New Message

You have a Picture Mail from michaelsheib01@pm.sprint.com

Message: & we are off! View Entire Message Send and receive Pictures and Videos through Picture MailSM. For more information go to www.sprint.com/picturemail.

Please be aware your friends can forward your picture, video, and album share invitations to others or post the unique Web link to your share invitation on any number of sources (e.g. blogs), through which others could also gain access to your online photos. If you have private or sensitive photos you are sharing, please share them only with those you trust.

© 2010 Sprint. All rights reserved.

Happy Birthday Jacob

Happy Birthday Jacob
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

We brought cupcakes to daycare yesterday since very few will be there tomorrow on Jacob's actual birthday.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US. I hope that everyone of you have something to be thankful for. Right now I am thankful for a happy healthy child & a vacation that starts on Sunday.

us

us
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Not the best photo... The elderly gentleman is my great uncle. (I cropped this from a family portrait.)

My husband & I have both had a haircut since this was taken, so that our official family photograph tonight should look better. (I have 2 cold sores... Timing, I tell ya.)

Little boys

DSCF1366
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

I wasn't able to get a good shot of him in his cute outfit....

Any bets on whether or not he will still be all smiles after his 2 year old check-up this afternoon?

Lunch with my hunk!

Lunch with my hunk!
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

I'll have to remember this as I have lunch by myself today...

(Oh & I need to remember to download the photos on my camera, obviously.)

The only quilty item worth noting - I have a size 6 Huggies box full of fabric that I am ready to send off to charity!

Someone actually listened during circle time. (a little.)

someone actually listened during circle time. (a little.)
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

We'll just leave it at that...

O.k.

I have to admit...

After everyone (who left a comment) told me that Muslin would indeed be too cheap, I started to think about what I have in the stash that I could use instead...

I have a piece that looks like a book binder print that is creamy - like a white cat or a Westie... (See there I was fair to the dogs. Also my dad's daschund just had puppies.)

& then I thought about actual Diawabo Taupes. Not the woven ones that sell for up to $20 a yard, but the normal ones that sell for $13 a yard. & then I thought about that niche seller who sells though a paper newsletter. (Yes, I am serious.) He had some for eleven something a yard...

After searching for the paper newsletter as .pdf on the internet & then asking my husband to find it for me, I e-mailed him to see if he had any left. (Paper newsletters do not count down how many yards, if any, are left.)

I was in luck he had some in each of the 3 color ways. With a big enough swath (I figure 9 yards of the cutting it close side) for me to buy in 1 color.

I bought the rest of the bolt, which ended up being 11 yards & 7 inches. AKA more than enough.

So now the who quilt will be 100% Daiwabo Taupe. (& for those of you doing or not doing the math out there - It will officially be "The World's Most Expensive Quilt.")

Now to start piecing, right?

FYI, the print that I bought is like (if not) one of those star prints below.

The seller called it gray - I didn't care. I figured that any one of them would have worked just fine.

I can not explain how much I want this print by Michael Miller! That photographer, the punch bowl, those dresses, the red haired boy...

Deep Sleep

Deep Sleep
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Can I just go back to bed?

Reason 1

Reason 1
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

The winners have been notified.

This is reason 1 why I can get rid of so many charms without flinching. (Reason 2 follows.) Also I have 2 cat charm quilts. I have a pile of charms for a J-A-C-O-B quilt, I have another pile of charms for opposite incarnations of a "Once Upon A Time" quilt, 2 cat themes ABC quilts, & I am working on a Mommy I SPY.

That would be 3 done, 1 that needs binding & 6 in the works.

Reason 2

Reason 2
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

weekend

DSCF1325
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

1. I cleared the dining/cutting table.
2. I pinned my Martian quilt pieces together.
3. I cut the 12 inch squares for the "World's Most Expensive quilt." Yes, my woven taupes, that I paid $5 a fq for... 81 pieces in the top... (Would muslin be too "cheap" for the backing?
My helpers napped through most of the cutting - YAY!
4. I got a coupon for 365 prints free (with $10 purchase) So I'd really appreciate it if you guys/gals took a spin through my flickr & marked photos that you think I should get prints made of...
5. Other stuff that I can't remember because I was up at 11:30 last night & could not fall back to sleep...

I am not ignoring you

Out of 10 or so responses to my give aways, I got about 4 e-mails to my account...

Makes me wonder how much I have been missing & for how long.

Just wanted to add that I will close up the swaps on Sunday, November 14, 2010. On Monday, I will collect all of the names & have my toddler pull one from each pot. On Tuesday, I will be making contact with the winners to get their addresses. So that I could then hopefully have them in the mail on Friday...

