Resolutions.

I don't usually make official New Year's resolutions.  But this year I thought I'd make a few.

1.  Get into better cardio shape.  This will hopefully happen from running training because I signed up for the Marine Corps half marathon.  I am not a runner by any means.  In truth, I sort of dislike it.  But my friend Hallie, who is a triathelete, says she'll come in from California to run it with me.  And Charlie and another good friend run it every year--so there should be plenty of hands on deck to drag me over the finish.  I really need to get going on, okay start, my training.

2.  Bring in some pretty.  This goes beyond my appearance--though considering the surprised reaction I got from some folks on New Year's Eve when I actually brushed my hair and put on a dress, maybe I should start there.  But really I'm talking about my surroundings.  It's nice to live in pretty spaces so I am determined to finally finish decorating our master bedroom and the boys' rooms.  There are so many great design blogs out there for inspiration.  One I like everything about is Little Green Notebook.

3.  Finding time to sew for myself.  All of the refashion tutorials out there are making me crazy.  I want to try this, this, and this, plus loads more.  I cannot donate a single ill fitting blouse or stained tee because I have a ton of ideas in my mind!  Also, just about every item I'm swooning over in the Anthropologie catalogue has a handmade-looking embellishment to it...so I want to try some "inspired" pieces--that sounds better than knock-off, I think.   I can only hope my homesewn garments will look better than the drop waisted tank dress I made in 11th grade home ec--if I recall correctly, it was a hot pink cotton print with mini yellow flowers.  It was passable but only because I wore it with my best Forenza belt.  I really wish I'd kept that belt--it is very on trend right now.  Though isn't there a rule that if a trend laps you, you're too old to wear it again?  I need to check that.  Happy Friday!



Bucilla.

Right about now, during the clean up from massive merriment, I'm pretty much ready to put away the Christmas things until next year.  But there is one item that I usually keep out and move to my sewing room--Max's stocking. 

It is made from a Bucilla kit and it took me quite a bit of time to finish.  I absolutely adore it.  Once I finally hung it on the mantle, Charlie asked, "are you actually going to let Max touch it?"  Hmmmph.  Charlie had sat on the couch next to me for countless nights as I toiled away during TV time, so I guess it's not a silly question.  But of course Max is allowed to touch it.  Carefully.  And of course he'll eventually get it.  When he's married and has a wife who will take care of it. 

I don't put the stocking away for a few reasons.  One, it extends the season a bit, not too much, but just enough.  Also, I want to back it with something more substantial than the flimsy felt that came with the kit.  There is a better chance of this happening if it's out and about (though this strategy has yet to actually work).  And last, hopefully seeing it will motivate me to get going on Leo's stocking.  He has patiently waited and pretended to like his Target stocking just as much as Max's "fancy" stocking for the last two years.  It's pretty pitiful, actually, and he really deserves his own.  And of course there's also Will's.  And maybe, maybe, one for Charlie and myself.  But frankly ours are holding strong in the eventually column.

Have you ever seen a Bucilla kit?  My best friend from childhood got me hooked as she had one growing up, made by a crafty aunt.  And even then, when most high-school girls aren't too impressed by such things, I coveted it very much.  In case you're inclined to give it a go, here is a shot of Leo's kit.  It can be pretty daunting when you get this pile of...stuff...unless you know what you're getting into--and I remember searching the web for info about it with no luck a couple of years ago.

I also remember dumping out Max's kit and muttering something not too very Christmas-y.  *I know I mentioned I cursed during my recent Christmas quilt-a-thon, too, so I feel the need to point out that I actually hardly ever curse (married a Marine--he does it for me), but there are exceptions. 

The stockings I picked were designed for Bucilla by Mary Engelbreit, which surprised me.  Because although I do think her stuff is darling, it's usually not quite my style.  I'm fickle in that I like country stuff but only in certain ways and in little doses.  And it's really more cottage style that I like, think weathered wood, rustic...simple.  My mother sometimes tries to pick up things for me thinking I'll like it because it's "country" but I tell her, "no, that's country chicken and I don't like country chicken."  Unfortunately no one really understands what I'm trying to distinguish between so I sometimes end up with gifts with miniature feed sacks in them. 

Okay, back to little Ms. Mary.  Even though I typically don't go for her stuff, I absolutely flipped over the folksy feel of this kit.  With most Bucilla stockings, you do a lot of detail with sequins and beads.  But with the Engelbreit-designed kits, it's all in the stitching.  For instance, the very first bit of embellishment I did was on Santa's boot--two colors of thread twisted to make a candy-cane effect for his laces.  And all of the trim on Santa's coat was embroidered...in fact, just about everything is embroidered versus beaded.  Here is a close up of Santa's coat and boots...

and the snow-child's cap...

Oh, and let's not forget the cute dimensional work from the design--the snow-child in Santa's arms is a little stuffie you make then tuck into his arms...

Here is what Leo's stocking will (eventually) look like.  It's another Mary Engelbreit design--wish me luck!

