LizzyHouse

friday nights

so my Friday nights should probably be spent going on dates or something... but they aren't. Let's be real. They are spent with my new best girls. My Sewing Team, the printmakees. We (Amy, Me and the Jimison's) all stay in at the Jimison's house. Two weeks ago we made cinnamon popcorn, and Isabelle, age 9, ran around with my camera taking the most wild pictures. It was fun to look through them afterwards. But we had the best time. We just sat around and talked, and cut fabric... ate cinnamon popcorn. The Works. The only thing that would make it better was if my Mom was there too.

the recipe is as follows:

Pop enough popcorn to have about 10 cups.
one 7.5 once box of red hots
half a stick of butter
two tablespoons corn syrup

melt the butter, red hots, and corn syrup in a pan on the stove.
once it's melted poor it over the popcorn in a large bowl, and mix mix mix (remember Mrs. Fields baking show on food network?)

couldn't be easier
couldn't be better

and I usually let it cool on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper... or I quickly form it into balls while it is still sticky. So the primary song is true...

This past Friday we made Indian food. WOW. It was awesome. Both Carla and Amy are really good at making it. I contributed by being a good little samosos triangle philo folder. Delicious. After which we watched an old British series called Red Dwarf followed by the unexpected Spanish Inquisition, Monty Python and the Flying Circus style.

happy October!

progress report

the sewing team has been doing very well. We originally were going to just meet on Wednesday nights, but now it seems we are together almost every night, which has been too much fun. Both my friend Amy and I are doing City Scape, and Carla is doing Foreign Currency (which isn't actually available yet). Amy has actually almost got her entire quilt done, which is awesome, and my top is pinned to the batting and back, but is now in the que for my mother to quilt. I will be quiltless for over a month... my quilt is in the show at home....

this was mine before I sewed it... this is my bedroom floor

something that we found about this this quilt was that it is a perfect first quilt. There are corners that will match, but if they don't... it isn't the end of the world because you can't really tell that they were supposed to match. Awesome. After cutting everything out it only took about 5 hours to sew everything together, and about an hour to pin everything together! It goes together really fast. So even if you are an advanced quilter it's a great quilt because it goes together so quickly, and has kind of a modern feel to it. If you decide to make it, let me know I can send you the chart that we made for the block break down. If you start you will know what I am talking about

this is Amy's version. I call it City Disco (since she's using so many disco dots).

The Quilt Shoppe

so, our little sewing team took a trip last night to Rigby and Idaho Falls.

I grew up going to quilt stores, and it honestly wasn't until a few years ago that I started really appreciating them. Well, in Houston Texas, any thing you want, you got it.. we have access to everything, BUT in Idaho it's a different story. But my professor/mentor Carla Jimison told us about this great little shop in Rigby, which is only 15 minutes away from Rexburg.

I was very impressed with Amy Hamberlin the owner of the store and the store itself was very sweet and homey. It reminded me a lot of Julienes Quilt Shop in Old Town Spring in Spring, Texas. Her shop is located in an old house so it has a great feel to it. We weren't able to go until after they were closed so we called ahead and they stayed open for us which was awesome.

For being a relatively small store they had a really great selection. She carries a lot of Moda, and Michael Miller, and is starting to incorporate more Free Spirit/ Westminster. Amy the owner thinks that the area is almost ready for Kaffe Fassett.

I was just overall really impressed. Great customer service, great atmosphere. They are working on a blog and a website right now. Also, they are getting in lots and lots of hand dyed yarn which is exciting. They offer all kinds of patterns and books as well as classes and even long arm rentals. It really is a great shop, and they are expanding to the upstairs of the house, to allow for more everything. If you are ever in the area you need to stop by

to make everything even better, they gave us a 15% discount with our student i.d.

The Quilt Shoppe
(208) 745-5151

Tues-Fri 10-6 Sat 10-5
243 W. Main
Rigby, Idaho 83442

soo. On Wednesday my little sewing team started CityScapes. I was really excited to make this quilt. My Mom got me my fabric, we had fun picking it out, I liked the idea of making something substantial of my own... all signs were pointing to this being a good experience.. making this quilt with friends. ALL GOOD.

It wasn't until we started figuring out the pattern... how many pieces of what go where... that I realized just how FOOLISH I have been all these years. I am in Love and I don't care who knows it.

I got a bit of mine down at Carla's house, and then she dropped me off. I was so eager to cut out all of my fabric though, that I borrowed a rotary cutter and a mat so I could finish. We made rulers from Mat Board in each of the demensions of the pieces so it would be really easy. So I just sat on my living room floor til 3 in the morning cutting fabric... i played two different movies, I always do that. I play a movie, and I never even look up. It usually is something comforting that I can just listen to.

I love making charts and graphs so taking apart the pattern and making a little chart in a little notebook was really starting on the right foot for me.

As you can see, I have done a bit of redesigning. We just needed an update, and to be completely honest.. I don't even have an I-pod, and to be even more honest, I don't really want one. Oh well

Sewing team!

