Starting my first quilt

I am so excited right now! I finally bought material for my first quilt today! And my first ever rotary cutter!

I signed up for a beginning quilting class through the ABC school district. The class runs from mid- September through the end of January and it's only $25 (plus all the materials you bring, but for a beginner like me that basically boils down to fabric, thread, my rotary cutter, and my other basic supplies like pins). $25! Seriously, what a steal! Not only that I used my birthday money from my Mom, so my class is actually a gift . . . thanks Mom!

The first class was last Friday (9 am - 12 pm), basically it's a bunch of ladies (I am the youngest by at least 20, possibly 25-30 years) who get together and quilt! There are some that have known each other 35 years, and some that have only been coming a few years. There were 3 or 4 of us newbies. The teacher, Beverly, handed out a pattern we are going to be working on this session (one of the other new quilters is going to opt for something smaller and simpler, but I figure why not jump on in when I have the teacher, plus all the other ladies to get help from). The pattern isn't what I would necessarily pick, however, I can see why it's great for teaching different techniques. It's called Be-Bop-A-Lula (Rhubarb Pie . . . ok, not really the Rhubarb Pie part - my father warped me with too many Prairie Home Companion radio broadcasts while I was growing up), by Colleen Reale and Chloe Anderson for Toadusew.



I am going in a completely different direction with colors . . . I have more of a shabby chic feel going on (who, me? really? quelle surprise!) but more in a lovely sort of goldeny-green, brown sugary goodness sort of way - with my main fabric being a gorgeous blue (with ever so light a stripe) with cascading roses and vines . . . oh my, I am in raptures. It is times likes these I wish I had Anne Shirley's vocabulary.

Here are the fabrics I got today. I love getting fabric. If I had any kind of money I'd be an absolute fabric whore (what a horrible thing to say, shall I say fabric strumpet instead? ). Get this, Fabric Whore is an actual website! That entertains me greatly, but sadly it looks like it hasn't been updated in awhile. Moving on . . .





The blue is from the "Mary Rose" collection by Robert Kaufman, The paisley from "The Bailey" collection also by Robert Kaufman (I love his stuff), The taupe with flowers (which will be for the pieced rectangles going all over the quilt) is from "Sweet Dreams" by Robyn Pandolph (first time I've used anything by her), and the faded roses on the dark cream that will be used for my background is a screen print made in Japan.

I am so excited! I can't wait to get started tomorrow!

I have to go put my bag of goodies together to take with me!

These are the times that try men's souls.

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

- Thomas Paine

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

- Francis Scott Key

Walking away with ourselves

I am excited to announce that my friend Liz and I have a new blog - Walking Away With Ourselves, which is going to chronicle our journey as we train to walk the Catalina Marathon in March, 2010. Come join us!

Random projects

Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew;

especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts

than while so occupied.

- Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859

Here are some pictures of some of the projects I've done in the last few months.

My first sewing project on my Mom's machine, curtains for my kitchen:

A skirt for maternity pictures, Maddie had a matching top:

Little boy burp cloths for James, please ignore the staining on my computer chair where Maddie has emptied out her bottle a few times:

Mother's Day apron, made one for my Mom and for Grammy, I love the bright, cheery fabric:

front view

back view

The only place where housework comes

before needlework is in the dictionary.

- Mary Kurtz

Backyard farm girl

Nature will bear the closest inspection.

She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

-Henry David Thoreau

In our backyard we have a dwarf citrus that has five types of fruit on it. We are going to have some great lemons in just a few weeks but this week we had a ripe honey mandarin.

Maddie and I went out and picked it . . .

And ate it . . .

And had fun hanging out on the grass . . .

And playing backyard farm girl . . .

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.

They will be yours for food."

Genesis 1:29

Repurposed craft

For Maddie's first birthday we had a Minnie Mouse theme and I, of course, went a bit overboard (I am already trying to decide on birthday themes for next year so I can get a head start . . . I have to have my ideas percolate in ye ol' noggin for awhile). One of the projects I decided to do - at the extreme last minute, as in the night before the party - was a high chair cover and skirt. I am really pleased with how it turned out. I basically just traced the top the the high chair to get the basic curve pattern to use in cutting my fabric pieces, and then cut and hemmed slits up the side to fit over the legs. The felt Minnie Mouse head matched the one on Maddie's dress. I gathered the tulle into sections tied with ribbon then quickly hot glued the sections onto the high chair tray, et voila - a high chair fit for a Minnie Princess!

(please note it was a very blustery day outside)

The problem with projects like this is that they are really only used once! How many times am I going to need a Minnie Mouse high chair cover? It made me kind of sad, because the fabric I used was actually a really snuggly and sturdy type of fabric, and so fun with the polka dots. So I tucked it away in the sewing bin hoping I could use it in the future. A few months ago I noticed that Maddie liked putting the couch cushions on the floor and then sprawling on them, and realized she needed a floor pillow. I then further realized that the high chair cover was just about the right size! I have been meaning to repurpose the cover into a floor pillow for several months, and I finally got around to it! Minnie got removed - she came off in the wash actually, which was perfect because she was only hot glued on and I was concerned about pulling her off and ruining the fabric, but she came off like a dream after a quick spin in the washer. I just double hemmed the sides for sturdiness, following the "pattern" of the high chair cover. I ended up with a big, fluffy, if oddly-shaped, floor pillow.

Here is Maddie trying it out on the couch . . . we will see if she will snuggle up with it on the floor when she watches her t.v. show.

Wading into the red tape . . .

"If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy.

God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won't."

Hyman G. Rickover

I am beginning to finally wade into the sea of red tape that is registering an out of hospital birth in Los Angeles County. I find it kind of sad that having your baby outside of a medical institution is considered so taboo in my county. There is a very large part of me that just wants to never register him and keep him totally off the grid - but I know that would cause him major issues later in life, so I will be a good mummy and not screw up his chances of running for President someday . . .

Maybe what bothers me the most is government employees, little worker bees (really to call them this is an insult to worker bees who are actually efficient and productive, something the employees in the County Registrars Office never have been, nor will be) that act as if having my baby at home has somehow put them out. As if I chose a home birth just to put their collective noses out of joint. The condescension literally drips off them as they "explain" what paperwork I need, and even though what they are telling me is different than what is listed on their official paperwork, questions will immediately lead to the questioner being branded as a trouble maker.

Let's not even get started on getting a social security number for your out of hospital child . . . God forbid you do not have an "imunininization record" (no, I am not joking), to prove who your child is (because the birth certificate you have just paid for in blood, sweat, tears, and six forms of documentation is not good enough on its own), if you do not have said record, you are obviously a negligent parent and must therefore be treated like the lowest form of pond scum. It is enough to make you want to swear off "civilized" society forever and retreat to the woods somewhere.

"My symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state

or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters