My Swag

So, I usually make things in anticipation of a big event, we know this. I make things for my kids and their birthdays, my family members at Christmas, my beloved friends and their offspring. I figured that Blogher should be no exception and now when people ask me what my blog is about I can just show them.

Instead of posting about what I am going to wear (I mean, I already showed you the shoes) I am going to show you what I made. The first thing is a backpack bag.


I know I hate purses; the bumping on the hip, the sliding off the shoulder. I know I love backpacks. But I might look a little weird in heels sporting a Jansport, you know? So I combined a few patterns I have tried to make an awesome Dia de las Muertas infused piece. It is a little slouchy, a lot expandable and came together with moderate hassle.

I love the fact that I remembered to add a flat bottom as I will be fitting my SLR, a pair of Rainbows (because I figure I will wear those heels for about 15 minutes) and a bit of lip gloss and such. There is a giant front pocket to hold the myriad of cards I will collect. I like it. I also need to finish it because I did not remember to sew the cord into the side seams. Easily rectified... I think.


And then, New York, August and humidity. I know these factors will combine in a way that by 3 p.m. I will look similar to Don King. I remember when I lived there and the hair frizz, boob sweat, and 'didn't I just shower?' feeling. So my concession to the hair is a Alabama hair band; comfy, wide enough to hold back some of the exponential hair bomb and pretty.


There is never anything wrong with stitching a little.

And my cards did come. I went with Moo, little chips. Cost and er, the importance, swayed me in this direction. They have a nice feature that allows you to upload from Flickr, choosing photos from your stream.




I like the, but there are a few that were cropped poorly. I swear it was not my error so I might have to speak with Moo about the printing. For the most part I am happy; I have something to palm and I have yet to detect any proofing errors. I struggled a bit to find words to describe me, but who doesn't?


So, do you see anything that I missed? Laura? Please tell me I avoided profanity and spelled my blog correctly.

And last but not least....I am in the process of sharpening my rusty jeweling skills. It has been years since I have picked up the tools but my sister, an amazing jewelry designer, gifted me with a pile of pretty.


I see a Superhero inspired necklace coming about from this....I need something to rotate as I rarely take off the one I do own right now.

Somehow, the making has made me feel much more like Myself. And after spending a good portion of the weekend cleaning up my work documentation and playing at the beach with the boys (By the way, three years olds and kite flying? A big challenge), I now can feel excited about the trip.

Who knows, I might even have a little Secret Mission planned for NYC. So, I'm off....almost.

Playtime :: Part Two

God, I am loving summer this year. I am not sure if it is due to the gentle reassurances the Dream Lab keeps shooting my way (think photos of Love notes on sticky paper showing up in your inbox and telling you that you can Rest and Slow Down) or the fact that hot hot weather has held off and we are settling into the high 80s and low 90s while watching the boys water the garden and attend to all things in a naked state. Whatever it is, I will take it.

Garden news :: This year the raised beds hold a special soil mix suggested by the Square Foot gardening and it has made all the difference. The soil is light and supporting all types of combination planting. There is basil mixed with carrots, strawberries that are slow to give fruit but so sweet and tangy, tomatoes working their way up to maturity and the pumpkins are loving the sun.






It is a wonderful thing to look out the kitchen window and see the growing things. But I will say this. We do not make enough to truly feed ourselves. Three strawberries a day does not a breakfast make. Growing food has given me a new respect for farming and the sheer amount of land and water and effort that must be required to grow the huge amounts of produce that we do. A cello bag of carrots at the market make me stop and think about how much effort that must have been....and it scares me a little too when I think that if it collapsed one day, would we really know how to do this. Guess it is a learning curve and next year we will be devoting even more ground space to food production.

Slow Stitching :: I am still deep in the stitching love and finding all types of fabric laying around to play with. This skirt is in the works, hopefully finished for this weekend.

It is a busy stretch knit print layered over plain pink and then I tried the felled seams as illustrated in Studio Style.

Super fast and simple and the result so far is pleasing. The seams break up the business of the print and I have high hopes that this will be comfortable and pretty. I did learn a few things this round:

- I tried the skirt as a single layer with felled seams and it was way too light to support that construction. I picked out the seam and layered with the pink and it feels much more substantial.
- I went with a small size because all the skirts I have made grow and grow as I wear. I think I made my grey skirt a medium and the first bloomers a large and both hang once worn for a few hours. We will have to see how the small works out. I'll let you know.

Exciting Finds :: I never did get to those recap posts from the Trip but I have a few pretty bits that I brought back with me. I found a sweet little antiques shop on Orcas Island right before we jumped on the ferry back to Mainland and there were buttons and books and an old tomato timer with a jarring ring (That was not really entertaining trapped in a small Subaru with boys who thought it was hilarious to hear it ring again. And again).

