A Story About a Boy; A Picture of a Skirt

This week, I feel like my Tommy really needed me, and I'm so relieved to say I didn't let him down.  So often, I don't realize until after the fact that he needed something from me.  This time, despite the fact that I'm buried at work this week, I managed to do just the right things at just the right time, and he (we both) really needed that.

Tommy goes to a Montessori school, which was not actually an easy decision for me to make.  I don't believe in 'one size fits all' education, so in many ways, the Montessori philosophy is well-suited to us.  But finding just the right fit for your own kid is a very humbling experience.  (Speaking as somebody who has confidently advised other parents on how to handle their children's educational needs.  Ahem.)  Tommy is intellectually very independent, but quite needy emotionally.   The jury is still out on whether or not both of those needs are being met.  It's a tricky combination, so there are days when everything is working, and then there are other days when things are just 'off' for him.  (PS:  I don't judge you, School; there are plenty of days when I'm fairly certain we aren't hitting the mark either.)

His dad encouraged and guided the first project, and I was on call for the second.  Last night, I really needed to get ready for my parent conferences and report cards this week, prep for my students, I had a million and one chores that still aren't done....oh, you get it.

But instead, I gave Tommy my full attention.  It was the right choice. It was exactly what I really needed to do, and all that other stuff worked out just fine.   It's an exhausting kind of energy, too, because it would be easier and faster for me to just do the dang thing, but that serves nobody, so my actual job was to sit quietly, watch him work, answer his questions (with questions; "How do you think it should go?"), and generally keep the focus on and the motivation up. 

That's two good moves for us and the week's not even over!  Not that I'm keeping score.  *Cough*.

And here's that picture of a skirt!  Haha!  It has nothing to do with anything, except I wrote about buying the embroidered skirt at the thrift, and it was laying on the bed, so I snapped a quick pic of it when I was walking by.  Obviously, I like to keep things exciting around here.

Clean Kitchen Strategy

 We're getting another mini-heatwave this week.  It's crazy, but I'm getting new growth on bell peppers and all these tomatoes ~ still! ~ I bet I'm getting a kilo of tomatoes a day.  Plus, cucumbers!  And new growth on the cucumbers!  And so many eggplants, and squash.  It's been kind of a wild growing season...but I'm starting to feel like I say that every year!

 

It's so nice to have a clean kitchen!  It's inspiring, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have such a modest amount of (manageable!) produce on the counter.  Let's just turn around and...

 

 ...argh!  Well, I guess I could do the dishes.  And take out the garbage.  And clean off the counters.  Put away the food.  Sweep.  Or...wait, you know what? 

There!  That's better!  Let's just turn around.

 

 This way, we'll have plenty of time to take in the Giants game (hummmmm baby!!!) and we can also  enjoy this tidy and lovely stack of hot-off-the-presses embroidery patches.  Easy does it.

Christmas Handmades

Since we had planned to be up in the snow over Christmas, I had committed to making hats and scarves for the kids. Here's what you get when you say, "Hey, guys? Would you mind wearing your hats for a sec so I can get a picture?" They are so silly!




This little matching set has earflaps, could you die? I loved this pattern, but really, if I didn't already know how to make one, I would have found the directions for crocheting in the round a little bit confusing. A few times I thought, "Huh... Wouldn't have gotten this from that."

But, I am so grateful to people everywhere who just create, write, and share, all out of love, that I'm still going to link to it, because if you wanted to try one, you should. I'm thinking I'll make a modified version for myself. Did I mention the earflaps?!?




Tommy graciously agreed to model the hat and scarves I made for my nieces, too. He insisted on 'voguing' for me here.






But, as you can see, he quickly lost interest during the costume change.

Gianna's purple hat and Kaziah's turquoise hat were both made from free patterns over at LionBrand.com It requires registration, but they don't spam and there are lots of free patterns there.

I wanted to get my grandniece ~ GRANDNIECE. The hell? ~ some model horses. Oh my god, did I love my model horses? Oh, yes, I did! I still do, in fact. I stared at the wooden barn with corrals and the model horses that go with them for about half an hour at the toy store. In the end, I had to admit that she's two. My Little Pony it is. With glitter.


