finally!

So this is the quilt. And yes, it is finished.

I learned so much about my sewing stamina, my machine and even just the process of making a quilt. I loved the journey although I did find that ripping it out constantly because of my perfectionism was very frustrating. Not something I recommend.

At some point a friend, who has more quilting experience than I, couldn’t sit back and watch it anymore. She told me about the 8 hour quilt (sorry, can’t find the link). The idea is that you just run rows of stitching across the quilt sandwich without worrying about the pattern. The result is a lovely, organic, wavy design. This process literally changed my life. It gave me permission to just keep going without worrying about imperfections and puckers and all of those mistakes that you make when doing something a bit too ambitious. It was really freeing to be able to just play with the sewing machine. I even kind of like the uneven stitching and puckering. It makes it somehow less precious and more usable.

If you are thinking of making your first quilt, just go for it!

Here are some of the resources that I found useful.

Simple Contemporary Quilts: for the pattern

Heather Bailey’s binding tutorial

Oh, Fransson: just a lovely blog about quilts

The gals over at MADE have a great idea for all of those left out boys. A whole month of tutorials and projects for boys! I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Personally, I can see some one of these recycled hoodies as one of the gifts for my soon to be seven year old.

And I love the 90 minute shirt for the two year old.

Thanks for doing this ladies!

All images are from MADE.

handmade olympics

So here we are only two weeks out with spring weather, many roads closed, farcical legislation allowing police to sweep the streets of homeless people, watching the insanity of people vying for $5,000 hockey tickets and unless you are into that sort of thing, generally feeling pretty hard done by in the host city. So let’s turn it around by heading out of town and enjoying the excitement of the handmade olympics. Go Canada!

what I learned from the Queen

Things have been challenging around here. For no particular reason. I think it’s just growth spurts and pre-developmental leaps. But challenging in one of those “we are not going to let mommy get a minute of peace” kind of ways.

In retaliation I’ve been obsessed with Julia Child’s Queen of Sheba chocolate cake. This is the second one I made. Since I don’t have the book I used what I gleaned from the French Chef episode of the same title and this recipe. What I learned the first time is that you really can’t over mix the egg whites. It didn’t rise at all. And this one may be obvious but it has to be said, don’t use a cake pan that is bigger than eight inches. It really doesn’t work.

Second time around I learned that you can mix the egg yolks, sugar and butter at the same time, you can add the flour ahead of the egg whites (to avoid over mixing), and that if you forget to put in the sugar with the egg whites but you’ve added 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tarter (as in the French Chef episode) it will all work out in the end. If your chocolate is just not melting you can add a bit more liquid. I used brandy both times. It will make the cake a bit richer and boozier tasting but just as delicious. For the icing I mixed melted chocolate with a bit of brandy and whipping cream. Not sure of the proportions. I just sort of guessed.

If you haven’t made one you really should. It’s sure to cure what ails you.

makeshift

If you haven’t already seen this project, you should check it out. I love the idea!

You can still sign up for Surprise, Surprise until February 28 too! I saw the happy mini (pictured below) and couldn’t resist signing up for the little likeable in round three. I can’t wait to see what it is. Who doesn’t need a little gilt macaroni necklace?

corners of my home: play kitchen

We started looking for a play kitchen for the boys about a year ago. I really wanted something made of wood that would work in our house both in terms of size and in terms of aesthetic. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend hundreds of dollars on some off-gassing plastic thing that I couldn’t stand to look at. So, we planned and designed and consulted and drew and then the birthday came and went and Christmas was soon approaching and still we had no play kitchen. Two days before Christmas we came across this one and something clicked.

We had looked into making something like this but in the end decided that it would be too small. I really wanted one that the boys could use for a while. Below is a list of the parts that we used in case anyone wants to take a crack at it, and it really did take Peter two days to put it all together. And it wasn’t two long, tedious days but two solid days of picking away at it in the evenings and during nap time.

Here’s what it looked like before we put on the backing board and added the finishing touches.

Materials used:

- ivar box for the base (we were able to make the front panel from one of the support pieces that came with it)

- 4×4 sheet of plywood for the back (since we don’t have a table saw, we had the hardware store cut the piece for us)

- craft panel for inside shelf and divider

- panna coasters for the burners

- attest knobs for the stove

- bekvam spice rack,magasin cutlery rack, and grundtal s hooks for the upper shelf

- the faucet was made from a discontinued ikea shelf bracket that we already had and the taps were made from richelieu wood drawer pulls from rona

- the sink was made from a stainless steel kitchen bowl from daiso

- the legs are capita

- the curtain was hung with picture wire and eye hooks and the fabric is red letter day by lizzy house (half a yard should probably do it)

What was lovely about the process is that we all worked on it together. We brought William in on the project so that we could measure it against his height and so that he could be part of the gift-giving. And I tell you the pretend coffee that comes out of that little stove top espresso pot is the best I’ve ever tasted! Since it turned out so nice and the boys are really good about keeping it tidy, we’ve set up a little play area in the living room where we can play cafe. I think this little kitchen will be a treasured keepsake that will stay in our family for a very long time. It was definitely worth the thought and planning that went into it.

