Invisible mama rant + a little quilt talk

Do you ever feel invisible? In the mama gig I'm so very, very happy that the boy gets to be the focus of attention. I don't enjoy attention, really, and he's adorable. I also don't, however, like the whole dismissal that happens when people (too many people lately) decide I'm just a mom and am therefor, evidently, without thoughts, feelings or any other non-robotic-like capabilities. Yes, I feel a bit mechanical when washing the booster seat tray for the eighth time in a given day but I also know about the world, I have a few decades worth of life I've navigated through, I have stories to tell (even non-kid ones) just like the next guy and I'm doing big stuff for the world. I'd argue that what I'm doing is critical. This time I devote to raising another little soul who cares about others and the environment, who reads (most adults don't now, you know) and who thinks things through and who finds joy and compassion in the world... This time and the energy and our days are the most important thing I can and should do right now.

So I'm really not invisible. I'm doing something that matters. And while I'm doing it I'm also more than the sum total of the parts of my days.

Other mamas are like this too.

Phew. I feel better now. I also make things which strikes some people as being cute but strikes me as being loads better than wasting four hours a day in front of the television. It's a great way to help our one-income family because gorgeous (I try) handmade gifts cost a lot of time and not as much money (usually). This little doll-size (20" x 23") quilt was so much fun to make. It's not quite as wonky in person as it looks in the photos; usually it's the other way around with me so I'm pleased! I've never really made a "non-traditional" quilt before, whatever that might mean, and I had so much fun cutting fabric and piecing it together. People either seem to love it or really not dig this little quilt. It's definitely inspired by quilts I've been seeing recently (I've been working on a little piece about Laughing Duck's quilts for the SMS blog and I always love all of the quilting done at the Pink Chalk Studio). I used to stitch in the ditch for the quilting but I tried something new this time (it weakens the seams to stitch in the ditch and I want a lot of dolls to cozy up under this quilt). The Alexander Henry fabric was a touch of something way outside my norm too and I like it.

I'm a bit feisty today, evidently. By the by I'm surrounded by loved ones who 100% believe all of the mama-related stuff I wrote, so there's that. It's just that life involves a lot of people and sometimes I wish they were smarter. And nicer.

A little quilt + tables for three

This past weekend was the first in about two months where I didn't feel terrible when it ended. We've been too busy in the week and I've packed too many hopes and dreams into our weekends (a sure way to build yourself up for disappointment). This time we walked along the boardwalk with coffee and our little running boy, I got a few things done and we had quiet time to relax Sunday evening.

This little doll-size quilt has been in pieces for about two months now, and it's so satisfying to have it all come together. It has some of my favorite, happy, reproduction feedsack fabric in it and I just turned it the easy-peasy way (it's a doll quilt, after all) and eyed the diagonal quilting. It's going in the little shop as soon as I have time to add it!

So on another note, I really am trying to introduce more variety, better ingredients and new recipes lately. Our New Yorker usually comes on Friday afternoon and I get a deep, odd pleasure from turning directly to the restaurant review (Tables for Two) in my first quiet moment. I don't think I'm really that into food but I love the New Yorker restaurant reviews. They're snooty, include obscure references to the atmosphere of a place, describe at least one other customer and they write about the food in the most unique, elaborate language. What a great gig... Imagine getting paid to flip through your thesaurus and go out for incredible food (on someone else's bill) with friends. Aside from maybe a birthday or our anniversary we don't go out to eat. Anyhow, there's something so odd and satisfying about these reviews. What if one of the reviewers stopped by our humble eatery?

Tables for Three
Kitchen Table Mama

The green cabinets are a bit 70's avocado but the eclectic family-farmy table at Kitchen Table Mama is inviting if cluttered. Frequented by a few loyal diners the site is long on offerings for the short and short on offerings for the tall. On a late weeknight a thirty-something waitress seemed a bit harried with a customer's request for "MORE, MORE" but variety (banana? rice? chicken? frozen peas?) keeps coming for the younger set. The fajitas were without panache but left memory of a spicy kick with yellow, orange and red peppers (a splurge) mixed with chicken. Juice, flecked with spices and dripping from mouth and wrap, leaves a neighboring patron flustered. Tortillas, though sufficiently round, lack heat and "oomph" and seem, somehow, to come directly from a grocery store bag. Grab an crunchy, delightfully orange carrot stick to quell the torrent of dull from the salsa. Drinks fail to delight but the water is filtered.

