1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish!

So a friend of mine showed me this great tutorial

Fabric Fishy Purse  by Make it And Love it

So I went a little crazy with it, it makes a fun gift. This is a great pattern and tutorial and way easy to follow, also it's a great scrap buster for all those fishy scales too. So this one is the first one I made.

This is the second one I made, as you can tell I used a lot of the same fabrics because they are my favs.

I love how it kinda makes this doll look like a mermaid. Which is an obsession of mine, when I was little I use to always pretend I was a mermaid when I went swimming at my Uncles pool.

So while my mom was in town visiting we went on a fish sewing rampage, we actually made 4 but one of them is now living at the house of the fish in the above picture. Sisters both need to have a fishy bag.. right!  Anyway these don't have their eye's on them yet but for these instead of doing regular buttons I made fabric covered buttons for their eyes (that is what the pattern originally has you do, I think I might like the look better)  Anyway thanks Amy for showing this one to me.

Baby Blankets

So here are the baby blankets I made for my boys... I know I have been meaning to post these for ages.... with out further ado....
Taaa Daaa.... here is the back story when I was expecting #1 and #2 I wanted these quilts from Pottery Barn, but of course couldn't afford them, having never quilted before I thought "how hard can it be, right". We were in school and Clint was starting his graduate program, so needless to say we didn't have extra $$$ so I used a sheet and my older sister let me use her scraps and and I made their quilts the blue and green. I think I actually purchased one fabric, it was the green plaid which I still have some (in his binding of his zig zag quilt) . The reason I chose colors for each baby was because I was having twins and it was easy to keep the blue blanket with the blue crib, baby wearing blue with the blue bottle, and like wise the baby in green. So giving them a color just kinda stuck. By the time #3 came around I was able to purchase some fabric, not a lot and not the best quality but hey it worked and he was red. #4's quilt is the best quality fabric so far, most of his fabric is from the quilting shop in Annapolis, but I cheated a little, his color was brown but I  used a little green. T here is some green batik fabric and fabric with  more pattern with small amounts of green accents. His nursery was Hawaiian so you know it was just needed right! Anyway now I will make a new one with grays and white. I very seldom quilt by hand but these are done by hand... it just takes so much work and now I have a quilting foot on my machine, but these are the exception. So if you ever get a hand quilted gift, just know it was made with love, a lot of love and maybe a little blood... literally.. I don't know how many times I prick myself, maybe I just get out of control with the needle but whatever, that's how I roll.

And there you have it.

Gray

Gray or Grey which ever you prefer... is the color of my next baby. Yes we are totally crazy but we are having a another baby at the beginning of Sept. Plus we are expecting our 5th yes 5th boy. I always felt like I was going to be a mother of all boys and I was right. So I'm going to make a gray and white checked quilt for this little one like I made for my other boys but in their colors and yes eventually, eventually as in a long time from now, I will make him his own zig zag minky quilt.. maybe in 3 or 4 year. I'm not sure what to accent for him. I think I might do gray and white as the neutrals and then pop with vibrant colors like blues and reds, oranges, yellows..... well really I have no earthly clue. It will be a while (6monthsish) before I can really hunker down and create a nursery, so things may change.  But there will be sewing projects to come. I also have two new quilts to show you, one is done and the other needs binding!  Now on to finding the perfect name.....????

Charlie Brown Goes Blue

And here we are with #1's Blue quilt.  I tried to have the zig zags say something about each child. Sam is my sushi eater. The two of us always share sushi, hence the middle zig. Then there is a Arabic castle fabric, Riley has the green medieval castle fabric in his. They both love history and historical warfare and all sorts of things I know nothing about to I thought it was fitting.  Sam also has some BYU fabric in his binding,  #3 has some redskins fabric in his bindings (that's his team),where as #2 and #4 had fabric from their baby quilts in their bindings. I haven't taken pictures of the red quilt yet but will soon.

Brown Charlie Brown

So I know I said I would post these for ever ago but here is #4's brown charlie brown quilt, with warm soft minky on the back

Christmas Projects

So I know Christmas has come and gone... I made tons of stuff, most having to do with mustaches (it was our families mascot for our Christmas family reunion)  Anyway sad thing is I can't seem to find pictures of stuff...  though I did find these. I made these little boxes (well bought them at Hobby Lobby, painted and paper covered the lids) for all the girls nieces and my sisters. In side each I made necklaces with a jewel and a acrylic mustashe I bought off etsy from

LaserCutSupplies. 

