Right-brain Release

Time Consuming

2011-04-19T07:07:00.001-06:00

Citrus pebble quilting, a photo by a²(w) on Flickr.

I made this citrus quilt top back in January and am finally getting around to quilting it. My "pebbles" are larger, though not quite citrus fruit sized, and it still take for freakin' ever! Some of them aren't perfect, but when it's washed and used I doubt anyone will notice. :)

Moving!

2010-08-22T23:44:00.000-06:00

Migrating my blog to a new home! All old content will still be over there, plus new posts!

Go!

2010-08-22T10:18:00.000-06:00

Of late there have been a lot of GO! AccuQuilt cutters being given away on the internets. I would love to win one, and you probably would too, so GO! enter!

Enter here!

Connecting Threads

2010-08-22T10:11:00.000-06:00

I was browsing the 3x6 Bee group and saw rsislandcrafts awesome blocks.

photo belongs to rsislandcrafts

Aren't they great?? Anyways, I am especially digging the fabrics, which apparently come from the Canning Collection. I had never heard of it, had you? If you had, why didn't you tell me?!

This collection can be found over at Connecting Threads. The prices are really reasonable!! And they have cute quilt kits too!! Look at all these exclamations! I'm so excited!!

Here are some of their collections:

Canning Day. FQ pack $31.24. Quilt Kit (one of many) $34.56

Cheep Talk

Sip of Summer

And just to seal the deal of awesome, they have coordinating thread for each collection.

Dress

2010-08-15T23:56:00.000-06:00

Look at my Evening Empire dress (pattern by Anna Maria Horner)! This is Option B.

This pattern was a DREAM. It took me 6 days (mostly evenings).

Fabric

The yellow and pink fabrics are Anna Maria Horner. The bottom one is a pink dobby dot from the Pastry line collection, the other 2 are Little Folks voile. The grey & while polka dot is like a lawn that I bought in Costa Rica. The pink lining was so discount fabric from Hancock, and I'm not sure what the exact fiber content is (mostly cotton from the feel). I was hesitant about sewing with such light fabric, but it went really well. I pinned more than I usually would, but I was also more careful than usual because I wanted it to turn out well.

Pattern

I did NOT cut out the pieces. I used tracing paper and a tracing wheel to make cardstock templates of the smaller pieces, and traced directly onto the fabric for the skirt front & back pieces.

I'm mostly a quilter, so I used my ruler & rotary cutter for EVERYTHING.

Sewing

I did this project bit by bit. One night I cut out pieces.

The next night I sewed the bodice. I opted for the elastic on the back and am SO GLAD that I did. The directions were a bit confusing with left & right, but the accompanying diagrams answered all of my questions.

Then the zigzags & skirt front (& next day zigzags & skirt back). HERE ARE MY 2 ALTERATIONS. When I sewed the rows of zigzags to the skirt front, I used a 3/8" seam allowance, as opposed to the 5/8" specified. I tried 5/8" and ripped it out because my peaks were cut off. 3/8" worked for all the rows. And when I sewed the front to back, I used the specified 5/8" allowance and everything lined up perfectly. I also SHORTENED the dress 2" (I'm about 5'3").

Gathering the skirt went so much easier than I expected, the directions were clear and easy to follow. At this point it all started to come together and I couldn't wait to finish. But I did, because slow & steady gets and awesome dress.

Finally it was time to finish. The invisible zipper directions are AMAZING. No need for a special foot (just a zipper foot). Sewing in the zipper to the outer & lining was a bit confusing, but again, the diagrams really made it easy to understand.

The cons

This dress is not made for small people. I made an XS, took in the side seams, and the top is still HUGE. I'm a 32A, so granted there isn't much there to hold things up, but still. I am SO GLAD that I added the elastic. The back is really cinched in, but it doesn't look bad when the dress is on because of all the gathering at the waist.

That's the only con...

baking fail and fresh food

2010-08-15T23:39:00.001-06:00

I used to be an awesome baker. Used to be. I can't bake to save my life. Every cake I make fails somehow, either it falls (because of altitude), or sticks to the pan...

So in happier news, I re-joined the local CSA. While the 100-mile diet won't work for us (does it work for anyone outside California??), we are going to try the adjoining state diet. I'm pretty excited!

I've also been trying my hand at gardening. We live in an apartment so everything is in pots. Today I transplanted everything into bigger pots since it is all doing so well! Hopefully it will last. I think tonight's rain should help.

Mojito, my prolific mint plant. He's been with us the longest.

Strawberry. She already produced 6 berries and is now on her second set this season!

Chive is Josh's favorite because it's the underdog. It was previously overrun by Mojito & Strawberry and JUST got it's own pot today!

