Junie None Designs

Broth

2012-02-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

There is something so gratifying about a huge pot of chicken stock simmering on the stove. It makes me feel so industrious. This was my first time not using one of our own chickens to make stock - these guys were from Costco. My friend told me about the pack of two organic whole chickens for $25, and some quick math told me that would be a great deal if I used the carcasses to make broth. I cooked both birds at once and pulled ALL the meat off the bones - big job, but then we were set on meat for the whole week. And I ended up with 36 cups of broth in the freezer waiting to be made into soups or to cook quinoa in or whatever else I might think up to use broth for. I never use a recipe to make broth - just throw in whatever I have on hand. This time it was onions, celery, a few frozen chopped carrots left from the fall harvest, garlic, and a bunch of sage that was in the fridge. Easy peasy.

Clamshell Pillow

2012-02-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

I'm taking Rachel's "Curves class" and finally finished my first project! (Consistent with my college career I put this off to the last minute...) If you get the chance to take a class from Rachel (I'm assuming she's going to have more) you definitely should! I'm having so much fun and learning tons of new skills, all from the convenience of my house after the kids go to bed! In this project I pieced clamshells, worked with linen, and sewed an invisible zipper closure, all for the first time. And I didn't have to use my seam ripper once! That is a testament to her teaching ability, because I pretty much always mess up my first few times when trying new sewing skills.

These are things I was definitely too intimidated to teach myself, so if it wasn't for this class I probably wouldn't have ever learned about placing a zipper. Actually, the tutorial for the zipper is available on her blog for free - it's great. I'm not sure if I would use this white linen again for a pillow since every little wrinkle in the pillow form shows through - I jammed a really big down pillow into a kind of small pillow cover because I couldn't stand to wait another day to see my finished result. The boys were super excited this morning when they woke up and saw that I had made a pillow for myself - what a couple of sweeties. I may not have any daughters, but I do have two sons who appreciate a hand-made pillow. :)

Questions I have answered today:

2012-02-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

- Why don't roosters lay eggs?
- What if me and God went to Yogurt Land and He said "What flavor should I get?"
- If you only ate fabric for a long, long time, would you die?
- What should you do if a tornado blows the roof off of your basement?
- Is there Lightning McQueen Macaroni and Cheese in heaven?
- Why isn't dad's job to kill bad guys?
- Why can't we drive on the sidewalk when nobody is walking on it?
- What if we put chapstick on a vulture?

No, I didn't make any of those up. If you happen to have answers to any of these, I'd be grateful. :)

The best policy

2012-02-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

Daddy: "Titus, I heard you went on a nice long hike with Mom today!"

Titus (smiling): "Yep. It was the worst part of my day."

Gotta love the honesty.

Sampler

2012-01-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

I spent the entire afternoon shoveling dirt out of a huge planter box that has been infiltrated by gophers. The plan is to replace the 10-year-old wire mesh at the bottom of the box and hopefully get a few more productive years out of the bed. It was HARD, and boy am I proud of myself! But it doesn't make for a very pretty picture (neither the pile of dirt or ME), so I decided to share this with you instead.

I ended up with a ton of extra hexagons while working on my hexagon quilt. These ones just didn't fit in for one reason or another, so the other day I decided to sew them together into... something. Of course it would have made more sense to work on one of the many other unfinished projects I have laying around, but whatever. I'm always most excited about the new project that pops into my head. I'm thinking of this as a sampler of sorts. It was really good practice for me in terms of sewing hexagons together, and I am planning on hand quilting it, which is what I'd like to ultimately do on my real hexagon quilt. This little thing is a much less intimidating piece to learn on.

This was my first time ever basting with clothespins - this is the bag I received from my Grandma a few years ago. I usually use straight pins and routinely jam them into my fingers while machine quilting whatever I'm working on. It's just part of my process. Somehow, though, that didn't sound as trivial when paired with hand-quilting. I'd like that experience to be as relaxing and pain-free as possible, so I braved the clothespins. I've always avoided them because it annoys me to have to close them. Basting is my least favorite part of quilting and I'd rather bleed all over my quilt than close up a few clothespins - it seems to take too long. This was easy, though, because my tiny quilt is only about 12" square. I'm thinking it would look cute under a vase of flowers or something. Of course there is no wall space to speak of on which to hang it, and maybe it is too crazy and weird for that anyways. I'll probably just tuck it away until I have a real sewing space to put it.

Waste Free Lunch

2012-01-26T14:05:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the sun came out from behind the weird misty fog that has settled on our hill and I was able to take pictures of some new products for the shop - reusable snack and sandwich bags! I'm excited about these mainly because they are something I came up with for just us, so I know they work and are sturdy and super usable. I decided to switch to reusable snack bags because I was tired of buying things that were just getting thrown away. In Moses' lunch I was using 4 bags each day, and then at least one or two for snacks or a lunch for Titus. Seemed like a huge waste of money as well as an unnecessary generation of trash. So I spent a weekend afternoon designing these and am really happy with the result. I made the snack pouches nice and roomy and with a gusseted bottom which allows them to stand on their own and stay open really easily. They close with kid-friendly velcro, which has already been very helpful since Titus still hasn't figured out how to open or close a ziplock bag.

Oh, and I did a little research on the "waste free lunch" idea that has sprung up. On the official web site there is a really cool chart comparing the cost of a regular lunch to a waste-free lunch, which includes no packaging whatsoever. They say that the average person who switches to a waste-free lunch saves $246.60 per year per person. Holy cow! I'm hoping to get us to that point eventually, but I figure switching to reusable snack and sandwich bags will save us at least half that amount, not to mention the number of plastic baggies that won't be headed straight for the dump.

The sandwich bags also have a gusseted bottom because I didn't want all our sandwich bottoms to be smashed. I've purchased a few reusable sandwich bags from the store and have been disappointed with their size - I can only fit small-bread sandwiches in them. That's fine for my kids, but Brett and I can't fit our big-bread sandwiches in there (do you know what I mean? The loaves of bread that have rectangular slices instead of tiny square slices,) and we put enough produce on there that they are pretty fat. Our sandwiches never fit into the other reusable bags I had, so I made these a tad bigger, and the gusseted bottom eliminates squishing.

I spent quite a while figuring out the lining aspect of these bags. I initially wanted to line them with something waterproof, but after lots and lots of research I was unable to find a waterproof fabric that was bpa-free, pthalate-free, AND food grade. Even the products that seemed like they wouldn't leach toxins into the food weren't approved for food packaging, so I opted for a completely natural lining: unbleached cotton muslin. This is super minimally processed fabric - no dyes or bleaches or any other chemicals, so I felt it was the healthiest option for the part that will actually be touching our food. Admittedly it is not wipeable, but in my experience it is just as easy to toss a fabric snack bag into the washing machine as it is to turn it inside out and wipe it. Most days I'm putting dry snacks in our bags, so I just shake out the crumbs and use them again the next day. But they are thick enough to hold up well to apple slices, and after those I just wash them.

SO, there you have a lot of words about the snack and sandwich bags that are now available in my shop. I'm working up a batch in all organic fabrics and hoping to add more designs soon.

Scrap Attack update and an experiment

2012-01-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

Last night I finished the last of my scrap attack blocks. I made 36 5 1/2" squares and plan on joining them into nine 10 inch squares. I would have liked to make more, but I felt myself losing steam and I am running out of scraps that work for the color scheme I'm going with. I'm hoping the end result will be a nice sized throw, so I'll probably add size with the sashing. Here is my pile of scrappy squares - I just love the look of a pile of squares waiting to be turned into a quilt.

The other fun thing that happened was that I received a package of awesome teas from my cousin Jen of International Tea Moment. She receives tea samples from all over the place and was doing a destashing of her tea cupboard - it definitely pays to have a famous tea reviewer in the family! She asked me to take a picture of myself drinking some of the tea, and here it is:

Don't I look great? Yep, that's because I photoshopped off all my zits and digitally whitened my teeth, then brightened my complexion using the levels tool. I don't really look like that. Here's what I really look like:

I'm sure there is some sort of profound conclusion I could come to at this point, but I'll let you do that. I was just surprised by how EASY it was to make myself look like I had actually had a full night's sleep and didn't spend the entire morning chasing a three year old through IKEA. No wonder I always feel so bad when I look at those pretty magazine ladies - they have had the life airbrushed right off of them! Speaking of which, its back to real life for me, yellowed teeth and all (maybe I should stop drinking so much tea? haha.)

Monkey Wrench Quilt

2012-01-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my first quilt! It is so funny to say that when I have completed dozens of quilts, but this is the very first one I ever started, and the only patchwork quilt I've ever made for myself. Being the first-ever, it certainly isn't my "style," nor is it in colors that I would choose today. It is a huge mish-mash of fabrics that were lying around 11 years ago when I took it into my head to make a quilt. If you looked at it up close you would be scandalized by how poorly the corners line up and by the obvious lack of planning that went into the whole thing. But in spite of its many imperfections, I absolutely love it.

I love how all the different fabrics remind me of various projects that I did with my mom and Grandma. There is the striped fabric that was left over from the pillow cases my Grandma made, the floral print from the dress my mom and I almost finished making together, the tiny duck print from fabric used to make me a jumper when I was a baby... even though nothing matches, it all reminds me of the history of crafting that those lovely women passed on to me. It reminds me of what a Little House on the Prairie quilt would have looked like - pieced together from precious tiny scraps of what they already had. I also love all the purple and pink in this quilt. Folded on the back of the couch, it is like a tiny oasis of femininity in the midst of all the wrestling and burping I am surrounded by.

Oh, and by the way, it is pretty hard to hide a 6-foot-3-inch guy behind a quilt on a windy day. Happily, my brother is a patient guy and stood in the freezing cold for a long time while I tried and tried to get the perfect shot. I never did, but these are good enough. And no matter how nostalgic you are about your quilt, it might not be enough to cheer up a 3 year old who has just been awoken from his nap and is unhappy about being outside in the cold. Oh well.

Growing up

2012-01-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

Turns out I made a few bibs before Christmas and completely forgot to take pictures of them and list them in the shop. Silly me. They are there now, waiting for new homes. This astronaut one makes me smile - I love the retro feel of this Michael Miller fabric. I've been working in "the studio" (you know I'm talking about my kitchen table when I say that...) on some prototypes of new products, which is super exciting! When I started Junie None Designs I was in the baby phase of life, what was wonderful and necessitated lots of bibs and little blankets and things like that, which is why I was so drawn to making and selling them. Now I am easing into more of a "big boy" phase of life, and am hoping to start selling some things that are useful for what we are doing these days. Of course I won't stop making quilts and bibs - just hoping to add some new stuff to the mix. I'll keep you updated. And now I'm off to take my nap - a luxury that I reserve for
Sunday afternoons.

Scrap Attack Quilt

2012-01-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Have you seen that Rachel is hosting a Scrap Attack Quilt Along? I tried to resist it, but then I saw this tutorial on how to piece your super tiny fabric scraps, and my last shreds of self control were destroyed. I have a huge overflowing drawer of teeny tiny scraps that I don't have the heart to get rid of, and a quilt is just where they need to go.

Happily, I just finished up one of the other quilts I've been working on (pictures coming soon), which freed up a little space in my sewing cabinet and brain to add this new project. I sorted through all the scraps trying to pull out things that wouldn't result in anything too riotous. I'm thinking blues and purples with pink and grey, give or take a bit. Thankfully, Rachel talked about the importance of incorporating solids into the mix, which has been a huge help. I usually ignore the ever growing pile of solids in the scrap bin, but they definitely help ground things when working with so many different colors and patterns.

Well, these blocks are super addicting! I love making them and they are fast. The lack of planning and cutting definitely appeal to the rebellious part of me that always wants to measure everything and make it symmetrical and perfect. Speaking of which, I am still trying to decide whether I will use sashing or just sew all the blocks together into a huge happy mess. I'm supposed to be finished with the quilt by the end of March and think that's a realistic goal. I'm envisioning backing it with something different, like Anna Maria Horner's velveteen and not using any batting to give it some more drape. Happy Friday everybody!

January on the farm

2012-01-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

What a lovely weekend this has been. Crisp outside, cozy inside, lots of projects to work on, plenty of sunshine to run around in...

