Summer,

we'll miss you.

when you have a baby...

you don't sew.

At least for a little while.


{Elizabeth Erickson Brown. Born 05.12.11 at 8:35 in the morning. Weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces & 21 inches long.}


{yesterday, 14 weeks}

I still knit sometimes (working on this (a sleeve and some kitchener to go), this (almost as close), started this, this is in queue once I choose the right yarn) because I can do that lazily in front of an episode of this.

Because 2 kids, they tire you out.

At least I'm enjoying using and loving the (2!) quilts I finished before she was born (but no time yet for photos!)...and am gearing up to do a little project for my Libby, plus another one for another Elizabeth, due next month. Simple, simple, but it will surely feel good to quilt something.

PS: I did manage to finish this bee block



(and another just like it) before Libby was born, and this one,



dreadfully late, a couple of weeks ago.

PPS: Have you heard about this book? I'm honored to be a contributor. See that light-blue-and-lime block in the upper right? Mine!

Thursday smatterings

leftovers and photos from yesterday's birthday dinner in the city are calling to me...





frozen custard is so much creamier than ice cream.



this website is so amazing. I might even pay for it beyond the free trial...

thinking about decorating a lot right now...a big boy room for Alex, revamping the nursery, hanging pictures in the basement (and really the rest of our house too...)--much inspiration here and here and (of course) here.

thinking even more about knitting. Ravelry is so amazing, and whether it has led to an explosion of awesome, easily-available patterns or just opened my eyes to them all, I now have about 1,000 patterns in my queue and my next-up-to-knit changes every day. Current favorite is this, followed closely by this and this (though I'm not sure I have the patience to knit a garment out of sock yarn). I'm working on this right now with a skein of Cascade 220 in brown, gifted to me by Alex this Christmas (with help from daddy of course). Slow going; I guess I've been sewing too much!

and finally, I (finally again!) mailed off some bee blocks the other day.

new things

for 2011...

:: beignets.



:: making for myself and my family first.

:: 365.

:: finding a middle ground between inertia and perfection.

:: and being mom to two small people, starting in May.

quiet, but still making

for the flickr embroiderbee:







for The Bee's Knees:





for Bee Liberated:





and for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap:



more to come.

in and out

Recently...

In:

(from so very long ago) a coordinating! doorstop and a plastic bag dispenser from Corrie for (the first!) Urban Home Goods swap...

my stunning dqs9 quilt from Anita...

and lots and lots of bee blocks and swap blocks for the second Mod Bento Block Swap.

Out:

spider web blocks for Greta...

sampler blocks for Leanne...

and 3x6 mini-bee blocks for the whole hive.

on the machine now: Corrinne's giveaway winnings.  More on that next week, fingers crossed. 

Happy weekend!

the right track

Most times, when I make something, I picture it and then do it. Which is not to say that there aren't changes and mistakes along the way (case in point)--but the finished product is usually pretty similar to what I had in my head to begin with.

This swap was different.

What I ended up with could not be farther from my original plan, which I had deliberated over for quite some time as it was.

I do like the finished product, but there's a part of me that's kind of grieving for my first idea. I'm not sure there will ever be another time to use it.

Maybe, someday, for myself.

Onward. The front is fairly straightforward, though I did get a chance to play around with positive and negative space.



I had planned to hand quilt the entire thing, but then I discovered that I really know nothing about hand quilting. I kept the bird (since that motif from the back...



...was the inspiration for this final version), but opted to machine quilt the rest.



Bound, labeled, sent (again!) with hometown-made lemonheads, with half an hour to spare.