In the meantime, I contented myself by whipping up a matching Starling Handbag in which to store them.

And there were a few handmades that are still in progress. A crafty Christmas is always a sharp lesson in 'letting go', in my experience. I still work on these snowman 'bluework' embroidery patches (I'll work on them a bit later tonight, when the kids lay down) that I will make into a quilt for Gram. I already washed and dried and ironed the sashing and border fabrics. Only three more patches to go; maybe this weekend will find it finished, unless it gets bumped. There are several unfinished projects vying for attention!

I'm no expert embroiderer, truly, and maybe this is a no-brainer, but here's my organization tip. I'm using about 8 shades of blue and 4 shades of green to make these patches. The skeins of floss are easily tangled, plus you have to separate the 6-strands into 2 3-strand sections before you get to work. That's a lot of loose string, my friends. So I had some old playing cards laying around (I was brushing up on my poker skills between needlework) and they made the perfect cards to wrap and store the different flosses.

And when I stood up the other night, after nesting into my corner of the couch for a half-hour of stitching, I had to laugh and take a picture. Always, always, present, for any crafting project? A notebook and pen and legos. Notebook because I'm a compulsive writer and, no matter what I'm doing, I stop regularly to jot down notes, lists, or ideas. Legos because anytime I sit still, for more than 5 minutes and for any reason at all, a boy will be crawling on me and playing with legos the whole time.

Hoosier Girl

I've come to think of her as my "Hoosier Girl" project. Like, Monday, when I was coming home from work, I had apples on my brain, but I was also thinking that I'd really like to get some work done on my stitching. It wasn't to be on Monday, and even though I was knee deep in boiling jars and chopping last night, too, I did manage to finally finish the embroidery part of Hoosier Girl.

In fact, I've been seeing red for several reasons! I've also been working on the red trio for my botanical applique. I know I say this every time I start a new color, but these are my new favorites!

And there she is, that lovely lass in the back, made using traditional redwork. I've made her the perfect size to fit the bottom cupboard door of Gram's hoosier, and oh, I think she fits the tone and mood so perfectly!

When Scotty saw me working on it, he got very excited. He started squealing, "Mommy, that's you! That's my mommy! My mommy! That's you, Mommy!" and guess what? It does look like me! I hadn't even thought of that, but of course it does. Her hair pulled up and and stitching away (which you can see in the next picture). Tommy is a big-boy-now, and at 9 years old there decidedly less squealing (unless he's being pinched by Scotty ahem), but he also said, much later, "Hey, mom, that looks just like you!". What those kids do to me.

The picture is very old; I believe it's in the public domain, possibly from an old coloring book? I found it here. I used a photocopy machine to blow it up to 150% it's original size, then copied it onto kona white cotton using my light box and a micron permanent red pen. I knew I wanted to do the whole thing in red, so the easiest thing was to just trace it in red. There are a couple of spots where I went off the tracks by a millimeter, and the red pen is visible, so you wouldn't want to do that if you weren't using red thread.

I used two strands of DMC red (the darker one) and backstitched everything but the circle. She didn't come with the circle, but I didn't want to leave her floating out there. I used an embroidery hoop to pencil in the outline of a circle. I used two strands and I think it's called 'lazy daisy' stitch? Or 'daisy loop' stitch, maybe?

This was also the first time I embroidered through the batting and the fabric at the same time. It was so smooth! And I think she looks smashing, but of course I'm biased! I still need to back it, trim it to the exact size, and make and sew on the binding, but she's closer to done than all that sounds. :)

Of course, that's just chronologically speaking. "Close to done" could be months away, if my pile of "close to done" projects is evidence.

Round Robin ~ Brit

I finished Brit's block. It's actually been done for awhile now (I finished it on Monday) but I had to sit with it before I realized it really is done. It's not exactly how I pictured it in my head; my skillz aren't that closely aligned with my imagination! I just have to put my hands up and say it's done, otherwise I'll worry it and stress over it until I literally make myself sick! (Have I mentioned how fun a round robin is? Because it is! It's fun! Just. It's stressful too!)