treasure

On Sunday mornings we like to go to the beach with a pail and a shovel to clear our minds and discover treasure. This weeks treasures were finding these mushrooms hidden away, a piece of white beach glass and a shell with a perfectly round hole, just right for threading.

corners of my home: sewing nook

We call this the Japanese room. Multi-functional, small and purpose built. A cosy little nook under the stairs with a spool rack just waiting for colorful threads, a pin board waiting for pattern pieces and inspiration to be pinned up. A narrow shelf to hold pin cushions and other treasures and a little cubby to hold scissors and rulers and perhaps a cup of tea. The best part is the custom-built table, just the right height for sewing. Now that it’s finished, I’m looking forward to setting it up. I’m a lucky girl. Thank you my love!

hello, is anybody out there?

1. fibre garland, 2. peeking, 3. digging, 4. gifting, 5. thanking, 6. glowing, 7. squinting, 8. shining, 9. waiting, 10. santa and trees, 11. berries and shells, 12. snowflakes and vintage snowman, 13. makeshift nativity, 14. woodland gifts, 15. the year of episode V, 16. tree lot, 17. Christmas shadows, 18. winter bird cake, 19. the ingredients, 20. waldorf fair candy apples

I suppose it’s a familiar story. One that happens to most bloggers at some point. It goes like this, girl starts blog in the hopes of chronicling a somewhat creative and what she thinks to be an interesting life. If nobody reads it then at least it will be a way of keeping out of town relatives in touch with the family. Then girl gets busy with Christmas baking, making and volunteering. Add in the school winter break and a daycare hiatus mixed with the chaos of having two children home at the same time, one of which is recovering from a pretty major surgery, plus the regular holiday hustle and bustle, and craft fairs to attend and participate in and well you can see where it gets pretty difficult to keep the old blog updated.

I haven’t been taking many pictures over the last few months but there have been some pretty good projects completed. Here are just a few highlights.

I made a fibre garland out of scraps from the felted wool sweater stockings that I made for the fairs this year. It was such a great way to use up scraps that I couldn’t bear to toss and it was a great meditative practice for those tired evenings when I was restless and just couldn’t go to sleep without doing something creative.

Another crafty highlight was volunteering at the school and making over one hundred hand rolled beeswax candles with the children from kindergarten to grade three. I loved watching them get excited over the smell, the feel and the instant gratification in rolling up a beautiful candle to give as a gift. With all of the budget cuts recently, the schools are really strapped for interesting art supplies. It was wonderful to work with something other than construction paper and white glue and it has me thinking about ways to bring craft to the school without breaking the bank but yet respecting the children’s need and desire for good sturdy materials. There are a few things that I’ve seen that I might bring up at the next PAC meeting. Ah the life of a public school mother. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.

Then of course there were the pop up cards that my boy was determined to make for everyone he knew. What fun!

There was a makeshift playmobil/schleich and star house nativity nestled in a bed of sheep’s wool. That was a lot of fun to make and only required a quick trip on Christmas eve to find a camel. Apparently caribou, cactus pups and polar bears are all nice additions but in order to make a really good nativity, you need a camel. Scale is not however an issue when you are six. Thank goodness!

Despite not making a single gift, which was pretty disappointing for me, I did manage to find wonderful one-of-a-kind pieces for many on my list and was so lucky to receive one of these teapots! My sweet hubby even had her fill it up with water to make sure it doesn’t leak. But the best experience that I had was when I saw the light go off in my older son’s eyes. He realized what one-of-a-kind really meant. That when he bought a stuffed rocket ship for his brother, the person who sold it to him had made only one and there wasn’t another one in the whole world. That was real Christmas magic.

advent 2009

We have officially retired the “temporary” advent calendar that has seen us through the past few years. Those little activities and gifts have become a staple in our holiday traditions. I’m using a lot of the same activities but I’ve been adding in a little more reverence for the Christmas story (the one with Jesus, not Santa). I discovered this little activity that we started on Sunday. I’m sure there are other non-secular advent traditions out there too. What I liked about it was that it’s a nice short little lesson (for those two-year-old attention spans) and it’s kind of peaceful too. I am also working with our local neighborhood house to provide a hamper for a family in need. Our kids are still a little too young to be volunteering at a soup kitchen but perhaps they will get a similar experience from choosing gifts for a child in need.

I made the new advent calendar out of simple muslin bags. Sharilyn has a great tutorial here if you are interested. Mine were about half the size of the ones in her tutorial. I used number stamps and black screen printing ink for the numbers. I’m pretty happy with it’s simple look. I find that too many decorations at once can be a bit overwhelming.

And the houses are from a local craftsperson, mud puppy clayworks. We’ve been collecting them for years and use them as our Christmas village. Each one houses a little tea light.

Hope you are all having a great first day of advent.