...and we will have a little picnic. I fell in love with the dessert fabric ("Kids at Play II" for Hancock Fabrics) the moment I saw it, but I had a difficult time choosing the right project for it.

I used a quilt as go technique to make it.  I hadn't heard of quilt as you go until a couple of months ago, when I stumbled upon Penny's blog Sewtakeahike, (Although I think I found a link to her on tumblr, so technically I tumbled upon her site.)  She was hosting a quilt as you go quilt along where she made the coolest quilt.  A couple of weeks after that, I caught and episode of Fons & Porter where they doing a slightly different quilt as you go method.  I cheated and mish mashed all the information together to make my verison.

First I pieced the blocks and then sandwiched each block with batting and a slightly larger square of backing fabric.

I quilted each square with lines at random angles using a variegated thread with shades of blue, yellow, and ivory.

After quilting, I trimmed and squared the blocks (and put them in a pretty stack)

Then I stitched the blocks into rows and the rows into a quilt, stitching the wrong sides together so the exposed seams are on the front.  This way you can cover them and all the extra stitching to attach them will be on the back.

I did a lot of back and forth over whether I should cover the seams with ribbon or fabric, but finally decided that matching the fabric to the binding was going to look the best.

Here's a shot of the back. (Make Life... by Sweetwater for Moda)

This is only my second quilt, but I have to say, I'm really liking this quilting thing.  I can also already see the downside.  So many amazing fabrics, so many cool ways to make quilts - if you aren't paying attention, you could turn around one day and buried under a tower of quilts.  For that reason, I'm thinking about putting this one up for sale in my etsy shop.  As of now, I'm undecided.

I'm also excited because I was able to finish it in time for The Bloggers' Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side.  What an amazing group of quilts and quilters - you should check it out.

ps.  I know the quilt is covered in strings, but I'm desperate to make several deadlines today so strings happened.

A gratuitous peony shot just because they are so lovely-

It's a birthday gift for a friend. The fabric is from the Rouenneries line by French General for Moda.  It's a linen/cotton blend and drapes beautifully.

I added a few patches and played a bit with decorative stitches.

Here's the part I'm most excited about.

The waist band was made using french seams.  That means all the exposed edges on the wrong side are enclosed and extra pretty.  (Thanks to this explanation on french seams from oliver + s.)

While out running our errands, lulu decided she wanted to try raspberries because "they are dad's favorite".  I grabbed them without thinking what I would do with them.  Sunday dessert rolled around, I whipped up the leftover cream (from the on the fly pasta and peas with bacon), added the raspberries and topped it off with a couple of speculoos cookies that my, oh so kind, cousin sent to me as a mother's day treat. Lulu voted it a success.

These are the last of the totes.

Now I can get back to the  picnic quilt

eleven tote bags complete

I put the kids to work for this one. They each designed and stitched a little something for my mom.

It's teacher appreciation week at our school this week.  I don't know what says thank you better than an eclair filled with a white chocolate pasty cream, topped with a bittersweet chocolate glaze. Now I must figure out how to attach a clown hat to a clown wig.

Tomorrow is the circus, you know.

My little town is hidden away in the midwest.  We don't have big box stores, or oversized museums, or fancy skyscrapers.  We're all right with that though, because what we do have, is a community.  We catch up with friends at the Lincoln Cafe,

(photo credit to Derek on this one)

we stop for coffee at fuel,

we take walks along tree-lined streets and hang out in the park,

and on the first weekend in May, we Chalk the Walk.

The artists start working on their spots on Saturday morning and then finish up on Sunday.  It's great to stop in on  Saturday morning and see what people will be recreating, and then see the work progress over the weekend.

saturday -

sunday -

saturday -

sunday -

We popped up on Saturday evening, after the artists had called it a night.  During the day the streets are filled with people so it's difficult to get pictures.

There is also an oversize community picture that takes over the entire street and people fill in foot square sections to complete the picture.  This year's picture was from the Wizard of Oz.  Here's lulu working on our square.

Then we stopped in Sunday to see it all finished,

along with checking out the progress on all the other squares.

Oh and I mustn't forget the cheesecake

It was creamy lemony perfection.

Now I must sew tote bags together because they seem to lack the ambition to sew themselves.

happy monday everyone!

Well, I'm doing my best to stay one step ahead, but lately there has been a lot of playing catch up as well. I'm working on a picnic quilt, while also trying to make several tote bags. I did manage to sneak in an impromptu trip to Chicago with some friends. Closely followed by the spouse heading out for some hunting with friends. Now the little ones are battling colds/allergies. I was also asked to put together some desserts for a meeting at friend's house. I made double chocolate cookies, meringue shells filled with lemon curd, and raspberry linzer bars with a hazelnut crust. After spending Monday at the stove I was really looking forward to getting the house in order, but cj's cough kept him home. He and I tackled a little project of our own that was a blast, but we have to wait until after Mother's Day to talk about that.

I'm hopeful it will warm up enough that I can get the rest of my herbs into their summer homes this week. I'm also beyond excited to have some friends visit this weekend for one my little town's greatest events.

These are my go to cookies.  When I'm in a pinch and need cookies fast, which is more often than you might think, I make these. For this recipe, I use the White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co.

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

(adapted from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook)

1 cup white chocolate peanut butter

1/4 cup softened butter

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use an electric mixer to cream together the peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar.  Add egg and vanilla.  In separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.  At a low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  When combined, stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Roll into balls and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pour glass of milk and enjoy.

