Princess Zelda Quilt

I first started working on the template for this quilt in March of last year and posted the final template a couple months later, complete with measurements.  One year later, it's finally finished.  I wanted to try something new with this quilt by including a flower block pattern in each of the four corners of the quilt, but soon realized that my skills were not up to that level.  Unfortunately, I cut the fabric for the flower blocks before I came to that conclusion, so that cost me some time.

The abandonment of the flowers turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  I still wanted something different in the quilt, so it wouldn't just be an image of Zelda.  The image of the Triforce quickly came to mind.  For those who don't know, the Triforce is the ultimate source of power in the Zelda series and serves as the balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom and Courage.  After thinking about it, how could I not include it in Emilie's quilt?

Integrating triangles into the quilt posed it's own set of challenges, but I figured it out and I think it looks really nice.  I also love the colors in this quilt, very bright and cheerful.  Emilie is happy with her new quilt, too, and she has slept with it every night since I finished it for her.

Wii U

We are big Nintendo fans in our house.  I have owned every Nintendo console since the original NES, and got into the handheld scene starting with the Gameboy Advance.  We mainly stick to first party Nintendo games, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and the like.  To me, Nintendo makes games the way they were meant to be enjoyed.

We have had a Wii since the second week it was available in 2006.  I would have had it the day it was released, but there were people camping outside stores to get one.  While I am a fan, I am not that die hard.  It would be an understatement to say our Wii has had a lot of use.  Ari has turned into quite a little gamer, and there have been plenty of games to keep us busy over the years.

After nearly five years, our Wii is beginning to show some signs of wear.  Sometimes it takes a few tries before it reads a game disc, and when it does, the fan inside isn't as quiet as it used to be, to say the least.  That's why I was so excited when Nintendo announced it's new console, Wii U, at E3 this year.  With a release date sometime in 2012, I just need our Wii to make it another year.

Princess Zelda Quilt Template

I have finished the design and purchased the fabric for Emilie's princess quilt.  I am stepping out of my comfort zone a little bit by adding some flower blocks to the front of the quilt.  The directions for constructing the flower blocks can be found here.  Otherwise, it is the standard square procedure I have used many times in the past.

For Zelda, I am using her likeness from the "Oracle of Ages" and "Oracle of Seasons" video games.  I did not stay true to her original colors as I wanted to have a bit of variation.  Overall, I really like the way the design turned out and I can't wait to see it come together in fabric.

As for the template itself, I want to show how I go about designing my quilts.  I use Microsoft Excel and just fill in the cells with the colors I want them to be.  Once the design is complete, I divide the size of the quilt by the number of squares in the row to see how big the squares need to be.  For this quilt, I want it to be 4 1/2 feet wide, or 54 inches.  So, I divide 54 by 24 and I get 2.25.  I add a half inch to account for the overlap from sewing the fabric together, and I know I need to cut 2.75 inch squares.  The length of the quilt will be 6 ft.

To determine the amount of each color of fabric, I first add up how many squares of each color I will need.  I then determine how many 2.75 inch squares I can expect to get out of a yard of fabric.  36 divided by 2.75 is 13.09, which I rounded down to 12 to account for cutting errors.  Most fabric widths are in the 40 to 44 inch range, so I then divide 40 by 2.75 just to be safe, and I get 14.  12 x 14 is 168, so I can expect to get 168 squares for each yard of fabric.

Finally, I divide the number of squares of each color by 168 to determine how much of each color to purchase.  As you can see from the picture above, I don't need very much of some of the colors, and luckily, I already have some white on hand from previous projects.

Phew, that's a lot of math.  I'm glad I wrote it out, though, so now I have a reference for if I forget how to do it in the future.  It really is easy, though, and the square patterns to design from Nintendo characters are practically endless.  Yay!  Plus, by using the method above, you can make the quilt any size you'd like.  I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress.

The Legend of Zelda Link quilt

Why stop at Mario? There are so many other 8 bit Nintendo characters out there just waiting to be turned into a quilt!  Link, from The Legend of Zelda, is almost as iconic as Mario, and a perfect character to be made into a quilt.  I gave this quilt as a Christmas present, so I didn't do any progress posts in order to keep it a secret. 

