"How we live our days is...
... how we live our lives."
- Annie Dillard, as quoted by Francis Chan
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Moloka'i
"There is beauty in the least beautiful of things."
"Fear is good. In the right degree it prevents us from making fools of ourselves. But in the wrong measure it prevents us from fully living. Fear is our boon companion but never our master."
"...how we choose to live with pain, or injustice, or death...is the true measure of the Divine within us."
Monday, January 16, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Today's Thrift Shop Find
Love these vintage Christmas ornaments,
especially when I can find them for a bargain! Since it was Friday night at my local thrift shop, they were 50% off, bringing my total to a whopping $.93! :)
Love, love, love the colors - they'll be fabulous for all kinds of possibilities...
:)
Today...
A trip to Miller's Natural Foods,
where they have a large assortment of organic grains and beans.
The store is located right in the heart of Amish country, so there were lots of fun sights to take in.
:)
The store is located right in the heart of Amish country, so there were lots of fun sights to take in.
:)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Quotes Worth Contemplating
"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and may each year find you a better man."
- Ben Franklin, as quoted to me by one of the residents at work today. :)
- Ben Franklin, as quoted to me by one of the residents at work today. :)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
T-shirt Quilts!
My younger sister has quite the T-shirt collection, or should I say, had! She generously commissioned me to make 6, yes six t-shirt quilts for her. The great thing about her collection is that it resulted in six different theme quilts. (I had to take back all my obnoxious comments about her inability to get rid of outdated clothes, because it certainly paid off in this case!!)
Here are the four quilts I finished just before Christmas; I didn't have a chance to take pictures until today - an unusually warm winter day.
First is the Olympics quilt.
Since all the T-shirts for this quilt were white, it made sense to add sashing and borders out of blue denim, plus it made the quilt a bit bigger since it only had nine blocks.
The backing fabric was perfect...
.. for tying everything together
Next up - Snoopy! Alison has been a Snoopy fan for as long as I can remember.
I love the addition of this shirt. :)
We appliqued the front of an entire baseball jersey-style shirt on the back.
Again, the backing fabric is perfect.
(Sorry to make you turn your head sideways - I have absolutely no idea why this picture refuses to allow me to rotate it properly!)
Quilt # 3 is a travel theme,
The Route 66 backing fabric is right in line with the travel theme.
(Again, sorry to make you turn your head sideways!!)
And quilt #4 is comprised of all the "Bike to the Bay" T-shirts she accumulated from participating in this special fund raiser over the years.
The backing fabric is a plain royal blue.
I still have two more to go - one will be comprised of concert tees, and the other is all the leftover shirts that didn't fit into one of the above categories.
:)
Friday, January 6, 2012
Fabulous Roman Shades
I just wrapped up a curtain project today for a kindred spirit couple referred to me by another customer. This couple bought a lovely house in Lancaster and have slowly been turning it into a home that reflects their taste and style. It's such a beautiful place; you can feel the many years of love and memories that have been poured into the house from the moment you walk in the door. The paint and fabrics coordinate beautifully, and all the rooms flow together so nicely.
Since it's an older home, it has the typical picture windows of that era. The dilemma - what type of window treatment can you do other than those traditional pinched-pleated drapes of yesteryear?? We debated and debated, but finally decided on my all-time favorite window treatment for both windows- Roman Shades. They're so versatile!
In dining room above, we used a wonderful embroidered fabric to create a stationary shade. Believe it or not, the window treatment is simply a rectangular piece of fabric that is pleated, stapled to the mounting board, then strung up. (Of course, there's a little more to it than that, but I won't get into that!) I interlined the silk-like fabric with flannel interlining to give it a softer drape. The nice thing about a Roman shade is that we could mount it, then pull up the shade to whatever length we preferred.