You really can't tell here but the pink box has a white mustache. They were way fun to make and super easy.  Makes me want to get into jewelery making...

This little project is something I have wanted to do for a while. This unfinished nativity puzzle is from etsy as well, from seller

artsoftheheart.

 So this year I broke down and bought it. First I covered the puzzle frame in doted paper then I painted all the pieces. To finish it all off I put a coat of Mod Podge.

I have a couple kid friendly nativities I just keep them under the tree all Christmas season and the kids play with them.  This was Man Toddlers favorite this year, he has really gotten into puzzles.

I hope to find more pictures of my Christmas projects but we shall see... I think the coolest part of Christmas was my new camera from my awesome husband.

South African Beauty

So Carmen and I made this wonderfully cute baby set for a friend beautiful little baby girl.  She and her husband are from South Africa... so of course we had to go with a African animal theme.  To see a better picture of the fabric check out this LINK

So I made the blanket and the crib sheet...which is not pictured but it was a massively cute doodled damask( you can kinda see it on the birds in the mobile.  Carmen made the rhino and bird friend, pillow and mobile. Anyway they turned out way fun I'm sure this little beauty of a girl will love them.

Charlie Brown Goes Green

So this is #1 of 4 that I'm in the process of making. Hopefully I will get a better shot sometime. Anyway here is my monochromatic version of Charlie Brown. Green is for #2. Number #4's brown Charlie Brown Quilt is done (pictures to come)and #1's blue quilt top is done and #3's red quilt is in the prep stage.. so if you haven't caught on to my lingo the numbers are for my children... Child #1 is my first born who I always made blue things for so that I wouldn't get mixed up with his identical twin brother (#2) who was green. It made it easy when they were wee ones... you know keep the baby in the blue with the blue bed, blue bottle, blue blanket. But giving my kids colors kinda stuck so when #3 came around I made his baby quilt with red, and the same for #4 his was brown, (though he should of been orange for spit fire, but brown is good he is addicted to chocolate)

The backs are all Minky... which makes them super snugly and soft

What Have I Been Doing????

Good Question.
I know I've been M.I.A., it's a summer thing, but it's been fun minus missing a trip to UT.  Though we spent the summer in Connecticut (or as my boys use to say Connidiot...) Georgia, North Carolina Virginia, New Jersey, and Florida.  Can I just tell you how much I LOVE Savannah! Oh and I've decided that we need to move to the beach in Florida, all we need is a family size hammock and we would be set. My projects have far and few in between, but I managed to pop out a few.  Now that school has started I got a huge list of stuff I should really finish... More to come.

Stripes

So my hallway needed a face lift.... after I repainted my living room gray they champagne yellow was OK but looked really bad with my bright yellow piano.. so I painted the wall stripes.

Here it is... I love it crazy thing is that now the room looks so much brighter.

The rest of the hallway walls are gray, the same as the living room.

Lookie Here Blanket

This little fluffy pants blanket I made for the cutest little chubby bunny little baby boy.  He 3 months old but looks 5 or 6 months. I was hoping to have it done before he was born but this awesome Mona Luna fabric wasn't out  yet.  I bought something else for it but it just wasn't this awesome camera/binocular stuff.... so I waited and waited and now it's getting warm and little G. has enough built in insulation to keep him warm but oh well it was worth the wait for the perfect fabric for the perfect boy.

Baby G has the cutest room ever it is grey and light aqua/turquoise.... his mom Ashley has amazing taste and has a lovely house... So I am hoping to get some pictures for you all of his room courtesy of his photographer mother.... Anyway have a great day
Mayka

Amazing Paintings

So I have an amazing artist friend, Halee who painted these paintings of my children...... I am so in love with them.  I think everyone should run out and commission her to do paintings for you, because I can't stop staring at them.  They capture each personality perfectly, I love my boys they are sweet.  I have some rearranging in mi casa to fit these bad boys... Anyway if any of you want Halee's info let me know and I can give it to you.

