Super Mario Brothers 1-Up Mushroom Pillow

I made this 20x20 pillow for a friend/co-worker who is moving away. It's the 1-Up (extra life) mushroom on the Super Mario Brothers 2 game and made with 400 1 inch squares (finished size). He really loved it and I now have requests from 4 different members of my family that want not just a pillow but a whole quilt varying from Super Mario Brothers to Donkey Kong.

Before you take a real close look at the picture, lets say we're going to pretend that all the seams match up perfectly, mmk?

We painted the house....kind of...

We had a painting day yesterday and while the kids painted pictures my husband and I painted these little bird houses. Gabe's is a cabin (in the woods, desert? we really don't know) and mine is just a little house with a rose garden. I bought the little pieces to glue on but we did the detail painting on everything else. I like mine really crisp and finished looking and added sealer to give it a shiny look. Gabe likes a more rustic look and has a more matte effect. We are thinking of making a bunch of little houses and making a little town for the girls. A bank, store, post office, school, and of course, a record store and quilt shop. But shh! It's a secret. (And I only burnt myself once with the glue gun).

Tippy the Turtle: AKA "Mr. T"

Two prototypes and 1 month later I've finished the Turtle Cozy and he's been given away to his recipient as a first year anniversary present. I named him Mr. T but his new owner has named him Tippy. The coolest thing about this little guy is that his head and legs can all be tucked away inside his shell. His stomach shell is a flap that closes with velcro and opens to fit a rice/flax seed heating pad. Why does he have red on his head? Because he's supposed to resemble a Red Eared Slider ( a request from my co-worker). I hope to get a picture of him all tucked away.

This was a fun project, but one I can't see myself doing again soon. It was more work than I like to do because I'm pretty lazy. =D

Strawberry Jar Block

I got started on the jars last night for the Jar Block swap. I started on the strawberries first. This is the larger jar pattern that was provided by Janet.

About.com 2008 Quilt Block Lotto for January: String Square Pairs

I joined the Quilt Block Lotto with the girls from the About.com Quilting Forum. This month it's 6.5" string square pairs (1 light, 1 dark). I made four sets. I'll be sewing more strings soon for the string block swap due soon.

Four Dark:


Four Light: