Oh Deer...I kept your quilt for myself!

Remember when I made my sister the Lady Lattice quilt for Christmas? And then decided to keep it for myself because it goes so nicely in my living room?!? That meant I had very little time to crank out another quilt for her before Christmas. I had already finished her twin brother's quilt and couldn't give him his without one for her!

I bought a jelly roll and charm pack of Oh Deer by MoMo for Moda at the Wisconsin Quilt Expo last year.

It was a treat for me to make something for myself because I loved the prints and colors dearly (hehe. pun.) So I decided it would be a fair trade to make her an Oh Deer quilt instead of me since I had stolen her first one for myself!

This is the first time I had even bought a jelly roll (40 strips of 2.5"x44" of coordinating prints). In the words of my friend Alisa, jelly rolls are "juicy." They are soooo juicy! They feel great in your hands, are so fun to unwrap and a breeze to work with. I can feel a new addiction coming on...

Anyway, back to the quilt.

It was quick to make and I love how bright, busy and fun it is. I just sewed all but about 6 strips of the jellyroll together in a somewhat random order. Then I cut about 10 inches off one side. I sewed the squares of the charm pack into two rows and pieced that between the two striped pieces. I did the whole top in an afternoon. 

For the quilting I did a meandering pattern, trying not to have any cross overs. 

This quilt was well received by my sister. She called and told me that roommates and guests to her house have all commented on it and she really loves it. That makes me really, really happy and feel a little less guilty that I am sitting under the quilt I made for her first but kept!

We looked! Then we saw him step in on the mat! We looked! And we saw him! The Cat in the Hat!

Have you seen the Dr. Seuss prints from Robert Kauffman? There is a Cat in the Hat and Lorax set. My friend asked me to make a quilt for her little Baby B that arrived earlier this month (Baby B turned out to be Miss Hathaway Jane!) She gave me a fat quarter set of both lines (both colorways for the Lorax!). She wanted me to use the Cat in the Hat fabric for her and the Lorax fabric I get to keep. The Lorax is one of my all time favorite books. I haven't quite decided what I'll make with the fabric, but I am leaning towards another quilt - for me!

This post is supposed to be about the quilt I made her, so I'll stop rambling about the Lorax fabric. (Can you tell I'm excited about it?!?)

There were a couple of difference challenges with this quilt. First, the fabrics are all adorable but a bit busy. Second, my friend wanted something that could be folded and work for a crib but would also work more long term as Baby B grows into a toddler then "big kid." We decided together that something long and narrow would fit both needs - then I discovered the two big panels in the bundle were long and narrow, so it worked out perfectly.

I am not a good pattern follower. I like to make things up as I go and see where it takes me. The Cat in that Hat is zany and a bit crazy, so I decided the quilt needed to be too. As I said before, the fabric is busy so I didn't want that to become overwhelming. So I stuck with larger blocks of the fabric, and just turned everything to a 45 degree angle. I am really happy with the results.

What do you think? Squaring the quilt and appliqueing the center panel on were by far the biggest challenges.

I also wanted to use both big panels that came in the bundle so I did just a little something on the back.

I basically used every scrap of fabric in the entire fat quarter bundle and it worked out perfectly. I quilted my favorite go to "pattern" of meandering bumble bee. It goes nice with the straight lines of the quilt and its so simple to do, you can't mess it up!

Envelope pouch

This past weekend I was feeling inspired to make something for a friend's birthday. I had no real concept of what I wanted to do until I saw an A7 envelope sitting on the filing cabinet in my studio. I thought it would make for a cute clutch/pouch, so I opened it all the way up and used it for a "pattern."

The birthday girl is a big fan of coral and leopard/cheetah prints. Both of these fabrics were in my stash. There is one layer of quilting batting that I fused to the lining with heat n bond. Fusible batting would have been one less step, but I didn't have any on hand.

 I had about 20 minutes before I needed to give the gift, so of course, I decided it was necessary to make another item to go with it. I decided a little zipper pouch that fits perfectly inside would be nice so small things like change wouldn't escape if it was carried alone as a clutch.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. The different textures of the fabrics work well together and I love the little vintage coral button for the envelope closure. The gift was well received and I think I'll have to make more of these babies someday soon.

