Zig Zag quilt for a new baby boy

Another of my friends gave birth to a baby boy about a month ago. I had started his quilt well before he was born, but didn't get it finished until yesterday. Well, technically I finished it about a week ago, but didn't sew the label on until yesterday.

{Colton's Zig Zag Quilt: Front}

I quilted by outlining both sides of the zig zags and by following the center of each zig zag, too. I think it was a bit too much.

{Close up of quilting on front}

On the front it looks OK, but I think the back looks like a moving blanket. If I had used blue thread for the back it wouldn't have shown as much. My concern at quilting time was that if I used blue on the back it would have been too plain. Now I think it would have been better.

{Close up quilting on back}

This quilt isn't the most favorite I've ever made. Don't get me wrong. I like it. I am OK with it. The things I don't care for just scream at me. First, I have never been a big fan of blue and yellow. Growing up as a Michigan State Spartan fan, it's just in may nature to despise maise and blue (the colors of our rival University of Michigan). The back and binding are too bright. Together in the picture above they look alright, but on the full front of the quilt my attention is drawn to the binding and I don't want it to be.

{Full back view}

{The new boy's name is Colton}

Thanks to the binding tutorial on Oh, Fransson!http://www.ohfransson.com/ my mitered corners on this quilt look pretty good. Not perfect yet, but pretty good.

{Corners are getting more and more square}

I used the zig zag quilt tutorial by AmandaJean posted on the Bee Square blog. I altered it a little to switch between different patterned fabrics rather than pattern/solid as in the tutorial. It wasn't difficult. I used six fat quarters plus the back and binding.

{All folded and ready for ribbon and sending off to my new friend}

My friend Susan's birthday was last week. I had planned to have the Mod Quilt Sampler quilt finished and mailed well before her birthday, but that didn't (and hasn't) happened. I have the quilt top and back finished. I just need to sandwich, quilt, bind and label. Almost done, right?

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Who will be sporting a new concrete ring?

JungleWife, that's who! Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway. Dirty liked hearing your comments and has some new ideas for rings, colors and styles. We try to list new rings weekly, so be sure to keep checking ConcreteRing for updates.

Robinson's Racing Pigs

*giveaway post is below*

{The future of racing pigs}

If you haven't experienced Robinson's Racing Pigs you haven't lived! OK, maybe they weren't that great but they were pretty dern fun.

On the way home from a Saturday road trip we came across a semi-local blue crab festival and decided to stop and walk through the vendor sections. Pretty typical stuff. Nothing to get too excited about, but we did pick up 5 plumeria cuttings. I can't wait for them to grow and flower.

Towards the end of the vendors we came upon a little wood chip laden race track that looked intriguing. The sign read "Robinson's Racing Pigs" and "Robinson's Paddling Porkers". The clock said the next race was only 15 minutes away so we snagged an awesome spot facing turn 3 and waited for the festivities.

I ran down to get some fresh squeezed lemonade and Dirty held our spots. He said that the little boy next to was getting impatient and kept saying, "Let's get it on!" like a wraslin' announcer. And I am fairly certain that he would pronounce wrestling as wraslin'.

The pig racing announcer explained that the state fair was looking for interesting event during the fair in the '70s and the Robinsons came up with this and history was made. I think he said the pigs are Phillipeno pot belly pigs and they start training around 8 weeks old. The pigs are trained using Oreo cookies. One in each of the starting gates and several crumbled up at the finish line. Pretty sneaky, who wouldn't race for Oreos?

{Robinson's Racing Pigs: The Big Guys}

First, the huge older pigs raced. They were named Hammy Fay Bacon, Lindsay Loham, Britney Spare-Rib and Hillary Rodham Clintham. Lindsay Loham won. That's her in the photo.

{Robinson's Racing Pigs: Junior league}

Next, the 9 week old trainees took to the track. They were named Dale Oinkhart, Jr.,
Arnold Schwartzenhogger, Jeff Gordham and Barack-o-ribs Obama. Jeff Gordham won, which about half the crowd loved.

{Paddling Porkers}

It was awfully steamy that day so the racing pigs got to cool off in the pool. Even though it was about 90 degrees, they really weren't feeling going for a swim. All four of them stood up on the platform and waited for someone else to jump in first. One of them kind of got pushed in and it was off the races. I don't remember all the names, but Soggy Bacon and Tsunami-Salami stuck in my head.

{Pee-wee Paddling Porkers}

Of course the piglets got to swim, too. They were a bit more fearless when it came to jumping in. Spamela Hamderson won that time.

I would gladly watch pig races again. And, as if Dirty didn't already want a pig bad enough, this has tipped him over the edge. I think I see a pig in our future. Hopefully the distant future, but probably not.

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SMS Giveaway Day! Win a Concrete Ring!

Yea! SMS Giveaway Day is finally here! I had planned to make something for this giveaway day, but ran out of time. But wait! I (easily) convinced my guy (we call him Dirty) to offer up one of his concrete rings.

{Handmade Concrete Rings available on Etsy}

All the rings are handmade by Dirty. He chooses the colors, shapes them and seasons (waxes and/or oils) them all by hand. They are great, eco-friendly pieces of jewelry. Very modern. He has several different styles including Urban Dweller (the short tops like pictures 1, 3 and 4), High Rise (pictures 5 and 6) and Hole in a Heart (picture 2). He's got a good size range and is making more smaller rings right now. Read more about them here.

