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Girls' Room - Before

Last week I had the most awesome pleasure of a week to myself at home. No kids, and mostly, no husband. I think it might have been the best week of my life. Well, at least of the last few years. We sent the kids to Camp Baba/JoJo/Grandma - our family out of town. Hubby was working, and I stayed home.

I quilted, I read, I worked a little, I cleaned up my house. It was all done at a leisurely pace and with very little stress. I ate nachos for dinner and went for long bike rides because I didn't have to report back to anyone. I mentioned that it was glorious, didn't I?

One of the things I did do that certainly felt like work, but was utterly necessary, was clean out and redo the girls' room. It was chaotic and crowded in there. And with only a two bedroom house and a husband who works at home it was high time I got it organized so the girls and I could actually function in there if Hubby is home working.

Our house is only two bedrooms and a few years ago we switched and gave the girls the bigger room. This means all their toys and activities can be in their room, instead of taking over the house. And that way my crap can take over the house instead! But the room was messy and full of stuff no one was using anymore. So, in between my little breaks of personal creativity and relaxation, I tackled the room.

This week I'll share the before pictures. Next week, after I finish hanging pictures, I'll share the after pictures.
Christmas decorations still on the wall, an old mattress for guests/trampoline, and crap everywhere!

Two dressers, yet clothes piled everywhere. This bookshelf creating a hallway and blocking off the room.


The bookshelf - the closest bit of order in the before pictures.

A dresser storing fabric, some of my clothes, the Monster's clothes, and dress-up stuff. The diaper genie still there when diapers disappeared from our lives 3 months ago.

The dresser I grabbed from my Mom's basement (minus the legs) to refinish for the girls. It might have been my brother's when he was a kid. It sat next to the deep freeze, filled with fabric scraps from home ec and family sewing projects in the 80s, as well as some baby clothes of my Mom's and some Ukrainian embroidery.

I'm pretty sure I drew on this as a kid. No one remembers, but it is most likely that I, the biggest brat in the family, did it.

Next week, the afters. Just wait! I can tell you that the girls love it and so do I.

Summer?

The sun is FINALLY shining here in Calgary. It feels like forever ago that we had it. It's been a rainy spring, one that makes us happy we spent so much money waterproofing our basement a few years ago.

So now The Monster is out of school and out of sorts. We're trying to establish a rhythm to summer without doing too much. I'm trying to find the time to quilt and write without resorting to PBS Kids as babysitter. We're all searching out the summer. Here's where we are so far.

Last touches on that Shades of Grey quilt. I can photograph it now that it's stopped raining.

My husband's labourer, also a part-time tattoo artist put to work with sidewalk chalk and a book about pandas.

In all his fashion glory, this is my husband mowing a maze in the park across the street. The City doesn't seem to be quick to mow it this year so Hubby goes out every time it is sunny and mows paths for us to explore. The stellar fashion choices are always there.

Time spent watching an ant (singular) try to move a dead bee.

A precious visit and loads of snuggles with our latest nephew.

My reflective girl on her 5th birthday last week. Okay, so I caught her trying to look away, but let me have the mystery of her contemplative look. Here's one way we celebrated her birthday.

My youngest, having ANOTHER fit. Such an impatient, stubborn, and tempestuous little girl. And she's three.

But she is also phenomenally silly, adventurous, and obviously inherits her fashion sense from her father.

And now, a whole bunch of pressing to do. I need a break from the cutting - my wrist was killing me the other night when I was slicing my squares into these. I hope I'm not adding carpal tunnel to my summer plans.

Bring it on, summer! We can take it.

Making Do

We are 4 people and 2 dogs living in 1100 square feet. Out of our dining room we run the home and two businesses. In theory, there is a basement reno underway. It moves in fits and starts, but it still generally moves forward, sort of.

Last year I was using my fence as a design wall. But to be honest, that's rather annoying when you are trying to actually sew from it. So when Hubby gave me the day off weeks back I rigged up this temporary design wall.

