10 Busy Fingers

Hello there, dear friends.  We have been enjoying summer and getting outdoors as much as possible.  It's been wonderful.  The days have been hot and sunny and we've tried our best to get out for an hour or more each day.  Would it not be for Charlotte Mason I would not be as intentional as I am today.

 

 

 

 However, this picture-heavy post is mostly about quilts.  Big surprise there, right?  I have had a little time to create a patchwork quilt from oooold Amy Butler charm packs.  It's been on my to-do list for years.  Simple patchwork is always my favorite design.  I love to let the colors and fabrics stand alone and do their thing without getting involved too much.

The back is a little crazy but that's ok.  The front is rather boisterous as well.  I feel it is hip and modern and mixes all those great patterns and colors in a lovely random way.

I did randomly spaced straight line quilting and bound it in Kona Ash.  It's in the shop and feels good to take off my mental list too. 

Miss Amanda got married!  She had an incredible wedding with all things rustic and vintage and straight out of  my wildest dreams.  My wedding (almost 10 years ago!) was similar to this feel but she took it to a whole new level.  I really love the organic, easiness of this quilt.  Burlap, muslin, earth tones... just lovely.

For two years now I've been making my own bread.  Don't get excited.  It was in a breadmaker.  It took literally 5 minutes to assemble and BOOM.  Three hours later we smelled fresh bread.  Nice.  Until it died. The breadmaker, that is.

I have always wanted to make my own bread for the family...  really make it.  But for goodness sake, somebody always needs something.  Well this time I've just decided to go for it.  I do 4 loaves on the weekend and hope it gets us through the week.  So far so good. 

I play a little of this, knead a little dough, and life is good!  The rest of the world can wait while I indulge in some Caroline Ingalls livin'. 

Another quilt... my dear sweet friend wanted to make her boyfriend a tshirt quilt for Christmas.  Yes!  I love that quilts are acceptable gifts among youngins these days.  He must be quite a man to be ok with a quilt.  For Christmas.  There just seems to be so much stress and hoopla over electronics and stuff.  There's an aweful lot of hype out there around the holidays, ya know?  So, I'm extremely touched to have had a hand in this really great gift.

If I do say so myself.

My baby boy.  He's so cute. 

And bedding!  A baby girl is coming in October (not here!) and she is going to have a very wonderful nautical nursery.  I made a fitted crib sheet from Sarah Jane's new line Out to Sea. 

As well as a crib skirt from the same line.  A bumper and quilt will complete the look, but these two are so sweet.  I'm not really a nautical person, but these colors are just adorable and Sarah Jane's artwork is adorable as always.

That's it.  My 10 busy fingers have to make some dinner now.  Thanks for hanging out with me!  I hope you are well and enjoying the last summer days as well. 
xoxo

A Memorable Summer

Another memory is made!  This truly has been the summer of memory quilts which includes t-shirt quilts and (formerly) bedding quilts.  I really like this idea.  My client used some very pretty bedding from Pottery Barn Kids when her kiddo was born.  Now that she's all grown up, she sent me the bumpers, crib skirt, and matching sheet to make into a quilt. 

I like incorporating little details like the piping and bows from the bumper.

It's soft and sweet and will be headed out to the big girl very soon!

This memory quilt I showed you a peek of last time.  It contains the large bear claw patch that I disassembled and tried to include without hurting the hand stitching.  A couple of Sunbonnet Sues, great-grandpa's baby clothes, and various items from both sides of baby's family make one awesome memory. 

I used high loft batting to make it extra "heirloomy" and soft after quilting 1/2' on each side of every seam.

A hand-embroidered label with a great Bible verse really touched me.

What an honor to be a part of family heirlooms!  I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to meet so many nice people and hear their stories.  God has brought so many new friends into my life and it's fascinating to watch Him show up in the most unusual places. 

Make some memories of your own this summer!  The little things are so important.

Hotness

Wowee it's hot in here!  I love it, though.  I am a huge fan of all four God-given seasons in this part of the world.  I really do enjoy each and every day, no matter the weather here. 

This is the first year I've planted seeds in the garden.  We usually just put my FIL's leftover tomatoes and peppers in the ground.  But this year I'm very motivated for some reason...

It's been a few weeks now and I'm happy (and surprised!) that some seeds have actually sprouted and are really and truly growing! 

