I call it Birds-in-a-Box, and it is a great use for one charm pack and a solid. To make this quilt top you will need:

40 patterned squares (one charm pack should do it)

24 solid squares (cut to charm pack size: 5×5 inches

contrasting scraps for the birds

1. Lay out your squares so that you love how they look. If you are me, you will do this about 20 times. You will also do  this with your children who will help you by rearranging them as soon as you find the perfect combination. Or, maybe you just give them to your children and let them plan it out. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have just done that in the first place….

2. Sew together to make blocks of 4 squares each, trying to keep them in the original order. If you are me, this means you will actually mix them up, forgetting your original design, say what the heck and put them together however…)

3. Sew your 4×4 blocks together to get four quarters of your quilt top, then sew those four together.

4. Make your birds. This is the fun part, and no, I’m not together enough to have an actual template to print out. You get to make it yourself! These guys are pretty easy to draw; you simple make a body and then the wing. I made three different sizes and traced them lightly with a pencil right onto my fabric, then cut with a scissors.

5. Sew the birds onto your quilt top. Do do this, use a little glue stick on the back of each bird, then stick them down to the quilt top. To sew, drop your presser feet, and use the darning foot from your machine (this is the little round one). Then you simply free motion all around the edges, and add the feet. Done! Three sweet little birds! (Warning, this was much harder than I thought it would be…practice with some scraps first!)

There you go: Birds-in-a-Box! Throw together, quilt as you wish, bind off and give to your favorite baby.

Reading: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger’s by Temple Grandin  What a wise woman she is; absolutely amazing!

Knitting: Fractured Light (hat)

Enjoying: Spring has finally come to MN!!!

 I took on the designed challenge in the latest issue of Fat Quarterly! 

Here you see my modern take on the traditional block, “Star of the West” also known as Clay’s Choice. So take a look at Issue 13 for the directions to this block as well as many more beautiful projects to make!

I’ve had so much fun playing with all these squares and triangles, that I have plans to put together some more blocks, so stay tuned. My goal is to post a new one every two weeks or so. 

Annik asked me if I was interested in joining. Asking was not even needed. Paper piecing and Dr. Who? Personally I think that is a brilliant conversation.  By the way, be sure the check out the scrap mania she had going on right now…)

And have you seen this quilt of David Tennant? Amazing!!!

Now we just need something for knitters. How about this shawl? Some Tardis Socks? Maybe a Dalek to keep your head warm? Do you have a favorite Doctor Who pattern?

Now, to just get those boys to sleep early tonight to I can catch up on the new season. Happy knitting/quilting. Can’t wait to show off my first paper pieced block!

Snowstorm

Reading to Mama

Maybe some knitting

It’s finished!! After weeks (seriously) of casting off I dont’ know how many stitches, my Kleio is finally done. Now I just need to find a place to block it so I can show it off.

You all know how I love food books. My latest favorite is The Perfect Health Diet. Usually I am skeptical of anything food thing that says “perfect” but I have to admit these two scientists have done an amazing amount of research. I’d put this at the top of your list if you have any chronic ailments.

I know you are all wondering about the cakes. The flower cake was Math Boy’s cake….layers of brownie and ice cream thrown together at random by me, strawberry flowers added at the last minute. Math Boy is easy-going, and as long as he has ice cream he is a happy guy!

Knittykid has ideas….he has a lot of ideas. Elaborate and complicated ideas. Therefore when he requested a tiger cake I called upon an amazing and talented uncle in the family to create this tiger masterpiece. Yes, it hurt me to cut this cake and eat it. Isn’t it beautiful???

I am amazed and blessed by these incredible boys of ours. They are so very different, but the one thing they do have in common is that they both are strong-hearted young boys who fill my own heart daily. Thank you boys, for all the love and delight you put into the world. We love you both!!

Trouble is, once you have kids, and especially when you have a lot of kids, getting to a yoga class is not that easy. Most don’t have childcare, and yoga studios have this habit of scheduling classes when I need to be making dinner, or putting someone to bed, or when I’m racing to get people to the bus on time. Plus they can get pricey. Over the years I have tried to keep my yoga practice going by attending the random class here and there, and making myself run through a few sun salutations a few days each week. I even tried some yoga apps. But my attention falters, I get bored, and I can’t just keep going on my own.

Enter Jennifer of Stay at Home Yoga. I came across her site last December and suddenly I feel like I did back when I first discovered yoga. I look forward to practice. I feel motivated. And best of all, I can practice whenever I darn well please!

What I find so brilliant about what Jennifer has done is that she has truly brought all of the benefits of the yoga studio to your own home. She puts together a series of classes and releases a new video each week, and you have access to all the classes for a few months.  You can view them as much as you want, and the fee is such a deal. Just $30 for a series subscription (and I believe she has a discount available now as well).

Hew newest series, which I was given the chance to review, is called Yoga for Desk Jockeys. It is designed to help us combat how much time we all spend on our derrieres, which as a knitter and computer user, I’m trying to be more aware of. What do I love about this series?

• Jennifer’s teaching style. She is both gentle and motivating. She gives great cues and many reminders of how to correctly do each pose. I think her teaching style is accessible to those both experienced and new to yoga.
• Each class is more than just the usual asanas. She takes the time to do both restorative poses and Savasana.  So important to me that this is included.
• Time. The classes are long enough to make a difference in my health, but not so long that I feel like I can’t fit one into my day. The full classes run 40 minutes, and there are 2 short “yoga break” videos that are easy to use whenever you need them.
• The series itself: Lower body, middle body, spine, upper body, restorative. She has it all covered, and you can do each class as many times as you want.

I could go on and on…..I did the lower body class again tonight. I tend to carry a lot of chronic pain in my upper body and tend to neglect my lower, so it was good to dig out a strap and really work on opening up those hips.

I really hope you give it a try!  I told Jennifer how much it meant to me that I am able to access quality yoga instruction again. To be able to have time again to care for my body, mind and spirit when I am so very busy is huge to me. Thank you Jennifer!

Sometimes, when you find that all you are doing is looking at pictures of quilts, pinning quilt blocks on Pinterest, queuing up projects on Ravelry, and staring at your piles of yarn and fabric, you just need to go and actually start something.