Things outside are finally settling down into a pre-winter type of rest. We had to scrape ice off our windshields for the first time the other morning, and the piles we crash through on our way back inside are of old leaves rather than new.

The boys discovered "The Dirt Pile" yesterday and spent hours playing in it. I don't have a picture of The Dirt Pile, but it is so big that it is its own landmark, just like the barn or the chicken coop. Concerned because I hadn't heard the kids making much noise, I walked outside to check on them. Brett assured me "Oh, they're playing on The Dirt Pile," and I was immediately relieved. (Of course, after that I had to wonder what that says about me - being relieved that your kids are playing in and on a gigantic pile of dirt is probably not a normal response.) But The Pile is in the middle of a plowed field - no critters or ticks or nails or anything else dangerous to worry about. Just beautiful healthy dirt. They were so sweet playing together down there that I didn't want to get too close in fear of breaking the spell. As I snuck up on them with my camera, Moses saw me, and with a huge grin said "Mom, look at all these dinosaur bones we found!!!" while indicating the stack they had made of dirt clods. Man, my heart about burst with joy and thankfulness right there on the driveway. What a great life those boys have.

And when they came in it was hot baths and cozy sweats, a dinner of left-overs and a few games of Connect Four. Simple, unplugged, healthy. I love it. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend as well.

Late New Year's Ponderings

2012-01-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I had a health scare. The kind of health scare that can cause your imagination to take you to all sorts of scary places. And while I had a wonderful vacation and great Christmas, the whole time was underscored by anxiety - waiting for the appointment with the specialist, waiting for the test results, waiting... and while I was doing all that waiting, I found it hard to plan for the new year. I know most people roll their eyes when they hear the term "New Year's Resolution," but I have always liked making plans for a fresh new year, hoping to do a better job at life. But this year I felt more like I was bracing myself for whatever might be ahead, unable to think beyond the test results, and certainly not able to make grand plans for bettering myself.

Well, yesterday I met with the specialist, got the test results, and all of the BAD possibilities were scratched out. Just like that I was in the clear - the new year became a happy reality. But rather than skipping right by what was a very scary and uncomfortable two weeks, I've been taking time to look back rather than forward. First of all, I am so grateful to God that I am healthy. Yes, I have a few minor health issues, but I am not gravely ill, and I am incredibly thankful. Secondly, I am thankful that God draws near to us when we draw near to Him - he promises to do that in the Bible, and I have seen it to be very very true in the last few weeks. That peace that "passes understanding?" - yep, it's for real.

So yes, I have made some plans for the new year, but they are less about what I want and more about what I already have. My marriage. My family. My level of stress and how it affects my kids. Huge things like that which are thrown into the spotlight when you have a scare that puts everything into perspective. I am thankful for those scary two weeks, thankful for a new year, and looking forward to what God has in store for me.

Winter gardening project

2011-12-28T16:45:00.000-08:00

Winter sure is dragging its feet around here! Normally things are pretty bleak this time of year - but look at our ornamental pear tree! The leaves have finally turned colors and are just starting to fall off. It was super warm and sunny outside today, so while the boys rode their bikes on the driveway I decided to harvest my sunflower seeds. Not a very wintery activity, but it was pretty great.

I planted these guys on a whim in late September - WAY later in the season that you are supposed to plant sunflowers. But things have been so weird on the weather front that they sprouted, bloomed, and actually produced seeds. TONS of seeds. I only got three flowers, even though I planted about 20. But that's the success ratio I get on all my crops, so I wasn't surprised.

This guy has been hanging in the garage since a wind storm broke it's stem a few weeks ago. I thought that the seeds were too underdeveloped to be of any use, but when I checked it out today I saw that about half of them are nice and plump, just asking to be eaten. The boys had fun helping me smack it on the ground to loosen the white seeds - and I'm super glad I decided to do this little project outside. There are plenty of spiders and dust and crinkly dried plant bits in there with all the seeds.

I had visions of opening each seed, roasting them, and making my own sunflower butter, but after cracking a few for the boys to eat raw I realized that even I do not have the patience to do something like that. I'm super happy, though - it is like my own little sunflower miracle. I know I say it all the time, but there is something so satisfying about harvesting a crop that you've planted from seed. I'm hoping to plant lots more next spring - they are so cheerful and sunny to look at, even when they are dried up and have had half their seeds removed.

do. Good Stitches January blossom block

2011-12-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

This month (January) I am in charge of designing and assembling the Empower Circle's quilt for the do. Good Stitches charity quilting bee. It is exciting, yes, but to be honest, I am suffering from a bit of stage fright. Oh well, here goes! Above is a picture of the blocks we will be making. I was inspired by this quilt, which I can't stop thinking about! She made it using all solids, but this month we will be using prints in deep purples and pinks, with accents of gray and gold:

I couldn't find a tutorial for this block anywhere so I just figured it out, taking pictures as I went along (this required MATH. hm.) I'd love to give credit where credit is due, and figure out what this is actually called, so if you know, please tell me! I'll call it a blossom block for now, since that's what it reminds me of. Here is what you need to cut out:

4 large 6.5" squares in your chosen prints
8 small 3.5" squares in Kona coal (for bee friends; everyone else, use the same fabric you will be sashing with)
2 small 1" x 6.5" strips in Kona coal
1 large 1" x 13.25" strip in Kona coal

Lay a small square on the upper left hand corner of one of the large squares and mark your sewing line:

Since I am lazy and don't like to get up and down from my sewing machine, I like to do both corners at once, like so:

Sew your seams, then cut the extra fabric and save it for another fun project. Things should now look something like this:

When your seams are ironed, it will look like this. You have your first petal!

Repeat with the three remaining petals. Now you can finish your block using the strips you cut out. Here is the layout:

And now you're done! The end result should measure about 12.5" square. Feel free to mix it up as far as the petal part of the block goes (that's the large squares). Solids, prints, even pieced petals would look awesome if you had the time and felt like it.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how all the different blocks turn out!

In summary:

2011-12-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

Boy am I blessed.

Our Christmas was lovely, how about yours? Among the usual favorite things, like sitting around a cozy fire in pj's well into the day exchanging gifts, laughing, and hanging out with family, there was the added bonus of little people thoroughly enjoying handmade gifts. Moses was thrilled with his quilt - mostly because of the camouflage backing fabric I used:

And, in spite of dipping Little Hoot's bottom into a puddle of melted wax after blowing out a candle, Titus was thrilled to death with his tiny felt animals.

And now we have a whole week more of relaxing, spending time with family from out of town, and enjoying not having to dash off to anything in particular. I have been struck this season with how very busy we have been, and how in need of a real break we all are. The kids have not once asked "what are we doing today?" like they usually do on the rare day we have nothing planned. I think they are really enjoying the down time. The amazing weather has been an added bonus, and a new crossbow and excavator (kid versions, of course) nearly put things over the top. I am so thankful for this little space of time to do, well, nothing. Or at least, less than usual. I know vacations are a luxury and am feeling extremely grateful. Hopefully you are getting a little break as well...

A Birthday Brother

2011-12-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

Moses turned 6 (SIX!!!) a few days ago, which, of course, meant that I had to make a big brother dinosaur for him. I wasn't sure if he was too old for mommy-made toys, and almost decided not to make this guy. But, a few days before the big day he looked up at me and said hopefully "Mom, are you making me something for my birthday?" Geez, twist my arm. :) So, as I was frantically sewing dinosaur eyes around midnight, I asked my husband if he thought Moses would like the dinosaur. It was a rhetorical question. Maybe I should start saying that before I ask those types of questions. Anyways, this is the first answer I got: "I don't think I was still playing with stuffed animals when I was six." Hm. This is the second answer I got: "I mean, actually... six? Oh, yeah, SIX. Yeah, I think I had stuffed animals when I was six. Yes. Yes, I definitely had stuffed animals on my bed when I was six. He'll love it."

So, it was with some trepidation that I handed this guy over to Moses to be unwrapped the next morning. As with Titus' dinosaur, I had braced myself for a polite smile from the birthday boy as he shunted past my painstakingly handmade gift in favor of the new legos. BUT, he opened his dinosaur, screamed "I LOVE IT!!!" and forgot that he had another gift. Success! He and Titus got a big kick out of having matching dinosaurs, and that night Moses wrapped his dinosaur up in a blanket and laid it on the pillow next to him. I'm so glad I stayed up late making that guy. If you want to make one you can find the pattern and LOTS of other cute patterns here. Happy Birthday Mose, we love you!!!

"I didn't like frowing up in mine bed."

2011-12-16T14:54:00.000-08:00

Neither did I, Titus. Neither did I. I've resisted the urge to post a picture of the piles of used kleenex, laundry, dirty dishes, and empty Tylenol bottles, and opted for a picture of what we will look like again soon. In the mean time, I am trying to reclaim the week before Christmas and day before my son's birthday party with some modicum of grace. I'm at that irritating phase of recovery where my body tells me I need to eat something but my stomach says "that was a bad idea." The little guys are running around happily again, though, which does my heart good. I have so many Christmas gifts left to make that it is stressing me out - I have to keep telling myself that I could actually BUY something if I run out of time. Perish the thought! I mean, it would be a crime for this huge pile of Altoid tins to go unpainted... Blessed Brett has picked up as much slack as he has time to and made teacher gifts with Moses last night. Such a sweet man - I would kiss him if I wasn't worried about making him sick (hmm... I wonder when he'll turn up with this bug?) Anyhow, it is good to be back in action, even if it is only at 70%.

Little Hoot

2011-12-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

Have you read Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal? It is one of our favorites - we picked it up at the library and are now hoping to find it under the tree at Christmas. :) This little guy reminded me of the darling illustrations in that book, so I couldn't resist buying the pattern and making one for Titus:

Isn't he darling? This was my first time working with felt and I LOVED it - no seams to hide, no unraveling, no sewing things inside-out! My handiwork certainly isn't perfect, this being my first attempt at blanket stitching anything, but I just loved how the pattern allows for so many choices in fabric, felt, and thread colors. Very fun! I think I grinned the entire time I was sewing this little guy.

The pattern is from Gingermelon, and she has TONS of other darling little stufflings you can make. I'm hoping to make the fox and raccoon in time for Christmas. I bought my felt from Benzie Bazaar and it is wonderful - not at all like the scratchy stuff in the craft store. This is 100% merino felt and is so soft and smooth - definitely worth the few extra bucks it costs.

Sadly, all crafting has screeched to a halt due to a stomach bug that my oldest son came down with last night (why do kids always start throwing up in the middle of the night???). Poor little guy is still in his jammies with a bowl in his lap - I remember having the flu as a kid and it was the WORST. I've got my fingers crossed that the rest of us don't come down with it, or that we are at least finished with all the germs by the time Christmas rolls around! Hope you are happily and healthfully crafting!

Addendum: I do know a few synonyms for "cute" other than "darling," just didn't come up with any while writing this post. Sheesh.

Log Cabins

2011-12-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

These are my first-ever log cabins and I love them! I can't believe I've never made this type of patchwork before. It is right up my alley - lots of strips of fabric and not much planning ahead. . I made these for what I thought would be a quick little birthday project for a friend, but my second attempt at following a real pattern turned out to be extremely frustrating. I didn't even take a picture of the end result because by the time it was finished I didn't want to see it EVER AGAIN. *sigh* (It's nothing personal, Rachel, honestly!) If I can offer a half-hearted explanation: I turned these log cabins into a quilted little change purse with one of those squeeze-on-the-ends-and-it-pops-open closures. I even bought these fancy closure things and waited for them to fly here all the way from China. And then, after bungling the purse part three separate times, I spent a HOUR AND A HALF "sliding" the clasp through the loops (the pattern should really say "man handle"). Ninety minutes. And I was not about to give up, either, folks. I had already made the dang purse three times and the light was at the end of the tunnel. So I sat there grumbling and almost crying with a pile of various sized butter knives, chopsticks, and tweezers in front of me until I got the dang thing finished. And the purse is actually super cute, I just couldn't bear to photograph it. BUT I loved the log cabin making part of the whole thing. And the giving-the-gift part, of course. I'm thinking a huge log cabin quilt might be in my future...

