Doorbell Tile

More fun with vinyl last night.  Those of you mama's know the inner rage that happens with the doorbell rings and then you hear a baby cry from upstairs.  Oh the pain!  With Micah still being such a little guy, he naps three times a day, sometimes four which basically means our house is in a constant state of possible nap disturbance.  Awhile back I put a little note above the doorbell which was imidiately effective and people were very respectful of it.  Unfortunately paper, even paper wrapped in a baggie (tacky much?) still became faded and worn (and ugly and tacky) so I knew I needed something more durable.

I wanted a gentle message so as not to scold or boss people as they stepped up to our threshold and thought this did the trick.  I wish I had a little sleeping baby graphic that wasn't cheesy but I am always a fan of birds so there you go.

I thought it turned out nice and it might become a new gift for the new mamas in my life.  or maybe I'll make a few more and pop them in my etsy shop. 

today I'm linking up with: 

Christmas House

I needed a hostess gift last night and thought I'd whip up a cute little Christmas ornament to tie onto a bottle of sparkling cider. I popped over to my Christmas ornament Pinterest board and thought these by Retro Mama might be cute.  (and funnily enough she's posting about her Christmas houses on her site today!  Check out her blog, I LOVE her stuff)

I added a little Christmas-ish holly on top and dabbled a bit on the free-motion cursive (to which now I'm totally addicted)  Might have to make a few for my own sad little tree.  I'm pretty sure my kids can't break ornaments like these, or at least if they do I won't find them sitting in a ring of crushed glass Christmas balls like I did last Friday.  (grrrrrrrr.....)

but that's a different blog post altogether....

Today I'm linking up with:

  

Breaking out the Silhouette! (finally)

Last year for Christmas my super rad sister-in-law planted a bug in my mom's ear that I might enjoy a Silhouette. And then Christmas morning came and I opened it up and freaked out, I was so excited. I had so many ideas and things I wanted to make with it but it took a few months to get a computer that I could use it with and then there was the craziness that was a new baby's arrival and our summer vacation and so on. And I still hadn't used it! Till last night. I got the kids to bed and brought it all downstairs to sit by the Christmas tree and figure it all out with a couple episodes of Foyle's War in the background. It was fun and oh so addicting. I finally fumbled into bed about 1:30 am (!!!!???) with two projects that had been jingling around in my head since I got my Cameo and heard of chalkboard vinyl.

Chalkboard vinyl is fun and super easy to work with.  I was worried that it wouldn't erase well but it really does.  This is a big improvement over the stained dollar store dry erase board I was using.

And I've been wanting to do a little thing like this over our big family picture in our entryway for pretty much as long as we've had a big family picture in our entryway.  I still have two little flourishes I want to put on either side of the lettering but the learning curve of working with the vinyl pretty much used up the small amount of black that I got so I've got to order some more before I can do anymore there.

But I love it!  Expect to see more with the Silhouette now that I've figured out how to do it.  Anyone have any good projects they've done that they really liked??

Today I'm linking up with:

  

Baby Booties

I'm sort of obsessed with my baby wearing mama made booties.  I made two little pairs that he wears ALL the time on my big drive up to Washington back in August but lately I've been craving a little more variety for his feet.  Unfortunately I just haven't had a lot of time to make them.  Last night, however, after sending my kids to bed early for reasons only partially their fault, I found myself with a little time on my hands.  So I made a yellow bootie. One yellow bootie.

Maybe tonight I'll make another one.

Postcard Quilt top complete!

I've been working my way through my bin of WIPs and last night I finished my Postcard quilt top! Woo hoo! I started it with a pile of old fashioned type scrap prints that individually I didn't really like but put them together and now I think it looks beautiful. I used Kona Mellon for the boarders and sashing to give it that civil war era look and I think once it's quilted up it will look great and be a nice autumn colored quilt to put out. Or I've even been toying with the idea of hanging it in my big blank wall space in my living room. We'll see! For now I'm just really happy to be making such good progress getting through those WIPs.

for the new mr. and mrs.

Earlier in the week my friend mentioned a little project she needed for another friend's daughter's wedding. (follow that?) anyway, the mother of the bride had an idea of sending the newlyweds off on their red-eye honeymoon flight with personalized travel pillows. It gave me a good excuse to break out my embroidery machine and hamg oit with a dear friend. Despite some computer/sewing machine communication difficulties, we got it done and I think they turned out really cute. Great gift for someone heading out on a big trip!

Liberty of London

I just got back last night from a whirlwind trip around England and Scotland with my sweet brother and his rad wife.  We toured the entire island in 8 days and made it to York, Scotland, the Lake District, London, the Cotswolds and even a little in the Peak District.  It was amazing and I had such a wonderful time.  And now I'm home and totally beat!

