wedding weekend

last weekend i flew to california for the wedding of a very special friend. trisha was my college roomate. we were neighbors in the dorm, freshman year and met though an electical outlet. really. the wedding was in mammoth, which i complained about being hard to get to, but it was so worth it once i was there. i had not been there since i was 13 or so and i had forgotten just how magical a place it is. the wedding was super rustic (we sat on log benches, see photo above). the theme according to trish was "crazy, mismatched, cool" or something like that. which is so perfectly her.

they did a fingerprint guestbook, which i had never seen before, but i thought it was so sweet and something to they can frame and hang up to see everyday as a reminder of thier wedding day and of all the people that touched their lives, shaping them into the people that they are today, perfectly matched for each other. (kristin (another college roommate) painted the tree!)

this was the view as we walked to the wedding site.  can you see the waterfall?  the snow on the mountains?  amazing.

here are some handmade gifts i brought with me for some of the babies that now outnumber us college roommates (13 babies and counting!).  two quilts, three bibs, one pinafore, and two krink-ly taggie toys we call baby paper (babies LOVE it!).

it felt so so good to be among good friends who really know me (better then i know myself sometimes).  it is hard sometimes living across the country, away from lifelong friends.  i am lucky to have made some wonderful sure-to-be lifelong 'east coast' friends too.  but there is something so comforting about being with an 'old' friend.

when i asked trisha how the ceremony went and what she was thinking, she said "it felt like a big hug, like everyone there was giving me a huge hug, so i felt totally relaxed".  this is exactly what this weekend was for me too.  a huge thee-day long hug.   

christmas crafting: a girlie quilt

this quilt was given just before christmas.  it was really late in getting finished...

it was given to a beautiful little girl named cambria.  she was born in july but with two little ones myself i just don't have the time to sew that i once had.  but the important thing is that it did get done!

although it is not technically a gift given for christmas, i am counting it as one of the handmade christmas gifts i gave this year.

i love the way it turned out.  playful and so pink.  the quilting was freehand and added a touch of whimsy.  love it!

i spy with my little eye

i made an i-spy quilt for calvin.  it took me awhile... it was originally going to be a christmas present... then a birthday present... finally last weekend, it became a just-because present.

due to a bad storm school (my work) has been closed due to no power all week and it has been rainy so this quilt has been a major source of entertainment around here.  so perfect timing in the end.

he loves it.  i love how he describes the square he is spying.  today he spied one square "with hundreds of tea pots" when the square actually has about 20 tea cups.  i like to try to use vocabulary that he does not necessarily know to see how he figures it out.  for example, i spied a square with a lady in a red kimono and he picked up on 'lady' and 'red' to find the square and then we talked kimonos.  he can't contain his giddiness when i get close to the square he spied.  

a quilt

:: front::

::back::

::binding::

the quilt is done except for a few stiches on the binding that i plan on finishing tonight. i love the pink and green together. the colors and fabrics were not what i had initially had in mind, but after putting together countless fabrics in different ways this is what i ended up with and i couldn't be happier. now it just needs a wee babe to wrap itself around.

more sewing

i made this quilt a few weeks ago for a new little family member who lives all the way in portland oregon. he arrived on valentine's day, but had to wait a bit for his quilt to be completed. luckily he is very patient.

i love the kokka fabric on the back (from sew mama sew).  i did wacky diagonal quilted lines on the bottom portion in brown.

as you can see the quilting is not perfectly straight, but it gives it a nice handmade look, which i tend to like more that i like pulling out crooked sewing.

28::4

baby shower

i went a friend's baby shower on saturday. it was animal themed so i made these brownies (using ari's award winning recipe) and put animal crackers on top. the animal crackers added a nice little crunch. so good.

i made a quilt for the new little one. they do not know the gender so i went with yellow and orange. i used the pattern from here. all the fabrics were from my stash so they came from all different places at all different times.

i am back to work this week, part-time. i am looking forward to the predictability of a schedule, but not spending mornings with calvin depresses me a bit. i am eager to put my newly aquired masters degree in literacy to work.

feeling gifty?

this is a sneak peak at two gifts i just got into the mail. the first is to my little bako boy.

these two little gifts match this blanket that i made for him just after he was born.

i also got this belated gift in the mail:

i loved making this. (it has not been delivered yet... so i am being a bit vague as to what it is) it is an adapted pattern from this book. i did two things i had never done before: make my own bias tape and use fabric ink to stamp letters onto fabric. both came out awesome and were easier than i thought they were going to be. i foresee lots of bias tape making in my future. i used the fabric ink pads that i got at the renegade craft fair (from the small object).

also, speaking of gift giving... i really want someone to gift this book to me. maybe for my half birthday, which is aug. 25th? just saying...

gifts for maddy

i finished a quilt for maddy over the weekend. it is smallish quilt (30x30) in spring colors. it was nice to dig into my pink fabric stash. boys have abounded amongst my friends lately. maddy was a nice and needed addition.