These 8 bit character quilts are easy to design, though.  I just do a Google image search for the character I am looking for, then insert the picture into an Excel spreadsheet and color in the squares of the spreadsheet to match the pattern of the character.  From there it is simple to calculate the size of the squares to make the quilt as big or as little as you like. 

The Link quilt couldn't have turned out better, and I was delighted to give it as a gift.  Even though a small part of me wanted to keep it.  One can't have too many quilts, right??

Super Mario Galaxy 2...May 23rd!

Mark your calendars!  The sequel to arguably the best game on the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, will be hitting the shelves on May 23rd.  One month from today, in fact.

I just want to spread the word.  It's not like I'm excited or anything...

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YOSHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the trailer:

Oh, Mario, you've come a long way since 1985.

Hanafuda Cards

I was referred to Club Nintendo by a fellow co-worker who shares my passion for gaming. She told me about the site and how they have some exclusive Nintendo merchandise available. I was intrigued, so I checked it out one evening. In order to participate, I had to join the club, and then register my games in order to accumulate 'coins'; I could then redeem the 'coins' for Nintendo merchandise.


I decided to join Club Nintendo and I started registering all my Wii and DS games. It took me a while since I had accumulated a lot of games over the past four years or so. I couldn't just type in the registration code either; I had to answer several questions about the game as well.  Once I registered all my games, I looked to see what product I wanted to purchase with my 'coins'. One item jumped out at me right away, the Hanafuda Cards.


I remembered reading a long time ago how Nintendo started out as a card company in the late 1800's. I didn't know what kind of cards they made, but I thought it was interesting that the company started so long ago. Seeing these Hanafuda Cards, I knew I wanted them; I could a piece of Nintendo history! So, I ordered the cards and anxiously waited for them to arrive in the mail.


The cards came rather quickly, and when I opened the box, I was surprised how small they were. They came in a protective case with a picture of Mario on it. There are 48 Hanafuda cards in the set, and they measure 2.2 x 1.25 inches each. Some of them have Nintendo themed artwork, such as Mario and Yoshi, while others have floral designs. The cards are quite nice, actually.


The card set also came with instructions on how to play the two player game "Koi-Koi." I haven't yet played the game. I read the instructions and could not follow them whatsoever. But hey, at least I have the cards, if only for aesthetic purposes. I also still have a balance of 'coins' on Club Nintendo, so more Nintendo goodies may be coming my way soon!

Time for a Mario quilt?

I've been fighting the desire to make another quilt for myself, but I think now is the time to get started. Inspiration calls, and who am I not to listen? Don't get me wrong, I still love my R.E.M. quilt, I just want to make another. I would like to make a smaller quilt this time since my R.E.M. quilt is the size of a queen bed comforter. Inspiration struck when I was looking for ideas for Ari's Mario bedroom. I stumbled upon this pattern:

Ah-ha! A Mario quilt! How cool. I looked at Google images to see what other people have done, and there were quite a few Mario quilts out there. This has been in the back of my mind for some time and I am ready to get the ball rolling on it.

With Super Mario Bros. for the NES being an 8 bit video game, all the images are made with the combination of distinguishable different colored squares. Since quilting is basically cutting squares of fabric and sewing them together, I can use game images as a reference to do any design that I want. All I have to do is sew the different colored squares together to get the image that I am looking for. Easy, right?

I am still thinking about the different designs I can do, and narrowing them down will be a challenge. I don't know if I want to do one big Mario, or incorporate other characters or objects. The sky is the limit, it just depends on how many squares I want to cut. When looking for ideas, I came across this cross-stitch pattern:


As you can see, this design is just made up of little squares as well, so I could make it into a quilt. I really liked this design until I got to counting all the squares I would need. I did some math and found that I would need to cut 30,000 individual squares to complete the front of the quilt. A little bit more than I was bargaining for. Plus, it would be 200 squares wide, and 150 squares
tall. So, even if I cut 1/2 inch squares, it would still be as big as my R.E.M. quilt. In other words, not gonna happen.

So, my search continues for a pattern, and I'll most likely come up with one on my own. I'm looking forward to this new endeavor, though, and will post updates as my new project continues.

