cherry tomato

yikes

It doesn't seem possible that it's been so long since my last post. This year, more than any in recent memory, I've really spent the winter hibernating. However, just as the spring buds are starting to burst open, I feel my creativity waking from it's wintry slumber. I've been a terrible blogger - so bad that I haven't even been keeping up with others' blogs.  I have a lot of catching up to do.

I went to Portland to visit my sister last weekend and had a wonderful time going to antique shops and fabric stores, and I picked up some fabric for some home projects.

For the first time in what feels like ages, I spent the afternoon in my studio while listening to some of my all time favorite music. A perfect Sunday.

I'm not quite ready to jump into a huge project, so I just started with something simple. I made two sets of curtains for rooms in our basement and some napkins. Eric and I regularly use cloth napkins, and some of ours are starting to get a bit funky. Plus, most of our napkins are just solid colors, and I wanted to make something a little cuter.  I feel a  twinge of guilt about using nice designer fabric for napkins, but I'd much rather be using that gorgeous fabric than have it collecting dust in my studio. Here are the ones I made this afternoon:

As soon as Eric saw these, he said, "These are so nice. We'll have to use them when we have people over", to which I immediately protested. I'm not one to save things for a special day. I'm all about using what you have. I don't mean this in a morbid way, but I know that if you save something for a special day, that day may never come. I think it's better to use the fun stuff instead of saving it and make every day just a little special.

It's good to be back.

the small projects continue

It's already Sunday evening, and I feel like I haven't had nearly enough time to accomplish everything I wanted to this weekend. The weather has been pretty dreary, so I've spent most of the weekend inside. We have floor to ceiling windows in our living room/dining room, and it's nice to be inside and look out onto the activities in our yard. The grey sky makes all the other colors jump to luscious life. The impossibly red apples are spent and lying in the impossibly green grass. A squirrel dashes around in the rain, samples a clothespin to make sure it isn't food, and scampers off to find proper food. It's nice to witness these things from my warm, dry living room.

I awoke this morning thinking about making some plush pears. Frankly, I have no idea where the idea came from, but I had to act.

I used natural linen and mixed it with some cotton fabric, then threaded some fabric through the pear from top to bottom and tied knots in both ends to mimic the stem.

I've also been busy making some autumn pillows for the house. I still have some more to make, but I've made a pretty good start.

This is our new old sofa (referred to in the last post). I thought the pillows would detract a bit from the tattered upholstery.

Work is stressing me out a little these days, so I really need these little projects as a release. As much work as I have to do, I'm making a point of keeping some projects going in an attempt to maintain more of a balance. I have workaholic tendencies, so these projects help me keep things in perspective. I also like having the house decorated for the season. Silly, I know, but it's one of those little things that makes me happy.

Have a lovely week, friends.

when cats rule the house

One of the myriad projects I've been putting off is making new beds for the kitties. We're fortunate that our cats don't scratch up our furniture. However, we recently bought a new-to-us but old mid century sofa. The upholstery has reached the end of its life, and we're going to tackle reupholstering it this fall (we're still trying to find the perfect fabric). For some reason, the cats seem to know the fabric is on it's last legs, and they've taken to clawing at it - not much but just enough to irritate me. So, we've had to set some new rules around the house, and the cats are no longer allowed on the sofa. I feel so mean, but I don't want to do all that work to reupholster the sofa, only to have the cats destroy it within weeks.

So I've been feeling pretty guilty about it, and I feel so bad when I kick them off the sofa, that I felt like I needed to tempt them away from the sofa by making them some squishy, soft new beds. I remembered some black plush fabric I bought years ago at a thrift store, and was so happy to see there was plenty to make them some beds. I tested it beforehand to make sure they would like the fabric.

They approved.

Then I used some fabric my mom gave me for the bottom, loosely filled them with stuffing and scraps of the plush fabric, and arrived at kitty-heaven. I put one of the beds into a doll bed my grandfather made me when I was a child. I haven't used it for years, but the kitties seem to approve. It took them less than 10 seconds to discover and claim the new bed.

Now on to reupholstering that sofa. If only we could find the right fabric...

inertia

Newton's First Law of Motion states that objects in motion will stay in motion and objects at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by a net force. For me, it seems, the arrival of autumn has been that net force I have been waiting for. It's taken me awhile, but I've finally accepted that I am just simply not very productive in the summer. It's not that I'm lacking for ideas, it's in the execution that I fail. I just feel like I need to be outside in the evenings, and on the weekends, we head out to the lake. This summer, I've done little things here and there, but really, I just couldn't find that spark of motivation to keep me going. But that all changed this week, and I can only attribute it to the change of season.

