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moving it inside

We’re in the process of wrapping up the 2009 garden. I’m bringing a few pretty things inside. We’re mulching and trying to make our decisions for next year. I’m disappointed the books say we can’t cut back perennials until the first frost. Some things are so shabby and I’m so tired of watching them decay. I think our garden was sort of a bust this year. Weird weather and no time and some really bad impulse decisions lead to a garden that seemed to have no rhyme or reason. We definitely erred on the side of too much variety and are trying to pare it down for next year. So hard though to yank out plants that didn’t make it or that just aren’t working for us. All that money spent. It’s painful. We try to find other spots for things but we have a small yard and only a few spots that get good sun so our choices are limited.

The vegetable garden fared about as well as the flower garden. Some hits (tomatoes, green beans, basil, lettuces) and lots of misses (zucchini, cantaloupe, tomatillos, peppers). We don’t get as much sun as we need I think and also the non-raised bed needed more than crossed fingers. Our zucchini actually did well but was eaten by rabbits as soon as it grew.

So going forward, all cool colors. Different shades of greens and purples. Things that are getting axed: coneflowers (too sloppy), phlox (too tall), pinks (too neon and too shabby), golden tansy (too big). Things that will be added in the spring: more dragon’s blood stonecrop, more artemisia (to replace the ones I killed by cutting them back too far), japanese anemones for pretty late summer blooms. We bought some more evergreen shrubs to do that whole bones for the garden thing and although I was resisting it I have to say it looks much better. Funny because we started out here 2 years ago in our first house with our new yard thinking we wanted modern, simple, just a few flowers, lots of green and then somehow we went garden gone wild. It’s the lure of the nurseries, all those beautiful flowers, they’re impossible to resist. I think we’ve learned our lessons. I have high hopes for Spring.

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bend it!

I’ve been waiting waiting waiting for Amy Karol’s new book to come out and it’s finally here! Bend the Rules with Fabric!

I long ago determined that Amy knows everything. And at least once a day I wish I had Amy sitting in my craft room so I could ask her my many annoying questions… should I do it like this? how does that work? why in the heck won’t this turn out? Now I have her right here, in my hands, showing me all the coolio arty craft stuff I’ve always wanted to do. Fun cool stamping ideas, dying fabric, how to use that iron-on transfer stuff, how she does that free motion drawing with thread thing… actually I want to do every single thing in here. I guess she wrote this book just for me! Thanks Amy! Oh, alright, for all of us. But I’ll bet you have so many a-ha moments you’ll feel she wrote it just for you too.

Here is my first success, a most exciting success, screen printing with PhotoEZ, page 60. Screen printed kitty dolls, a very belated batch of thank you gifts. I find manufacturer’s instructions are often too detailed and tedious. Having Amy’s cut-to-the-chase advice and tips kept me on track where I would normally get overwhelmed and give up.

Bend the Rules with Fabric is really my kind of book, accessible, jump right in, adaptable. I have a long list of projects inspired by the techniques and supplies described in the book. As a person who wants to try everything, but just a little differently from the suggested, it’s a perfect book. Nice job Amy! Thanks for writing a book just for me. Now I will be needing that book on knitting kids hats with bulky yarn.. thanks 🙂

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this year’s purple hat

it’s this pattern here, with a pom, knit in saphira yarn. I know it’s an adult pattern but I think my yarn wasn’t as bulky so it seems to have worked out okay. it’s sort of a slouchy beret thing on Phoebe instead of a more fitted hat like it’s supposed to be. I wish someone would write a knitting pattern book of all hat patterns for kids done in bulky yarns. that’s all I ever want to knit.

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butterfly shirt applique

“mine butterfy shirt” along with “mine simming googles”. Wish you could see the model in action. She’s too much! Here’s the face I get when I ask for a smile.

I love the idea of embroidering on shirts. Though next time I’m going to be patient and pick up some stabilizer at the store first. So another top embellished and I think I’m warmed up for some actual sewing. I might try a dress for Phoebe this weekend. Or! I might scrap all my plans because this came in the mail yesterday…. so excited!!!

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hex top

Thanks again for the hex’s Jennifer! I found a plain top for them in Phoebe’s drawer. Now I’m hunting for more plain tops for more embellishing ideas I have floating around. Trying to ease myself into some Fall clothes sewing.

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Phoebe’s baby clothes quilt!

A year or so late, here is Phoebe’s baby clothes quilt. Actually I’m not even going to say it’s late. I’m very proud of myself. We all know how keepsake projects can sort of drag on — burning all the video onto cds, finishing baby books, filling albums, etc. I’m pleased as punch to have finished one of my baby memento projects.

quilt made from baby's clothes

It’s a little willy wonky but not too bad for working with stretchy knits on a 25 year old machine with no walking foot.

baby clothes quilt

People always ask me about Oscar’s quilt, how can I bear to cut up the outfits. For me, it’s worth the wince of cutting into them to have the memories right at my finger tips. I box away a handful of favorite outfits, ok more than a handful — the home from the hospital outfit, the tiny booties and hats, special gifts, handknit sweaters, tiny dresses and matching shoes, the list goes on. Then I save all the knits, the worn, loved, sometimes stained with baby food, onesies and sleepers, pants and tops to cut into squares for the baby clothes quilt.

baby clothes quilt

When cutting the squares I tried to keep little details like buttons, pockets and ruffles in.

Here are the specs: 13 rows of 13 squares, squares are 4″ after sewing so I must have started out with 4 1/2″. Finished quilt is about 50″ square. The white fabric is flannel and all the knit outfit squares are backed in white flannel as well so 169 white flannel squares in all. I took a quick count, and this is probably not exact, but it looks like I used about 45 outfits with all repeating 2-4 times.

So there they are, frick and frack. Oscar’s blanket got a new binding because I couldn’t take the sloppy one it had a moment longer. And now I just need to embroider a little label on Phoebe’s and they’ll be a matched set.