i also made her this little (well not so little, actually HUGE) pink bib as well. and i couldn't resist buying this turquoise dress for the girl. i met her today and she is absolutely adorable and snugly and she exudes that wonderful new baby smell.

here is a picture of calvin sitting on maddy's quilt and i was trying to sew it. he wanted my full attention at the time. he is becoming more and more spirited everyday.

crossing things off the list

my to-do list is a bit shorter this week. i finished joey's quilt and got it in the mail.

here are some sneak peek pictures. i am loving the free hand machine quilting lately.

school is out and i have two weeks of my master's degree left. i can see the finish line. i am looking forward to summer days filled with play and water and sand and good friends. (and absolutely no research articles or ethnographer's books)

happy solstice!

almost done...

i am currently trying to negotiate a few things simultaneously. things that are almost finished, but not quite. the first of which is elementary school. we have a week and a half left and i have many little details to sort out before i can end the year and end my time at my current school...and then of course get a new job. i turned down one this week. it didn't feel right. i hope i made the right decision. it makes me nervous to turn down a job when i don't have another one, and i have to work. i have an interview on monday. wish me luck.

second, my master's degree. the class i am taking is my last of two classes. yipee! i only have 8 more sessions of one class left, and a week long seminar and then i am done with the whole degree. i am trying to cherish the last month because i know that the collegial conversations that we engage in during class are rare out there in the working world. i will have to try and change that without having teachers run away when they see me walk into the lunchroom.

third, i am almost done with a quilt that has been a long time coming. luckily the little one it is for is very patient. i was hoping to be done before madelyn was born, but she came on tuesday. i hope to meet her next weekend.

the brown rice and veggies i am cooking are also almost done...

favorite things

calvin is rapidly changing from a baby who goes along with life to a toddler with specific ideas and expectations. it is amazing to watch. his vocabulary in the last few weeks has doubled. he has added apple, help, book and hot. he only says them though, when HE wants to.

of course he understands way more than he can say. sam and i love to give him a specific direction to see if he follows it. sam asked him to go get the ball and he did. also when faced with two differently sized blocks, he can also pick up the bigger one. one of my favorite things is to watch him think. it is hard to believe that just a year ago calvin was a helpless, cuddly peanut, who slept the day way.

here are a few of calvin's favorite things:

dirt

apples and blueberries

hummus

(notice that two of them are food...)

i have been busy with school. finals are coming up and i should be studying (now), but i have found some time to create. i am almost done with a quilt for baby leo, then i begin one for baby joey.

another friend of mine just told me she was pregnant on friday, so there is one more quilt to add to the to-do list. this is her second baby... her first was born the same week as calvin! i can't imagine being pregnant again. although on my college friends' blog i seemed to be a favorite to have another wee one soon. seeing all of the brand new tiny ones lately has got me thinking...just thinking.

two quilts done

it feels like everyone i know is having a baby. i am in a serious quilt jam. i finished two quilts recently though. one for baby ava (who is nine weeks old tomorrow) and one for baby jack, who is almost three weeks old.




but in the meantime, my other friend ari became a mom yesterday! i am so excited for her and little joseph.

also i have been super inspired by these. i want to make a series of small quilts for calvin's room. he doesn't have anything above his crib on the wall because i have been super paranoid about anything heavy that could fall on him, so a small lightweight quilt might be just perfect.

i went to the brooklyn flea last sunday with a friend. it was super posh and mostly had new stuff and very cool (expensive) vintage stuff. calvin got a super chic jacket for next winter and i got to meet lotta jansdotter so it was worth the trip.

this next week is spring break for elementary so i have the week off of teaching but i still have class at TC. i have big lofty plans for all of the days. you have to think big, right?

free motion

i was inspired by a quilt i saw on a blog (i can't remember where, i am so bad at remembering, one link leads to another, i get inspired and start making something and then i forget where i was when the inspiring happened) and so i tried free motion quilting and it worked. it was fun to do, but hard to make the stitched even. i tried for awhile, but eventually gave up and decided to live with the unevenness, even like it a little.

this is the long awaited quilt for my friend's baby, who is now 5 weeks old already. all i have left is the hand stitching on the binding. i hope to finish it this weekend, but i am also working on a quilt for another friend who is going to her her baby boy any minute now. i can't wait to get the call (or text, hello this is the 21st century...) that it is time. good luck jill!

i finished calvin's week bunny today for easter. i love how it turned out. i will post pics soon.

29:3

the quilt i am working on for calvin's newest friend, ava rose.

sewing straight...

quilting lots of equally spaced straight lines is harder than i thought. at first i was frustrated and ripped out my first two sewing lines, but now i am talking myself into liking the imperfect 'handmade' look.

using my new walking foot and trying out different stitches is fun and i think the quilt will look fine in the end because there will be so many lines that each line's imperfections will not be as noticeable. at least that is what i keep telling myself.

now i just have to start sewing the lines that go the other way.