Whirlwind

Wow, what a busy week so far!  I can't believe the week is almost halfway over and I feel like I've accomplished nothing other than losing my car keys.  Twice.  Once in my Dad's car as he drove off with Charlotte after breakfast, and again the next day where they lay safely locked in my car while Charlotte and I were getting coffee.  I owe a big thank you to the kind police officer who unlocked my door without making me feel like a total loser, but I owe a bigger thank you to the woman in the coffee shop who took pity on me and paid for my coffee, just to be nice.  I was kind of a frazzled mess by the time this happened and she made my day.  So, to the kind woman at Mojo's on Monday afternoon, if you're reading this I thank you again a thousand times over.  You really made my day.

I've heard of "pregnancy brain" and I most definitely had it.  The problem is that I still have it, despite having given birth 8 months ago.  I think I must have delivered my brain along with my baby.  My mom swears this is what happens when you have girls.  Maybe that's true, but then that would mean that I'm to blame for her memory lapses (not that she has any...).

First, on Sunday, I went to the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show.  It was awesome, and Becki Cooper did an amazing job setting it all up.  There were tons of great vendors and a lot of people there--all a good sign for the upcoming April show that I'm doing!  This definitely made me more excited to be a part of the Spring show and even more anxious to get sewing.  I spent a lot of time scoping out the vendors, but did buy a little something for myself:

It's a necklace made from the Nicey Jane line by Heather Bailey and serves another very important purpose:  it's safe for a teething baby!  Genius.  I always wear necklaces but lately haven't been because Charlotte pulls and chews on them.  This one ties in the back with a soft ribbon and keeps Charlotte entertained while still looking cute.  I bought it here. 

So far this week has been a whirlwind.  I've been really busy with my consulting business so I haven't had much extra time to be creative (or do much of anything besides entertain Miss C).  After dropping Charlotte off at Grandma's today I stopped by the park on my way home.  It was another beautiful day, in the high 50s and sunny.  This weather is messing with my head and making me think it's closer to springtime than it really is.  It's still just January 31st, which in Cleveland can realistically mean 3-4 more months of snow.  I was the only one at the park, which was great because I could take all the pictures I wanted without feeling like a weirdo (for some reason I always feel compelled to explain to others that I'm not taking their picture when I'm outside taking photos in public.  By trying not to be creepy I probably make it worse by over-explaining).  Anyway, here are some shots from my trip:

The view of downtown Cleveland from the Lake Erie shoreline in Bay Village, OH (2012)

Later on I hauled some items outside to photograph in the bright, natural light.  These will be going in my Etsy shop very soon, so stay tuned...

This evening has been spent working on my first project for the show--baby blocks.  I did a post about it here.  I'm adding some ribbon tags on the block sides for baby to chew on.  I'm making two sets out of Bliss by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.  There will be other items out of this fabric that I'll post about soon, plus I have a few other lines I'm making things out of that I'll talk about as I do them.  Here are the blocks so far, and I apologize for the poor lighting in the photos:

I can't wait to finish them and get started on other projects!

I think tomorrow I'm going to have 16 copies of my car keys made so I can keep them in various places and with people I see often.  I could also just put my keys on a ring and in the same place every single time I go somewhere, so there's that...Sigh.  Time for bed.

I hope you're having a good week so far!

~Stacy

Making Things Look Old...In a Good Way

I've been playing around some more with iPhoto, mostly to find out what all it can do and having fun tinkering with photos in the process.  Today I tested out the various "Antiquing" capabilities and here's the result:  

Lake Erie (Cahoon Park), Bay Village, OH (August 2010)

This is one exception--I just did black & white with some other effects and adjustments.  Why did I include it then, you ask?  Because how could I not??  Look at that baby face...sigh.  She was about a week old here.  Just makes me melt.

Charlotte (June 2011)

Howard looks very dignified here:

Howard (June 2010)

Holding onto her Daddy.  Double sigh:

Charlotte & Chad (June 2011)

Charlotte & Stacy (January 2012)

This is my boy, Henry.  Henry passed away in September and we really miss him.  He wasn't just the best dog I've ever owned, but the best dog I've ever known.  No offense, Howard.  You're great, and I love you dearly, but Henry was just...Henry.  I could say a lot more about the many things this dog meant to me and Chad but I'll save that for another post, another day.

Henry (September 2008)

This is what I post when I'm in the middle of working on a bunch of sewing projects that aren't finished and are therefore not blog-ready.  Next up: playing with color saturation and other tools I haven't tested yet.  Try not to get too excited :)

Have a great weekend!

~Stacy

Seat Cushions

Today has been a day where I have a lot of creative ideas going on in my mind but have had a difficult time deciding on anything.  Usually when this happens I just spend too much time trying to make a decision that I end up not making anything at all, or I just make a list of good ideas (and then promptly lose it).  I wanted to actually have something made by the end of the day, especially since this is the one day where the baby is at Grandma's and I actually have time to start and finish a project in one sitting.  I've been wanting to make seat cushions for my new sewing chair and our computer desk chair, so I went with that.  This is my last project that I'm making for my own home for awhile, since everything from now thru April needs to be for the show. 

