Seven New Things
I was nominated for the Beautiful Blogger award by Jessica at Running With Scissors over a month ago and I am just now getting to it. (Sorry Jessica!) She is so talented in so many areas. She paints, she makes the most adorable little animal backpacks (seriously, you’ll want to check out that link) and she made the awesomest nursing shirt I’ve ever seen. Seriously. It’s cute and functional and doesn’t look frumpy/matronly at all! Plus she has a sweet little tutorial for a baby dress, and another for a REALLY great bag (big enough for a diaper bag, or a beach bag or a gym bag or whatever). And as if that wasn’t enough, I am pretty sure that she is the queen of freezer paper stenciling. The Queen.
And, as if I didn’t think she was totally awesome after all that, I found out that her husband and I are something like 4th cousins. Small world, no? The correct answer is Yes. Blogging makes the world so small, in so many wonderful ways!
7 Interesting Things About Me.
[ image from DottyRal’s shop. She has the cutest pincushions ever. ]
1. I just can’t get myself to like scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs. I will only eat fried eggs or omelets. And only omelets if someone else does the cooking. I’ll never make one for myself.
[ image ]
2. I absolutely love old homes, particularly the Sears Catalog homes. I have been drawing house plans on graph paper since before I can remember and as a child I’d spend my public library time down in the adult section checking out books on houseplans. I am always sad when an old home gets torn down. I feel like they are old friends. I will go out of my way to drive past my favorites. When I can’t sleep I start cleaning up and renovating old homes in my mind. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
[ image ]
3. I love to cook, absolutely LOVE to cook. But I hate doing dishes more than nearly anything. Which means that when I am cooking my kitchen never looks like this. I am messy. I get stuff everywhere, floors countertops, stovetops, inside the drawers (why does this happen???) and all over myself. My aprons (both of them) go in the wash every week. I am so grateful that Scott puts up with this awful habit of mine. He more than puts up with it, he is the reason the health department doesnt’ shut down my kitchen after each meal. He does all the dishes at our house, all of the time.
[image ]
4. I love having sets of things in ever color. I have two HUGE sets of colored pencils, about 100 colors of craft paint, yarn, embroidery floss, markers by the bucketload, and a neat little stack of fabric and felt. It must be something about all the possibilities that color can provide. When I see a big long row of colored pencils my mind starts to churn and I start forming all these ideas up in there.
Also- on a related note…
[ image ]
I have about 10 boxes of brand new crayons. And I still buy new one’s every September. I absolutely LOVE new crayons.
[ image ]
5. Thirteen has always been my favorite number and I think it’s the luckiest of the bunch.
[ image ]
6. My side of the closet is arranged by color. If something is out of order it is impossible for me to continue doing whatever it is I am doing. I know. It’s weird. But I don’t force my habit on the other side of the closet. So we’re good.
[ image by incurable_hippie on flickr ]
7. I love blank notebooks. I have stacks of them, and I have always been wary about writing in them. Until my sister (who is the same way) told me that she flips it upside down and starts at the back. And since then I’ve been writing and scribbling away! Why this makes a difference? Dunno. But it does.
Happy 3.1415926535 Day
So today is Pi Day. I’ve never been a big math kind of person. I can do it, but I only enjoy it when I am trying to make up quilt patterns, and then I only work in 1/4″ increments. But a Pie day is something I can totally get behind.
[ image ]
I am a big fan of Pie. So to celebrate I made my great grandma’s strawberry pie. My mom makes the best pie in the world. And one of my new years resolutions was to learn how to make better pie. Particularly crusts, I want mine to be soft and flaky without being ugly. Today’s pie is soft and flaky, but the crust is a little ugly, not pretty like this one. My original plan was to make a pie every single week. But the no sugar resolution took precedence. But Pi day is as good an excuse as any to make Pie. Happy Pi/Pie Day!
A Little Happy Dance
[ image here ]
Do you know what this is a picture of? (which I borrowed from Art and Soul Retreats) I mean, besides a whole lot of awesome? This is my next vacation. I just bought plane tickets to go to the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November. My sweet cousin (who just started a quilting blog with loads of great information on it) lives just outside Houston, and she invited me to come and stay with her and hang out in this crowded mess for three days. And my heart skipped a few beats and I jumped up and down and found the best deal possible on plane tickets and snatched them up. And I am SOOOOOO excited. Yay! I am putting myself on a strict savings plan so I have a little wad of monies to spend here. And I am stuffing an extra duffel bag in my suitcase when I go I’ll probably need it. I am still doing the Happy Dance, I can’t wait for November!
That was my biggest exciting thing that happened this week. All other free time this week has been spent on the couch curled up with a seemingly endless amount of sewing to do. I found this Andover Fabrics My Girl Friday print (I think it’s called Alphabet Soup) last week and I knew just what I was going to do with it. It was just crying to have all those little letters hand quilted around. And it looks SOO cute. It’s just taking a lot of time, and hand sewing by your self can get a little boring or tedious, no matter how cute the alphabet is. Thank goodness for Netflix.
