http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/ en Copyright 2012 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:07:03 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Anyway, I've been daydreaming about a little boy sailboat quilt lately. I pinned a few on Pinterest and favorited a few on Flickr. I even thought about making my first leap into paper piecing for a sailboat block but in the end I went with a traditional block with half square triangles: They are 16" blocks and I think I'll make four of them. I've seen some cute quilts with four sailboats all in a different color. I'm going to start a cardigan sweater for Baby Starfish who turns two in just a couple of weeks using the MacLir I've been hoarding: ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/im_sailing.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/im_sailing.html Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:07:03 -0500 Ellison Lane is featuring me in her Follower Spotlight today. I love her blog and she's doing a really fun mini quilt challenge right now. Please check it out and tell me if my answers are dorky! ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/im_in_the_spotlight.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/im_in_the_spotlight.html Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:32:38 -0500 It's been cold and windy this weekend so it was hard to get photos. I'm pleased with the wavy quilting lines and everything overall. It's my largest quilt yet at about 59" x 72". I know it looks strangely shaped in the picture (above) but it's just the way it's hanging on the fence. We have a quilt guild meeting on Tuesday so I'll take it with me for show and tell. A lot of my favorite fabric lines made it into this one - Mendocino, Picnic and Fairgrounds, Prince Charming, Tufted Tweets, Sherbet Pips, etc. In knitting news I finished the first Nalu mitt. I don't love it. Kid Starfish has actually been using it as an Iron Man super hero wrist weapon-thingy. Not sure what will come of this project. ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/confetti.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/confetti.html Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:38:15 -0500 I went into 2012 telling myself, "Self, this year you will branch out from the meandering stitch on the longarm machine." And I have. I love the look of slightly wavy, organic lines a la Tallgrass Prairie Studio. A Flickr search offered lots more examples and I decided that I like the look of lines that are spaced more and at random intervals. The picture above is the back of my confetti quilt and I think I'm going to love it. I'm proud of myself for trying something new and the randomness of the lines matches well with the randomness of the confetti pieces. But the process of basting and wrangling that thing under the machine was not pleasant at all. It's back to renting time on the longarm and investing in help from the pros for me! I hope to finish this quilt this weekend and get some pictures up. ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/never_again.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/never_again.html Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:15 -0500 Season 1 is streaming on Netflix and I'm hooked. I love Maggie Smith in anything but everyone on this show is fun to watch. Great cast, great clothes, great accents! Who else is watching? ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/two_weeks_in_the_starfish_hous.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/02/two_weeks_in_the_starfish_hous.html Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:38:11 -0500 I'm thinking about something very simple. Patchwork or squares in squares. I want to focus on the colors and prints. Today was Mr. Starfish's birthday. Sometimes he pops on here to check things out so I want to say "Happy Birthday" and "I love you"! This seems like it was made especially for him: ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/01/typewriters.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/01/typewriters.html Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:46:56 -0500 I went ahead and joined the Swoon-along. I just kept coming back to this pattern so I knew it was time. Resistance was futile. Block #1 is finished: I really love this block. I love Hope Valley and plan to have all of the prints in this quilt from that line. I do no like the cutting. There is so much cutting. I'm still motivated though. I think the finished product will be worth it. ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/01/swoonalong_and_cabling_gone_ri.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/01/swoonalong_and_cabling_gone_ri.html Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:40:21 -0500 Nalu Mitts. I was cruising along and thought to myself, "Self, you should take a picture of the cable-y part to show on your blog. Hmmm. That cable-y part doesn't look at all like the picture." Yeah. I was reading the cable chart right to left and then left to right like you do for flat knitting. Except these mitts are knit in the round. Grrr. To the frog pond I went! So now I'm back at the cuff. I will say that I'm really loving the Madtosh DK and it's nice to have something on the needles. In stash-building news, I went into my favorite quilt shop (Karen Gray) and picked up this: Half yard cuts of several prints from Hope Valley. I really love this line. It looks vintage but still fresh. I think I'm going to use a big chunk of this for a Swoon quilt. ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/01/mojo_found_but_im_rusty_1.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2012/01/mojo_found_but_im_rusty_1.html Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:05:41 -0500 I'm pretty pleased with what I've done this year. I have several other WIPs form the year as well. Mr. Starfish and I actually have a babysitter tonight so we're going out for the first New Year's Eve since the littles were born! Happy New Year everyone!]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/one_last_look_back.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/one_last_look_back.html Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:08:20 -0500 Madtosh DK in Charcoal and Malabrigo worsted in Violetas. I'm looking at fingerless mitts patterns for the Madtosh. Not sure yet. I'm trying my hand at needlepoint too. My local shop was having a major sale on Christmas canvases so I splurged on a cute reindeer with not too many color changes and some silk threads. I've only done a bit (the red and white stripes on the bottom and some green at the top) but I think it looks nice so far. The back, however, is a hot mess. I'm not tying knots, just slipping the ends of threads under a couple stitches and snipping. Does the back always look messy? Dee?]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/rut_busting.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/rut_busting.html Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:14:07 -0500 I made a batch of toffee today from a recipe I got from Anna at Cookie Madness. I make this every year and it always gets lots of compliments. Like most candy, the recipe doesn't have a ton of ingredients but it requires precision when it comes to temperature. You can't make this while entertaining the littles, writing a grocery list, or washing dishes. The recipe is HERE. Try it! I found another fun recipe from Rachel at P.S. I Quilt. It's her Grandmomma's Sausage Cheese Pie. We had this for dinner tonight with a green salad and everyone (including Kid Starfish) loved it. Yum. This would be a great Christmas morning breakfast food. The recipe is HERE. What's everyone else eating this holiday season? ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/holiday_food.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/holiday_food.html Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:08:29 -0500

Gift Collage:Tomato Flat Holiday Photo Cards
Check out our collection of Christmas cards and holiday cards. I'm really happy with these. It was one of those years where getting a picture of all four of us in November and December was hard and Baby Starfish is still growing and changing too fast to use an older one. Luckily I had lots of great photos from Mandy and some other snapshots to use mosaic-style! **Sorry if it looks like I'm "plugging" TinyPrints (FYI - I do really like them!) but they are doing something tricky with the image and I can't get it to a manageable size in PhotoShop. ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/christmas_card_2011.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/christmas_card_2011.html Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:34:04 -0500 I love the colors, the craziness and lots of the individual fabrics. It's bold and graphic. I even love the backing fabric! Stats: approx. 40" x 50" with all over stipple quilting. ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/plus_signs_are_finished.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/plus_signs_are_finished.html Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:28:34 -0500 Kid Starfish loves to turn off the lights, sit on the couch and look at the tree. Every day he opens a new door on his Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar. This thing is great. Gone are the days of me desperate for ideas for the advent calendar. It's done for me, he loves it and we get to build something together every day! I have some Malabrigo and Madtosh on the way from The Loopy Ewe. I'm in the mood for some fingerless mitts! ]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/countdown_is_on.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/countdown_is_on.html Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:48:00 -0500 Cluck, Cluck, Sew: Here is a close-up of the Children at Play fabric: I love those boys and the rocket ships! The other top I love is Confetti: A lot of my favorite fabrics are in this one! I did some fussy cutting to highlight them: This one is a nice lap size at about 60" by 80" or so. Happy December everyone!]]> http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/more_tops.html http://paperstarfish.prettyposies.com/2011/12/more_tops.html Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:40:20 -0500