Lavender McDade. I'm pretty excited about having fresh lavender around to make things smell & taste yummy.

Rose Moss. We just got her today, so no name yet. This is our only decorative plant!

And it just realized that I didn't take a picture of Basil Pesto!! Jeez. He's delicate and lives mostly indoors. The heat is just too much.

I WON!!!

2010-08-13T14:14:00.000-06:00

So, for the first time EVER, I won a blog giveaway. I know, it totally made my very boring school day.

Evelyn from Use the Loot very generously hosted a giveaway for a charm pack of 70 6" vintage linen squares. 70!! I never find cute sheets around my thrift stores, so I am totally stoked! I can't wait to get squares and put something together!

You should check out her blog AND this crazy awesome quilt.

I'm so happy! :)

Advice from quilters needed!

2010-08-10T23:14:00.000-06:00

I live in an apartment. It's fairly large, but ALL CARPET. I loathe carpet as it is, but it means that I don't have a hard surface for basting a quilt. We bought 2 pieces of 4'x8' MDF, put a hinge in the middle of each sheet so that it would store smaller, but they are HUGE and HEAVY to pull out & put away. It also means that I have to clear out the living room to use. Not a great solution.

Then I went and used a long arm machine & saw the roller system. Genius!! Also, fun. I kept thinking that the long arm can't do straight lines well though (I tried), and can't follow seams like I could on my machine with a walking foot. But I wanted to take my quilts there for basting purposes...

So, maybe I can buy my own roller quilting frame? I'm considering a few options and need help.

1) $10 plans to build my own frame. No clue how hard to source the gears would be, or how expensive the the supplies would be. But I am very handy, so the idea of building isn't an issue. Does it fold flat for storage?

2) $69 kit to build a frame. This look like it has plans for the above frame, but include some parts, like the gears. I would still have to source lumber & a few other parts. Does it fold flat for storage?

3) $199 pre-made stand. Folds flat, adjustable width. I could use this for basting, or for hand quilting. Seems pretty nice. The reviews I've read say that the only negatives are assembly, which isn't a problem for me. And from the Grace website, it looks like you can fold it up with a quilt still on it. I also found it on Ebay with free shipping.

4) Fan Frame. I don't know how easy it would be to use, but it looks fairly straight-forward. And it definitely stores flat! $132, so it's a little less than the previous option.

5) Save up for a more professional stand that can accommodate a long arm machine. This is a 2-parter, since I need to save up for the machine AND the stand, so we're talking thousands of dollars and years. And I don't think those store flat. So maybe I just convinced myself out of this option?

What should I do?!?! The basting/sandwich is my main issue. My machine is more than adequate for quilting purposes at this time. Please, ask around if you know someone who has knowledge about this. Thank you!

**All photos are taken from the linked website**

San Diego

2010-08-10T20:20:00.001-06:00

I went to San Diego 2 weeks ago for a work conference. Our school is adopting the AVID program, which is aimed at getting the middle-level kids organized and college-bound.

Anyways, I went with 6 other teachers and our principal (who all rock, they are young, not old-stick-in-the-mud people). While the trainings were dull and standard, we had great fun exploring in the evening.

Some pictures from our trip. (All are SOOC from a Canon Powershot)

(yes, it was cold the entire time we were there!)

Consumed by school

2010-08-04T01:47:00.000-06:00

I Wordle'd my standards.

I can't stand it

2010-07-20T17:04:00.000-06:00

I'm tearing apart my sewing room hoping to get it under control.

It is a huge undertaking.

:(

Feeling funky

2010-07-20T12:37:00.000-06:00

I FINALLY finished my July bee blocks. I realize it's not really late, but I got the fabric in June, so I've had it for a while.

Full disclosure: I had NO desire to make these blocks. The idea seemed fussy and not my style. I don't have a house, I have an apartment, and I hate it. My biggest wish is that I had a house of my own, so this block kinda rubbed in my face that I didn't have a house of my own to base the block off of. Also, I went to school to be an architect, so I have very rigid ideas about how drawing, models, and sewn models (?) should be. It was very hard to translate my sketches into fabric. Also, I was short fabric. Well, I had leftover, but the designs I wanted to use the most were the small pieces. :( Lots of extra piecing to make the fabric stretch.

Ok, b*tching over. I sucked it up this morning and just made a go of it.

And you know what? It wasn't as bad as I had built it up to be in my head. My house block is based off of the house I grew up in. And while it isn't perfect, I think it came out pretty good. And my person block - LOVE. I don't want to send it off!! I had no idea how much fun the person block would be! I want to make more. Maybe one of me & the boy holding hands? LOVE the person block. Who knew it would be so much fun? I added yellow from my stash since I didn't get any in my packet, but it wouldn't be me without yellow.

