Quilt Market or bust!

Jennifer Paganelli had me make a piece for them to display at Quilt Market in Salt Lake City representing her newest line, Honey Child. I am particularly fond of the hot colors- pinks and oranges- and love the East Indian feel of the Dana line.
Forgive the many pictures of Ollie, but it has been awhile since I have photographed a quilt, and he became very excited. Nothing worse than an out of work model trying to hog the camera...

Win these boots!

While I know that this is going to make it harder for me to win my own, I had to share this great give away from A Perfect Gray and Splendid Willow Avenue blogs to win a pair of Ilse Jacobsen's stylish rubber boots, any size or color... quick hop over to their blogs to enter and win!
Special "merci beaucoup" to Connie at 100 Applegate for sharing her secret!
Happy March Madness,
Nancy

Tortilla Tutorial. The real deal.

My nephew, Esteban (Stevo), and his family came over for Sunday stew. He knew I made the tortilla cozies and decided it was time I learned to make my own fresh corn tortillas.
I had a tortilla press, but you can use a glass pie place for pressing, and we used Steve's electric griddle on the highest setting. Just follow the directions on the bag and watch them disappear!
They didn't get much time spent in the cozy before they were served up with Kate's butter, Cabot cheddar cheese and green Tabasco.
Thanks Steve.
The cozy also made a great hat on "The Lad".

That's Hot! DIY Tortilla Cozy.

You've heard of a tea cozy- a quilted comforter in the shape of a tea pot, to keep your tea from cooling off too quickly.
This is a "Tortilla Cozy"- 100% all cotton quilted pockets that you can slip your toasted burrito wrappers to keep caliente.
You can heat your tortillas over an open gas flame like we do, or you can take a paper towel, sprinkle a little water on it, and slip it in with some fresh tortillas. Place them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Use until it needs washing. You can throw it in the machine with your laundry. They also double as a great looking trivet or hot pad.
I used some Robert Kaufman "Cilantro" orange fabric, and some vintage flour sack fabric with a Mexican motif.
Quilt the fabric (all cotton batting or bamboo) before cutting the shape/circle.
Bind 1/2 of each of the circles, then sew right sides out and bind the naked edges together,
OR sew from one bound end to the other bound end with right sides together and flip inside out.
Embellish with ric-rac if you want to be really fancy.

Food Journaling for Dummies.

Well, I started in earnest with my diet and fitness program that was custom designed for me by Maddi and Debra at Lean and Chic, but it all came to a standstill and I couldn't "figure" out why. Then I realized I had been resisting a very vital part of the regime- food journaling. Maybe it was just another thing to do on my "to do" list, or maybe I didn't want to share what I had actually been ingesting. Some things were not on the list... in fact, most of them weren't! So, who was I kidding? How can I make this fun and inspiring? I made a food journal! I embellished my little book with articles and images from a 1970's Teen magazine that contained all sorts of well meaning but totaling damaging information ("How I nabbed Flab, by Fat Franny") on food and fitness. I included snippets from the celebrity Fat to Famous article on how the stars stay slim, a five day diet regimen, and a few pics showing how-to spot toning exercises. Included at the end are pictures to inspire, new looks to dream about- even a full page cut out of a dreamy guy from a Johnson & Johnson Baby Oil ad! The page keeper is a measuring tape, and a longer tape, big enough for upper and lower thigh measurements will keep it safe and secure from unwanted viewers! Now, if this doesn't work, I don't know what will! Wish me luck- bikini season is just around the corner....
This can be yours...
Next, a beauty journal...

Revised apron... done!

And with a flour sack towel to boot! Robyn from Peace Tree Desserts came for a fitting and we decided to change up a few things- i.e., I remade the bib.
Now... Let me eat cake!

Peace Tree Dessert Apron #2.

I'm all about promoting and supporting small businesses, especially when what they sell is what they have made themselves. So this is why I cannot stop creating new aprons for my new friend, Robyn Eads of Peace Tree Desserts. Each delectable dessert she crafts with love and natural ingredients is a "peace" of art in itself.
The first apron was made with a more organic palette and organic material when possible. This all cotton apron was inspired by a photo she sent me from an Anthropolgie catalog... a little brighter, with vintage trims and a dirndl style apron with pockets. The bird motif on this Valorie Wells Bird Paisley for Free Sprit was a choice I made... maybe inspired by chef Robyn's first name???
The logo will go on the top under the little ruffle and fabric covered buttons.
We meet tomorrow, but may try to knock out another tonight... I hope she likes them. If not, guess what mom's getting for Mother's Day?!

Queen Streets little princess.

That's my friend, sweet Georgia Brown. (Yes, her real name.) She's relaxing on my Queen Street quilt while perusing the new Sis Boom Girls World book that I helped style and my husband (Tim Geaney) photographed. Not out until April, but you can pre-order it on Amazon.

Peace Tree Desserts Apron.

Baker extraordinaire, Robyn Eads of Peace Tree Desserts, has commissioned me to design a new apron for her. She will be filming a series of videos and has some surprises to unveil next month, so I'm a little under the gun.
Robyn prides herself in using all natural and organic ingredients whenever possible. I am going to design a few aprons for her to choose from, using her requested color palettes, logo, and whenever I can I will use organic fabrics and inks.
This is the first apron, sans the logo which will be silk screened on the 2 front pockets, made with Japanese ecrulat lyceenne from Quilters Alley in Ridgefield and organic bamboo. Raw edges rule and vintage cotton lace floats along the hemline.
The other option will be more colorful and frilly- but both have to be short, with pockets, and above all... "pretty".
Let me know which ones you like.