30 Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness Cards

In honor of our 30th birthdays, my friend Michelle and I decided to do a day filled with random (for the recipients) acts of kindness. We had a blast and I would highly recommend doing something like this. It was fun, emotional, hilarious, rewarding and scary (in a good way!)

Care packages for the animal shelter volunteers, librarians, fire department and police department. (After the police wouldn't accept it - we repurposed theirs for nurses!)

Here's what we did (all in about 6 hours!):
1. Took a care package to the local librarians.
2. Left money and a Kindness Card with the librarian to pay someone's fine.
3. Took a snacks care package to the local fire station.
4. Took a snacks care package to the nurse's station at pediatric hospital.
5. Paid for a random person's coffee.
6. Left money and a Kindness Card with a pharmacist to help pay for someone's prescription.
7. Fed quarters to expired parking meters.
8. Paid for someone's shake at the local ice cream parlor.
9. Gave a Starbucks gift card to a family in the park.

I did a pet food drive for a week at work and ended up with a whole trunk full of food, treats and toys with no cost to us, which left more $ to spend on other items!

10. Took about 150 lbs. of stuff to the animal shelter including food, treats and toys.
10a. Took a snacks care package to the volunteers and workers at the animal shelter.
11. Left money and a Kindness Card in the pay phones at the hospital.
12. Gave three bouquets of flowers to nurses in the hospital to give to patients.
13. Left money and a Kindness Card in the beverages vending machines at the hospital.

14. Took crayons, cards and coloring books to the pediatric unit at the hospital. 

Special thank you to Lindsay, Alisa and Gloria for helping make the rosettes and headbands!

15. Made and gave a dozen baby rosette headbands to the maternity ward. 

16. Donated a couple dozen adult and children's books to the patient library. 

17. Gave money and a Kindness Card to the parking attendant in one of the hospital parking garages to pay for the next patient's parking. 

18. Put quarters in all the gum ball and candy dispensers at the mall. 

19. Gave a big bag of suckers to the children's museum to pass out to visiting kids. 

20. Bought movie tickets for a senior couple. 

21. Paid for a girls lunch at a fast food restaurant. 

22. Gave a Target gift card to a family in Target. 

23. Gave a Target gift card to a young pregnant girl in Target. 

24. Gave a Starbucks gift card to a guy in the Starbucks parking lot. 

25. Bought helium balloons and gave them to kids in the grocery store. 

26. Gave a woman in the grocery store parking lot a gift card to the store.

27. Gave a gas gif card to a woman in the gas station. 

28. Put a baggy of quarters with a Kindness Card in someone's laundry at the laundromat. 

29. Gave an elderly woman a grocery gift card in the grocery store. 

30. Paid for someone's snow cone. 

So now you're wondering, "Which ones were fun, emotional, hilarious, rewarding and scary?" Here are the stories and memories:


#7. Fed quarters to expired parking meters. Did you know that feeding other people's meters is illegal some places? We saw a meter maid writing tickets so we snuck down the block ahead of him, plugging expired meters. If you know either of us, stealth is not a strong point! I felt like we were doing something very naughty, which is always fun!

#8. Paid for someone's shake at the local ice cream parlor. It was a weird time of day, and no one was at the ice cream parlor so we had to wait around for a customer. The first person was a super nerdy, mildly creepy looking dude, so of course, I made Michelle pay! He was exceptionally confused and flustered. I am pretty sure this is what he was thinking, "Dear God! A GIRL! And she's talking to me! What do I do?!? What do I do?!?" It was hilarious.


#10a. Took a snacks care package to the volunteers and workers at the animal shelter. They were very excited and thankful that we also brought treats for the people. It seems people generously donate to the animals, never considering all the volunteer hours it takes to run a shelter! I'm glad we thought of this!

