Gingerbread and Stockings

Decorating Gingerbread Houses is one of those fun Christmas traditions that the kids never want to miss out on. Why would they? They are miniature sugar castles! All the sugar aside, they do really enjoy the creativity involved. I wanted to let them each do their own miniature house, but I just didn't have the time and brain cells to make it happen this year. There's always next year, right? They did a great job working together (after the initial frustrations were addressed) and came up with a very fun design.

Our time in Tahoe was filled with great food.  I love it when Chris has time to cook!  Oh, the things he creates!  Pictured is a bowl of soup that could have won awards it was so yummy.  All of the kids agreed that it was delicious.  That's saying something!  I liked how the tomatoes and zucchini made it look all Christmas-y, Chris liked how the stock was made with the leftover turkey wings and pieces we froze after Thanksgiving. We had so much good food during these two weeks...now we get to go back to me "cooking".  (yes, those quotes were absolutely necessary.)

I also ended up reworking Audrey's stocking, since it had been completed in such haste last year (I think it was last year...?) that it needed some attention.  I'm now happy with the four stockings, though they are heavy in beauty and light in capacity.  I was looking for pictures of them on my blog and computer and didn't find what I thought I'd find, so here they are for the record:

Eventually I will get caught up with all these Christmas posts, I promise!  Next up, family time and presents...and then the lovely, gorgeous, fabulous snow.

Of Art and Quilts and Such

One summer day, not so many years ago, I sat at a round table in a banquet room watching my younger brother and my new sister in-law beam from ear to ear while getting to spend a little time with an aunt and uncle I rarely get to see.  I am not the best conversation starter...my mind sort of goes blank and I can't figure out what to say, but there is one definite area of interest I share with my uncle: art.  My uncle is an artist--he has been painting for many years.  I, as you may know, am a quilter...and occasionally I get the chance to spend some time on the more artistic side of quilting.  I love being creative, and seeing other people's creativity.

This particular summer day held a conversation that went something like this:

me:  So...I still don't have one of your paintings...
uncle:  well I still don't have one of your quilts...
me: hmmm. good point.

[insert thoughtful pause]

And that's how the deal was struck--he'd paint me a painting and I'd quilt him a quilt.  He thought--hmm, she likes trees...and I thought--hmm, his paintings often have high contrast colors...and finally, much time later, the deal has been completed, and I am so very happy with the results.

The painting:

The quilt:

limericks about limericks

I can write a haiku or cinquain,

But a limerick can be such a pain.

I've tried and tried,

My brain is now fried,

I can't think up a single refrain.

(or maybe...)

I felt inspired to write,

but my children began to fight.

I couldn't win

Amid the din

So my limerick is a fright.

Where I'm From

I'm a sucker for creativity.  Especially in my kids.  What can I say...I think they are some of the best people on earth!  Timothy recently brought home from school a creative writing project that I just loved.  I'm sure that he's not nearly as thrilled with it as I am, after all, it was coerced creativity--not the easiest thing in the world, especially for someone who doesn't typically express his creativity with words.  I had to share it though, so here it is:

Where I'm From

I am from videogames and TVs,

Computers and laptops

and from Legos piled on the floor.

I am from mud pies and dirt cakes,

and oddly shaped anthills,

which got trampled at first sight.

I'm from Ana and Jack,

Mexico and Canada,

even some Italian.

Wake up and Go to sleep,

Come here and Go away,

are more familiar than they need to be.

I'm from Deep Fried to Broiled,

Scrambled to Poached,

all with a little sauce.

I am from the long, repetitive

prayers at night,

and reading my long, dreary

devotional book.

Through every computer document,

and every jam-packed storage box,

unfolds the many vast memories

from my family's tree.

The 1960s Quilt

This story begins around 4 years ago when my husband decided to buy a motorcycle. He may be chagrined to learn that the story of a quilt starts with him, but here it is in black and white...and we all know that everything we read is absolutely true.

So Chris decided to buy a motorcycle. I wasn't totally on board--partially due to safety concerns, but also because it takes me some time to come to terms with spending money on extras like that. When I finally accepted the fact that it was going to happen, I decided to allay any guilt Chris might be feeling by adding my own big ticket item onto bill.

I am a quilter. I love textures and textiles, and as any quilter can attest, there comes a point in every true quilter's life where you are facing a pile of quilt tops and you must decide:

1.) do I find a way to quilt the things all by myself?

or

2.) do I send my quilt tops out to be quilted by a long-arm quilter?

Chris' motorcycle allowed me a wonderful way to choose option one. I was a bit afraid, however, of ruining my quilt tops with my amatuer quilting, so I purchased an old quilt top on eBay for a few dollars. I quickly found out that it is far from ideal to begin quilting with poorly constructed patchwork--which is exactly what I had purchased--and so this unfinished quilt got set aside.

