Cornelia

Cute pink girly thing #1 for my niece comes in the form of a sock elephant made from this book (which I love–it’s so sweet and easy to do.  This would be a good place for little hands to start sewing).  Why Cornelia?  Why not?  Usually I name all my animal friends with alliterative names (Tilly the Turtle, Bacon the Bear, Jehosphaphat the Jackrabbit [my personal favorite--especially when sweet little first graders try to say it], Phileas Frog etc), but Cornelia insisted on something different.  I feel like she needs a silk jacket or perhaps a tutu, but I’m sure my niece is not concerned about such things being only 3 days old. 

 Here we find our American Elephant in her natural habitat, among some of the many cookbooks in the house and near a spool of quilting thread, which has lately been used to make buckets of yoyos.

In other news, Nathan was here last weekend:

There is so much snow already!  My skiing friends will be excited.

Lullabies for the not so young

My 6th graders this year have historically been a pretty rough group.  I’ve seen them through 5 years of a lot of really hard days.  This year I decided I wasn’t going to be afraid of them anymore.  I can’t change the circumstances in their lives that make them react to things the way that they do, I can just try and love them the best I can.

So today, I way went out on a limb.  There’s this beautiful lullaby that is in part of Jill Trinka’s collection.

The lyrics are thus:

Lady, lady, buy a broom for my baby

Lady, lady, buy a broom for my baby

Sweep it low, sweep it high, sweep the cobwebs out of the sky

Lady, lady, buy a broom for my baby

Text wise–this is SO NOT APPROPRIATE for 6th graders, but again, I decided to take a chance.  Why?  Because the melody is stunning (and will help my kids with tonic and dominant chords) and they need more beauty in their lives. 

It was AWESOME to watch them learning this song.  They were all embarrassed, but I could tell that they really liked it too–like they were shy about admitting how much their sweet little hearts were touched by this simple little tune.  In this super-techy world filled with so much noise and ugliness, I’m reminded of how the joy of a simple song can be just the balm a weary heart needs.  And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Wee project

My women’s group and I are going on a retreat this weekend, so I wanted to make them all a small present just because.  I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but I haven’t gotten around to it, so I figure the day that we’re leaving I might do something about that.    So I found several Bible verses, wrote them on index cards that I sewed to little squares of fabric and then zigzagged the edges.  They turned out really nice.  I wrapped them in squares of fabric leftover from my swimsuit experiment that didn’t work out (more on that later).

YEE HAW

I’m so excited!  I love decor8.  Holly always has such fantastic decorating ideas and inspiration and links to lots of talented people that think in color.  A while ago, she posted a contest on her blog for people to write in about what colors they love and why they feel they are in need of inspiration.  So out of 1,060 entries, I was one of the winners!!!!  I’m so excited (did I mention that?!)!  I can’t wait to get my little box of goodies.  More than 100 different people sent in stuff to be donated to this giveaway, and Holly personalized each box.  I’m hoping that this green fabric is in mine–I want to revamp the duvet in our guest room. 

photo: decor8

This made my day if not my week.

Treasure Hunting

My Mom and Aunts and I had a wonderful time at the Antique show in IA this weekend.  There were rows and rows of people all along the streets in this little town.  We walked until it was too hot and we were tired.  We could have been there for a week for all of the antiques that were there.

This is what I found:

I love vintage tablecloths…not just for strudel-making, but because they’re so cheery with their bright patterns and colors and they are impeccably made.  I defy anyone to find a modern mass-produced tablecloth that will last 50+ years.

Mom bought me this tea cup which coincidentally matched the lemonade set that I found and bargained for.  Sadly, part of the top broke off on the trip back to Colorado.  I’m trying to find a food-safe epoxy to fix it.  It shall just have to be pretty until then.

Before we went, Mom made her famous apple fritters and I taught my aunts how to pull strudel dough.  They were quick students and did a beautiful job on a batch of cherry strudel.  My Grandpa watched us, giving us hints that he remembered from my Great-Grandma when he was a kid watching her pull strudel.

Fab Fabric

Our living room is in serious need of some jiffy pillows to brighten up our college couches(I call Nathan’s “the couch of questionable origins” given all the variety of random things that used to lurk under the cushions.  We pulled out baseball cards, a couple of butter knives, remotes to electronic devices that Nathan never owned and other such curiosities.  It was quite the funny discovery.). 

Enter new Midwest Modern fabric and Anna Maria Horner’s new Drawing Room fabric.  I have to say, I like the colors in both of these fabrics way more than any of Amy Butler’s previous lines or Anna Maria Horner’s.  The dark teal in the book fabric is really pretty. 

 

I’m excited to start sewing.  Up until now, I haven’t found any pillowish fabric that I’ve really liked.

This was outside our apartment during a wee afternoon shower (which I’m personally grateful for today–it reminds me of spring in Houston which I miss).

Pretty Belts

The belt book came in the mail yesterday.  There’s a lot of wonderful ideas in it, and all of the directions are very clear and easy to follow.  I like this one a lot.  Check it out–it’s a good read and a craft book whose projects are not only doable but actually worth doing.

(photo from Making Stylish Belts by Ellen Goldstein-Lynch, Sarah Mullins, and Nicole Malone)

I reserve the right to change my opinion

So I went to go cut the curtain up to make a muslin for the Cape Mod, and I thought–why not? Nathan went through the trouble of hanging the curtain rod, the least I can do is hang it up and see how it looks before I cut it up.  I actually like it.  It looks nice with the VERY green duvet cover and quilt that I made and it lets a whole lot of light into what can be quite the cave of a little work room.  I guess I’ll have to pirate my muslin from another source.

Purple Snow?

I think I decided what to do with the lilac herringbone fabric I got at Mood.  This is one of the most compelling projects in Sew Everything Workshop (that and all of the very beginner-friendly advice on sewing your own clothes), and one of the main reasons I bought the book.  This fabric has such a lovely drape to it and I think it would be very appropriate for this kind of project.  I think I will make a muslin of it just to make sure…otherwise this fabric will become a skirt. 

Girls’ Night Purse

I made this new wristlet for myself.  I love wristlets–they hold what you need and are hands-free and don’t weigh down your shoulders.  I’m not usually a gold girl, but I liked this fabric so much I gave it a go.  The camera didn’t pick it up, but the sequins on the trim are gold too–which catch a lot of nice light in the sun.

Jenny at All Sorts has put forth a challenge to post a blog entry every day in May.  I think I will give it a shot.  With school winding down, it should be doable.