A new sewing project....

So my next sewing project is a biggy. Like what the heck am I getting myself into big. I'm going to make a quilt.
I used to think people who made quilts looked like this:

But of course there are many cool quilters. I really love the internet sometimes. I never would have known that young hip artists make quilts too. I've been pouring over blogs and tutorials, drooling over fabrics on Etsy.

I'm starting with a small quilt for Alex. It's an I Spy quilt, so each square is different. It's been fun selecting the fabrics. I'm still missing a few, so I can't really start sewing until I have everything. I'm making it with 36 squares, going from light to dark.

These are two of the blocks (tentatively) out of the four that will make up the quilt.

My assistant placing the squares for me.

It's so hard to find good help these days...

Block #1 Yellows and whites

Block # 2 Pinks and Blues

So for now I continue to oogle fabrics, and wait for some squares from friends and another small purchase from Etsy (the lovely seller had a Pay It Forward listing that only cost me the price of shipping and the listing fee).

This quilt seems easy enough right? The quilt top is the easy part. It's all the stuff that goes on behind is the tricky part. Have I mentioned being precise isn't really a strong point for me? Um yeah. It's a good challenge right?

Bargain Hunter (and Boaster!)

I love a good deal, but who doesn't right? There's nothing better than buying something cheaper than the next guy. Ok, there are lots of things better than sales, I'm seriously not as bad as Becky Bloomwood from those fluff Shopaholic books (yes, yes, thought provoking literature, I know).

My problem is not so much from over shopping, buying things just because they're on sale, it's the boasting about the sales. I always think I sound ridiculous when I say it, but I can't help myself. My cheap genes, wearing my cheap jeans, force me, against my will, really, to tell everyone about it. Why can't I just keep it to myself? It's like a compulsion. I'm like the Rain Man of bargains. I like your shoes, someone will say, innocently enough. "Thanks! They were only 8$!" I'll reply. As if somehow those shoes, now knowing their low low price, will have more value. I'll mentally smack myself in the head whenever I say something like that, because NO ONE CARES BUT ME.

I had very few friends as a kid, I know my social skills are lacking. I either say nothing or I say something awkward and embarrassing. Then, for added fun, I'll replay that awkward moment in my head, over and over, like watching a Three's Company rerun for the twelfth time. Seriously not funny after a while.

So I'm telling you all this because I did it again today. I've booked a trip and I got a good deal on it (see doing it again!) and I keep telling anyone who stops long enough for me to tell them about it.

Is it because my mom was super frugal most of the time, that I think it's admirable quality to have? Is it because I think I'm clever when I save money, and well I always want people to think that I'm clever.

Bah. Who knows.

I wish there were social skills classes at the University. You know, Book keeping 101, Intro to Pottery Wheel, Beginner French, and Having a Conversation Without Embarrassing Yourself.

Almost done! (otherwise known as Martha Stewart stole my brain)

So I got it into my pea brain that I wanted to make a fun cake for Alex's birthday. Nothing commercial, he's too young for Lighting McQueen or even Elmo (I hope he never does get into that kind of thing!). I chose a bee because of his bee hat. that I loved so much I bought it in the next size up too. The mascot of our university is a bee (Go Stingers!). Yeah, we're dorks.

So I've been planning out this cake, getting cake decorating tools, made a test cake (never buy baking soda from a corner store) and have been watching youtube videos on cake decorating. Did I mention I'm a planner? I even got my husband in on it. He used his professional engineering software to come up with a plan for the cake based on the pans I have and the cake carrier it's going in.

He asked if I wanted a finite element analysis on the cake. Umm, noooo, that would be ridiculous!

So I've been slowly working on the cake for almost a week. Baked one layer, then another day baked the second. My freezer is filled with cake parts. Made the chocolate frosting on Thursday and the vanilla frosting this morning.

I just want to make a nice cake and not have it look like this:

But it doesn't need to be as fancy as this cake I like to call the Louis Beeton:

I found this image that matches perfectly the shape of the cake I'm going for (see above engineered bee shape):

This is doable...I think.

Next up, cake assembly and decorating. I feel like I've been studying for a history final. I know my material, it's just not my strongest subject.