Get multiple entries for this give away! Make sure to leave a way to contact you (leave your blog or e-mail address in the comment if you don't use a Google/Typepad/URL log in when leaving a comment). Here's how:

1. Leave a comment here with your ring size. We'll do our best to match you up with a ring close to your size, if not exact.
2. Go to ConcreteRing on Etsy and look through the rings. Leave another comment with which ring is your favorite.
3. Heart ConcreteRing and leave another comment with your Etsy name (not that we don't trust you, but, you know.)
4. Leave a comment here with either a suggestion for new ring styles, who you would purchase a ring for or a shameless compliment about how awesome these concrete rings are.

That's right, up to 4 entries per person. The winner will be chosen randomly on May 31 after we eat dinner. However, Dirty's been known to be quite spontaneous and may offer a second ring to a really good, head swelling rave about his work. I'm not promising, I'm just saying it can't hurt.

Just to let you know the $19.95 price tag is for a limited time only. I don't know exactly when he's going to go back up to regular price ($49.95), but get them while their on sale. It'll make us happy and we'll love you forever! Happy Giveaway Day!

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First Etsy Sale!

{I love Etsy and Etsy loves me!}

Last week I got my first sale in my Etsy store! She bought three items one of which was sold earlier that day at a local VW show along with Split Beetle bag. To honor the sale, I told her I would have to make another, and due to that I asked if she wanted to alter it at all. She requested everything stay the same, except she wanted a zipper.

{The good zipper because the "bad"zipper would have broken the camera}

Now, zippers and I haven't always gotten along. I have cursed out more than my fair share over the years. This one was no different. However, I do have to beg the zipper's forgiveness, it was mostly my fault. I thought I could just attach the zipper the the outer panels of the bag. Well, I could, I did and I cursed. To say it looked like a hot mess would be a grave understatement. Pure junk. Thankfully, I took a step back, got some rest (it was 2 am) and retried the next day.

{A few zzz's helped with the zipper}

Sleep has always been my friend. Ah, sweet sleep. The next morning I started again from scratch and it turned out pretty well, if I do say so. Adding a zipper panel on the top worked much better. The zipper falls in just a little so that it can't been seen from the side.

I ripped out the handles of the first attempt, added a longer strap to make it an over-the-shoulder sling. All that is left is to add a picture to the front and it will be up in the shop soon. I am thinking of doing a bus this time.

In other happy Etsy news, my guy's concrete rings gained a little buzz over the last few weeks. He's been included in several treasuries and on the home page of Etsy three times--twice in treasuries and once as a group that was "found searching etsy categories." I am super proud of him! Etsy rocks!

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Seams to Me Swap ~ My other part

So, here's how today went:

1. Made it to work on time
2. Went on an estimate appointment and SOLD the job! Yea!
3. Got to go fabric shopping on my lunch break (which I don't normally get to leave the office for)
4. My guy had dinner made for us when I got home. Yum!
5. A gorgeous I'll Have One of Everything bag was waiting for me in the mailbox!

{I told you it was gorgeous}

I have been quite lucky in swaps lately and just when I was really considering just giving up on swaps all together. You great ladies may have changed my mind.

{I'll be hot from both sides}

As I was modeling how hot this bag is, I noticed that it works great on my shoulder, in the crux of my elbow and in my hand. Way back in February I had mentioned making a Steeler color version of this bag, but never did get to making it. Having this bag sure does heighten the motivation.

{This deserves a tropical vacation this summer, don't you agree?}

As I have mentioned, I am not usually into florals, but need to adjust that thought. I don't care for frilly florals but these brightly colored, big floral pattern is great. I would like to know what the name of the floral fabric is so I can get some for a quilt. Wouldn't it look great as a whole cloth back to a modern and bright quilt? Sudi-Laura, I absolute adore this bag. Thank you so much for making it for me!

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Seams To Me Swap ~ My part

{Seams to Me in Springy Style}

A few weeks ago I sent out my end of Tracey's We the People Swap: Seams to Me edition. When we signed up for the swap we got to choose which of Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me projects we would like to receive in the swap. One of my partner's choices was the Taxi Tote. She gave spring and summer, the beach and funky fabrics as inspiration. I used a thrifted sheet and some coordinating fabrics from my stash to make her tote. Mine hasn't arrived, yet, but soon I hope.

{Seams to Me Taxi Tote Front}

For the button closure I had to extend the fabric loop a lot. When I followed the instructions the loop was way too short to fit under the binding and around the button. I ripped out the seam there and doubled the loop. I used two stacked buttons, one cloudy white and one teal, for the front closure.

{The back}

The colors and watercolor like floral print struck me as nice and springy. I used a solid sea foam green for the lining and a soft yellow for the binding.

{Room for snacks, toys, keys, a book, a notepad,

knitting needles and a little take along project}

The interfacing is iron-in and pretty stiff. The bag has nice structure and is roomy enough for everything a girl needs and lots of stuff for her young son, too.

{A flattering side shot}

The pattern was great and really easy to follow, as was the other project I made from the book. Immediately after finishing a project like this, I always try it out. While modeling in front of the mirror I decided that when I make one for myself I will extend the strap a bit and make it more of a sling style. I've got a lot of this fabric left over and even though I am not usually crazy about florals, I do quite like this print.

Speaking of thrifted sheets I think I am finished gathering the necessary fabrics for my month in Snip.Sew.Send. No photos yet, I want to wait to post on the bee blog. I found a great, colorful fitted sheet and pillowcase set at Goodwill yesterday. I also grabbed a queen size white flat sheet and what I thought was a king size white flat sheet that turned out to be a king size white duvet cover. Yea! Twice the fabric for half the price. Next weekend I plan to dye the white sheets with coordinating colors since I can't find just what I am looking for. I am unnaturally excited to do this. I am sure it will be a mess, even if I decide to follow the instructions. Wish me luck!

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