Stick with the brownies and ice cream. It's hard to do a brownie wrong and Kitchen Table Mama does it right. When plates are cleared and the lights are low you may find yourself with the inkling of an idea to return the following night. Explore your options. (Open Sundays through Saturdays for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Entrees very cheap.)

Yearning for a little quiet

I
need
time
to
sew.

Sigh.

You?

Let's just compile it, shall we?

I absolutely love oilcloth. I was so scared when I first thought about getting some, then cutting into it was nerve-wracking and then I fell in love with the punch, punch, punch noise the machine makes as the needle pokes through and it was all over. It's so easy to work with and there are such beautiful oilcloth designs out there now. When I have a few scraps I'm going to make this lunch bag. This little tote is actually about the size for a nice, big lunch (or a good lunch with a water bottle) and I have no idea what to do with it (meaning: who's it for?!). It's lined in a fuzzy, red flannel. I do like it!

I have 80 million bookmarks for different things I've seen lately (all courtesy of other blogs, for the most part, so thanks to you if it was from you!) so let's just get them all on here and tidy up a bit:

• This is absolute insanity. It makes me want to distance myself even more from popular culture and, well, people and that's not healthy. Who buys this stuff (if it's you, more power to you but why?)? These cardboard doll houses are cute and all, and bright too, but they're cardboard doll houses for insane amounts of money. Any child would rather make their own given the time, scraps and tools, don't you think? And I get the novelty (which I suppose is novel only if you don't have to do it, by the way) of putting your infant in a cardboard box but spend $100+ to do it? Huh? How many cute little wooden kitchens could I make for the money someone spends for one cardboard doll house?

• We're having a pretty great week around here, I've got to say, but there are times when I think I can't possibly take one more hour of sitting on our living room rug, spotting the boy as he climbs. I've said it before and I'll likely say it way too much in the future: this mama business is tough stuff. So it's sort-of refreshing when someone else says it too.

• I love this series of Smallpeople on applehead.

• There are sites about everything! The Mayfly noted this Street project and I note that the first street is my last name. It's fun to get a glimpse of streets all around the country.

• Hey, hey, I won something today (well, yesterday). Honeyflake is sending the boy and me some of her darling little gnomes. I feel so... lucky!

• Evidently I'm the very last person to try No Knead Bread, but I "need" to try it (oh, this is bad... I think what I really need is some more coffee to wake up a bit). It looks quite yummy.

• These little bunnies for a Bunny Toss are so cute and I know the boy would like them. She notes that for her boy the simple toys are the best ones, and the same goes here. I will say that the boy heavily campaigned for a little kid flip phone (I suppose it was a cell phone) at Target yesterday. It does the same "beeps" as a real phone and when the little girl said whatever she says when you press a certain button he talked right back to her excitedly. He's never actually really, really wanted us to get something at the store before and he even brought it up at the dinner table which I thought was a little crazy for a 17 month old. Hmmmm....

• Some of this yarn is just so beautiful and it would be so neat to dye your own. I'm the slowest knitter of all time though.

• I want a little of this, and this and oh, no... I just went to link to my favorite and it's GONE. Gasp. Amazing fabric.
  

What a difference a day makes

The rain cleared for a beautifully sunny day yesterday. We headed off to the beach and for the first time the boy was able to just run around on his own, finding clams and always heading for the water through the muck. I kept trying to hold his hand because it was so slippery and I could just see the potential wipe-outs and subsequent muddings of the face and clothes. The boy was happy, happy until I'd try to grab his hand; he wanted to explore and run on his own!