Oh, you want to see the blocks? Of course!

The couch!!

2010-07-18T19:24:00.000-06:00

Before
It's dingy, and the cushions were deformed. I think there was a permanent butt imprint. You can just trust me on this, no close-ups!

During
Phase 1: Covering the body. The white is from Ikea and I used about 6 yards. I did this back in May (??). It needs to be washed. And hemmed.

Next I remade the cushions. 4" foam, batting, and a white muslin cover sewed on. I just made 2 long cushions instead of 3. I was going to do the back the same way, but I didn't think it would look right. So I bought 3 24" square cushions from Hancock. They were the right height, but too narrow. So I went back for 3 27" square pillows. These were too tall. So when I made the cases, I cut them 25" x 28" and just squished the pillow in (not a problem at all).

After:
If you are ever at Ikea buying fabric to recover your couch, you should not let this conversation happen:
Me: I want to cover it in white.
Boy: No, it will get too dirty.
Me: But you can wash it.
Boy: No, I don't want to worry about being messy.
Me: Fine, which one do you like

* Here is the important part *
Boy: How about this one?
* If he points to stripes say NOOO. Unless you have lots of time, are a perfectionist, and like tedious sewing.

So here it is!

It turns out, after looking at these pictures, that I don't actually like it. But that's the good thing about slipcovers, right? As soon as I have the right fabric & energy, I can easily make a new cover. I have templates to use now!!

Late night

2010-07-17T01:51:00.000-06:00

When the boy is away, I do things around the apartment. Late at night. So pictures are either flash-tastic, or dark. Maybe I'll show you the new bedroom look sometime.

I started slip-covering the couch in May, and am getting closer! The cushions were gross & squished, so I'm redoing the cushions. I'm sewing a white cover onto the foam, and will then put on a "pillowcase" cover that I can wash. That way the foam stays protected. Overkill, maybe, but seriously, those old cushions were gross.

Bleached muslin (Kona, 90", I bought a bolt when I had a 50% off coupon...this used about 1.5 yards, so $4.50), batting (bought today with a 50% off coupon, $10), foam (bought in June with a 50% off coupon, $40)

pinning it all together, wrapped the corners like a present

hand stitching. Sloppy, but this is an underlayer

The body of the couch was covered in white back in May (and is due for a washing!!). You can see my tools and 1 cushion done. I went from 3 cushions to 2, because it looks more modern & sleek.

Also, I am not getting involved with piping!

Here I am!!

2010-07-08T22:39:00.000-06:00

It's been a while. After Costa Rica I spent 2 very busy days at home before heading out to Miami to spend some time with my parents, grandparents, and friends. I am now back and ready to SEW SEW SEW. And cook!

So, to recap, while out of town (and in town for 2 days!):

Costa Rica for honeymoon

Abq Modern Quilt Guild Meeting

Cooking with mom & grandma

Dominos with grandparents

Playing with my friend's baby, Isabel

Universal Studios & Disney World

Frustrated

2010-07-08T22:17:00.002-06:00

Why won't blogger let me add my flickr pictures to my post?

Airports

2010-06-24T13:49:00.000-06:00

Monday we were delayed 2 hours in Chicago due to weather (video to come).

Today I'm delayed in Albuquerque 3 hours due to mechanical issues. Frustrating. Good thing I dreamt up my new logo last night (and a tattoo!!). So I'm just sittin' here cross stitching in Illustrator.

Apparently my "logo" has some meaning in Electrical Engineering. Something about waves and stuff. Yup, we're dorks.

A few thoughts

2010-06-20T20:13:00.000-06:00

1) Justin Bieber is a little girl

2) "Amigo" does not translate well to English. Example: When a waiter/guide says amigo in Spanish, it is nowhere near as creepy as when he says friend in the same context. Funnier, but no better, when they call you buddy. I never got called chief sadly.

3) Cipro and Immodium are my new besties

4) In 24 hours I will be somewhere with 15% humidity, compared to 100% humidity now.

5) Telling me "pretty things for pretty girl" will NOT make me shop in you store. Does that ever work?

6) It is sad that I can't stream Netflix outside the US.

Fail AND Success!! Stash Sunday Costa Rica Edition

2010-06-20T16:23:00.000-06:00

Before coming to Costa Rica, I looked up LQS, of course! I found Jardin Abuela and wrote to the owner to get directions.

There's something you should know about San Jose. Well, a few things. One, there aren't really lanes on the road, you just kind of flow with traffic. If you know traffic in Rome, think worse. Two, roads are one way a lot, or turn into one ways without much notice. But most importantly, three, THEY DON'T LABEL THE ROADS. Seriously, downtown they named the roads, but if you're lucky they put a sign up every 6 blocks. A mostly hidden sign.

