The Great Bunting Barter

I keep meaning to get a project finished and written about every two weeks - that's my goal.  But other things keep getting in the way, like thwarting the escape artist

and admiring the spring that has finally, finally sprung

and digesting the craziness that first terrorized and then united this city I've come to call home.

But with May around the corner, I'm trying to get back on track and stop letting myself get distracted by all the things floating around my head!

I don't think I could ever craft for money, because
1. my technique is pretty crappy (the result of my disinterest in practice);
2.  I don't like doing the same project more than once;
3.  when people say "wow you could make those and sell them for like $20 a piece!" I'm thinking wow, that would earn me roughly $1.20 per hour.

But a friend who is getting married next weekend wanted some bunting for her wedding and suggested a barter.  Which is fun, considering she wanted something almost as old-fashioned as that word.  So bunting for babysitting it was!  Now, if I'd really thought ahead I would have had her babysit while I sewed, but you can't exactly ask someone to take off work the week before their wedding to babysit - lessons learned for next time.

Miss K wanted something a little old-fashioned in a creamy/white or muted pastels color palette.  Like Jane Austen meets Anthropologie.   So she picked out these lovely fabrics as a base (we lost our camera, but hopefully an iphone and bad lighting can still convey the idea):

I've got a stash of old square ivory linen tablecloths from the grandmothers, some of which are rust-stained, so this seemed a perfect opportunity to put one of those to use.

A couple of years ago I started collecting little old embroidered hankies.  My mom gave me my first, at my wedding, and it was just such a sweet and useful thing to have when you wear mascara and think you might cry.  As it turns out, these guys regularly make it into the thrift shop at my mom's retirement home, so I get a package of pretties a couple of times a year.  I've thought about appliqueing them to pillowcases, making quilt squares out of them, sewing them together into a kitchen curtain.  But they're so old and delicate, and the thought of putting them together into one project always seemed like it would take away from the uniqueness of each one.  So they stack up and stack up, and I remain confident that I will find a way to use them some day.

I love the simple white ones:

 And especially the ones with red or my favorite color combination red & purple:

This one I have set aside for the travel quilt I'm making J:

They seemed to be just the style we were going for with this bunting, and each one could star in its own flag, not patch-worked onto its neighbor on some bigger project.  So for some flags I just fused double sided fusible web onto the corner of a hankie and then appliqued it onto one of our base fabrics.

For other thin hankies with enough fabric to be their own flag, I fused a whole triangle to a plain white fabric to make it thick enough.

In the end I was really satisfied with the result.  And how fitting that these beautiful scraps of 50 year old fabric will be hanging at a wedding where two lovely and loving people will make promises to spend the next 50 together!

I Prefer Months With Three Letters

I finally figured out April Fool's Day - it's just funny people imitating a New England Spring.  Like, 'ha  ha you are so relieved to see those snow drop flowers peeking out of the ground after that long hard winter and you think spring has sprung, well check the weather tomorrow because I'm sending some REAL snowdrops to kill them.'

(survivors)

I really love/hate April - it brings those first reminders that life is really worth living, but it's also the month I'm most likely to get frostbite, because it's freaking APRIL so why shouldn't I wear ballet flats and not take gloves?  But there are finally signs of REAL spring here; we are reportedly hitting 70 today after a week in the 40s.  No magnolias or cherry trees in bloom like you west coasters, but little signs.  Crocuses.  We start small.

We moved last year and I love my new neighborhood.  A 12" wide strip of dirt by the sidewalk? These people will put a deer and a daffodil on it.

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It's with a mix of regret and excitement that I give up my community gardening plot and try to do something with my very own first yard.  And while I'm grateful and lucky to finally have one to call my own, the whole thing is shaded by a huge maple so anything that wants sunlight better be up and done by May when the leaves grow big enough to block the sun.

Which leads me to bulbs - bulbs - bulbs.  I went crazy last fall and planted upwards of 200 daffodils, iris, crocus, snowdrops and tulips.  For those that have planted bulbs, you know that 200 is actually 34 after you account for pillaging squirrels.  All October and November I watched the scheming little buggers running back and forth across our back patio, but I was encouraged that I never saw them in the front where the majority of my bulbs lay hidden under the ivy.

This weeks stuff has really started popping up and it's cute... but wrong.  All those iris that were supposed to shoot up through the ivy are turning out to be two inches tall.

And the daffodils too.  

Apparently my subconscious  started planning this April Fools joke last Fall when I bought an entire garden of micro flowers by "mistake."  I'm so frustrated, I dug out the labels, and Home Depot actually had the nerve to call them plain old "Iris."