How to Make Tortillas

OK.... Mr. Mo Kai I know I promised this forever ago but I couldn't get over my jealousy of you moving to Hawaii better late then never.. right? So here is how I make tortillas. My sister taught me how to make these, she learned in Mexico in her husbands hometown. Though I think she learned with lard, we both use oil because it distributes well. With out further ado..

Flour Tortillas:

ingredients are as followed

3 cups of Flour

1 tsp of salt

1 cup of warm/hot water

1/3 cup of oil

easy enough so here is how I make them. First I use a griddle, a cast iron skillet is best for flavor I think plus they keep heat evenly and you don't have to have it as hot.... but because of time I use this because I can cook more then one at a time.

Use the highest setting

-In a bowl dump your flour
-Add your salt, I add a heaping tsp... really I just eyeball it in my hand. Mix with flour.
-Add oil to hot water.. and mix until the oil has mixed well with the water.. you know it has all the little bubbles of oil. At this point add it into the flour right away or the oil will group back into one big oil mass in the water. (this picture is before I mixed it)
-added
-Mix until all is combined... one big fat ball. I know I'm blinding you with this picture, sorry for the retina damage
-Make the balls about this big with your fist. -Flour your surface and pat your ball into a flat pancake
-Roll out like you would pie crust. Flipping and rotate every couple of rolls to that it doesn't stick. Add flour through out, depending on how sticky your dough is.

-Cook them. I like to flip them frequently... or just watch for bubbles. When here are a lot of little bubbles flip, I probably flip 4 times each. maybe like 1/2 min to 1 min each side/flip
-When they have brown spots you will know it's done... if you are cooking with a cast iron skillet I think it goes faster so make sure you don't burn holes through it. I use to all the time setting off the fire alarm.
- When done store them in a tortilla warmer lined with a dish towel.
-If you don't have one place the cooked tortillas in a dish towel and make sure they are completely covered. Just place one on top of another.. the heat will keep them nice and soft(specially if you over cooked them, place the over cooked one in the middle of the stack and it will make it soft. If left uncovered they will get dried out.
And there you have it tortillas.

Enjoy,

Mayka

Fabric

So I have been meaning to share this with you for a while but last weeks trip into NYC made this a must..... When I was in London in the fall, I went to one of the coolest stores ever. Liberty of London... The store opened in 1875... selling fabric, carpets, ornaments, furniture etc. So pretty much the worlds first department store. It takes the up almost an entire block of this awesome Tudor revival building. The inside made me giddy with its ornate wood carved moldings and beams... OK I know I'm a total dork but this kind of stuff is right up my alley. I could of spent the entire day there just looking at the architecture... then comeback the next day and just shop. Too bad there is just so much to do and see in London.

I had to buy some fabric... the cool thing about Liberty is that they have a whole section of historical prints. The two of the lighter fabrics are traditional English fabric from the 1800's or earlier. The dark purple fabric was made by William Morris who was the artist who lead the Arts and Crafts Movement... and this fabric has been in print at Liberty since 1920's. Anyway cool, well for dorks like me. Thanks to my mom who has turned me into a fabric snob, I was quiet happy with my cheap big box store, coupon loving fabric, until she corrupted me.

Anyway to continue in my fabric spending festivities, this past week I went to NYC with two of my sisters. Can you guess where we spent most of the day... Yessss the fabric district.. They have this really cool needle and button sculpture to show what district you are in. The crazy thing about our trip is that it was Saint Paddy's day.. and if you don't know the biggest parade in the U.S. is on this day in NYC.. yes bigger than the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade... why you may ask. Because a butt load of people from Jersey come in and get drunk all over the place. It was kinda crazy, and cool at the same time, my Irish friends where jealous, oh wait I only have one, you know who you are ginger!! I even made friends with a police officer while eating breakfast. 2mo. out in the field an officer from the Bronx... he said they bring in a lot of re enforcement for this day.. just to keep drunken fights down... So needless to say this was our back ground music while we shopped for fabric.. We even made it to Mood, which is featured in Project Runway... it was packed. We found some Liberty of London fabric at B&J fabric but not the historical ones... that you have to make a trip to London for I guess... OK I will leave you all a lone with my fabric talk.