Until now. I'm no expert at dating fabrics, but I'm guessing that these date from the late 50's/early 60's (opinions welcome). I am absolutely certain, though, that the creator of this quilt top was no expert at anything in the quilting process. Nothing was cut correctly, nothing was square; it was a mess. I cut a mountain of strings off of it, then pressed and quilted--with nary a care for how many tucks and folds would be in the final product. I didn't even try to square it up before stitching the binding on.

And the result? I love it. The fabrics are fun and quirky, and believe it or not, it's kind of hard to see the plethora of mistakes. And it went quick--always a plus. Now I have a quilt to match my new [old] house.

We Seem to Have Been Designed for Each Other

I love having a cabinet full of mismatched coffee mugs. I adore being able to pick the mug that best suits my specific mood. I'll take a 30-year old coffee cup off your hand any day...unless it's pink with flowers, then I'll pass (as long as my girls don't find out!).


This evening I opened up my cabinet and saw this mug:


"We seem to have been designed for each other" ...and the first thing I thought was "You seem to have been designed for a cappuccino". And so off I went:


Thank goodness for espresso machines!

This mug was made by my friend Brooke, who sells her lovely Pride and Prejudice inspired items (the one on the mug I'm drinking out of is a quote by the most diverting Mr. Collins) on her Etsy site, brookish.etsy.com. Of course, this is an immensely talented girl, so don't expect her shop to be limited to P&P. Check out some of her other things and some of her specialty shops (links are in her shop announcement at the top of her main page).

I wasn't planning on blogging about her super cute things...but who can resist talking about a Mr. Collins mug begging one to make coffee? Not I.

Lovely Handwork

I love hand-crafted items. I love making hand-crafted items. I have a love/hate relationship with texture...it's either heavenly (quilting fabric, yarn, books & paper) or horrid (flat paint, fish eggs, super glue). Since I've been up in Tahoe, I've spent more time with fabric and yarn rather than books and paper. This is how my spare and stolen moments are being spent:

This mini-basket was made from old corduroy pants and some great quilting fabric...I'm trying out a pattern for a bigger tote/basket. It turned out great, was quick, easy and fun!

I'd purchased a case for my Kindle and was unpleased with the bulkiness of it. I decided that all I really needed was a sleeve to protect it when I put it in my purse. This was the result.
In order to use up the remaining yarn I'd purchased for dishcloths, I whipped up these little guys:
I FINALLY finished the binding on this cute little quilt...I love the reproduction vintage fabrics.
And this is what I'm working on right now...a Trip Around the World quilt for my uncle. Lovely.

coffee

Caffeine
Opening eyes
Freshly ground
Flaming hot
Energy burst
Everything is beautiful

I'm Branching Out

Today I did something that I've never done before. I expanded my artistic tendencies and painted a couple of pictures for my girls' room. I've painted walls before, (actually just got done painting the girls' room,) and I've made art pieces before, but never with paint. Using paint creatively has always scared me; my medium of choice has been textiles or paper. It was scary, intimidating, and very unknown, but it was also rewarding--I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

My inspiration--I saw this print (on canvas) at Target and thought it'd look great in the girls' room (it's about 11" sq):I was further inspired to make something similar. I bought 2 canvases at Michaels and made 8x10 paintings with their initials on them. I did Audrey's first (looks much more experimental and unpolished, but hey):Followed by Melinda's (a little better already):Lot's of imperfections, but not too shabby for a first attempt I think. Here's a picture of some furniture I put together to help organize the room (you also get a better idea of the paint colors). Their room is BRIGHT, (a bit brighter than is showing on my computer screen,) but fun too, and the yellow on the walls is a great color. The trim I can live with, for now (they like it--I guess their room isn't ALL about me...)

Haiku for the Errant Turn Signal

Ever blinking light
Falsely suggesting intent
Unaware driver

Directional Fabric Onus #59872

Stink! Another issue with a fabric with a directional print. Will they never cease to plague me?

I set up my sewing machine for the first time since we moved (at the end of August). I've missed it SEW much! (har, har)

I decided to do more work on a quilt that I'm making for one of my uncles. There is one fabric in this quilt that has a pattern going a specific direction. It isn't a glaring, blatant, obtrusive fabric, but it was enough to catch my eye and make me be deliberate in placement. Yes, yes, my OCD personality traits demanded I take notice. Yet somehow, whether it be because I was doing my sewing at 2am or because I was doing my sewing whilst swooning over Mr. Darcy, I managed to sew quite a few pieces in the wrong direction. (WRONG only because there are MORE pieces sewn in the opposite direction.)

Now, of course, I'm unable to imagine leaving it that way. Why, it'll look completely cattywampus. How did I JUST notice this? How on earth did I misplace these squares while I was paying attention to how I placed them??? And all you people without OCD personality traits need not bother trying to convince me that it looks fine. :-)

Anybody need some directionally printed quilting fabric? I just may rid my stash of the needless burden. Grrr.