This fall a bunch of the printmaking girls are getting together to make quilts! We are all making City Scapes! Everyone is getting their fabric ready now so we can get started when we are all back together. To tell you the complete truth... it will be the first quilt that I have ever really made. My Mom just makes them so well I never really had to. Now that she is so busy, and I am needing a new quilt, its time I learned a thing or two about a thing or two.

I had an Ah-Ha moment the other day. It might sound silly but, I was thinking of the significance of a quilt. I make things all the time. Most of them have no actual use, they are just cute or pretty or comforting to have around, the most useful thing I make are my books, but everything else is just to look at. So, a quilt... something that you put all this time and effort and love into, and It serves a purpose! WOWOWOW. I know it might sound dumb, but it really hit me. I love the quilt that my Mom made for me so much, I take it every where with me (except recently, as all its traveling is taking its toll) I don't think I could love that quilt more...but how much will I love my own quilt?! Love is so crazy

To find Michael Miller Mirror Ball Dots, we went to Christa Quilts! She has the best selection and great prices! Quick service to boot. We were really happy with them.

if the link doesn't work just copy and paste www.christaquilts.com

Patriotic Present!

remember how I always tell you, how much I love presents?! Well... just go to FREE-a-BEE to find out more.

It's a quilting Present....not a car

what's on the docket?

I have a question?! Is anyone making CityScapes right now, or planning to in the near future?

Us gals in Idaho, my printmaking ladies, we are starting a club and making them together in the fall. I think we are meeting on Wednesdays. It will be really fun to see what everyone does with the pattern. So, I was just wondering if anyone had plans for it yet. We would love to see pictures!

where it hurts

here is a cool thing. I was looking at this picture of Ashlee and I that was taken before she left, and I found the coolest thing! My room mate Katie took the picture and because of Ashlee's sunglasses, you can see Katie and the entire complex! Pretty cool huh?

yesterday and today have been all about book making. I just can't stop. I have about 12 books ready to be bound. I only know one way right now, so I will save most of them until I have other methods. If I know you and owe you a birthday present you better believe it's going to be a book, but more specifically a journal... or if you can't write without lines, a sketch book. Lucky you!

Ok, my typing may be a bit off tonight like one letter over... I was cutting down some pages for another book, and I sliced right through my pointer finger on my left hand. That's the hand I NEED! We use scalpuls, because they are sharper and don't wear out as quickly as exacto knifes. They are so sharp I did not even feel it cut through the side of my finger. My friend Mallori had stayed the night and she is a go getter/technician, she knows first aid, she has a tool kit: Renissance Mallori, well she went searching everywhere for a bandaid but I just had to contain the bleeding so I wrapped it in toilet paper and then tied some ribbon around it. It was like a little present on my finger. She went all the way up on campus and still could not find a bandaid. Oh well, my bow worked just fine. We went to the store later and got some first aid stuff so we would just have it around. But until I had a bandaid, I marched around holding my finger in front of me, as a small child caring a goldfish or something to a classmates party. It had a bow on it, what was I supposed to do?

I went out to this paper place today with Courtney, because I am not doing her wedding invitations anymore. She is stressed and just wants them done. Understandable, that and everything I touch someone is going to owe someone at least $300. I was born expensive. I can pick the most expensive thing out of anything. It's a gift, I know. Well I hated this place, and it's probably better that way because otherwise I would have been more inclined to spend money there. I only spent $3.60. That my friends, is a record. They were selling these rolls of vellum with flecks of colored stuff for 10 cents a roll (I got three), then these cool cd cases for the next battle: $1 each (I got 3), and scraps of ribbon 2 cents each (I got fifteen). I would say that was worth the torment of being in that horrible place for 40minutes.

I finished two smalls books tonight as well.

Here is the loot though. Have a great night. Like I said before I am going to post a how to make a book on whip up. I will let you know when it happens... things are crazy and I am very tired.

true love

I got a box in the mail yesterday from my mom and what a dream come true. I am hand piecing a quilt this summer, and the squares finished will be 1in. so they are each 1 1/2 in. and my lovely mother cut all the fabric for me SO COOL. She hates cutting fabric even more than me, she's just better at it.

more later I have to go right now.

Follow that Bird!

Oh first of all here is that dress that I made for my sister Ashlee. She seriously looked like Tinkerbell,because I made her go outside before it rained, so she was in our garden, the dress was green, her hair is white (not naturally) and short. I am glad she liked the dress. 

Later, my Mom and I went to the Kingwood Quilt Guild Show at the Humble Civic Center to find some felted wool. For quite a few years now she has been buying pieces of wool clothing, cutting them up and felting them herself but I needed a bunch of different colors, and she wanted to buy me a present. Well thank goodness for ladies at CrazyFolk, because they were the only ones with wool. They sure had great prices too. I got some killer colors, but there will be more on that later.

What I wanted the wool for, is this. You know my Type Birds well I wanted to make them into something that I could give away, use in abundance, hide as a joke, or take pictures of in obscure locations like the Eiffel Tower or a potato field.  Well I want a good future for these little guys, so first of all they needed to be beautiful and that is covered by the wool, and now they need to exist. I did a mock up one with my Mom. He is a little undone, because I am still working out some kinks, but you can get an idea of where I am going with this. You are can bet you will know more later! I am so bummed that I have to go back to school on Monday. This has been too much fun.