YOKE DU YOUR
A man wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table.
He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees it is in prefect order. So’s the rest of the house.
He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table: “Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping. Love you.”
He goes to the kitchen. Sure enough, a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper await him.
His son is also at the table, eating. The man asks, “Son, what happened last night?”
His son says, “Well, you came home after 3 am, drunk and delirious. You broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and gave yourself a black eye when you walked into the door.”
Confused, the man asks, “So, why is everything in order and so clean, with breakfast on the table waiting for me?”
His son replies, “Oh that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off you shouted, “Lady, get your hands off me! I’m married!”
ARTspiration
Artists or art that turns me on and feeds my muse! Like it or dislike it, what about this art inspires your own art or creativity? Ministers Rooftop Garden, 1938 by Roberto Burle Marx, the Brazilian landscape architect.
DESIGNspiration
Look around you. Design is everywhere! How can you incorporate the beauty that surrounds you into your art or craft? Aurora with White Thassos Royal White and Pearl Glass and Marble Tile at TileBar.com
IDEA I LOVE
I love this car ‘diddy’ bag. I’m forever losing my iPhone under the seat, flying onto the floor, and through the air. I need a ‘diddy bag, don’t you? Here’s how you make one (oh hell, make one for each of your cars!):
http://www.sewcanshe.com/blog/2016/4/26/car-diddy-bag-free-sewing-tutorial
… and yet more Diddy
IDEA I LOVE
My old buddy Linda Hannemann designs and creates the most beautiful punch needle embroidery. I bought the thread and cloth years ago and have only completed one design — and the damn thing wasn’t even my own. You know how that goes, right? Why not give this Summer Sunflower pattern a try. Find the pattern here:
https://createanddecorate.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/summer-sunflower-punchneedle/
FASHIONspiration
Oscar de la Renta, Long-Sleeve Guipure Lace Gown, Marine Blue, $5990.00
from Bergdorf Goodman
Oscar de la Renta
Marine Blue and Yellow Embroidered Lace Dress, $3,990
YUMMY DISH!
HAMBURGER STEAKS
Mr. Electric and I tried these for dinner the other night and enjoyed them. I added a few bread crumbs, hot pepper flakes, onion powder, and fresh parsley to the meat mixture for some extra zing, but we like heavy flavors.
Ingredients
Ground Beef
Beef Broth
All Purpose Flour
Vidalia or other sweet onion
For the full recipe, Click Here: http://www.southernplate.com/2011/05/hamburger-steaks-oh-yum.html
IDEA I LOVE
With outdoor picnic weather fast approaching, you are going to want to make a set of these delicious outdoor mini mat pockets. I love adding the grommets so you can hang them. Here’s a tutorial where you can make a set in the colors of your choice:
http://www.sew4home.com/projects/table-linens/outdoor-mini-mats-pockets
SO DRINK, CHUG-A-LUG CHUG-A-LUG
ABBEY MARTINI
(I know. It sounds like a drag name!)
INGREDIENTS:
Dry gin
vermouth
orange juice
bitters
For the full recipe, click here: http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/3/abbey-martini
HERE’S THE BOOK . . .
That I told you about book last week during my Facebook Live Chat (Sundays at 11 AM at https://www.facebook.com/melipinski). It’s the new book by Mary Hogan, String Quilt Style.
Dig out scraps, stash and pre-cuts to make more than a dozen string quilt projects designed by Mary M. Hogan. Learn to make a variety of string quilt block designs including diagonal squares, diamonds, circles, triangles, columns and fans. This complete guide takes quilters through every step of the string quilting process with helpful tips and suggestions throughout each chapter.
I have a couple of favorites in the book.
The Fan Quilt
Birds in the Woods Quilt
Uncle Ernie’s Rocker Quilt
UFO Quilt
But to be honest, the more I look through the book the more quilts grab my attention. String quilts are super easy and this book gives TONS of instructions and some really great results. It’s also a nice quality book. Thanks, Landauer Publishing! Grab a copy. Ask your local quilt shop to order your copy, visit your local bookstore, or if all else fails – buy a copy from Amazon.
IDEA I LOVE
I never really needed an excuse to buy Starbursts, but making this cool wrapper bracelet is as good excuse as any, right? To make your own hip, colorful, recycled paper bracelet, click here for the simple tutorial:
http://fluffyland.com/blog/index.php/starburst-wrapper-bracelet-tutorial/
WORDS TO LIVE BY
IDEA I LOVE
These reversible pillowcases are adorbs. I can see Hello Kitty fabric on one side and pug face fabric on the other. Here’s how to create your own one-of-a-kind pillowcase twofer. Just click on the link below for the tutorial:
http://www.tidbits-cami.com/2015/04/reversible-pillowcase-tutorial-and-linenspa-memory-foam-pillow-giveaway.html
MAN CAN LIVE BY BREAD ALONE!
