Flower Doodles

The first one is a line drawing of dandelions my husband gave me a few months ago. Dandelions are fine, but are by no means the prettiest flower out there. They do, however, rank pretty high on my list of favorites because they always signal that warm spring weather is near - a sentiment that seems foolish now that it's in the mid 90's and the "southern hug" of humidity has tightened its grip.
















The second one is of a bouquet from the table at my favorite cafe. It was the perfect day. Me, a stack of books and my iPod had a quiet morning while my sweet husband watched the kids for a few hours. I ate a giant slice of cake for breakfast and didn't have to explain to anyone under the age of four why that was okay for grown-ups to do. :)
The flowers were sketched on the back of a bookmark, and I used some hot sauce and coffee to add a little bit of color.

High Chair Seat Cover DIY

Ruthie was like a floppy fish sliding around in her seat when we first put her in her hair chair, so a cushion seemed in order. The one that came with the chair is long gone - Judah smeared peas on it one too many times. I used a brown paper grocery bag and made a quick pattern, and found this image to use as a guide.






































It's sewn pretty much the same as a quilt.
- cut out your pattern
- cut out your layers (front, back and batting)
- sandwich them all together and pin
- sew together!











Useful tips I learned:
- the iron does in fact melt carpet, so don't be lazy and get the ironing board out next time.
- when sewing a pattern of any sort on the fabric, be it ever so simple, draw it out with chalk instead of winging it...those lines can play tricks on you!
- anything can be a fabric weight (ie: fancy candlesticks)





I was a little bummed because I realized that I measured wrong for the bias tape - twice. After a run to the store and still getting the wrong amount I decided to just use extra white leftover from Judah's quilt, and then use the orange just for the ties. I would prefer it being all orange, but Ru might just grant that wish since she can be very, um, active with her carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes.
PS - does that fabric look familiar?

A Quilt For The Boy

When I made Ruthie's quilt a few months ago I asked Judah if he wanted one too. He wasn't terribly interested then, but requested on last week with trains on it. Like most little boys, Thomas is his favorite. I, however, am not a huge fan of putting brands, or characters all over the stuff I make, nor do I have a strong affinity for Thomas. No offense to the tiny toy tank engine, but I almost loathe reading it aloud to him....so much clunky alliteration! Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of using Thomas fabric, but I found some that wasn't too ghastly and cranked one out a few days ago. The pattern is the same general idea as Ruthie's - using transportation fabric, vintage yellow gingham, hand-me-down stripes, and one of his old teal sheets, in large asymmetrical patches on the other side. Several of you have asked how I managed the seam binding/bias tape part, so if you are wondering, then check out this no swearing bias tape method video. It makes it super easy.





















It turned out really cute, and Judah was quite pleased. I asked him just now what he thought about it and he replied, "I just like it. I don't think about it, I just like it." Well, that pretty much sums it up. :)

Fräulein Helga

Meet the newest member of my family, Fräulein Helga. She is my new old refurbished tank of a sewing machine...all metal! She is a super fancy lady with lots to teach me. So hopefully I'll be cranking out some new projects here soon. But she's a quirky ol' thing, so I have quite a bit to learn. On the list of things to make: a quilt, a high chair seat cover, a smock for Ruthie, and who knows what else! Yeah!!!!
(thank you Santa for coming early this year!)

Made Myself A Little Something...

Got a hankerin' to make some jewelry this morning and this is what I turned out:

Not sure why I decided to make such dangly, easy-to-snatch ones since I carry around a grabby little baby all day. These might just need to be reserved for date nights! ;)
*I used glass and vintage brass beads (from Nana's old jewelry!), and some re-purposed chain.

Girl-stashes

Pretty, eh?

Lazy Days...

I've been a negligent blogger these days...apologies.
Here are some quick updates to catch you up to speed:
• my sewing machine broke (sad!) so my quilt (and all other sewing projects) will have to wait until I settle on a new one
• I made this soup last night and it was delicious
• my windows are open and I couldn't be happier!
• I had an entire day erased from my memory after a few hours at the dentist this week
• I don't want to do anything but play with these cute kids! (preferably outside) Can't you see why?