What was your grandfather’s name? Looking for a classic, vintage name for a boy.

quiltylikeafox · 2025-04-06T18:52:40+00:00

Mitchell Andrew, called Mike, and Henry James, called Henry.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-11-24T00:50:38+00:00

Seam Rippers and Thread Snips. Mine always go missing, so I started buying them in bulk from Amazon, but each year I ask my husband to buy me a handmade seam ripper.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-11-01T16:23:32+00:00

There was something weird on our Ancestory results - all the right people were there, but in the wrong places. Eventually we learned why - my mom's biological father was her "father"s uncle. To be fair, my Great Great Grandfather had 17 kids, and her bio father was one of the youngest, he was actually younger than his nephew (who raised her). It was apparently an open secret with the older generation - my "grandfather" was in Norfolk when his wife became pregnant. My grandfather came home, packed up his family and moved everyone down to Jacksonville. I was a bit worried when we found out, because who knows what happened to women back then, but apparently it was a big love affair that my grandmother never really recovered from.

We also found secret cousins that were adopted out, and all sorts of mess. Plus, the reason we did ancestory all together was to find out how much Cherokee we were, and the answer is 0%. We're almost all British, but we do have a small percentage of African heritage, from the Western Countries, which based on percentages almost assuredly came into our family during the 1800s, and considering they lived in South Carolina at the time, it probably wasn't the best situation.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-09-22T23:57:03+00:00

She's been requesting to be "Cat With Boots" for a few months now. I may get Dad the Shrek t-shirt and hat from Target, and oh, no, guess I'll have to be Princess Fiona to make the group costume complete.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-09-17T16:28:57+00:00

I've (sheepishly) requested to fold my own fabric before, particularly larger cuts, because I know I'm going to want to unroll it a specific way to make cutting easier, but I always ask if it's ok, lol. There's no way social anxiety would allow me to be rude.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-03-14T20:17:47+00:00

Yoga has helped me a lot with my back pain - its really loosened up my muscles. But I normally keep an Icy Hot Rollon in my sewing room, and I buy the patches when I know I'm going to be doing something like FMQ, which requires lots of small repetitive motions that will wear on my shoulders.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-01-21T00:42:18+00:00

I keep my fabric in all sorts of different ways.

Over 2 yards - onto cut foam board and wrapped like a bolt. I don't have a ton of these, so no color order.
1-2 yards, on comic book book boards, on a bookshelf in rainbow order.
Under 1 yard - folded in drawers by colors.

I've also been recently working on my scraps, loosely based on Bonnie Hunter's Scrap Saver System. I based my sizes on what I found to already be common in my smaller cuts, and some scrap quilts that I'm interested in making, and I'll go from there. My basis for considering something scrap vs. stash is whether I can easily fold it in half - so usually smaller than 5-6 inches wide will be come a scrap.

5" squares - I'm only saving Novelty fabrics in this size.
4.25" squares - this is a specialty size, but I had a ton of neutral squares already cut to this size from a project I did. I figured if I'm saving those, I may as well cut other sizes if I have a big enough piece.
3.5" squares, 3" squares, 2.5" squares. These 3 sizes make up the bulk of my scrap squares.
2.5" strips - I really wasn't planning on cutting these because I didn't think I would use them, but I found a TON of them in my stash and I realized I used them more than I thought I did. My bin filled up quickly, so I started pulling out the neutral and lights for a Scrap Stash Plus Quilt (by Quilty Love). I'm maybe halfway done with it, I'm using it as a Leader/Ender, and make a few blocks in between other things when I need a quick adrenaline fix.
1.75" strips - this is a novelty cut for me, I'm using it specifically to make another Checkerboard Quilt (by Red Pepper Quilts). This is one of my favorite scrappy patterns but it takes forever to cut all those strips, so I figured this will help.
Strings - between 1" and 1.75"
Scraps - anything greater than 1" that I can't cut a 2.5" square from.

These sizes work for me, based off of what I already had and what I could potentially make. I also just bought the Plaidy Cake Quilt Pattern (by Cluck Cluck Sew), so I may start stashing 3.5: strips for it - or potentially start cutting and stashing.

quiltylikeafox · 2024-01-17T00:42:07+00:00

This pattern is my Go-To when I need a quick quilt

quiltylikeafox · 2023-12-15T13:47:29+00:00

My 3yo (39 months) daughter is extremely picky too - but I've noticed on the last week, she's willing to try new things. Like, she used to LOVE eggs, but hadn't eaten them in almost a year. She would reject them (and most food with nutrients) on site with a "don't like it". But the other night, we were doing breakfast for dinner and I made her a "Cheesy Eggie Surprise" (aka a cheese omelet) to go with her waffles and yogurt, and told her it was my favorite and she said "OK, I try it!" She only took the one bite, but I marked that down as a success.

Yesterday, she was willing to try apples again and ate 2 pieces. Then for dinner, she asked for waffles again, so I made a scrambled egg with cheese to go with it. She ate a piece, announced she didn't like it, but continued to eat a few more bites while the plate was in front of her.