I have spent most evenings working on the hand quilting on the mostly french general quilt.  I'm more than half way done, but need a distraction.  Fortunately, Spring arrived and everything is starting to turn green and bloom around here ~

~even the bees have taken notice

Did you see this tee shirt neckace on Martha this week? My first attempt didn't curl.  The strips were just stretched out.

I think the cotton may have been mercerized.  Whatever it was, it wasn't working so I found an old layering T and voila.

It curled just like Martha said it would.  Now I have a new necklace.

This week flew by with lots of sniffles and coughs.  Those are two things that are not my favorite, but here are 5 things that are. #5.  these illustrations by Lotta Nieminen

#4.  the celebrity lullaby service on Sesame Street - I love it when Elmo says "Mr. Ricky has done enough"

#3.  I love these little paper houses

#2.  you would have to be crazy not to love this cheesecake

#1.  Jamie Oliver's flashmob in Huntington, West Virginia.  Go Jamie!

Check out everyone else's faves hosted by Pip over at Meet Me at Mikes.

I'm not sure about this recipe for blueberry muffins from the hummingbird bakery cookbook.  The first time I made it, they turned out like this-

They said it made 12.  It makes 24, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but just seems like a big difference.  When I told lulu I was making blueberry muffins she asked that I make them "not flat" again.  They weren't flat, but they still weren't right.

Nice, but did I forget to put the blueberries in?

No, but, every single one of them sunk to the bottom.  The up side is that cj wanted no part of the blueberries, so he and lulu split them in half.  He could have the top and she could have the bottom.

I'm sticking with this recipe.

April is autism awareness month.  I am aware of autism every month.  For those who aren't, there is April, they see pieces on the tv about it, or things to follow on facebook, but then it's on to the next month.  I don't blame them for moving on.  Some days I truly envy those people.  There are those days when I would like to hide from it, but then there are those days, like today when I would like it to come out in the open.  Then I could see it and know it and embrace it and maybe even tell it how I feel about it.

Like most things, autism was one of those things I knew little about until it showed up in my world.  cj was diagnosed when he was 3.  I was torn between feeling glad that finally someone agreed that something was going on and heart-broken that my fears had been validated.  No one wants to hear their child has something that makes them different from the standard.  He's nine now. We have been through exams by neurologists, psychologists, and audiologists.  He has made gains through occupational therapies and speech therapies, and survived MRIs and blood tests.  We have come so far, and after all these years I can tell you this, I know everything and nothing about autism.

I know it as stolen my patience.  I know it's why I have cried myself to sleep so many nights.  I know it's why not a minute passes when I don't worry about him - will he make it through school, will he be able to drive, hold a job, live independently?  I know it has pushed its way into every relationship I have, be it with a friend, the spouse, or family.

I don't know who would cj be without autism?  Conversations are a challenge for him.  There is rarely more than a sentence or two before he moves on, but he speaks to people with such honesty and matter of factness.  Would he be the same boy who recently told one of his associates that she has "beautiful golden hair that is soft as a pillow"?  When a teacher, passing in the hall, saw him struggling with the zipper on his jacket, she asked if he needed help, without autism, would he still have responded "no, but I'll take a hug"?  Who knows?  I don't.

I don't know what it's effects are on lulu.  She is a second to mother to him, but she is only 5.  She has never known me when I wasn't stressed to my limits.  I don't know how big of a role it plays in my need to create.  I bake, knit, and sew the stress away.  If autism wasn't in my house would there be a freshly made quilt tossed in my chair right now?

I know autism brought me to my little town.  I felt cj needed a small school community, not an oversized school that ran itself like a business.  He loves going to school and he finds a piece of success there everyday.  I know autism has taught me that we all turn inward at points in our lives, we all have autism.  I know it has introduced me to amazing people.  The people who love him for who he is.  The people who don't judge.

I know it has taught me to value everything a child has to say, whether it's with words or actions.

I know it has taken a long time, but I accept autism's presence in my house.  I sometimes even celebrate it a bit.  The other night cj gave me a bedtime hug and told me "Mom, you fill my heart with greater joy".

Moments like that require celebration.

It's time again for Pip's meme Five faves. Here are my favorites from the past week -

# 5 - our new  rain barrel

# 4 - I love this idea of folding fabric into stars for a quilt.

# 3 - The maple muffins from the hummingbird bakery cookbook

YUM

#2 - a Spring sky that is filled with big puffy clouds

#1 - dyeing Easter eggs with cj and lulu

I didn't have a plan with this.  I started with 3 charm packs and 6 yards of fabrics (Verna by Kate Spain for Moda) and made it up as I went along.  I used malabrigo yarn in pollen for the ties. Here's the back.

Close up of the ties

Pip is encouraging us to share our faves again - #5 - I love this made from scratch boys tie and am wondering what the chances might be that I could actually get cj to wear one.

#4 - springtime + peanut m&ms =

#3 - turns out lulu has been going around and picking up scraps of fabric while I'm sewing and squirrels them away in a bag.  When I asked why, she said "FOR ART"

So huzzah for bags of fabric!

#2 - thimbles - I have started to hand quilt the mostly french general quilt and my fingers would be a wreck without these little lovelies.

#1 - Kinder Surprise eggs.  Can someone please tell me why these are NOT available in the US?  They are always filled with the cutest toys.  When the spouse heads off to some foreign land, lulu requests these.

Here's what I'm up to today - finishing up the ties on this one.

Deedrie cutting ties edit

Whenever one of Lulu's friends has a birthday, she thinks we should give a doll so that their dolls can all be sisters.  Last week another one was created and sent off to a new home. Here she is with her dress and apron, and without.