Super Mario curtain rods

I decided to make curtains for Ari's Mario room, and inspiration struck as I was looking at his curtain rods. Why not be a little inventive with those as well? The ends of his curtain rods just screwed off, so it got me thinking about what Super Mario item I could screw on. I thought of using the plastic figurines, but that could get expensive. Then, I remembered a little tin Super Mario star filled with candy that we put in Ari's stocking.

I retrieved the star and began examining it in order to determine how I could make it work on the curtain rod. I figured I could just drill a hole in the side of it and screw it on the curtain rod. I was quite pleased with the prospect. I consulted with Valerie and she gave me the go ahead to purchase more star tins to complete my project. Ari and I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond since that is where we purchased the star tin.

When we got to the store, we discovered they no longer had any of the star tins in stock. Bummer. However, they did have tin Super Mario item blocks filled with 'coin' candies. How clever. I realized that these would look even better than the stars, and promptly purchased five of the item block candy tins. I only needed four, but purchased a fifth just in case I ruined one. As Ari talked up the cashier regarding her Mario skills, I explained to her my project. Leaving that poor cashier confused and bewildered, we then headed home.

I took all the candy out of the tins, and headed to the basement to start drilling holes in them. To my surprise, the project was completed in no time and was actually much easier than I was anticipating. The end result was quite pleasing as well. I don't think they could have turned out any better, and I got the satisfaction of making them myself. It's fun where a little ingenuity can take you. The item block curtain rods were complete, now on to making the curtains...

Twirl-Whirl

The ceiling fan in Ari's room, complete with Propeller suit yellow Toad, and a propeller mushroom power up; or as Ari likes to call it, "twirl-whirl."

We thought it would be fitting to put these images on the ceiling fan blades to give them a flying effect.

More Mario!?

He's an addict. He's addicted to Mario. No, I'm not referring to myself, though Valerie may disagree. But I know how Ari feels. I mean, there's not a whole lot to do to keep yourself entertained when it's 20 degrees outside. Super Mario Bros. is fun, and it can keep a person entertained for hours, even playing the same level over and over again, as I've recently had to experience (World 1-3, anybody?).

But, as parents, we have to draw a line somewhere. We can't let the boy spend his whole day playing Nintendo, even if I'm playing with him. I can't believe I just said that. There are times, though, when it's all he talks about and all he wants to do. So, standing firm, and not buckling under the constant whining, I got a little creative.

We brought Mario into the real world, and used our imaginations to create our own levels. Using the Mario Bros. figurines we already had on hand, we pretended that the game came to life. I made a Bowser flag to symbolize the end of the level (it even slides down the pole) and we used some chocolate gold coins to represent the three star coins that are scattered throughout each level. I would hide the three coins around the house and Ari would have to find them before he could reach the flag, dispatching of goombas and koopa troopas along the way.

The game was an instant success, and Ari and I spent hours playing. He even created the elusive level ten that he still thinks might magically appear in the real game. There was even an extra element that we weren't expecting; keeping the mysterious beagle monster from finding and devouring the chocolate coins before we do. We've since had to abandon the chocolate coin in lieu of some plastic ones; it seems we were no match for the mysterious beagle monster, and the mommy monster wouldn't let us use them anymore.

In the end, everyone gets what they wanted. Ari gets his Mario fix, and Valerie and I don't feel like horrible parents as we watch our little boy play his life away on the Nintendo. Ari still gets to play the real thing every once in a while, but it sure is nice to have another option. It doesn't hurt that it's a lot of fun, too.

Life in the Mushroom Kingdom

Ari had another Mario themed birthday party this year, and we stepped it up in the decoration department. We ordered some Super Mario Bros. wall clings to put on the wall for the party, with plans to then move them into his bedroom because he wants a Mario room. The clings are transferable, but we thought it would be better to only move them once, so Valerie granted me permission to leave them up in the living room until we get Ari's room painted; which we are planning to do this weekend. So, for the past couple of weeks, I like to think I have had a glimpse of what life would be like if I lived in the mushroom kingdom.

With koopa troopas walking across the end table.

Coins above my head.