This quilt has a 44″ square of alphabet soup in the center, and then a 6 inch border of that cute stripey stripe. The back is green polkadot and the binding will be in yellow. It didn’t take very long at all to sew it together and sandwich the batting. (I used spray adhesive and then threw in a few safety pins for good measure. And it’s a good thing I did. I am just quilting it in my lap and there seems to be a lot of turning and twisting involved to go around all the curves and bends of those letters.) I am pretty sure it’s going to take me until TaxDay to finish quilting it. Part of me thinks that it’s an awful lot of work for a quilt to eat snacks on and learn letters, but I still don’t think there would have been a cuter way to do it. So I am still happy with my decision to do it this way. I am watching a lot of movies and I’ve been sewing all through naptime each day this week. I figure that since Tuesday I’ve probably put in about 20 hours. And I am almost 1/5 done (insert happy dance here). I have another little bit and I’ll have a 12″ swath (can you call it a swath if it seems kind of little? It was a lot of work, so I’m calling it a swath.) down one side. Each time Scott looks at it he says “That is so much work,” or “That is so big”, or “That is going to take forever.” But he always follows it up with “And it looks great, it really does look awesome.” And I agree! After I am done and it gets washed and gets a little crinkly and puckery it is going to be just the perfect place for animal crackers and water (No red juice on this. Ever.) and to learn our ABC’s.
Not a “finish” exactly, but I am linking to Amy’s Sew&Tell anyway.
My New Adventure
I have started a new adventure. And really, I didn’t think about it too much before taking the plunge. Last Saturday I bought some new fabric and for the first time in my life (I think) I immediately started working on my new project. Usually when I buy some little thing I have either A) Gone searching for just the perfect thing to make ____________. Or it’s B) I find something that is just too cute to go home without and so I pick it up because someday I might turn it into __________________. So the difference between A and B is that for A I know what I’m going to make. Like, say a new spring skirt which I have been trying to find the perfect fabric for. But most of my shopping falls under category B. I see it, love it, buy it. Figure out what to do with it later.
But Saturday was different. I was looking for A. And I didn’t find anything I liked. So I got B instead. Only this time I knew exactly what I was going to do with it! And on Monday during naptime I started it. Wow. It is all just happening so fast. I’m keeping the details under wraps for a little while, because I am sneaky like that. But, I will tell you the adventure part. I have officially begun my first real hand quilting project.
I’m not exactly sure what possessed me to try this now, but I am! And I am kind of loving it! Of course, I really wish that the whole thing looked more like this party going on to the left. So far it’s not looking like that. Do you see that lady on the center right side who is holding her baby in her lap? Nothing like that is going on over here. I am sewing during naptime and after bedtime. Yesterday I poked that little needle up and down for five hours. And I made very little progress. No big quilting party with lively music and a (presumably) large buffet of yummies in the kitchen. It’s just me all by myself.
This is more of what it looks like over here. Only she has a pretty cool hat. And she looks like she knows what she is doing. And see that quilt she’s working on? It kind of looks like she’s almost done. (Mine’s not even close to looking started, even though I’ve been sewing for hours and hours.) And hers will probably turn into a family heirloom and grace the beds of her progeny for ages to come. Or she’ll sell it to some Amish quilt-hungry rich person and the money will feed her family for a year. Or something. Not that I am complaining, because I know that when this is finished, it is going to be something I am proud of. Heck, I am already proud of it and it’s not even a week old yet! But it might take me a month to finish, which means that all other naptime projects are going on hold for a while. I’m off to go stick my fingers until my eyes are so tired I can’t see anymore. That kind of makes it sound awful, but I am kind of excited about it!
[click on images for sources]
Pretty in Pink
Such a cute springy dress, too bad it sold out two years ago.
I could totally cook in this kitchen,particularly of those cupcakes are included.
This chair is going on my to-do list!
I really think I may try and paint me a rug like this. I just can’t stop thinking about it!
I love this, and it would really perk up my sewing box!
I pretty much love everything by Irene Suchocki. I wish I had one in every room.
I have no words! Pretty much this is just plain awesome! Happy Tuesday.
[ click on individual images for photo credits ]
Recovering from the Weekend
[ image ]
Last week our little family went on a mini vacation (for work, kindof) to sunny St. George. It looked pretty much just like that, but those mountains in the background still had snow on them. It was beautiful! Scott had a conference down there to go to, and Creamie and I tagged along for some outlet shopping and catching up with an old friend. We had a great time minus Creampuff’s very determined new (read terrible) sleep schedule. You know how they get sometimes, and they just decide that falling asleep two hours later and waking up two hours earlier is just fine by them? We got home on Friday night, and finally she is back on track. Thankfully.