I love fall. I've been eagerly anticipating its arrival for at least the past month, and now that the weather is tinged with cool crispness, I'm suddenly flooded with motivation. I attended a baby shower yesterday and whipped up these burping clothes before going:

It was just the quick project I needed to ignite my creative and productive spark. My weekend was filled with these sorts of quick projects, many of which I have been procrastinating on for months. I made some new cat beds, new fall pillows and a skirt with some fabric I got a couple of weeks ago. Here's a close-up of the skirt (sorry, I won't be modeling it for you):

It's just a basic A-line with a diagonal swath of yellow fabric. I adore this fabric. The colors and design are great, but, most importantly, it's soft and light. I think this skirt will be a fall favorite.

I'll share more finished projects this week.

Oh, and I was tagged by Dacia for the 8 things meme, but I'm being lame and just directing you to my responses from last month. Last month I forgot to tag people though, so I'll do that now. I feel like just about everyone has been tagged at this point, so I'm going to tag friends and family I know have not been tagged: Lily, royc, andi.

finally!

i am pleased to finally present you with the baby quilt i have been working on. according to the date on my sketchbook, i sketched this out nearly 3 months ago. i can't believe it's taken me so long to finally finish it. it was the applique. i've decided i don't really like applique. Oh, i love the way it looks, but it's really a pain. don't get me wrong, i like hand-stitching when i'm doing embroidery and cross-stitch. I guess I just don't like quilting by hand. Lesson learned.

thank you for all of the kind comments about the mudroom. i'm sorry i haven't been able to respond to each comment. i have been having computer problems, so i've only been online very sporadically over the past week or so. please know i am extremely grateful. i love that yellow even more now that i've had nearly a week to live with it. i was really worried the color wouldn't turn out the way i had envisioned it, so i am now breathing a huge sigh of relief. i know it's not a big deal if the color didn't come out they way i wanted. i just didn't want to have to go through paining it again.

i also whipped up this little thing to put in the mudroom:

i used a swatch from the fruit fabric to select the yellow for the room, so i wanted to make something with it to go in there. our plastic bags have been a little out of control for awhile now, and this seemed like a cute, easy solution.

now, i've moved on to painting the kitchen. after that, i'll just have the living room in the interior before moving on to painting the outside of the house. of course, that is contingent on the weather cooperating. so far, the weather is being pretty nasty, so it may be awhile...

exhausting description of a silly little shirt

Ever since I saw this on Angry Chicken awhile back, I have been itching to make a similar shirt. The pattern really is scary, but, like Amy, I liked that it reminds me of my favorite Forever 21 shirt. it's nice and basic, so you can do all sorts of things to it to make it slightly different and build a whole wardrobe of adorable shirts! I think I'll add some cute buttons to the collar of my next one.

mine looks like it's a little bit longer than Amy's, but it could just be the angle of the photo. I was sitting on the ground looking up. Although, I did make it long, because I wanted it to fall below my waist (just like the aforementioned forever 21 shirt). This is now my one and only yellow shirt. I've always loved yellow clothing, but, at the same time, I have a strong aversion too it. i have fair skin that seems to look washed out in most tones of yellow. I bought this same fabric for the baby quilt I'm working on, and I thought it was mellow enough to be all right for me to wear, but it's still bright and sunny.  Plus, by sticking in a different fabric at the top, I was hoping to to break up the color a little just in case.

It's been awhile since I've sewn a garment for a grown-up (I made a dress for myself last summer), and there was a little seam ripping and swearing involved, but in the end, it turned out the way I had envisioned. That's always a good thing.

I'm getting ready for another weekend of home projects. I doubt I'll have much time to work on the never-ending vintage stripe blanket and baby quilt, but I'm going to try. I simply HAVE to finish that quilt this next week.

Have a great weekend, friends!

it works!

thanks for all the studio-love yesterday. since getting the it put together, I have actually been reluctant to work in there  because I know it won't last. once i start working on something, it seems i am in such a frenzy at times that i just sort of forget to pick up after myself. i want to get better about that, because it ends up being way too counterproductive since i simply can't work in a messy studio. if i pick up after each project, i'll be all set for the next and i won't have to take the time to clean before i get started on the next thing. the only problem is that i rarely just have one project going at once. i'll need to come up with a space for my "works in progress".

i went into the studio this morning and got to work. i felt the powerful surge of inspiration and got to work drawing and designing some new things. i'm very excited about some of the new projects i have in the works.

i have been working on projects that are taking awhile to get finished, so i needed something quick. I sat down this morning and made this spring scarf. I have this impossibly soft cotton voile fabric with hot air balloons that i've been hoarding for awhile and waiting for the perfect project. I pulled it out along with a few other fabrics and got to work. on the back i used another paper thin swiss dot fabric. the result was a nice, light scarf perfect for the warmer days.

it also works in my hair...