This is the wall between our kitchen and dining room. Since I sew at the dining room table this set-up worked great.  Well, except for one large detail - I kept walking into the chandelier.

Chicken and the Egg

So, which came first? The chicken or the egg? In my case, was it the quilt or the bike?

Talk about life imitating art! Hubby bought me a bike for my birthday last week. I'm not allowed to ride my mountain bike because of my still bad knees, but a cruiser was given the OK by my physiotherapist. We walked into the bike shop and I knew immediately which one I wanted.  Thankfully it actually felt pretty comfortable to ride.

But if I didn't know any better, I would have guessed I made the quilt after I got the bike!

The only problem is that I don't think my yellow helmet with bongo playing skeletons is much of a match for the bike.

I am ridiculously happy to be moving on the bike.  I rode in the evening sun, drinking in the colours and smells of our neighbourhood - a riot of spring. Movement has never made me so happy.


Belated Easter Treats



How very Martha of me. Not that I dyed Easter eggs using cabbage, beets, onions, and turmeric. Not that I also decided to dye some fabric. But the colours are all Martha. And if you look around this site for about five minutes you'll see that I don't generally work in softer colours. Like I always say, it's good to change things up a little.

We dyed eggs with friends on Friday. I was totally enamoured with the colours, and very surprised from that orange from just a few onion skins. So I left all the eggs with our friends, but took home the rest of the dye juices. We dyed a few more eggs but that liquid colour looked too good to throw away. I already had all my scraps out so I grabbed some pieces of white on white and threw them in the bowls. The orange is from onion skins, the yellow from turmeric, and the purple measuring cup contains the liquid from boiled red cabbage.

This is the fabric as it came out of that red cabbage juice. Such a lovely purple. It clearly turned the eggs blue, so this was a bit of a shock. But a good rinse in cold water and some air time to dry and the fabric all turned the same soft blue/grey as the eggs. Perhaps a little less blue.

These are the turmeric stained fabrics right out of the dye water. So yellow! And even though I rinsed and rinsed they stained quite bright. And point of fact: turmeric dyed fabric will smell like turmeric long after it is rinsed and dried.

Look at my strips drying so nicely together!

And here are the eggs and their associated fabrics. In truth, they may be Martha colours, but they really are softer versions of the colours already in our house, namely turquoise and orange.

So I took all the scraps, trimmed them into strips, and started sewing. I went for the silly a little, in making an egg shaped placemat. This was easy to do. I simply created an egg shape out of paper so I had something to compare to as I sewed. You could also use it as a paper pieced project. Then I sewed the strips together. Once I knew I had my desired size I trimmed the top, cut out backing and batting and sewed it all together with right sides together.

Full disclosure, I screwed up twice when sewing it together. That's what I get for rushing to get it done during naptime. But I got myself sorted out and finished it off after turning it all right sides out and sewing that last seam around the edge.

There is a peak of the backing fabric. I put on something bright and fun so that if/when the top gets wrecked/runs I can use the other side for springtime. And there is my Smilosaurus checking it all out.

Giveaway Winner

Wow, such great responses to the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!  You are a committed bunch. Even for those of you with a great desire for my scraps you have to remember that in itself is a commitment. Those two, frenetic beauties are my reasons to commit to the future.

Some of the highlights of your commitments out there:
  • Eating less meat and growing your own veggies (Did you know that meat and rice production, worldwide, is one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gases?)
  • Choosing to be one-car or car-less.
  • Turning down the heat and using those quilts and handknits.
  • Choosing when to cook and bake to take advantage or avoid the extra kitchen heat (I totally do this!)
  • Actually using washable sanitary napkins or the reusable caps (wow, that's commitment!) 
As we struggle through a home reno I am constantly thinking of ways to renew our own commitments. Number 1, we are making the place as efficient as possible in terms of the infrastructure like furnace, insulation, water heating, windows, and electrical. We aren't replacing everything, but we are almost starting from scratch in the basement and all our choices are thinking about the long-term (for us and the girls) and not just the short term budget. Those decisions will affect whether my sewing studio gets drywall or not, but I'm willing to make a few sacrifices.