I was so nervous about T and the boy heading out on Saturday. They were going fairly far, and the roads were just a mess with the downpours (urban flooding, you know). I'm never very far away from the boy and I was so tense about it all. I kept telling T things he knows, and it should be said that he's an amazing father who always knows what to do for the boy (he doesn't need me to tell him anything). Anyhow, they had a grand time together and came home safe and sound.

Then last night while I was cooking dinner and T was about six inches away from the boy, spotting him as descended the Morris chair (the boy's all-time favorite activity now: climbing), the boy took a face plant dive onto the floor. I'm not used to the terror of all of that blood and of not knowing for ten minutes if your child is actually OK or not. I suppose you might never get used to the terror of that feeling, and the helplessness when your baby is hurting and there really isn't anything you can do about it. All weekend I'd been nervous about him venturing out and I tried far too much to keep him from falling at the beach, and then when we were home and he had T right next to him he fell so hard. His mouth is all so cut-up and the poor boy was exhausted and so hungry; after an hour or so of crying, and after frozen peas and yo-yo (yogurt-- his idea) we just got ready for bed and he fell right asleep.

Anyhow, things like this will happen with a climbing little boy and I can't always control his world and I can't always worry away the troubles. Today I'm going to give him more Tylenol and lots of love though and I suppose he'll be right back at it with the Morris chair. He climbs up, turns around, sits down and clasps his hands together with the most proud and happy look on his face.

Right above him, to the left on the mantle when he sits in the Morris chair, are Henry and Olivia. Henry and Olivia are Rose's siblings made of vintage angora and lamb's wool. Olivia's button eyes are from my Great Grandpa's military long underwear (shhh... perhaps we shouldn't mention this to her). Henry's a good listener and great company, and Olivia can be a bit of a pill (but she's a nice little bird, don't get me wrong). Henry's in the little shop right now. I love these birds.

Alright. I'm finishing a tutorial for turning a Martha Stewart dish towel into a nice little bag with interfacing and a lining... Tomorrow? I love these bags.

Aaahh, there's the boy stirring so early in the morning. I suppose that mouth is really going to hurt when he wakes. I love that boy.

If you listen you will hear...

...birds sing, and flowers grow.

Elizabeth Mitchell's beautiful song sings through my head countless times a day lately. Each time I look at the boy I can feel my love growing, just as she sings. Last night he was playing with T and he dumped all of the little blocks out of the box. The boy went over to the big stool, put the box upside down to give him a higher base and then started stacking from there. Then he ran to tell me all about it and dragged me over to look. Somehow it was all so simple and brilliant; if the goal is to make your stack tall, why not start a little higher? He helps me look at everything in a new way.

We celebrated the official start of spring (no snow but biting cold) with a blustery walk with my sister to coffee and rice cakes. Happy, happy spring. I seem to need it more this year than ever before, but maybe it's always that way and I just forget. Bring on the buds, sun, short-sleeves, blue sky... even the growing grass!

• The first half of the tutorial compilation is up and I think it looks pretty good! The first Flickr feature is up too and I'm itching to make one of those bags myself.

• I saw this link to an incredible online store with vintage everything for sewing over at Vasilisa the Fair. Check out all of the buttons!

• Just look at all of these softies. I think even if I was at my most crabby I would still smile to see these, and in it I found that tea cozy I "lost" a long time ago. I thought it looked like something perfect for my sister and her boyfriend, and then I lost the link. Ta da! Isn't it great?
  

Happy, happy spring.

Now we're cookin'

I first saw it here, then I dreamed about it and wrote about it here and got a little faucet advice here. It took some time to finish this little kitchen!

The sink is a thrifted bowl, the faucet is courtesy of a $10 gift card to Home Depot and though we spent more for the "good stuff" the wood wasn't really all that much. The curtain's from fabric I had on hand (we've got a little gingham theme going with the boy's apron). A little paint from our collection and we were off and cooking!