GRAPEFRUIT POPPY SEED BREAD
INGREDIENTS
flour
white whole wheat flour
sugar
poppy seeds
baking powder
sea salt
Greek yogurt
olive oil
grapefruit juice
grapefruit zest
For the complete recipe, click on the link below:
http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/3/abbey-martini
MEMBA?
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MY CRAFT UNIVERSITY CLASS
Instead of adding plain borders, elevate even the simplest quilt top to a work of art. Mark uses humor and creativity to teach borders step-by-step, making this a great online course for beginning and advanced quilters. After you learn these borders, you will want to make them again and again.
You Will Love This Course If You:
Want to add new borders to your skill set
Enjoy making your own artistic choice
Want to make your borders shine
Like to learn more about working with panels
Enjoy getting inside info and history about quilting
Enjoy creating holiday-themed quilts
Enjoy quilting for yourself and others
Want to add a holiday theme to your quilt borders
Want to add interest to your borders
Want to design your own holiday border blocks
For more information on how to take my class or to take the class, Just click here: http://bit.ly/20yUzWK
COOKIES!
MARK’S LITTLE GRAM’S LEMON ANGINETTI
Ingredients:
1/2 pound unsalted butter
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon oil
6 cups flour
Melt butter and cool. In a large bowl, add eggs, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, lemon oil and cooled butter.
Add the flour, turn out onto a counter, and knead to a smooth dough.
Roll the dough into small balls, about the size of walnuts.
Place each ball onto a greased and floured cookie sheet or parchment paper.
Bake at 350-degrees for 15 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are a light golden brown (the top will still be pale)
After the cookies are cool, frost them with the following icing and added yellow sprinkles.
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus 2 more if necessary
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and zest until it
forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more lemon juice if necessary). Dip the top of each
cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes.
IDEA I LOVE!
I think fabric gift wrapping is cool. The Koreans have made an entire incredible art form of it (Google: Bojagi). Here’s how you can fabric wrap your gifties using fabrics that fit the occasion or the recipient. Click here for the tutorial:
http://www.handmadiya.com/2015/09/fabric-gift-pouch-tutorial.html
LOL
BE DAZZLED!
Multicolored sapphire diamond amethyst gold Petal Brooch, $79,000
A mysterious petal brooch that glows and comes to life in subdued light. 18K white gold set with approximately 675 stones consisting of mainly olive, yellow, fancy orangey-brown, pink, and white diamonds which are complimented by multicolored sapphires and amethysts. It’s back is finished with delicate ajours and a custom grill.
PATCHWORK, BABY!
This colorful, graphic quilt is easy to make, leaves a lot of room for quilting, and is visually appealing. You will need about three charm packs to complete this quilt. Since I am not a charm pack lover, I suggest you just use your stash and get rid of some of that fabric you been hoarding.
For the free 4-Patch Charm Quilt pattern, click the link for the Tamarack Shack Long Arm Quilting blog:
http://tamarackshack.blogspot.com/2014/05/four-patch-charm-quilt-with-tutorial.html
SHOEspiration
Christian Louboutin
Miss Taos Beaded 100mm Red Sole Pump, $2,495.00
Walk. Walk. Work it, baby.
IDEA I LOVE
Up-cycle some cheap flip flops and turn them into works of crocheted art. Here’s the free pattern:
http://cre8tioncrochet.com/2015/04/peekaboo-picot-flip-flops-free-crochet-pattern/
BREATHLESS INSPIRATION!
A Catalan Designer, Javier de Riba, Is Replacing The Floors Of Abandoned Buildings With Hand-Painted Mosaics
His newest project, suitably deemed “Flors,” de Riba seeks out graying, abandoned grounds in Spain to turn into canvas. Instead of laying a carpet or replacing the emptiness with tiled mosaics, the artist uses spray paint and stencils to infuse dejected concrete with a bit of street-art flair.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/02/javier-de-riba-floors_n_7488426.html?utm_hp_ref=painting
GARDENspiration
Now, you can walk around your town looking like Mother Nature while ridding the neighborhood of all of its pesky dandelions. Of course you don’t have to use weeds to make this Crown of Flowers, so keep your eyes open for some beautiful blossoms to wear for a special occasion. Here’s how you weave the flowers:
http://wabisabiwanderings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crowned-with-flowers-tutorial.html
IDEA I LOVE
A little fabric, a little embroidery floss, a little plant, and a lot of Mad Dog 20/20 and you can fill your home with pretty lil’ Flowerpot Koozies! Here’s how:
http://www.popsugar.com/latina/Flowerpot-Koozie-DIY-41105901
MUST HAVE
I had an Italian mother. I believe that says it all.
Order your shirt here: http://store.gnarlytees.com/collections/funny-shirts/products/wooden-spoon-survivor?variant=4333647813
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE . . .
DESSERT BARS!