And number 2, After having to clean out sort, and move all our belongings at least 3 times in the last few months I am getting really sick of our stuff. Every time a few more boxes go to Goodwill, recycling, or garbage. I am at the point where if anybody buys me anything this Christmas I will lose it.  I just don't need anything. I need some quilt batts and time, lots of time.  But that's it.  Someone tell my husband.

Okay, time to stop the rant and get to the news you really want: who won? Using random.org I picked two numbers.

120
Meg wins the quilt. She uses t-shirts and upcycles them into her love's clothes.  That's a lucky baby!

192
Elizabeth wins the selvages.  Check out her site, I think she'll make good use of them.  And I may have to rethink my new more stuff attitude.  Did you see her aprons?

I've sent emails off the winners, washed my hands of the basement dust from tonight, and will indulge in a hot bath before bed.  It warms me up before I turn in and the thermostat goes down for the night!

Thanks again.  I hope to see you all back soon.

When I Turn My Back

There are two school of thought on welcoming your kids into your quilting habit.  On one hand you can have a sewing room with a closed door and they are not allowed to touch your fabric. On the other hand, you can let them play with the fabric and make a giant mess.  I will fully admit that some days I wish I had a design wall and a door to close (and lock). But most days the girls are knee deep in scraps and helping me pick fabric.


This is what happens when I turn my back on a pile of fabric.


Where do you stand on kids getting involved with your quilting habit - the process, the fabric, the inspiration? I'm working on an article on creating and quilting as a family, so I'm curious as to your habits.

Fall Quilt Festival

This is the first time I've shared a finished quilt with you that you didn't see anything of the process. I hope you aren't angry with me. I know, more than a little contradictory with the Workshop in Progress ideals. But I was testing the idea for a quilt along and wanted to be able to unveil it during the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

This is Gratitude (63 inches square).

Gratitude is for our neighbours. The neighbours who have saved our damn black dog during more than one thunderstorm - indeed, this is how we met them. The neighbours who always stop to say hi when they are out for an evening stroll. The neighbours who drew the plans for our basement and then refused payment for their work. And so we are giving them Gratitude.

Said neighbours, B and M, live in a renovated house in our 50 year old neighbourhood. They've added on and opened up and it really is an homage to late 70s design. Parts of it may be dated, but I love their house. So the colours in this quilt are inspired by their house. They have rich red carpet, beige walls, and terra cotta and brick. It is a warm house that inspires creativity and friendship. They are lovely neighbours after all, and an architect and designer to boot.

Victoria once asked her readers if there was any fabric that you wanted to buy on the bolt. I tend to get bored of a fabric, no matter how much I love it, after I've used it a few times. This red Kaffe, however, could change that. I did still see some at a LQS the other day and was tempted the buy the remaining yardage. I used it on the front as the red (along with another Kaffe in purple) and showcased it on the back.

You can also see the quilting on this photo. I did an all over swirl design, done free-motion. It was actually doodled from the scrollwork when I was in Banff. More hotel inspiration. I used my favourite thread, Presencia, in a cream colour. I actually wanted the quilting to be relatively subtle here, so as not to take away from the bold design of the top. I tried, but I couldn't just stipple it. I know there isn't anything wrong with stippling, but I wanted more. And more I got. As usual, it is heavily quilted. I swear, I don't mean to, but it seems I am unable to lightly quilt anything!

The binding was a lovely purple and red combo that matched so, so perfectly. I debated using a light brown so the red and purple on the top design popped a bit more, but when I found this fabric I knew it was meant to be. Funny, the LQS had it sitting right next to the Kaffe fabrics!