I'm indebted to Sam's grandpa over at All Buttoned Up for the inspiration and design, and to the boy's Boppa (a.k.a. my dad) for lending a ton of time, effort, tools and knowledge to the kitchen. Without my dad there wouldn't be a little kitchen! We tried to channel Norm in our efforts, and I tried to explain to my dad how woodworking is so much like sewing. It really is! Anyhow, Norm would be proud and I'm proud too.

I designed the dimensions (on a little piece of scrap paper) around these baskets. Storage, sweet, hidden storage!

When I was little my sister and I would spend weeks in the summer at my grandparents' farm. They had cows, land, and I had the wonderful freedom to roam and to do things like play in the hay loft that I wish for every child. It's my favorite place in the whole world. One summer I distinctly remember finding a plan for a child's cabin in one of my grandma's older books. I was super-excited and ready to build, and Grandma said I had to ask Grandpa. Grandpa very kindly persuaded me that it was a bit too much of a project for me to finish in the time I had to visit. In some way I feel like I finally finished a part of my little cabin yesterday. I have a tendency to excitedly try to bite off more than I can chew; I'm so thankful to have people in my life who persuade me gently to wait (20 or so years) and people who help me build (my Dad always helps me create whatever I need: warm fires in winter, wholesome meals for the boy with goods from his incredible garden, a little kitchen, a happy life...).

We're making things like strawberry and pear soup.

Balls for babes

They're everywhere, and now they're in the little shop too.


My mom saved the day with a little hand-stitching (after my tormented efforts with the blue).

They are so grabby + tossable.

I just wanted to add in here that I so love it when people comment, but I'm having the worst time writing back. Blogger isn't saving the profiles for me, and it's just not working. Anyhow, I'm going to try to fix it all...

Yep. Very grabby + tossable.

Pineapple Express, mats + a little Mama talk

Evidently the Pineapple Express has moved into the Pacific Northwest, and we're getting rain in a big way. It's also very warm around here. We're (I'm) desperate for non-shopping opportunities to get out of the house, but the boy is still under the weather. The basement is almost done after a good day's work on Saturday, and today we finally found the perfect little faucet for the boy's kitchen (I think I have trouble actually completing projects but he's been playing away with it "as is" so it moved to the back burner, so to speak). Painting ceilings and making new splat mats for the little shop aren't the most creative, exciting ways to spend my time but it is important and I can think of worse things! I absolutely love the black flourish pattern with the red trim.

Aaahh, to be making beautiful quilts... Look at this crazy nine patch and this amazing blockswap charity quilt. Oh, and this sweet little thing (under "Thank you, Josie"). Just look at those baby gifts, would you?!-- It certainly puts the ones I'm currently working on to shame.

I'm full of ideas; the creativity is out of control. There's no time to do any of it, however, so it's all just stuck inside for the moment. The boy is letting something new out, however. As T says, the boy has discovered outrage. When something didn't go his way before and he really didn't like it, the boy would cry and get upset. Lately he doesn't just think it's sad, he thinks it's wrong. It's injustice. It's Mama's fault!

My boy is growing up.

Oh, and though sadly it's not Saturday or Sunday any longer, it might be some day as you're reading this. Go to KPLU and groove to some blues in the evening. You can get a super-lot done or it might put you in a really good mood. I just wish they still had their blues show on Friday nights so I could get a little done then rather than on Sunday nights when I should be snoozing!

The second purse

I like it. I bought the fabric long before I sewed the purse, however, and forgot which fabric I intended for the lining and which was for the exterior. I think it fits the person who will open it at Christmas time (or there's always a birthday too) and I know she'll appreciate the buttons, which belonged to my great grandma. This is the other one from the Amy Butler pattern, and I'd definitely go out and buy another one of her patterns. I think the Cabo halter would be fun (would I actually wear something I made?-- If I'm going to do a skirt... Hmmmm...) and T was joking that now I just had to adapt the bag pattern to make a laptop carrier. But look over here!-->

