Thursday, January 28, 2010

A Non-Traditional Quilt For a Baby Boy

We have good friends who are having baby boy #3 soon. I thought they might be over pastels by now, and wanted to make them something a bit more funky. It is very simple--a Michael Miller Play Diamond on the front, and a vibrant coordinating blue on the back.

Lesson Learned:  A hated fabric can redeem itself! A few months ago, I bought the front fabric to coordinate with fabrics for a quilt I was working on. Online of course. And I HATED it. It was wrong wrong wrong. I pulled it out this time, paired it with a simple backing, and realized how great it looked together. Hurrah!

My favorite part: The quilting--it simple vertical quilting in ascending widths. It livens the quilt up quite a bit.



- Posted usin BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Martha Stewart Cooking School


Last week, I was telling my friend Sarah that I was inspired by Julie and Julia to cook my way through a cookbook. She mentioned that she would be interested, but wanted to learn technique in the process. I had an "aha!" moment. Apparently, I'm not the only one. When I was pregnant with N., I had a period of time where I literally almost didn't eat. Its called hyperemesis. Its not pretty. I love food. I couldn't eat food. I obsessed over food. The Food Network became my best friend, I had the lineup memorized. My favorites: Down Home with the Nealys, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, and Barefoot Contessa. I want to be her. And when I really needed a fix, Paula Dean. I also read through Martha Stewart Cooking School, and was fascinated. I tried to learn through reading, since standing didn't work.

Back to my aha! moment. I want to (selectively) cook through the MS Cooking School Book, of which I happen to have a copy. I'm lucky--I have an extraordinarily talented sister in law, who designed several of Martha Stewart's latest books, and we have quite the library, thanks to she and my mother-in-law.

The plan: To do one lesson a week. It might take me a while. I'll keep you updated.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Yum

I had to laugh--after watching the movie Julie and Julia, I totally want to cook my way through a cookbook this year. Say what you will about the movie, I was inspired! I haven't cooked much in the last year, due to a rather difficult pregnancy. But I've been doing lots of cooking lately. If only I was as good at photographing food as I am at eating and making it. Alas. On Tuesday, I made a gingered pork, green bean, and pepper stir fry. This recipe was fabulous, but not a "make dinner while supervising Mr. L doing his workbooks and learning how to cut and wanting to help and thinking maybe he needs to paint or do dishes, and chopping vegetables sure looks like fun too, none of which is super helpful, while N. decides she IS in fact DONE with the bouncy seat." Thank goodness J got home a bit early to help. I love Everyday Food magazine, and you can never go wrong with The New Best Recipe cookbook, but there are simply TOO MANY recipes. So, I think I'm going to try to cook one recipe a week from Joan Nathan's The New American Cooking. So far, I've made a ginger pumpkin bread (omitted the nuts and raisins, added chocolate chips. Can't go wrong with that) and a chili with orange zest and cinnamon. I really liked both, J, not so much. We'll see how long this lasts. :)

Gifts for Baby N


My daughter received these three special quilts--the first is from her maternal grandmother. I love it! I had been wanting to make a similar quilt for her, and now I don't have to! The fabric is mostly American Vintage with some fun surprises thrown in.


The second quilt was made by my mom. Its huge, and has minky on the back. I use it all the time for those middle of the night feedings--it fits me perfectly. :) We laughed, because my mom pieced a quilt for Mr. L., and my mother in law quilted a panel with minky on the back. The opposite happened for N. The picture doesn't do it justice. And yes, my fence is crooked.

The final quilt was originally made for me by my great grandmother, Naomi. Its hand quilted, and beautiful. My mom thought N. and I might enjoy it. We love it!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Bedding

Here is the bedding for N.'s crib. It makes me smile everyday! (Red Letter Day by Lizzy House)





And how nice is my mom? She sewed the border on the crib skirt while I was in the hospital--I came home to such a happy surprise!