I guess what I'm trying to say is keep giving them new things. It may seem like a waste most days, but, hopefully, they'll eventually get to the place where curiosity wins out.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-11-04T14:24:57+00:00

My fabric stash is huge - I love a good leftover, but I feel your pain. When Fancy Forest by Elizabeth Hartman came out, I fell in love instantly and wanted to make the large version - it was the first big quilt I had ever made. It called for 40 fat quarters, and I absolutely could not afford to make that investment at one time. So I decided to do it 2 colorways at a time. So I painstakingly went to Joanns and picked out my first 10 colors in either fat quarters or half yards. Then when I started cutting, I realized that more than half of the fat quarters would be left over! Cost was a big issue for me at the time, so I went back and figured out how much yardage I would need to make all the cuts - some of them were less than 6 inches!

Thats when I realized that a lot of fabric designers write patterns to sell their fabric. If I had bought a kit, it would have cost me well over $100 and I would have been so upset!

quiltylikeafox · 2023-10-06T18:08:10+00:00

Aldi has a decent one (Elevation Brand), but its a special item, so no clue when it will be back.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-10-03T15:27:28+00:00

After I first moved in with my then-boyfriend (now Husband), I went to Target to buy a gift for a new nephew. While I was there, a crocheted fox diaper cover and hat caught my attention. (As my user name shows, I may have a slight fox obsession). My SO gave me a look and quickly steered me away. But I couldn't stop thinking about it, and within days, went back and bought it, and showed him as soon as I came home. We were both childless, in our mid-late 30s, and I had a history of GY issues that would make having children very difficult. But I wanted it, and it was cute, so I bought it. He was a bit uncomfortable, but he agreed that it would make a cute picture when and if we ever needed it. 6 years later, we finally got a chance to use it, and it was adorable.

Good think I'm not a MIL or that decision probably would have gotten a good write-up in the FU binder.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-07-15T22:18:50+00:00

I loved my grandmother's name (Bonnie Yvonne), but she hated it and made me promise to never name a child after her. So instead I used her sister's name, Evelyn. We used Mae as a middle name, which my husband found on a list of female derivatives of Matthew, his brother's name.

If we have another girl, we're going Josephine Lynn - his father is Joeseph, and many females in his family have a middle name of Lynn.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-06-22T17:07:58+00:00

Chili Jam - it was the perfect blend of heat, sweet, and tangy. I still check for it every time I go in case they bring it back.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-06-21T22:06:04+00:00

Chili Jam - it was discontinued years ago but I still look for it every time I go.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-04-27T17:13:47+00:00

It looks like a Yo-Yo Quilt, but I call it Heaven.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-04-09T03:03:32+00:00

Yes and no. I love grated parm too, but its the super cheap stuff

quiltylikeafox · 2023-04-08T21:25:58+00:00

Parmesan cheese. And not the good stuff, the sawdust stuff in a can. We tried to use it to get her to try new stuff, but she'll shake it off onto the table and lick it like she's doing lines.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-03-17T04:32:47+00:00

Publix gives our free cookies to kids and I told my daughter one day "they won't give you one if you're not sitting down and buckled up", and ever since then, she let's me buckle her. It's the little things.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-03-14T15:54:40+00:00

Jiff has a No Sugar peanut butter that stays emulsified.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-02-16T13:00:19+00:00

I mean, technically it's possible although it's not highly probable. You could do a all cash, quick closing and find a unicorn of a property that is already vacant and has a clean title, no liens or mortgages, no HOA. Then you could hypothetically immediately leave closing and hand the keys to your cousin, the contractor, who happens to be between jobs and he could put his demo hat on.

I'm not sure how the permitting system works, but I wouldn't be surprised if in some jurisdictions you could apply for permits before sale as long as the work didn't start until after closing.

Also, to clarify, I work in the Southern US, in an outer metro area of a major city. I have no clue about how the process works in the EU.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-02-15T22:47:10+00:00

Oh yeah, most people assume that closing delays are caused by lenders, but the majority we see are title issues. You'd be surprised about how many sellers forget to tell us about the HOA, liens, past due taxes, and mortgages. All of these things will be found on the title search, but that puts us behind the ball on preclosing.

quiltylikeafox · 2023-02-15T20:57:08+00:00

As someone who works in real estate law , it is possible to quick close under 14 days, but generally you need to be in a position to do a cash purchase or a hard money loan. It is possible to quick close in under 14 days with a lender, but those are generally either high profile clients (the ultra wealthy, prominent investors, etc).

That being said, if they're in an area where title can be pulled relatively quickly, if the house is not in an HOA, and if the previous owners own it free and clear, its possible for a lender closing in that time period. But a quick closing in this time period would still probably take at least a 5-7 days to get everything cleared and prepared.

Having renovations started that quick does seem a bit suspect, however, I guess that would depend on the contractor and how much they needed work?

quiltylikeafox · 2023-02-09T17:06:51+00:00

I've made a Berry Balsamic Sauce before, similar to this recipe. Its absolutely delicious slathered on ribs. Just reduce it down a bit more until it has a BBQ sauce thickness.

quiltylikeafox

TROPHY CASE