Carter’s 10 and 11 Month Pics

I hope you all had a good Memorial Day.  Ours was fun, but it was cold, wet and gloomy so we weren’t out by the water like we usually are.  In fact, when we were outside, there wasn’t a single boat on the lake!

Once again, I am behind in sharing Carter’s monthly pictures.  With all the market rush, I missed posting his ten months pictures, so I am going to share both the 10 and 11 month pics.  Along with the pictures, I like to share a few of his favorite things and what he is currently up to.  It’s so nice for me to be able to look back at his pictures and remember when!

This shot is taken just before he turned 10 months – Back when he would stay sitting for a short time so I could get his picture 😉

At that point, he was pulling up to everything.  Now he is walking along things.  It’s amazing how many things we have that are at his perfect height.

If they aren’t, he just pulls up to whatever he can reach, then pulls down whatever he can get his hands on.

He loves to play with anything that isn’t a toy – remotes, phones, cameras, iPads, my camera cover, even things that don’t look remotely interesting – as long as he doesn’t usually get to play with it – he is interested.  I think he is already showing that he has a shorter attention span like his father  (squirrel!!)

He especially loves the vacuum cleaner and squeals with delight anytime you try to use it.  His eyes just light up and he hustles over to where you are attempting to use it.

He also loves books with flaps or books that have buttons to push.  He doesn’t really want you to read them to you yet, as that takes too much time.  He wants to quickly turn the page to get to the button or flap on the next page.

He has started playing with shape sorters and stacking toys.  He actually knows what to do with them, rather than just sucking on the parts and pieces.

Other new things include his first stay at a hotel and swimming in the pool.  I was shocked that he wasn’t scared of the water or water slide.

We had our first Mother’s Day

He has two new teeth – the top two, which have been dubbed “hippopotamus” teeth.   The shot shows what happens when he doesn’t get his way.  He waves his arms back and forth while he shrieks or complains.  He is quite an opinionated little guy.

He has had his first haircut – which didn’t go that well.  He kept swinging his head from side to side to look the scissors.  I kept trying to even it out, but it just got shorter and shorter, without getting any straighter.  I finally gave up and left it crooked.   Plus, he insisted on holding the comb.  Next time I will be prepared with two combs.  And maybe a sucker or something else to keep him sitting still.

He doesn’t seem to like having his picture taken, especially right before nap time!

Here is he after the nap – smiling and happy once again.

(As you can see he is still drooling, with more teeth on the way)

Plus, he is just starting to get to go outside and seems to love it.  If it ever warms up, he will get to play outside longer.  It will be such a nice change or scenery from being inside all winter!

It feels like he has really changed the last few months.  We saw several babies at quilt market and I was reminded again of how fast this is going.  I don’t know if there were more babies there this year, or if this is the first time that I am paying attention to babies.  I almost teared up seeing them and thinking of Carter at that age.  I practically can’t even watch commercials with babies in them or I need a tissue.  I told Joel, “I don’t know what has happened to me!”   He simply said, “Carter is what happened to you.”

Yep.   That says it all.

Angles With Ease Preview – Part 1

Today I finally get to start sharing what I have been working so hard on for the last six months!  And just a warning – this is a really long post, as I wanted to share a little bit about the thought process behind the concept, along with all the pictures.   There is a reward if you make it to the end 😉

It seems that each time I set out to start designing some new projects, it gets harder and harder.  There are several reasons that I find it so challenging – and these reasons do not include my busy 10 month old boy!  I have been in the industry for quite a while and have done lots of patterns and books.  If I counted right, this is my 26th book!  After doing that many books and patterns, I often feel that it is practically impossible for me to come up with something new and original.  Plus, add to that the hundreds of other designs already on the market and it can feel like a very overwhelming, often impossible task.  Sometimes I decide I am okay with just coming up with a design that I think is cute, but most of the time I really wish for something unique.

One day, while machine quilting, I started thinking about quilts that I want to make – just for fun (what a novel concept ?!?!).  My mind seems to wander quite a bit while I am machine quilting, so I use that time to do a lot of thinking (kind of like some people that have all their good ideas in the shower).

The thought that came to mind is that I have always wanted to make a kaleidoscope quilt.  (You can click here if you want to see a few images of a basic kaleidoscope quilt – though this page also has lots of intricate kaleidoscope quilts).  The basic kaleidoscope shape has a 45-degree angle at the top and a 67 1/2-degree angle in the two bottom corners.  It’s really just a simple triangle, but it can be made into some really fun shapes.  As I began focusing on that shape, I started to wonder how I could use strip units to make some new blocks.  Those thoughts became the quilts in my new book “Angles with Ease” and led to the production of my companion ruler the “Triangler”.  Books are a huge investment of time and money,  but finally I had something that was new and different.  After months of going back and forth, and with too many options to fit in a single pattern, we decided to move forward with production.

