There are some perks to being sick...

Such as actually having time to write a blog post!  And getting some lap time with the kitty.

 

 

Belle has become quite the snuggler, and is actually asleep on my lap as I type this.  Thomas is getting better about letting us pet him, and occasionally hold him for a few moments.  Belle doesn't like being held.  I'm still very happy with how well they are adjusting.  Also, a plug for Fresh Step cat litter, WOW!  That stuff is incredible, and saves our home from smelling really awful.  Thank you to that company and the people who made such a thing possible.  I still think we ought to train the cats to use the toilet though... lol

 

So I am participating in a parade!  Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts is hosting a sew along for this adorable pattern she came up with, and I was instantly attracted to.  I love the colors.  I'm not obsessed with elephants, but I have a friend who is, so I made this for her:

 

 

 

 

 

I have it basted and ready to quilt, and hope to get it done in the next couple days to send off, she lives in Texas and has no idea it's coming

(as far as I know she doesn't read this blog...)

 

I actually had a customer recently!  I had dropped business cards at the quilt shops in case someone needs a small quilt quilted, or for when people who don't sew ask at the shop if someone can make a quilt for them, then they have my information, and a lady called with a top finished but needing quilting.  I was so excited!!  I did learn that I did not charge enough, basically I ended up being paid $5 an hour to quilt this for her, so lesson learned.  I underestimated how long it would take to do this (took over 8 hours) and I will not undervalue my time!  I'm worth more and am well aware of it.

 

 

I ended up not quilting on the bear, but did outline any place with lace, mainly to make sure the lace wouldn't get pulled out by small hands.  Also, that binding was from a yard sale, a JCPenney brand of pre-made binding which was in surprisingly good shape, but probably 40 years old.  I was a little nervous about it, but we shall see if I hear back from them.

 

Super Bowl Sunday was exciting, I made this block, which will become a pillow sham, and I'm trying out a different method of assembly which I will share in the future, when I actually get it finished.  I just LOVE this mottled brown I got, perfect football color.  I made this block based on the Touchdown pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew

 

Made some homemade bread for our chili cookoff, we all ended up winning, because the best chili was made by mixing all 6 of them together!

 

And look!  We used my table runner, Woohoo!

 

 

And I made this bag for my co-worker's other niece, who is a math teacher.  Perfect fabric find!!  Tried an Orange Peel quilting method, and it turned out ok, but next time I will make them smaller.  These were on a 2 3/4 inch grid, and weren't as tight as I would have preferred.  But it turned out pretty well.

 

Ok, off to the doctor's office, I hope you all are staying healthy!

 

~Brandy

 





Baby Shower Cakes

I am so thankful for my ability to take a fondant design and make it happen in frosting.  I just dislike fondant.  It tastes funny, has a weird texture, and I want people to enjoy eating what I make, not just enjoy how it looks.  So thus far, I refuse to use fondant on my cakes.  However, it hasn't stopped me making some stinkin' cute designs!  A friend from high school saw pictures on my Facebook page (one of the few reasons I'm still on Facebook, people can see what I'm capable of quicker) and called me about making a couple baby shower cakes for the same weekend.  She's a darn good friend, hosting two separate showers in one weekend, and travelling over 5 hours across the state to do so!  The first shower didn't really need cake, but she wanted to have a cupcake bouquet to give the mom-to-be, so I made this:

I was told the theme was "rustic country" and I felt the cup fit that really well.

The other baby shower was jungle themed.  We sent pictures back and forth and finally decided to use this one as a pattern:

This sure is a cute cake, but as I said, no fondant.

 

This was a new trick for me, I don't often have cakes that have multi colored backgrounds.  I left the background a little rougher than I normally would because I knew there would be foliage to help cover, plus it's the jungle!

 

Outlining the giraffe.

 

 

Working the monkey, they sure look funny without eyes :)

 

I just had to throw a vine in to see how it would look with the leaves.

 

And I allowed the monkey to have a banana, because I'm nice like that.

 

A baby elephant joins the party.

 

Monkey finished!

 

Elephant finished!

 

Giraffe finished!

 

And foliage finished!

 

I made sure to have a picture of the cake without writing so people can see it and imagine their own message in the blank space.

 

Also, it was an amazing change when I added those darker green leaves, the cake looks so much better for them!  The original designer knew what she was doing for sure, and I appreciate being able to learn from her.  Every time I would catch a glimpse of this cake out of the corner of my eye I would squeal a little because it turned out so well!

 

And all done!  The blue is Wilton Sparkle Gel I had leftover from being used in a pond on a construction themed cake.  The only thing I dislike about the gel is that it doesn't harden, which makes putting plastic wrap over the cake nearly impossible.  Fortunately I have a cake container that I bought from the grocery store that this was able to fit in, which protects the cake from dust.

 

The most amazing thing about this cake is that it is a white cake, and I don't like the taste of white cake (I'm a chocoholic) but this one was delicious!  I used Duncan Hines cake mixes, and had farm fresh eggs on hand so I used them, and I think the eggs made the difference.  And my friend told me the girls at the shower couldn't believe she didn't pick the cake up at a bakery!  Their so kind.  I'm glad they enjoyed it as much as I did!

 

So, in case you're wondering, I used 2 Duncan Hines White cake mixes, made two batches of frosting, used at least 8 different tips, and this took ~5 hours to decorate.  This is a single layer cake, and serves 15-20 people.  I have decided I need to re-evaluate how much I charge, as I definitely didn't take into account the time consuming nature of having 8 different colors (the pink roses were made at the same time) and getting them all mixed together added an hour to what I forecasted.  I learn something new every time I make a cake!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Brandy