Outside San Jose, there are streets, but no names. This fabric store was 75m north of the MegaSuper (a grocery store). So we drove to the general area (with much stress) but never found the MegaSuper or the fabric store. Booo.

FAIL

So you want to hear about the success?

We went into a store called Pague Menos to get a Football (Soccer) jersey for Josh's brother. As he was paying, I wandered. Oh, look, bolts of towel fabric. And a little further... ALGODON! (cotton). It was huge back there! They had everything, including some bolts of Vera Bradley fabric (ubiquitous quilted luggage, not my thing). Oh, heaven. I bought about 13.5 meters. For $36. And I held back knowing that I have to pack it.

They sold bolts of fabric for sheets, which was neat, but not 100% cotton. Shirting, also not 100% cotton. Home Dec weight fabric, rolls of comforters that just need to be cut to size & bound. No linen though. :(

Anyways, I could go on for much longer about all they had, but I'm sure you want to see the goods. Sorry about the quality, I am at the mercy of the hotel room lighting.

The stash (1/2 meters). Notice the red & aqua stripes, those are full meters. Awesome!

Vintage Sheets

Bunnies (only 1/2 meter, I will use sparingly!)

My favorites (again, only 1/2 meter. Orange and aqua is definitely my next quilt)

New pillowcases! (2 meters)

Grey dots. To go with my stash of larger grey dots at home. 2 meters. What?! I think it's a good versatile print for as much grey as I use.

Alphabet flannel. Quilt back probably. 2 meters.

Mission Accomplished

2010-06-14T10:40:00.000-06:00

Monkeys!

Please excuse that I look a mess. It was literally 100% humidity yesterday (it was raining). And we were hiking. In a rain forest. On the beach.

To leave the park we had to wade into the ocean, take a tiny boat that was filling with water, and hope we didn't sink in crocodile water before getting to the other side.

Waiting for us back at the hotel was a hot tub and flowers. And a LONG nap.

Green

2010-06-12T09:58:00.000-06:00

Honeymoon Day 1

2010-06-10T12:38:00.000-06:00

Pattern Maker

2010-06-08T16:27:00.001-06:00

Has everyone seen this?!

You can use this website to turn a picture into a quilt pattern!! I think I might do this with a picture from our wedding or honeymoon. Wouldn't that be a cute keepsake?

You can choose how many colors and how complex the pattern is too! Big squares, little squares, or squares & triangles.

Inspiration

2010-06-06T20:43:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been inspired. Having the time to sew and not having to worry about work, my mind is opening.

Like these bathing suits at Target. I love the stripe/check/dot mix. And while red and aqua is so common, hot pink and aqua needs to become the new "it" combo. In fact, aqua is so "in" right now. (Do I sound like I watched too much Clueless growing up??). Last year I couldn't find aqua ANYWHERE, this year it's taking over. I predict orange will be the "it" color next year.

Tonight we went to Applebee's for dinner. The space was divided with stained glass. It reminded me that quilt inspiration can come from so many places. So while the pictures wouldn't come out (dark restaurant, glass reflecting light, people everywhere - not a good picture situation). I sketched it (because yes, I have graph paper in my purse). I might scan it once I rework the design with color, but I will leave you with some other neat stained glass pieces. Great COLOR and design! A lot of craftsman/arts & crafts style pieces would translate especially well.

!!!

2010-06-03T14:19:00.001-06:00

I went back to Hip Stitch today to take picture of my handiwork. All nicely organized by weight and color.

Anyway, Suzanne (the owner) had a surprise for me...

Are you ready??

And lest you think that I spend all my time in fabric stores, here is my Pixel Quilt progress (on the design wall).

FABRIC!!

2010-06-03T09:43:00.000-06:00

I spent the day yesterday at my LQS (Hip Stitch). I went in innocently. I was just looking for some pink/red fabric. But they were reorganizing, and I CAN'T pass up organizing. So I took down all of their fabric and organized it by color. And set up the books.

Then then told me the Moda rep was coming by and said I could stay. WHAT?! Not quite as good as being at Market, but OMG yes. I didn't get to take pictures, but here are some previews that are out on the internets.

Favorite upcoming Moda lines (a PDF of all new collections is available here):

1. It's a Hoot by Momo. I can't get my hands on some fast enough!! The fabrics are of a really nice weight and drape. I might need the $100 fat quarter bundle...

2. Dream on by Urban Chicks. Think reproduction 70's floral sheets.

3. City Weekend by Oliver & S. Soooo cute. Again, these fabrics have a nice weight to them too. I like the more vibrant color collections (at the top of the stack) more than the bla pastels.

