Bath Salts Tutorial

Since I've been reading a lot of blogs lately I've realized that those blogs that offer tutorials and how-tos are most interesting to me, because I not only get to learn something about what the person is doing but also how to do it myself. :)
So here I figured I'd share a quickie how-to on the bath salts I made everyone for Christmas, so here goes:

This is what you will need:
a nice jar to put it in once done
Epsom salt
Essential oils in the preferred scents
Food coloring
A mixing bowl
Some extra water
A spoon

First I add some of the essential oils, food coloring and a little bit of water to the bowl and mix it up.

Then add a small amount of the salt and mix all the liquids together.

The mixture will be wetter and darker than the end result. Once you have that, then you can add more salt to just even out the mixture and fill it into the jar.

Just spoon the mixture into the jars.

I like to layer scents and colors. So then you just repeat the first few steps with a different scent and color.

And here is what it looks like in the jars.

If you have any questions or something is unclear please let me know in the comments section, so I can clarify it. :)

Quilts to comfort or to be admired?

Lately I have been reading a lot of quilting magazines because my bestie Lauren is cleaning out her house and I inherited her extensive magazine collection.
I've seen a couple of articles that mention how hard it is to give away a quilt because you never know how it will be treated. I understand the sentiment. A woman described her husband taking appart his motorcycle on a quilt she made him. My mother does woodworking and I'll never forget the tears in her eyes when she saw the beautiful bowl she made her parent, and had invested hours of her time and effort into, scratched up and used as a key receptical.
I really understand their fury and disappointment! But then it wouldn't matter what blanket he used to take his motorcycle apart on, I just might have stabbed him when I caught him doing that...
Then there was another example: making a quilt for a quilting friend was hazardous because they would then analyze all the the mistakes you made and look down on it.
Are you kidding me? Seriously?
I know when I make Lauren her full sized quilt (rather than just the tiny crazy quilt wallhanging I made her and wrote about here) she is going to love it and not sit there looking for mistakes to rub my nose in...
I mean come on, if your friends do that, especially ones that know how much work and effort goes into making a quilt, maybe they aren't the people that should get one from you.
And as to the abusing of quilts by those who don't understand what goes into making one, I think you as the maker can take that into account.
Most of my quilts are made to be used. I use mine every day and spill stuff on them regularly. That is why I use materials that are easily washed and durable.
If I was making an art quilt with elaborate materials and embellishments, that wouldn't be the one that I gave the 7 year old who will be dragging it through the mud and taking it everywhere with them, like I did with mine...
I admire art quilts and elaborate quilting! Someday I'll make an art quilt myself. When I do, I'll display it on a wall where it will be safe.
In the meantime I will continue to make quilts for those I love that will be abused, and loved to death!

The Hot Air Balloon - or: Lisa's baby quilt

Charlie's friend Lisa is pregnant and will have her baby in June. I was volunteered by Charlie (and yes, I probably would have done it anyway) to make her a baby quilt.
It's been absolute torture to have the quilt done, but not be able to share pictures of it because she wanted it to be a surprise. We mailed the quilt but her mom hid it till the baby shower which was yesterday.
I am not a patient person and would rather always give the gifts as soon as I can.
This is also my real first attempt at free motion quilting. I still need the right kind of foot for it though.

I unintentionally made a heart and when I found it, I decided to just go with it and outlined it with a pink running stitch. Then I also added the babies name and the year. If she wants to she can always add the day and month when she knows for sure. :)

Nita's Quilt

When we went to bend for thanksgiving, and Carl's birthday (Charlie's nephew), we brought him the quilt and I also made on for Charlie's little brother Alfredo. Carl's half sister Nita asked me in the sweetest way if maybe, possibly I could make her a quilt as well. How could I possibly say no?

This also has of course led to more quilt requests. >_< I of course can't not make one for the middle child Emma now, and Brandy, Joey's - Charlie's brother's- girlfriend has asked for a lap quilt for them wile they watch tv etc on the couch.
And I figure at that point while I'm at it, I might as well make lap quilts for Charlie's mother and one for his father. Make a full set as it where. :)

And that is me finishing off my binding. :)

Greta

This is a quilt I've been wanting to do for a long time! My father's office looks like that of a kindergarten teacher, it is covered in my sisters beautiful artwork and the atrocities I was forced to create in mandatory art class. Yes, that includes things like a fly-bug created out of oodles of different wires. ATROCIOUS!
Now that I actually feel like I have an art form that helps me express myself and actually has some beauty to it. And not the kind of art where a canvas with dung on it is sold for god knows what... XD
My father's name is Urs. Ursus is the Latin word for bear. My father has a lot of things with bears on them and looks a little bit like a bear himself.
This is my first try at appliqué on a bigger scale and Lauren had to take quite a bit of time to help me get started. Some of the fabric was off and I didn't quite like the thread I used for appliquéing it either, so I decided I'd make another one and just have the first one as a tester. So far I've only made the first one and haven't gotten beyond the quilt top yet. A project that will be continued/finished.

Heart Coasters

Here I'll show you some of the coasters I made for my friend Brandy and Charlie's brother's family. I made gift baskets as Christmas gifts for my friends. It took me forever to mail Brandy's so I added something for valentine's day. The other set I made for Clint's family as a host gift when they invited us.
They are very simple to make and the pattern is from the book I talked about here. It's a great book that I would recommend to anyone! The instructions are pretty clear. The only thing that bothered me was that the things don't have titles. Sometimes it took me a while to wrap my head around things and figure out what they where.
I changed the colors from what was in the book because I couldn't find any good pink or red felt.
Anyway, here they are:

Brandy Partner Quilt

As I've written about here I made a quilt for Brandy with some of the fabric she gave me. And now here is the matching partner quilt I got to keep. :)

Peacock Wallhanging

This is a Wallhanging I made for my little sister. She told me that she didn't like patterned fabric, so I didn't make her a quilt. When I saw this fabric I fell in love, and thought of my sister. My mom told me that the colors fit with the color scheme of her living room. I thought, that possibly since a Wallhanging is more a piece of art like a painting, rather than a traditional quilt it might be ok and she might like it, and I was right.

Here are the peacocks of awesomeness:

Charlie's Chess Quilt

As I've previously posted about here I started a chess quilt for Charlie. This was his first request of me for a quilt. A year later he finally got it. :)

Of course I had to add some glitter and dazzle! ;)

And here is some closer detail on the chess pieces:

They all have pieces of Velcro attached to them, and each square has a piece of Velcro on it as well, so you can play an actual game of chess on it while it's hanging on the wall.