The High Chair

We have avoided using a traditional highchair at home. Not necessarily on purpose but more that we just didn't have the need for one (although I did like not having to buy a huge hunk of hard-to-clean plastic). Anyway ... when she was just a wee little thing, Kya used a Bumbo seat with tray. When she was a wee bit bigger we used a Chicco clip-on travel chair that my mom found on Craigs List. Up until last week we got by with the clip-on chair just fine but Kya seemed to have outgrown the Chicco chair. Not in size or weight (not by far!) but in maturity. I think she wanted a bit more freedom and room to wiggle. She's a great eater and is quite tidy so I saw no reason to object. Also, I like to use a table cloth on the table, and a clip-on chair makes that quite difficult.

So, down to the basement I went.
I'm so excited to say that Kya is now using an antique wood high chair that I once used. My sister Caitlyn used it too. So did my dad. And so did his dad. This is now a four-generation high chair.


The chair seat and base had been separated in storage and shipping, but I easily fixed that with a bit of wood glue. I also attached four felt pads so the chair doesn't scratch our floor.


For safety, I sewed a seat belt for the chair. I made it with extra quilt binding pieces and a plastic buckle from Joann Fabrics.


It's a keeper.
When did Kya grow up?!

A very strange day

There is only one way to describe today: strange.

For one - it just snowed at my grandparent's house (only about 10 miles from our house).

Secondly, I was confined to our house all day today. I have been sick for about a week but I didn't think much of it until yesterday when I was informed that I may have had contact with someone that has H1N1 (the swine flu). I was told that if I had any of the symptoms, I should contact my doctor. Well, since in the past week I've experienced all the symptoms, I called my doctor right away. 

In short, my doctor's office took the "better safe than sorry" route and decided to treat me as if I have the H1N1 virus. They made me wear a mask and they all wore masks when seeing me. They took three nasal swab samples for testing (not a fun experience at all!) and gave me a prescription for Tamiflu. I was also instructed to not leave my house until I was told otherwise. Yesterday afternoon was one of the strangest afternoons of my life - everyone was super cautious around me. I just kept thinking how bad I'd feel if I've been infecting everyone for the past week. 

Lucky for me, I'm on mend and am feeling pretty darn good except for a cough ... so being stuck at home seems rather silly.

So ... today I was home. What's a girl to do when stuck inside all day? 

Sew.

I made great progress on the 4-by-4 color block quilt. Now I've got a few green/aqua blocks and a few purple/blue blocks completed. These blocks take plenty of time and patience so this will be one quilt full of love (and time).

I also finished my week three 9-patch quilt-a-long blocks. 

Oh and I made a potholder from skirt scraps.

I just can't get enough of the red ric rak. So fun.

...

The afternoon brought good news. My doctor's office called and said the test that they conducted here in Bismarck came back negative. They also sent one test to the state and one to the CDC (both of those tests are more sensitive and take more time). So as long as I don't have a fever (which I don't), I have permission to be out in the world (and back at work). I was so happy to hear the good news. I think my husband will kiss me again :)

They said that just because the test is negative now, it doesn't mean that I never had it. So anyone that I have spent time with recently should pay special attention to flu symptoms and go to the doctor if they become ill.

Above all, this is a great reminder to wash your hands, cover your mouth, drink plenty of fluids and stay home when sick.

Stay healthy!

(sorry for the crummy photos, it's dark, rainy and gloomy outside)

Update: 8:30 pm 

It is snowing.

Sun and thunder

Here it is - my finished Barcelona skirt! (never-mind my hand in this photo ... the camera was on self timer mode and I was not ready)

I think it's a good springtime skirt.

Speaking of springtime, our yard is in full spring mode. This is our plum tree that has never produced a plum.

Mister plum tree again.

bleeding heart bush

tulips

...

We have our first severe thunderstorm warning tonight. Yep, it's officially spring.

Happy anniversary to my grandparents - Darwin and Irene - 53 years!