And then the oilcloth at the Mill End store in Portland. Oh, the oilcloth. These were some type of absurd deal, maybe 1.50 a piece.

I just used my 50% off coupon from JoAnn's to get this...which holds all the regular Martha brilliance and a few projects using oilcloth. Yippee.

Kitchen:: One word. J E L L O.

Cannot stop eating it. We made it with the boys the other day, floating berries in the red and mango in th orange. One taste and I was a kid again..in my best dress out to dinner at Michael J's, the local family friendly restaurant in town. It was the only one my parents dared take their brood, 8 rambunctious kids that always ended up sliding the slippery peach halves across the table at each other, sans dish in which they had been served. We were heathens. We always anticipated dessert, jello served in parfait glasses, perfect firm cubes crowned with the mandatory whipped topping.

They just tore it down, Michael J's, it was crumbling slowly and fed only the seniors from the mobile home park up the street. And then it was probably only on Fish n' Chips special night. It will now be a new Panera. That makes me a little sad. But I can always make Jello at home for the boys. And me. Might even be sneaking some of the whipped topping into our diet because it is mandatory, you know?

And I am over the Moon about....Babies! Not mine, of course. But finally our friends have jumped on the bandwagon know as parenting and I have so many little people-to-be to sew for. Right now there is a doll coming together for a little girl almost one and then it is on to the newbie stuff. I am so excited about these additions to all of our lives and so glad mine are big enough to send out into the yard naked to play while I sew.

Now, off to finish that skirt so I can sport it at the local 4th of July parade tomorrow. I know, it is the 3rd tomorrow but all of a sudden La Verne fancies itself Christian and apparently we cannot hold the holiday festivities on the Lord's Day. Except for the fireworks...those are fine in God's eyes. Whatever. I will be playing tomorrow with the boys and watching the fireworks burst on Sunday night. I'm easy.

Hope if you holiday, that yours is lovely and fun and special and bright. Cheers.

From the Road :: VII

This space had been a bit devoid of craft as there has been considerable less making than I assumed would happen. Something about travel and transitions and taking care of boys, well, it pushed making aside a lot. But I did put up a few pictures of the simple Thorpe inspired hats that I made for the nephews here. It actually felt pleasant to be knitting with 100% wool due to the cooler weather. The design is top down to ear flaps to icord, really simple but so cute. Both came out generously sized but that just insures if they go into the dryer at some point they might come out fitting.

The real road friendly projects have been my stitching. Before we left home I played around with the technique of washing out some of the stenciled fabric. Er, not so pretty, but a start. I also cut a bunch of Mylar stencils to use if the whim struck me (more like if I found the time). One plan was to alter a well made tshirt that sported a seasonal holly leaf. I used a appliqué relief, just cut out the painted flower and stitched it onto the front. It was fairly intricate but rewarding. I practiced beading a bit and fell in love with the technique.

The tshirt fit a little odd so I slashed off the neck line and armbands and find myself the owner of a new favorite. Very nice.


I sported it a bit at a festival paired with my skirt. A little much but I love the fit of the clothes I am making lately and it is hard to censor.

(I intentionally left this big so you can see the gorgeous-ness that is the creating from my sis and brother in law> So awesome, right? He made all the woodwork, she did all the sewing. If you see something you like, email me or comment, everything you see is for sale.)


And yes, I hit the hula hoops again. This time I had this pair in tow...




and I even hula’d with my niece riding my shoulders. That was an experience, she was loving it the whole time but hula hooping is work.

The last is my favorite. I wanted to make something special for Em for her birthday and this was a little late but came together in time for her to wear to her craft festival.


It is a stenciled and quilted headband, I used a scrap of stencil and a sharpie and then stitched inside. My favorite part was the rose beading on the edges…a new love.

I seem to just keep finding them in this medium.

All this stitching prompted me to join a new group, the Slow Summer Stitching group on Flickr here. Jennie, my sister in all this stitching, directed me and now I feel as if it is open season. The quilt that inspired me is calling my name and I love that it is just a square at a time. So, just after I finish this new project, another up-cycle tshirt (they are all I wear, you know)...

Then, I will start some quilt pieces. Or a piece for my other sister. Or, or, or...just too many possibilities.

If this does not convert you into a hand stitching, jersey wearing fanatic, than reading Natalie’s latest book definitely will. Now go to it and stitch, I sure am.

From the Road :: VI

Rain. Everyone has apologized for the weather. But I know a secret. Sorry, Pacific Northwest...we brought the weather with us.


I knew it would be this way from Day 1. It had the feel. We lived in Portland for about a year and at the time the weather was refreshing and a novelty. It might have changed with more time but we moved home. To a land of almost eternal summer, where triple digit weather is a norm from July until (now) November. Where we no longer wear long sleeves on Halloween. So, this, this grey drippy weather...it is a loveliness we will likely not see until next January.