I think the boy must be getting some more molars in addition to this rotten cold he's had for a week. I know I'm still relatively new to the mama game and I know I'm over-cautious and a worrywart, but the boy is just miserable. He won't sleep much in the day with this thing, but continues to sleep really well at night (thank goodness) and he isn't pulling at his ears so I don't think it's an ear thing. He's just not acting like my boy. I've been holding off on taking him in to the doctor's because there's nothing really tangible other than bad cold symptoms and I know they'll just send us home to wait it out. I'm worried, tired and sad for my poor boy. I was creeping around while he napped and it's been so dark here the last few days. I realized I was doing everything without any lights on, like he would sense me if there was light in the house and wake up and sob. Being quiet is one thing but feeling almost-invisible because you don't have a desk lamp on?-- That's weird. That's when you know a sick week stuck inside is getting to you.

I kind-of want to keep this, but I bought the fabric with the express understanding (between me, myself + I) that it would be a gift. For someone else. Sigh.

The pink purse

Here's the pink purse. I'm pretty sure owner will love it, but she's not getting it for awhile! T + I have this crazy plan for a "Homemade Christmas," but it means I have to work now for a little December joy. The pattern review for this and the other (more sophisticated + tricky) purse will be up soon over at SewMamaSew, which gives me a little thrill. I did the button holes wrong, but I did actually make button holes. I always thought this was the sign of a real seamstress. If you can make button holes you must really be able to sew! Evidently you only have to have the right machine, though, so it might not be the pinnacle of craftiness I once thought it was.

I used Amy Butler's In Town Bag Pattern and I really loved it. I think I'm a lousy cook because I don't have enough experience to cook the way I do (a pinch of that... We don't have any of this?-- let's throw some of this in) and I think it's the same way with my sewing. Patterns really help you look good if you actually follow the directions. You get edible cookies and cute, little purses.

Rose (remember Rose?) flew the coop this week so Henry is on his way to our little corner of the world. Doll quilts and oilcloth are draped around the livingroom, and my campaign for reorganization is, as the boy would say, at the "Uh Oh"-stage. T really is a patient man.

This purse sort-of reminded me of the ones over at Posie Gets Cozy. It would be fun to make more with a variety of fabrics. This one has vintage bias tape instead of ribbons on the seams, courtesy of Mom's stash... Happy Friday.

As promised + uinnnk

Happy little free-form flowers just for the spring fun of it. I cropped an unfortunate word (not a bad word, mind you-- just poor execution) and a bit of a sorry bird. Now I need just the right dimension of frame to do the same!

I spent too much time looking for this little "tutorial" on how to fold your fabric. It's something I never thought I'd worry much about. No kidding-- I was doing dishes and thinking up Google search terms that would help me find it. Then Jojo over at Stardust Shoes fortuitously posted the link and now I just have to go do the folding. She also, in the same post, showed the cute baby balls she's been working on, talked about Timtex (oh, Timtex-- what am I going to do about you?), and wrote about her frustrations with Blogger (yes, yes, Blogger, although we've had a good thing going I'm deserting you soon for different waters). Odd when someone's thinking/doing something so very similar to you. I've mentioned our teeny, tiny house and probably don't mention that it's darling too and in a great little neighborhood. I love it but there's absolutely no room. The playpen and stroller have to live in the trunk of the car because our house is so tiny (an extra closet in the Honda!). Anyhow, I'm trying to tidy and reorganize and so the fabric is now going to be housed in my closet. Yep. I'm giving up clothes for fabric. Well, not really, but the clothes are kind-of arrayed around the fabric center. Folding the fabric in a good way will help with the campaign.

The other day the boy kept pointing to my hair saying, "Uinnnk! Uinnnk!" It took me a few minutes but I finally realized I had a pink rubber band holding my ponytail in place and, ta da!, the boy evidently now knows the word "pink!" When I was in junior high school we lived in Japan. My parents taught English in junior high and high schools, my sister went to public elementary school and I went to a public junior high school. I've since gained a little perspective and realize that junior high is just a hard age in general, but I had lots of fun growing pains as a curly-haired blond American kid in a very traditional Japanese school. I just didn't fit in, you know, and I didn't want to be lost in language all the time. I didn't want to wear a navy-blue, pleated "girly" uniform. I didn't want the Peter Pan, starched collar or the same shoes as everyone else. I wanted to use hairspray and have big bangs (80's influence, of course). I hated the uniform and all it embodied.

