Two weeks in one post. Lots of variety.



We were super lazy and got Chinese food for dinner. This was my fortune. We figured it meant I should email my brother (who lives in Toronto).


I ran out of peanuts and had to fill the squirrel feeder with birdseed instead. I guess they don't like it as much (they don't make this much mess with the peanuts).

I know ... weird picture. Rob was out of town and I was trying to finish off the leftover chicken. I love the way cranberry sauce looks so jewel like when light hits it.

This actually happened (and didn't end with anyone being chewed on either).

I glanced into our bedroom after breakfast. A sort-of-made bed and lots of sunshine coming through our curtains.

I'm working on some spare crate liners for Abby. This one features applique circles and I even used my applique foot to sew them - it really makes a difference - you can see so much more.

Finishing my new skirt.

Week 22

Zeke has started sleeping in the sun on the kitchen floor for part of every afternoon. When we get home from work he always wants to be carried around for a bit and I can tell which side was in the sun.

My fountain pen. I haven't used it in a while but it was the only appropriate tool for addressing tea party invitations. I love the way to writes - so fluid.

On Tuesday the trees suddenly had leaves. Every year I'm amazed at how quickly everything changes.

More changes: the dandelions are out. I know they can be a pest but they are also so pretty in big, wild patches.

One of the best things about going to the Noodle House for dinner is the enormous chunks of ice you get in your drink.

Some more paper piecing. I've only got one section left to go.

I have pansies in my garden. They're so bright and cheerful.

Do you ever see something that just makes you want to sew (or knit or paint etc.)? I'd had a kind of a crummy Thursday and was spending my evening hunched over at my computer reading blogs when I came across this post at Lovely Design (an awesome place to visit by the way). I didn't even read the post until later on. I saw that first picture and just needed to be in my sewing room putting fabric together. I wanted to hear the machine and smell the iron and create something from little bits of fabric.

It actually took me a little while to figure out what to work on. I didn't really want to spend time cutting up stuff before sewing so I was looking for something that was already ready to go. I have a few quilt tops in the works but they are hand piecing projects and that wasn't what I wanted. I thought about grabbing my scraps bin and sewing the bits together (I've done that before) but I didn't want to start a new quilt top when I knew there weren't enough scraps in the bin to finish it yet. After a bit more searching I unearthed this box and it was just what I needed.


This is a paper piecing project I started a few years ago. It was a class I took with my mum for Mother's Day. Have you ever tried paper piecing? It's totally different from any other kind of piecing I've done. Sew, trim, cute. Sew, trim, cut. It's rhythmic and simple and the theme of this picture is just right for the season.


It's kind of a mystery too. I know what the finished panel will look like but the individual sections don't look like anything.


Gradually to you join them together and you see a little more of the picture. Very exciting.


Karyn at Make Something invited everyone to join in her commitment to finish a few projects. I think I'll add this project to my list; I just really want to see how it turns out.

My sister and I went to the nursery today. I've been avoiding it as "too tempting" until I had an actual reason for going. I went looking for pansies and came home with a bunch of other stuff (plus the pansies) to add colour to our front yard and some veggies to our diet.

The green houses had posters up introducing us to their new "staff" of whom we saw many as we walked around looking at flowers.


We also found this fat, busy guy working his way along the pansy shelf.

I love all those colours.

While we were in such a pretty setting I got Jane to take a few pictures of my new skirt.


This is the Jersey Garden Skirt from Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee (the skirt on the cover). The pattern is a do-it-yourself affair making a custom fit for both you and your fabric. I used an organic cotton that came in a nice brown; it's not quite as stretchy as Meg recommends but still worked really well (and as a bonus it's thicker and doesn't feel so revealing). I decided not to do the reverse applique since I was going for a plain basic but it ended up shorter than felt right (for the record - it ended up exactly the length I'd planned it to be - it just felt like it should be longer once I was wearing it) so I had to improvise.

 

I'm so glad I made it too short to begin with or I'd never have thought of using the lace and buttons on the bottom of the skirt. I used my pattern piece as a guide to cut a panel five inches deep to overlap the original hem, sewed the side seams and sewed it to my skirt with the raw edge showing at the top. I sewed the lace on over my stitch line and added the buttons over that. I left the bottom edge raw; I like the curling and now it looks more intentional and less lazy.

ps. Planted my carrot seeds. Everything else is waiting for the garden boxes to be built (tomorrow - fingers crossed). I can't wait to eat this stuff.