In the living room, I mimicked the style of the dining room shade, but the sheer fabric gives it a totally different look! The pleats aren't quite as deep and I didn't do the jabot effect on the sides, but it still complements the adjoining dining room shade nicely. I love the fabric we used; since it's almost impossible to find cotton sheer fabric at an affordable price, we used two pairs of 100% curtain panels from IKEA which were very economical. The fabric has a slight windowpane slub weave to it, giving it a whimsy feel; it drapes beautifully, and gives the room a much less fussy feel than polyester would. The shade can be lowered when more privacy is desired, or raised to let more sunlight in. We slightly puddled the curtain panels that flank the shade to give the room a more casual feel. (It's also easier on the seamstress - it 's so difficult to get panels to hang at an exact length!)
I stitched "goblet pleats" in the panels; again, a less dated look than those stiff pinch pleats that were part of every drapery panel you used to see.
A few tacking stitches helps them stay open.
Doesn't it look inviting from the outside?! I'm always interested in what the outside view will look like, sometimes even more so than the inside view. The strings and rings blend into the design of the fabric, making them almost invisible to the non-seamstress eye.
Believe me, there are a multitude of things that can go wrong when you're doing a project of this size, but amazingly enough, that didn't happen on this job. Leesa was patient with me as I deliberated over the design and was willing to wait for my mental block to recede (those mental blocks are a pain in the butt!); Brendon was so helpful with the tedious mounting work. It was a wonderful final job to wrap up this season of self-employment as I return to full-time work next week.
Thanks, Leesa and Brendan - I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you throughout this project!!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Monday, December 26, 2011
Ricky's 2011 Christmas Ornaments
Here's the picture of the banana-octopus ornament I gave Ricky,
and the Old World ornament to commemorate his love of sushi (how many 8-year old kids do you know who love sushi??!!).
2011 Christmas Memory Ornaments
Hands down, this is my favorite ornament for 2011!! My nephew gave it to me for Christmas, commemorating our shared love of pomegranates. We discovered this line of Christmas ornaments last spring at Shady Maple's gift shop; each one is a vegetable recreated as an adorable animal. We oohed and aahed over every single one! I had bought a little banana-octopus ornament for Ricky for his present, and he in turn surprised me with this delightful pomegranate bird.
I love the detailing, including the turned-up tail which reveals the luscious pomegranate seeds inside,
and the fun little crown on his head. :)
This was the animal/vegetable ornament I had selected for myself that day. It's perfect - 2011 marked my first-ever garlic harvest, so this ornament helps me remember that milestone for me wonderfully.
I absolutely love Old World ornaments. And, to find an acorn squash sealed the deal! This was my first year for growing this fun little squash, so I was delighted to add this ornament to my collection.
Last, I purchased this lovely little lighthouse lantern ornament at the Heceta Head lighthouse on the Oregon coast this summer. I will never forget that fabulous vacation....
Our family hosted an AFS exchange student from Thailand during the 1977-1978 school year. He sent each of us children a tissue box cover with these elephants stitched on them last Christmas. I decided to turn it into an ornament instead, and it serves as a reminder of his time with our family.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Ricky's Wassail Recipe
My nephew recently did a presentation on Christmas in Great Britain for his 3rd grade class. As part of the presentation, he made wassail for his classmates. Since he now is hooked on the beverage, I had him bring it for Christmas dinner. :) It is good!
Here's the recipe (adapted for a classroom):
Wassail
1 gallon apple cider
1 whole clove per child (20-35)
1 whole allspice per child (20-35)
2-3 cinnamon sticks
2/3 c. sugar
1-2 slice oranges or apples (optional)
Put cider in a large pot; add spices and sugar. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain out spices and pour into a punch bowl. Float orange or apple slices on top. Serve.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Today...
I love how Ricky mounted this Willow Tree angel; he didn't realize it was an ornament, so he wrapped the tree branches around it to "hug" it and hold it secure. :)
And, this just makes me smile every time I look at it - Ricky created a scene with a little doll ornament (purchased during my trip to Austria), a sheaf of wheat (representing my involvement at Harvest Community Church), a wheelbarrow (reminds me of my Great Aunt Mary who was an avid gardener) and some garden tools (represents some major landscaping projects soon after I bought my house).
:)
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