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.

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...

lazy days of summer

Things are feeling pretty hectic around here, and I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever slow down. My life has been disheveled for so long, that it actually feels odd to have the time to do normal things. Eric and I had the most wonderful weekend of just staying home and being sickeningly domestic. We sat out in the yard in our lawn chairs and watched the sun go down until we finally surrendered to the bites of the mosquitoes. We made pesto, mowed the lawn, picked some of our ripened blackberries, barbecued fresh wild salmon, hung clothes on the line to dry and sat on a blanket in the yard.  It was like we tried to cram every summer cliché into a single weekend, and well, I think we succeeded. I’m so glad we did too because it has been dreary and grey here the past couple of days.

Last Thursday during my weekly trek to Kinokuniya, I found what I believe it is a new Lotta Jansdotter book, Lotta Jansdotter Handmade Project (it's much less expensive at Kinokuniya). It’s published in Japanese with easy to follow directions. Finding the book was an unexpected delight. It's just the sort of treasure I hope to find every time I go there. It is filled with some great little projects and ideas including instructions for printing your own designs onto fabric. Her patterns are simple and beautiful, and the book is filled with images from her home. I’ve looked through it many times now, but I still haven’t been able to commit to a project. Instead I’ve opted to work on a design of my own.

I’ve had so many ideas caught up in the design phase. So much so that I’m starting to feel out of sorts about not being productive. I worked on my studio on Sunday and got it in a condition where I can at least accomplish some work in there even if it’s not quite where I want it to be. I’ve begun work on a new stuffed, and I’m already feeling more calm. If all goes well, I should have it finished by the end of the week and promise to share it with you (if it turns out okay).

I'll leave you with a cute photo of Vedo. I was trying to snap a picture of this plate I bought last week, and Vedo had to make sure there wasn't any food on it for him. So typical...

stopping for a break

Of course, it's all about the home right now. It has been a long weekend of unpacking, and it feels so nice to just sit down and relax on a Sunday evening. Now that things are settling, I'm noticing some of the little details of the house.

This is a view of the kitchen fan above the sink. We don't have any sort of hood above the stove, so I think this is meant to serve the same purpose.

Dishes in the sink:

And, because it's in bloom now, I thought I'd share a photo of our hibiscus.

Things are really starting to come together now. I'll be sharing some more photos this week, and sharing links to some of the things I want to get for the house.

Have a great week!

sugar is good

Ooh, what a splendid Friday it is. I'm watching Rear Window, working on a quilt and eating smarties. It's not wrong to eat smarties for a meal, is it? I certainly hope not because I can't stop eating them! They're just too yummy for words.

Here Madison is monitoring the progress of the striped blanket.

He approves. I think he thinks I'm making it for him. I suppose in a way I am. Everything in our house somehow eventually gets taken over by the kitties. Occasionally it bothers me, but I can't really stay too upset. After all, these are our babies, and with Madison thinking he's a person and all, we couldn't very well get rid of them.

Short post today. Just wanted to drop by and say hello. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I'll leave you with a photo of one of my most recent thrifting acquisitions. I squealed when I found this, which completely confounded Eric. But I don't care. I adore it.

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!

summer fun

ooh, i made off with some serious booty today. here we are trying to get rid of things to prepare for our move, and i'm going out and gathering more things.

but seriously, could YOU resist this:

they are in such good condition. I was just so thrilled to find them. Oh, but I found more on my treasure hunt:

there were a few new things I couldn't resist though,

both of the above-cards are from eggpress, and i could have bought every single one of them in the store. every single card i've seen of theirs is just too brilliant for words.

and finally, looky here, i finished the bunny!

she was really fun to make, and i sure hope emma likes her.

