Orange and Black

It's that time of year and the Giants' fever is spreading!  What a perfect holiday for the orange and black.  It's hard to beat that feeling of camaraderie when your team is on the brink of something magical.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat!

It's almost Halloween and if you're like you me, you never know what to dress up as but you LOVE to see the trick or treaters.  My house has never been a trick or treat hot spot (I think last year we had two) so this year I'll think we'll be transplants to a more kid-friendly neighborhood.  You think you know what the kids are dressing up as each year, so imagine my surprise last year when my brother and sister-in-law told me they were dressing up my 5 month old nephew as sushi!   I had no idea how it was going to work, but I was game to help out however possible.  Turns out, it's a pretty easy do-it-yourself and a great last minute idea for all ages.

Here's what you do.  

• Dress in white (or green pants like my nephew) for the rice.
• Sew an orange rectangular pillow for the salmon.  Add white ribbon on the diagonal for extra salmon detail - fabric glue works great.
• Tie a thick black ribbon around yourself and the salmon pillow for the seaweed.
• Add chopsticks, keeping them in place with the ribbon.

Voila - sushi!

Happy Halloween!

Gone fishing

My nephew Max

Well, no I haven't really gone fishing, but if it's a Saturday and the weather is nice, chances are that my husband has.  Although I grew up getting exposed to a little bit of camping and fishing as a kid, I never knew real fishing until my post-college years with my dear hubby.  Even then, it wasn't until after I was engaged that I figured out the best part of being outdoors - Glamping.  For those of you have never heard of glamping and who didn't immediately google the term, glamping is a sort of upscale, fancy form of camping (glamour + camping).  While the rules may vary from person to person, some of my pre-requisites for glamping include the following:

• Bathrooms with running water
• Air mattress and clean sleeping bag
• A clean tablecloth on a picnic table (coordinating plates and glasses a plus)
• Wine and food that doesn't come from a can
• Off bug clip, citronella candles, and Buzz Off clothing.  If you can find a site without bugs, extra points awarded.

I've made it my mission to make our campsite the prettiest it possibly can be and there's nothing quite like when you get that perfect site with the perfect view and the perfect campfire.  As soon as I can, I'd love to make a glamping blanket to snuggle up in around the fire.  The contest this week on Spoonflower is a woodland theme and if these fabrics don't inspire you to go glamping, well, I guess we won't see you out there.

Here's an oldie but goodie project that I made a few years ago for another nephew.  The quilt had a couple of fish fabrics and the backing was a great father/son print that included a fishing theme.

Count your blessings

Do you ever have one of those days?  You know the ones, you wake up late, spill your coffee, can't find your keys - the old terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  I feel like I've had more of those days lately than I'd like, and today was no exception.  I rushed out the door to the office and, of course, I got stuck in traffic because of an accident.  As I slammed the breaks at yet another yellow light, I thought to myself  "why can't I just catch a break?"  Just then, as I sat at the busy intersection, a homeless man walked across the crosswalk pushing a shopping cart with a few recyclables.

It was an a-ha moment that, unfortunately, I needed this morning.  A gentle reminder - don't sweat the small stuff.  Kiss your honey every morning, wave at school kids riding the bus, let that other car change lanes in front of you and count your blessings each morning and night.

Traditions

It's been a rainy, windy weekend and there's no denying that the autumn season is fully upon us.  I finally got to pull out all of my favorite cold weather clothes and was maybe even justified in buying another new jacket (it was on sale).  It's the type of weather that almost gets you thinking about the holidays and making those plans for the family get togethers.  If you're like me, you love the changing weather and the boots and scarves that go along with it.   Of course, there's also things you love that never change.  Those special family traditions that continue on no matter what time of year it is or what the weather is like.

One special tradition that I've recently been introduced to comes from my husband's family.  Whenever one of the kids gets engaged, one of the aunts hosts a family tea or brunch in honor of the bride.  It's mostly family members who attend the bridal shower and prior to the day of the party, everyone contributes a favorite family recipe or two.  This last shower, I was in charge of collecting the recipes and putting together a recipe book for the bride with copies for each of the guests.  I wanted to do something special and, with the help of my husband and sister-in-law, we put together these books using a mix of materials.

The covers to the recipe books were fabric with a craft weight interfacing added for stability.  I then used a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine to create the binding and to hold the pages together.  Finally, I added a little rick rack to hide the seam.  I think it's amazing when you can mix sewing with paper crafts.  I'd love to make some sewn note cards using this idea.