In which I start a new Christmas tradition

2011-12-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of decking our halls... as much as I wish this was the blog you were visiting to get awesome decorating ideas or holiday eye candy, I'm afraid it will again turn out to be the blog that you read to make yourself feel better. Last night we decorated the Christmas tree, which prompted me to quickly attempt to finish putting up the "real" every day decorations I've been hemming and hawing about. Several accidental holes in the wall later, I had a nice collection of framed pictures hanging up (I'll show you later), a trip to Home Depot for touch-up paint planned, things were properly dusted, and we were ready for our traditional "Christmas party." This is a tradition I've carried over from my own family - we all hang our ornaments together then sit on the couch eating home made sugar cookies (tons of sprinkles are a must here) and drinking hot apple cider. So. Christmas party: check. Next it was time to bust out my first awesome kids Christmas project.

If you've read my blog before perhaps you remember last year's failed kids Christmas project. Well, maybe that will be a new tradition around here. Every year mom sets up a dangerous activity for the kids to do in the name of Christmas and spends the rest of the day cleaning up the disaster that ensues. This project is pretty self-explanatory by the pictures. I bought a 6-pack of empty glass globes at the craft store, and we put buttons in them. Very cute - I saw it on Pinterest, in case you were wondering. As with last year's project, this was partially inspired by economics: I have a ton of buttons lying around and saw an opportunity for putting some of them to good use.

As cute as all these pictures are, however, they are still photos of young children gripping fragile glass orbs in their soft little hands. Nobody got cut, thank goodness, but as soon as we finished filling up our balls, Titus promptly dropped his on the kitchen floor, smashing invisible shards of glass everywhere. My dad was here, so he whisked the kids to safety while I sorted out buttons from pieces of glass, swept, vacuumed, swept again, and quickly filled up one of our spare empty globes with the buttons. Well, that's what I tried to do, but for some reason this new globe had a smaller opening in the top and wouldn't allow all of Titus' buttons inside. So, halfway through filling it up I decided to switch to the last empty globe, in the hope that its opening was big enough to fit all Titus' buttons. This meant that I needed to remove the almost-too-big buttons from the first replacement bulb (are you following this?), which proved to be a difficult task. Even the buttons I had managed to fit into the globe were now too large to fit back out of it. Of course my dad jumped at what he perceived as a heaven-sent chance to use the swiss army knife that has been collecting dust in his pocket, so he started to pry the buttons one by one out of the too-small globe with his handy portable tweezers. Halfway through this endeavor his gigantic hands squeezed the stupid ornament too hard, showering him and the kids in more invisible shards of glass. This clean up procedure was slightly more involved, but of course there was more vacuuming and sweeping. In the end we had 4 very nice looking button-filled ornaments, no injuries (how did that happen???) and another project on the not-really-for-kids list. Oh well. It's early in the month; maybe I can come up with something else. :)

Leeks!

2011-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

My dad has a gigantic crop of leeks and carrots right now - he and I agree that my pilfering from his garden is actually doing him a huge favor. The other day I picked these beauties - the purple and green things at the far left are Dragon Tongue Beans from my own garden. I do love California - I'm not sure if many people are harvesting green beans this late in November. I sauteed the leeks up in coconut oil with diced fennel bulb and thyme and it was delicious!!! It was my first time ever using leeks, and I think we have a long happy relationship ahead of ourselves. Good thing, too, because there are about a million more out there. (And in case you are wondering, those red things are Atomic Red Carrots, not radishes. Cute, right?)

Thankful

2011-11-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

What a lovely end-of-November afternoon! It is so warm and sunny outside, and the boys are having such fun "killing bad guys" outside that I've even decided to let Titus skip his nap. Brett is keeping an eye on them while he brews up another batch of beer, and I am enjoying some time inside (with the windows wide open) pursuing some less testosterone-driven activities: making Christmas banners. In pink, no less! They are slowly making their way into the shop...

This has been the most relaxing Thanksgiving weekend ever. Lots of naps, absolutely no piling into the car to drive anywhere, gorgeous weather, tons of great food (of course), time in the garden, and lots of sewing time. Ah... exactly what I needed. I believe it is the sign of a great break when you start feeling ready to get back to the daily grind, and I am feeling just that. I hope you had a wonderful long weekend too!

This and That

2011-11-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

I considered entitling this post "Oh no, she's decorating again!!!" but thought better of it. I'm trying to stay positive. :) Anywho, in my constant quest to make a tiny house that is crammed full of stuff look cohesive and cozy rather than crowded and hectic, I am yet again rearranging the weird little space above my sewing cabinet. After deciding I needed less color and looking for all kinds of pictures on Pinterest of "decorating with white," I have decided to make a huge colorful collage of fabric hoops, as inspired by these pictures. Oh well, I guess I'm just not going to be able to get away from the color thing. I can't help myself. Do you see how she has hung hoops on hoops in this first picture? I can totally see myself doing something like that.

I love the curved effect of the plates on this wall, so I am copying it to make up for the fact that I have a super tall armoire next to a short tiny cabinet... And neither of these is too matchy-matchy, which looks effortless but is actually quite difficult to pull off. I'm working from the one tiny corner in my house that I like the look and colors of:

Plenty of white, but also lots of color, though nothing bright or over-the-top. It is a collection of my mom's old books, as well as some of my own. I love dilapidated old books, they have so much character. The more crumbly, the better! SO, here are some fabrics I pulled yesterday when the urge to do this project struck me:

I'm afraid the colors aren't looking quite true in this picture... the overall effect really is much less green. I've put some of them on the wall, but it isn't finished yet so I don't want to post a picture of it yet. It is nice to have something different up there, and I actually think that adding these different colors and patterns has calmed down and lightened up the space. Hm. As if I even know what I'm talking about!

And while I'm making a mess on that side of the house, I've managed to clean up one mess:

Over the weekend, that became this:

The only disappointing thing about this project is that my overdue book fines were more than the cost of the actual book that I got the pattern from (don't tell!). *sigh* I had to make a few tweaks here and there to make up for cutting and measuring flubs on my part, but this is the very first time I've managed to follow a pattern from beginning to end without making a royal mess of things and throwing the half-finished project in the trash. (I guess I made the dinosaur without a dramatic incident, too, so this is the second time.) It was super stressful because I am such a perfectionist and am completely self-taught and actually don't know much about sewing at all. But I learned a lot, and am in love with the end result. I almost didn't post pictures since this is a Christmas gift for somebody, but I just couldn't help myself. Aren't the fabrics gorgeous?!?! That Anna Maria Horner is the bomb, and I found that some of her Loulouthi prints mixed perfectly with a stack of Joel Dewberry fq's I recently bought. Love it when that happens.

And that's it for now. I have a ton more little projects in the works as Christmas approaches and I'll try to post pictures of the things that aren't for people who read this blog! Are you making hand-made gifts this year? I'd love to hear what you are making - I love handmade gifts!

Ah, fall

2011-11-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love dusting off my crock pot, pulling the big chunky sweaters and boots out of the closet, and drinking tea in the afternoon. And the anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas gives the whole season a backdrop of excitement. I took this picture of Moses swinging on the new swing Brett and my dad hung a few weeks ago - what a great thing! I took a turn on it and it goes so high that you actually get that roller-coaster swoop in your stomach on every down swing. The leaves on that tree are much prettier today - all orange and yellow and falling like confetti at the slightest breeze. It makes swinging feel like winning the Super Bowl - every time you even sit down a huge pile of leaves rains down on you. I hope you and your family are enjoying the fall this afternoon - we have NO PLANS! Unheard of and glorious!

Mini Holiday Bunting

2011-11-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

I just listed some more Christmas banners in the shop - I love the gold in these fabrics. So festive! These are still fun to make - it seems like there are more and more great Christmas fabrics out there. I can't wait to hang mine up in the house, but I'm forcing myself to wait until after Thanksgiving. I love this time of year!

A birthday buddy and a hand-made nap

2011-11-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today our littlest member turned 3, and I was finally able to give him his present. I made this little guy, pattern courtesy of Bit of Whimsy, a few weeks ago, and have been peeking in at him in his hiding place every day since. He makes me smile. And even though Titus said "Where's mine udder presents?" as soon as he opened this guy, he has been carrying him around the house in a loving choke-hold ever since. At nap time I captured this heart-warming photo:

I just love that he is under the quilt I made him, holding the dinosaur I made him. So special to me. I love you Titus!

Pinteresting

2011-11-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

I have been in love with Pinterest for a while now - it is such an easy way to organize and hold on to all the great things I find on the internet. I used to "bookmark" things, but had no idea how to even find them afterwards. Pinterest makes it all so much easier. This week I've made this soup from a Rachael Ray recipe I found on Pinterest:

It was DELICIOUS, and I would have never known it existed if not for Pinterest. Tonight we had pizza on cauliflower crust, thanks to this awesome recipe:

Another huge success - even the most anti-vegetable member of the family scarfed down a huge plate-full. I ate way too much and I don't even feel guilty because I know my stomach is full of cauliflower (and I didn't even put cheese on my pieces, so it was basically all baked veggies!). I have a bunch more recipes "pinned" to my cooking board on Pinterest waiting to be tried out. I might not have a cell phone that works, but I sure feel modern with all this pinning I'm doing. :)

Half-way there...

2011-11-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

Remember my 49 Monkey Wrench Blocks? Last night I finally got to work piecing them into a quilt. I dug up the pattern I was following all those years ago, and saw that rather than piecing each block with sashing between, they are actually placed on the diagonal with setting squares between each block. In the pattern, the setting squares are supposed to be a solid color, but of course I opted for a print. (I know, even after I touted the joys of solids in my last post...) I thought this Tula Pink "Damask Dot" would modernize things a bit, and hopefully keep the eye moving so it isn't easy to spot all my terrible corners! (In my own defense, these Monkey Wrenches are the very first patchwork I ever did and I cut all the tiny pieces out sitting on the carpet using paper scissors...) It was super hard squaring all the blocks off to the same size, and some are a bit wonky, but with that gorgeous damask between each one I don't even care.

Oh, and please pardon whatever is going on with my shirt and belt in this picture. Pretty sure this is what I accidentally look like most afternoons following my super-rushed potty break between making snacks and playing marbles. Hm. I should look in the mirror more often.

Anyways, the boys were excited this morning when I showed them the quilt I am making "for us." I didn't have the heart to tell them it is really for ME. But I think there will be room under it for snuggling, so I guess I can share. Hoping to finish the piecing tonight while the hubs is throwing pottery at our neighbor's house...

A Chance to Win

2011-11-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a shameless amount of internet fabric shopping lately, which has been super fun. But wouldn't it be even more fun to get fabric for free??? Well, you could win some if you hop on over to Lily's blog, which is delightful. She's hosting a giveaway of a huge stack of solids (you even get to pick which ones you'd like to win!). I'm using solids more and more in my quilting and loving the contrast of them with the busy prints I'm so addicted to. Fingers crossed!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

Having kids has made me start to like Halloween... Something about grocery shopping with a real live Scooby Doo in the shopping cart kind of warms my heart. And seeing my very own Superman parade around the school with all his classmates, well, it's just too cute. I even bought two frozen pizzas for dinner, and I NEVER do things that wild and crazy.

Here are our Jack-O'-Lanterns... they looked like this two nights ago, and then the dogs ate them, as they eat everything else, whether it is filled with burning flames or not. Have a wonderful evening!

Quilting inspiration

2011-10-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

1. ZigZag Quilt, 2. triangle quilt – progress detail, 3. Linen Stash, 4. binding, 5. Teddy bear pillow, 6. day151 :: patchwork, 7. In the works, 8. cecelia's quilt, 9. quilting - front

You know you have boys when...

2011-10-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

... not only does a toy gun make its way into the dish washer, but you don't even notice it's there until after you run the load.

Needlebook Tutorial a la Nana Company

2011-10-27T15:15:00.001-07:00

Today Amy at Nana Company posted a tutorial to make the darling needle books of hers that I've been coveting. Hooray! I think I might be making one of these to put in my OWN Christmas stocking this year... If you haven't already, you must stop by her blog if for no other reason than to drool over her gorgeous photography and the cuteness she is constantly turning out!

The View from up here:

2011-10-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I treated myself to a trip to the fancy fabric store in Los Gatos that I like to go to when internet shopping just isn't cutting it. Sometimes you just want to feel the fabrics, pile them up in various combinations, and drool shamelessly all over the place, and this is the place to do it. Titus was nice enough to come with me, having been bribed with a trip to the candy store located across the street. (The fact that he really had not choice in the matter played a part as well.) Well, look what happened. I walked out of there with a deceptively small bag jammed full of Anna Maria Horner fabrics. Her voiles really are the silkiest excuses for cotton I have ever met. I have been dreaming up (another) quilt for myself using some of her Innocent Crush fabrics, and this trip pushed me over the edge.