So, after all that, today I get to share the strip pieced quilts from the new book!  (Later this week I will post on the other projects from the book)

I just fell in love with the concept that such unique shapes could be made from the strip units.  In the past these shapes could only be made with separate templates for each little triangle.  Then you had all the intricate work of lining up and sewing all those angles, pieces and bias edges.  Strip units are so much easier!  Each of the blocks requires a different strip unit – with different widths, setbacks, etc.  Here are just a few of the strip units from the book:

They don’t look like anything special – but each one has been carefully calculated to get just the right number of triangles for each block, in the correct sizes, with the correct angles etc.  My brain still hurts from doing all the calculations!  But now that all the math and figuring is done, all you have to do is use the ruler to turn the strip unit into these:

Again, these don’t look like anything special, but when you sew them together, you can make some really fun blocks.  If you look closely, you see the kaleidoscope triangles in the blocks below.

The triangles can be sewn into the octagon shape you see on the right, or you can add corner triangles to make the square blocks shown on the left.  This means lots of layout options!  But, more importantly, I think breaking it down shows you how much simpler the blocks are to make than they look at first glance (which is a very prevalent theme in my designs)

So, now that we have that out of the way, let’s looks at the quilts that are made from those simple triangles.

First up, the cover quilt:  Cosmo – featuring the fabric line Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille

By the way, none of the blocks are “set in”.  The quilt is constructed in rows, just like the quilts from my “Sizzlin’ Sixties” book.  This is the quilt that I think looks most like looking into an actual kaleidoscope.

Next up – Spin Cycle, featuring my Summer House fabric line.

If you are worried about lining up those block centers, simply cover them with a small circle.  Now nobody will know if you centers match or not!

This is just one of the many size options included in the book (which is another reason that my brain still hurts!)  There are over 30 size options included in the book, so each design has several sizes to choose from.  I wouldn’t want you to have to go through the agony of all that math!

This fabric line is called Aspen by Basic Grey, for Moda fabrics.

The third design – Winter Solstice, featuring Kate Spain’s new Christmas line “In from the Cold” , also by Moda.

The fourth design:  Sunday Spin, featuring the “Strawberry Fields” fabric designed by Joanna Figueroa for Moda fabrics.

Rising Star, again featuring my Summer House line.

I really had fun machine quilting this one.

This design also makes a cute topper.  I always get lots of people requesting patterns for round tables and this one would work perfectly.

You just need a few fat quarters and 2 half yard cuts to make it.  A few kits are available here.

For those of you who have made it to the end of this post, I am giving away a copy of the book and ruler.  Just leave me a comment stating your favorite quilt and you will be entered to win!

I will be back in a few days to share the rest of the projects from the book! (click here to see part 2)

The books and rulers started shipping to quilt shops last week, so they should be at your local shop soon.  We also have them available in our online store.

Thank-You!

Just popping in for a quick minute to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone for their comments on my last post!  Joel and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to think of something to say and for being so understanding.  I really do have some great readers!  With all the crappy things going on in the world lately, from the bombing in Boston to the explosion in Texas, the loss of our dog pales in comparison, but it’s still nice to know that there are so many kindred spirits out there.  (Anne of Green Gables, anyone?)   We have found out that another neighbor’s dog was also killed in one of these traps a couple of years ago.  I think all of our other neighbors are dog lovers because we have so many dogs in this area  It seems every house we walk by has a dog that comes out to greet us.

The house sure is quiet without Daisy, but thank goodness we have Carter to cheer us up!  This is one of the few pictures we have of Carter with Daisy.  They are hanging out with Joel before Carter’s bath one morning.   It’s only an iphone picture, so the quality isn’t great, but it’s a good memory.

In other news, we are digging out from yet another snow storm.  The snow is never-ending this year in Minnesota.  Last year the lake was open by March 15th and it was beautiful, early spring.  This year we still had 3 feet of ice on the lakes at that time and we will be lucky if the lake is open by May 15th.

The weather has been so bad, that our steep driveway has been covered in snow and ice and has prevented our printer from delivering the shipment of new books.

The forecast is looking up though – they are predicting 70 degrees this weekend!  What a change in a few short days.  So, hopefully all that sun will melt the snow and ice and the books can be delivered.  In the meantime, I am working on some blog posts to share the new stuff with you.  I do have this jpeg for the cover – just to give you a sneak peek.  Be sure to stop back to see the rest of the projects and a chance to win a copy.  I am really anxious to share some of my “cheater” techniques with you – like the fact that the cover quilt is strip pieced!  Doesn’t it look much harder than that?