So my DH is about to get his wings in a couple of months and it's tradition for the wife to make a winging banner, proclaiming to the world that we're finally finished and what he selected to fly. I want to make a really cool one with a beautiful set of navy wings on it and while felt would definitely be the easiest way to go, I thought it would be really cool to make a quilted banner. I'm a beginner quilter. I've only done basic block quilts before and not in a long time, so I'm unsure how to go about planning to sew such unusual shapes in a quilt. If anyone has any good resources for art quilt type quilting, I would greatly appreciate it.

These are the wings I'm wanting to use. They're pretty simple as far as navy wings go, but the outline is pretty curvy and complex.
http://www.heligraphx.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Wings/NavyWings.jpg

This is what I made for Valentine's Day. I've been sick with the flu lately so it's a low key holiday this year. My fiance always liked madeleines, so I bought a madeleine pan and baked a batch for the guy. I wrapped them in some red tulle that I had and put a handmade card on top.

For some reason all my posts lately have been flagged. I'm assuming because I keep sending people to my blog, but I thought I've been doing it according to the rules. All the specifics are on my blog just because I've been too lazy to do everything twice, but let me know if I need to do more. Here's the link to the madeleine recipe on my blog:
http://megshandmadelife.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-my-sweetheart.html

Everyone loves eating cookie dough, but with the questionable eggs on the market lately, who wants to risk salmonella for a delicious eggbeater paddle full of cookie dough. So now you can make cookie dough without eggs. These make perfect truffles if you dip them in chocolate, or just eat them as is.

Here's the link to the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Frozen-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Dough-Balls/Detail.aspx

More info at my blog: http://megshandmadelife.blogspot.com/2011/02/so-its-pretty-much-given-that-everyone.html#more

I have a Brother sewing machine that needed to be serviced desperately. It wasn't until my mom reminded me that I'm an engineer that I realized I could do it myself. So I gathered my materials, took off the panels and cleaned and oiled the inside. I've yet to test it out on power, but it all moves a little easier already. There's more information and pictures of my adventure on my blog.

I've decided to knit my first sweater. Any and all advice on how to make it as enjoyable of a process is welcome.

More details on my blog: http://megshandmadelife.blogspot.com

I had an old suede journal of which I loved but never used, so I turned it into a case for my new Kindle.

While I was home I did my annual rustling through boxes of my old stuff to determine which things I want to gradually relieve my parents of. During this adventure I found a beautiful old journal that I forgot that I had. It only had a few entries in it, but I never consistently write things down on paper. But the etched suede cover was too pretty to just throw away, So I brought it home with me, figuring that at the very least I could make it into a cute clutch or something.

Then I got a Kindle for my birthday from my fiance and in-laws, and the perfect project was born. The beautiful journal cover would become a case to protect my new Kindle. So with the gift certificate to Joann's that I had also gotten for my birthday I bought my supplies: fabric, a sheet of foam, a sheet of hard plastic, some elastic, and my new handy dandy hot glue gun.

First I cut everything to size so that it would fit inside the cover as well as properly secure my Kindle. Then, I basically used my glue gun to upholster the plastic with a layer of foam and the fabric that I chose. That fabric is a pretty cream colored satin that I found in the remnant pile. I also cut out a layer to put behind the foam boards to provide a finishing touch. After upholstering the plastic I attached the elastic straps to hold the Kindle in place and keep the case closed. Then the boards were hot glued to the book cover and that is that.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. The colors work well together and all in all I think that it will both protect my new toy and look pretty in the process.

More info and a brief explanation of how I did it on my blog:

http://megshandmadelife.blogspot.com/2011/01/whats-old-is-new-again.html

Thank you to jinn for the inspiration: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=365710.0;topicseen

So I recently started an herb garden and one of the things I planted was some mint. Specifically peppermint. Now that the mint is thriving and taking over the planter, I need to find more things to do with it. I wanted to use it to make mint extract, but can't seem to find any solid tutorials or how-to guides on the topic. Most mint recipes call for mint extract and not the actual mint leaves themselves. Other suggestions for recipes involving mint are welcome.

Help! A girl can only drink so many mojitos!

So the Fiance collects patches and has a lot of name tags for his flight suits and we've been looking for a way to display them while still making them accessible for him to wear on his uniform. So we came up with the idea of upholstering a picture frame with felt so that the velcro backed patches will stick. Here's the result:




Fiance Modeling Patch Collection


Action Shot!

So, my boyfriend just brought me a beautiful pearl from his trip to Tahiti. It's not a bead, but a true Tahitian pearl... And I have no idea what to do with it. I want to make either a bracelet or ring, but I'm extremely nervous about damaging or losing the pearl. Any ideas?

I'm moving into a house this August instead of a dorm, so I have my own room. I'm planning on making a jewelry display with a nice frame with stretched fabric to put the earrings in, but I'm just wondering what kind of fabric to use so that when I take the earrings out they don't leave holes. I've seen people using cotton, but I would think that it would leave holes. Any suggestions?