Let's go Giants!

Thanks and here's some more

Thanks to everyone who has been spreading the word about my new blog.  I love seeing all of the new visitors and comments and getting emails.  I hope you'll come back often for more projects!

I just finished this baby blanket and I loved playing around again with the over sized applique like the twin birdies blanket.  I've had this butterfly print in my stash for a while now and I think it's a great compliment to the dot fabrics.  This baby girl is due on Halloween - I'm sure she'll be boo-tiful ;)

Baby Shower #2

A few weeks back I posted a photo of the Amy Butler birdie sling I made using the pretty Valori Wells fabrics in a pink, orange, and cream color combination.   Well now I can finally share the coordinating baby gift set that was made with the same materials.  

This set was a simple baby blanket with a thick contrast binding and cuddly minkee dot fabric for the backing.  I added burp cloths using an off white colored terry cloth on the reverse.  

I also added a reversible bib with the over sized dahlia on the reverse. 

I'm finding lately that the more I share these gifts with friends and family, the more people I find with old sewing machines sitting in the back of their closets just itching to get out.  I always tell everyone that pillow cases are a great way to get your foot in the door and to get the dust off the old machine.  Another simple idea is a burp cloth like this.  I have my friend Denise to thank for sharing with me the simplicity of the burp cloth.  It's so simple to make but there are endless fabric possibilities and a homemade gift is always special, imperfections and all.

A Saturday afternoon

Today was one of those days.  No, not the kind when you wish you could pull the covers up and hit the snooze button 17 more times, but the type when you wake up refreshed, the coffee tastes just right and the weather sits at that perfectly comfortable 79 degrees.  It was a day to enjoy iced tea with a special friend on the patio and then waste away the afternoon window shopping and eating delicious gelato.

One of our stops was at Anthropologie, where I found these irresistible spool looking candles and yet somehow managed to resist purchasing the entire set.  I think I'll bookmark these for a future trip to hopefully catch them in the sale room.  So tempting.

So trendy

Apparently I'm not the only one who's been digging all of the creative fabric bunting projects out there in the crafty world.  I was delighted to see my Etsy email today highlighting all of the fun bunting items lately.  

These are some decorations that I threw together using some scrap fabrics from my collection box.  This was for a fall color themed baby party last weekend.  I also got to pull out some old decorations from my wedding that my hubby nearly threw away.  Double score!!

It's OC vs GG

I thought I'd do a side by side comparison of two of my generation's ultimate teen drama relationships.  (Am I too old to call them my generation?  Oh well.)  It's a tough call, but somebody's going to win this epic battle.

	The OC’s Ryan & Marissa	Gossip Girl’s  Chuck & Blair
Bad Boy	Ryan is the brooding, quiet boy from the wrong side of the tracks	Chuck is the no nonsense, no consequences, scarf wearing, more money than most small countries, rich guy	GG – Chuck’s got style, Ryan just has the wifebeater.
Daddy Issues	Marissa’s father committed fraud and ran off to Hawaii	Blair’s dad leaves her mom for a man named Cyrus and a villa in France	It’s a toss up
Wing Man	Seth Cohen, the comic book loving, water polo hating, loyal housemate	Nate Archibald, the pretty boy, who happens to be Blair’s first love	OC – Never good to date your best friend’s ex.
Favorite Music Moment	“Maybe I’m Amazed” by Jem – Ryan & Marissa dance at Caleb & Julie’s wedding	“I’m in Here” by SIA – Chuck & Blair in the train station	GG – This was a close call.  Both have plenty of favorite moments to choose from.
First Kiss	Top of the ferris wheel	Back of the limousine	GG
Best Line	“I love you” “Uh. Thank you?”	“Three words, eight letters.  Say it and I’m yours”	OC wins the awkward award
Final Decision	Got to hand it to Chuck and Blair.  Let’s hope it doesn’t end the same way Ryan & Marissa did.

Sugar and Spice

I'm going out of order, but I just couldn't resist putting up these new photos.  I love how this baby shower gift set turned out and it's probably because it's what I would pick out if I were keeping it for myself!

For this one, I started with the Fandango by Kate Spain charm pack and some extra yardage of two of the prints.  It was my first time purchasing a charm pack and it feels like a dream come true!  It's like I've been struggling to turn over my grilled cheese sandwiches all this time and someone just bought me the Grip 'n' Flip.  (It's that big of a breakthrough.)