The first cushion I made with two fat quarters.  I wanted it to be reversible, plus I couldn't decide between two patterns, so I went with both.  For the second cushion I used a half yard from the Flower Sugar line by Lecien (purchased here). This tutorial is based on the half yard piece.  I pre-washed all fabrics, which I don't normally do for home dec projects--I decided to just so I wouldn't have to worry about any dyes rubbing off on our clothes.

I started by measuring the seat of the chair and cutting the fabric to that size.  I used 1/4" seam allowances and wanted the finished cushion to measure slightly smaller than the actual seat.  To save time, and to make sure my pieces aligned exactly, I folded the fabric in half with right sides together and cut. 

Next I cut 2 pieces of ribbon (I used 3/8" width) to use as ties for securing the seat to the chair.  The length of ribbon will depend on the size of the sides of your chair, so use that as a guide before you cut.  It's best to add a couple inches just to be safe since you can always shorten easily if needed.

I measured in 1" from the top corners, folded the ribbon in half lengthwise, and pinned it in place between the two layers of fabric. 

I pinned around all sides, leaving about 4" open at one end for turning and stuffing.  I decided to stuff my pillows with polyester fiberfill rather than use a pillow form.  Pillow forms come in squares and I needed a rectangle, plus they are a bit thick and puffy for a chair cushion.  I bought a 20 oz. bag of stuffing and barely used half of it for both pillows.

I sewed around all edges, turned right-side-out, ironed, then stuffed (make sure to get the corners well and pull the stuffing apart before you stuff to minimize lumps).  I hand-sewed the opening shut and tied to my chair.  Done!  Both pillows, including hand sewing, took a total of about an hour (not counting the time someone insisted on playing Frisbee outside right now). 

I love this fabric.  The pattern is a little hard to work with and I found that a cushion was the perfect use for it to show off the whole design. 

Happy Tuesday!

~Stacy

Sous Chefs

Today I decided to make applesauce.  I had a bunch of Granny Smiths on hand and it was a cold, lazy Sunday and the idea of homemade applesauce sounded right.  I love the way it makes the whole house smell soooo good, the way a scented candle tries but just can't match.  I don't have any kind of recipe; I just peel, slice into chunks, sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top and cook.  I let mine cook a really long time on low, until almost all the chunks break down on their own.  After about an hour I mash whatever is left, let it cool just a little bit, and eat.  Yum.

 

Luckily I had my sous chefs on hand to assist.  First up is Chef Charlotte:

She is ready to help out with the towel, should I need it, but in the meantime she has fun waving it around and squealing loudly.  I like to think she's cheering me on, and her enthusiasm for my cooking is very motivating.

 

Next, Chef Howard:

I gauge his interest by his ear size, so this means that Howard is very, very interested in helping.  Those satellite dishes attached to his head verify this.

 He is especially helpful with cleanup, particularly of the apple-piece-fell-between-the-cupboard-and-oven variety.

He was unsuccessful, but I appreciate his effort.  I rewarded him with a piece of apple that wasn't covered in dust.

All that helping gets tiring, so while I was enjoying this...

...they were doing this:

Love them.  Especially the last one :)

Hope your weekend was great.

~Stacy

Fun With Photos

I had some fun looking at a bunch of photos today and decided to play around with them a bit--nothing fancy, as Photoshop looks more complicated to me than the command center on a spaceship.  I just used some basic fixes and effects in iPhoto, did a little cropping, enhancing, retouching, etc. and decided to display a few just because.  Enjoy :)

Huntington Beach (Lake Erie), Bay Village, OH (2009)

Bradley Woods in Westlake, OH (2009)

Seattle, WA (2010)

Seattle, WA (2010)

Skagway, Alaska (2010)

Juneau, Alaska (2010)

Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia (2010)

Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC (2010)

 Kind of makes me want to take a trip...

~Stacy

Snow Day

Brrr.  It's blizzard-ing (not a word) outside right now!  Tuesday was 56 and kind of sunny.  Looked like this:

Howard the model.  It was supposed to just be a picture of the tree, but he got in every shot so I granted him the spotlight.

Then today came along...

Beautiful, and a great day to stay inside with my baby, cup (okay, huge mug) of coffee, and sewing machine.  Ahh.

Speaking of my sewing machine, its new home is just about finished.  I found the cute chair I was looking for here.  I ordered it Tuesday and it arrived today!  My cabinet also arrived this week.  After a few snafus in putting it together, here it is:

It's actually designed to be used as a medicine cabinet in the bathroom, but I thought it was a good size and fit well for what I need to use it for (storing thread, patterns, and other sewing supplies).  Also, I have a built in cabinet in the dining room that looks like its much larger twin.  Here is my space, almost all finished:

I love it.  It's the perfect use for this unused corner of the room and has everything I need all in one place.  And now I won't have to put away something I'm working on so we can have space at the dinner table :)

This little beauty showed up in today's mail:

It's a charm pack from the new line California Girl by Fig Tree Quilts.  I love all of their lines and this one is brand new--you can't even get the yardage until March.  It's a mix of fun florals, polka dots, and stripes in bright greens, corals, blues, and yellows.  Love it.

Stay warm!

~Stacy