Patriotic cake

I made this cake for a 12-year-old's birthday. They wanted an Independence Day cake since she's born on July 4th. I see so many flaws, but they all liked it. This was my first fondant-covered cake. I used the premade Wilton fondant, and boy it doesn't taste good. Fortunately there's buttercream icing under it.

I'm going to lay off making more cakes until after my Wilton Class 1 in two weeks. I can't wait!

Oh, and cake decorating isn't very compatible with stitching. After messing with coloring paste, my hands were dyed first blue and then red. Fortunately it all mostly washed off after a while, but I was scared to touch my stitching this weekend (not that I had much time).

The next finishing piece for the Monthly Finishing Challenge is a scissor pocket. I have a chart of a scissor pocket, so I'm ready to stitch this time: Boo Keeper by Drawn Thread. I think I have a suitable piece of fabric for it.

Damier Part 6

Here's the next installment of Damier. Of course, the next part just came out, so I need to catch up. The designer is going on a two-month vacation, so I'll have some time. Geez, I wish I had two months off! The French have it good in the vacation department.

I pulled out Maggie the Messmaker. I'll work on Damier again when I get bored with Maggie.

Biscornu exchange piece HD

I finished the stitching and finishing of my biscornu exchange piece. I like how it came out. This one was a challenge because not only did I have to find a piece that I liked and that my partner would like, but I had to find something that would work on the fabric I already had. I'm trying not to buy much, and I have a very small supply of fabric. All of what I have came from leftovers from pieces I stitched and from exchanges. I do have a big piece of white Jobelan for my HAEDs, but it's rather boring.

You'll see pics when my partner receives the biscornu in August. Yes, there's lots of time to work on SBEBB exchanges! Becky's taking applications if you're interested [now closed because she got so many emails].

I'm almost finished the next installment of Damier. Pics soon!

The tooth: Logan has a tooth! It has broken the skin and is very visible. Too bad I can't get a photo of it.

Matt's weather station. Matt put up the weather station I bought him for his birthday in February. He had to install a 12-foot post, which is why it took so long. It's pretty neat. I'll have to take some pics of it.

Cake!: I have another cake to make--a red, white, and blue cake for a 12-year-old's birthday this Sunday. I have it all planned. I sure hope it works!

Rose Quilt square 7

Here's the next installment of Chatelaine's Rose Quilt. The piece is huge, so it's hard to get a good picture of it. Next up is this month's part of Damier.

Baby update at 8.5 months: Logan is about to break out his first tooth; it's very close to the surface. His initial bout of upset, fever, and not sleeping from teething seems to be over, except for the not sleeping at night part. He's also creeping across the floor now. He hasn't quite figure out how to get up on all fours and move. He can get up on all fours just fine, but then he seems to be at a loss. He's also learned how to blow spit bubbles. Here's a strange bit: There's a commercial (Gamestop, I believe) that has a video game monster talking. Logan has cried every time he's seen the commercial. The sound doesn't bother him, but apparently the sight does. Poor guy.

Dinosaur cake

I made this cake for the nanny's son's birthday. I am rather pleased with it, though I see the flaws (the icing is saggy in some spots).

As for my stitching, I'm almost finished my square of Rose Quilt, so a pic will be coming soon. I'm also working on my piece for the biscornu exchange. So little time for stitching lately.

Abi asked if I have any tips on making a companion cube cake. The one I showed a while back came from the grocery store and was pretty pathetic. I have plans to make one myself, but it will be fairly elaborate.

Carol asked how I can make all these cakes while being on South Beach. Well, after I didn't lose any weight the second week, I got very discouraged and depressed. And of course went off the diet. I'm trying to be good now but having limited success.

Portal cake

The cake is not a lie!

OK, you have to know the computer game Portal to get that. I made this cake for Matt and his friends. I discovered that I like cake mix cake better, but it's really too flimsy to be decorating. The thing nearly fell apart when I moved it. So scratch it is!

Jo asked if I've gotten my stitching mojo back. I didn't lose it completely, but cakes have been taking more of my attention lately. I just don't have the time to stitch, but I work it in here and there. Oh, and I've been playing City of Heroes more. There's a new archetype that I've been spending my time on.

Speaking of stitching, I had to throw away my Daylight magnifier. I was getting black powder coming out of the gooseneck again. The clamp also cracked. So now I've resigned myself to a smaller magnifier that hopefully won't have the same problem with corrosion or whatever it is. That stuff is very scary when you're working on a huge, expensive piece like Rose Quilt that can't be washed.

Four Fat Friends HD

Here's Four Fat Friends by Drawn Thread. I stitched it over one on beige evenweave. The finishing was remarkably easy--just lots of glue!

Incidentally, this is the Altoids tin I got from Carol in an exchange--minus the chocolates!

Received my Magic/Fantasy Exchange pieces

This came in from Lisa. Beautiful, huh? I love griffons (probably my favorite fantasy animal, close to the hippocampus), and this one is from Teresa Wentzler's Fantasy Sampler. Lisa made it into a needlebook. I don't know how she got such a neat piped edge on it. The fob is from TW's Castle Sampler. The other side is the sun. I've stitched both of these TWs, but the finishing on these two pieces is outstanding. And of course the extras...blue is my favorite color, and purple is a close second, so these three skeins are pleasing to my eye. I'll have to find something to stitch with them. Maybe a biscornu for the upcoming exchange on the SBEBB?

Car cake and Italian cream cake

I made these two cakes this weekend for a cousin's birthday. He turned eight. It was a lot harder than I thought and took all weekend to make two cakes. Whew! I hope I get faster with practice.

Stitching: I started Four Fat Friends by Drawn Thread, over one, for the Monthly Finishing Challenge, which is a tin topper this month. I've almost finished the outer border for my next square of Rose Quilt, but I haven't had much time to work on it.

Chiropractor: The pain finally brought me to the chiropractor. The x-rays show that my tailbone is out of alignment, probably from when I was compensating for the big baby belly. I'm going several times a week, so hopefully we can get this fixed up soon. I'm staggering around like an old woman.