Happy Mother's Day

One of my little angels

Since I have become a mother, my favorite time of the day is right before I go to sleep at night. I give each of my children one last tuck in before I am off to la la land. When they are sound asleep at night, they look so at peace and like little angels. Words cannot express the love between a mother and child. Growing up, I always knew that my parents loved me. However, I did not know just how much, until I became a mom myself. Happy Mother's Day.

She Mulched and Mulched, Until She Could Mulch No More

What did I do this weekend? I mulched. 4 cubic yards of mulch was delivered to our house on Friday. The delivery guy was one of my former students. In case you are not sure how much 4 cubic yards of much is, take a look below! In the background, you can see our Cherry Tree beginning to bloom and the Wiffle Fenway Ballpark behind that. I should do a post on our Wiffle Fenway Field. It was even surveyed to be 20% of Fenway's Dimensions - but we'll leave that for another day!My husband originally thought that the flower garden was fine and did not need attention. Well, I'll let you judge. He is the almost "before" photo. I say almost, because I had weeded about half the garden at this point.

I actually had most of the garden weeded by Friday night. I came in at 7:30 p.m. Then, Saturday, I started mulching. This is what the garden looked like at about 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. My husband came out with the babe to check my progress and said, " Huh, I forgot that the garden had stepping stones."

I worked until dark, about 8:00 p.m. I knew what I would spend my Mother's Day doing. Well, about 10:00 a.m. I finished mulching the flower garden.


I thought, "This is great, I'm done with the flower garden. " When I ordered the mulch, I figured enough to do by the tiger lily's by the back of the barn and around a huge tree trunk.















So, I mulched around the Tiger lily's and the big tree. I still had about a quarter of the pile of mulch to place. I knew that I should have only ordered 3 Cubic yards! The guy at the store convinced me to order 4. So ... what to mulch next?? So, I mulched the Cedar Trees, the bed of Irises by the barn, all along the perimeter of the garage and barn. When that was finished, there was only a few buckets of mulch left which I placed at the back of the flower garden. Did I mention that I popped the wheel on the wheel barrow yesterday while weeding? So poor hubby was wheeling around a flat wheeled wheel barrow today - bless him :)
Here are the Cedar trees and the bed of Irises - which really need thinning after they bloom!















Finally, at 7:45 p.m. I had finally finished raking the last bit of mulch from the yard. The big pile of mulch was now gone. Thank goodness! Now I could go enjoy what remained of Mother's Day! If you look closely at the picture below, you can see where that big pile of mulch once lived.




HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ANY MAMA'S OUT THERE WHO MIGHT BE READING THIS :)

A Slice of Watermelon Basket - Fabric Coiled

I love summer, especially all of the fresh fruit! If you look in my refrigerator in the summer months, there is sure to be a big bowl of fruit salad and watermelon! I love the fabric for this basket. The design is just the right size so that you can still see the design after wrapping the fabric. It is patterned with slices of watermelon over a blue and white plaid background. The basket has two curvy loop handles that decorate the sides. Origainally, I made two basic handles for the basket, but I wanted to make it a bit fancier, so I gave them each a twist. This adorable basket is made using the fabric coiling technique. It measures 6 inches across the top of the base and is 2.25 inches high. This basket would look great in the kitchen, out on the patio or on your desk. Visit My Etsy Shop if you are interested in purchasing this basket.


UPCOMING BLOGS
*Comparing Techniques of It's a Wrap by Susan Breier and Textile Coil Pots and Baskets: Easy Ways With Fabric and Cord by Helen Deighan
*My latest Baskets
*How to Make Different Types of Coiled Fabric Handles

Spring Medley Oval Basket - Fabric Coiled

Spring is on its way! Brighten up any room with this basket. It is made with white fabric covered with tiny blue and yellow flowers. The specially made flower handles add extra decoration to this beautiful basket. The top of this basket measures 8 x 10.5 inches and is 3.5 inches high. As with any basket, it is truly one of a kind and would make the perfect gift for a birthday, anniversary, hostess, mother's day, or even for yourself! This basket and others are for sale in my Etsy Shop. Just click on the photo of the basket to visit my shop.

To make the handles, I made a round center by cutting a circular piece of fabric and sewing around the edge. Then I cinched it up tight. Next, I looped the wrapped cording into petals. I had so much fun making the flower handles.

Purple Petunia Basket - Triple Loop Handles

Purple Petunia Basket Side View,
originally uploaded by New England Quilter.

My latest fabric coiled basket is made from purple petunia spring fabric. I never know how I am going to finish a basket when I start it - this is half the fun! When it was time to make the handles, I decided to go with a triple loop. To make triple loop handles, measure out the amount of fabric needed by looping the cording three times. Hold it out to the side and continue sewing the top edge of cording. Repeat for the other side as well. After finishing the top edge, sew the loops in place by hand. This basket is available to purchase at my Etsy shop http://www.newenglandquilter.etsy.com
Just in time for spring! This darling basket is made from purple petunia fabric using the fabric coiling technique. It has triple loop handles which make it truly unique. The top of the base measures 7.5 inches across the top and is 2.75 inches high. The height to the top of the handles measures 4 inches. This basket would be great in so many rooms of your home. This would be a lovely gift for anyone or a special treat for yourself!

Upcoming Blog Entries (Not necessarily in this order):
*Book Review of Textile Coil Pots and Baskets: Easy Ways With Fabric and Cord by Helen Deighan
*Comparing Techniques of It's a Wrap by Susan Breier and Textile Coil Pots and Baskets: Easy Ways With Fabric and Cord by Helen Deighan
*My latest Baskets
*How to Make Different Types of Coiled Fabric Handles