for little man H and his mama

My pal Janie is about as old of a friend as old friends come. My first memory of her is from early one autumn morning (1988, I think?), when we played together at her house. I cried when my mom dropped me off, but we had so much fun that both Janie and I cried when it was time for me to leave! Well, buckle my boot, 22 years later and we both have babies, live in the South, and have Etsy shops (see her cute shop here).

So, when I said that thing about Lizzy needing a new doll, Janie said — hey! I’ll make you one! (Well twist my arm.) We decided to make it into a swap, and she requested an art smock for her sweet boy H in gender-neutral colors/motifs, and some napkins in a “cheerful hodgepodge” of colors.

I put a button on Lizzy’s smock, but my buttonhole skillz are like, uh, nonexistent, so I opted for the tieback closure on little man H’s. (Janie, if you want to cut them off and put on a button, go for it. ‘Cause I know you’ve got the skillz.)

Cheerful hodgepodge, right? And all six napkins are reversible and have a different print on the other side (I just didn’t take a picture).

Lizzy won’t get to meet her doll until we go to fetch her in California next month (Janie offered to send her, but going to pick her up at Grandma’s house is way more exciting, right?). We are all so excited to meet her! Thanks for such a fun swap, Janie!

the great sheet freak-out

I have been stalking my mailman for days in hopes of getting what I got today — the mother lode. Two big fat packages of vintage sheets arrived from Rachel and Evelyn, both members of the Vintage Sheet Bee and fellow vintage sheet addicts.

Evelyn is my, um, dealer. Which is great news for my upcoming Etsy shop — because everything in it will be handmade from vintage sheets! I did another little photo shoot today with my own babies, and I’m hoping to post some of those tonight or tomorrow. ‘Cause I know you’re all losing sleep at night with your burning curiosity.

Anyway — here’s what came today. I’m still totally buzzing. Oh, and that baggie on the top of the box is not sugar packets…it’s tags! From the sheets! To use for my shop! (How cool is that? Thanks, Ev.)

If you’ve been looking for a way to get your paws on some fantastic vintage sheets, there are two great ways to do so right now — for one, Evelyn is selling off some of her loot; she’ll send you a flat rate envelope stuffed with fat quarters for $15 (more details here). There’s also a ginormous swap about to happen, and you can sign up (but only until Wednesday!) and see lots of pretty pictures right here. Tally ho!

stash swappage

I love swaps! I recently jumped into swapping on Flickr, which I so far like a lot better than Swap-Bot. The Designer Fabric Stash Swappy-Poo group is a great place to start if you’re interested. Anyway, the mailman has been cramming my box with tons of amazing stuff lately, but I wanted to share a little slice —

I started swapping for small bits of fabrics by Kaffe Fassett, ’cause I fell in love with this rainbow quilt and I really really really want to make something like it. What a happy thing to have in your home on a dreary winter day!

I also did a couple of swaps for some tasty Munki Munki prints. People are nuts about this stuff (it isn’t actually fabric off of a bolt — it’s cut-up pieces of pajamas) — with the possible exception of Flea Market Fancy, I’ve never seen anything closer to a fabric cult — but I’d love to make a sweet something a little like this Munki quilt.

Fun, huh?

christmas? naw, a really really really good mail day

Since we’ve adjusted a little better to life without Daddy for a while, I’ve been swapping again…today’s trappings include some amazing vintage sheet FQs from Evelyn:

…some fun little trinkets from Eva and Phoenix:

…as well as half a yard of Ugly Duckling and a Good Folks charm pack from Two Birds Fabric (thank you, Rent.com)…eeeeee!!

I have no idea what I’m going to do with the Ugly Duckling. But I just love the way that little yellow duck is sticking his nose in the air, as if to say, “Pish-posh, pretty ducklings. I’m swimmin’ against the stream, yo.”

vintage sheet swap (!!)

I am completely bouncing off the walls about this: Jennifer over at Rosey Little Things is hosting a vintage sheet fat quarter swap! I’ve seen blog-based swaps like this before, but haven’t gotten in on the goodness until now. Because seriously? Look at all the amazing things you can do with vintage sheets (this is my very favorite — I think I might copy her and use the same pattern).

Today we took a family field trip to Somebody’s Attic, and besides Dr. Seuss’ The Foot Book, look what I found — two huge sheets for ONE BONE! Score. (Editor’s note, post-publishing status: my mom just informed me that these were the same sheets my parents had when they were first married. How cool is that?)

I started seeing all this vintage sheety stuff on blogs a few months ago, but just recently decided to start my own collection. Somehow, within two months, I went from having three pillowcases to having more than enough to send out 29 fat quarters for this swap (blush!) — though in my defense, not all of them are the same. They accumulate easily — used sheets are cheap, and one sheet makes a whole lot of fat quarters (all the more to swap with, my dear).