Quilt-a-long: two weeks down

The one-a-day, 9-patch, quilt-a-long is two weeks old already ...

... and somehow I've managed to keep up! I think my red/green Christmas quilt will be pretty darn cute when it's completed. I'm still planning to sash each block in white. We'll continue to make one block a day until mid-summer, when we'll each have enough for a quilt top.

My Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt is finished ... and it fits great. I'm going to wear it and take photos of it on me tomorrow (so check back Tuesday for photos). I made a small substitution to the pattern - button and elastic loop for hook/eye closure. Walmart didn't have any hook/eyes so I made do with what I had at home. I actually like the little red accent - it was one of my Great Grandma Dolly's vintage buttons and I'll think of her whenever I wear it. Grandma Dolly always wore red, so it's pretty special that I have a red button on my new favorite skirt.

It feels very fancy to have the lining on the skirt. I almost left it off but I'm really glad I included it. I used Joann's (super affordable) quilters cotton for the lining and it's surprisingly soft on my skin.

Skirt progress

Making this skirt has brought back lots of memories of my junior high and high school home economics classes. It's been a long time since I've had to work with a thin tissue paper pattern. I can't say I missed it. It's quite fussy.

This skirt includes both a hidden zipper and a liner - quite the learning curve with lots of new things to teach myself.

It is very close to being completed - it only needs the hook/eye sewn in and it needs to be hemmed. Then it'll take up residence in my closet. Yippee. I'm already excited to get started on the next one.

This is the Amy Butler, Barcelona, a-line skirt.

My search for a new skirt landed me at the quilting store

I've been looking for a new skirt (or two) for work and summer weekends and I've had a very hard time finding one that I like. I did some research and pleasantly found this pattern by Amy Butler. Lucky for me they happen to sell it at the Bismarck Sewing and Quilting Store (off State Street, near KMart and Grand Cinemas).

After work today I ventured to the store and bought the pattern.

I couldn't leave without buying fabric for a skirt ... or two.

I bought this fabric for the skirt pictured on the front - the layered/frayed a-line skirt.

And I bought this fabric for a skirt like the one on the front, but not layered - so it'll just be a simple a-line skirt (pattern also included with this Amy Butler set). I love the vintage look of this fabric.

Upon returning home I noticed some of my tulips are finally blooming. I couldn't help by cut a few and put them in a vase on our kitchen table. 

Also this evening Corey and I attended the Cinco de Mayo party hosted by the Bismarck-Mandan Young Professionals Network (YPN). Corey and I met through the network so we really enjoy getting together with them. I was quite honored (and very surprised) to receive the Pioneer Award for my time served as the Webmaster for the YPN. Such fun!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Pillows and food: a lovely pair

There's a designer (Orla Kiely) who just so happens to make some great fabrics (and clothes and dishes and purses) and just so happens to have a beautiful line of dishtowels at Target that (just so conveniently) can be sewn together to make beautiful throw pillow covers. 

Just my kind of project.

So ... I bought the dish towels (one pair makes one 14x14 inch pillow). And followed this pattern (pdf).

And viola!

The front is the green/white/brown pear fabric, the back is the solid green pear fabric.

Orla Kiely makes other dish towel designs but these matched our living room the best.

The pattern is very easy and very fast - I made two covers in about an hour.

While I was sewing, my mom called and told me about a great article in the May 2o09 issue of Bon Appétit magazine. 

I just so happen to have a subscription to that magazine (pure luck - I only get three magazines - two about quilting and this one). 

Anyway ... there's a great article in it about the best things to eat and drink in each state. 

Let's check out North Dakota.

This is so exciting!

It says "what to buy: chocolate covered potato chips from Carol Wideman's Candy Co." I have to agree with this. I've had them and they are good. And I don't even like chocolate. It continues with "what to eat: knoephla soup at Fried's Family Restaurant." The sky is falling! Fried's! Little old Fried's - in a real live MAGAZINE! What is this world coming to?!