Back to "uinnnk." I don't think of myself as someone who loves attention. One day as I was putting on my navy-blue jacket in Japan with my navy-blue, pleated romper and my starchy, white shirt I also put on bright pink socks. I don't even know where they came from? Maybe they were my mom's... Anyhow, I don't think there was a lot of thinking that went into it. It was a basic, instinctual urge about defiance. Independence. Individuality. Color.

The aftermath was horrifying in the short-term and hilarious in retrospect. Swarms of students approached me before I even got to the school gate, urging me to reconsider. They were shocked. Girls giggled uncomfortably. There was a meeting with all of the heads of the various grades, with my homeroom teacher, the Japanese as a second language teacher and with my parents. I remember sounds of sobbing (I think it was me). I wanted to be different and I was.

All through my 20's I think I (ironically) happily adopted a bit of a uniform of my own with similar pieces that went well together, that I didn't have to think about, that presented the teacher part of me in a very upscale district well without being cost prohibitive. It was all about black. And beige. Off-white. Gray. Black again. More black. In my mama existence I wear jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt just about every day in the winter (give or take a sweater) and capris and a short-sleeved t-shirt in the summer (give or take a skirt). It's a uniform of sorts. Since the boy though I have so much color in my life. Wearing color makes me happy and being surrounded by color just feels better now. Pink is back, Baby.

I was thinking about all of this while I worked on Purse #2 last night (I'll finish -and iron it again- after 8 tonight, of course). It's got a lot of pink in it and I love it.

Bounty

Guess what I've been up to? My parents gave us the last of their fall orchard apples and the house smells like yummy applesauce now. The boy continues to love applesauce mixed with cereal, banana on the side (with a pancake or some toast thrown in for good measure) each and every morning.

I'm working, working on my purses and the review too. They're looking good (and I know just who they're for already).

I found this patternless A-line skirt "pattern" and I think I should give it a shot. I'm also enjoying Jumilla Bugs (she fell in love with the smocket too!) and le train fantome (how do I include the little doohicky over the o?). One more Moore is fun and inspiring too. It looks like fall around here with all of these beautiful apples, so tomorrow I'll give you some spring.

True confessions here... Last night I got the carrots all ready to steam on the stove, turned it on and moved on to other things. I kept hearing this popping noise and finally realized that I never added the water. We had a little science-project-what'll-gas-
do-to-copper-at high-high-heats experiment going on and the boy was playing on the floor right next to the stove. I swooped him up, put him somewhere safe, ran back and tried to fix it all. It was a truly spacey move. And I've done it before. The snickerdoodles came out massively puffy last night, only to flatten to run-over pancakes. Oh, and I kept making these hugely terrible purse mistakes and thinking, geesh-- I'm going to have to mention in the review that she doesn't say to... Wait. Then I'd find where she said to whatever in the pattern in bold with a pop-out that actually bops you in the face when you get to that section. Anyhow. Spacey.

Sick Spring Sew

Here are some more yo-yo's, courtesy of Whip Up. I could also spend an hour (easy) on the Craftzine blog and look at all of these good things.

I thought these swatch portraits were neat (though I have no walls for this now) and then saw them the next day over on Soule Mama's site. Man, she works fast. She did write that she has Saturdays as "work days," and I figure I could work pretty fast too if I wasn't trying to do most things after 8 p.m. Darling birds there too, don't you think? Anyhow, I'll store this in the "ideas" category for now!

I also found Creative Little Daisy and Allyson Hill recently, and I just want to sit, soak it all in, and then go create. The boy is so sick and wants to be held all the time (highly, highly unusual for this on-the-go-can't-stop-to-snuggle boy). It's his first really deep chest cough and he's miserable. We fared okay yesterday, with a mid-day walk to mail packages for the little shop, but I'm worried about another day stuck indoors. It was an incredible blue sky/birds singing/crocus blooming/elderly people working in the yard/rhody popping sort-of almost-spring day. This morning already has more light in it than all of the February days combined!