We got to do some serious catchup with my friend Rachel, and her little girl Sarah who just turned one. Creamie and Sarah had a great time playing, and Rachel and I had a great time talking sewing and babies and toys and everything else.
[ image ]
Saturday morning I went to a baby shower for an old friend at a very cute little cupcake bakery that sells delicious lemon curd cupcakes. I had one teensy little bite and decided I HAD to have another. After I ordered my little prize and she had wrapped it up in a cute little cupcake box I discovered that their cupcakes are only $2.40. EACH! Gulp Squared. (Gulp at the price, and also gulp and that delicious cupcake was gone.) I am totally in the wrong business. If I was getting paid $30 a dozen ($13 for the little mini’s), I could make the best cupcakes in the world! Ahem. Moving on…. but still, I’m seriously considering making a grundle of cupcakes in my easy bake oven.
After the shower I went on a little fabric shopping run. It is heaven to shop for fabric by one’s self. Creamie is darling and all, but I seem to spend most of my time picking up the bolts she has been carrying around. Yes, she carries the bolts. And she has good taste! I stopped by this store for the first time and it was heaven! Not only do they have a great selection of very cute stuff, they have fantastic helpful wonderful employees.
Remember this post? Remember AmySmart and how wonderful and amazing she is? (I totally remember) Well, not only did she save the Orange Henna day, she also happens to work at this little store one day a month. And she just happened to be there for me to run into in real life. I recognized her almost immediately and I was thrilled to meet her! We got to chat for a while and gush about fabric and such and it was just a happy happy day. I bought some new little bits for a new project which I’ll start working on today during naptime. I hope to have it done, or mostly done, by Friday for Sew&Tell. I love me a good new project!
[ I totally wish that this was at my house! ]
Now it’s Monday morning and we have almost recovered from the weekend. I’m ready to get into something else that ends up all over my house and spread across the dining room table! Also wishing for a wall like this at my house for me to fill up with all these scraps. It’s pretty, isn’t it!
Alisa Sue Quilt
A few day ago I got an email about a little girl who lives in Nebraska named Mariah. Mariah is 7 months old and has a very rare brain disorder called Schizencephaly. It is commonly called Split Brain, and basically it prevents her brain from communicating within itself. It can affect one of both sides, and for Mariah it affects both. She has been on trial drugs that were helping to control the terrible seizures she has, but those have stopped working. She has been traveling to the Mayo clinic in MN for treatment, leaving her dad and three sisters at home. The woman who sent the email works with Mariah’s grandfather, and they are putting together a charity auction to try and help with the medical bills. I sent this quilt to my friend to be auctioned off.
It is made entirely from my scrapbox, and came together pretty quickly. I have named it Alisa Sue after two incredible women I know who are an inspiration. They are both such a positive force in the world. They are beautiful, full of faith and hope, and a lot of my very first scraps (plenty of which are in this quilt) came from them. This is my first time doing the binding all by machine (I didn’t have time to do it by hand) and I only had to pick out about 30 inches, which I think of as pretty successful!
I hope the auction can raise a little money for this family. I think it is such a great idea. When we all pull together for a common cause and help each other out we can make this world a little better place for everyone. I am adding this it Sew&Tell at Amy’s. Happy Friday!
What makes me happy
I actually got a lot of things worked on for Sew&Tell this week. I guess not going anywhere has it’s perks. This week I worked on a few little projects that still need some working on. Creamie’s window treatments are almost done, I just need to pick up the last few things.
I did get this cutie apron finished for my neice who just turned five. Every girl needs a ruffly apron and I hope she likes it! This one isn’t reversible because it was mostly from my stash and I didn’t have another fabric to go with it. Purple usually isn’t my color, but this purple was left over from Creamie’s nursery.
I love finding just the right thing from my stash! And it’s a good thing too. I really do have a disease about keeping little bits of this and that. If it is more than an inch wide, it goes into my box. If it is bigger than a paperclip but too small for my box, then it goes into another little scrapbag. Yeah, a paperclip. I have been giving all my teensy tiny scraps to my mom. She runs a preschool and when they talk about colors she gives the kids all these teensy little scraps of things to glue onto color collages. Pretty much the only thing that ends up in my sewing garbage can is thread and bent pins. (And why do I have so many bent pins! Sheesh!)
I also have this new little stack of fabric that is ready for something wonderful. Scott gave me the brown pear Kokka print for Christmas, and I have been trying to find just the thing to do with it. It’s only a yard (he found it on ebay and that was all they had). I think I have this project mostly figured out, but it just looks so pretty all spread out! I can’t wait to start (but am always wary about cutting into fabric I love even when I know I am going to keep it at my house when it is finished.) I just need to find another choclatey brown FQ that isn’t a polka dot. Of course, when I go shopping I better only take $3, otherwise you wind up with 20 FQ in your bag and a couple of yards of this and that. I was originally going to make this print into a bag, and took it into the quilt shop to find a lining. Big Mistake. Of course, it has a happy ending.