When Pippa and I were working on our swap project, she mentioned that it is a tradition, when swapping, to use the opportunity to try something new. I really took that to heart; in this case, I've always wanted to applique. It appeals to me, as I like to do hand-work, and I like to worry about little details. My friend Monica showed me how, and she's a great teacher so I was off and at it in no time at all.


I was inspired by the center block that showed her whole family running (via the magic of embroidery!) across the landscape. I knew I wanted to add turtles, because of The Turtledash Half Marathon that they host every year, and my original idea was to also applique leaves of some sort, since The Turtledash happens in the fall.

I fooled around quite a bit with pattern, fabric, and placement. Making these two turtles (they are Brit, and her husband, Scott) was a no-brainer.








And these wee little turtles were uncontroversial, as well. They are Moo and Wah, their adorable boys.







Everything else was pure drama. I decided at some point that appliqueing the leaves would be way too busy. Just too much. So I picked up on the embroidery from the center block by mimicking the trees in three of the border squares, and embroidering a heart in each of the corner squares.




Just today I decided to use french knots to put an eye on each turtle. But I think that's it. Unless she hates it. In which case, I'm prepared to take the whole thing apart and start over. Because did I mention it's not 'due' until August 1st? Yeah, I'm a badass.

Perfect!

I finished! This is the valance I made.

I almost didn't get it in my own kitchen, because when I showed my mom my progress yesterday, she said, "That would look great in my kitchen!" And that's just about all it takes to get me to say, "You can have it!" But, unlucky her, I'd already lost two purses that way in the last week alone.

I gotta draw the line somewhere.





It looks so perfect! I never truly realized how 'naked' the window looked before, but now that I see it all dressed up, it looks so homey and cozy and happy. *deep sigh*










This was the embroidered rooster piece that sort of inspired the whole thing. I found the pattern free online. (Click on the jpg file ~ in red ~ to download the pattern...other fun vintage patterns found here too!)

I used threads in the same greens and reds and browns that are in my kitchen, plus I did some of the flowers in fabric pieces that I also used in strips to create the valance itself.




I also sewed in a lining so it would look good from both inside and outside the house. Actually the lining is just plain old muslin/canvas material, so it doesn't look like much from outside, but at least you're not walking up to the front door and staring at the knots in the back of my amateurish embroidery!







And here we go. I may have mentioned how messy I am when I'm cooking....kind of a nightmare when I'm crafting, too. *cough*

Of course, this will have to wait until I've cuddled my little Scotty. BOTH of my boys are really needing some love right now, actually. Scotty for obvious reasons, but it's been hard on Tommy too.

So, first hugs, then this.

Bowl of Good

Just because I'm sure there's somebody in The Internets who will totally know that I am not crazy when I say that I was using this, my-new-favorite-recently-thrifted-tiny-happy-bowl, to collect scraps from my embroidery project, and it just looked so beautiful that I had to take a picture.

Totally not crazy.

:: Swap ::

I mentioned that I participated in a 'swap' for the first time, and now that it's over I can share without fear of 'ruining' a surprise! Pippa got her package over the weekend and sent me a lovely note to let me know. The swap was for "pot holders and dish towels". Just to let you know, when I signed up, it was dishtowels. Which I can do. Then it evolved and added pot holders. Which was problematic. Then they got the bright idea to include a recipe. You're killing me, here.


But Pippa was so warm and welcoming and encouraging. She really made it such a fun experience, and I hope everybody was as lucky in their partner-ings.

I crocheted two dish rags and two...I don't even know. The square solid ones are supposed to be dish towels. They are too short to be helpful as dishtowels, but too thick (though I love that waffle weave!) to be dish rags. They could actually pass as potholders! I have a couple in my own kitchen, and I use them constantly, for everything, but they truly do defy description. I wipe counters, grab hot food, lay them as a make-shift trivet, and wipe my hands on them.


