Tractor Cake for the Birthday Boys

My sister-in-law called me last week and asked if I could make a cake for her little boy's birthday. Ummm heck yes I want to make a tractor cake!!

 

Now to decide if I want to make a 3D cake or a sheet cake with some toy tractors on it. What two year old wouldn't want to push his tractors through a field of frosting and Oreo! Then I remember my crafty aunt has oodles of the Wilton formed cake pans. I gave her a jingle jangle, yes she had a tractor pan, of course I could borrow it.

  Alas I have no decent picture of the cake itself but the smirk on this little boys face should tell you it was a hit. Naturally he was drawn to the black frosting on the wheels.

That's his Buppa in the picture, they happen to share a birthday. Lucky boys!!

Foxy - Quilt Top

Sometimes simply patchwork is the best. Let the fabric speak for itself. I needed that this week, some easy piecing - sew press repeat. Cute fabric is definitely a plus. Now to find something for the back of this baby quilt. I'm thinking I might have to make a trip to the fabric store for some soft and cuddly minky. 

Gus was not overly impressed by our mini photo shoot this afternoon. But like a trooper he hung out with me. He has been pretty needy these past two weeks, not leaving my side very often. I'm rather enjoying his company.

On Tuna, Downton Abbey, and Godzilla

 I can hardly believe we are almost a month into 2015 already! Time seems to move so quickly. Did you survive your holidays? Here at the Acres we made it. Now we just need to survive until the spring. This lady is not a huge fan of Wisconsin winters.

Earlier this month Mr. B left for an adventure in Japan to fight Godzilla, or at least that is what we told our four year old niece. I've been livin' the single; life tuna melts for dinner twice in one week! (MR. B is not a fan of tuna) The fur babies and I have regular snuggle dates on the couch. Our goal is to make it through all five seasons of Downton Abbey before he returns. Well I suppose that is my goal, the two of them really don't care what we watch as long as they get to curl up on the couch with mom.

Needless to say in the coming weeks please be prepared for a slew of posts featuring quilty projects and cute pictures of the furry kids. 

Pink Kitty Quilt - Finish

Kitty fabrics, pieced kitty blocks, and lots of pink! I know a little girly who is going to be super happy when she sees this. 

I let the fabric speak for itself with this simple patchwork layout. I used Here Kitty Kitty fabric from Alyssa Thomas supplemented by some other pinks I had in my stash. I pieced some large cat silhouettes to highlight the cat theme.  

The patchwork is straight line quilted following both sides of the seam lines. For the cats I stepped outside my comfort zone and tried free-motion-quilting. I only did the white background. I wanted to make the cats really stand out.

Psst this is only the second time I've ever tried FMQ! You know, besides practice sandwiches which really don't count. I am rather happy with how it turned out. Not perfect by any means but I will never get better unless I jump in and try it. I signed up for a Craftsy class and think it has really helped me out. Love Craftsy - I don't have to leave the house and can stay in comfy pants! AND replay the lesson over and over!

For the back I stayed with the pink theme with a little grey added in there for balance. Pieced backs are my favorite. I think they add some much to the homemade nature of a quilt. 

Now to wait for Christmas to gift this. It's going to be difficult....

Pink Kitty Quilt - Stitching

The past few days I have commandeered the dinning room table and have been stitching away.

 

 

Last night I while Mr. B was watching a documentary on Spinosaurus, I was finishing up the quilting on this lovely. It's meant to be a Christmas present but I don't know if I will have the patience to wait until then to gift it!

 

Postage Stamp Quilt - Progress

After some contemplation I opted to go with an alternate lay out. While I know the edge to edge postage stamp blocks would have made an stunning quilt I am so glad I changed it up. I did a happy dance as the star took shape over the weekend. Not just on the inside I did an actual dance of joy in my sewing room. 

But I'll let the finished quilt top speak for itself. 

The whole time i was piecing the star I was scheming on how to quilt this. I'm definitely going to give free-motion-quilting a go and there will be some straight-lines in there too. 

Now to find the perfect backing fabric, I think I will stick with the scrappy nature of the quilt and go for a pieced backing. I'm sure I'll be showing you more soon. I'm just to in love with this to put in aside for another project. Not to say I don't have several on the back burning. What quilter isn't without a stack of WIPs. 

Harvest Day and Family Photos

This past weekend my family converged on the Acres for some togetherness, pumpkin carving, food, and a photo shoot.

 

I've been going through and editing the pictures this week. If you follow me on Facebook you probably saw a sampling of them Saturday night. I am in love with the way they turned out. We had a beautiful day and picked a great back drop, I might be partial as it was in our yard.