And finally, over a year after we received the plans from our neighbours and started the work to get the basement finished, here we are. Piles of concrete and wood. We've got the permits (renewed once already), picked the plumbing fixtures, and daydreamed about the master bath and quilt studio. But still it sits. (I took this photo today.) We're like the cobbler's kids with no shoes. Hubby works hard, the last thing he wants to do at the end of the day is put on the tools again. Sigh. At least I know that however overdue, Gratitude will be well-received.

Thanks for visiting, old and new friends. I am indeed going to launch this design as a quilt along. It is very easy, trust me. Stay tuned, I will launch the quilt along with a discussion about sizing and fabric choices on October 21.

In the Workshop Today

Have you been following along with the Workshop in Progress participants?  There are some really interesting projects out there. I'll admit that I've been behind on my blog reading so I missed the initial posts, but I encourage you to still visit the blogs and gain some insight into the personal creative process of these artists.
Yes, I said artists.  Those who create are artists, even if you sew on the dining room table after the kids got to bed. Even if you never share a piece of your work.  I truly believe that process is integral to the notion of art.  I was never able to answer the debate in my History of Art class as an undergrad on whether art is about the artist and their process, the finished piece, or the audience. All I know is that there is no art without some combination of the three.  With an on-line presence you are choosing to share both yourself and your process, in addition to the finished work.  Would you still create without the blog audience?  Most likely, right?  But you must get something out of sharing the work and bits of yourself, hence the third aspect of art, the audience.
I hope you take the time to participate in the Workshop as a poster and as an commenter.  We aren't trying to replace the energy of a whole bunch of people standing in front of a design board, but we can foster the community of creativity and a supportive environment for trying out new ideas.  So please, take a look at what our fellow artists are doing.
Over at Katie's Korner she is showcasing the finished Frenchy bag.  She is ever so thankful for your tips and opinions on choosing fabric. And I love the end results. I'm not generally one for fabric bags (please don't hate me for that) but this is such a fabulous pattern.  I might be tempted to try one myself.

Cristin at Sew This is My Life is playing around with half square triangles. A few posts back she'stried out a few layouts and your comments helped her decide where she wanted to take the quilt.  Personally, I think she may have had a specific one in mind, but the feedback to confirm can be just as important as the feedback to challenge.  She's now squared up her blocks and is on to sewing.  Keep checking back with her to see the finished project.  I hope she knows how to quilt it. 

Have you seen the wonderful quilt Sue has been sharing with us at Share the Love? The lovely progress on her Snippets quilt, now finished, was insightful and showed how we quilters often fiddle over the smallest decisions. And then you do something and it just works.  And then you applique ateeny bird and the whole thing is perfect.  I can't wait to see what she does next. 

What KT Made Next has been very honest with every step along the way of designing and completing her Roses for Rosa quilt. I've really enjoyed helping her work through fabric shortages and layout options.  And because she's been teasing us by posting without pictures I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like!

Now, on to my next Workshop project. I haven't shared with you yet that I am participating in an on-line course hosted by Marisa Anne from Creative Thursday. It's been a personal challenge to not only accept the creativity inside me but to find a way to express it and share it with others, all while staying true to my family and myself. Taking the In the Fish-Bowl course is one of those things that forces you to be quietly reflective while slapping yourself across the face a la Airplane.  What's the equivalent of a man-crush for women, because that's what I have for Marisa?
This week's class was about our on-line identity. To be honest, I feel a bit schizophrenic about my on-line identity because I have all my quilting, then all my food writing. In my head they mesh together well most of the time, but as an on-line brand I struggle.  As part of my own challenges I am taking another look at both blogs.  To start, with the overall look and layout.  At the same time I am going to examine some of those larger identity issues, but that requires a lot more reflection and perhaps and shot of non-existent lottery winnings.
So, I am asking you for your opinions on what works and doesn't work on blogs.  Mine, yes, but others too.  What bugs you that people do no naming names)?  What features do you love?  How do you search through a blog?  What do you want out of a quilting blog? And anything else you want to share. Updates and changes will likely be ongoing for now.
Oh, and the pictures?  Just because I have a hard time posting without a picture, that's all. Besides Marisa encouraged us to think of our on-line space as a home or office, or even a specific room.  Immediately I thought of my dining room, where so much of my creative process gets realized, in food, in writing, in family dinners, pajama painting, tea with friends, and conversation.