I also made two proper pot holders, from the general directions in Stiched in Time. I embroidered some cheeky fruits and vegetables from the Sublime Stitching designs, because I knew from our email correspondence that Pippa loves to garden. (BTW: How have I gone this long without zombies?)


I also found out that Pippa and her family are great campers (we have so much in common!) and I think this little caravan and pup-tent are the sweetest (also from Sublime). I embroidered them using a really traditional idea of redwork, then took off on that a bit for some "aquawork". These are actually proper kitchen towels, and are of a size, shape, and fabric that should be quite useful in the kitchen!


The recipe I sent was Rachel's Afghani Chicken. I love this meal! It all cooks up in one pot (I use our dutch oven) and that is always a blessing when it comes to clean-up time. It's always delicious and it's a great 'company' dinner since it requires little of the hostess but packs a punch in presentation and taste. It calls for saffron threads (expensive! at least here...and I get them at either the proper meat butcher's or the Afghan specialty store near my work...I've never seen them at a 'regular' grocery store in our area) but in a pinch (and you know I've been in a pinch!!) you can use tumeric, which is readily available in any spice aisle.

Thanks again, Pippa, it was so lovely! And I do believe she'd approve, since all of these items were either made with thrifted or repurposed materials!

:: Pillow ::

Little Miss Maddie is totally my buddy. Her mom is one one of my dearest friends, and Maddie stole my heart the moment I met her, over eleven years ago.

She's a 'young lady' now, and her mom recently gave her room a tween-update. She painted the walls an apple green, and brightened the trim with fresh white. Her bedding is fresh black background with big white polka dots. It's so sweet!

She came over a week ago and picked out a design from Doodle-Stitching. She picked the 'mod napkin' project, which is a graphic set of circles in aqua and red. We switched it up to green and black, and I worked on the embroidering this last weekend. I made a pillow cover out of a cozy black and white flannel, and pieced the embroidered panel to the front.

I think it turned out adorable. I left it on her porch this afternoon. I used to love to do that when I was little. Did you ever do that on May Day? My mom used to help me make little cones out of paper, and I would pick flowers from the field behind our house (or, more scandalously, from neighbors' yards) and I'd hang them on door knobs in our neighborhood. Then I'd run away. So fun! It's like sanctioned doorbell ditch.

Wouldn't it be a blast to make some of these and use them to continue such a sweet tradition? I think I'll do that with my boys.

Projects

I've been making a lot this week. My friend has two kids, and they both had birthdays last week. Her son turned 2 and her daughter turned 5. There was a big party where Scotty made the birthday girl cry by licking her cake. Sorry.

Anyway, I made little Devan a cape and it was so dang cute. You'll have to trust me because I have a bad habit of sending things off to their new homes without taking pictures. I used the cape pattern in Stitched in Time and it was fantastically easy and fast to do. I think it took about 30 minutes, start to finish. I couldn't drive to the store and back in that amount of time!

I used a beautiful dark aqua of Kona cotton fabric. Instead of a monogram, I used iron-on fabric paper and I found an image online of Speed McQueen (his favorite!) which I printed onto the fabric from my color inkjet printer. Unless there's some sort of copyright infringement issue with that, in which case, I have no idea what you're talking about. Also printed onto the iron-on fabric, in bold red letters, was "Super D", which I just did using my word processor. Cut it all out, ironed it all on. Two rows of thick red rick-rack (sp?) and a white flannel lining later and BAM! Cape is made.
For Cassidy, I made her this adorable little tote. (Photo credit and pattern both Melissa Majewski) Instead of a flower, I made a hot pink heart from this pattern and sewed it right on there. I lined it with a sweet fabric that had a white background and dark pink mod fowers and stars.

How beautiful is this picture??? (Photo credit and pattern from Creativeyarn)

I made it with a light pink cotton for the 'chains' and a white cotton flower with a dark pink button in the center.






I tucked the necklace into the tote with a stuffed bear and bunny (free pattern from here). It's really easy, unless you're me, in which case you will spend 80% of the 2 hours it takes you to make them yelling at knots in your embroidery thread. Another 10% of the 2 hours will find you trying to thread the needle. Everything else is cake.