I added my typical burp cloths to the set (the 2.0 version) and this time I also threw in another of my latest ideas - the picture frame with coordinating photo mat.  I figured my brother and sister-in-law could add their own photos after baby girl arrives, but in the mean time, I put in the super sweet "sugar" and "spice" cards.  Doesn't it just make you want to go out and buy some fresh flowers?

Baby Shower #1 - part 3

The final piece to the twin baby shower gift.  I was inspired on this one by the postcards from the park quilt posted at Film in the Fridge - an absolutely gorgeous quilt that I would love to have in my own home.  This being the last part of the baby gift package, I had lots of odds and end pieces and fabric already cut in strips. 

I started by sewing the long colored strips to a white border on either side.  After cutting them to 4 inch pieces, I added white borders to both sides.

Then came the fun part.  I cut each square to a 6 1/2 inch block at a different angle, perfect for me and all of my "almost, not quite" square blocks, which happens more times than I like to admit.

Finally, I pieced the blocks together in rows, added my new favorite backing - the white dot minkee fabric, added the Laurie Wisbrun Tufted Tweets binding and, voila!  Wonky brick blanket completed.  I really love it and hope to make another wonky brick soon.

Baby Shower #1 - part 2

As I mentioned in a previous post, my sister-in-law is having twins.  I was inspired by the "Remember Whooo Loves You" quilt pattern but wanted to put my own spin on it.  The Tufted Tweets collection by Laurie Wisbrun, which I used for the binding and the main quilt has some tiny little birds, so I went with a similar looking bird.  The original plan was to have a mama bird and a baby bird, but my mother convinced me it would be a sin not to have twin birdies standing on the branch.  It was a bit of a time crunch at the end, but I was able to get this blanket done in time for the shower.  I really like how the applique adds a little something different to the basic quilt block design.  My mind is now full of other ideas to put oversized applique designs on quilt tops.  

There's one more part to this baby shower gift which, sadly, was about an hour away from completion by the time the party came.  I followed my mother-in-law's advice and gave the full gift with an asterisk that I needed to take it back to finish.  (I don't think she minded.)

In case you were wondering

If you're not a tennis fan and you don't live with me, then you may have found yourself asking, who is Federlily?  This blog all started because I wanted a place to share some of the things that I've created for the loved ones around me and also to talk about some random things that I love.  Since I love being crafty and dreaming of new projects, I wanted a name that represented things that I love and that bring me joy.  Besides my husband and my family, two of my loves are my sweet kitty, Lily and the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer.


As to first part of "Federlily", I was lucky enough to watch Roger Federer play in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2008 US Open.  This was a very special time for me because it was while I was in New York at the US Open with my then boyfriend and both of our mothers that he proposed to me at the top of the Empire State Building (think Sleepless in Seattle, Jonah's backpack...)


Our kitty Lily joined our home almost 4 years ago and she has been bringing smiles every day ever since.  I love to watch as my nephews come to visit and each time they go right to the spot where they know they can find her.  She's my number one field tester for every project and nothing leaves the house without her inspection first.


Now I'm never one to skip giving credit where credit is due, so in honor of Lily of Federlily,  this week I'm celebrating the one year anniversary of her big moment in the spotlight as PeoplePets.com "Cutest Pet of the Day".  Congratulations Lily!

Baby shower #1

When I heard the news from my sister-in-law that she was expecting, I thought I couldn't have been more excited.  Then I heard she was having twins and my excitement doubled!  I debated for weeks over the fabrics to make her something special until I finally decided on a bright, cheery green, mod mix of prints.

In the past my burp cloths have always been made of soft flannel, but I call these my burp cloths 2.0 - quilting cotton one side, terry cloth on the other.  The babies are due in December, so we'll have to wait and see how the 2.0 version works out.

This is the greatest game I've ever seen

My loyal readers may have already picked up on the fact that I have a wii.  While there are several games that I have loved over the years, this one jumped immediately to the top of my all time favorites list, and I haven't even played it yet.

It's The Bachelor Video Game!  With real Chris Harrison voice over and a Chris Harrison avatar!  I know!  The game came out in July, so I'm a little late on this one, but I don't care.  I went online and found out that all of the other avatars are favorites from seasons past - Andy, Trista, Jason, Jillian and even Vienna.  You can go on dates, sabotage others' dates and yep, there is a hot tub.  No mention of the fantasy suite, but that may be a good thing.

Shout out to my friend Lindsay who got to see the real live Chris Harrison this week at the taping of DWTS.  I'm not sure how crazy I am about Brad returning to be the bachelor again, but who are we kidding?  We're all going to watch.