School's out for summer

2010-05-29T23:05:00.001-06:00

That's all for now.

Enjoying the first few days of a nice long summer. Finished a book, bought a few more. Have quilts galore to work on.

This summer has promise.

Better than this place

2010-05-27T18:25:00.001-06:00

Nowhere better than this place...

Anywhere better than this place...

My sister had these 2 sayings as posters in her room growing up. They were from an AIDS exhibit at a museum, I think. They were plain, just white background with black text.

Anyways, that's how I feel about Albuquerque.

Some days I can't get out of here fast enough. I daydream about how much better it is elsewhere. About all the cool people that live in Portland (if you live in or around Portland, you are one of those cool people).

Columbia River Gorge

Or anywhere on the East Coast. I dream about having a bungalow cottage and decorating it all country beachy.

Pottery Barn, of course

And then there are days like today.

Outside my door right now

My classroom is mostly packed up and cleaned. 4 hours of school left. I went to Happy Hour with some of the girls from work and had a blast. I LOVE my school. I can't imagine ever working at a school that's as all around awesome. I can't imagine leaving there. It's breezy and cloudy with little drops of rain.

Today I am happy right where I am. Those days are few and far between, so I'm going to go soak up as much as I can.

Baby Farm

2010-05-26T14:57:00.000-06:00

Unless you know the background, and baby farm sounds disturbing, I know. I'm not a creeper though, so here's the story.

A few years ago I told the boy that I wanted a farm. I wanted chicks, and lambs, and PUPPIES. Lots of cute little baby animals. Of course he had to rain on my parade and mention that all of these baby animals would grow up and not be cute and little anymore. Still, any time I see a baby animal, I'm reminded of my desire for a baby farm.

My dilemma isn't that I don't have a house, or a yard, or any baby animals. The real dilemma is that I'm into too many things. I like to travel. I like to sew. I like to cook. Where would I find the time to manage these baby animals?!

On a somewhat related topic. This weekend we went to the zoo. There were lots of babies (of the human kind). Chubby little babies. I told the boy that I wanted one. His response: "You're not feeling well. Let's go home." It's going to take me a few years to warm him up to the idea...

Zoo pictures for putting up with all this text!

Baby Hippo!

not a baby!

in case you were wondering what I look like

flowering cacti

Scraps

2010-05-25T11:44:00.001-06:00

I made this little pouch for a friend using my quilt scraps.

I have made PLENTY of zipper pouches. I have always found them to be easy. So I don't know what possessed me to try a new pattern. The Oh, Fransson! Bag pattern. I will not link to it because I don't want you to suffer. I love her quilts, but I think this pattern and I could not make friends. This is the tutorial I first used years ago. It's awesome.

(Also, my point & shoot pictures are kinda fuzzy. Any suggestions? It used to take really awesome pictures...Dirty lens?)

Pink Orange Quilts

2010-05-21T17:22:00.001-06:00

Here's the finished quilt top for my Pink Orange Grey quilt. Measure about 60" square

Josh suggested backing it with a creamy orange. Maybe a grey corner. I'll have to play around this weekend.

I had so many 2.5" strips cut from my original design and the border, that I decided to cut them into 2.5" squares. I used my rotary PAPER cutter with a new blade. It was awesome.

So here's my design for Pink Orange V2.0 (because each square will the 2" finished!). Josh says the middle should be a cream color, so I'm thinking a natural muslin (I already have some). I've already made some changes in my mind (the cream should creep up like the colors fall down). I estimate that I'll need about 250 colored blocks, 125 pinks, 125 oranges. I'm just going to cut a few cream squares (maybe 15?), and leave the rest in strips and cut them once I figure out exactly where the pieces will go. I wish I had a design wall (no room :( ). Planned size is 40" x 42"

The Process

2010-05-20T14:00:00.000-06:00

I had a BRILLIANT idea for a quilt last Thursday night.

Friday I cut all the fabrics together and got to work.

Saturday it was going well.

Sunday I decided that I hated where it was going and I stuffed it in a box.

Wednesday is when I had an epiphany and things started coming together. I cut apart what I had already made and turned it into a border. Then I did what I should have done first: I drew a picture. I figured out what I needed, in which colors, and selected a few different fabrics.

Now things are coming together nicely. I have made a few more modifications as I sew, but I like it. It has the right amount of planned irregularity. Not wonky though.

Hopefully I'll finish the quilt top this weekend.

Wedding Food

2010-05-18T11:42:00.000-06:00

If there is one thing that I could do over, it would be the food.