These hands have also been busy in the sewing room too.  My very creative client envisioned these eclectic colors and fabrics together.  It's so super amazing to me.  Orange, fuschia, aqua... so unique and so modern.

Because I'm expecting less than 10% of my seeds to grow into food this summer (I've learned low expectations are good), we've been hitting the pick-your-own farms like crazy.  We always love those activities anyway, but this year I've ventured into the canning and preserving world.

 Strawberry jam!  Yes, it's "only" freezer jam but dagummit I made it and stacked those lovely little jars in my freezer in less than an hour.  All during baby's morning nap.   Baby steps for me.  I've never really canned before, so this was a realistic first step.  Next year I'm jumping in completely.  Probably.

My goal this year was to get outside as much as possible.  Like all the time.  We live within walking distance to a Starbucks which has been a great motivater for the girls to learn about money.  The values of each coin, paper, and when it's gone... it's gone.  My oldest got about $8 from her Easter egg hunt and has been saving it all spring.  We taught her to tithe, save, and spend. 

Her younger sister, however, has decided her currency would be a little easier to accumulate.  PomPoms seem a lot easier to come by than shiny coins, so she tries to pay for her Starbucks cake pops with fluffy round balls.  It's great.  Anyway, she asked for a change purse and I happily obliged. 

I bought the purse frame at JoAnn for about $2.  The rest of the fabric and interfacing I had on hand (scraps).  I followed a tutorial (can't remember which one now) and had it done in a couple of hours.  

It's been a few weeks and she still hasn't lost it!  It's been filled with locust skin, acorns, pebbles, and some feathers, so I take that as a good sign she likes it.

Spring and Summer mean graduation which is good for tshirt quilts!  This one was so fun to make.  I love the colors and pattern.  It was such a unique creation and made for one of the nicest girls out there.  I used a high loft batting for the first time and was amazed at the super softness of the finished quilt.  It was hard to stop touching it.  I really loved the outcome. 

Tshirt quilt #2... another twin size quilt.  My friend here had a million gajillion shirts.  So many, infact, that I had to put some on the back.  It made for a very difficult FMQing but I was able to maneuver it and coax it into submission.  I used a gray Flea Market Fancy for the back, one of my all-time favorite prints.  I think it tied in the school colors well and added a little "girliness" to all the sporty shirts.

Currently I'm working in a wonderful memory quilt for an extraordinary client.  She's more like a dear friend that I've never met in person, but just one of those that I really connect with.  Five generations of garments are going to be included.  The quilt top is done and I'm so very excited to see it come together.

The patchwork squares are 5" each.  Then I came across this 8" old patchwork square in her stack.  Hmmm... I could not take the thought of hacking into this beautifully hand-sewn treasure from the baby's great-grandmother.   So I gently unpicked the stitches and made it into 4 mini blocks with some ivory sashing to bring it to 5".  Perfect.

More on this quilt as it comes together.  I'm so pleased with the progress and know that it will be well-loved by many people.  It is such an honor to make these special heirloom quilts.  Meeting people from all over the world and getting to know their stories is always such a blessing to me. 

From college graduates to new babies and expectant mothers (and grandmothers!), it is always a joy to connect with someone who loves quilts as much as I do and feels their power to link the past to the future. 

Enjoy these summer days.  My love and I have had some great times with the kiddies and especially alone with a little wine.  We could use a little rain but we sure do enjoy the sun.

Stay cool, my friends.

Free Reads

We really have been enjoying the lazy, hazy days of summer this June.  Having finished up our kindergarten schedule just before vacation, we have decided to have a real break from homeschooling and enjoy the sun.

We use a curriculum based on Charlotte Mason and have really enjoyed it this year.  The philosophy suits us perfectly and I am super excited to start Year 1 in the fall.  We've really been focusing on nature study this year and it has been a time of immense growth for all of us. 

Our eyes are open to finding new discoveries and wondering how and why and what the purpose is...

The girls love finding "e-ven-dence" of animal tracks and budding flowers, fiddleheads, and bird songs.  We take pictures, sketch drawings, and look up new species in the field guides. 

And recently we checked out a bunch of books from the library and took them out on the picnic blanket.  All but one became instant favorites and will probably end up in my Amazon shopping cart.