(PS I am fully aware of the irony of a post about on-line presence where my formatting is completely messed up.  I'm trying, but I don't know how to fix it.)

Denyse Schmidt Ninja

Thanks for all your encouragement last week.  I too wish you all lived closer.  I'm sure I could learn as much from each and everyone of you as you from me.  I am beyond exited to get this opportunity.

To completely change the subject, I had to share this pic of Smilosaurus. I came from a particularly trying day at the office last week and this is what greeted me.  How can you not giggle at that?  

In our shared dining room/sewing room/home office I keep a little basket that holds selvages and scraps until it is full and I sort them.  The girls love to go in a play with them, usually with The Monster practicing her knot tying.  Well this day it turns out that the girls and our lovely nanny were all sporting bands of selvages at one point during the day, but Smilosaurus would not take hers off. She wore it from naptime to bedtime.  My little Denyse Schmidt Ninja.

Another Form of Improvisation

Just in case it wasn't obvious in those photos of the water layouts, here is my current design wall. It's our brand new fence.  Gates optional at this point. It sure works well as a design wall, with one of our old white sheets thrown over it.

I haven't had a chance to work on any more layouts for the water quilt. And sadly now, some late summer rains are here for a few days so I'm not sure I'll get to them these weekend.  At least with the rain it means I am let off staining duty on that fence!

In the meantime I'm plugging away on the quilting of the grass quilt.  Over half done now.  And when I'm not quilting I've been trying to gain some order in the house and find another nanny. Our wonderful nanny decided to go back to school in September.  I've known  for a few weeks but Hubby was out of town and I couldn't motivate myself to do anything.  Despair is setting in. Good thing I have some vacation time to use.

There is more quilty stuff to come in the next few weeks.  I have a couple of announcements and bigger projects in the works.  Stay tuned! 

Lazy Days

Yes, I know I've shown this quilt a few times already. But this picture exemplifies our lives these days. The mess, the exhaustion, the unshowered...

I was out of town for a few days last week for work. While away I got the call that my great uncle had passed away. He really was like a second father to my mom and a grandfather (in addition to his own 24 grandchildren!) to us. While I hadn't seen him much as an adult I wanted to be there to say goodbye. So we packed up and headed to Saskatoon and area for a few days. We hung out with the almost never seen giant Ukrainian family, showed Hubby and the girls the farm where Baba grew up, and said our goodbyes.

After 20 hours (total) in the car for two road trips, a holiday, the discovery that our sweet Maple (a.k.a Damn Brown Dog) is incontinent in the poop department, and continued potty training for The Monster we were ourselves literally pooped. While everyone else in the house slept on Sunday morning I busied myself with laundry and a bit of tidying. That's all I could muster.

Somewhere in there I did get a bit of sewing done. Unfortunately, the weather isn't cooperating for me to actually take a picture of anything. The Grass quilt top is done. Oh, and the fence is so close to being done. I can now use a section of it to act as my design wall - once it stops raining.

State of the Dining Room

President Obama may be addressing US Congress, and really the world, tonight on the State of the Union, but I am currently concerned with the state of my dining room.  Or should I say, the kitchen table (since there isn't one), the office, the recycling centre, extra fabric/batting storage, obstacle course for the Smilosaurus, and landing zone for nearly everything that comes in to this house.  I love it and hate it.

While the basement is under reno, or as I like to call it, under the idea of renovation, I am stuck quilting on the dining room table.  That means I have to clean up before every meal and if Hubby needs it to look at plans.  Hence the bin of blueprints, a shredder, a sewing machine, ironing board, box of current projects, and cutting mat in the corner.  I want one of those pretty studios filled with organized thread, pretty little boxes of scraps, and an inspiration board. Damn you who have them!