I would go back for seconds and thirds and gorge myself. I might even ask for a to go box. I should get those recipes. Or maybe just hire the cook to be my personal chef.

Yes, it was that good. EVERYONE would agree with me. Josh wishes he had eaten more too.

I wanted it to be Southern, so I tried to pick classic Southern dishes for dinner and dessert (with a few personal favorites thrown in there too).

The menu:
* Fried Catfish. The outside was crispy, the inside was moist. It wasn't overly greasy. Best ever.
* Grilled Chicken. What was the sauce? Pure heaven. It was grilled, that's all I know. And that it was amazing.
* Fried Green Tomatoes. These were hard to come by, but they got them for us. It was a delightful cornmeal breading. Again fried to perfection. Oh, I wish I had eaten more...
* Shrimp 'n Grits. Hello wonderful. At our tasting they were a bit spicy. For the wedding they were perfect. Creamy, cheesy, comfort food.
* Mashed Potatoes. All I remember is that they were delicious. And I want more.
* Green Beans. The "healthy" vegetable. Covered in buttery goodness.
* Fruit. There was fruit. And it looked beautiful. But how could anyone eat fruit with foods like those around?!

The signs Diane made were so CUTE!

You should get the guy on the left to cook for you if you have the chance

The Desserts:
* Chocolate Flan. A Cuban classic. We had some technical difficulties with the baking, but it turned out divine. Creamy, custardy, yumminess.
* Red Velvet Cake. It doesn't get any more Southern, IMO. This is the cake we ended up cutting. Oh how I love cream cheese frosting.
* Orange Amaretto Cake. A favorite among many. How could you not like a cake soaked in Amaretto?
* Chocolate Cake. A classic. We had troubles with this cake in our test rounds, but it came through for us on baking day.
* Apple Pie. Josh's favorite. His mom made this. And luckily we had leftovers (that weren't left over for very long)
* Banana Pudding. Again, a Southern tradition.
* Bread Pudding. Josh's grandmother made it.

Bad timing

2010-05-14T07:14:00.002-06:00

Don't you hate it when, you're lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, and an idea so good comes to you that you have to get up and do something about it?

Me too.

But now I have 2 awesome quilt ideas that I will be hard at work on this weekend.

And yes, I am completely failing at the Spring to Finish challenge.

Wedding Table Decor

2010-05-11T11:31:00.000-06:00

Let's compare the drawings with the real thing.

Cake Table:

The pennant with "Dessert" was the only thing that I ended up not doing. The stained glass at the venue matched out colors perfectly. The florist chose forsythia to get the height I wanted in the back. Mom wrote the desserts on the chalk boards with a cute little picture. Fairly perfect I think. And fairly delicious!!

Dining Tables:

Pretty much to a T. There were fewer vases (8 instead of 10) and the vases were all either clear or blue mason jars (no yellow vases, I didn't like how they looked). Also, you can see the middle planter box turned into a basket (coconut plant holder with the bottom cut off) with a candle & the table number. The venue also had tealight holders in the PERFECT shade of aqua that we were able to use.

Escort Cards:

We used the same wood from the cake stands for our escort cards. These were not as level (as you can see from table 2). The actual escort cards were small gold pots that were $0.20 each. I put some styrofoam in, topped with moss cloth cut to a circle, jam in a popsicle stick with a paper flower on it. The names were held in with a mini-clothespin. Total cost for escort cards: $18

Simple DIYs:

* I bought 10 yards of burlap. I cut it into 2 5 yard pieces (so 15 feet each). Then I cut that in 4 lengthwise (so that I had 4 pieces that were 15' x about 12"). My kitchen floor was a disaster after that! Total cost: $15 for all of the burlap (I had a 50% off coupon).

* Coconut plant baskets were $1 each at the dollar store. I cut off the bottom (leaving about 4" at the top). Fill with moss, place a pillar candle in the middle! Total cost: $5 per table

* Flags above table: Cut or tear strips of fabric between 1" and 2" wide. They should be about 10" long. Fat Quarters would work well for this project. Tie onto twine. Done. Total cost: $5. I already had most of the fabric for other projects.

Not so simple DIYs:

* We bought slices of wood in New Mexico. But they were too fat (like 4 - 5" wide). So the boy bought a saw and cut each slice in half to a more reasonable size. Then, once in Atlanta, he and his father took fire wood & cut in down in height to about 4" or 8" tall. Attach top slice with glue & nails. Total the project cost about $50 because we had to buy the wood (we are not lumberjacks who go into the forest and cut down our own trees)

All photos by Graham & Ashley Scobey

Venue: Simple Gatherings at Four Oaks Manor

Flowers: Laurens Flowers

wedding

2010-05-07T14:28:00.001-06:00

I'm in love with my wedding. It was exactly what I wanted. In fact, if I could get married every day, I would, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was completely perfect. Oh, how I miss my wedding. The month has gone by so quickly!

