Busy June So Far

It's been awhile, I know. Sorry about that. Things have been busy around here. On Friday I turned 32 and my daughter made me this beautiful cake. She also orchestrated getting me a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory (thank you, Jane!) and we went out that night to stuff ourselves foolish. It was a good day.

Yesterday I took the kids to Candlelite Quilts to pick out more fabric for more projects. We are never lacking for projects. Gunnar wanted to make a bear and Annika wanted to make a pillow. These are the results.

Ugliest bear ever? Or terribly sweet because it was carefully planned by a 3-year-old boy? You decide. I think you know where I stand on it. And Annika's pillow? I love it. She has her own style. She was so particular about the fabrics she used that we had to have fat quarters cut from bolts because she wasn't happy with the zillions of pre-cut fabrics. That girl!

Fun with Patchwork: Sachet & Pincushion

Remember the patchwork pillows I made a few weeks ago? Those are right up there on my list of best projects ever. (For clarification "best" for me means creative, clever, quick and easy.) So why NOT take a fabulous pillow and miniaturize it? Fill it with crushed walnut shells and it's a happy little pincushion. I've been meaning to make a pincushion for a while but I only got this idea yesterday. Lindsey was coming over to make more pillows and poof, the marriage of my need for a pincushion and my desire to make a pillow netted this little gem. I love it. It's hard not to feel happy and creative when I look at it. I used a bright mix of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane and Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet fabrics to make it bright and summery. I'm planning to make a bunch so that I can switch them out for different seasons.


After I made mine, I thought they would make great gifts. So I made one for a fellow crafty sewer, my friend and neighbor. I wanted hers to look soft and romantic and that gave me the idea to make it into a sachet by filling it with lavendar. I am so happy with the results! Of course, the kids got hold of it and it is currently doubling as a hacky sack. At least it smells nice while they kick it around.

I hope you too are enjoying a gorgeous day. Happy Crafting!

Strawberry Granita

I forgot - I did make something! The kids and I made this refreshing and tasty strawberry granita that we saw on Elizabeth's blog, The Waspy Redhead. It was delicious and the kids were enthralled with the idea of making our own "slush". Elizabeth's recipe uses less sugar than most recipes call for, so I felt like I was earning extra mom points both for making something with the kids and for making something that was entirely made of fruit. Okay, "entirely" is an exaggeration, but I'm counting it as a win either way.

Have you read The Waspy Redhead? You should. She's cool. She's BFF with my sister-in-law so I feel vicariously cool when I read her posts. And go make some granita! It's good stuff!

Long Time No Craft

You may have noticed this by now, but I really love to make things. I mean really. But the thing about making things is that you have to keep doing it to stay in the groove. If you take too long of a break you risk losing your mojo. That's essentially what happened the last two weeks. After my pillow-making bonanza, I slowed down, took a little break, and lost my groove. Have no fear, it will be back. I've read that artists have ups and downs and that it's best to just ride those waves. And I've read that you need to work at making art part of your every day, squeezing it into the tiny spaces of time that you can claim for it when you're a busy working mom. Maybe I read too much and haven't been crafting enough. Maybe I should stop reading articles about finding time to craft and just DO IT already. So that's what I plan to do. But not tonight. And realistically, probably not tomorrow either. We just have a lot going on right now. It's good stuff though, the stuff of life - playdates and softball practice. I will keep making my lists of projects and sooner or later I will get cracking again.
Until then, here is a recap of the last two weeks in pictures.

Fun with Patchwork Pillows

I made a bunch of pillows this weekend. 3, to be exact. It was great. Lindsey and I found the pattern on Alicia Paulson's website and I think it changed my life. Alicia calls it a magic patchwork technique and she is not joking. The pattern was well worth the $6 it cost to download it. In the pictures above you can see the works in progress. We started with a trip to Candlelite Quilts to select our fabrics. Lindsey has a great eye for colors and patterns. She went with yellows and blues for hers and I chose greens and reds for mine. Then we stopped in to JoAnn to get pillow forms, interfacing, and piping. I'd never worked with piping before so I was nervous about that aspect of the project. Then we cut squares and about an hour and a half later we had these. Amazing! That's Lindsey, there working away on her perfect-for-a-summer-cottage pillow. (Work in progress photos credit to Maria.) Unfortunately the photo we took of her final product is slightly blurred but you get the idea.

Anyway, my pillow was so popular in my household that the kids fought over it and we decided it would be fun to let them make their own. So back to Candlelite Quilts I went, both kids in tow, on Saturday morning. They each selected 4 fabrics, though they would have come home with about 20 each if I had let them. You really should see them in action. Annika has a good eye (she's 6!) and she selected the greens that you see in the pillow above with stripes and dots. She's good, huh? And Gunnar is a little more bold in his selections. He started with black prints and added in some vibrant colors. He has a rather eclectic fabric stash at home. I was determined not to intervene in their selection or layout. I didn't. You can see the results.

It's a fun, fast project. I highly recommend it!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Baby Britches

I completed a pair of baby bloomers. Happy day! In truth, "completed" is a stretch because I haven't yet stitched the elastic casing on the legs and waist closed. I'll get to it. Eventually. At any rate, this is an accomplishment for me because I haven't done any garment sewing since I was about 12 and I wasn't particularly good at it back then. But I got ambitious and wanted to try. I've had a bee in my bonnet to sew baby clothes for my various baby relatives and in particular a baby that will be here in the late fall. I can hardly stand the anticipation! I just love babies and sewing for the babies I love is so satisfying. I hope these fit!

The pattern is from Emma Hardy's book Making Children's Clothes. The fabric is by Sandy Gervais for Moda.

Loving Lavender

Isn't lavender lovely? I've been inspired to add more lavender to my life by reading Kaari Meng's book Home Sewn and looking at her incredible store French General. (When I say "looking" I mean browsing virtually. Someday maybe I will go see the real thing.) She infuses her life with lavender and it seems like a good thing to do. It makes me feel like frolicking through the French countryside. I've also been inspired to bring more lavender into my life from reading a favorite (and non-classic-literature-grade-writing) novel. And then on top of that my gorgeous friend, Maria, came over last night and suggested we make some sachets. So we did. It was fun and fulfilling. You can see the results here. Maria is also the art director (for my imaginary craft company) and she gets full credit for staging the photos shown. She's great. Really, really great and I'm lucky to have her in my life.

And while I'm at it, thank you to all of my loving and supportive friends and family for always being there. Love you all.