all buttoned up.

The First One

Truly turned one last week. I know.

Sam's first year took ten. I'm glad that I was blogging during Augie and Manny's because there was some good stuff in there that I've totally forgotten already. This child's first year has felt like small wonders all lined up. Starting with my pregnancy there were a thousand things that might have gone wrong. But mostly they didn't and the important stuff stayed intact. I try not to take any of that intact stuff for granted. She brings out the sweetest and the best in her brothers, with no signs of flagging. She smiles so much. And more than any of her brothers, she is at once thrilled and terrified by life. This probably just makes her more like her mother than anyone else.

I made her an Apple Cake (Smitten Kitchen) for a tiny party we had on Sunday. I'm trying to instill a love of fruit desserts in her early.

(polaroid by Ann McGarry, of course)

Scrap Bags. Treat Yo Self.

Hello! I have scrap bags. There are 9 in total. 3 are all vintage (the scraps in these tend to be smaller and of varying content, but mostly cotton) The vintage bags are good! 

Thanks everyone!

11 dollars gets you a stuffed bag and free shipping if you're in these United States. If you want one, specify regular or vintage and leave a comment here. I'll send you a paypal invoice directly. I'll close the comments as soon as they are all gone!

There will be more, I think. The bags are good-- some bigger pieces and a lot of smaller bits for scrappy patchwork things. There are a lot of Free Spirit designers and some Japanese fabric in all of them. I'm going to try and make them super worth your while.

Liberty Blues Napping Quilt

When I gave this to our neighbor she pulled it out and said, "Oh, it's warm! And it smells like dryer!". I told her it was because I am magical. Also, I had finished it that morning and the dryer had stopped unexpectedly while it was in there, so I had to stall her with tea while I restarted the dryer and then 20 minutes later excuse myself to go to the bathroom (wrap it) so I could give it to her.

Magic. Scrambling. Same diff.

I mostly finished this top two and a half years ago. The top hung in a closet waiting to be finished and really, waiting for the right person to give it to. Our neighbor and good friend is just that person. After she retired a few years ago, she filled up part of her free time making sure we are all doing all right. I return the favour by sending the boys over to *help* her with yard work. So, clearly, the least I could do is give this woman a quilt.

 

The 4" squares and binding are all Liberty Tana Lawn prints in blue. The white is a Kona cotton and both the blues on the front and the backing are Free Spirit voile. The blue toille print that borders the whole quilt is from Alexander Henry and is also cotton voile. It is on the small side-- 52" by 70". It's a good size for the couch or the end of the bed. The whole thing is silky and lovely. Clearly, it's too nice to stay in this house full of people. 

I've almost run out of quilt tops and works in progress to finish up. I put together some stuffed full scrap bags and I think that I'll put them up here on Tuesday. At least three of the bags are all vintage fabrics. And then I have to get sewing again so we will have stuff to talk about!

 

A Sunny Spot (Japanese Sewing Books, My Old Friends)

Shortly after the Baby Girl Announcement, Erin sent me a stack of Japanese girl/kid sewing books her girls had outrgrown. She is an excellent gifter. One of my favourites in the stack is A Sunny Spot (ISBN978-4-529-04894-1). The clothes are femine and unfussy. They are also pretty easy to sew but look otherwise, which is really the best. Sometimes clothes with clean lines are illogically complicated to sew.

I made "Camisole With Wide Strap" for my leggy 4 1/2 year old niece (pattern pictured directly above). She was not in the mood to be photographed. It is more of a dress than a tunic on her, but that will change pretty quickly. I love the pockets. I added a fabric tag in the back so she could easily figure out front from back, and then did a quick Anna Joyce style applique on the front (again, she was NOT IN THE MOOD). From tracing to finishing it was only a couple of hours of work. The lightweight cotton (ticking stripe) came from Bolt originally, but I've had it on my shelves for a while. It is the sort of fabric I'd like a room full of. 

And speaking of shelves-- they are overflowing with scraps. Is anyone into scrap bags/envelopes? I was thinking of listing a bunch on Big Cartel, along with some yardage of things that I don't think I'll use. I am horrible at parting with things like this, but something needs to be done. I may have to enlist reinforcements to talk me through it.

This New Year

We have begun the new year with sun. We also began the new year, as we do most years, with donuts (Portzelky). I asked for permission to skip last year as I was pretty close to delivering Tru, and had decided to repaint the interior of the house and remodel the basement. Donuts skipped. This year we got back on track with the friends and the deep fried dough.

I am hoping to spend this year learning a couple of new things and more importantly, getting better at stuff I already (sort of) know how to do. I am, thankfully, becoming more focused with age, even as there are more things (children mostly) to distract me. I wonder how much of that focus comes as I surrender to parts of my life that are mostly unchanging: the day-to-day things, the less sleep than I'd like, the near constant needs of small children.

It is not a bad place to be, really. Happy, Good, New Year, everyone.