7.25.2012

Progress Report: Zig Zag Quilt

We have been having such a busy summer around here!  I started this quilt months ago, intending it for the basement family room, once it's finished.  I did all the cutting and piecing with some friends using this tutorial from the Bee Square Blog.  It was easy enough to follow, but I only used four different fabrics instead of nine to give it a more cohesive look.
I have since finished piecing the top and trimmed the points off all around.  I found some flannel for the backing but haven't been able to piece it yet, since I started my screen printing up again last week.  My new design will be ready to debut after I get some good pictures.  Also, I'll be sure to show some photos of the finished quilt when I get it all put together.

7.07.2012

Unbirthday Cakes

Last month, we had an Unbirthday Party for my mom's Domestic Science Club meeting.  I made the cakes for the party, and once again learned a lot about the process.  I chose sky blue and rose pink for the colors.  One of the cakes was butter yellow, and the other was chocolate fudge.  I did them in 6" round pans, which was a fun shape and size. 
The biggest lesson learned during this session: don't finish fully-frozen cakes!  I like to freeze my cakes to make it easier to work with them, but since these ones were thicker than usual they didn't defrost as quickly as 9" rounds.  This means that I ended up with shrunken cakes the next day.  Luckily, I had only covered them with a single layer of fondant since I hadn't had time to do the decoration, so I was able to salvage these ones.
The flowers were just strips of fondant, rolled and shaped along the way.  I find that I always have less time for doing the finishing touches than I'd like.  Maybe next time I will remember that and plan ahead!  The white flower was my first attempt at working with gum paste, which was not at all what I expected.  I have some more experimenting and research to do on that front.