Monday Miscellaneous

Custom pillowcases:

I used the tutorial at Film in the Fridge to make the two sets of pillowcases featured below.

The zebra striped cases are a Christmas gift for my nine year old cousin. After relocating to Kansas she asked her mother to paint her new room purple with zebra stripes.  So three walls are purple and one wall is indeed zebra striped. It's quite striking.

My mother has made a zebra striped fleece throw for her as well. 

Her brother, my young 11 year old old cousin, is into skulls.  I made these last winter for his birthday.  He very politely thanked me for them. I noticed them on his bed quite a few times.  However, I had no idea what a hit I'd made with them until his mother told me that when she takes them off to wash them and replaces them with others, he immediately puts the skulls back on when they come out of the laundry.  That's the kind of news that makes this quilter smile!

So new skull pillowcases for Christmas.  I hope he likes them as well as the others.

What do the following two items have in common?

Laptop and lapcat:

This new quilt inspector is appropriately named Lovebug, because that is exactly what she is.  She has absolutely no issue with laying on the laptop if I do not make space for her.  Yeah, I really can't complain about that too much.

(You can see a slice of the cheerful quilted table-topper / wall-hanging that P from The Way I Sew It made for me.  Thanks P.!  But that's another blog topic for another day.)

Favorite Things Friday

Wow!  The last Favorite Things Friday of 2011.  We'd better make the most of it.  If you want to play, get on over to Quilting in My Pyjamas and link up.

Last February I bought my 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe down in McKinney, Texas.  The car itself became the topic of Favorite Things Friday on February 18, 2011.

Hyundai Genesis, Taos, NM

However, there is now a certain feature of my car that has become a favorite ~ a feature I hadn't sought out when shopping for my car.  The car just happened to come equipped.  A feature that I had no use for until I found myself facing winter in Kansas. 

Seat warmers! 

Winter, even in north Texas, is just not that cold.  I didn't use them there.  In the meantime, over summer, I had forgotten I had them.  Until just last week.  I looked down at my shifter, and there on either side of it lies the buttons for the seat warmers for each seat.

The seat warmers make getting out in the cold much more bearable.  In fact, it makes me smile every time my fanny warms up.

Fleece Throws ~ It's What's for Christmas!

You know, it's always tough to figure out what Christmas gifts to get for that person who already has "everything."  We are often in that position with my aunt and uncle.  But hey, who couldn't use a fleece throw?  My mom's brainstorm.

My aunt and uncle live outside of Phoenix.  Being warm is not too much of issue most of the year.  And their house wasn't built with being warm as a concern.  They heat primarily with their fireplace.  Yet, the desert does get chilly this time of year. 

Their house is decorated in an eclectic southwest style ~ part Native American, part Hispanic, and part cowboy.  We tried to get fleece that would jibe with the decor.

For my uncle, I made the cowboy themed throw you see below:

For my aunt, my mom made the southwest themed throw.

We are very pleased with how they turned out ~ and how quickly they went together.  Now, I hope they enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them.

Favorite Things Friday

I can't believe how quickly Friday has rolled around again.  But that means only one thing:  Favorite Things Friday with Mrs. P. at Quilting in My Pyjamas.

My favorite this week is the time I spent with my young cousin.  She is nine.  We both have a penchant for nail polish.  Neither of us are real girlie girls, except about our nails.  This afternoon, she introduced me to Crackle Overcoat.  Hers are the black with white crackle and mine are pink with white crackle.

Rather blurry picture taken with my cell phone.  Apologies.

I'm not sure Crackle itself will ever become a favorite of mine, but it sure was fun to do it with her.  It is always the small moments in life that mean the most.

Favorite Things Friday ~ Bejeweled

Another Friday has rolled around and it's time to join Shay over at Quilting in my Pyjamas for another Favorite Things Friday.   Yay!


My favorite for this week?  Bejeweled Blitz. 

Yep, a mindless time waster if there ever was one.  That said, sometimes it's great to simply take a break from life ~ even quilting ~ and indulge in some meaningless relaxation.  Nothing like watching virtual jewels blow up to get me into full relax mode.

I was playing the game alone on the version I have on my home computer, but I've since discovered that it is possible to play against other people through Google + and Facebook.  For the last several weeks I have been competing against my cousin-in-law, Eric, through Google +.  Week after week, I'd pull ahead only to watch him trounce me and prevail before the week's end.  Last week, however, I finally got my turn in the winner's circle.  Losing for weeks on end made that win all the more sweet.  (Oddly enough both of our scores for that week were lower than in previous weeks, so go figure.)

After playing on Google +, I finally rejoined Facebook in order to play there.  (I'm not a big fan of Facebook.  I prefer more in depth communication over the blurbs posted on Facebook.  But hey, that's just me.)  It appears I'm taking this serious time waster to a new level!