That”s where we”ve been–the market, around town, in the sun (as often as we can find it), playing. Seattle has so many great farmer”s markets. My favorite is where I took this shot: in Columbia City. It”s starting to get a little more run-of-the-mill, but it has a number of stands that are unique to this market–some good pasta and soup–and it has the most produce of any of them. You can find just about all you need for your week”s worth of groceries.
My new second favorite is the farmer”s market at the sculpture park. I know, I didn”t know there was one there either! Apparently it just started this summer. To boot, they have the sculpture, a view of the water, and a live jazz concert on the steps next to Taste who serves snacks and wine by the glass and also generously provides toys for the youngsters. You can see why it”s my new favorite!
I have been working on a Quiet Time book for Uly, which I almost have done. That is one whopper of a project. I”m at least 40 hours into it.
August 25th, 2010
I was on Zulily this morning and found these adorable capes. I let out a little “Yelp!” while I was in my too-cool-for-you, modern, open office and everyone turned to look, so I was caught and had to explain that these capes were so cute I couldn””t keep quiet! I was inspired and started a hunt around Flickr for some masks to match, and found the examples below. These are so cute. It would be fun to print out a mask template and let your child decorate the mask themselves. I””m looking forward to Uly being old enough to enjoy something like this!
Lion mask example
Giraffe mask example
Giraffe mask pattern
Lion mask pattern
August 16th, 2010
This is a little t-shirt I whipped up for Ulysses. I actually made three of them and he looks super cute in them. I was inspired by someone I found on Flickr randomly, Janssen Designs. I love how recycled/vintage/unique they are. Each one is a personality of its own. I used Japanese fabrics on the sleeves, but the t-shirts are indeed recycled, mostly from Value Village but I got approval from Ryan to cut up some of his, so new ones are on the horizon. I”ll take pics of the others one of these days.
My sweet mom hosted a lovely birthday party for me last week that was one of the best times I”ve had for a while, and then my sweet hubby took me and the babe to Leavenworth for a long weekend. My mom so very kindly offered to come with us for part of the time to watch the babe, so we floated down the the river in the hot summer sun (with the icicle river –literally, that”s its name!) to keep us the perfect temperature and had a lovely dinner outside following. We didn”t have one decent meal out in that town. Someone needs to get Zagat up in that joint to do a tastebud check. But, really, it was a wonderful birthday. And, I got a serger! I just got it set up tonight and am feeling pretty pleased with myself about threading it. I am hoping to use it on more Uly shirts.
August 3rd, 2010
After much deliberation, this is what I decided to do with the lovely Vera tea towels that were given to me by a dear friend. Aren”t they wonderful? Her mom had collected them and she just gave them to me out of the blue one day. I”ve held onto them for about a year–pulling them out for a couple of hosting events, but I really wanted them to be more of a fixture. That said, I was having too difficult of a time imagining cutting them up. The design would be lost! I don”t know what I”d do with the scraps. I know, you”re thinking, “This girl is crazy with these silly self-imposed dilemmas.” I did finally arrive at a solution, which is this curtain. I zigzagged stitched the pieces flat together, so it”s finished on both side of the curtain and made it so that none of the tea towels were obscured. I”m so happy with how it”s turned out and it”s so lovely to walk by this every day in our new home.
And, I didn”t want to leave this whole discussion on a crazy note, so here are some lovely and fun tutorials that I wish I had the time and inclination to try–some day!
Fabric Boats Baby Tights
July 19th, 2010
Some new pants and shorts I whipped up for Ulysses. I had no idea how simple it can be to make clothes for the little one and I”ve been a little hooked lately. Aren”t those shorts too much? The fabric is vintage and was very generously given to me by Mrs. Seitz. There wasn”t quite enough to even make these shorts, so I had to sew a little band around the top to make the waistband. But he looks adorable in them. So far my ventures in using Ulysses as a model have been less than fantastic. We will try again later though.