An item block ready to be hit, and a one-up gliding across some blocks.

All the while being looked down on by the residents, with special guest, Donkey Kong.

If I look hard enough, there are some goombas also peeking out here and there, but they are notorious for not wanting their picture taken.

It's been a fun couple of weeks with our temporary decor, but I'm so excited about how Ari's room will look when we get everything set up in there. Stay tuned...

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - World 8-7

One of the best Super Mario Bros. levels I have ever had the pleasure of playing, and it was even better with four players. What a blast!

Wuhu Island Dilemma

Always wanting to have the latest greatest Nintendo developed video game, it was a no-brainer to purchase Wii Sports Resort a couple months ago. Wii Sports Resort is the follow-up to Wii Sports and includes many new games for the whole family to enjoy. The sequel comes with the new the Wii MotionPlus accessory that augments the Wii Remote's capability to track real motion, making user input incredibly accurate and precise. These new controls help revamp classic events like Golf and Bowling; and make new ones such as Archery, Table Tennis, and Frisbee Golf possible.

The game is a blast and Ari has become rather accomplished at it. He is quite the competitor and it is all I can do to beat him in a 3 hole match of Frisbee Golf. Don't even get me started on Fencing; I simply can't beat him. His favorite game though, is the island fly-over. All the events take place on Wuhu Island and in the Island Flyover you're able to fly freely over the island for five minutes, exploring Wuhu Island and its environs. The main point of the flyover is to collect i Points, which hover above certain points of interest on the island. You'll also be able to shoot balloons once you unlock them. There are eighty i Points in all and Ari can tell you where most of them are.

Ari has been talking about Christmas and his birthday a lot lately; every time he sees something he wants at a store, he says he wants it for Christmas. The other day he told me that he wanted a Wii Sports Resort game for Christmas. When I told him we already had the only Wii Sports Resort game available, he proceeded to tell me specifically what he was talking about. He wants an actual island that we can set up in the living room, and he wants his own little plane that he can fly around with his hands to collect the i points.

I was taken aback by the sincerity and innocence of his request. Why wouldn't there be an actual island for purchase? He has a Mario Kart track, Toy Story toys, Thomas train tracks, and countless Cars cars, it's only common sense for there to be a Wuhu Island set out there somewhere. I want more than anything for Ari to have an actual Wuhu Island play set for Christmas, but I have no idea how to pull it off. I know what he wants doesn't exist and I have no modeling experience whatsoever. It's not that I think he has to get everything he wants for Christmas either; I just think it would be so cool to have something like this. Unfortunately, this may have to be a Christmas wish that goes unfulfilled, but I haven't given up yet...

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

I know there only a small percentage of you who look at my blog like to play Nintendo (hi Ari). But I just couldn't contain my excitement for this new game and I had to share.



New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be released this Christmas. This game is a throwback to the style of the original Super Mario Bros. and allows four players to play the game together for the first time! I know one thing that will be on my Christmas list the year.

Friday Night Frenzy

We took a detour from our normal Friday night get-togethers at my house and went over to my Mom & Marty's because Aunt Sue was in town. It was great to see her and everyone else. We ordered Pizza King pizzas, played Wii Sports and had a jolly ol' time. Plus, last night was Michael's birthday so Marty bought him a Pizza King shirt when we went to pick up the pizza's. Needless to say, Michael loved it.

It was fun to see Uncle Lee play tennis on the Wii, he did really well. We had a mini-tournament, which was a blast, and my mom kept challenging me to another match. It was a raucous event, indeed. Ari finally got the hang of golf and was driving and putting the ball like a pro. The look on his face was priceless the first time he made a putt. That's just what we need, another video game for him to play. Oh, well.

Ari and Emilie started to "crash" about 8:30, which is when we heard a knock on the door. I opened the door and it was Katie! Seeing her revived Ari for a few minutes, but Emilie was too far gone, so we had to leave. As Valerie and I were loading the kids into the car, Aunt Mare, Uncle Dave, and Tim pulled into the court. We were leaving just as the party was really heating up! I was bummed. But, it was a wonderful evening full of food, family, and fun. And, thanks for the pizza's Mom & Marty!