true to form, i am late getting my birthday package out. i have inherited a dominant gene from my mother: the, "never get a package mailed out" gene. i don't know what happens to me. sometimes, i will even have a whole package ready to go, and never send it out. i bought emma a cute little outfit when she was a baby and never sent it to her. now i've decided to just keep it and use it if i ever have a daughter. once i had a package ready to send to a friend, and it sat in my office for MONTHS before a co-worker finally couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed it and walked it down to the mailroom in the office, and that was that. It is well known in our family, and my mother truly is the worst offender.
    anyway, emma's birthday is on wednesday. the package will include my little brother's birthday present (from may) and my dad's father's day present as well. i wonder when it will actually get mailed.
    i'll keep you posted. (ha! get it? posted!)

    sorry.

show and tell

criminy, i can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post. this whole house-buying thing can really take a lot out of a girl. the whole process had been cruising along just great until last friday when some issues came up that brought everything to a screeching hault, and left us scrambling to figure out how we were going to make this work. after a frustrating few days, everything has been resolved, and it looks like we may be signing the documents as early as tomorrow! once this is over, i'm going to let out one big sigh of relief.

needless to say, i haven't been extremely productive. Actually, that's not entirely true. I made a dress and skirt for myself a couple of weeks ago, but I don't have any photos to share right now.

I do have this:

and this:

this was a package of vintage fabric and vintage trim i received from my mom. she picked it up at a fantastic little thrift store called, appropriately enough, "nifty thrifty". there are great deals to be had there.

i suppose the big news of the day in crafty blogland is the much anticipated release of hillary's first booklet, "kitty, bunny and bear".

i had no doubt it would sell out quickly, and at 8:00 am i was all set to make my purchase. i was so worried i wouldn't get one, so i kept hitting refresh until it popped up for sale. i think the last time i waiting to buy something like that was when i bought tickets to see radiohead back in 2003. i suppose hillary is kind of the radiohead of cute softies. does that make sense to anyone but me?

it did sell out, but i know there will be another batch coming out.

anyway, thanks hillary for sharing a bit of your brilliance with us!

scary people and a wee garden

I didn't manage to get anything completed the is weekend. I cut out and started working on my tie one on apron, but i just couldn't get motivated to finish it yesterday. Saturday, eric and I spent the day visiting my all my grandparents. It was quite and exhausting day, but we had a lot of fun. My grandmother (my mother's mother) loves going thrifting, and there are some great thrift stores in the town where she lives. it always seems that I go to visit her on Sunday when they're closed, but since we went on Saturday, I knew we'd have to do some thrifting. I found loads of great, incredibly inexpensive craft supplies and a couple clothing items i have plans to deconstruct. I didn't take pictures of everything, but I thought I'd share my favorite purchase of Eric's and my own favorite purchase.

Eric's:

There are just so many things wrong with this:

• DIY taxidermy!
• "honey, you'd better get those dishes put away now! I don't want to have to use my rifle on you."
• "oh darling, I can't wait to go out and murder that family. Just let me get these dishes put away, and I'll be ready to go"
• "is that a rifle you have, or are you just happy to see me?"
• "wow honey, that rifle is such a great accessory - you look like a total stud!"
• "yes dear, I know I'm always supposed to kneel down before you because you're the man. There's no need to bring out the rifle again."

Oh, I could go on and on. Feel free to add your own dialog. it's super fun!

my find:

This little owl vase is the new container for my great grandmother's knitting needles. Perfect for my studio.

I'll be sure and show you some of the other things we got later this week. I still haven't posted pictures of some of my great finds from going thrifting with my mother last month. We found some great fabric and trim.

Eric was like a man obsessed this weekend, and spent all day Sunday working on the garden. I wanted to help, I really did, but I just didn't feel like gardening in the cold weather. So I spent the day inside lounging and keeping warm. He's done such a lovely job this year. We had our first garden last year, and it was very satisfying. We grew pickling cucumbers and dill and made our own pickles, we had the requisite zucchini and loaves and loaves of zucchini bread, we had carrots and beets and peppers. Our beans and peas didn't make it last year, so we're really dedicated to their prosperity this year. Eric made a lovely lattice today for the beans which are yet to be planted. Here is what we've (er, Eric) done so far:

there is still much to do, but i'm so proud of our babies!

okay, i'm off to finish a yellow and white apron...