Ingredients:
Chocolate chip cookie layer
butter
brown sugar
egg
vanilla
flour
mini chocolate chips
Butterfinger bars
Cheesecake layer:
cream cheese
sugar
egg
1 teaspoon
FOR THE FULL RECIPE, CLICK HERE: http://www.bakersroyale.com/butterfinger-cookie-dough-cheesecake-bars/
IDEA I LOVE
This little cross stitch neighborhood is just what you need to exercise your brain without having to commit to a 3 year needlework project. Here’s the free pattern:
http://gazette94.blogspot.fr/2011_05_01_archive.html
IDEA I LOVE
I love love love this crocheted market bag and only wish I were a good enough crocheter to master making a few. Lessen your carbon footprint and look fabulous while you do. Here’s the pattern for saving the earth and your reputation as a Shopinista:
http://www.thepaintedhinge.com/2015/01/06/extra-large-market-bag-free-crochet-pattern/
ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
If you follow me on Facebook you have read about my mud-wrestling journey while making a 30″x30″ silent auction quilt to benefit the Quilts of Valor Foundation next weekend at America Quilts EXPO in Des Moines next weekend. It was the first quilt I’ve tackled since becoming ill in October, and it proved to be a real challenge to make. The Kona cotton I used didn’t exactly cooperate (as a matter of fact it kinda sucked), I needed to buy a new open toe foot for my wonderful Baby Lock Espire (worth its weight in gold), and my ongoing tremors, chronic exhaustion, and increasing blurry sight (all side effects of the anti-fungal drugs I’m prescribed) made me long for the old days of bitching and moaning when I simply ran out of bobbin thread.
The theme was America the Beautiful. This was my take:
“Hired to produce a pilot for CBS in Manhattan, I would board a train at the crack of dawn, and commute 2-hours into the city everyday. The last 15 minutes of the trip wound through the New Jersey Meadowlands, a huge ecosystem of undeveloped wetlands, a former dumping ground and toxic wasteland. In a clearing, only seen from the train’s left seats, a singular and majestic crane perched on one leg, as if frozen in time, would welcome us each day. Walking distance to the one of the busiest cities in the world, this magnificent creature found home and serenity along with thousands of other flora and fauna as conservationists fought hard battles to restore the area. Only once, did I witness the crane spread his enormous white wings, an image that has stayed with me years later and I have tried to duplicate that image in my quilt – clean lines, graphic shapes, simple quilting, and tranquil colors. Yes, America is beautiful, but we must consciously preserve and protect what treasures we have in our natural resources.”
Here’s the progression of the quilt.
I made all of the background blocks for the foundation of the quilt. That’s when I decided to clean my cutting mat with a quick spritz of Clorox cleaner. The darn stuff was carried by who knows what, and tiny splatters appeared all over every block I made plus strips I didn’t use. I had to order more fabric. Grrrrr.
Next, after making each block no less than 3-times each, I resigned my self to the fact that I lost my quilting mojo and wanted to curl into a ball. By the grace of God, my buddy Bonnie came to my house to check it out herself — it wasn’t me after all, the fabric would simply stretch and form any way it wanted to, regardless of machine speed, 1/4-inch foot and taped Post-Its on my sewing plate. To hell with it, my ‘perfect’ squares were going to be a little wonky.
When I sewed my rows together, you might think that my fabric was cut on the bias. This damned top waved more than Miss North Carolina at a ‘right’ bathroom rally. It was a mess.
My friend and exquisite designer of all things patchwork, Kim Diehl, gave me a tip that I had never tried before — turn the quilt top over, and on the back, heavily starch and re-block each square. If you iron on the back, you won’t get the shine that starch and heat can sometimes produce. It worked like a charm. I beat that quilt into submission.
I had an idea. If I cut away just 3/4″ from each side of the top, if might even lay flatter. I followed my hunch and the quilt was as flat and rigid as Kirk Cameron but only in a good way.
It worked.
Next it was time to trace my design onto a fusible web, iron the shapes onto my fabrics and fuse them to the quilt.
This is how it looked the night before I fused all of the shapes.
And ready to go to my long armer, Janice Jamison. I cut the darker quilt from behind the bird. It was shipped off to Des Moines on Wednesday.
I would consider putting together and selling this as a pattern. Do you think I should? Do you think anyone would be interested in making it?
Take Our Poll
I’m really looking forward to watching the remake of ROOTS for the four night, 8-hour series that will premiere on, May 30, 2016. Along with The History Channel, Lifetime and A&E will also broadcast the remake of the Roots miniseries.
I’m also looking forward to watching Bryan Cranston playing LBJ on HBO this weekend. The movie follows Lyndon B. Johnson as he assumes the office of the U.S. Presidency after the John F. Kennedy assassination. Upon his arrival in the White House, he must work on the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
Netflix just jumped to $9 a month here. I feel like I’ve exhausted that streaming outlet and find little to entertain me there. We’re thinking about giving Hulu a try. We subscribe to HBO and Amazon Prime, so I think we’re good (and have had enough of Netflix). We also have Apple TV so renting top digital movies is a breeze if we want to see something immediately, which we have never done. What’s your thought?
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Next time, my final design and the completion of Caitlin’s Ring Bearer Pillow…
Caitlin and Joel are getting hitched on June 11! Caitlin is Kidney Mary and Poor Bob’s daughter.
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