just a little update before its moving time again:
well actually, today is moving day but i needed a moment, so i'm stealing one.

in the few spare moments that i have had and in a few wee evening hours, i've managed to piece together a quit top (later to be quilted and bound) - it feels good to buy fabric and immediately use it. no more of this piling it up, looking at it, wondering what it could turn into to, timidly cutting into it...and so on. i've even managed to save some cuts of this dsquilts collection for the binding. hurrah!

with the news of a new baby joining my circle of loved ones comes some fabric shopping. i started my quest for the perfect gender neutral fabrics at hawthorne threads, and now that i've gathered my favorite prints in an awesome (if i do say so myself) color palette, the fun can really begin. there really is nothing like sewing for a baby - there is a little extra room for play and fun, and come on, there's nothing cuter than miniature goodies!

this is how i relax -



some hand quilting, a lot of sun, a laughing baby.
life is good (when this is what is in it).

etsy finds...for frances mae

on the other side of this little fishing island there is a room waiting for frances mae. it might be a bit (okay, a lot) smaller than her bedroom in maine and it might have one or two less windows, but its hers all the same. and while her possessions have been carefully chosen and limited to wood and cloth and beautiful things, i daydream about what her room could look like with a few extra treasures.

1. rustic laundry cart by everyeskimo
2. homestead by beauchamping
3. half square triangles crib quilt by carsontoo
4. black woods bear by royalmint
5. vintage nursery rhyme wooden plaques by sushipotparts
6. antique composition doll by amradio

what have you found on etsy for your home, yourself, your baby, your life? look for more of my finds soon...

i miss my huge bins of fabric so much. at this moment, all of my scraps and bits and pieces, and thrift store sheets and pillowcases, and beautiful yards of quilting cotton are sitting in a barn in maine. i am two states away, patiently waiting for the day that they will make it on to the boat and on to my island and in to my hands. only a few more days.

in the meantime,
i will be trying to put together a back
for this with not even close to enough fabric.

see, i received a scrap pack from hawthorne threads for winning the spring runner sew-along at stumbles & stitches (by the way, jenny and angel are running a fantastic fundraiser for the tornado disaster relief in alabama - awesome work, ladies!). i have been living off of the beautiful little pieces of fabric that came in the mail. patiently waiting and waiting, biting my nails until i can get my hands on my stash.

i have two quilts (one bed size, one picnic) planned that i must make now.

have you discovered bloglovin yet? i just did and i think i really like it -
now you can follow me (and all of your other favorites) there!

mini quilt top is done! and i'm unsure -

don't get me wrong, i'm very proud of myself for how well all of my corners line up and for measuring everything correctly - in fact, measuring and sewing well enough that my quilt top is exactly the size i wanted it to be. its the fabric choices i made that i'm unsure of (good news is that the bed size quilt i have planned that is based on this will be much more calm color wise. so calm that i'm only using two fabrics). for the most part, i love how the blue stands out and contrasts against the green and orange prints. but there are two big blocks of orange that just stare at me. i don't like them. one bit. and if i could go back and re-cut and reposition, i would.

but its just an experiment. just a mini mock up.
and it will make a beautiful doll quilt for frankie's friends.
(after i piece together a back and quilt and bind, of course)

new mini quilt in the works -

i'm trying to decide if the bed size quilt i have planned would really work.
although it seems that i've taken this mini mock-up in a different direction than intended.

so far all of my triangle points are matching up (!!!) and even though i cut the wrong number of triangles from one specific fabric, i'm pretty excited to see how this one comes together. and the nicest thing about making a mini quilt? i might be able to get it made in a reasonable amount of time - considering i have a wild toddler and a full time job.

frances mae's patchwork

and another quilt - done!

sixteen nine-patch blocks
two patchwork borders
six triangles to add some detail to sashing
three fabrics for an interesting binding







and now, on to another
that i think i will be calling
"catch me if you can".
more on that later.

what would it be like to be a tree with
roots sunk deeply into the earth - to watch the
seasons passing around you the same way the
wind passes through our branches?

and a happy mother's day to me (and every other fabulous mama out there) - happy with a new book in hand. migrant by maxine trottier is the somber story of anna and her canadian mennonite family traveling to mexico to work. the ghosts of past workers haunt anna's mother in the empty farm houses that shelter her family. anna and her sisters curl up like kittens to sleep under one blanket, while her brothers whimper like puppies, trying to steal a corner of warmth under a too-small-for-growing-boys quilt.

not only do i find the story incredibly inspiring - my paternal grandmother's family is canadian mennonite - the illustrations are equally fascinating. bits of cut paper, pen and ink, pencil, and watercolor all combine in beautiful shapes and colors that would be perfect for, you guessed it, a quilt! flying geese - both the quilt pattern and the actual thing - open the book while patchwork fields scatter the pages. now i know what to do with my scrap pack from hawthorne threads - flying geese, here i come!