We were being considered for Southern Weddings Magazine, but ended up on the blog only. :( I couldn't publicize any pictures until they did. So now that they're all out there in the open, look for more infos about the wedding.

Planning!

Here are the sketches I sent the florist & venue. And anyone who would listen. Click to see each image larger.

How I envisioned the dining tables. I wanted 12' tables, but I planned for 6' tables too just in case there wasn't space for the 12'. I didn't want ANY round tables. Something about them was just too...traditional. I have planned for 3 plants, candles, blue mason jar vases, clear vases (used mason jars), little critter, etc. You can read the key on the second image. Yes, I am that person. Just wait til you see how the tables turned out. I'll give you a hint, only ONE thing was different.

How I envisioned the cake/dessert table. 7 cakes, 2 levels, with cute little chalkboard signs and decorations like on the dining tables. Again, ONE thing ended up different. I must say that this project was a labor or love for Josh. His love for me, not for the project.

Stay tuned for the after!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Rolled Oat Muffins

2010-05-06T20:14:00.000-06:00

This recipe was adapted (Americanized?) from Sonia. She's awesome. You should check out her blog. It makes me want to move back to France. (Had I told you that I spent a year in France? Well, I did!)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin tin. Sonia says it makes 17, but I like a healthy sized muffin, so I crammed this recipe into 12.

- 1 cup flour plus 1 tbsp*

- 1.5 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup chocolate chips

- generous 1/2 pound strawberries (about 2 cups diced)

- 3/4 cup rolled oats

Sift the flour, baking soda, brown sugar. Stir in the chocolate chips (you can be generous if you want a really chocolaty muffin) and the strawberries. What's nice about doing it this way is that the strawberries get coated in flour and then don't sink in the muffin! You can coat anything in flour that you want suspended in you cake/muffin/bread/etc.

- 3/4 cup milk

- 1 egg

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 5 tbsp butter (1/3 cup melted)

Mix the wet ingredients, then pour onto the dry ingredients. Stir, but not too well! Sonia says "The dough must be irregular & full of lumps! The success of making muffins resides in making the dough very irregular & not kneading it much!" So we should trust her and take it easy on our arms.

Fill muffin compartments 3/4 full (or to just below the rim if you're like me and only want to bake 1 batch!). Sprinkle the tops with sugar (I used about 1 tbsp of white sugar) so that they get a nice crunch.

Bake 20 minutes, until golden on top and toothpick comes out clean (beware of hitting a chocolate chip!).

This part is important!! Let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. They'll be easier to release AND you won't burn your mouth on a VERY HOT muffin. Chocolate and strawberries get VERY HOT in the oven. Just so you know.

(see how hot and gooey this is? be warned.)

Sit back, enjoy with a glass of milk, and watch the husband do the dishes. :)

* I am generous with flour because I live at high altitude. Which means that baked good sink if you don't make accommodations, like a little extra flour & liquid. I ended up using 1 cup plus 2 heaping tbsp. flour.

awesome deal

2010-05-05T15:30:00.000-06:00

So I wanted this Nikon 18-200 lens. Old version, new version, I didn't care. One small fix to the lens, but same quality pictures. You can fix the old lens with a rubber band. The boy (husband!) offered to buy it for me. Still, $709 is a lot to swallow. So he went to Best Buy to see what their price is. $849 for the VR II! Yeah right!

My boy is thorough. He looked in the back and found this baby. $499.99. Open box, old style. I have 14 days to give it a whirl and see if there is anything wrong with it. Keeping my fingers crossed that we just got lucky!

Here are some pictures I took with the lens. I set the aperture to f/5, so there is a decent amount of bokeh in some of them. Yay! These are straight from the camera, no editing.

Some things I have been up to:

2010-05-04T11:31:00.001-06:00

School

Spring

Snow (hail)

Cupcakes!

My fancy DSLR (Nikon D80) is out of service. My 18-55 lens is broken (I think...), so I have taken all of these photos with my Canon SD780 IS. It can be fussy at times about focusing on close objects (even in macro mode), but once you get the feel for it, it takes pretty decent pictures. That picture of the poppy is straight from the camera. I can't wait to get a new lens for my D80, hopefully (fingers crossed) the 18-200 lens that I have been coveting for a couple years now.

Frock by...

2010-05-04T11:12:00.000-06:00

I still haven't finished my Frock by Friday. I'll aim for Frock by 2 Fridays? I just need to cut the sashing so I can finish things up...

Here's a sewing shot, with pins and markings...