Oh & I have been adding to both piles. William Morris to the Charm pile & Misc. to the I SPY pile. (I can't help myself & I may not be done with the I SPY pile.)

So you've always wanted to make a CHARM quilt,

DSCF1316
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

But did not want to gather a wide variety of prints... Yadda, yadda, yadda.
(I can not guarantee that there are no duplicates in this pile.)

These are all straight from a store bought charm pack, actually several of them. Most are incomplete sets, but the fig tree one is complete.

A commenter on this post can have these for the price of postage. (Fair?)

This pile is about 2.5 inches tall - I have no idea the actual number & I don't have a list of the charm packs that these came from...

To be considered,
1. I have to be able to reply to your comment.
2. State you name & where you are from.
3. Tell me how you found my blog & about how long you have been skimming through the blather.
4. Tell me what you plan on doing with these charms.
5. You do not have to "follow" me, but if you want to have at it.
6. You don't have to blog about this give away, but if you want to...
7. I don't tweet or facebook, so you don't have to do anything there either.
8. If you comment on my flickr photo as well, you can have your name in the pot twice.

So you've always wanted to make an I SPY quilt,

DSCF1315
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

But did not want to collect the fabrics. (Or you did not want to buy a fq or larger for a charm.)

The mandate has been set - CULL the fabric stash.

These are my pre-cut 5 inch squares. Do you see that fussy cut parrot on the top, most are cut similarly. Many others, I tried to give at least 1/4 inch around an image. I'm not going to say that there are not duplicates - I can actually guarantee that there are some duplicates - not a lot... There is a good mix of masculine, feminine, adult, & juvenile prints. (Some light, some dark, some large scale, some small...)

The stack measures 4.5 inches tall, I did not count them... (You can see a sampling of charms in the previous 3 posts.)

One of the commenters to this post will be able to walk away with these for the price of postage. (Fair?)

To be considered,
1. I have to be able to reply to your comment.
2. State you name & where you are from.
3. Tell me how you found my blog & about how long you have been skimming through the blather.
4. Tell me what you plan on doing with these charms.
5. You do not have to "follow" me, but if you want to have at it.
6. You don't have to blog about this give away, but if you want to...
7. I don't tweet or facebook, so you don't have to do anything there either.
8. If you comment on my flickr photo as well, you can have your name in the pot twice.

Sampling

Sampling
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Some (most) of these are in the give away pile.

Sampling

Sampling
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Some (most) of these are in the give away pile.

Sampling

Sampling
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Some (most) of these are in the give away pile.

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Almost Wordless Wednesday

DSCF1266
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

No, he did not finish them...

Chicken stock

Chicken stock
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Hey Flickr is working again...

This is partially how I spent my weekend, chicken stock. 24 hour simmer. (I almost ruined it - burnt the fond.)

Turned this into soup last night.

Cute patoot, loves to sip the broth. He did not care for the vegetables, noodles, or chicken & he loves the crackers. I did not even know that he knew what crakers were & what you do with them. :o)

I also made a brisket. I need to have someone slice that tonight.

Blogging from my phone.

Message: I am blaming a certain blogger for asking about how\when we blog. You see i had gotten into the habit of blogging from flickr. For one reason or another I can't do that right now. So I am blogging this from my phone. This photo was taken on Sunday at the bus stop.

Tiny Dancer

Tiny Dancer
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

This cracked me up when I caught him. I was actually suprised that he kept on dancing as I grabbed the video camera.

(You have to turn it up really loud to hear that he is dancing to Carole King - I think.)

Hexagon love

DSCF1289
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

I have stitched them around the center.... & Decided that I'd rather buy more papers & deal with this part farther down the road. :o)

She is too big to play, so whenever we notice, she quits.

She is too big to play, so whenever we notice, she quits.
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

No description necessary. But I do love that meow. (& that girl.)

Up to...

the sum total of my greens for the Mix Tape quilt.
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

This what I have been up to. (P.S. I mentioned on flickr that I did not have the amount of Martians that I wanted - I am now swapping for some more - YAY.)

This is all of my greens (Well not all of my greens, this all of the ones that will be in this quilt.)

The pattern called for 16 prints total - ummm I counted about 25 or 26....

Yeah I know, same picture as yesterday

DSCF1247
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

(I forgot to put the updated one on the computer.) Anyway the story is continuing.