Am I a little bitter?  Hell yeah.  I am so tired of the clutter, of watching that the girls don't play with my thread, and of constantly cleaning up my creativity.  Now I know why kids hate when we constantly tidy their toys and art stuff.  I'm not a messy person (seriously, can't you tell?) but I would love to keep some in progress works spread around.  Oh well, one day.

But I am not telling you the highlight of my day.  I spent almost a half hour on the phone with Mark Lipinski!  We bonded (at least I think so) over discussions about cabbage rolls and the Polish/Ukrainian border.  And I got his commitment for Quilt Canada next year.  He will be the keynote for our Professional Development conference, so mark your calendars for April 26-27, 2010. 

I'll Show You

I've been kicked out of the house a lot lately. No, Hubby and I are not fighting. Sure, we're stressed with the reno, but we're not fighting. It's just that I need to get one or both of the girls out of the house while he does messy or noisy work. There have been a lot of visits to friends and prep for our Christmas trip, but sometimes none of that can be done. What's a girl to do? Fabric shop, of course!

In total I went to four different local stores:
Traditional Pastimes

As you can see, I bought a wide variety of fabrics. Oh, and this isn't all of them. I saved some special ones from the photo because they are to be made into a quilt for new baby for someone who reads here. Generally, it was simply stash enhancement. A few pieces were for one quilt I have brewing in the back of my head.
It was good to go to a number of stores in a short period of time. We often get used to going to the same one or two places. Once I got out and about (yes, I am Canadian) I could see some big differences in the fabric selection. Hmm, maybe that isn't such a good thing when your money is supposed to be directed towards renos.
It wasn't all brand new fabric either. A few weeks back I swapped with Jacquie for this great retro fabric. She found it on a bolt and I begged her to swap with me. It is going to find its way on to our dining room wall, and maybe some placemats or an apron.

Speaking of walls, check out the sweet wallpaper we found hidden behind the basement bathroom's walls.

Not much quilty activity lately. Just getting the binding sewn down on this baby quilt. I'm trying to finish off a travel colouring case for The Monster. We have a 4 hour flight next weekend and I'm hoping this new treat will carry us for a bit longer than 5 minutes. Oh, and I started some Christmas baking.

Best get back to my budget spreadsheet. The girls are both sleeping, the dogs are finally outside for a spell, and Hubby is buying lumber to make some stairs. And I'm working on a spreadsheet. Fun times.

Marimekko Week



It's been all Marimekko this week! I got my motivation to make pillows for the new couch. I absolutely love the way they turned out. I thought the Amy Butler was a perfect complement.

Nothing fancy to the pillows. I have to make a confession, I haven't a clue how to put a zipper in. So these pillows are simply a front and a back with a pocket type closure. Just two overlapping pieces of fabric for the back to keep the pillow form in place.

These pillows are a step up from our old ones. Now we have squishy pillows for those evenings where we can curl up and watch the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Monster saw them first thing this morning and rather than sit on Mama's lap she felt the need to gather all the pillows and curl in to them.
I say it's been a Marimekko week because the fabric we ordered on our weekend in Vancouver arrived. Yeah! It is exactly what I wanted. Now, if only I had the room that this fabric is destined for. No baby for at least a month so I can always dream... Ah, who am I kidding? This kid will be lucky to have a quiet place to sleep by Christmas! But I can dream and fondle the fabric.


Finally, what should I find on a lunch break? A store right near my office, Kit Interiors, that carries Marimekko! Damn, and guess what fabric they had on the bolt? Oh well, the ladies from the Vancouver store took care of us and I was more than happy to see an entire store devoted to Marimekko. But I did indulge a little and buy some cards. Yes, it's been a Marimekko week! You can't ask for much more in a material way to make you smile. And check out the Marimekko blog for fabulous ideas and new products!