If you want to hop on, Jennifer is taking signups until June 12th or until she has 50 participants. C’mon, it’ll be fun!

please let this baby come tonight — except wait, i’ve got quilting to do

Look what came in the mail today — this awesome fat quarter of Dick & Jane fabric!

I have no idea what to do with it, but the swapper who sent it said she used it to make a bag for missing game pieces (so smart). What would you do with it?

There’s a project hatching in my head — possibly a big one — based on the wonky log cabin and Denyse Schmidt’s technique of pulling fabric scraps out of a paper bag at random as you construct quilt blocks.

I played around with it a little tonight (no stitches in there). It’s a little unnerving — throwing quilting caution to the wind to make something that has crooked seams and unintentional color placement ON PURPOSE. I’m nervous/excited.

The Miss is in bed and it is time to relax: I’ve got a husband to hang out with, a movie to watch, a bottle of outrageous nail polish, and, if I can work up the courage, fabric scraps to cut up and stitch into. It’s going to be a good night.

reversible half apron

I made this last night for a swap, using this really awesome tutorial. Really simple, really cute, and it came together in a snap using two fat quarters and some extra fabric for the ties. I think I’ll be making more of these!

Tonight I’m trying to decide what to do for the border on Lizzy’s quilt. It’s kind of driving me crazy. I think there’s a certain beauty to the backside of things though, don’t you (yes, I press my seams open, please don’t be mad at me)?

Another prenatal today. Four(ish) weeks to go — we start with home visits next week!

my sexy banneton

I love that part on Ratatouille where Colette explains to Linguine how to spot a loaf of good bread: “Not the smell, not the look, but the sound of the crust. Listen. [bread crackles] Seeeemphony of crackle. Only great bread sound this way.”

Well, we aren’t quite there yet, but we are definitely getting warmer. My early Mother’s Day present this year was this sexy little banneton. I’ve been wanting one since working at Crumb Brothers (so, 5+ years), and it is so fun to finally have one!

I overproofed the bread a bit, so the loaf is not as tall as I had hoped. It is definitely still tasty, and as Nancy Silverton promises when she talks about learning how to bake with sourdough starter, each loaf gets a little bit better. The number of variables in sourdough baking is dizzying to me sometimes — it’s this weird mix of crazy-scientific and uber-intuitive — and I keep wondering whether I will ever really hit it spot-on. A girl can dream, right?

Unrelated: I checked out Beethoven’s complete string quartets from the library this week, and have decided that I could listen to only that for the rest of my life and be really happy about it.

The needlebook swap went to the post office today, along with some vintage lace and some pages from an old book (both are things my partner collects to use in her crafting). I’m so happy with the way this turned out!

Since Richard is done with school now, we have so much more time to spend together — a nice perk before he starts Basic. That means lots of trips to the park, silly little errands together (or by myself, while he and Lizzy have quality daddy-daughter time together), sleeping in, and just having the luxury of sitting and talking together without worrying about what isn’t being done at that moment. It is wonderful, and we are soaking up every moment.

itchy eyes, but worth it

Could I have been mildly allergic to wool all along, but never known it? Last night I made two needlebooks (one for a swap, one to keep); the pages for the swap needlebook are cotton because my partner is allergic to wool, but I used wool felt for the other one, and it made my eyes itch.

Still, it was lovely; the near-instant gratification of starting and finishing a project in one night, playing with color and texture on such a low-stakes scale (it’s not like, a quilt or anything), and getting to use some gorgeous little bits from the stash.

I realized a few days ago that I have been hoarding some really beautiful fabrics, unwilling to use them, because what if a better project for them comes along??? So I’m trying to use those favorite little bits more often (like the gray print here), and you know what? It made me really happy. Next I want to make some mismatched napkins from some bright, exciting fat quarters I’ve had stashed away.

Needlebooks are great little doodads — instead of having a thousand half-filled paper packets of random needles, you keep them all in one pretty, compact place. Inspiration here (fourth photo) and tutorials here and here.

Mother’s Day came early to our house. Yesterday afternoon, Richard came home with a milkshake from Charlie’s and a certain implement from Kitchen Kneads which I have been coveting for years and will share tomorrow, when the product of said implement is ready to rock (happy day!).

rainbow button card

A small thing, but it made me happy: a rainbow of buttons sewn onto a paint sample. Writing little notes on paint samples with sharpies is a rather cheerful activity in general.

I’m supposed to cook dinner for two adults instead of twenty from now on. I’m feeling a little bit lost.