Funny, I wasn't planning on posting anything here, but here I am.
There's not a good way to catch up from the past year + I neglected writing here, and I'm not sure I will, but if you're out there, hello.
Had a beautiful time with my family this week, a good thing for us as the girl heads off to college next week.
*sniff*
Yup, kind of on a quilting kick again.
Little quilts are so satisfying, because they're so fast to finish!
I'll show you my favorite first - I made this pillow last weekend:
I wanted to play and try a few 'trip around the world' blocks. They are SO fun to make! Way quicker than you'd think, too. I used some cotton + steel fabrics. Very not perfect, but I really like it. Backed with Essex indigo linen.
I wasn't planning on doing anything specific with it when I started this project, but after it became a pillow... I can't believe how well it matches my rug! Almost weirdly matchy...
After Christmas I whipped up this one. I have been wanting to update my throw pillows. This one is just a piece of fabric (another cotton + steel, I believe), quilted with wavy lines. Quilted fabric is great for pillow covers. It's thicker/has more structure than regular cotton, but softer than upholstery/home decor fabric.
And I recently made this little mini-quilt, too. I love this cheery fabric (Summersville - gifted by my MIL - yay!), and just threw easy squares together with simple straight(ish)-lined quilting.
The back is the same fabric, different layout. I love that red/white scandi print!
I like this one on my table.
January is a great month for mini updates...doesn't mean I'm not dreaming/planning on bigger ones, though! :)
I had intended to make wood slice ornaments for our neighbor gifts this year. That didn't happen, but some tag/ornaments for family did (at the last minute)!
Niece/nephew gifts and sib gifts.
If I wasn't slightly worried about breathing in the smoke, I'd do this all the time! It's so fun! Next time I want a big batch I'll do it outside in the summer, though!
First Quilt Finish of 2016!
I've mentioned this Hawaiian fabric before, but my parents brought it to me from Hawaii years ago.
Last fall I finally set the top together.
This week I have a finished quilt.
It's really simple, just 9-patches with sashing. Simple straight-line quilting.
...Straight-ish line quilting. :)
As usual, I didn't follow a pattern or anything, so I didn't have a specific size in mind when I was making it, but it ended up between lap and twin (my tall 15yo is holding it for me here). A good size for naps.
I went the semi-cheesy route and got Hawaiian themed fabric for the back.
This quilt will be perfect to have by my bed ... an excellent napping quilt! I like to nap on top of the covers, but with a quilt to pull over me. When I get a chance to nap. Which isn't often, but it's supposed to be really good for you, I'd love to take more naps! More naps in 2016 - a worthy goal! :)
Since the quilting isn't too close together, it feels rather puffy.
This quilt is rather fitting to finish this year, as we were married in Hawaii... in 1996. That means this year will be our 20th anniversary!
Crazy!
I am hoping this is just the first in a string of Quilt Finishes this year! I just looked back at this post, and I guess I've gotten 3 of my WIP quilts done in about a year. And the top of a 4th. That's better than I thought I'd done, but I hope this year will be even better!
The stockings are hung, The Nutcracker is over, the neighbor gifts and cards mostly out, the office party attended. The driveway is shoveled, the last-minute craft is... soaking, the hollowed-out-book completed (shh).
The Lego stuff is everywhere.
The cookies... will happen.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend!
Merry Christmas!
xo
kirsten
I have been trying hard to better utilize this classic kitchen tool. There are a few nights a week where we don't get home from activities until after we'd be eating most nights. My goal on those nights is to have something hot and nourishing ready to eat when we get home.
And I mean READY. So on those nights I don't put make any of the recipes that call for steps after cooking. Ready to dish up as soon as we get home. And I'll tell you, pulling into the garage and smelling a yummy soup or something when you're hungry - that's good stuff.
So, yeah, there are soups. Soups are good. The kids have pretty much gotten over their pickiness for soups and will eat whatever. For a long time (and I know this isn't unusual) they really didn't like soups that weren't blended.
But we do get tired of soups, so I try to do that only once a week. The other days I've been trying to use it for other things.
A few things that've at least been partially successful:
Pasta: I'll cook pasta (al dente if I'm paying attention - which I'm usually not) and throw it in the crock pot before we leave along with some marinara and cheese. Meat sauce if we're feeling it. It just keeps everything warm till we get home.
"Enchiladas": Definitely need quotation marks here, because I just layer corn tortillas with green enchilada sauce, cheese, and beans (refried + black usually). Tastes delish, but looks like mush when it comes out.