House. One Day

2010-04-29T22:30:00.000-06:00

So I just got married. Which means gifts that we have NO ROOM FOR. But thank you for the gifts! We're making the 8 hour drive to Ikea next weekend to pick up some cheap Gorm bookshelves.

We also had a store credit at VivaTerra. Eh, I'm not too impressed with them and I'll leave it at that. Farmhouse Wares has similar items at better prices. Anyway. Here are the items I bought.

The point? We have NO ROOM for these items. I mean, they will look great in my house one day, but that day is a few years off, at least! One day I will live in an awesome house in an awesome city. For now I'm stuck in Albuquerque.

The State Fair Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

2010-04-22T18:37:00.000-06:00

The State Fair Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

How awesome is this dress. Seriously. So awesome that it's the Frock by Friday poster-child! I was just showing the boy how awesome all of her clothes are, and gearing up for the Frock by friday sew-a-long next week. Can't wait!

A Frock By Friday

2010-04-22T14:53:00.000-06:00

A Frock By Friday

Next week should be a slow week at school (2 days of conferences, so no students, 1 field trip day), so I SHOULD have time to participate in the Grosgrain Frock by Friday sew-a-long. I think maybe I would be more successful in clothing sewing if I paced myself instead of trying to finish in 1 day.

summer projects

2010-04-19T13:53:00.000-06:00

While I think I might partake in the Spring to Finish challenge, I have visions of new projects that I want to accomplish over summer vacation. What if I try ONE project from each of the MANY sewing books that I have? Or maybe I could do every single project from one book.

One Yard Wonders
100 yards
100 projects

But that would be more than 1 project a day, and while most of them are short, I'm not that motivated... Plus, what would I do with all of that stuff?!

Tonight I will make a list of books I have and see what projects are doable...

365 Catch up

2010-04-19T10:39:00.000-06:00

Day 5

Day 6

Clearly some days I take better pictures than others...

Sunday...

2010-04-19T09:51:00.000-06:00

everything went wrong.

Went to 2 JoAnn fabrics and they were both sold out of 90" Kona bleached muslin (for quilts I need to start and finish).

Went to Petco and they were sold out of the 10 gallon fish tank stand.

Went to Borders and they were sold out of Stitch magazine.

Wanted to go for a run, but it was raining.

I treated myself to pie for dessert to make up for my wretched day.

More positive now

2010-04-17T22:57:00.000-06:00

Has anyone been to Pottery Barn lately? Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel really do it for me. They are both mostly out of my first-year-teacher price range. But I can idea shop there for free. And I don't feel guilt because I admit where I get the ideas.

Some eye-candy that I can make myself!

Burlap back, a wood frame, 2 metal rods, little buckets (you could get those at ikea), and a burlap sac.

Wonky stripey quilt. I need to work more color into my quilts. I've noticed that I stop at 3 colors/tones.

Wooden thread spools as wall hooks. Brilliant. I have TONS of these!

Some day

2010-04-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

Well really, most weekends, I hate where I live. No matter how many cool gadgets I have, no matter how great my husband is, no matter how much I love where I work, I feel like I won't be completely happy.

I NEED to own a house. NEED.

Something like one of these: (all images courtesy of Chattanooga MLS). Look at those built-ins around the fireplace. Of craftsman style, you have my heart. Or all that green, and the deliciously WHITE kitchen.

Sigh.

How many more years of this shitty city?

Day 4

2010-04-14T09:44:00.000-06:00

Last night I found awesome light in our dining room, so I move my cutting board in there and took a few pictures. Green limes, green avocado, green cabbage. The makings of delicious FISH TACOS! And then I thought about having a coke, so I took it's picture too. And I looked up and saw my "chandelier" and needed to photograph it too.

On day 4 I was prolific!

Fail

2010-04-13T16:14:00.000-06:00

So I have already missed a day of my 365 pictures for out first year married. That's right. I started on Saturday and already missed a day - Monday. If I take 2 today, does that make up for it?

I leave you with Sunday's picture. I call it "The joy of poopy wheels (and having a husband who cleans them)"

Same blog, new purpose

2010-04-09T13:02:00.000-06:00

If you visited here before, you know that I wrote about my adventures in crafting, teaching, ranting, and wanting to get married.

Well, I did get married. 6 days ago. So I'm making all sorts of fresh starts, and this blog is included. I think I'm going to start off with wedding planning shenanigans.

I SHOULD have done the 365 picture project starting on our wedding day, but didn't think of it until today. So it will start 1 week after our wedding. Good enough for me.

I will also continue to write about my adventures in sewing. Maybe baking too.

Let's just see where this goes together, ok? Thanks for coming along for the ride!