#14. Took crayons, cards and coloring books to the pediatric unit at the hospital. This girl was the only person who really, really wanted to know who we were. We told her simply "Tonya and Michelle" but wouldn't give her more. We weren't doing this for thanks or recognition, just for the joy of it.


#15. Made and gave a dozen baby rosette headbands to the maternity ward. The woman at the reception desk seemed very confused. We left the bag and a stack of Kindness Cards with her. After we walked away, she opened it up and got very excited. She caught us as we got in the elevator for a very enthusiastic thank you and told us how cute she thought they were. Again, super special thank you to my QA (Quilters Anonymous) girls, Lindsay, Alisa and Gloria for helping get these all done in one afternoon. You did a wonderful job and they were all beautiful!


#18. Put quarters in all the gum ball and candy dispensers at the mall. After we'd done this, we wandered the mall doing other acts of kindness. A while later we saw a little boy with two giant handfuls of candy, grinning ear to ear. At first I was a bit annoyed he used as many quarters as his hands could hold the candy. But then I decided, to a kid, that was like hitting it big on a slot machine and his elation was contagious!


#20. Bought movie tickets for a senior couple. Unexpectedly, this became a favorite act for both of us. After we paid, the woman pulled us aside and asked a bunch of questions about what we were doing and why. Then she told us that she and a friend started the "Pay It Forward" curriculum for the state of New Jersey schools. She took two Kindness Cards so she could pay it forward for each movie ticket. Our conversation ended with hugs and the knowledge that at least one of our acts of kindness would definitely be paid forward. It was awesome!


#24. Gave a Starbucks gift card to a guy in the Starbucks parking lot. After waiting for a while in the parking lot (everyone goes through the drive thru and not into the store!) we were beginning to look suspicious and act silly. The poor guy we gave this too ran a gauntlet of emotions as we approached and gave him the gift card - every single emotion clearly displayed on his face. It was funny.

#25. Bought helium balloons and gave them to kids in the grocery store. Besides the police who could not accept our care package (as it constituted bribery - OOPS!) one little boy was the only person to turn down an act of kindness. He was very serious about not wanting a balloon. It worked out because we only had 2 left and gave them both to sisters, who would have had to share otherwise.

#27. Gave a gas gif card to a woman in the gas station. This woman had let us go in front of her in line, then watched us purchase the gift card. When I turned around and gave it to her with a kindness card, she was SHOCKED! It was pretty funny and an over the top reaction for a $10 gas card. We could see her animatedly telling others about what we did as we drove away.

#28. Put a baggy of quarters with a Kindness Card in someone's laundry at the laundromat. Let's face it, laundromats are scary, even in Iowa, even in the middle of the day. It was full of some unusual looking men, so after a tiny bit of hesitation, we threw the Kindness Card and quarters into someone's basket as they had their back turned and ran out the door! Were we being over dramatic? Yes. Was it hilarious, fun and exhilarating at the same time? Definitely!


#29. Gave an elderly woman a grocery gift card in the grocery store. This woman was super sweet and thankful. We got another hug from her!

The final, mildly unrelated story of the day: Before we even got started, I found a roofing nail... in my foot. It wasn't terrible but resulted in me limping all day and a trip to urgent care the next morning for a tetanus shot and to get a small piece of shoe dug out of my heal. Thanks, Karma, for your kindness to me while I do 30 selfless acts.

Again, this was a wonderful experience and I plan to do it again in the future. Now it's your turn. Grab a good friend and start your random acts of kindness day. I promise you will have a blast! I'd love to hear about it if you do it/have done it. 

Simple custom wedding gift

I don't like to buy off wedding registries - especially for close friends and family. I know the bride and groom hand pick each item, but I like to put a little more thought and effort into a gift I'm giving. I prefer to make something custom for gifts as well.

I am a paper nerd. I love paper. I love how it feels in my hands, the saturated colors, the texture and pretty much everything about it. I love cutting and folding and working with paper in all manners. So, unsurprisingly, one of my favorite things about weddings is seeing the invitations. I've made custom gifts from invites before. One fun idea is to scan the invite, print it on a self-adhesive label and adhere it to a bottle of wine. Throw in two wine glasses and a corkscrew from the registry and a note for the couple to enjoy the wine on their first anniversary. But what if the couple aren't wine drinkers? Make the invite into pretty Christmas ornaments! It's super simple.

