February - March Crafts

I have recently found myself in love with stamping fabric. 

I first tried out this endeavor for my fathers birthday gift last August.  (seen here.)  This is not the type of craft that is quick to finish.  To do this, to stamp poems on muslin, takes time.  It requires a bright weekend morning in my studio, with coffee and Pandora.  I've found it to be a lovely way to slow down.  To make me really concentrate on the task at hand.  Everything else in my life falls away, as i focus on the letters and words that make up these poems.  The piece below i did just for me.  The words are from Amanda Blake Soule's Rhythm of Family.  I started with the stamping, then finished with a border in some of my favorite hues.  When thinking about how to frame it, i decided i would make that as well.  As the hubs was finishing off a closet with v-groove in the basement, i took some scrapes, cut them, glued and nailed the four sides together. 

I find that i am constantly making things as gifts (which is soooo wonderful), but i need to start making more for me, for us & for our family.

So my goal this summer is to finish the quilt i started last summer for our bedroom.  A log cabin quilt pattern, with some beautiful fabric from Keepsake Quilts.  This will complete our bedroom, as we are planning on buying our bed frame this summer.  Over the bed, i will to put four water colored paintings by Deborah Holmes, displaying the four seasons.

I did a little embroidery project for my mama's birthday.  Once again displaying my dislike for patterns.

Baby Beanie for baby Riendeau

Quick Change Trousers- 3 months

Quick Change Trousers - nine months - corduroy with flannel lining.

Here is the gift set (minus the quilt) that was for Jackie's baby shower last weekend.  x3 quick change trousers from Handmade Beginnings.  One baby hat.  Pattern found here.  And some seventh generation diapers & wipes.  All wrapped together in white paper, tied with a fabric bow.  Like i said before, i love making gifts for friends & family.

Jackie and i also spent a Sunday a few weeks ago making cloth diapers for her babe.  We used the pattern from Handmade Home by Amanda Soule.  We also made some veggie bags to bring to farmer's markets this summer.  Pattern found from Pinterest! 

A Quilt for a May Baby

This quilt began as the Six Times the Charm Quilt from Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner.  After sewing together the triangles for the quilt pattern, it just didn't look right.  Yes, it was all going according to plan, but, really.....i dislike following patterns when sewing quilts.  I like to make it up as i go.  So one evening i decided to take my triangles and cut them up into squares.  From there, some natural muslin was added to box each square out.  Then it was finished with a top-stitch, zig-zag border.  I loved the process in which this quilt took shape.  I used all scrap fabric from my bin, which was really fun!

At the end, i was pleased with the result.  Now it seemed like a quilt that baby Riendeau would like, a quilt that fit Jackie's style.  Her baby shower was yesterday, and she totally loved it.  Success! 

More to come in the next post about other baby homemade's for her shower!

Coming Home

After being away at a conference for a few days last week....

Coming home was a breath of fresh air.

Oh how i love being home with my loves.  I was greeted with the first edition of Taproot!, which i read from cover to cover, enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun on the porch.

Being 80 degrees out, i brought my seedlings up to the porch to catch some afternoon rays.  When i went to bring them back inside, i noticed that my basil had germinated!

Spring beginnings

March 18th-  i started my seedlings.  It seems funny, but i did this outside on my porch and in the sun, as it was 74 degrees out!  We have been having the strangest weather lately.  It was in the 80's all week here.  When i would get home from work, i would move my seedlings out in the sun, as it was warmer on the porch than it was inside! 

I planted basil, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers.  I figure that the rest of my plants i will just put the seeds directly in the ground when we start the garden.  (which may be sooner than expected!).

Yes, it has been unseasonably warm causing our lawn to turn green, sandals to be warn, picnics on the porch to be had, charlie bathing in the brook and our time shifted outside.  Perfect :)

Spring in New England.  Ha!

This.

This year, spring came early.  We began tapping our sugar maples in the middle of February.  One of the wonderful things that this business brings is the unknown.  In our annual edition of "Maple News" we read as old-timers predicted what the season would bring.  Some said it would be short, some said it would be the best.  Others said, "we'll just have to wait and see..."  Sugaring depends on a very particular weather pattern.  From year to year, you simply cannot predict what the season will bring.  This spring came in strong & fast.  We were greeted with 40 degree days in the beginning of February.  Although i welcome the sun and the warmth that comes with it, i do depend on it coming in the middle of march, not the middle of February.  Yes, this season was short & sweet.  So each time we boiled, we took it all in.  The company of neighbors & friends.  The kids getting muddy in the brook.  The hikes along the lines to check for leaks.  The sweet steam filling the sugar-house to the brim.  And finally, the pure maple syrup we taste & enjoy.  There is nothing like this time of year.  The natural changing of the seasons is something we rely on.  Something that we can trust and count on.  Yes, Spring came early, so we tucked away our winter nighttime routines and greeted the sugar-house with snacks, stories, beverages & bluegrass. 

This?

This is what spring is all about in our family....