I'm exerting huge amounts of self-control every day to not cut into these beauties. First I must complete my preparations for this weekend's craft show, then I have a little buddy who needs a T-Rex for his birthday. There are also a few fabrics in this pile for some special gals' Christmas gifts... are you tired of reading about my sewing stress yet??? There really is more than quilt-dreaming going on around here, but for now you'll just have to take my word for it.

Molting

2011-10-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure how I've lived around chickens since High School and never known about molting. It seems chickens do it every year - they shed their old feathers, making room for shiny new ones. Why they would do it at the beginning of fall is beyond me - seems you would want to keep all that extra insulation around as the weather cools off. Anyhow, it turns out that my chickens are not being attacked by squirrels at night, the reason my paranoid mind had come up with for why my chickens were looking so bedraggled and had stopped laying eggs. This is just a normal part of being a chicken - I can sympathize. It's hard being a lady.

In addition to not laying eggs - which is the most inconvenient part for me - they all seem a little down in the dumps. Normally they come running out to meet me whenever I go outside, follow the boys and me around the yard clucking merrily, and are happy to be pet or even carried around. Since they started molting, though, they take off for the pasture as soon as I let them out in the morning and hide from us until they come back to roost at night. They are probably embarrassed; they do look pretty bad. There are always a couple who stay in the nesting boxes, sadly huddled together not laying any eggs. These two seemed pretty insulted by my picture taking. I'm hoping my gals get back to laying eggs soon - I guess some chickens stop laying when they molt and don't start up again until after winter. Yikes! But now that I know it is molting and not a hen strike I feel more compassionate about the whole thing and promise to stop threatening to eat them.

Weekend Musings

2011-10-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I've just been sewing away over here. In preparation for the two craft shows I've decided to participate in (insert husband rolling eyes and bracing himself for an overly-emotional and stressed-out wife), I've decided to stock up on bibs and holiday bunting, the two things that seem to sell the most consistently. I just listed a few baby boy bibs in the shop... I wish I still had someone wearing bibs so I could keep the camouflage one!

I'm also finalizing plans for Christmas gift sewing. A huge trip to the fabric store is in order, because I have some really great things in the works. Some of them are from this excellent book, which I borrowed from the library:

There are some really easy and beautiful projects in there - I definitely recommend taking a look at it. I also printed up the patterns I ordered from Gingermelon - these little guys will be for Titus. I'd like to think that I'll have at least one ready for his birthday next month, but they will probably all have to wait to be gifted until Christmas:

Aren't they cute?!?! I can hardly stand it. The directions come in pdf form, which is basically immediate crafting gratification - no waiting for them to arrive in the mail. And they look really straight-forward and detailed, which is good since this will only be my second foray into sewing anything three dimensional. I'm looking forward to making boyish versions of these little guys.

So that's what's swirling around in my head at the moment. Well, that and what to make for dinner and whether or not I should clean the bathroom before our friends stop by this evening, and whether I should go for a run or paint my toenails. :)

do. Good Stitches

2011-10-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about do. Good Stitches! This is a wonderful quilting circle started by Rachel of Stitched in Color. A long time ago it was common to be part of a quilting circle, or bee, where a group of ladies would get together and all work on one quilt at the same time. This way a person could actually end up with a completed quilt in a faster amount of time. They would take turns working on each other's quilts, sharing sewing secrets and chatting about life, becoming dear friends.

Well, isn't it fantastic that because of the internet I can now be in a quilting circle with a group of ladies from all over the country and we can work together on quilts for children in need?!?!? I think it's amazing. Every month a different person is in charge of designing and completing the quilt. She sends us our assignment - this month it was the "love in a mist" block - and we were to use deep autumn colored fabrics from our stash. These are the two blocks I came up with.

My blocks are packed up and ready to go in the mail tomorrow. Our fearless leader will receive all the blocks, put them together into a finished quilt, and send it to Alternatives for Girls, a charity benefiting homeless and high-risk girls. It's such a blessing to be a part of this, so wonderful to be working with like-minded women who have a heart for kids in need, and a real treat to try out fun new quilting projects!

The Madness

2011-09-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

1. hexy love, 2. hexies purse, 3. herringbone quilt., 4. I Spy Hex Quilt, 5. Pink Cabinet - Drawers, 6. Coloured sea, 7. Patchwork Star Blocks, 8. I Spy Hex Quilt, 9. Sunny pair

Just wanted to share some of the quilting madness that is whirling around in my brain these days. (Hm... just realized that one picture is included twice. I just discovered this photo tool over at Big Huge Labs - super fun!) I have all these hexagons and am trying to figure out how to configure them into a quilt that isn't a disaster. I've decided to sew them into flowers, but then what? Should I include a solid border around each, or sew them together like you see in these pictures? A very difficult decision... I am also planning sewing projects for Christmas gifts. I have joined a charity quilting bee (more on that later). I am preparing for a holiday craft fair. AND there are just way too many beautiful fabrics and projects out there to keep straight in my overly-ambitious mind, not to mention the 6 or so other unfinished projects lying around. It is all good, but sometimes I find myself with a free moment to sew and realize that I am standing in front of the sewing cabinet wasting time just trying to decide what to work on. Tonight it will be hexies. I love those guys - the perfect Friday evening project. Hope you are enjoying your evening as well!

Overheard:

2011-09-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

Titus: "Moses, what does it look like in La La Land?"

Moses (heaving a huge exasperated sigh): I already told you!

I know it's 90 degrees outside...

2011-09-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

...but I just can't stop making these Christmas banners! They are so fun and look so cute wound around their little piece of card stock, all stacked on top of each other. *sigh* I have run out of Baker's twine, though, so I'm off to make something else. Perhaps I'll stray from holiday sewing for a bit in order to restock baby boy bibs. Have a wonderful weekend, and if you are here in California, stay cool!

Tiny Little Bunting

2011-09-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last night I sat to down with the need for some instant crafting gratification - I needed to start and finish something before bed time. I came up with these. They might look familiar - I made some of these banners for the boys' room a while back. These are the Christmas version. Until a few years ago I wasn't into decorating for Christmas - it felt more like a hassle than anything else. I mean, red and green? Does that mean I have to change out all my throw pillows and hide the orange quilt until New Year's? I always ended up stressed out. More recently I've been seeing holiday decorations that work for me - simple, modern, small things that add a tiny twinkle of festivity to a home that is already settled. That's how I like to think of this bunting - it is little and easy to hang, and won't be too obtrusive wherever it's hung. I'm keeping some for myself and putting more in the shop. I hope you like them!

(Real) Fresh Eggs

2011-09-19T15:15:00.001-07:00

The other day I dropped an egg on the kitchen floor as I was bringing some in from the hen house, and I realized it was the perfect opportunity to show you all what a real fresh egg is supposed to be like. The top picture is what the egg looked like after I picked it up off the floor. That's right - I didn't have to wipe it off the floor. It didn't explode everywhere like a gooey water balloon. I picked it up, and then I did this with it:

OK, I admit I was just showing off in that last picture, but that's the real thing. Freshly laid eggs are sturdy like that. It's all because of the membrane between the shell and the gooey part. The membrane is that filmy thing you encounter when peeling a hard-boiled egg. As soon as an egg is laid, the membrane starts to dissintegrate, and the inside of the egg starts to evaporate out through invisible pores in the egg's shell. That is why when you buy store-bought eggs they are super easy to crack, and when you hard-boil them there is an air pocket inside. Newly-laid eggs have none of that. You have to hit them pretty darn hard on the counter top to crack them, and then you usually have to use your finger to puncture the membrane just to get anything out. And forget hard-boiling them; they are impossible to peel because the super-thick membrane sticks to the egg and by the time you have removed all the shell bits, you are left with just the yolk.

Speaking of yolk, see this nice orange color? That's what an egg is supposed to look like. In fact, one winter when I found myself eggless and had to go to the store, my boys wouldn't even touch the eggs I cooked for them. They kept saying "but they're yellow. Eggs are supposed to be orange." Again, that's because when you buy eggs at the store, they aren't exactly fresh. No matter what the box says, those "farm fresh, free range, organic eggs" were probably laid a month ago. Don't even get me started on what those boxes actually mean by "free range."

The best thing about newly-laid eggs, of course, is that they taste much, much better than anything you will buy in a store. Probably the only way to get your hands on eggs this fresh is to either get chickens of your own or make friends with someone who has some. I've been seeing more fresh eggs at farmer's markets, too, and often vendors who don't advertise that they have chickens will tell you that they have fresh eggs if you just ask. OK - I'll get off my egg soap box now. What do you think about eggs? Would you pay more for newly-laid eggs or even consider getting chickens so you could have some?

Lots of Little Guys

2011-09-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

The other day Titus was admiring a scrap of Japanese fabric I've had lying around - he was pointing out all the "little guys" that he liked best, and I had the idea to make him a little pillow out of them. The idea came from Amy's blog - have you ever visited? She makes the most beautiful things and has such a great style. She made a similar wall hanging a while back and her resourceful use of tiny scraps of fabric has been stuck in my head. Plus, the opportunity to do a little sewing project during daylight hours was pretty exciting. This is how I made it work:

Playdough and a temporary remission of the "no sitting on the table" rule made this project run very smoothly! I cut out all Titus' favorite "little guys" and interspersed them with some other cute fabrics, then hand quilted the entire thing using embroidery floss. I embroidered the first few lines of "Jesus Loves Me" around the outside, that being one of his favorite songs. I used shredded foam to stuff it with - not the most earth-friendly option, but I had a big bag lying around and I like the firmness it gave to the finished pillow. Titus is VERY happy with the end result!

Here's a shot of his special little space. (Have you ever tried getting a good picture of a bottom bunk bed? The lighting is a nightmare.) I made him the quilt last Christmas and the animals are a funny collection of other little guys he has picked up along the way. The framed picture is a painting of a bulldozer he made with his Aunt Cindy. I like that he has a little cheery place that he doesn't have to share with anybody else except all those cute animals.

Now I need to make one for Moses. And finish the quilt I started for him, um, 4 years ago. As soon as September hits I get the itch to make ALL of our Christmas presents, so I have an almost endless list of sewing and knitting projects I want to do. Hopefully some of them will actually happen and I'll be able to document them on the blog. Until then, I'll keep going into Titus' room and smiling at his little pillow. It really was a fun project.

Blackberries make it better

2011-09-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

On Monday this happened:

Five and a half years of laughter, silliness, deep questions, lunch-time conversations, lego marathons and morning farm adventures zipped up his backpack for his first day of Kindergarten. He was excited, I was terrified. The day before, I reviewed in my head over and over how in the heck we were going to get out the door by 7:30 am to get to school on time, and then what in the world little brother and I were going to do with ourselves in the absence of our favorite sparkly five year old. What if someone was mean to him? What if he missed me? What if Titus realized that he doesn't like being with mommy all by himself? I was a big weepy ball of stress that needed to make jam. Seriously, sometimes you just need to make jam. So I did. I walked all the way to the end of the road and scoured those bushes like a mad woman (it's been a bad year for blackberries around here), falling into the thorns more than a few times. I filled up my lime green Easter basket to the top and sweated my way home. The end result: 8 jars of beautiful blackberry jam (which the guys are NUTS about) and one tired mommy who really didn't feel better about the Kindergarten thing at all but felt nice about having some jam stored away.

Of course, everything worked out fine. Moses loved his first week of school, though we are all still adjusting to waking up, eating breakfast, and leaving the house well before 8 am. I still miss him at lunch time, but am treasuring the alone time with little brother, who seems to like it too. Congratulations to all you other mommies who have survived the first few weeks of school - it sure is hard to let them go, isn't it?

Books by color

2011-09-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today this beautiful image on Design Sponge inspired me to do this:

A pretty easy project when you have such a tiny little book shelf. This area of our house has been a circus for a while, full of old textbooks covered in dust and piles of books about getting babies to sleep through the night, none of which have been even looked at in years. So I scaled back mercilessly (I am good at that after 11 years in a tiny house), gave the entire area a good dusting, and did my best to sort the books by color. I've been seeing the books-by-color trend everywhere, and I don't know why I finally gave in to it, but I am definitely hooked.