I love eating at Fried's. If you've been to Fried's, you know. Fried's is a very hometown type of diner with a super casual trucker/farmer like client base. The "ambience" (if you can call it that) is country crafty and the food ... oh the food. Let's just say I really like this place. This is the prime example of a locals hangout - except that many of the locals don't even know about it. I guess it's more of a neighborhood thing? I only know about it because my grandparents live about a block away. And yes, the review is right - the knoephla soup is excellent. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Unfortunately, this fall Fried's had a pipe break and the restaurant flooded. They've been closed ever since - but word on the street is that they will be opening soon. I can hardly wait. Yippee Fried's!

Oh, and it's pronounced free'd not fry'd :)

Finally back in action

I'd been itching to get into my sewing room again. So last night, after Corey went to bed (early because he wasn't feeling well), I tip-toed down to my sewing room. I didn't have much time to dive into a quilt project, so I whipped-up a ....

... Yoga Mat Carrying Strap

Yesterday after work we had our weekly yoga session. Sister Kathleen didn't have a strap to cary her yoga mat, so it kept shifting and coming unraveled. What a bummer. By pure good luck, I stumbled across this pattern yesterday.

So that's what I made. And boy is it cute - and super easy too!

I think I'll make one for myself and trash the shoe-string strap that came with my yoga mat.

Español and embroidery?

I'm in the process of teaching two people how to quilt and three people how to knit. The three knitters-to-be were surprised that I was able to teach myself how to knit in one evening with a few YouTube videos. It is a pretty complicated craft, especially the start of a project. 

This got me thinking.

Are learning different sewing crafts similar to learning foreign languages? When I was in high school spanish class, our teacher - Señora Michaels - kept us motivated by saying that the first foreign language you learn is always the hardest. It's the most difficult because so much is new - from the concept of verb conjugation to the massive amount of new words. Similarly, is the learning curve for the first sewing craft steeper than the second of third? I believe so.

I learned how to quilt when I was a sophomore in high school, thanks to my high school boyfriend's mom (hello Mary Jo!). Last summer, when I learned how to hand embroider (thanks to my bonus mom, Andrea!), I already knew a few basic stitches and was familiar with needle and thread motions (thanks to quilting). When I learned how to knit, knowing basic knots (embroidery) and being familiar with how patterns are written (quilting) were instrumental in my understanding knitting.

So for all those that might be getting frustrated with learning a sewing craft for the first time ... keep going! It will only get easier. Learn another sewing craft when you master this one. 

--- 

Since I claim to be a sewer (ha!) ... here's what I worked on this weekend ...

A diagonally-knitted blanket - with stripes! I had started this previously, but had to take it out because I skipped a few stitches. It's two-tone pink with white and dark gray. Pattern here.

I'm plugging away at my improvisationally-pieced red/black/white quilt. 

I'm at a deciding point. To border in white? or not (see below)?

I made the bottom right corner block this weekend and I like the wider, simpler borders. Maybe I should make more like this? Or maybe I should scrap all the blocks (use them for the back of the quilt) except this one and make all the remaining blocks with this 'look'?

Any ideas?

Sorry for the horrendous photos.

Sometimes the most simple of things seem the most difficult

I've been humming and hawing over making an electric heating pad cover for the past few months. The one that came with the heating pad is a butt-ugly blue color and it's scratchy. So, I decided to make one. 

That's where things got tricky. I googled and googled but couldn't find a good pattern or instructions. I almost gave up and resigned to the fact that I'd have to use the wretched blue one. Forever.

Tonight, after one last unsuccessful google search, I got a wild hair. I "winged it." I made my own, without any help, pattern, or sample. I totally overestimated the difficulty. It was a piece of cake. Actually, it's quite possibly the easiest thing I've ever made. I used some extra quilt fabric and a piece of red rick rack. No lining, just 100% cotton fabric. It came together in about 10 minutes. I can't wait to wear it out so I can make another one. Ha.

Here's a shout-out (is that what the cool kids say these days? All of a sudden I'm feeling old) to my bonus sister, Maria! Happy 16th birthday!!!