Monday, December 19, 2011

Potholder Swap

I participated in the Log Cabin Potholder Swap between the KC Modern Quilt Guild & the Portland Modern Quilt Guild.  Each of us was given a name of someone in the opposite guild & we had to research that person as best we could and make them a potholder. 

My partner was Nancy Stovall.  She didn't give a lot of information, so I was left to my own devices.  I gathered from her blog that she's a long arm quilter.  She didn't give any specific color preferences or style preferences, so I went with some fabric I had & quilted the potholders for her very heavily and pieced very minimally. 

Potholder 3

My piecing is based off of a pattern called Northwest Modern Quilt in Susan Beal's Modern Log Cabin Quilting book. 

Potholder 4

The quilting was all out of Judy Woodworth's Freemotion Quilting Handbook.  I've been practicing my freemotion skills on my domestic machine on every project I've done lately.  What do you think?  Am I improving? 

Nancy, I hope you like the potholders I sent for you.  I had fun making them; especially the quilting part of it.  Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Robot Baby Shower

A few weeks ago, my mom, sister, & 2 close girlfriends threw a shower for little guy and I in Omaha.  The decided upon a robot theme to celebrate & came up with some really great ideas I know you'll want to steal.
Greeter/Bouncer
This little guy is made from a bunch of random things.  His head is one of those sorter toys.  His nose is a snot sucker.  His chest is a dishwasher box thing for bottle parts and such.  His belly is a plastic bin filled with plastic blocks.  His arms are bottle scrubbers.  He has candy piggy banks for legs & baby shoes on his feet.  He was stationed on the table right inside the door to the party. 

Robot Centerpiece #1
Amber made a robot centerpiece for each table.  Aren't they cute?

Robot Centerpiece #2
Do you see the robot paper cut-outs that were on the table?  And nuts & bolts were scattered about, too!

Robot Centerpiece #3

T O Y E
My last name on a bunting.  My mom made this with some robot fabric. 

Snack Table
The snack table.  My sister made little signs with the robotic name for all the snacks and drinks.

Robot Cake
Well, all except the robot cake, but that one is kind of a give-away.

Micro Chips
Micro Chips = Potato Chips

Nuts and Bolts
Nuts and Bolts = yummy popcorn, pretzel mixture with pumpkin spice and caramel I think.

Laser Beams
Laser Beams = Veggie Tray

Cogs and Gears
Cogs and Gears = Cucumber Sandwiches

Liquid Hydrogen
Liquid Hydrogen = Water

Robot Juice
Robot Juice = Capri Suns

Battery Acid
Battery Acid = Punch

Tammy & I
Tammy & I.

I'm ready to open presents.
I'm ready to tackle the present opening.

Gift table.
There were lots of presents.

More presents...
Little guy has lots of clothes.

Presents....
He has lots of toys.

Even more presents!
Amber took photos of Jason & I when she came down for the shower in Kansas City.  This book has some of them printed out in it.

Mom's 2nd Quilt for little guy.
My mom made the little guy a robot quilt.  Fussy cut robots in the centers of wonky log cabin blocks.  Super cute! 

Gramma & Mom.
My gramma & mom.  My mom got a gift, too.  Emily brought her a brag book to tote around photos of little guy. 

Playdough baby making
We played games.  This game was fun!  Katie, my sister, came up with it.  Everyone got a little jar of playdough and had to make a baby out of it. 

Playdough baby makers
Even little Lucy got in on the action.

Playdough Babies
There were some funny looking babies!

Playdough Baby Game
I had to be the judge, but I couldn't pick just one baby as the winner.  I picked 2.

Michael's playdough baby
Michael's baby was awesome. 

Michael's playdough baby
Look at the back of it!

Emily's playdough baby
Emily's baby was too cute.  I love the hair!  So, Michael & Emily were the two winners I chose. 

Party people.

Party favors.
Everyone got to take one of these little guys home with them.  Aren't they fun? 

It was a really fun party.  I got to see people I hadn't seen in a long time.  I got to play games & celebrate the little guy.  I was given lots of good presents to dress & entertain the little guy with.  I can't wait for him to get here!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Pumpkin Baby Shower

Jason's family threw us a shower over a month ago now in Kansas City.  We all partied at his mom's house.  Baby Pumpkin
Isn't this little pumpkin cute?
Snack table
There were lots of yummy snacks.
The yummy cake
This cake was delicious!  I only had a nibble of it though, since I'm temporarily diabetic and it was pretty rich. 
Snack spread
See?  Lots of yummy snacks.
Snacks
Fruit skewers
Fruit skewers stuck into a pumpkin.
Cheese ball
This was a cheese ball!  I love cheese balls.  :)
Crackers
And crackers for the cheese.
Yum
The cake cutting
We were fancy and got to cut the cake like at our wedding. 
Momba with Elle in the background
We played the what kind of poop is in the diaper game. 
Elle
Elle tasted it. 
Poop
Mom & Dad
The poop game
Jason's face is not reassuring of our upcoming adventures.  It's fake poop; what's he so grossed out by?
Playing a game
They won
Tammy & Michael were the best fake poop guessers. 
Tammy won a game
Michael won a game
The boy game
The boys played a game.  They were each given a bottle with 4 oz. of beer.  The winner was the guy who could chug the beer from the bottle the fastest. 
Joe practicing with the bottle
Joe was one of the two last guys remaining.
Michael working the bottle
Michael was the other.
Oops!
Oops!  Joe choked up.
Michael winning
Michael was committed.  Check out the beer drips down the front of his shirt.  Perhaps that's why he won. 
Joe & Kathryn
Joe & Kathryn.
Katie & Amber with Mom in the background
My mom in the background; Katie & Amber in the foreground.  Isn't my sister cute?  I think so.
Michael & Tammy
Michael & Tammy.
Mel & Alex
Mel & Alex.
Elle
Elle.
We're having a baby.
Jason & I. And Squirmy, too, but you can't see him all that well.
Party favors
These were the party favors.

We had a lot of fun.  We got a lot of really cool presents for the little guy.  It was a really nice party.  The weather was beautiful that day; great for the people who drove 3 hours to party with us.