Slow Saturday

2011-08-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

It seems like we haven't had one of these for years! No soccer games, no weddings, no airport drop-offs, no doctor's appointments... just sitting around in jammies playing with balloons and reading the latest batch of library books. By now I am usually tired of the hot weather and ready to get into fall, but today it was so wonderful to open the doors before breakfast and let the cool, clean summer air into the house.

The men folk are outside building a goat house (that's right - goats! I foresee a slew of strange blog posts in the future...) and before taking a late shower I snuck in a little sewing and a cup of tea. Luxury. If you haven't stopped by the shop in a while, there are some new items there waiting to be looked at. Have a wonderful weekend!

Pink Triangles Quilt

2011-08-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest member of the shop - my pink triangle quilt! I LOVE this blanket - I cut the triangles out with my Go Baby and everything lined up so perfectly that each seam was fun. You can see more pictures here, and there are a few new bibs to check out too!

A pile of pretty things

2011-08-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it isn't a pile, but I couldn't resist the alliteration. Anyhow. on our recent trip to Oregon, I was inspired by my friend Jenny's interior decorating prowess. Her house is so darn CUTE and I love how she always incorporates beautiful things that are also functional into her home without paying any attention to design rules. She seems to live by the "if I like it, it will work" rule, and in her case, this is absolutely true.

In my house, I am constantly torn between the desire to make things look nice and the desire to throw in the towel. It is, after all, a one-bedroom, 60-year-old mobile home that is just plain ugly. But little fits of despair usually clear the way for another go at making things look better. I put together this little tray after getting home from Oregon. Since I don't have a bedroom, there is nowhere for me to put MY things where they won't be destroyed by an illegally thrown frisbee or knocked over by a rogue Lego car. So I am taking a risk by putting something GLASS in a high-traffic area, but what the heck. I scored this wooden tray at Joanne's in the clearance section, and bought the little notepad and pencils at Paper Source. The glass apothecary jar was bought at TJ Maxx a while back with the intention of making a terrarium, but has been collecting dust until I decided to fill it with my small collection of seashells from Bali. The little turtle is from Bali too, to commemorate me getting to hold baby turtles while we were there (one of my favorite memories). Brett made me the little jar on our neighbor's pottery wheel, and the book under the notepad was given to me by my 8'th grade teacher when I graduated from Jr. High. I love looking at all these pretty things, which were previously hidden away in the back reaches of my shared closet. And it has already come in super handy to have a note pad and pencils right inside the front door. My kids still don't understand why I bite their heads off whenever their cute little hands reach towards my jar of shells... but they are learning to respect the tray. It is my tiny little square of peace in an over-crowded house.

Hexagon Flowers

2011-08-22T16:06:00.001-07:00

Here is my hexagon progress to date. You are looking at 11 hexie flowers - only 106 to go! I made a lot of progress on our road trip, sewing hexagons until my little box got too full, then switching over to attaching them into flowers. As you can see, there isn't really a rhyme or reason to my color scheme. I'm just using fabrics that I like and planning on anchoring them with the occasional white hexagon throughout as well as white around the outside border. Everything I make ends up pretty bright and in violation of color rules, but I like things that way.

Our TV broke yesterday, which has been a blessing in disguise. Last night I worked on some hexie flowers while listening to Harry Potter cd's - bliss! Looking forward to doing more of the same tonight, as the hubbie has a few outside projects he's been working on after the kids go to bed.

This is my view beyond the little hexie photo shoot I set up. Here in bloggy land I tend to crop out the most important part of pictures, so I decided to give you a glimpse of reality. I'd like to find whoever invented Legos and kiss them on the mouth. :)

WOW.

2011-08-19T15:25:00.001-07:00

This painting by MGotovac has left me speechless. And now it's mine. I'm not one to make impulse purchases of original paintings, but this was way too beautiful and well-priced to pass up. Plus, I was afraid that if I posted links here someone else might snatch it up and I'd be left without it. Can't wait for it to arrive... then I'll have to find somewhere to put it. Hm.

Progress

2011-08-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I blocked off all 49 squares of my "vintage fabrics" quilt (is is called "blocking off"? I'm never sure if I've got the terms right since I kind of collected all my quilting skills haphazardly.) It was a nightmare! These 49 squares were the first I ever made, and I cut all the little pieces out with scissors, so things were pretty wonky. Hopefully all that hard work pays off and I'm able to attach them fairly easily.

When I got the bag of squares out of my sewing cupboard, I was not at all excited to work on this quilt. Like I said before, this is a bit too traditional for my style, and the fabrics aren't my favorite, either. Too many browns... However, once I started working on them, I feel back in love with this quilt. I started recognizing the fabrics - a little triangle from the dress I sewed with my mom, a bit of fabric left over from the throw covers in my Grandma's living room, a tiny duckling print that my Grandma used to make me a Christmas ornament. I realized that in using fabrics that were just lying around, I accidentally preserved a bit of my family's history, and that makes this quilt VERY special. The above square is my favorite - I love all the non-matchy bright colors.

We're newly home from a road trip to Oregon. I'm hoping to get some pictures from the trip ready to show you, but you know how I am with things I'm "hoping" to do... As you can see from those cute faces, we had all kinds of crazy underwear-on-the-head fun. It's nice to be home and back to my sewing machine. I made some progress on the hexagon quilt as well - those pictures are coming soon!

Wrapping up summer with style

2011-08-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty typical Monday around here. This morning my 2 year old pulled down his pants and urinated on the outside patio of Whole Foods, right in front of all the EBay executives who were eating lunch. I tried to preserve what was left of my dignity by squirting down the puddle of pee with my newly purchased water bottle then flashing them a charming smile over my shoulder as I tucked tail and hustled our little circus into the car. Then I shot some sort of terrible huge snake with the pellet gun this afternoon after we almost stepped on it on our way into the hen house. Normally I would let a non-poisonous snake live, especially since I have a mouse problem in the hen house. But this guy coiled up and hissed really loudly at us, and frankly, I didn't like his style. I could just picture reaching my hand into the scratch bin and grabbing his tail on accident, so I had to get rid of him. We wrapped things up with a healthy snack from the garden - carrots for Moses and a little bowl of raspberries for Titus. I love seeing them enjoying all our hard work out there. I planted most of my fall garden last week - okra, brussels sprouts, celery, and cabbage seeds went in. Kale, lettuce, and carrots are waiting for me to pull some more weeds. As you can see from this picture, we are kind of gardening prairie-style up here; I hack down a parcel of weeds, till up the dirt, and have about 2-3 months to grow something before nature creeps back in.

And that's my Monday ramble... hoping for some less embarrassing and dangerous adventures to come our way the rest of the week.

Sunday Sewing

2011-08-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

I usually find myself with a bit of quiet sewing time on Sunday afternoons, thanks to my husband. Today I finished up my custom bib order - they are SO cute! I snapped this teaser picture but didn't have time to bust out the fancy camera and do an official photo shoot, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Finishing those allowed me to do some work on my hexagon quilt. I love making these little guys - it 's very soothing. I'm the type who always needs to be doing something even when I'm sitting down relaxing, and this is the perfect portable project.

I've only finished a little more than 100, and have about 1,000 more to go, but I'm really enjoying working with so many different fabrics. I printed this awesome coloring sheet that Melanie over at Texas Freckles created and worked on figuring out my hexagon layout. As you can see, I had a little help. I'd also like to mention that I did this while in the heat of a Nerf Gun War. How's that for multi-tasking?

New Mini Quilt

2011-08-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got this little quilt listed in the shop, along with a few new sachet sets. The boys are in bed and I am off to work on bibs for a while before settling down for some hexagon time. Sheesh, I feel like a sewing-druggie; I can't get enough!

Speaking of unfinished projects...

2011-08-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

...how's this for one? All this talk about my hexagon quilt made me remember how bad I am at finishing quilts. There is the twin sized one that I started for Moses, um, 5 years ago, which I tell myself I will finish around every Christmas. And there is this one, my first EVER quilt, the one that started it all. :) I remember that a quilting magazine caught my eye in the grocery store about 8 years ago because the front cover featured a quilt with bright pink sashing, which I had never seen on a quilt before. So I bought the magazine, and in my typical impulsive style, spent the next few days tracing and cutting out ALL the tiny little squares and triangles for 49 different blocks. (This was long before I had a rotary cutter.) I used mostly vintage fabrics that my Grandma had given my mom and me, and then went to the only fabric store I knew of and bought vintage-looking fabrics to fill it out. Somewhere along the line I lost steam, and I packed the quilt away with only 7 blocks left to piece! It was a really fun find, and I spent yesterday finishing the last few blocks between chores and playing with the kids.

This quilt is definitely not my style, since I started it long before I had even developed a style or knew what I liked in colors, fabrics, and designs. But I love it anyways. It reminds me of something someone would have made 100 years ago, pieced together from tiny scraps of fabric from old aprons, dresses, and curtains. No two blocks are exactly alike, and it will be one of these quilts I used to like as a little girl - one where you are always discovering a new fabric or color that you didn't see the last time you looked.

I'm hoping to make it to the fabric store to chose the finishing fabrics for this - not sure if I'll go with the original bright pink sashing, but we'll see what I can come up with. Another sewing project on the list, but this one is just for me and the hardest part is complete!

Lots to Sew

2011-07-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

This blog has been short of sewing posts lately (maybe you're glad about that?), but that certainly doesn't mean I haven't been making things! My house is scattered with all sorts of in-progress projects. *sigh* Someday I will have a sewing room! Until then, the tops of furniture and various drawers will have to suffice. I'm working on a custom order for 6 baby girl bibs - and I always love it when the customer says "just do whatever you want."

I had a little shopping spree last weekend, which resulted in a large pile of yummy new fabrics that need to be ironed. I like ironing fabric - so soothing. I've read a lot about how much people hate ironing fabric and ironing their seams when piecing a quilt, but that is one of my favorite parts. It's so satisfying to turn something all jumbled up into a flat piece with a nice straight seam...

These guys have been waiting to be filled with lavender for over a week. And I didn't even take pictures of the pile of finished ones waiting for their photo shoot. I'm hoping to have the shop restocked with sachets some time next week... this new batch is really fun!

And, because I don't have enough overwhelming projects going on, I finally succumbed to the wiles of the hexagon charm quilt! I am super excited about this, and, in typical form, want to ditch all the other things I am half-finished with and spend every second of the day sewing little hexagons. But I won't. I did make my first 25 last night while watching a movie with the hubby - so very fast, fun and easy! I'm hoping to get a bunch of these little guys made (and I think I need over 1,000) on our upcoming road trip to Oregon. I promise to finish the bib order first, though! :) I've been wanting to make a quilt just for me, and hoping to incorporate a lot of the little scraps of favorite fabrics I've held onto over the years. I've been wanting to make quilts of tinier and tinier pieces lately, and one-inch hexagons are about as little as you can get without becoming ridiculous. Also, this quilt is completely hand-pieced (as opposed to being sewn by machine), which would accomplish another of my quilting goals. I'm envisioning the finished quilt folded at the foot of my bed... in my bedroom... (haha), so I have plenty of time to get it done. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

You know you have boys when...

2011-07-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

... you are explaining to your oldest son how a flower press works and he wistfully says "I just wish it was a dinosaur press and I could put in a piece of roast beef and it would squish it into an Allosaurus."

Oh well.

(Pressed flower photo courtesy of Mingo Gardens.)

Living off the land

2011-07-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a completely off-the-land omelet and it was awesome! Remember my onion patch? Well, I guess they really mean it when they write on the packet of seeds "plant in fine, loose soil," because my soil was NOT fine and loose, and the onions pushed themselves up out of the dirt because their roots couldn't get deep enough. So, after 7 months of faithful watering and weed pulling, all I have is a handful of tiny little onions. But they sure taste good!

Those, combined with some fresh zucchini from the garden and a couple of newly laid eggs made for a darn good supper.

I love the idea of growing our own food, and a meal comprised entirely of things we have grown and nurtured ourselves is much more than tasty - it is an accomplishment. I have a feeling we're going to be eating a lot more omelets in the days to come...

