For The Person Who Has (Almost) Everything...

We were at the Mesquite (TX) Quilt Show this weekend, browsing the various vendors and all their fantastic quilting-related goods, when we came across this:

I'm not sure what makes a concealed handgun purse different from any other medium- to large-sized purse, but apparently it is different. And if you know a lady who is looking for a pretty quilted bag to carry her concealed handgun, then have I got the perfect gift for her!

We did have a great time at the quilt show. There were so many beautiful quilts on display, in a range of different styles and colors. There were also a ton of vendors with pretty fabrics, cool patterns, and assorted quilting notions and what-nots for sale. I picked up a few new fat quarters for my sampler quilt but nothing too extravagant. And we won a subscription to a quilting magazine in the door-prize drawing! All in all, it was a fun trip to Mesquite, even if I did start wondering how many of the ladies might be packing (concealed) weapons in their purses...

Frog-O-Sphere

I'm a bit of an impulse shopper, which is why my husband prefers to do the grocery shopping without me. Yesterday, I was minding my business at the mall, running some important and productive errands, when I saw this in the display window at Brookstone:




















It's a Frog-O-Sphere, a little mini-ecosystem (according to the box) that contains 2 tiny frogs, a snail, a piece of bamboo, spring water, decorative green gravel and magic living gravel that does something I don't understand to keep the water clean.

And I instantly realized that my husband would love it. I mean, who doesn't like a small plastic box filled with frogs and snails and water?

So I finished my (productive) shopping and headed over to Brookstone to buy the Frog-O-Sphere. Apparently, I was the first person they had sold one to (an impulsive shopper and an early adopter! How 'bout that).

But it was just too cool to pass up. And it was a gift, so that makes it OK, right? Husband was pretty surprised to see the frogs but I think he likes them.

At the moment, Tom & Jerry and the snail are getting settled in on the dining room table while we try to find the best place for them to live -- not too hot, not too sunny, but not too cold, either. I hope they like their new digs.

Patchwork Towels & Pretty Cards

I did get the Mother's Day project done in time for Mother's Day, although I did not get it posted as quickly as I had originally planned. (This is going to become a theme for me: Not getting things done as quickly as I thought.)


I made patchwork kitchen towels for my mom and my mother-in-law following this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew. I bought 4-5 fat quarters in assorted colors (red, yellow, and blue to match my mom's kitchen, and tan, cream, and turquoise to match my mom-in-law's new spring kitchen decor) and I found a pack of 6 flour sack towels at Target. I couldn't find plain white waffle weave towels to save my life, but the flour sack towels worked out OK. Most importantly, my mom's set was done in enough time for me to mail the towels via regular mail and still have them get there on time. Pretty exciting!


Here's my mom's set:







And my mom-in-law's set:







I also made cards for our moms and my grandmas. The cards for the moms were blue with ink to match their towels (my mom's in red, his mom's in brown) and the cards for the grandmas were pink with hot pink ink. I used the same stamps on all 4 cards: I used a cherry blossom stamp from Paper Source several times on the front to get an all-over pattern, and then I used a set of stamps (one Happy stamp and one Mother's Day) for the inside/back of the card.


Here are the mom cards (the outside of my mom's card and the inside of his mom's -- both cards had the same design, just in different colors):






Here's the front of the grandma cards:







And the back of the grandma cards:













Turns out that the grandma cards were flat cards, not folded cards as I thought when I bought them, and I somehow got ink on the back of one of them, so I covered it up with a big decorative scroll-type stamp. The other one ended up being vertical instead of horizontal because I get ink on it, too, but the Mother's Day stamp covered it up. Despite these little eccentricities, I like the way they turned out!

Coffee = Bliss

This cute coffeemaker was a Christmas gift from my husband.

It makes cappuccino and lattes -- my favorite thing is to make a latte and pour it into a mug that has a touch of sugar-free vanilla syrup at the bottom. Mmm!

It's a really ingenious little device: you put water in the base, milk (I use soy milk) in the top and coffee grounds in between,; screw the pieces together (tightly, or you will regret it) and set it on the stovetop for a few minutes.

It makes really good coffee -- and the cow spots are beyond adorable.

One of the best gifts I've ever gotten!

Christmas in April

I made scarves for my grandmothers for Christmas last year. I made this one for my dad's mom and a similar one in shades of blue for my mom's mom. The scarves are just plain and simple garter stitch using Lion Brand trellis yarn, so they were pretty easy to make but the yarn has a neat texture.

I knew I wasn't going to see my mom's mom until after New Year's, so I finished her scarf and mailed it off well before Christmas. I took my time with the other scarf because I usually see my grandma at my aunt's house a day or two after Christmas.

Turns out that she was going to be in California visiting my uncle for the holidays. By the time I realized that I wouldn't see her in person, it was too late to finish the scarf and mail it to her in time. So I planned to finish it off and send it after she got home.

Well, with one thing and another, I finished the scarf but didn't get around to weaving in the ends. So here it is April, and we went to visit my grandma last weekend, and I brought the scarf (with the loose ends dangling) and a penguin gift bag to wrap it in.

I did finally weave in the darn ends in our hotel room, and I wrapped the scarf and gave it to her, and because she is my grandma, she didn't even hassle me for being 4 months late with her Christmas gift. As a matter of fact, she said that she had been wanting a scarf to go with a couple of outfits, and she thought this scarf would be just the ticket. I'm just glad that she liked it!