Among the favorites I'd like to share with you:

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

Ox-Cart Man by Barbara Cooney
Stone Soup and other folk tale retellings by Marcia Brown
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (CM idea of duty in bringing beauty to the world)
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

Brer Rabbit books by Joel Chandler Harris
The Tale of Three Trees by Tim Jonke
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

A good collection including classic stories and folktales such as The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

I've also really enjoyed making and finishing Henry's quilt.  It is the pattern Coming Soon by Camille Roskelley.  Her pattern was for a crib size quilt so I had to break out the calculator to make this into a twin size (60 x 90).  It was very rewarding and also a good lesson for my oldest who is learning why it's important to learn how to do math.  She really likes to pretend she's buying fabric and measuring it for her quilts so we try to sneak in math as much as possible.

It's probably one of my most favorite quilts I've ever made.  I doubled up on the blocks and made enough for my son so that he can have a similar version of this someday.  The colors are so perfect.

So pick out your favorite quilt, grab some wonderful books, and laze around this summer.  Enjoy the days the Lord has made for you!

The Pin Cushion Vacates

Well it's only been about four years in the making but the fam headed to the beach last week.  It was incredible.  We really needed it.  We are much better versions of ourselves at the beach. 

I even let my dad stack the dishwasher in his super inefficient manner and it didn't even bother me. 

The weather was perfect.

Our view was amazing. 

The baby was excited.

I got to play with my kids and watch them and enjoy them.  No rushing around, no school, no commitments or phone calls.  All day, everyday.  We just played. 

I did some embroidery on our family quilt.  I'm adding some doodling on the borders.  I've traced some of the girls' precious drawings and first attempts at writing their names so that they can be embroidered forever.  I'm thinking of tracing baby boy's hands and adding a scripture on there too.  Think I can get hubs to doodle something as well?  :)

I came home and finished off a little pillow for baby James who was born super duper early at 32 weeks!  Stay strong, little one. 

It was really a lovely time and we are enjoying the memories and photos of the trip.  I came home ready and hungry to get back to my Janome.  Eight whole days without her seemed like a lot but it did indeed get the creative juices flowing. 

Hope you are refreshed and enjoying the beginnings of a fantastic summer season. Happy trails to those who are traveling!

Lion's Teeth

In my last post I was talking about how I just adore the colors of spring.  Here we are again, just soaking it up.  With the nutso weather we've been having this year so far, I feel like we've had four springs since it gets super warm then snows and warms up again.  Repeat.

Pattern is Coming Soon by Camille Roskelley

Here is one of my current quilts.  This is for a friend's son who just turned 3 and is in the big bed.  I have been trying to talk many of my clients into making this quilt for their sons and someone finally agreed!  :)  I only say that because I really wanted to make it for my boy and knew I probably never would if I didn't get someone else to start the process. 

I couldn't find any revisions of the quilt for a twin size.  So I dusted off the calculator and got to it.  It was pretty simple to figure out the rectangles but man those little sashings about put me over the edge.  Thankfully I think I figured it out.  Whew!
So here is Henry's quilt top.  Just needs some borders and I'll finish it up in a jiffy.  Only to start on the next one for Nino.

Speaking of my baby boy, he turned ONE!  He and Isabella have close enough birthdays that we were going to celebrate them together.  Except that they were both sick and it never happened.  Sad, sad, sad!   We finally gave him his smash cake a whopping two weeks later.  Sorry, buddy. 

Spring here means a plethora of dandelions.  We love 'em!  Yes, if we can't get the lawn mowed quick enough we do look like a drug house, but oh well.  Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote a lovely poem about Dandelions and this is one of my favorite verses: 

Children of the earth and sun.
We are slow to understand
All the richness of the gifts
Flowing from our Father's hand

We've been studying them for our Nature Journal time this week.  They really are fascinating plants.  I'm trying to decide if I'm brave enough to try Dandelion Fritters, Syrup, or Jam...

Because of naps and trying to remain on a schedule, we are kinda secluded sometimes and don't get out to explore as much as I'd like.  But using really great resources like The Handbook of Nature Study blog and other books like the actual HONS give me a lot of new ideas to make the ordinary extraordinary in the familiar yard before us.

Our first year of homeschooling is wrapping up and I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend this time with my oldest.  We have really learned a lot together and our relationship has grown as well.  It has been such a blessing and I really must say I am really excited for first grade to start in the fall.