So we have played in it and dressed for it and hoped for dry when needed and just embraced. It is the Northwest, right? We outfitted the boys in proper weather clothing at the Columbia Outlet, got away with three dry days on Orcas Island and Tim, well, we just told me the last three days have been the ride of his life.


In the Southwest we have a lot of clay so when rain comes down so too does the earth. It slides and slips away, smashes up trails and one should not ride until the damp drains out. Here, the earth sucks and sucks it up. Few slips and puddles, few problems on the trails, per Tim. Except bears. Yeah, just hanging out next to trails. He has video. Scary but kinda' enthralling too.

I guess what I am saying is that I love this. I know it is almost June and this is not normal per se. I know it is snowing in Edmonton and blazing hot elsewhere, almost 90 farenheit at home. But here, we are just wrapped up in a cocoon of grey, aware that we will leave it to go South and home to the temperatures that soar.

(Tulips in Almost June. What?)

So for me, this just adds another layer. Do I miss the blue sky and sun? Of course. Do I love that we have a fireplace on as I stitch? Yeah, just a little. More than a little.

May Day :: Stitch Stitch

I risk sounding like a broken record, but I would risk anything to continue to talk about Alabama Chanin. There is something about it that is just so good.

I 'almost' finished my skirt this weekend. I had hoped to have it together for the party last weekend but it was not meant to be. Instead I wore my first piece, the Bloomers swing skirt. I remember last year at this time I was immersed in the stitching and that is when this love affair began.


It is a little difficult to describe it, but my friend Jennie and I liken it to crack. Good crack. The projects initially seem daunting...there is the stencil making and the painting and the cutting and the stitching. But it is something you can fall into and as with anything beautiful, the deeper the practice, the more the reward.


I wore my skirt today 'almost' finished because it is a thing of beauty. I love this piece as much as any of the others and with the making, I feel as if I have learned new lessons. Patience to let each stitch come when I have a few minutes, strength as my fingers become increasingly skilled, process as I try new methods of stencil cutting and painting...and the fact that a thimble is a very good thing when working with felled seams.


Meeting Natalie a few weeks ago and having the opportunity to thumb through sample books and witness the seemingly perfect stitching created by the hands of craftswomen, it shifted something in me. I realized just how generous this woman is to share her method of making with us. She created something from the impetus to change fashion, consciously left behind an industry that called her work excellent and returned home to support her community and her artistic self and then turned around and opened the doors to the knowledge, opened then wide, and invited us in to try it.


I felt terribly shy when I went into the trunk show, wearing my Bloomers skirt. All of a sudden doubt about my ability to make this stuff descended and I almost turned around and left. I get a little weird around people I really really admire. I did go in and almost immediately Natalie commented on the skirt, acknowledging that I had made it from the ground up. I stopped feeling shy and just decided to feel amazed. Standing in a room full of racks of couture Alabama Chanin pieces will do that to you. Right then I decided a few things ::

} I renewed my vow to live in jersey as often as possible.
} I want to always have a piece of stitching in progress to turn to when I need to make.
} We are going to the Doo Nanny next year in Alabama to share in a community of like minded artists. And apparently, the land it is held on has snakes and swamps and lots of good things the boys will like (this according to Natalie).
} I am making a version of this quilt that was hanging up at the trunk show.


} Someday I will make it to a workshop so that I can sit with others stitchers for a weekend and practice this most satisfying work with women (and men?) just like me.

And I want to share with you too. I know a lot of you reading are makers and I want to encourage you to try your hand at this making. It is powerfully beautiful stuff and once you get started, you may never stop. Thank Natalie for that...

And for the super great news that a third book is coming out next March. Just in time for me to bring it to Alabama for her to sign. Now, go here to get her books or go here to see some awesome gifts for Mama Day. I am getting the Mom shirt for sure...it says it all.

April :: Making moments

Wow. With all that has happened this month, travel and birthdays and tax preparation, I feel like making has taken a bit of a back seat. And this always leaves me feeling a little unsettled. Me no like. So Monday I took a few minutes to push all the new toys scattered throughout the house out of my peripheral vision and got to work at the machine.

A few weeks ago I caved in to the pressure to add to my already burgeoning bookcase of craft books and added a Denise Schmidt book (what can I say, I was ordering this from Amazon and had to qualify for the free shipping). It is a great introduction into the DSQ way which seems a little bit funky and very verbose. The book has two sections, one focused on small projects and the other actual quilt patterns. I loved the idea of pieced scrap cards and took that on this week.

