hung

The curtains are done! The curtains are hung!

You know how when you’ve been working on something for a long time you kind of get sick of it? I started printing these curtains in November I think it was, then put them away during the Christmas crazies, then got them out again last month. I drew up the design several years ago when I saw the curtains here, so we’ve had a pretty long relationship, these curtains and I. On Saturday after I clipped them to the rings strung on the curtain rod I was ready to call the whole thing a total bust, but now that I’ve had some time to breath from the rolling ink and stamping, rolling and stamping, rolling and stamping, and just sit back and look at them, walk past them, and pull their light airiness open and shut, they’ve grown on me. They make this new home feel a little bit more “me.”

So, while I was in the hanging mood I turned to my stack of Karl Blossfeldt photogravures that has been gathering dust on the floor in my bedroom.

It’s been nearly 8 months since we moved in here. I guess it is about time I started hanging art on the walls and add a little more me-ness to this place, even though it is a rental.

And, one more thing to go with this theme of hanging. Our little baby has discovered his hands this week.

I’ve made baby gyms before, I remember one in particular I made for Jonah out of “crazy pipe” (bendable sprinkler pipe) covered with quilting fabric, but I think I’ve finally come up with a design I love. I was going to just buy one, but I wanted something simple and wooden, and couldn’t find anything for a price I was willing to pay. I went to Home Depot and found all the wood I needed on one isle. Then I made springy-toy-dangler-things from some favorite fabric scraps and Hunter has been entertained for hours. I exaggerate not! The Tigger and Eeyore are favorites from when Brenna was tiny– I remember vividly the first time she reached for something, opened her little hand, grabbed it, and stuffed it in her mouth. It was that skinny ring on that Tigger while we were driving back to Utah after living in Boulder, Colorado for the summer. Here we are, in Colorado again, with a little baby, and Tigger is definitely his toy of choice.

I’ll have a tutorial on making a simple wooden baby gym posted here soon!

getting out there

It seems winter came just as it was officially spring. We had weeks of beautiful weather in the upper 60s and lower 70s in late February and early March, but Hunter was so freshly hatched then I just wasn’t up for much. Once that spring equinox came and went we had snow almost every weekend. Things have taken a long time to get green, but I think now it is safe to say spring has finally sprung.

The driveway has become a maze of rocks and chalk-drawn rooms.

The animal houses are extending into the lawn, too.

Along with 4 rabbits out front we spied the first strawberry blossoms. Now to figure out how to keep the strawberries safe from all the rabbits.

And we’ve got lilacs in bloom! I didn’t miss the biting gray misty gloom of Ohio in winter, but I must say now that it’s spring I’ve been longing to see redbuds and magnolias crowned in pink, so the lilacs in our backyard make me smile.

If you’re wondering where we are, we’ll be outside.

3 months old today

I’m short on words this week. I just realized it’s Friday. How did that happen? And how did my tiny newborn get so round and smiley?

Hunter, you’ve sure turned our world upside down, and we’re glad you did. You’re one lucky little guy to have so many arms to hold you and so many silly faces to make you smile. (I should have taken a behind the scenes shot here of Brenna the smile maker. She did a great job.)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

no more babies sticking out of bed

I got a cute wooden bassinet off of craigslist to put right next to my bed before Hunter was born. The problem is, now that he’s a little bigger and wigglier I’ve found his little arm stuck through the slats a few times, poor guy. This was a perfect excuse to give some free-motion machine quilting on my new machine a try.

I made it with Kaffe Fasset shot cottons in aqua and grass. The weft and warp of the fabric are different colors, so it’s almost solid, but not quite. I fell in love with this fabric over the summer when I made this quilt for my new niece, now I’ve got something made with it for me!

The actual quilting was kind of a headache. It included a trip to the sewing machine store to have help figuring out why the heck I was getting a crazy mess of thread underneath my work, why my thread kept breaking, and why I was SO frustrated that my quick, instant gratification project was not instant or gratifying. The nice lady helped me figure it all out, and after that the quilting went pretty quickly, but I definitely need to use thicker, nicer thread next time.

Good thing I didn’t stay true to character and try this out for the first time on a king size quilt.

Now Hunter’s little arms will stay inside his bed, where they belong, and he’ll be able to sleep right beside me for a few more months.

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Also, make sure you stop by my friend April’s blog. She is an amazing seamstress and quilter and she’s been busy making birthday presents for her readers this month to give away on HER birthday. Time is running out, but if you head on over you can comment and maybe even get one of her amazing creations for yourself!