Go check out the other Sew&Tell’s, it is one of my favorite parts of starting the weekend.
Another One Bites the Dust
[ image here ]
Dear Steve. Rest in Peace. Actually, don’t rest in peace. You would be lucky to end up in this pile of very cute little Euro cars. You don’t even deserve it. We should send you straight to the smashers. If I could push you off a cliff and into a lake I would, but I kind of have guilty feelings of polluting the environment thinking about it. But the smashers? I could totally do the smashers.
[ image ]
Yeah, that’s right. The smashers. There is no more resuscitation that is possible. The last time Steve acted it up it was super inconvenient. I was ready to plan the funeral and be done with him. But, after a few days of poking and prodding (and a new $1,200 internal computer) he perked right up and started paying attention. And we went on our merry way. Until today. That last time was what I hoped would be the end of a long series of Steve starting to lose it. Let me just give you a short recap. Since Christmas, which has been 8 weeks: Twice to the mechanic, thrice to the dealer. Towed 4 times. Grand total? Four thousand two hundred dollars. Give or take. Gulp.
Tonight we went to use up a giftcard at one of our favorite Aussie restaurants for dinner. Food was great, Creamie was charming, weather was too warm to snow and too cold to rain so it was that icy sleety yucky stuff. But, no matter, the food was great. We got done and on the way home Steve started freaking out. Gages dropped, weird lights came on, headlights flashing. We pulled into home, let him rest a few minutes and then tried him again. And again. Nothing. No life. We drove him home to die. This time there is no more mechanic, no more dealers, no more tow trucks. This time it is over. Pulling the plug. No more. Just no more. *
I sold my car, that I have had for nearly 8 years last October. It still ran fine, but had a few issues I didn’t want to deal with anymore. We’ve been a one car family since then. Which has been fine. Until today. Now we are a no car family. It is actually too depressing to keep thinking about. I’ll be back tomorrow with something pretty to look at. Sigh.
* Pretty sure anyway. I mean, unless he is alive in the morning, or something amazing happens. But you just have to know when to stop pouring thousands of dollars into a toilet. Enough is enough. The End.
A Love Note
All over the interwebs you hear people complaining about winter. They are all rushing spring to arrive. I am quite the opposite (which you probably already know). I love this photo, I came across it a few days ago over at Allsorts. This is Jenny’s house a few weeks ago. It just looks so cozy, so inviting. I want to go there. Actually, I change my mind. I want that snow to come here.
[ photo heisted from Jenny at Allsorts ]
- I love winter.
- I love the cold. (Really, I do.)
- I love the world covered by a clean white layer, like a blank canvas ready to make into whatever you want.
- I love that this winters snow is going to stave off drought next summer. When you live in a domesticated dessert, like Utah, snow is the lifeblood of the summer. I love that very few people remember that.
- I love watching the snow fall, and how it tends to make me slow down and appreciate all the small things. Like that spindly tree suddenly made beautiful with a crusting of ice and snow
- I love watching the idiots in my neighborhood that think they can outsmart the ice with their shiny cars and end up spinning in circles because they are going too fast.
- I love how unpredictable Mother Nature is.
- I love how a good snowstorm is a gentle reminder (gentle compared to hurricane’s and earthquakes and tsunami’s) of the power of nature. In one good storm she can wipe out all of man’s great inventions (like electricity and internet and snowplows.)
- I love a good snowy day to stay inside and make stuff and really just get down on the floor and play Lego’s and animals with Creamie.
- I love cooking on cold snowy days.
- I love the winter light. It is so much more mellow than summers harsh sun.
- I love wearing sweaters and wool socks and jackets inside.
- I love my mountains covered with a thick new layer of snow.
- I love how the shorter days make me be more productive.
- I love how a good winter day makes me want to make stuff like soup, and baby quilts, and a new wool coat (next winter’s goal.)
I do not love, however, when it snows all day and it is too warm for anything to stick. I do not love the dead grass days of winter. I do not love the weeks long season of “dead yellowish brown grass and garbage from the whole winter.” That is truly depressing. Dear Winter, come back. You stay was too short and I miss you dearly.
But, since I can’t change the weather I am going to make soup for dinner and stay up sewing until midnight. Again. Yesterday I reorganized all my fabric. I sorted out my scraps again and made a list of projects to finish while I still have a naptime. Creamie is 13 months old today and she is really truly trying hard to give up naps. And lunch, inexplicably. I am too young to give up naptime. I need them to make it through the afternoons somedays. Particularly these dead yellowish brown and garbage days. Sigh.
pinksuedeshoe 