It takes me forever to make one of these baby balls, but I think it's just because I'm not good at it yet. I told T I'd have to sell them for $60 at this rate! The purses are tonight because tomorrow's the basement, once again.

Things are looking up

I think I may just have the perfect sewing machine now. Cross your fingers! We're getting to know each other and though we did have a broken needle last night I do believe it was Martha's fault for adding in a bit too much embellishment to the towels I was sewing. On a different "crafty" note I will say that after spending Saturday in the basement I'm painting, I am not a big fan of painter's tape. Enough said.

You rolled your eyes (I know you did) when I said Beki over at Artsy-Crafty Babe is my new best internet friend of all time for offering to send me a pattern of the smocket I've mentioned about twenty times in recent weeks. Well!-- At the end of a very long week she made my week by sending not only the pattern but some lovely fabric from her stash, her little Moo card, and candies too. Did I mention fabric from her stash?! I was sitting on the couch with T, petting the fabric (we don't have a cat) and going on and on about what I should use it for. T looked at all of the projects draped all around the room and said that maybe I should wait and think about it a little. Anyhow, Beki made me feel good about people when I needed to feel good about people! Thank you, Artsy-Crafty Beki!

This weekend I did make some progress with splat mats and some new aprons for the little shop, and there are parts to balls for babies laying all around the house waiting for stuffing. The aprons are so fun and easy to make with kitchen towels and bias tape, and they look so cute on the kids! I have to get down to work now and knock out two purses. I've been so excited about making them, and nervous too because I don't want to get them wrong. Now that the new machine and I are friendly I think we might be able to take this next step in our relationship.

Really, how could this be? We have no room for any more furniture (the boy's kitchen is a stretch) but how could these cute little organizers be so cheap (via Apartment Therapy Nursery)?

Springtime art

We had a moment of snow again, but our ornamental cherry is about to burst. This was such a fun little project to do with the boy. He dipped his fingers in the paint, we made up a "Dot, Dot, Dot" song and then I made some "branches" with a toothpick dipped in brown. Easy, peasy, springy. I've seen similar cherry blossom projects where older children use hand prints or footprints along a long branch, or there's always the little squares of pink and white tissue paper wrapped around your finger and dipped into a bit of glue. I like the delicacy of the finger dots. Spring is in the air!

The sewing machine drama continues. At one point yesterday I had four machines. Grandma's machine is now in the capable hands of the local sewing machine repair fellow, one machine is destined for the Goodwill, the other has been returned to the store (this was the replacement for the one I initially bought that was used... It didn't work...) and one is on the desk, peeking over at me shyly, wondering if I have what it takes to try it out. There are pinned projects draped everywhere, and I'm hesitant.

Does anyone speak French? Well, French and English too? Does Marion over at Tea Time have these new little critters in a store? Are they based on books she's written? I'm in awe, and a little confused. I use an online dictionary translator to try to understand her beautiful site (and to post what I'm sure are highly confusing and entertaining comments) and I think this is what's going on!

On the mama front it was a good day for blog browsing. For some reason a theme emerged on many of my favorite sites about the humbling nature of being a mama and the challenges. The boy seems to be in a new phase lately; he's amazing, brilliant, so observant and engaging about everything around us... and he's exhausting. T works long, long hours and the boy thinks one nap a day should be just about right now. There hasn't been any recovery time built in to my weeks lately, and it's wearing on me (not enough creativity as well). I feel tired, and a bit empty. You know it's bad when the cranky lady at the cutting table almost makes you cry. It's so easy to get down on myself because being a mama is like what I loved about teaching. You never are what you will be, you always have more to learn, nothing ever stays the same for too long and your reality is inextricably linked with the joys and challenges and successes of little people. Today as I read about other mamas feeling those same joys, challenges and successes I felt a bit better. It was really important.