1. When you get a $5 gift certificate to an online quilt shop, how much do you spend?

2. I cut some of my greens! YAHOO! (& I actually think I know how many of each I need.)

3. I baked this cake:
I might call it
"Another Apple Cake"
4 eggs
250 sugar (1 3/4 cups)
1 cup oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 packet baking powder (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tsp cinnamon
3 apples, cubed
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
cube apples and place in the bottom of pan
Mix eggs and sugar in a mixer (if possible) for 15 minutes, or however much time you have, and then add oil slowly
(I don't know if this is 100% necessary, but I let mine beat while I made pizza for dinner.)
Add rest of ingredients and mix
Pour batter over apples and bake for roughly 45 minutes, just watch the cake so that it doesn't burn!
The top should be lightly brown and cracked, and the apples will remain at the bottom of the cake.

*I messed up some where, at the end of 45 minutes the cake looked nice, but when I was taking it out of the oven to cool, it felt "wet." So I stuck in my cake tester & it was NOT cooked. By this time the oven was off & fairly cool, so I stuck it back in heated it to 350 & then cooked it for 30 minutes. (I haven't tasted it yet, but it looks o.k. & the tester came out clean the second time.)

So cake is on tonight's menu - with leftover pizza...

4. More greens to cut tonight. :o)

5. Yesterday, I started to sew my hexagons together. not the quickest process going. But I found out that I need to baste some of my 1 ofs, because I am trying to keep things spread out. As I type that, I realize that even if I stitch up all of the basted hexies now, by the time I start to stitch flowers to each other, they can still spread out... But it was nice to cut some green hexie charms while I cut the greens for the Mix Tape quilt. & It was nice to think about my charm pack additions - lots of 1 ofs there.

My Favorite Martian

DSCF1247
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Get some coffee, this may take a while.

Once upon a time ago, I saw & fell in love with this "fabric." (It is recycled pyjamas by Munki & I had to trade to get it - again & again, until I felt I had enough.) I got some other recycled pyjamas by the same designer that are equally fun.

I relatively quickly cut into them for my I SPY quilt.

Time passed & I fell inlove with a pattern that I had seen several times on flickr. Mix Tape. (here is one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/feistyeily/3769708183/)
I found out that it is a self published pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, of Oh Fransson! fame. http://www.ohfransson.com/ She has updated this pattern in the mean time... She has also just been published & I love her book. (I also love that I got it for free by using one of my punch cards at the LQS. Do your LQS's have punch card too?) & I decided to buy the Mix Tape pattern.

I also saw this quilt & was SMITTEN:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27953607@N05/3987448774/

So I started to collect, yearn for, and trade for appropriate greens. & then I stalled, you see I wanted to add this green & that green to the mix...

Then I started my hexagon quilt & thought I'd love to have some of those greens in this quilt too... & I wanted plenty of my Munki pyjamas in there as well. I chopped away for my hexagon love quilt & then this project sat again.

Meanwhile, I scored some alone time with a Kona color card & decided that Mocha would be an awesome sashing - something a bit different & unexpected...

Then Jackie had a Kona sale, but no Mocha... Finally Mocha came in & I had to figure out how much to buy. (I don't want to cut it as at it is in the directions - from the length...) Now that I have Mocha on order, I need to start making blocks.

This past weekend, I started to do the math. (Nothing with me is easy.) There are 64 blocks in the quilt, but I don't want the martians in every block, I figure about 3/4's of the blocks would be intersting... Now there are 8 varieties of blocks made from 3 differently sized rectangles, so I needed to figure out how many pieces that would entail. I knew that I did not want only large, medium, or small martians, I wanted a mix. (The directions work from the that a strip & cut 3 of this size, 4 of that, etc. Not helpful for my method or my wants.) So I get my numbers... I then start to cut. After the first "leg" I realized that I don't have enough for 3/4's of the quilt & I can't pop down to the LQS to get more, so I cut as many as I can. - Novel, I know! While doing this, I decide that since the blocks are not all horizonal or vertical in the quilt, that I should cut some Martians in both arangements as well... That was not as wasteful as you might be thinking... As a matter of fact, I am fairly pleased with the lack of waste. Sure I got a few more pieces for my Hexagon love quilt & some 2.5 inchers for an eventual postage stamp quilt... But that was just a bonus.

Truth be told, it feels good to have this all cut up.

Now to figure out how much of the greens to cut. (I have more than necessary, but I have to compensate for the shartage of martians...) Oh & I have no idea how many of each of the martians I have any way... (Easy, never!)

Oh & I still want some Paula Prass Cobblestones in sage.

recent additions to my hexagon love quilt

I love variety so I got some charm packs... 90% of thse made the cut. (The others werer added to my "give these away" pile.)

20 questions

20 questions
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Saturday night, we went to a Halloween party. Jacob got too hot in his costume...

Some of the older boys took out the 20 questions game & when Jacob got it to work...

I guess the expression on his face says it all.