Hot dogs: This was kind of a fun find, actually. Right before we leave I dump a big can of baked beans in the crock, and add hot dogs to the top. Whole, not sliced. They cooked great, and we just threw them into buns when we got home.
Baked Potatoes: Super easy to bake in the crock (my favorite way to bake potatoes in the summer, especially), but we just have to make sure all the toppings are READY and in the fridge before we leave.
(Obviously most of these have salad or something to go with for vegetables).
So what else? I have a few good crockpot cookbooks (this one is our fave), but I am always looking for more ideas!
A few weeks ago we took a really quick trip to see Dinosaur National Monument. We visited the Utah side of it, and had a wonderful time! The quarry with the wall of dinosaur bones was amazing, and some of the petroglyphs were simply stunning. We had a marvelous time searching for fossils in the wild, hiking, and exploring - and did I mention the amazing Fall leaves?
Well, we did do all the Halloween things, even if I didn't document them here (this is where my husband will tease me "Then did it really happen?").
The Redhead went as Adam Savage from Mythbusters.
When you are a redhead that already has chunky dark glasses... there's not much you need to do, actually! I stencilled a shirt, bought a hat, and borrowed the jacket.
And who do we have sneaking through this shot? Jamie, of course!
How much do I love that these boys really wanted to be something TOGETHER?
The original plan was to be the TWO Amigos - thwarted when the hats proved hard to find and wouldn't fit my kids' giant noggins anyway. :) But I had it all planned - maybe someday!**
Jamie was easy, too - dress clothes, his brother's old wire-frames (lenses popped out), and a I bought him the beret. We also bought the mustache (which I painted to get closer to the original color). First time working with spirit gum - it worked great!
Here's a shot in case you don't know how spot-on their costumes were.
We even cut Monkey's hair extra short on the sides!
And here's a shot taken because Monkey really wants me to photoshop a huge explosion in the background. That should be easier with a fairly-solid backdrop, right?
Yeah, that hasn't happened yet.
The girl (Totoro) stayed home for the first time this year! She and a friend watched Edward Scissorhands and handed out candy. At first she was kind of bummed to not be going out collecting candy, but she quickly learned that giving out candy is so fun!
And here's our last-minute pumpkins! Squeezed that in inbetween nutcracker rehearsal and dinner - close!
It was a good one. So glad my kids have always like dressing up and being creative on Halloween! I hope that continues for a while! Or forever...
**I had it all planned out - I should post my sketches. But really, whenever they watch The Three Amigos and they say something about 'Sew like the wind!' I always want to make a costume, too! :)
I felt like our mantel needed a little something extra this year. Now that The Redhead is doing better with his Fall Anxiety, we can put up a few more decorations! But no creepy ones! And only two weeks before or later.
I'll take it.
Anyway, a friend of mine has a paper crafting room that is like Disneyland for papercrafters. She has all the toys! So rather than cut out all these letters by hand for the idea I came up with, I asked her to help me with her fancy gizmos.
I just wanted a couple lines from 'This is Halloween' (Nightmare Before Christmas). I was looking for a phrase that could be divided in two (because VISUALLY I knew what I wanted!) and probably picked the wrong one, but that's okay! I love how it looks.
It goes well with our little Nightmare figures on the mantel (but no Oogie-Boogie, he was banished).
I love paper decorations. And sometimes they last. I've had these little dudes hanging up in the kitchen for... I don't know how many years but they've lasted well!
Have a great Halloween! The Girl went to school as Totoro and I will try and get photos of the boys tomorrow - I LOVE their (surprisingly easy) costumes this year! Weirdly The Redhead hasn't had a chance to dress up yet! What are your kids dressing up as?
Again, this girl wanted to dress up for a local anime con, so her costume was done in August - I am very glad of that now!
Last year she was Kiki, and this year wanted to stick with another Studio Ghibli classic character. She went as Totoro!
Like last year, I feel like we struck a good balance between geeky and 'not-too-over-the-top' with wigs and stuff like that. Although the day of we realized she should have been Princess Tutu! That would've been fun - maybe next year.
Her costume base was a dress (nightshirt?) from Target. I appliqued cream knit on top, plus little soot sprites and a little white totoro on the back. There is one soot sprite on her sleeve, too.
Her ears + leaf hat are wool felt, totally made up as I went along, with a little tulle thrown in their for fancy.
She loves it and is excited to wear it again for Halloween!
We ALMOST did Arietty - but somehow ended up here.
Costume 1: done. The boys'... are getting there! :)
