The greatest quilt I have made to date!  Oh how I love it, my precious Macaroni Love Story in the perfect pattern.  Measuring at 40"x40" it perfectly showcases the great Heather Ross fabrics.  Now I just have to decide on the perfect way to quilt it!

What was wee man doing?  Watching the quilt and mommy!

Now that the gift has been received by my son, I am free to show you guys how his pirate ship quilt turned out, without fear of him seeing it prematurely!  This is a quilt of many things, first off, I learned a new technique along the way (free motion quilting.) I let go of all my "perfectionist ways" and just went with it, imperfections and all that would normally drive me NUTS (the sky being several different fabrics.)  This is the largest quilt that I have done all the quilting by machine, to date, and this quilt is also made of nothing but scraps.  The only yardage was used on the back, and I had just one yard of it, so that tells you that this little quilt is 36" x 36."

I embroidered his name on the flag, sorry folks that is for our eyes only!  You can also see here an example of some of the free motion quilting that I did on this quilt.  How do you like my clouds?  Not bad for the first time and very little practice before hand, if I do say so myself!  Can you tell how proud I am?  I was so annoyed that I didn't have enough of the seagulls to do the entire sky, but in the end I decided to use a matching solid for the rest and I pretended that the ship was sailing into a "patch of seagulls!"

I used the small bit of "my precious" Heather Ross mermaids and fish, which I had to piece together like crazy to make it long enough for this quilt.  I figured if my own son didn't deserve this precious fabric, then who does?  I also did a bit of FMQ as the "waves in the water."  You can also see that I used a large ric-rac for a dimensional aspect and that "wave" effect.  You can also see some precious Denyse Schmidt fabric that makes up the body of the boat!  The outer border consists of a bunch of pirate and skeleton prints, all of which my son loves, and even though it creates quite the tacky effect, it is perfect for a 4 year old.

The backing is a great "pirate dogs" print, and I think my son likes the back just as much as the front!  I actually used a floral B&W print for the binding, but since it was a large scale print, you can't really tell that it is floral, which worked out quite nice.

The pattern for the ship can be found in the Modern Blocks book by Susanne Woods.  It is found on page 166-167 and is entitled the "Set Sail Block."  The pattern is for a 12.5" square block, so I doubled all of the dimensions, making this ship block 25" square.  I used a high loft polyester batting, so that it would be "extra cushy" and soft.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting during the festival, make sure to check out the other entries over at Amy's Creative Side!

Hi!  It's me, Mama Marci, as my son now affectionately calls me, which I think is possibly the cutest thing in the world.  I am modeling my brand new Tova top by Wiksten that I made for myself.  Technically this is a muslin, made of a cheap print from JoAnn's that I liked and since it fits, I am wearing it!  The contrasting collar and front details are up-cycled from a top of mine that no longer fits, but I loved the fabric, so it lives on!  It really is quite comfortable and I am so pleased, I will be making quite a few more.

This is a quick sew top, whipped it up in a few hours, which is nice since my time is so limited these days.  I made it in the XL, and the body fit perfectly, the length was great, and I shortened the sleeves for a summer top.  My only problem was the bust line.  I tried it on originally without the sleeves and I quickly realized that the bottom of the inset fell dead center of my boobs and was WAY too tight.  I hadn't finished any seams yet, so I let the underarm seams out as much as I could, but it still wasn't enough.  What to do???  I decided to add in a triangular "extension" of sorts underneath the arm.  The triangle measured 2" across by 7" long, tapering down into the original seam close to the waist. This busy print hides it completely.  Since I extended the sides that much, I had to add the same 2" into the sleeve as well, which also worked out perfectly because the sleeves would have been too tight as well.  Not as bad as the bust, but not exactly comfortable.  The fit is much better in the bust, not perfect, but on the next I will try to fix the minor problems I have with it.  The sleeve is too big around, so I will also try to correct that in the next go around also.  In essence I will be making another "muslin" just to be sure I can get a great fit before I start making the "real" ones!  I have some great voile from Anna Maria Horner that I just can't wait to make into this top!