It was such a simple way to use what we have and make something special to say 'Thanks' to the lovely family and folks that literally showered the boys with new things. I used the pattern in the book as inspiration but knew I had to make quite a few so here is what I did ::

1. I Cut strips of scrap as long as a regular piece of regular cardstock (8.5 by 11.5 I think) then sewed them to the page until the blank piece of cardstock was covered. Important :: You must press each piece to get a nice fold. Other than that, don't be too fussy.

2. Trim the overhanging fabric and then cut the card into four pieces. Also cut extra blank cardstock for the back of the card.

3. Using sewing machine and wide zigzag stitch, sew the fabric and blank piece together, just catching the fabric piece which will allow you to fold the card nicely.


4. Straight stitch around the fabric edges to keep the pieced fabric from rolling and turning under.

I found that I could crank out quite a few in an hour and they are signed and ready to be mailed as of yesterday afternoon. I love that they feel as special as the people that gathered but cost nothing as I had all the supplies on hand. And I think I might go back and make a few more just to have for those times when you want a special something to throw into the mail box.


Tomorrow...more of this...here is a sneak peek...


And I did not think I could deepen my love or obsession with all things Alabama Chanin. I was wrong.

April :: Finding a Flow

Before Tim and I had kids we were wanderers. From job to job, place to place, state to state. Between us over the last 15 years we have been dozens of places. I am never so happy as when I wake somewhere else, usually with dirty hair but always clean hands.

But somehow in all those wanderings, we never found the Big Sur coast. It was always skipped in favor of a faster route that would take us further. This weekend certainly changed all that. And now we know what the writers and artists are all enamoured of....what the magic of that place feels like.


It was one of those rare Flow experiences, where very little was planned but everything fell into its right place without effort. The moments of the day felt meant to be from my lovely meet up with Natalie Chanin in Berkeley to the wild storm we brought home on Sunday.

I will have to write more about the Chanin trunk show later, for now sufficed to say Natalie is one of the most gracious and lovely souls I have ever met and we chatted about small children, stitching, coast roads and 100 foot vaginas.

Her slow Southern soft drawl just about slayed me. I spent an hour or so literally fondling the heaps of samples books, marveling at the precision and beauty on display. It was hard to leave but I am now resolved to spending a week in Alabama at one of her longer classes...damn the cost.

Then we headed out from Berkeley in the lovely afternoon sun, beating most of the weekend traffic and ended up in Monterey, smack dab in the middle of the city at a public campsite surrounded by trees, providing of hot showers and a raccoon visit or two. We made it to a fantastic beach with 30 minutes to spare before the sun dipped down to meet the ocean. Back in our former life we were sunset chasers, always searching for that special light that happens as we go into the gloaming of the night. Friday it just presented itself and we happily stayed on the beach shooting in the cold air until the light failed.



Saturday we headed into Carmel with the intent of shooting the mission Carmel before heading south to Big Sur but we found ourselves with over an hour until the Mission doors opened. Signs on the small streets led us to estate/garage sales where we kept running into treasure after treasure :: phones and steins and free pristine cigar boxes and creepy Jack in the Boxes. After collecting as much as we could with the meager cash at hand, we headed into the Mission.

There is a set up here in Flickr if that sort of stuff interests you.


I could walk around a Mission all day and find cracks and crevices to shoot. It was quiet and we were able to play with the rented lens to heart's content...half the shots are Tim's but I never take the time to give the credit. If it is really good, it is his. See?



The rest of the day was spent on the coast...finding spots to stop and rest from the relentlessly winding road, finding moments to catch and hold. We rarely went far from the car as many hikes are closed due to fire damage, but we found enough. I have never declared myself an ocean person but how I love this ocean, this coast. I could feel a rich wild contentment seep into my bones as we walked on the coast, watched the grey and brilliant blue green meld and reform, listened to water rush.








And in all these moments of Flow I had time to look to this man, the partner that once wandered and then settled in with me, and that was a good good thing.

It has been a rough few months in the background and this was a balm and a gift. Far from romantic...no honeymoon suite just sleeping in the back of the Subaru in a campground with hot showers. But that is how we do it...always have and probably always will. God, what a great man.


Now, of course, we are back home...home made all the sweeter and lovely and special for the having been away. It was oddly comforting to know we can still find that Flow, that place where we two fill it completely enough, that the children we have made have not created a void between, rather enriched the fabric of our lives. And upon return, finding a pair of boys excited that we had come back, chattering non stop about their weekend adventures and wondering heavily about ours.

Next month we are leaving for a month on the road....a different experience, I know. The pair of soon to be three year olds will guarantee a different trip...but I cannot wait. And I am hoping the Flow finds us somewhere along the road for that trip. Please god.

Full Big Sur set here.

And yes, we are ridiculous. And no, we were not drunk. Just giddy on kid-less-ness.