quilt in progress

i've entered the planning stages for my next quilt. this one i am planning on selling when i get it done.

finished camille bag

finally! i sure took my sweet time.

the lining is a sweet purple flowered cotton i had lying about. and i got the bamboo handles at 50% off. huzzah! i'm going to try to sell it for 25. too much?

embroidery detail. i really didn't know what i was going to do. i made it up as i went and decided that less was more in this instance. in most instances actually.

soren's diaper bag

i started this diaper (tote) bag when i was in the hospital after having soren. i was so excited to make my own diaper bag but when i was done i realized i had made the strap too long. as soon as i put anything in it, it stretched down to my knees. i was so disgusted that i put it in a drawer and deliberately forgot about it. until now. i frogged the strap yesterday and reattached it at it's new shortened length. it now hangs at a lovely hip height. it's lined with flannel (bad idea because flannel likes to stick to itself) with a couple pockets and a magnetic close. i knit it with a lovely alpaca wool. very soft. i used it proudly for zumba class this morning.

that's another one off the list.

quilt design

this was my original design for ethan's quilt. i stuck to the pattern for the most part with only a few minor changes.

a quilt for ethan

i made this baby quilt for our friends matt and michelle's new baby boy. honestly, i don't know ethan, so the quilt is more for matt and michelle than anyone else. to show them how happy i am for them and how much joy i wish them. when they had their baby girl, a couple years ago, dan and i were experiencing the loss of our own baby so we weren't able to rejoice with them the way we would have liked.

i met matt in college and was immediately drawn to him. not in a romantic way (anyone who knows me, knows that it was always dan. from day one. dan, dan, dan, dan, dan.) but in the way that we are drawn to beautiful things. he is a beautiful person. i recognized that right away. i took a philosophy course just to be near him. i wanted to soak up some of his beauty. he sparkled with knowledge, debating happily. i sat and thought about the poppy scene from the wizard of oz. lost in a red, blue, sleepy haze of words. dan and i didn't meet michelle until very recently. i admit, i was frightened. i needn't have been. from the first hello i could tell that she was a beautiful person too. two beautiful souls found each other and are devoted to creating more beauty. i am happy.

welcome ethan. you are a lucky boy.

a happy easter to all and to all a good dye

i have facebook's invasive ways to thank for this idea. one of my friends bookmarked a site that i got curious about. here's what i found:
first, you go to goodwill and buy as many 100% silk ties as you can (or desire). i suggest dark colors and small patterns. they seem to turn out the best. you can probably use anything that's 100% silk. ties seem to be the cheapest and most easily found. greenleaf and i had fun picking them out.
rip the seams out of the ties and take out the lining so that you have a flat, one layer piece of silk. by trial and error we discovered that it works better if you cut enough silk to wrap around one egg and then get it wet. that's what gl is doing in this picture. soaking the silk.
next, wrap the egg as tightly as you can with the wet silk. smooth out the sides as you go, getting out any air bubbles. make sure that the right side of the material is pressed against the egg shell.
tie with a twist tie. then cover the silk wrapped egg with a light weight piece of cotton in the same manner in which you wrapped the silk. i used scraps from an old sheet and then tied that off with rubber bands. place wrapped eggs in a pot of boiling water with a generous amount of vinegar. boil for 20 minutes. let cool. unwrap.
unwrapping was the best part. this was so much fun that we are planning on making it a tradition. if you want to learn more, here's the site that i originally went to http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/silk-dyed-eggs.html .

failure is an option, but not with this april to do list!

i am a failure. there, i said it. my punishment is i'm not allowed to buy yarn for the whole month of april. NO YARN! i'm still going to keep going with this list thing though. i think it's good for me to set goals and try to reach them. one of these months i'll actually do it. i just know it! so the april list is the march list but with a couple additions. i wish myself luck.

april list
. nina's pillows
. re-do strap on knitted tote done
. silk dye eggs done
. etsy store
. make baby quilt to sell on etsy
. finish ethan's blanket (i mean c'mon! you're 95% done) done
. camille purse done
. rug on loom
. gl's knitted tank
. repair purple

nina's down-home country apron

wanted: one apron, extra large, extra thick, with extra big pockets.

nina wanted a painting apron. one that she could get messy and grossed up. i found a yard or so of canvas and some denim in my stash and made her one. it's reversible. it's large. it's thick. it has big pockets. i'd say that's a job well done.

question: can denim ever not look country?

i refuse to buy anything if i don't have to. i had this pattern laying about. i borrowed a little something from it.