Thursday, July 31, 2008

Some goodies from NC . . .


Picture 246, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

While visiting my parents in NC, I finished up the 2nd sleeve on Elise's sweater. All five pieces are now done. I'll go to the shop on Saturday to get it blocked. My dad gave me this stack of games from my childhood, all in great vintage condition - check out that ET game!! Of all the goodies I brought home, my very favorite are two of Meg McElwee's Sew Liberated Apron patterns, the Lola and Emmeline, which she gave to me at our lunch together on Wednesday (I know I'm a lucky gal!!) Our lunch together was fabulous. It was great getting to meet her in person, she is such a sweetie and very smart! I have admired her for her work in Mexico with all the wonderful Montessori ideas and inspiration she gave to us moms on her yahoo group and blog: Montessori By Hand. It's been inspiring to see her business flourish into what is now Sew Liberated. I think we are all very excited and curious of what will be coming next from Meg!!

Monday, July 28, 2008

What I'm loving today . . .

. . . my library of Martha Stewart Baby magazines !! I think I'll grab a few to take with me on my road trip to NC, and I will not travel without Amanda Soule's The Creative Family. Its been on every road trip we've gone on this summer!!!

Also, I'm loving today how quick I can upload a post on my blog - I get an idea - literally go out to the packed minivan, find my camera, take a few shots, upload to my computer and there you have it.

See you when I get back. Hopefully some great inspiration will come my way while I'm gone, stay tuned!!!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Blackberries!!


Our family picked wild blackberries this weekend. We cooked this delicious cobbler Sunday night that you've got to try!

EASY BLACKBERRY COBBLER

3 c. blackberries
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1/4 lb. butter

Melt butter in 8 x 8 pan. Mix blackberries and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and milk. Pour mixture into melted butter; spread evenly. Pour berry mixture on top. Cake should cover the berries and be golden brown when done. Bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hour. Serve warm with milk on top or ice cream. ~ and that we did!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Inspiring Mail


Everyone loves getting fun mail! It can totally make a dull day much brighter and exciting. This is what I pulled out of my mailbox this afternoon. Love it!! It's a 1/2 yard of Feeding the Birds from Cicada Studio. It's 50% linen/50% cotton. The design is so fresh and color is amazing. I love that blue!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Evening view . . .


We found a new spot recently that inspires me!

Some words . . .

"Let's put your shoes on to go outside!" ~ Mama (35)

"No! I want to wear my feet!" ~ Elise (2 1/2)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

What I've been working on this week . . .




More knitting on Elise's sweater.

Had a bit of mishap with the sleeves, I lost count after pulling it out 3+ times. After a trip to the shop, I'm back on track, turns out the pattern left a few important details out - like increasing on the beginning and end of every 5th row.

I began a quilt for Lena. I've sewn one "square" of the quilt. Then I got inspired to start her a log cabin design pillow which I worked on every night this week. Now that I've got that put together, I have more ideas of what her other "squares" should be in her quilt.

Have a great weekend!~

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Sewing buttons



"Looks like a pig's nose in orange snow. Nose, snow . . . that rhymes!" ~ Lena

I have a lot of crafter's felt and decided it would be a great time to involve Lena in sewing. I picked out a nice bright orange piece and put it on a hoop. Then I let her pick out the thread color and buttons. She thought it was grand to sew a few buttons on some felt! I had bought these craft buttons at a school supply store awhile back. They are great for a project like this.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Blueberry jam


Pop, pop . . . . pop-pop, pop!! I love that sound!! After all that hard work picking, crushing, cooking – the payoff is a shelf of beautiful preserved jars of yummy blueberry jam! Now on to the clean up – not as much fun . . .

Friday, July 18, 2008

What inspired me THE MOST this week . . .



I can't stop thinking about this Cathedral Window quilt that I saw on Heather Bailey's flickr group one night this week as I was browsing around. I know all too well about Cathedral Window quilts. My grandmother started one when I was rather young and I even remember the day she and I sewed this pillow together out of her quilt squares. She never finished her quilt, maybe one day I'll finish it. It's so beautiful. I love the Cathedral Window quilt made from Freshcut. The light pastel colors look so lovely against the muslim. Hmmm. I wonder how long I can hold off from starting my own!!!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Material playthings . . .