This top is super easy to make, and I think the hardest/longest part was printing the pattern and taping it together!  I am linking up with verykerryberry, who hosted a lovely sew-a-long and has step by step instructions for this top and some variations.  If you are considering sewing for yourself, this is a great starter project!

P.S.  I asked my husband what he thought of the top, and he replied, "Yeah, I like it."  So I responded, "Can you tell that I made it?"  His response, "Really?  I didn't realize that you made it, I thought you bought it!"  That simply made my day!

Having every intention of making this a wordless Wednesday, I quickly realized that it wasn't wordless when I promptly began typing.  I guess I am unable to be wordless?  Maybe it is because I don't have any adult interaction during the day! Oh well....

I bit the bullet and cut into my precious Macaroni Love Story by Heather Ross.  I had a plan and a pattern for quite some time now, spent an enormous amount of time doing the math and changing the pattern a tad bit, but finally last night I cut it out!  It felt good and rewarding.  Can't wait to get stitching!

Just a super quick pop in to show off two little rompers I finished this past week.  I signed up for the One Thing, One Week Challenge over at Amy's Creative Side last Monday and set these two rompers as my goal to finish this week!  Goal accomplished!  I am going to post more about these adorable outfits at a later point, but I will say they are super easy, super cute and the pattern is by Patty Young and is the Natalie and Nate pattern.  LOVE IT and can't say enough great things about this pattern!

What are my plans?
1.  To fix a pair of pants I bought for my 4 year old from Old Navy that unraveled the first time I washed them.  Either fix them or throw them in the trash.
2.  I want to sew a pair of pajamas for my 4 year old from the Star Wars fabric I recently found at JoAnn's, using the book Sewing for Boys.
3.  I want to sew a romper for my baby boy from the Natalie and Nate pattern by Patty Young that I also bought recently.  See photo below!  So cute!

It isn't to late to join in, the fun starts today!  I hope to be back during the week with progress updates and hopefully some finishes!  Wish me luck!

Here it is, my precious.  Macaroni Love Story by Heather Ross, I've been hoarding it, and now it is time to cut it up, stitch it up, and then love it up!  I've actually decided to join in two quilt-alongs at the same time (as if I don't have enough on going projects.)  I think fate threw me head first into both of these quilt-alongs and that it is meant to be, so I'm going with it!  The first is the My Precious QAL hosted by the lovely Kelly over at Kelby Sews.  The second is the Cosmic Burst QAL hosted by the also lovely Julie over at Distant Pickles.  Both of these quilt-alongs will result in one quilt, I will be using my precious fabric to make the Cosmic Burst quilt.

I wont be killing myself to get it done by any certain deadline, but I do hope to get cutting soon.  First, I have to decide on fabric placement and that is where I need your help.  When you have fabric this precious, you don't just cut into it all willy-nilly...no YOU HAVE A PLAN.  I have roughed up three fabric placement images, and I would love to know which of the three you like the best.  Husband and I mutually agreed on one last night, but I would love to get your opinion too!

Several things to keep in mind.  The orange is going to be Patty Young's Creamsicle Stitch fabric, and the Gray is probably going to be Alexander Henry's Heath.  Kind of undecided on the Heath as of right now, we shall see.  The scale of the fabrics is a bit off also, (this is a rough layout) and keep in mind this quilt will measure 40" x 40" and will showcase these prints nicely.  This quilt is one big block.  Here we go:

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, this is my newest work in progress, and honestly what is the point in listing the 100 other on-going projects that you all have heard about over and over again.  Heck, I'm tired of hearing about them too!  Maybe from now on, I'll just feature one work in progress, we shall see.  Thanks in advance for your help in choosing my layout.