Cut the invite into narrow strips. Try to get each line of text onto a strip. You'll be able to read some of them later.

Curl the strips around a narrow pencil, taking care not to rub off the ink with your fingers. The heavier weight cardstock will hold the shape nicely.

Buy clear glass Christmas ornaments at a craft store and fill with the curled invite!

I love that you can still read some of the elements like the date, names and location. You can buy the bulbs individually or as a set. For this particular wedding, each piece of paper (and the envelope) were all different colors.

So I made one out of the accommodations card.

And one out of the envelope! I sent back the RSVP card, so I cheated and bought the right color of paper at a scrapbooking store to make a 4th ornament to complete the set. You can add fun things like glitter and charms too. I put gold, silver and bronze glitter into the balls.

It's quick, simple and very affordable. Throw in a couple of other Christmas related items or another handmade item and you'll have a memorable, custom wedding gift!

Hello. My name is Tonya and I am an addict.

It's not drugs or alcohol or even chocolate. It's Pinterest. I cannot stop.

Wait. You don't know what Pinterest is? I don't know whether or not to gush about it and encourage you to sign up, or yell "Run! Run away and don't read on!" So proceed at your own risk and know that Pinterest is wonderful but it will steal hours and hours of your life.

In their own words, "Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests."

It's a personalized, virtual bulletin board with beautiful pictures of food, clothing, home decor and anything else your little heart desires. You can categorize everything onto different boards. The best part is that it all links back to the original source, i.e. the webpage with the recipe, tutorial, online store, etc. I love that I can look at all my recipes at once.

I have been LOVING Pinterest for fashion and sewing ideas too. However this seems to have lead to a bad habit of clothing and shoe shopping online. Which makes my PayPal account sad but me squeal in delight when brown paper packages show up on the doorstep.

So what else besides recipe and fashion am I pinning? My 301 (yikes!) pins are on 20 boards including sewing inspirations, crocheting, tattoos and henna, travel, home decor, color combinations, graphic design, Halloween, gift ideas and products I want. Check them all out on my Pinterest page.

It also has a fun element where you can follow boards and people so your homepage has a cornucopia of ideas handpicked by like minded people you've chosen to follow. Pinterest will send you an email (if you want it to) to let you know when people repin your pins. I get a silly amount of pleasure when I get one of these with a huge list.

It's an ego boost. "They like me. They really like me!" Or at least my pins... But whatever. I enjoy it! Joining Pinterest is by invitation only, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll email you an invite. But remember - don't say I didn't warn you about the hours, days and weeks of your life that will suddenly go missing.

Mother's Day gift idea

SPOILER ALERT: If you are one of the mom's expecting a Mother's Day gift from me, STOP READING NOW!

Why am I posting this before I give these gifts? Because I think it's a really great idea and want other people to feel free to use it for their moms but it wouldn't be too helpful if I post it after Mother's Day, would it? (Mom, I know you're still reading. Stop now!)

I know both my mom and MIL have had gardens off and on over the years, but neither have had a full garden recently. When I started growing my own herbs a couple of years ago, both seemed intrigued. My MIL asked lots of questions about using fresh herbs for cooking and how to grow them, but didn't run right out to Earl May to pick up any plants. So I got them both a couple of herb plants for Mother's Day this year and planted them in cute ceramic pots. It seemed like a good idea, but then I wondered if either of them would actually cook with the basil, chives and rosemary. Solution? Make fun recipe cards with information about each herb along with a recipe we love to make with each variety.

I thought they turned out pretty cute! I printed them on cardstock and laminated each card to protect them from cooking splatters. I plan to punch a hole in the top corner of each one, thread a pretty ribbon through and tie it around the corresponding pot. Once I get them all together, I'll update this post with a finished picture.

I'd be happy to share these if you'd like to print some too. Leave a comment with your email and I will send you print resolution PDF files.