My mixed April feelings continued for Easter.  I should mention I'm having real issues with my oven, it's being really passive-aggressive. ("It's so interesting you think I'm under-baking all your fancy desserts, when those frozen pizza always seem to come out perfectly")  My sister-in-law requested a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry accents for her birthday so I turned to my favorite and most trusted recipe of all time - the Chocolate Cloud Cake from Classic Home Desserts.  I have made this cake flawlessly for 20 years, but recently it's always undercooked (it's hard not to second guess myself because the last instruction in the recipe is "be careful not to overbake").

The trick to baking the cake is you have to bake it until the top cracks, otherwise it isn't done.  I actually wrote that in the margin of the recipe 13 years ago.  And yet, on Saturday - after baking the cake for 1.5  x the suggested time, I took it out of the oven, crackless.  And then had to start over.   Why am I so dismissive of 20-something Julie? Why would I write that in the margin if it weren't true?  I baked the second one until it cracked, and it was fine.

Then when the cake cools, the center sinks leaving a hollow chocolate shell you fill with whipped cream, or in this case raspberry mousse.  Kind of reminded me of an easter egg.  I topped with raspberries and chocolate curls.  I'd give it a solid 8.

Also got a new cookbook out of the library (I'm a big fan of trying a couple recipes before investing money and shelf-space).  This was  Bake It Like You Mean It from Gesine Prado - tried the Tangerine DreamTea Ring, and was pretty happy with it.

Pastries can be a real doozy - I mean anything that involves rolling out dough and egg wash pinching can be dangerous for me and my low tolerance for frustration, but this went together easy and had a lovely presentation pre-baking:

And check out my little fishy!

It looked pretty perfect post-bake too!

Now unfortunately, despite a 25 degree hike in temp it wasn't cooked in the middle, but it was good enough I didn't mind re-baking it piece by piece.  Just like I won't mind planting 200 more life-size bulbs in October, or putting on gloves again next week.  Ready for May, though.

Separating the Blankies from the Blankets

I always wondered what separated the blankie havers from the blankie have-nots (I mean, other than the blankie).  I was a have-not.  I don't remember needing anything specific to fall asleep and I swear I loved each of my stuffed animals equally.  The only thing I remember my parents frantically searching for were my bifocals and my retainer - neither of which I really wanted found.

But my husband was a blankie haver.  He has a horrible family story about the time his parents, in an attempt to comfort their distraught son, had to search through a hotel basement laundry room in the middle of the night for his missing blankie.  Knowing that blankies run in the family, I've always been a bit wary of letting J get too attached to any one object whose absence will affect her ability to sleep or be happy.  And so far so good - she doesn't seem to desperately need any one thing, though she certainly has an appreciation for this blankie-type blanket, a gift from her auntie (I am not in denial, I swear I am not).

Her favorite thing about it is the satin binding.  Apparently satin tastes great because she isn't the only kid I see sucking on it.   The problem is she's getting a little too big to fit under it so we were in the market for something a little larger, but equally soft and silky to keep her warm.  I was also in a bit of a hurry because j's daddy was starting to "look around online, just to see what's out there."  

I've been enjoying this scarf I got from Frugal Fannie's for $9.00, it's made out of something soft and 100% synthetic called cashmink:

So I decided I'd just buy three and sew them together for the quilt top.  They are super soft and pretty thin.  For the bottom, I wanted to use Minky.  What is Minky? It's like the stuff my Target bathrobe is made of, but even softer.  I think it might be made from unicorn eyelashes or something.  It's like a drug for babies.  This is what they do when they encounter it:

I used a thin cotton batting and of course, there had to be a satin binding- I sewed it on so that the blanket came right up to the crease, but I think J actually prefers it when the satin hangs off the edge a little more.  Maybe because it's easier to fit in her mouth.  I also don't think Wright's satin binding is as silky as stuff that comes on a ready-made blanket, but I couldn't find a good source for higher quality binding, and I was in no mood to try and make it myself.  (suggestions welcome!!!) At any rate, she's not so taken with the binding on this quilt (maybe that's what separates the blankies from the blankets?).  Here's the finished product:

And the satisfied customer:

It's no blankie, but she's already got one of those anyway not the type to need one.

There's A New Girl In Town

Is there anything weirder than watching a good friend get bigger and bigger and then BAM there's suddenly a brand new person in her arms?  One of my besties brought a baby girl into the world this week.  There's the wonder of the little hands and feet, but also the wondering who she's going to be - this little one that will grow up and annoy her sister and ignore her mother's advice and do brave things and fall in love.  But right now she's just so sweet and tiny and new!

For this little one I wanted to try a quiet book (one of those cloth things that won't hurt the cat when you throw it and that has some interactive stuff).  I knit her older sister a hoodie when she was born, and not only was it like, six months late, but the hood was totally messed up and ended up lying like a cape down her back with no form whatsoever.  But my friend is super appreciative of anything homemade, so I knew she wouldn't mind being a guinea pig once again.  I just wanted to deliver (haha) this one on time!

