Sewing Inspiration

I have been at home with sick boys after a 4 day weekend where we went to Vancouver Island to visit friends and family, so things at the studio have been put on hold for a few days here.  Fingers crossed, between the laundry, hand-washing, tea-making and constant cleaning, I'll be able to avoid this bug they picked up...

In the meantime, work on the website is resuming and tax prep needs to get back to speed, so maybe it's not too bad.  As long as I have patient customers and shops, I'll get through this little set-back and be back to speed before too long. 

Our local fabric store is closing down so I have been picking up thread, notion, and fabric for a quilt I've been wanting to make.  I found this amazing old measuring tape at a thrift store on the weekend and couldn't help picking it up for the sewing box.  Somehow working with old tools and pretty thread makes me want to dive into the quilt project, even though I'm a little hesitant considering all the work I have going on in the studio, not to mention the prospect of having to move in the next few months.

On that front, our place still isn't listed for sale yet, so we are sitting tight while the boys try to finish up the school year.  We aren't sure where we will find our next home and neighbourhood but are pretty open to moving a little closer to my studio in East Vancouver.   Crossing a bridge to get into Vancouver can at times be problematic (traffic!!) and bus fare costs more between North Vancouver and the city, so those are a couple more reasons to think about moving back to Vancouver.  We will, however, dearly miss our neighbours, the walking trails at the end of each road, the quiet street, and of course, the school and community that that has brought us.   We have had some really great years and times in this place- for which I am so grateful!

Hope you have a great week! Stay well!

Weekend projects

I did finally get to sewing a tote bag out of fabric that I had dyed this last summer.  I used an Ikea cushion cover that had a broken zipper on it for the lining.  It feels good to re-use something for another purpose or another life. 
This weekend the boys and I took a trip to the Family farm.  Johnny has a school project that he's working on about documenting a family treasure- he has to interview someone about the treasure, take photos and tell the story behind the treasure.  So out of a few possibilities he chose a friendship ring given to his Great-Grandmother as she left Russia to come to Canada in 1924.  We looked through old letters from family that stayed behind during Soviet Russia.  One of her brothers who was thought to have died in a work camp during Stalin's reign was re-united with our family about 12 years ago, only a few years after the death of his sister. 
I particularly liked the wallet that the ring was found in- such a great design.  Each of those corner flaps opened up to a pocket.
And check out the 'Rules for the baby' Great-grandma Dahl got when she had one of her son's in 1949.  'Most important of all.  Leave Baby alone.'  It really is a wonder babies survived with advice like that!

Weekend Project and a Happy Valentines Day!

Hello there! I hope you had a great weekend!  We had a few birthday parties to go to this weekend so during the days we kept things at home pretty low key.  Between making all the Valentine cards (we all pitched in) for the boy's class, baking bread, and doing the laundry, I actually managed to finish a quilt I had been making for Sasha when I was pregnant with him.  Yup, that's right.  7 years later it finally got done.   It really was a combination of not having the right sewing machine and the quilt being at my folks' place all this time because I had thought I might be able to use my mom's machine.  So years later it all finally got done.  It's quite a cheerful little quilt- of course I didn't know at the time if I was having a boy or a girl so I thought I'd go with primary colour prints.  Of course it's the size of a crib.   But no matter- Sasha thought it was quite cozy and it seems to suit his cheerful personality! 


I hope you have a great day- whether it's just a regular Monday for you or whether you are taking time to do something special with your loved one (s).  We keep things pretty low-key over here at our place, but I think some chocolate cupcakes for desert will be in order! 

holidays at home.

I must say that it is sometimes nice to holiday at home.  I've managed to be home for 2 whole days now without going anywhere, content to read my book, prune back the jungle that I call my yard, water the garden and watch as the neighbour kids take turns all play in each other's yards.  It's been really nice to make pasta salad, potato salad, soup and just re-heat or pull them out of the fridge if someone gets hungry.  The extra beer in the fridge has been an added bonus for those late afternoon heat waves when not much else will do. 

I've managed to clean out my 'sewing bin'.  These days it's relegated to a bin under the bed, that was getting a little tough to pull out from under the bed.  A good purge and a 'new' tupperware sewing box that I recently bought at a thrift store made sorting thread and needles and buttons kind of fun.  I also found a lovely sample of vintage fabric (the bird one in the photo) and then had some white cotton that I used in my indigo dyeing project that I may make pillow cushions covers out of.  Someday.

We are off to visit our friends in Vernon leaving friday for a week or so.  We don't have internet access up there but I'll try to prepare some posts intermittently while I'm away.  Hope you are having some good 'lazy' summer days as I've been:)!