We had glorious summer weather last week, finally, what with it being mid-July. Ulysses and I gallivanted around town enjoying ourselves like it was 1999. We went to the sprinkler park three times, took walks to the water, ate al fresco–and it”s a good thing too since it drizzled all morning and temperatures hit a ripe 67.
July 12th, 2010
I finally finished the quilt for Ulysses that I started when I was pregnant–so it has been about a year and a half. It fits a twin-sized bed so he is not not using it yet. I hope he has not formed opinions about bed dressings by the time he can. It is made from an extra sheet I bought for his bed, and other random prints I found in the same colorway. I am so happy with how it turned out. I hand quilted the whole thing, which I hope makes it special for him. I went a little crazy and made it reversible–I like the cross side better and Ryan likes the back.
It has been such a joy to make this for him. I love the idea that quilting, unlike anything else I do, has the chance of outlasting me and being snuggled around generations of my children and grandchildren; it is so romantic. I like to think about their uses–picnics, beach outings, warmth at night, forts in the living room, something treasured kept in a cedar chest and pulled out for company.
June 30th, 2010
I finally got some pics of our new house. We are really enjoying our new space. It””””s hard not to feel a little remorse about certain aspects and not to ruminate on lost houses, but we really are happy here. I feel somewhat apprehensive about our small space and the stairs, with our growing boy, but I think we can continue to make it work. My favorite things about this house are the gorgeous pine floors, my sweet little outdoor space, and all of the light (not to mention I didn””””t have to paint!). Despite this house not having one closet (no, not one), we have managed to store everything. I was particularly nervous about this “quality” of our home. The only thing I didn””””t manage to get a picture of is Uly””””s room, because he was napping while I took most of these and because it””””s not quite all the way finished. If you want to see more, check out my Flickr set.
June 21st, 2010
I bought these adorable Sukie iron-ons from Urban Outfitters. I just adore the designs. I”ve tried using them on a number of different fabrics now–jersey, a tea towel, a high thread count cotton and each time they just show up blurry and faint, like on the fabric pictured here. I followed the directions to the letter, and am so disappointed with the outcome. Does anyone have any ideas on what I might be doing wrong, or are these just lame? I tried leaving the iron on the design for twice as long as what was recommended; not sure what else to do but put these in the trash!
We”re headed to the beach this weekend for a little family time. I can”t wait! The weather is supposed to be 60 and cloudy, but it will be fun to be on the water and hanging out. Gotta love Seattle summers.
June 16th, 2010
I was feeling reminiscent this morning and looked back through the June archives on my blog. It””s so interesting to have a catalog of selected life events to look through. It””s so fun to be reminded of fun times and friends and projects, and interesting to look back and see the selection of things I talk about in this space. It””s a good reminder of all of the wonderful things I have in my life, and many more things to look forward to as well. Tomorrow is my eighth wedding anniversary. Eight years! We were such babies then and now we have one of our own. 
I””ve been thinking about making another softie–it””s in my mental running lists of things I””d like to do. (Which, by the way, my brain seemed to have melted a bit over the past year. I seem to be losing quite a few important bits of data these days. How does this happen? And, can I blame it on my baby?) So, I thought I””d do a little round up of softies of yore–because that””s what I””m doing today: thinking of yore.
I love you, husband.
June 7th, 2010
Pillow House by Savvy Stitch
Roadside Mini Quilts by Elsie Marley
Tea Towel Pants by Red Mag
These are a few things I found around the blogosphere that I can”t get out of my head. I really want to try my hand at those tea towel pants. I have some really cute vintage linens that I”ve been trying to come up with ideas to put them to use.
I am so very close to finally finishing Ulysses”s baby quilt–that has turned into a twin-sized quilt since babies aren”t supposed to sleep with blankets. I finished all of the hand quilting over the weekend and got the top of the binding stitched on and started on the hand stitching. It”s 1.5 years in the making. I was hoping to have it finished for his birth, so there. I”m only a little late.
We had lousy Memorial Day weather, which really bummed me out but we managed to spend our days away seeing friends and family and popping around town.
June 2nd, 2010
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