Since we were only going to be in London for one day I had to pick my priorities and so I told my sister-in-law that I really wanted to see the Tower of London and the Liberty store. So that's what we did.  We bought tickets for the hop on and hop off bus and when we happened to break down near Regent Street, we decided it was fate telling us it was time to hit the Liberty store.

And let me just say that it didn't disappoint.

I was in sort of a manic state as I walked around and tried to decide what my trip treat was going to be.

They had the cutest little section of precuts that I spend about a half an hour going through, trying to decide which one I couldn't live without.  It was tough to narrow it down.

Oh and then I found the remnants bin.  Reduced price Liberty fabric?  Yes please.

I finally settled on one little set of precut hexies and three remnants and a bundle of assorted prints.

We ended up spending the better part of two hours and it was everything I ever dreamed it would be!

{this moment}

Rainbows

The kiddos are in bed (finally) and I've settled in to get some of these quilt tops done while I'm without my sweetheart and have a big dining room table to quilt on. I'd sort of forgotten about this top but now I'm getting excited to see it finished.

For the gardeners

Josh and I have this dream for when we're done with our California adventure to head up to Idaho, buy a couple of acres and grow our kids and our food on our own little mini farm.  We've still got a couple of years of loan repayment to do here in California so until then I'm just studying up for when we can make it a reality.

While here at my parents' house I was looking on the local library's website to find when they might be holding some kids storytimes and noticed that they were having this talk by the author of this book and it started in 15 minutes.  I fed the baby fast and headed over to the library just in time.  She was a great speaker and got me so excited to get home and see what I could plan for the fall in our little growable patch in our backyard.

If you're interested in gardening this is a GREAT book.  Good for the beginner and more seasoned gardener alike, she breaks down lots of different vegies and herbs you can grow and talks about tips to grown and store the food and ALL the edible parts, not just the parts we tend to eat.  She also includes recipes for each of the vegis and herbs she talks about.  She also blogs at www.digginfood.com about her workings in her own Portland garden.

temporary digs

My husband is taking his boards next month and after struggling all summer to get started on studying he came home from work one day and asked if my feelings would be hurt if he sent us up to my parents for a little bit so he could study undistracted.  Turns out he'd rather come home and play with us than sit down and study the American Pediatric Dental Associations guidelines for treating children.

Go figure.

Being the supportive wife that I am I called my parents who were more than happy to welcome us and my dad even offered to fly down so he could drive up with me so I'd have my van while we were in Washington.

I also figured since I'd be in such close proximity to my favorite quilt shop and rentable long arm for a month I'd bring my need to be finished projects with me and clear out my WIPs.  

So one of the first things I did when arriving was take over my parents' dining room and turn it into a little sewing studio.

I can't say that I've gotten a ton of sewing time in which is surprising since my mom is home all day most days with me and technically could keep an ear and eye on my kids while I sew a little.  But I feel a little guilty showing up and passing my kids off and also this house is way less child proofed than my own (a la pool in the backyard!!!  AHHHH!!!) so I feel like its a little more intense to keep my kids out of trouble here.

I have found some time after the kids are in bed and have made some progress on these two guys.  Four of my best girls are having/have had babies this summer and fall and so I'm in baby quilt making mode. 

The inspiration for these two quilts can be found here and here.  They had been pinned to my pinterest board forever and they seemed like the perfect inspiration I was looking for.

Its hard to be so far from my sweetheart but its been great to spend such relaxed regular day to day time with my parents and to make these memories with them.  And to see my kids explore all the old places I used to play in as a kid has been really cool too.  We take bike rides and evening walks and have been digging in mormor's garden daily.  Its fun.  Now that we're settling into a nice routine here I look forward to spending a little more time in my makeshift studio and finishing up those WIPs.

Wedding Quilt {Michael and Laura}

 My cousin Michael married the lovely Laura (finally!) last month and I wanted to make them something special for their wedding.  I had been hemming and hawing over what pattern I wanted to use but nothing ever seemed to click. Then I had a baby and all plans sort of flew out the window.  As we were about to head to Washington for our marathon family reunion roadtrip (where I'd have access to a long arm machine) I went through some of the quilt tops I already had and found this one.  And I thought, this is perfect.  I'd named the pattern, "tumbling hourglass" with the idea of an hourglass that never runs out because it keeps turning over and over and figured that was perfect for a wedding quilt.  

And who doesn't love a red and white quilt to add a little pop to a living room of a couple just starting out?

My big boy, Carver, was one of the ring bearers in the wedding and was too cute.  It was sort of a little circus getting the kids to walk down the isle and at one point he actually started chasing a butterfly.  It was cute.

I never seem to get around to labeling my quilts (which I know I should do!) but this one I really wanted to make sure got a nice label.  So once life calmed down from all the summer shenanigans I pulled out my embroidery machine and finally got the software installed in my new laptop to be able to use it again and viola!

I think it turned out great and I really hope they like it.