I get a lot of joy finding rooms in "played with" condition. It's gives me clues as to what the children are currently enjoying and how their minds work during play. I was thrilled to see that the girls have already taken an interest in the newest quilt I made. Why stop there! This week I have also sewn Meg's Montessori Child's Apron and a couple of bags with my leftover Freshcut stash.

Monday, July 14, 2008

knitting rescued



Well, my Saturday outing to the knitting store was successful! I'm back on track. Back done, now on to the front halves . . . I'm loving the seed stitch on this cardigan.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Little projects here and there





I can get inspired about as quickly and easily as I get distracted. With my knitting project on hold 'til Saturday, I have managed to work 10 rows of the melon (but I'm going to call mine a butternut squash) and I have finished hand sewing the binding of a doll quilt out of my fabulous Heather Bailey stash that's quickly vanishing away. I think I will plan on making a larger quilt based on the same design and using multiple "squares" to make it larger. It's so soft!! I know Elise will love it.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

My crochet!


This morning I got a phone call from a friend. We all know what happens when we get on the phone. Each child ended up in a separate part of the house. Yesterday I found this great crochet project to make Pumkins/tomotoes/melon, got the yarn on my trek out yesterday afternoon and by last night had started the project. So I come downstairs after being on the phone to find the yarn everywhere around my kitchen, around the table, through the dining room and the playroom. Once I wound it all back on the ball I found the remainder in the playroom, luckily the project was still in tact minus a few stitches. I laughed, what fun that must have been for Elise!!

Monday, July 7, 2008

The "good stuff"






I’m getting to a point where I’m less nervous about cutting my “good stuff” meaning my $8-$10/yd fabrics. What I do when I go to create a new pattern, I use what I call my “junk” fabric - $1 to $2/yd fabrics so when I make mistakes, I don’t feel so bad. It’s all apart of making these patterns, I know this. I'll reveal more about these upcoming patterns in the future. So today I pull out some “good stuff” to sew another Bubble dress http://www.oliverands.com/patterns/patterns1.phtml for my older daughter which I had looked at the other night and put this Heather Ross fabric http://www.onboardfabrics.com/product_list.php?cat=15&scat=34&scat2=41 away again because I thought it wouldn’t work (it has a white background). I'm glad I got it back out, started cutting and sewing because it turned out beautifully. My daughters wouldn't stay still long for photos, but it really is a cute dress on both of them. The peach dress on Elise and above on the hanger is made with Heather Bailey's Freshcut and was the first Bubble dress I made. It is so cute on Elise. If only the patterns were made in my size . . .

July 4th Beach Trip


We had a great road trip to the beach for the 4th. The family enjoyed lots of sun, playing in the ocean, eating, ferry rides, shopping. What makes a great trip even better, good food and a fun knitting project - oh and some great CraftSanity podcasts to catch up on!!! I listened to Amanda Soule's and Meg McElwee's latest interview with the CraftSanity's Jennifer Ackerman Haywood. I uploaded the podcasts on my Zune just in time for departure. Being a beginning knitter, I pretty much have to just "dive" in to new projects. This project I chose out of Claire Montgomerie's Easy Baby Knits for the Cardigan I'm making for Elise for her to wear this Fall. I've run into a little bit of trouble around the neck and will have to visit my local knitting shop on Saturday to help me take out and and redo the last two rows. Most of these stitches (except for 19 that have been left on a stitch holder) have been cast off, so I didn't want to tackle that without someone more experienced helping with that!! SCARY!

Crockpot Barbeque

Spicy Hot Mama Barbeque!

For our beach trip, I promised the family that I would bring along Crockpot BBQ.

Here’s the recipe:

1 5-7lb fresh pork Shoulder
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
Pepper to taste
1 1/4c vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
½ c. Ketchup
½ c. BBQ sauce
1 ½ tbsp crushed red pepper
Hot sauce – dash

Put Pork Shoulder in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper – add vinegar. Cover and cook on low 9-12 hours. Remove and pick meat and strain liquid. Discard excess fat and keep 1 ½ to 2 cups of liquid. Then add remaining ingredients to the pork (put in crockpot) cook on low for 1 to 2 hours. This is spicy!!