Model-A Adventure

2011-07-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my brother and sister-in-law came to town and arranged for her dad to take my kids and I on a Model-A Adventure. Cindy's dad collects and restores Model-A's and has quite a beautiful award-winning collection. But that is not what we were off to see. We were off to see "The Coyote," a cut down, trashed Model-A with couch cushions for seats and a sheet of plywood to sit on in the back. It was awesome! Bill (can I call him my father-in-law-in-law?) tried to teach me how to drive a double clutch (still have no idea what that even is, which should tell you how my driving went) and was so wonderful about letting both boys drive (on Uncle Daniel's lap, of course) and not caring about us stripping the gears or whatever happens when you drive a double-clutch the wrong way. He kept insisting that "you can't hurt the coyote," and that certainly seemed to be true as we crashed along across the bumpy field that had recently been harvested for wheat.

Both my boys had a blast, and Titus was in some state of silent euphoria almost the entire time. As we bounced along on our plywood seat, I would occasionally ask him if he was having fun, and his responses was always "uh-HUH!" He is obsessed with cars and his sweet little heart almost burst with joy when he saw this:

We spent the last hour touring Bill's shiny collection of cars, but Titus would not leave this car's side. Bill let him go inside, and Titus spent an entire hour buckling and unbuckling his seat belt and talking to Chatters, the little chipmunk puppet that lives in the back seat. It was adorable.

Moses got to pedal around on Cindy's old John Deer tractor bike, and Bill sent me home with two bottle of Cilker olive oil (basically liquid gold) and a bale of raw cotton. How cool is that?!?! All three of us were in heaven. Thanks, Bill and Cindy, for a wonderful Model-A Adventure!

Starting the week off with a bang

2011-07-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hi there! How did you spend your Monday morning? I'm guessing you didn't spend it running around your 3 1/2 acre yard in your pajamas hunting down a coyote with your son's Red Ryder BB-Gun... Me neither. Just kidding - of course that's how I spent the morning. After a phone call from our wonderful neighbor saying he spotted the coyote on the back of our property and discovering a pile of black feathers, the rest of the morning was spent with me alternately running around not knowing what to do, cursing at the worthless dogs, and trying to figure out if I actually have the guts to shoot a living thing. The verdict is still out on that last point, by the way, since the only time I got close enough to the coyote was before I had located the bb-gun. The verdict is also still out on whether or not a bb-gun is powerful enough to do anything more than make a coyote angry. There are no pictures of this incident, thank goodness (did I mention I was in my pajamas?), so I posted a recent "family picture" that I like the looks of. Never a dull moment...

Apologies and Excuses

2011-07-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yikes - is it actually July!?!? So sorry for my long absence. I've been here in spirit (and if you have a blog you know what I mean - everything that happens becomes a "that would be a great post" moment or an "I wish I had my camera because that would be perfect for the blog" scenario). But summer and farm activities have been filling up every spare moment. These hot dry days the garden needs to be watered at least twice daily, and weeds are threatening to take over new seedlings while mature plants need to be harvested and made into some sort of dish that people will eat. I have an abundance of lettuce which is nice, but BOY is it a pain to wash loads of dirt and bugs off lettuce!

There are also all sorts of shenanigans that needs doing - the latest of which involves the zipline and resident criminal Bentley The Dog (I know, I promised, but look at that sweet face. Could you get rid of him?). Also in the mix are legos, sprinklers, squirt guns, sewing, riding various new bikes and scooters, catching this year's newest batch of baby frogs, learning to bake gluten free food, feeding and watering (and trying to tame) the ever growing baby chicks ... the list of distractions is endless. Poor blog.

Hopefully your summer is going just as well as ours is!

In which the two year old tries to pull a "fast one" on Mommy...

2011-06-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

Me: "Titus, clean up the Legos."

Titus: "Oh, I'm too fast to do that."

Hm. This brand of logic sounds familiar...

Argyle Baby Quilt

2011-06-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest addition to my shop - an argyle quilt! I'm super happy because making this quilt fulfilled two of the things I've been wanting to do: make a quilt in an argyle pattern, and do a little bit of hand quilting. As you can see, I did a VERY little bit of hand quilting. Once I finished these three lines I really liked the asymmetry of it, so I left things as they were. Probably lots of people won't like the look of an "unfinished quilt," but I just couldn't bear to do anything more. In the words of my sister-in-law Cindy, "one of the hardest things about art is knowing when it looks just right and stopping before you mess it all up."

Tea Cup Bracelets

2011-06-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've been admiring these tea cup bracelets for a while now. Isn't this the most adorable idea? They make all kinds of different bracelets, and you can even send them your very own special tea cup and they will make it into a bracelet for you. My mom had a wonderful collection of tea cups, and this seems like a great way to modernize a little bit of it so I can use it on a more daily basis.

As you can tell, summer means less blogging for me, though I've always been a bit sporadic at best, so maybe you haven't noticed? Anyhow, I'm going to try to pop in with updates here and there. I have some fun new fabric to play around with, have been experimenting a bit with hand quilting, and trying a lot of new recipes. Hopefully I'll remember to get out my camera and document some of my summer adventures for you. Now time to dust off the slip-n-slide!

Happy Summer (vacation)!

2011-06-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

This picture is from our trip to San Diego a few weeks ago, which of course I didn't blog about because it's taken me this long to get the pictures off my camera. Anyhow, the weather down south was fabulous, but until yesterday things around here have been rainy and cold. Yesterday was our last day of school and the sun finally came out - how exciting! My garden is already stretching out and looking happier. So are the kids - they want to do nothing but play outside, which is fine with me. However, this is the first summer of my life that I find myself worrying about how I'm going to fill up the summer without losing my mind. I guess my kids have finally gotten to "that age" or something. Even the farm gets boring when you live on it every day, so I'm trying to find lots of fun things to do that are free. Today we went to a local outdoor mall with picnic lunches and played in all the fountains. All it cost was the fifteen cents that the kids threw into the fountains. Score! What are your summer plans?

Bright Modern Patches

2011-06-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the quilt I just listed in the shop - finally a day sunny enough to take pictures! (Things have been very dreary and wet here in CA, for those of you living in the rest of the country...) I pieced this little lovely thing together using only scraps from previous projects. I love that fabrics don't have to really match, just have the same feel. Anyhow, I finally finished it up and I adore it - definitely glad I incorporated so much white. I've been wanting to make something out of tiny squares and it was worth all the work. Hopefully this finds a fun happy home to live in... before I decide to keep it!

Salvaged:

2011-06-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

This pile of pretty little fabric scraps was saved from death at the dump by my mother-in-law and given to me. I love looking at each tiny little piece - every one is different. Today I got the urge to sew some of the longer strips together. No particular rhyme or reason here; I just liked all the different blues and purples, shapes and sizes. This is what the pile became:

So now what? This needs to become something, but I haven't figured out what yet. I suppose the obvious, and my usual fall-back, would be a little quilt. But I'm feeling like making something else, something I can sit with for a while. I've been inspired lately by Ms. Horner's fabulous needleworks... perhaps a hand-embroidered pillow? Or a hand-embroidered... something else? Hm... as if all this busyness needs any more color. Anyhow, those are my crafting thoughts of the day. Scattered as usual. (I started the day at the fabric store buying backing material for two different quilts I've pieced and need to finish. You can see how far I got on those projects...) Any suggestions for me?

Terrific Two's

2011-05-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

You know the age: suddenly they know more than you, have an opinion about everything, and don't need help with anything. They are the world's best clothing stylist (camo, plaid, and stripes: yes please!), and the rules of time and reality no longer apply to them (yes, I will take 15 minutes to put on my shoes, and yes, I can breathe under water in the bath tub.) While it can be a little frustrating (especially if you are the 5-year-old big brother), I find this age to be both delightful and hilarious.

As part of his 2-year-old liberation strike, Titus has come up with a handful of catch-all phrases that he sprinkles into daily conversation, regardless of whether or not they fit the context of what is going on. They are: "d'ever I want," "not AT ALL," "I can't whistle," and my personal favorite, "Mommy's in charge!"

For example:
You: "Titus, how old are you?"
Titus (sadly): "Um... I can't whistle."
You: "Oh, ok. But how old are you?"
Titus: "Um, Moses do whistle but I can't whistle. Not AT ALL."
You: "Cool. But how old are you?"
Titus (indignantly) "Ine two-anna-haff d'ever I want!"
Charming.

The other day, after sitting down at the table and surveying the brussel sprouts and chicken I had made, he said emphatically, "I don't like this, don't have to eat it d'ever I want. Mommy's in charge!" (Unfortunately for him, the last part of his argument trumped his first two points.)

Or how about this:
Titus: "There is two Lego Lands!"
Moses: "No there aren't. There's only one Lego Land."
Titus: "No Moses! NOT AT ALL! There is two!
Moses: "Titus, that's silly. There's only one."
Titus: "Moses! There is TWO D'EVER I WANT! MOMMY'S IN CHARGE!"
I mean, sheesh, don't bring me into it...

I'm sure there will be plenty more silly two year old themed posts coming up. We have a chatterbox in the family. D'ever I want.

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

Interesting to put the word "happy" in front of a day meant to remember those who have sacrificed on our behalf. Now that I have kids, I appreciate more and more what our service men and women do for us. To live in a country where my children are generally safe and can believe what they think is true is a huge blessing that I often take for granted. Both my grandpas were in the military, and though neither one liked to talk about what they saw or did in the Second World War, I know that they endured terrible things so that their two great-grandsons could run around this beautiful place in safety. Thank you to all the men and women serving our country, both past and present. Thank you for living the "military life," moving from place to place, not knowing what your life will be like 2 years from now, being ready to go anywhere at a moment's notice. Thank you for giving your limbs, your peace of mind, your lives, so that the rest of us can enjoy freedom in this wonderful country.

Custom Bib

2011-05-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished my first custom bib order - this one was made using the cutest kite fabric. The customer was attending a baby shower where each guest was supposed to bring a bib for the mom-to-be, who would then guess which guest gave her which bib. My customer was a Theta with her friend (Thetas are the first ever Greek letter fraternity for women), so she wanted there to be kites on the bib, which is the symbol for Thetas. I learned a lot from this order and had so much fun making the bib - what a special gift! To order your own custom bib, go here.

A Happy Surprise

2011-05-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we took in four chickens that had been being mistreated by a friends' neighbor. The poor chickens were super thin and had been kept in wooden boxes separated from sunlight and each other for who-knows how long. We isolated them from our chickens (to make sure they didn't have any diseases) and started nurturing them back to full chicken-health. After about a month they stopped being scared of each other, and after another month they stopped being afraid of us. A month after that they started laying eggs (they hadn't been able to do that due to malnutrition and lack of sunshine)! We became pretty attached to them and they seemed to like us, too. They like to follow us around the property and have become pretty tame. Sadly, two of these "crazy chickens," as we call them, got eaten by Bentley, as you can read about in other posts. Then, it seemed that the remaining red hen lost her mind.

It started when she failed to come home at sundown. One of the things that makes chickens easy to raise is their instinct to roost at night, and their tendency to return "home" around dusk. Every night all my hens make their way back to the hen house and are roosting on their rails when I come to tuck them in (I don't really - I just close and lock the door to keep raccoons out). So when the crazy red hen didn't come home one night, I thought maybe she had been eaten. However, about a week later, I heard a huge chicken ruckus in the pasture, and that crazy bird came bursting out of the long grass clucking and flapping her wings like a maniac. She charged around in circles a few times, then took off in a different direction, not to be seen again for another week. The second sighting was similar to the first: she came streaking past me flapping her wings and making all sorts of weird clucking noises, then charged off into the pasture again. I figured she had simply gone nuts - not totally surprising given her past life and the fact that our dog ate two of her best friends. I hadn't seen her for another week and just assumed that she was passing her crazy days out in the field or that some predator had finally carried her off.

Well, today I returned home after getting 3 root canals (yes, you read that right) and stopped into the hen house to quickly fill up the food canister. There, eating comfortably and looking perfectly sane, was my crazy red hen! I said "Well, hello! Nice to see you back home!" She looked at me, swallowed, took a step to the left, and this is what I saw:

FOUR BABY CHICKS!!!! Baby chicks that didn't come in the mail - baby chicks that one of my very own chickens hatched by sitting on a secret nest of eggs for 3 weeks! I am absolutely thrilled! I don't know if I've ever been more shocked - we don't even have a rooster (and in case you are wondering, yes, you need a rooster to get baby chicks. Chickens are just like us: they need to be, um, married in order to have babies, if you know what I mean...) I am trying to remember if we killed Roostofferson less than 3 weeks ago. If not, perhaps one of our neighbors' roosters did the honors. Anyways, we have quadruplets! How very exciting!

