.  you could certainly use a template for this, but i just eyeballed it.  because they lose a little of their length in the process, make your triangles a little bigger then what you’d like in the end.

2. fold what will be the side of the triangle over a wooden dowel about an inch and then open it up enough to apply a strip of glue from the glue gun about 1/4 of an inch away from the dowel.  press cardstock together around the dowel until glue sets and then remove dowel (don’t worry it gets put back in later).  your goal here is to make the folded space just big enough for the dowel to fit inside, but without gluing it to the cardstock, so that you can still remove it.  you want it to fit snuggly so that your flag doesn’t slide around.  repeat until all of your triangles have been folded over and glued. 

3. after you have removed the dowel, cut off excess cardstock with paper scissors.

your triangles should look like this…

4. place cardstock triangle on top of a piece of fabric with the print aligned how you’d like it, and then fold fabric over it, so that your triangle is sandwiched in between.  then loosely cut around the cardstock giving yourself some breathing room, about 3/4 inch.  you should only be cutting two sides, the top and bottom essentially…the side where the dowel will go shouldn’t have to be cut, the fabric should fold over it continuing on to the front.

this is what you should end up with after this step…

5. now this next step gets sticky!  WARNING…make sure you lay something down underneath your cardstock triangles before using spray adhesive!  i used a grocery bag (who knew, one little bag so many uses :) after you have prepped your area, first open up one of the fabric pieces you just cut, wrong side up, so it’s ready to go.  next, spray a cardstock triangle with spray adhesive and then place it on top of your fabric, centering the print how you’d like.  fold the fabric over the cardstock adhering it to the top and bottom of the paper, smoothing out creases as you go.  allow to dry for at least 5 minutes.

6. next, with your pinking shears, trim excess fabric to just past the cardstock triangle.

7. now insert your dowel and your done!  for the longer dowels, i used scissors to cut them to the length i wanted. 

to hold your new fabric flags, i recommend a perfect mason, for they truly are perfect.  i filled mine with white rice as a stabilizer.  and for these flags, i added a happy birthday tag and went with mildly party themed fabric… now mind you… it’s no one’s birthday around here… but you know mama doesn’t need a reason to celebrate…gulp…

on second thought, i did just finish my second tutorial…gulp…reason indeed…gulp…gulp…gulp

superman…(gasp)?!  is that you…?!  where are your legs…?!

not long after i found my answer…

i feel i might be partly to blame for this tragedy, that superman may be quite literally broken up about the slow-moving progress of his quilt.  i sigh now…sitting here at the computer telling you this… just thinking of his devastation…something must be done!

we took his legs with us on a brisk walk, in hopes of cheering them up…

…not sure it worked, but it was worth a try…

surely this can’t be the end for one of the world’s greatest superheroes…

are you seeing how cute these are?!  well ok fine, perhaps they’re not the cutest thing i’ve ever made…alright, alright, they’re kind-of a big mess, but here they are anyway, sitting on your computer screen waiting to be eaten by your eyes, maybe with some hummus…?

 i was inspired to make these after seeing something similar in this months issue of martha stewart living.  she makes hers with crepe paper, but i thought this would be cuter, that’s right CUTER than MARTHA STEWART!!

i used newspaper to make the carrot form and then wrapped it with several long strips of torn fabric gluing with a glue gun where necessary.  the leaves at the top are triangle-shaped fabric scraps that were glued into place and then covered up by the orange fabric.

my intent was to make a ton of these, but my enthusiasm wavered as the finished product revealed itself, not to mention my wild munchkins were roaming the yard today like maniacs!  bear, my youngest, was literally eating dirt…perhaps searching for a carrot, yeah… i’m gonna go with that…, and then of course there’s the situation with my hair so… two…two lovely little so-so carrots, that’s what you get!

now go eat your vegetables…why?…because mama said so!

grandma dana’s banana bread…

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 tbsp sour cream or yogurt
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• finely chopped walnuts (optional)

cream butter and sugar, add eggs lightly beaten, add baking soda dissolved in sour cream or yogurt, beat well, add bananas, flour, salt, vanilla and nuts (if wanted) and mix well…until your mixture is a lovely shade of yellow you want to lick right from the bowl!  pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes.

to gift this yumminess, i like to wrap it up like this…it’s perhaps the cheapest wrap job around…first plastic wrap, of course, then grocery bag paper, flipped upside-down so your recipient doesn’t know how cheap you are, then a strip of sunday comics, and finally one of those adorable tags you made from my tutorial!!

now keep in mind the above photo is only if you want to share (or have someone think how thoughtful and clever you are)…otherwise i recommend toasting a thick slice and smothering it in cream cheese…ummmm… just a minute honey, mama’s eating…

i call this quilt the “don’t look too closely quilt”… but like my dear friend and the recipient of this recently finished gem has said, mama’s quilts are made with love…and wine!  that’s right brookie, if you’re out there, this one’s for you baby!

and i have to say, finishing this quilt sure did put a smile on mama’s face…must be something about the feeling of accomplishment!  or perhaps it was the salty air of the beach vacation we took this weekend, because even my newest and bestest friend seam ripper really took it easy on herself and enjoyed a job well done! (well… done anyway) 

for the quilt top, all of that shuffling and shifting of those little fabric squares a few posts ago, resulted in this diagonal pattern…

and for the back, just so you get the 411, i used robert kaufman’s quilter’s tweed, accenting it with a strip from the front, and binding it with a polka dot print by lecien…

the finished size is about 32″ x 42″…just the right size for a take-along baby quilt, perfect for the stroller or car seat!

…and as for seam ripper and i, we continued our happy beachy feeling very accomplished vibes on into the night at a family wedding…and good golly seamie really enjoyed herself, i’ve never seen her so carefree…

…but she’s already back to her usual hardworking self, promise! 

well there it is folks, mama’s 3RD QUILT EVER! 

**and p.s….if you’ve been paying very close attention to mama’s blog, you know that there has been a typo!!!  i know, get a hold of yourself…ok so i have been thinking and typing that this would be my 4th quilt ever, but that was wrong people, it’s only my third!!!  i was really getting ahead of myself there!!!

but mama prevailed, and got to put a great big ol’ check on the to-do list!  i know what you’re thinking… fabric flags were on this maniacs to-do list…but after these photos, aren’t they going to be on yours?!

i contemplated adding ribbon at the top, but let’s be honest, i had a four-year-old launching water balloons at our neighbor, hi meredith!, and that 16-month-old i told you about drinking from the doggie dish…so as you can see, i scratched the ribbons…

hopefully i can get a tutorial up and running on these little gems sometime soon…but in the meantime, here’s another picture…

happy spring everyone!

we have a HUGE oak tree in our yard and ’tis a joyful joyful day when the buds first appear…oh the anticipation…

and speaking of anticipation, i finished the quilt top to my 3rd quilt ever!  now… even though the pieces of the superman quilt sit in sorrow in the corner, neglected, i’m still counting this as my 3rd quilt ever, DON’T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME PEOPLE! 

for several reasons, i reveal to you now… only the underbelly.   reason number 1. i think it’s kinda cool looking,  reason number 2. i want everyone to see all the hard work i’ve done, and finally reason number 3. well…i’m a lady, and less is more isn’t it?  i mean, just look at how often i wash my hair…