Happy wedding to Mike and Laura!  May this quilt keep you warm and snuggly through a lifetime of happy memories!

Cooking it up {Smoked Salmon Salad Sandwich}

When I was in Finland last year my cousin served me this delicious salmon spreadable stuff that I have not been able to get out of my mind.  We put it on crackers, we put it on baked potato, we pretty much put it on anything.  It was soooooo good.  I asked her how she made it and she sort of shrugged and said she just mixed the salmon with this cream cheeseish/yogurt stuff that came from the store.  She wasn't sure what the American equivalent would be.

So the other day as I was parusing through pinterest (you know how it goes) I saw this recipe for a salmon sandwich and had to investigate further.  I'm always looking for ways to sneak salmon into my diet in ways that doesn't require me to make a whole family sized meal (the hubs isn't too into fish, {sad face})  

After some experimentation with the original recipe I pinned, we have this (which is actually kind of different entirely) and it tastes just like the fish spread I had in Finland.

and it was about the easiest thing ever to make.  Are you ready?

Smoked salmon (good smoked salmon, not that stuff they sell on the tuna fish isle in the store, GOOD really well smoked salmon) and onion and chive cream cheese.

How about that?  I made it in a sandwich today and it was delicious.  I'll be making more.

Here's the recipe for anyone else out there in Blogland that has a hankering for something salmonish and delicious for lunch.

Smoked Salmon Salad Sandwich

2.5 oz smoked salmon (GOOD SMOKED SALMON!)

2 Tbsp onion and chive cream cheese

2 slices dark rye bread

cucumber sliced thin

tomato sliced thin

lettuce

2 tbs smooshed up avacado

red wine vinegar

black pepper

Warm up your cream cheese in the microwave for 20 seconds or so to make it nice and soft, add salmon and stir together.  Spread mix on bread (toasted if you like) and layer on cucumber and tomato slices and lettuce.  Spread avacado on the other slice of bread and sprinkle a little red wine vinegar and black pepper to taste.

Add to it a side of blueberries and you are ready to pretend you are enjoying a nice summer lunch at your sommarstuga in Nedervetil.

Enjoy!

Brothers

Just loved these pics of Carver and Micah I snagged during some couch cuddle time the other day. I love how much Carver loves his baby brother.

More baby pants!

I get giddy each time i see my baby boy wearing his mama made pants so I had to make some more. I've seen a bunch of darling new Heather Ross and Kokka prints posted around blogland lately and out local Harts had a bunch. I cut out the pieces for three news pairs of 3-6 month pants. I finished one pair this afternoon while the babe mapped and the big boys occupied themselves with a nice long game of hide and seek. More to come!

{Finished}

I actually finished this awhile ago but am only now getting to post it.  I saw this block here originally on Lynn's blog Lily's Quilts and loved it so much I started making my own blocks right away.  Unfortunately (for the quilt) I got pregnant soon after and it got put on the proverbial back burner.

Then right before Micah was born I felt like I really wanted to finish it up so the week before he was born I was up late finishing up blocks. 

Then along came Micah and quilting and binding it up went back to that old back burner until we took our epic three week family reunion road trip a few weeks ago and I brought along a needle and thread and spent the 15 hour drive to my parents' place in Washington binding it.

And now its all done!  And I love how it turned out.  It ended up being the quilt I layed over Micah's car seat that doubled as his bed on our trip.  Its the perfect size for a road trip quilt or snuggling with a book on the couch.  I noticed after the fact that there were a few blocks in which I should have made two colored HSTs but instead did a half color/half white square so some of them are missing a point.  Oh well!  One of those built in imperfections right?

Today I'm linking up with:

       

Some mama-made pants

Right before Micah was born (as in the night before) I made him some pants to come home from the hospital in.  I LOVE those pants and hate putting him in any other pants.  They are so funky and fun and I love that he is wearing something I made for him.

So recently I noticed that my 13 lb 9 oz giant baby was no longer comfortably fitting into his mama made pants anymore.  He's a big boy now!  So I wanted to make him another pair the next size up. However it is a tricky thing to find time to sew baby pants with two big boys that don't nap and a little baby.  Asher has gotten into this mischieveious phase now where he can open all the baby gates (DOH!) and likes to climb up on the kitchen counter (double DOH!) so he really can't be left unsupervised for long.

But this morning I remembered I had this CUTE cars and truck fabric I had bought from the remnants shelf at Harts a few months ago and somehow the stars aligned and I found about a half an hour before the baby woke up from a nice long morning nap and the big boys were playing happily by themselves in the playroom.  So I made some pants!

These pants are super easy and come from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.  I think they are going to be my go to pants for this guy.  It doesn't take too much fabric and really, only took about a half an hour.  I LOVE them!  And more than that I love this little guy in them! 

 Look how happy he is in his mama-made pants.

Today I'm linking up with: