Felted friends

Sometimes, your kids will ask you for things that are impossible (or hugely expensive) to buy. Case in point, when son #3 asked for more Pokemon plush friends. He had very specific Pokemon he wanted, and since there are now hundreds of different Pokemon, you can imagine that it's difficult to find a store that carries them all. In fact, we were lucky to find a dozen different ones at our local Toys R Us. And none were the one he wanted: his favourite, Metagross.

Thus, as a good mom, I was left with no choice but to try to make him the desired Poke-friend.

Okay, not an exact match, but close enough to snuggle with and satisfy my son.

Now, cuddle toys for boys are rather different than those for girls. While my daughter loves stuffed cats and bears, son #3 prefers things like tarantulas and Pokemon. Oh, and dead ducks. What???

Yeah, this little fellow came out of a Zombie Feltie book I found at the craft store (have to check its name), that was filled with things like undead creatures, vampires, classic zombies, and so on. Son #3 chose Dead Duckie -- modelled on your classic bathtub duck, this little guy sports bleeding wounds and evidence that a hunter had found his mark. There are even some zombie fangs on his beak! For maximum reality, son #3 insisted that the duck be double-sided -- it's just not accurate to embellish only one side of a plush friend, even when it's an undead plush friend.

Pyramids under construction

 This year, my husband suggested I make a new quilt for the cottage during my spring quilting retreat. I decided on a Thousand Pyramids quilt -- I like the scrappy, cozy look you can create with simple rows of triangles.

I already had some of the fabrics I wanted to use, and then I picked up a bundle of sale fabrics at the quilt shop we stopped at in Exeter, on our way to Lake Huron for the retreat.

A 60 triangle template made the cutting a lot easier!

Cut, cut, cut. Sew, sew, sew! Here is a picture of the work in progress, on my friend Megan's portable design wall.

Can I get it finished and quilted in time for summer? That will be the next challenge!

Machine quilting experiments

I took a machine quilting class recently, and let me tell you, it's not quite as easy as it looks!

I have been struggling ever since to get some good stitching out of my domestic machine at home. I think my timing isn't right. But at least I've finally figure out how to get my presser foot in the right position -- on my Pfaff, there's an "in-between" spot you have to find, that allows the foot to be down, but not all the way down. This gives you the ability to sew without having the foot drag on the fabric.

After watching me play with it for a while, Margaret decided that she had to have a go. Here she is trying to quilt on one of her own panels of kitty-cat fabric. She was an instant addict, singing out, "This is so fun, Mommy! I love machine quilting!"