My budding scientist

It's Science Fair time around here. We've been busy assembling, testing, and recording results.

Since Nathan has shown some interest in environmental issues, I suggested we find a project that dealt with recycling or alternative power. He wanted to try something with solar power.

So, we gathered supplies and started building.

Assembling the foil lined cardboard boxes to make......

a solar oven!

Nathan had some great ideas for his display board.
(Check out that hand crafted sun in the middle!)

We live in sunny California, but March is not the best time to attempt cookie baking in a solar oven. It did get pretty warm (175* F), but not hot enough to bake our cookies.

And even though the cookies didn't bake....

my little scientist won the Sweepstakes Trophy!

He was very excited about his success and we couldn't be more proud of him.

Decisions, Decisions...

Last week, Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts chose me as the winner of Amy Ellis' new book Modern Basics. I am so excited to have a copy of this book! As soon as I got it out of the mailbox, it was straight into my sewing room to see what fabrics I could find to play with.

These green and purple fabrics are from Joann's. They're part of their Quilter's Showcase collection.

And those are the plants I picked up this morning to plant in my garden. Oh, and my cute new PINK gloves.

So here's where the decision comes in.......sewing or gardening? fabric or plants?

Science in the making

Yep, it's that time of year again.....Science Fair! As a third grader, this will be the first year for Nathan to be graded on his project. We had a fun family evening of building, along with a few frustrating days of testing. The Science Fair itself takes place next week, so I'll post more details and the final results later. Wish us luck!

An empty spot

That's the spot where my Bernina usually resides. I've finally taken it in for a service. The squeaky Walking Foot was driving me batty. I won't get it back 'til sometime Thursday. Of course, as soon as I dropped it off, I had a ton of ideas for projects that I want to start on right now! I guess this would be a good opportunity to continue my Spring Cleaning.

Note the cute puppy in the corner and the well organized scrap bins under the desk! (Thanks for the idea Terri!)

A Special Request

My husband liked my mug rug so much, that he asked me to make one for him.

He just didn't want his to be quite so pink and girly. :)

Lucky for him, I had some appropriate "boy" fabrics in my stash.

I think it's manly enough. And he likes it too!

Something fun

I've been mostly housebound for the last 4 days with a sick kiddo. With his mix of symptoms, I'm not sure what kind of bug he's had. Today he asked to watch TV and wanted Rainbow Sherbert for breakfast. Since he's eaten hardly anything for 4 days, I was more than happy to indulge his request.

I think he's definitely on the road to recovery.

And me....I needed to make something today. It had to be fun. It had to be fast. And it had to be simple.

I rummaged through my scrap bin and came up with this....


a Ticker Tape Mug Rug! I didn't have Valentine's Day in mind when I was picking the fabrics, but it does seem appropriate for the occasion. Since I hardly ever make anything for myself, I think I'll keep this one.

Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Finally finished.....

with Christmas sewing.

Yes, Christmas sewing.

And yes, I know that today is February 7th.

But I have excuses reasons for this gift being delayed.

I made this quilt for my husband. He asked for a handmade quilt that he could use while hanging out on the couch with the family. It had to be big enough for cuddling with a little boy and a puppy. And it had to reach his chin without uncovering his feet.

This bares little resemblance to the quilt that I started making for him. (I messed that one up and had to start over.) Luckily, this ended up fulfilling all his criteria. I did have the quilt top finished before Christmas and presented it to him on Christmas Day.

This is the first quilt that I have machine quilted with my walking foot. And the first time I have hand stitched the binding to the back of a quilt. Although not perfect, I'm very happy with it.

Hope you love it honey!