2009 Christmas card.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be a bit more consistent with my blogging.  And to stay focused on one of the main reasons I began this blog--to try to document this special time in my life where I get to stay home to raise my family and be a full-time homemaker the way I want to do it...the way it feels right for me to do it.  And by that I mean having at least a little time here and there to do more of what I truly love for, and often with, my family, like cook, sew, and craft.  I know that when I had to balance those interests with working outside the home on top of family duties, I didn't get to do them nearly as much.   

The end of my two-year sabbatical from my job is quickly approaching, so there are some decisions we need to make.  But I'm not quite ready to face them yet.  So what better way to make time stand still a bit longer than to look at all the lovely Christmas and holiday cards we received this year.  I've spent the better part of the morning cleaning the house and putting away holiday decorations.  But I paused for a bit as I took down the cards.

I love holiday cards--especially ones with photos.  We display them through out the season and then I move them to fabric memo boards that Charlie made for me in the basement, where we can enjoy them for another year...little hands love to take down the cards to study faces, which may explain this less than tidy display. 

After that, they get placed, grouped by family, in a photo box for safe keeping.  I love to flip through them to see how everyone's children are growing up (too quickly if you ask me).

Here is our family card this year, done on Scrapblog.  Since I'm not the best about keeping up with my scrapbooking, as a compromise, I like to write a snippet in our cards of what the boys are up to.  I hope to present each of our children, someday in the far future, with a collection of Christmas cards that chronicles much of their childhood quirks.  I'll dig around for our cards from prior years and post those too--I try to do a different theme each year.  This year I came up with playing off an instruction manual of sorts...I'm starting to run out of ideas!  (click on the thumbnail to enlarge)...

     

I hope you're having a wonderful start to 2010--just three more weeks or so until I naturally write the correct year when I'm dating something! 

 

p.s. I do love how the holidays live on a bit in blogland with everyone's show and tell debrief, don't you?  And if you in fact don't, you might want to skip my next few posts as I'm sure that's what I'll be up to too :)...

A keepsake quilt.

I've wanted to make a special Christmas quilt for my mother-in-law for a very long time.  I actually bought the fabric for it when I was pregnant with Will two years ago.  Since she is a mother of all boys (and her two boys have all boys!), we have a lot in common.  Specifically, I know what it's like to live in a house where the majority of the occupants don't get all worked up by the nice linens and other whatnots that adorn their home.  It's a big deal when my MIL or I visit the other's house because when we haul out our pretty kitchen and bath towels, for once, someone else notices.  So I wanted to give her something pretty.

I also wanted to make her a quilt because, quite simply, it's hard to express just how grateful I am to the woman who gave me my husband, and in turn, my family.   

So this year, when a blizzard came to town the weekend before Christmas, I decided not to freak and fret over the snowed-in weekend and no-go errand runs.  Rather, I tallied up the suddenly free hours from two rescheduled Christmas parties and had a crazy thought.  While the older boys played outside until they were blue... 

I found my stash of fabrics...

and cut and sewed and ripped out stitches and cursed and sewed some more...

I decided on a crazy quilt because I didn't have time to plan any blocks.  Morgan's quilt for her newest little one, over on One More Moore, provided the inspiration for the design.  I just cut the fat quarters into 2 1/2 inch strips, then sewed three different strip patterns together.  I then cut the pieces into 6 1/2 inch square blocks and pieced them together, alternating their orientation.  I originally planned to make the quilt the size of a throw, but Charlie convinced me that that's basically a useless size for snuggling on the couch because throws can keep a full-sized man's upper or lower body warm, but not both.  Noted.  So, to increase the size, I added a border of white and made some blocks for the corners.  It was all done on the fly and I'm sorry that there are no pictures of that--sort of short on time as it was--but here is the finished quilt top.

I continued to de-stash by piecing two fabrics together for the backing and used some store-bought tape for the binding--which I sort of hate but whatever.  I almost went through the roof when I came up four inches short of completing the binding.  Seriously, four inches.  And in case it's not obvious, that is when the cursing occurred.

Luckily, after my in laws arrived on the 22nd, I was able to pop into Joanne's to pick up another pack of binding to covertly finish the quilt after everyone went to bed on Christmas Eve.

Here is a shot of the backing.  You can see that I just quilted in the ditch--practicing free-motion quilting is on this year's to-learn list as I have no idea how some of you do such a lovely job of it!  I used organic cotton batting and made sure to prewash my fabric, but not the batting, so that when I washed the completed quilt, it would get all wrinkly and yummy. 

In the corner, I placed a little poem that Charlie helped me write.  To print it on fabric, I ironed white cotton fabric onto freezer paper, then cut it down to 8 1/2 x 11 inches so it would feed into our ink jet printer.  I printed the wording directly onto the fabric and heat set it with my iron.  Before turning it into a patch for the back of the quilt, I prewashed it to check for color-fastness.  I was very happy to find it held up perfectly in the wash. 

My mother-in-law absolutely loved the quilt and I was so happy we could be with her the year we gave it to her!  This was the largest quilt I've made to date...before this attempt, I'd only made a handful of baby quilts.  But now I think I'd like to make quilts for the boys' beds.  And I fully intend to give myself more than a few days to do it!

ETA:  I'm linking up to Kimba's DIY day here.

ETA:  I'm linking up to Kimba's DIY day here.