I am off to research next steps. I can just picture my stupid dog snapping each of those little babies up like fluffy Twinkies. I've locked the door of the hen house so they can't get out, and am working on building them a little home of their own to be safe in. I'm so happy that Crazy Red Hen felt safe enough with us to bring her babies home. And happy that I'm not the chicken mommy this time - real chicken mommies seem much better cut out for raising chicks. :)

Color-In Books

2011-05-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Remember my post about the painting my sister-in-law made with Moses? Now your kids can paint with Cindy too! Well, not with her, but they can color or paint some of her super cute illustrations: she's come out with a "Color In Book!" Every picture in this book is super cute and my favorite part about it is that the pages are made of thick sturdy paper that stands up perfectly to water colors or other paint. I get so frustrated when Moses and I color in his dollar-store coloring books and the ink bleeds through the page (or next several pages), making the pictures on the other side invisible and unusable. These pages are meant to be removed and displayed after they've been colored. Wouldn't one of these make a great gift? Cindy is so talented and has such a fun kid-friendly style. I'm planning on getting several of these for my boys. Hop on over to her shop to check it out (along with all her other beautiful work!).

To do:

2011-05-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Um, yes, this is a stack of freshly cut quilt pieces waiting to be sewn together atop the new Anthropologie catalogue. My purple toenails are already drying, there is a fresh jug of iced tea in the fridge, and the boys are asleep. I've got a pretty nice evening lined up for myself...

Tie wrap-up

2011-05-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

OK, now to take pictures of the boys in their ties. Titus, smile!

No, silly! Not like that! Open your eyes and smile!

Titus, when you smile you have to keep your eyes open, OK? Ready? Smile!

Hm, not quite what I had in mind. Maybe if I get in the picture with him. Ready, set, smile!

Smile!

Smile!

Oh well. (The boys looked really cute in their ties.)

Girly Bibs

2011-04-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

I love how this picture turned out... more custom bibs available in the shop!

Easter Ties

2011-04-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

Every Easter (and I do mean Easter morning, as we are rushing around getting ready for church) I take stock of my boys' closets, looking for something a little more fancy than usual to dress them in. Of course, there is never anything. If either of them happens to have a white dress shirt, it is stained beyond repair, and "nice" pants (pants that haven't been repaired with iron-on patches) are usually too short. This year I am determined to not let that happen. I have a few days left, right? Why not whip up some cute Easter ties? Well, I had a very hard time finding patterns for children's ties on-line, so I decided to wing it. This post certainly can't qualify as a tutorial, as I don't know if I can even duplicate the process I went through for Titus' tie to make one for Moses. But I took a few pictures along the way - maybe these can help you wing it yourself. :)

First I used a piece of string to estimate how long the tie would need to be - hung it around Moses' neck, added a few inches for tying purposes, and hoped for the best. Then I used a tie we already have (it isn't a full tie - just a pre-tied one on an elastic necklace) for the shape. I taped the string on a huge piece of paper, and then things started getting weird. There was some tracing, the use of a belt as a straight-edge, lots of erasing, and I finally came up with a template for the tie.

I placed the template on my fabric so that the tie would be cut on the bias (the one tip I was able to find on-line) and used my rotary cutter to cut out two tie pieces - one for the front and one for the back. I also cut out one piece from some white cotton muslin I had (again on the bias), which acted as interfacing. I sandwiched my pieces with the first printed piece right-side-up, the muslin in the middle, then the second print wrong-side-up. I pinned the heck out of it and sewed around the outside with a 1/4" seam, leaving a small opening for turning.

The scariest part was turning it because I didn't know if I had just spent hours creating a mess, but it worked! I carefully ironed the edges, sewed up the opening, and we had our first tie! Titus is very excited to wear his car tie on Easter. I'll be making another one for Moses and will show you how cute they look all dressed up for Easter. For now, you'll have to settle with seeing it on Titus in his jammies (and not tied properly because Daddy isn't home).

Following the rules

2011-04-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

"Place one layer meringue-side-DOWN on cake plate."

It breaks my heart every time to flip that pretty crackly stuff upside down where it will be crushed to death by another layer of yumminess.

It's a rough life.

Polka Dots

2011-04-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another bib - this one is for the girlies. I was so excited to use this polka dot print. It is from Japan (which always makes fabric more special for some reason) and is SO silky and gorgeous, but I couldn't find anything to go with it. Then I paired it with this Amy Butler print and it worked just right. I always find myself drawn to color and pattern combinations that almost match - I don't like combinations that are too predictable. It is newly listed in my shop - go check her out!

Let that be a lesson to you:

2011-04-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Mess with my kids, and I'll eat you for dinner.

We are now a 100% rooster-free zone. It's actually really nice. No more waking up at 5 am to the sound of crowing, no more being charged by a huge feathered beast as I walk to the car in the morning, no more kids walking around the yard with sticks in case the big bird gets too close, no more telling the boys "they're just wrestling" as the rooster has his way with the hens, no more claw marks on our shins... It's just one part of farm life I'd rather do without.

And this guy is going to make a big ol' happy family dinner. RIP Roostofferson, we won't miss you much.

BYOB

2011-04-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

Bib, that is. :) I've started listing some bibs in the shop - go check them out!

More to come soon...

Tags are here!

2011-04-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hooray - today my new tags arrived in the mail! I had to order special tags for my bibs since they are not 100% cotton - the velcro attachments add nylon to the mix. I have a growing stack of patchwork bibs waiting for tags and then binding. I'm hoping to get some of them finished up and photographed in the next few days and then into the shop. I'm making a lot of "boy bibs" since I always have trouble finding cute things for my own boys - hopefully you like them!

Psst:

2011-04-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

~~Don't forget to enter this week's giveaway on Facebook!~~

The winner is Stacey! (And I happen to know she is expecting a baby boy ... how perfect!) Congratulations Stacey!

Germination

2011-04-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

After weeks and weeks of torrential rain, fog, and cold weather, things have finally dried out and spring is here! This is hands-down my favorite time of year up here on the farm. I will have to post some pictures for you in the next few days of how dang beautiful everything is up here. For now, I will just show you this tiny bit of green that is making my day. My tomatoes and peppers have germinated! Hooray for planning ahead and having a brother who is a scientist and gardening genius! This year I used plastic cups instead of the seed starting trays because they are bigger and I don't have to worry about my plants getting root-bound before I am ready to plant them. In addition to these friendly little sprouts, I've planted my lettuce, peas, beans, chard, and carrots outside (all by seed - I've decided that transplanting anything other than tomatoes and peppers is a waste of time). Fingers crossed on how those turn out - if you've followed my blog for a while you know that I don't have much luck when it comes to actual outside gardening. This year my pest-deterrent efforts have reached an all-time high; after a rabbit made off with two of the brussels sprout plants that I nursed through the whole winter I decided to go all out. Some day I'll show you some pictures of my garden beds - they look like plant jails. It is such an exciting time of year - planning, working in the dirt, choosing what things to grow, plotting the death of all snails and gophers within a 3 mile radius... How about you? Are you planting a garden this year?

Nice try little buddy

2011-03-29T21:03:00.001-07:00

"No broccoli. That too yummy for me."

Easiest Give Away Ever...

2011-03-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to not be so behind-the-times, Junie None is now on Facebook! And... I am bribing you to become a "fan" by hosting a giveaway. Everyone who "likes" the Junie None Facebook page from now until Monday night will be entered into a drawing to win this super cute deluxe mini baby quilt. Just click here, sign in to your Facebook account, "like" us, and you are automatically entered to win. You don't even have to think of anything original or cute to write - just click. :) Happy Monday!

Baby Bedding

2011-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

I finally finished this project I've been working on and I couldn't be more pleased! A very sweet customer trusted me enough to make her a crib set (bumpers and a matching quilt) even though I had never made crib bumpers before. I love how they turned out - I even made piping and attached it with no mess-ups! The internet is so great - you can search for pretty much anything and learn to do it right at your computer.

She chose the fabric - they are designing their new baby boy's room to look like a "lodge" and she wanted blues and reds. Pretty darn cute. Not sure if Junie None will be offering a range of crib bumpers in the future... these things are pretty time consuming to make! But it's nice to know I can do it if asked again.

Saying Goodbye

2011-03-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my Grandpa Mack passed away. He passed on peacefully to be with his beloved Lord while he was at home with his family. He was such a delightful and precious man, and I have fond memories of him from babyhood until now. He had a knack for making people feel at ease, making them laugh, and conveying God's love to them. I will miss him even though I am happy for him to be in heaven. This picture is from two years ago, when I was on bed rest and Grandpa came to visit me. He read books to Moses, sang songs with us, and cheered me up.

So, I am a bit sad today. Fresh losses always bring back some of the sadness I still have about my Mom, and this being my Mom's father, things are kind of a sad jumble around here. Fortunately, I have left-overs to heat up for dinner and a nice soothing sewing project to work on tonight. And three great guys running around the house (well, two of them are running, the third is pretty wiped out from working outside in the rain all day) making me very, very grateful for my life and family.

Contemporary Jewish Museum

2011-03-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my in-laws took the boys and me on a very cultured trip to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. The highlight: "Georgie!" (Titus loves George. He regularly absconds with Moses' George blanket and sleeps with it and as many George books as he can sneak into his bed.) Here are the boys standing in front of the museum, which is closed. Luckily, Golden Gate park is just a short drive away, so we had no problem filling in our accidental extra two hours.

When we returned to the museum, wet and sandy from the playground in the rain, we visited the exhibit about Margaret and H.A. Rey, the authors and illustrators of Curious George. It was beautifully done! I would have NEVER taken my 5 and 2 year olds to a museum if my mother-in-law hadn't insisted that it was kid-friendly, and she was definitely right. There was a very cool interactive touch-screen time line of the Rey's escape from the Nazis that was tactfully done so as not to traumatize young children. Did you know that at one point they traveled by night on bicycles that he built from pieced-together bits of metal? Pretty incredible. We learned a lot, had tons of fun, and one of us had a very nice nap on the way home. A great day (and I didn't even have to drive) - thanks Gail and Steve!

Caution: story of death and blood. Maybe don't even read it...

2011-03-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

The grim reality of farm life (and the part I don't take pictures of) is that animals die up here. There are fewer roads, fewer people, more animals, and a lot more space for them to bother each other. Unfortunately, over the last week my poor little kids have been exposed to some of these less-than-pleasant truths. What makes it even worse is that the animals involved are our puppy Bentley and our chickens, who we raised from birth. How does one choose between two pets? Well, it seems that when one of them starts eating the others, the predator has to go. We aren't farmy enough to take Bently to the back 40 and shoot him, but we will need to find him a new home. I am so sad. But I was also sad to come home today and have to put a chicken "out of its misery" since Bentley hadn't finished the job. And that was the second time this week (and the fourth in Bentley's life with us). Yes, my kids were right there crying. And I cried too, hardened farm girl that I am. What a mess. Sorry to write such a downer post - aren't you glad you live in the suburbs?

More Bibs

2011-03-15T07:31:00.001-07:00

A dear friend of mine is having her first baby soon, and I made these bibs for her. As usual, these were hard to part with, even though I no longer have any bib-wearers in the house. Isn't this bike print adorable? I love it.

I know I've said it before, but I am definitely working to get bibs back in the shop soon. I'll be switching to a velcro closure rather than snaps because of all the new laws about putting metal on kids items (even though I use strictly lead-free snaps, the documentation involved makes it easier to just make the switch). Once I make that adjustment and get special tags made up, you too can put a Junie None bib on your baby.

Busyness (did I spell that right?)

2011-03-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

I'm still here... just busy. :) This week is full of registering for Kindergarten and all the doctor and dentist appointments that requires, as well as finishing a few important sewing projects, dealing with chicken disasters, sorting buttons... I hope to be back to regular blogging next week and have my head on straight enough to write something that makes sense. Until then, enjoy the rest of your week!