Blackberry Jelly Recipe and basic canning directions HERE.  These are the only things I did differently and a few hints:
1.  I didn't want seeds in my jelly, so at first I started pushing the berries through a strainer, which worked, but was very slow.  I ended up putting about two cups in my blender, processing them, and then pushing the puree through the strainer to remove the seeds.  This worked really really well, and I'm not quite sure why some of the recipe comments say not to do it, it worked just fine for me!
2.  Two gallon bags of frozen berries produced exactly the amount of juice needed for this recipe (5 cups) and filled around 9 8 ounce jars.
3.  On Step 11, I didn't have a fancy canning pot, so I just used a large pot that I filled with water, and laid a towel inside.  The towel inside kept the jars from clanking together while the water boiled.  Make sure the water is 1" above the lids during the boiling process.  Be extra careful removing the super hot jars from the boiling water after you are done, this part is rather dangerous and especially so if you are using regular tongs and not specialty canning tongs.  Go slow and be careful!

Enjoy the fruits of your labor year round!  We have already eaten our way through three jars, and I can't wait to make more jelly during the next blackberry season!

P.S.  I wrote this post before I gave birth, and just never had the chance to post it, so fortunately for me, blackberry season is in full swing right now and I swear there are more than ever out there ready to be picked!  I am ready!

_Linking up to Tuesday at the Table over at A Quilter's Table.  Hop on over and visit the others and their great recipes!

I also am going to add another project that has been sitting for far to long.  These two handbags that I am making for a friend.  They are also further along than this, I just need to take the time and finish them up.  This is also about two days worth of work.  So let's see if I am able to muster up about 4 days worth of sewing time during the next three months! HaHa.... don't hold your breath.

I have decided to set a new resolution for the year, a more realistic resolution.  Originally my resolution was to finish all my WIP's from 2011, which is about 14 projects.  Not going to happen, honestly.  So... my new resolution is to get one quilt finished per quarter.  I am happy to say that I did meet this goal in the first quarter by finishing the little boy car quilt that I shared last week.  I just didn't have that one on my Finish-Along list originally, hence the fail.  But that is OK, I finished one quilt last quarter, and hopefully can finish this one quilt this quarter!  Wish me luck!

2012 Finish-Along Second Quarter Goals:
1.  Finish Sherbet Pips Quilt
2.  Finish the Two Uber Handbags

First up are two blocks for "Kritta22" in the Modern Blocks Bee.  She sent us two solids and we were allowed to make any blocks from the Modern Blocks book that we wanted to make.  We were allowed to add our own fabric just so long as it fit in with the color palette.  I picked these two lovely blocks, both of which were fairly easy to construct.  The first Front and Center on pages 74-75, and the second Potager on pages 146-147.  My husband really likes the first and made the off hand comment that if I ever made him a quilt, it should be in this color palette.  Well, now i know, and knowing is half the battle right?

Next up is a great mosaic block for "QuiltGenius" in the Always Bee Learning group.  She requested a free form block and to just start constructing and not to stop until you ran out of fabric, which is the lovely Plume by Tula Pink, just in case you were wondering.  The block is rather large, like 18" x 20" and I think this will be an amazing quilt.  The tutorial for this block can be found HERE.  I certainly don't have a problem making wonky blocks, I just hope she likes it!

Last, but not least are two great blocks for "kintx" in the Quilting newBEES group.  This block is called Attic Window, and the tutorial can be found HERE.  I think these are the first bee blocks that I really messed up, and honestly had to rip seams three separate times.  After ripping seams that many times I seriously was beginning to think that maybe I shouldn't be sewing anymore.  No, not seriously, but man, I was frustrated.  It was all my fault and the mistakes were made from simply not reading the directions thoroughly.  Thankfully I was able to salvage the blocks and if I weren't confessing now, no one would have ever known!  I have to admit that this will be one stunning quilt, and I can't wait to see how she lays out these blocks!

Now I just need to work on April's Bee Blocks!  Here's hoping you have a great weekend!