So here it is.  For clarification,  Carroll and Fox are family names.

The little door has jingle bells sewn inside!

Very proud of my removable bagel top (velcro attached)

That water is a pocket, people.

This was harder than you might think, but in the end, someone with a small hand CAN stick it in this mitten!

For this one I traced a girl out of Little Stitches because I cannot draw.  I love her patterns; they are very simple and quick.

This is my first, and maybe last, quiet book.  I really enjoyed it - every page was like starting a whole new mini-project, so the nice thing was that I never got bored.  On the other hand, confronting 'how on earth am  I going to do THIS*' every day can be challenging (*sew a bagel inside out, insert a mirror so that it'll stay, attach just one half of a very thick mitten to very thin fabric, bind 16 pieces of fabric together).  There were days when I ignored it in frustration and longed for the mindless repetition of cutting and piecing a quilt.  It was fun, but I don't think I'll do another one anytime soon.  You people with your spring babies can expect something else!

Then there are the burp cloths made from gerber diapers and leftover fabric scraps from the book.  I made some of these for myself and found them vey practical ("can you pass me the ostriches?  I've been using the dandelions all day so it must be getting kind of nasty").  These have become my go-to baby gift - who says spit up has to be all bad?

I got the idea from here, but honestly haven't had to refer to the tutorial again, it's pretty basic.

So welcome little girl, now it's time to gear up for the soon-to-arrive boys! 

Love and Friendship

I know I should hate Valentine's Day the same way I hate New Years Eve - it's such a lose/lose situation.  You're either overpaying for a dinner that doesn't feel that romantic, or you're feeling bad that you don't have a date who would overpay for your dinner.   It seems like it's all about spending money to express a sentiment that at its sincerest shouldn't involve money at all.

But have you ever seen a sixteen year old boy walking down the street with a single rose wrapped in plastic?  I just love it.  I can't help it, despite being single for the majority of my V Days, it's always been my favorite holiday.  Hearts and red and chocolate and flowers, these are a few of my favorite things.  I just don't see how I could hate a holiday where THIS is the traditional gift:

Maybe I like it because it's not just about romance for me. I love the idea of a day dedicated to telling all the people you love that they are truly hearted.  I've always liked the Spanish version - Día de Amor y Amistad (day of love and friendship) because really the friendship v-day memories are some of my favorites:

- The Valentine's Day in college when a much more flirtatious and outgoing friend convinced me to send  a flower ("get him a lily, roses are boring!") to a boy I'd been staring at all semester with a card that read 'hey lover this is more than a crush' (I don't remember if she was as supportive of me using the lyrics from an LL Cool J song).

- First year out of college, flipping through the Guardian with a friend looking for something different to do on v-day.  All I know is that by the end of the night Lisa had won a bullwhip at a lesbian strip club.

- And then there were the Valentines Making Parties.  Started by the aforementioned winner of the bullwhip when she was in college, the annual party continued in San Francisco, where we would cut up magazines and make inspirational wall hangings from promotional salsa club cards and fancy magazines.  Lisa's kept the party going for 17 years (currently hosted in DC) and I recently started up my own version here.

I love seasonal fabrics, but it's hard to invest the time in say, a Christmas quilt made from Christmas fabrics if it's only going to be used a couple weeks out of the year.  So on a trip to my local quilting store it occurred to me I could use lots of valentines fabrics for bunting to string up at the V-day party.  I went a little overboard on the amount of fabric and ended up with about 25 yards of bunting - so I sent some to Lisa, in a fancy box I lined with some of my favorite Liberty fabric.

She was surprised when she opened it, wondering why I had made her 45 pairs of funny little underwear.

J was just too in love with some of the fabric that had kittens in teacups, so she got something out of it too:

I went small with my party this year, and the snowstorm made it even smaller than intended, but that didn't stop me from decorating up a storm!

I got some help hanging the bunting:

We got a little hearts-y with the food too.  We did some cream-filled chocolate cupcakes:

Some heart-shaped baked lavash brushed with olive oil, turkish spices and salt.

 Strawberry lemonade, because we've got to use these ice cube trays at least once a year

 J set up her decorating table:

and the party was on!

Everyone got to submit one card for judging, and I think I'm supposed to make cupcakes for the winner - so please state a preference for one of the following!

1. The crafty rose:

2.  The googly-eyed tiger

3. The Dowager Kittens

4. The Russian

5.  Full Hearts Can't Lose

Hope you get a moment to contemplate some love and friendship this Thursday, and don't forget those heart-shaped chocolate boxes are 40% off on Friday and taste just as good!