Retail Therapy

2011-03-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

Today my husband came home with this little white box. If you are familiar with this little white box, you know there wasn't a 6 pack of beer in here. My husband, who goes to the mall once per year, under duress, to buy Christmas gifts and buys clothes for himself only when his work shirts are "pitted out" bought me an entire outfit from my very favorite store. Just for the heck of it. And it even fits! The man knows how to make a girl feel special. :)

No-Sew Kid's Bunting

2011-02-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

Here's another of my tentative forays into interior decorating - I'm really not a natural at making the house cute, nor do I have the budget to buy, well, anything. Thinking about redecorating is so overwhelming that I end up frozen in fear, so I've taken to thinking of things in terms of walls. This time I turned my attention to the "wall above the dressers," which has been an ugly area for a long time. Next I figure out what problem I'm trying to solve, which in this case is the fact that there are two completely different dressers crammed right next to each other and this corner is kind of dark. My solution: add color and fun to distract from the dresser situation and bring a feeling of brightness. Enter the banners: I didn't have any money to spend on new decorations, so I decided to make something. I had fabric (of course) and some of this great baker's twine, so I made several strands of bunting to add some color and whimsy.

Next I chose fabric and cut out triangles. I kind of winged it from this point on. I chose fabrics in bright colors that worked in the boys' room but weren't too matchy-matchy. I cut out 3 different sizes of triangles, keeping them pretty small, though you could make them any size you want depending on the space you are hanging the bunting.

The last step is stringing the triangles on the twine (I should really call these low-sew bunting banners since you do have to sew, but no machine is needed and you basically just need the ability to thread a needle and have decent aim). I used the biggest embroidery needle I had so that the twine would fit through the eye. I used lengths of twine about 5 feet long but of course you could make them any length you want. After cutting the twine, I poked my needle through the front upper-right-hand corner of a triangle and then back through the back of the upper left-hand corner. This way the twine runs along the back of the fabric and you don't see it when the bunting is hanging.

I made about 7 different banners using different shape and fabric combinations because I like the circus look of having a big bundle hanging together. Here's the new look - of course I didn't take a before picture because I'd rather forget how this area looked when it was piled with dusty lego cars and orphaned socks.

I had originally planned on hanging these more straight, but I used some pre-existing nails in the wall (seriously, this area was a disaster) and really like how it looks hanging skewy (is that a word?). The street signs are courtesy of my brother's rebellious phase as a teenager, and the button bouquet is something I made a few years ago as a baby shower decoration. The lamp and clock were purchased from Target a few years ago.

I'm pretty excited that I managed to tackle this difficult space without spending any money. Let me know if you decide to make some of these banners - I'd love to see pictures! I'm seeing bunting everywhere in kids room lately and I don't picture myself ever getting tired of it. :)

Goat Birthday Party

2011-02-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Lest you begin to think we are high-brow around here after my last post, I thought I'd share what we did after we got home from our weekend at the W in San Francisco. We went to a goat's birthday party. Yep. Little Man turned one, and we were invited - got an invitation in the mail and everything. Of course we brought a gift - Saltines would have been better, but Ritz crackers are a close second when it comes to goat gifts. Here is Moses presenting the birthday boy with his present.

Little Man was a very gracious host - he even shared his birthday cake with his Aunt Angelina and allowed his other goat friends to eat the decorations. We weren't the only guests, either. All of the other "hill people" (that's what we humans call ourselves up here) came bearing gifts as well. The only snafoo occurred when Lamb Chop (who is MUCH bigger than Little Man and Angelina) decided to take a running charge at Moses, who went flying into a shed, banging up his elbow pretty good. Maybe she was jealous or something, but I sure was tempted to turn her name into something a little more literal. Ah, home... :)

Weekend in San Francisco

2011-02-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

Did I mention we didn't bring our kids? That's right - for the first time EVER since having kids (that's 5 1/2 years) Brett and I went away for the weekend by ourselves. It was awesome! Since the weather was rainy, we decided San Francisco would be a good destination, since there is still plenty to do even though you can't be outside. Our first stop, and by far the highlight of our weekend, was the farmer's market at the Ferry building. If you are ever in San Francisco and you like to eat, you MUST go here! Outside they have the traditional farmer's market set up with all kinds of wonderful in-season fruits and veggies, and inside they have tons of other vendors selling fresh, locally made meats, cheeses, coffee, breads, pastries... it was unbelievable.
My first stop was a Chinese tea shop where they had tons of different unique teas for sale. The lady at the counter was extremely helpful when I asked her about green teas, and even brewed me up a cup without burning it, a feat that it seems even Peet's coffee employees can't master.

I'm tempted to say that Brett was the only one who liked our next stop, but I was just as excited about the "tasty salted pig parts" as he was. We bought a cup of meat. It is literally a cup filled up with meat. Fresh cured meat that was grown and "harvested" locally and cured right there in the little shop. Yum.

I think we went into every little shop at least twice - we were in some sort of locally-grown food heaven. I don't know why, but I was really excited about this display of lettuce and books - two of my favorite things! Together! If there had been an adjacent fabric display I might not have been able to pull myself away.

Another highlight of the trip was Pier 23 Cafe's crab and shrimp sandwich. It takes a lot to get me to eat a mayonaise-laden sandwich on buttered toasted bread covered in french fries (especially after being romanced by a lettuce display) but this did the trick. This sucker is GOOD. So if you are ever in the vicinity of the Ferry building and somehow have room in your stomach after sampling all it has to offer, walk south and get this for yourself.

We stayed at the W hotel, which I wasn't able to get any good pictures of, but is really swanky with bright pink and turquoise accents and orchids everywhere and 3D floral pictures in the elevators and a pet menu in the room where you can order your dog a $20 steak in the middle of the night. To be honest, I felt a bit out of my element there, even though I was wearing my tall black boots and lots of eye makeup. Neither of us slept very well because we aren't used to having down pillows or a down feather bed, so we both woke up with sore backs wishing we had slept on our good ol' couch bed with our crappy Target pillows instead. Ironic, isn't it? We actually got a pretty good laugh about it this morning - I mean, we sleep on a COUCH BED in the living room, and the W sells their mattresses and pillows via a catalogue in every hotel room. So, we decided that the next time we take a weekend to ourselves, we'll spend the day out and sleep at home where we can wake up to our own stuff. And save a bunch of money.

Of course, I am not complaining! It was a great weekend, full of lots of rest, eating good food and laughing together about non-kid-related things. I didn't have to feed anyone or wipe juice off anything or get boogers on my clothes for a full 24 hours. It was great. But after breakfast this morning when we were deciding what to do next, we looked at each other and said at the same time "Let's get our kids." So we came home early to our wonderful life feeling rested and grateful that this is what we get to do every day.

Biodome

2011-02-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

A search on etsy for "terrarium" turned up this beauty. Isn't this awesome? Can't you just picture spending hundreds of dollars on it and setting it up in your house and having your kids crash into it, sending it shattering glass and dirt and moss across your entire house? Yep, me too. So for now I will just drool over it. And maybe buy myself a smaller terrarium that I can put up VERY high on a shelf.

Winter's End

2011-02-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

The weather seems to be trying out "winter" today, after a few weeks of what definitely felt like spring. The boys woke up early and are drinking hot chocolate out of sippy cups. I have my mug of tea and just saw a flock of geese flying south in a perfect V formation. I am actually relieved to feel the cold air - I wasn't quite ready for spring yet. I made this batch of sachets in icy winter colors - just in time for winter's end. Get yours in the shop.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Are you doing something special today? Is somebody doing something special for you? I have a few little plans for the 3 men in my life, nothing fancy and certainly nothing girly. *sigh* But I'm not going to let the lack of estrogen around here stop me from having a frilly pink Valentine's Day! I painted my fingernails last night, and today I'm sharing a few of my favorite Valentine's Day inspired finds with you. I'm not usually a huge fan of pink, but I've fallen in love with this vintage tea set. So simple and frilly.

Continuing the tea theme, I love this photo by Elle Moss - makes me think of all things girly. You can purchase one for yourself here. (Psst - she's having a 40% off sale on prints through Valentine's Day - that's something to love!)

This tiny cake stand is just too cute - wouldn't it make your Valentine feel special?

Speaking of cake, isn't this the cutest idea ever? I'm definitely going to put bunting on the next cake I make.
And of course I can't let you go without mentioning my lavender sachets - the perfect little way to spoil yourself or a friend. I have tons of these in my "unmentionables" drawer and it makes me feel pampered every time I see them.

Trouble with Chickens

2011-02-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

That's right, I said trouble with chickens.

Since getting my own "flock," I've been pretty snobby about the fact that ours are true Free Range hens. Legally speaking, someone can claim to be raising free range hens as long as their chickens aren't confined to a tiny cage - if they never see the light of day, have their beaks clipped to keep them from pecking their eggs, and are injected full of hormones, they can still be called "free range," and everyone thinks that their meat and eggs are completely healthy. Anyhow, my chickens get let outside every morning to range around the 3 acres eating bugs and grass and rolling in the dust (chickens LOVE to roll in the dust) and having all sorts of other chicken shenanigans. From what I've read, this produces much healthier eggs, and of course the chickens are happier.

Well. Over the last month I have realized why anybody hoping to make money off their eggs, or anybody hoping to have eggs for their family, or basically just anybody hoping to preserve their sanity might consider caging their chickens into tiny boxes. We've got chicken trouble. It all started when one hen, my most faithful layer, decided that after she laid an egg, it made perfect sense to take her sharp beak and punch a huge hole in it. This annoying behavior quickly snowballed into her punching holes in everybody else's eggs too. You can't eat an egg with a chicken-beak hole in it - gross. So every day I was collecting maybe one intact egg, and 4 broken ones, not to mention cleaning raw egg out of the hay and chicken food that it had run into.

Attempt number one at extinguishing this behavior was to modify the nesting boxes. Chickens are very instinctual and will lay their eggs in nesting boxes (boxes full of hay) without even being trained - it is like getting a cat to use a litter box. This way you can control where they lay their eggs, which makes life much easier for everybody. Brett decided to give our existing nesting boxes slanted floors so that when the chickens laid an egg, the egg would roll to the back of the box into a little compartment that the naughty chicken couldn't fit her beak into. This was a great concept - except that the eggs rolled only if there was no hay in the nesting box. Kind of like trying to get your cat to use an empty litter box. Not gonna happen. Only, we didn't realize this until about 2 weeks later. At first we thought we had succeeded - all of my eggs were intact! Gradually, however, I went from collecting 5 eggs a day to 4, and eventually I was down to only 1 egg per day. Where were the other eggs going?

Well, let me shorten the story for you: the eggs were going EVERYWHERE. My chickens have gone wild and now lay their eggs anywhere in the heck they feel like it all over their glorious free ranging 3 acres because the nesting boxes no longer feel like nests to them. And chickens are not like the Easter Bunny, either. They aren't laying their eggs where somebody is sure to find them, and they are not laying fluorescent blue eggs. They lay brown eggs inside of bushes or under rocks or in holes that they dig in the sand. It is almost impossible to find these eggs, and once you DO find one and take it out of the nest, the chicken won't lay another egg in that same spot because it is obviously not a safe location (never mind the fact that she laid the egg and promptly got up and left it there unattended for an entire 24 hours). Are you getting a feel for how our afternoons have been going? Yep, we have a daily egg hunt. The kids love it. I hate it.

Oh, and did I mention that "stupid chicken lady" (that's the one who pecks the eggs, not me) is still punching holes in eggs, whenever she manages to find them before we do. Now that we ruined the nesting boxes by making them peck-proof, all the eggs are vulnerable again and she's on the prowl. I plan on turning her into dinner soon, but the problem is that she looks exactly like all my other black hens and I haven't been fast enough to mark her before she escapes. That's right - I've been stalking a chicken around my dad's property for weeks with a can of spray paint hoping to identify her for later slaughter. These chickens are turning me into a maniac.

SO, if you are reading this and happen to have any experience with chickens, particularly with wild egg-laying ones, or the egg eating type, could you give me some advice? I'd sure appreciate it...

Primary Delight

2011-02-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Inspired by all the beautiful weather we've been having in California, here is a sunny little patchwork play mat. I have had all these bright fabrics lying around from previous projects and couldn't resist putting them together. It is available in my shop...