Oh, and these made me so happy. Did you check back in with Sew Mama Sew list of free tutorials and patterns? I, of course, didn't read the directions and listed a million things I've found that I love, but there are so many more to add to the sidebar (and project pile) now.

The beginning...

...of a new month and the promise of spring. Yesterday it snowed though, which seems highly unusual for this time of the year in Western Washington! I kept running over to the window saying excitedly, "It's snowing! It's snowing!" The boy sort-of looked at me like, "Ummmm... Okay... So?"

Look at this beautiful quilt over at Craftopia. Oh, and this one too! This, along with the inpiration of the little quilt I showed yesterday and the new fabric that arrived with beautiful little flowers helps me to visualize exactly what I want to create; I'm ready to get down to some serious small quilt work!

My sister tried some yo-yos last night and fell in love with the process. I made one (in the creative process of whipping up the Whip Up banner) and had so much fun with it! I think you could easily become obsessed with creating yo-yo quilts, curtains, bags (I love this bag), pins, tea pot cozies, garlands, cards, flowers, and even "just" to have framed. I sound a bit like the communications director for the Yo-Yo Association.


Last night we stayed up far too late finishing our entry for the Whip Up banner competition. I love the Whip Up site and I think we captured what it feels like to me, but who knows if the people who determine such things will think it fits the best? I wish I could show you what we created, but I don't think I should yet. T would love, love, love to have the books they offered as the prize and it was so much fun to really collaborate on a project together. I love it when these opportunities for creative collaboration pop up (like that save the date card) and I think we're really good when we work together. One thing I love about T is how I can think of a crazy idea and he just goes "Okay, well... We could..." I've had this idea for a children's book I've been mulling about for a long time and I told him about it yesterday. He didn't scoff, just brainstormed and asked questions. We used a vintage button, felt, cotton fabric and these antique stamps to create our banner and button submissions (do you see the message in there?). More about these later!

I'm not making the Singer sing yet

I want to love it, but I'm beginning to think the last machine wasn't just used for a project and then taken back to the store. Perhaps the person tried it and then burst into tears after the extreme build-up of happiness at the prospect of trying a brand new sewing machine was destroyed by oil on the thread and a broken needle for no good reason. Just a thought. Maybe we just have to develop a relationship?

The boy's new apron (made from a Martha Stewart kitchen towel) and a bit more kitchen excitement. More aprons will be showing up in the little shop any day now.

I've always loved the vintage yo-yo quilts I've seen, and I'm intrigued by this handy little tutorial. Who knew they were so easy (you probably knew, but humor me).

Fabric for the huge pile of WIPs

Do you recognize this fabric? This will all be in beautiful baby balls soon. Below is some of the fabric for the boy's new kitchen accouterments. By the way, when the kitchen is done done, you're going to hear about it in a big way. I feel like it needs its own blog: mylittlekitchen.blogspot.com. Oops. That should read: theboy'slittlekitchen.blogspot.com, right?! I painted it twice yesterday, and this morning we rearranged the boy's room for some added play space and room for culinary fun. We'll find the duktig here in a minute or two (ha!-- it's in storage... It'll take a good half hour!).

I fell in love with this little "smocket" on Alicia's site the minute I saw it, and actually begged for the pattern. I have no little girls for the smocket, but I'm making some any way. They are so darling! I followed a comment link about the smocket to Artsy-Crafty Babe which I love. Beki actually offered to send me one of her extra patterns for it and she's now my new best internet friend of all time (!). She doesn't know that, of course, but I think that's just so incredibly generous. I'm going to find a little something in the way of a "thank you" to send right back to her. I'll be smocking in no time.

I'm also enjoying Pixiegenne and Amstershiresauce lately. Lots of good, creative Mama stuff going on over there.

It's T's birthday today and there's a banner overhead and birthday dinner plans in the works. We're making a week of it with a family dinner tomorrow and a trip to Seattle for fun birthday things like new socks next weekend. In spare moments I'm itching to attack the new fabric, work on the kitchen and play with my new machine. Oh, and clean the house and cook for playgroup here on Monday! Good times.