(please forgive the lack of make-up and messy hair). it's so nice to actually complete something. i feel a productive period coming on.

on a completely unrelated note, i thought i'd share a couple of things i'm loving right now.

* the new blog for Blueprint magazine called Bluelines.
* this chair from CB2. Oh, i am in love...
* this game. thanks to megan for the tip.
* this book, which i just learned is being made into a movie.

drumroll please...

last week i promised to show you a glimpse of my studio. the weather has been gray and dreary, so i haven't had an opportunity to take any decent photos until today. even these photos are less than desirable, but they'll have to do for now.

and there you have it. it's nothing spectacular, but it works for me. of course, the room, as with everything else, is always a work in progress.

and speaking of works in progress: i still haven't finished the baby quilt, but i'm still plugging away at it. eric and i are doing a lot of work on the house right now, including getting the outside all prepped for a new paint job. that's been taking up most of my time these days. today i'm working on the bathroom. eric and i make a great team because he's great at the carpentry, and i do the painting (however, i won't claim to be "great" at it). eric put in some new trim and spackled the walls over the weekend, so now it's my to turn to go in with my brush and get the job done. i know most people hate painting, but i actually really enjoy it. i think i love it because it's quick, easy and takes so little effort and expense to make a dramatic difference.

anyway, i should get back to the painting. i'll leave you with one more photo from the studio. this one is of sophia and vedo basking in the sun. vedo pretty much lives on top of that cabinet these days.

i think they like it here too...

someday it will all come together...

Since moving into our house, my studio has been the last room to really get organized. The truth is, I'm still working on it, but I finally have things put together well enough to work on some projects in there. Everything is still awkward though because I have a hard time remembering where I've put things. It's sort of like when you start a new job, and you have to figure out how everything works and get into a groove. This is a shot of my little sewing corner. I haven't updated my bulletin board for awhile, so that's at the top of my to-do list. To the left is where I do my cutting, piecing and ironing, but I'm not going to show it to you now because it's a bit messy at the moment. However, I will show you another little peek.

This is an art quilt I made that I have up in the window that is too high for the kitties to reach. It's nice to have a spot to place things and not worry about them getting knocked off.

I've been taking my camera with me everywhere, but my handbag was way too small. This week, I designed and made a new one that works nicely. I do have handbags that are large enough to hold it, but they either tote bag-style or messenger bag style. I wanted something what was large enough to hold the camera and my other stuff, but not so deep that it seemed cavernous. This is what I came up with:

One of the benefits of making your own handbag is the ability to customize it for the things you carry. I made pockets inside to hold my phone, moleskine and lipstick (an essential for me). It's nice to have everything so accessible.

Of course as soon as I finished this, I found an Orla Kiely handbag I fell in love with and is now on my wishlist for my birthday. When I saw it the other day, it made my heart hurt. So darling...

where's the snow?

It was supposed to start snowing last night and snow all day long today. It did snow a bit last night, but the snow had stopped coming down by the time I awoke, and I haven't seen a single flake all day. I haven't given up hope though. It's still overcast and terribly cold, so maybe the snow just got a little delayed.

In the meantime, I have a few projects in the works.

This is a little dress I made for my friends's daughter Alice. She's about 2 1/2 weeks old now. I didn't use a pattern for this but used another dress as a template. Over 10 years ago, I was at an antique show and spotted the most adorable dress I had ever seen. It was so simple and delicate looking, and I immediately fell in love with it. The fabric is the palest of pinks and the fabric is thin yet sturdy and almost has the look of paper. I wasn't pregnant, and I didn't have a child of my own, but I bought it knowing that one day I would have a little daughter who could wear it. I don't think I could ever give it away because, well, I just always felt like I was supposed to have it. I've held onto it for all these years, and once and awhile I take it out and look at it, but for the most part I just keep it tucked away.

Last night I took it out to make the dress for Alice. The shape is identical to the dress I bought, but everything else is different. I used some sturdier fabric I thrifted ages ago that has been waiting for the perfect project. The fabric is not woven very tightly, so instead of hemming it on the bottom, I did a tight zigzag around the bottom and pulled the threads of the fabric to make a little fringe on the bottom. I thought about embellishing the dress with some sort of floral design, but I just really like the simplicity of the design and decided to just leave it. I'm happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait to see it on little Alice. I think I'll be making a few more for her.

Next up: a quilt. I don't believe she has a handmade quilt yet, and I really think every baby should have one. I've already designed it, I just need to get the fabrics and get busy. I'm really excited about this one!