good things happen in threes

Have you ever heard that things happen in threes? It seems to be true in many cases, whether real or contrived - finding something else to complete the set...

This week, Wednesday specifically, I had 3 good things happen!
1. I won this awesome pincushion from Julie at Jaybird. She designs things for the Moda Bakeshop (get over there now if you haven't already!). This particular pincushion is made with Tula Pink's new Hushabye line that I was drooling over recently.

The pincushion is ENORMOUS! and I love it. So does my little 'helper'. I keep finding the pincushion with her toys though. I'm thinking I need to make some bean bags!

2. I got a tip on some half-price Sandi Henderson from the Fabric Shack and the order came in the mail the same day as the pincushion! They sent me a free package of machine quilting needles and a handy quilting chart reference card! They won me over!

3. My husband came home! Yes, Wednesday was a GOOD day!

Now that I don't have him to wait for anymore, I'm missing a little drama. So now I'm just waiting for these guys to ripen.

and these.

If I could just get my kids to not pick them until they are RED.

how does your garden grow?

sweet peas

and broccoli

some even with flowers! (oops - I think I should have picked this sooner....)

Red Lettuce

And lavender.

I love this method of gardening. If you have ever wanted to garden, but were too intimidated to try - this is a great way to start! This is my 3rd year and it's getting easier and better and more fun. It's like a science experiment all summer long. I learned last year not to plant 4 foot zinnias in my boxes, they leached everything out so my produce didn't produce!

If you are gardening and blogging about it, let me know! I love seeing what people are doing.

We will resume our regularly scheduled sewing after this. I've got a few blocks to sew together.

where's gnomie?

Can you see him?

He's trying to disguise himself as a red petunia!

I need a better name for him. Got any ideas?

weekend sewing and gardening

Do you ever get so many projects going on in your head that you can't keep organized the projects you are actually doing - not to mention fixing meals, keeping the toys picked up, the kitchen cleaned and children happy? Oh man, I've been feeling a little more than disheveled lately. It's gardening season and I have all these sewing projects I want to finish too. But I find that I really can only do one project a day - and I have to figure out how to squeeze that in the middle of being a mother and homemaker. Does anyone have the secret? In the meantime, until I get it all figured out, I guess I'll just continue on in my happy creative messes!

And really, aren't these just happy fabrics!? I keep checking my reader for Week 3s instructions for Dana's Quilt-along. I finally got the strips cut out last night. Can't wait to start putting them together!

*****

A friend of mine asked me to help her make a bag for her oldest daughter who just had her first baby. I love the fabric they chose.

We spent a nice afternoon together chatting and sewing. And she made a beautiful bag! I love working with other people on projects. The way everyone sees things differently I get to do things I wouldn't have typically done myself.

You may have noticed that I'm drawn to bold patterns and bright colors - but I love this simple polka dot in a subdued turquoise and brown. So classic.

I have a bag problem. I really do want to keep every. single. one.

*****
Lastly - the garden. I was really tired of looking at this when I came home.

It used to look even worse - with clover and NO plants. I'm looking forward to those hydrangeas, gladiolas, and dahlias blooming.

But I needed some instant color. So one trip to the nursery and I came home with this!

And now that sad little patch looks just a little bit brighter. And who knew plants went on clearance? I got petunias for 25 cents for a 6 pack! Nice! And only because they were OVERwatered. I've let them dry out a bit....

This is my favorite spot. I love the bright orange and pink zinnias!

I can't wait to see it all as it grows and fills in! It's making me happier already.

earth day!

That mother earth. She's pretty amazing. I love gardening. I don't do much except put seeds and plants in the ground. Rain, sun and dirt - they do the rest. It's a fun cheap experiment that you get to eat!

This year I'm toying with spring veggies. Like peas.

And red lettuce and broccoli.

And lucky me! My tarragon from last summer came back! It's my new favorite fresh herb.

Mother nature, she's pretty too.

whew! and some link love

Can you believe it's mid-October and I still have these lovely flowers in my garden? I hope they brighten your day as much as they do mine.

It's been a busy and productive few days. It's nice having my mom here to keep me company and to entertain Alison. She's gotten kind of bored with good ole mom! I painted my table - just working on the seats for the chairs now. I love it so far and can't wait to see how it all pulls together.

I finished the binding

on Andrew's quilt

and made a matching crib sheet!

Who knew you could do that? And it's pretty easy. I used this tuturial. Joanna does these tutorials for the Michael Miller blog, which I love. I just found it a few weeks ago. There's a good one for baby shoes, beach balls, and bean bags chairs too. Oops! that beach ball one is from The Purl Bee. Another great place for tutorials - also a new find.

My mom and I got to go her my friend Karen play Barber's violin concerto with the Richmond Symphony. It was amazing. I can't even begin to explain how cool it is to see her up there playing. I'm in awe. Here is a video of the 2nd movement - just to give you an idea.

We've also made some spooky pom-pom spiders (idea courtesy of Make and Takes.) They are now hanging in our doorways and lurking in unexpected places *like grandma's purse*! I have a crafter in the making. Alison loves cutting, gluing, playdoh-ing, etc. I better find a mini sewing machine. . .

We had this soup for dinner tonight. A totally EASY good soup - you throw stuff in a pot and simmer for 3 hours! It's a great recipe from the Smitten Kitchen - which is another blog that is new to me, I'm sure most people know about, but I've been a little slow around here. I am planning on trying this one - in honor of apple season and this one too. I have a problem with recipes. I love them. I read my Cook's Illustrated before bed. I love the possibility of good food.

One last thing, remember the dream my friend Allyn had? Well, here is her bag! It is so adorable, I think I need her to make me one. And check out her sidebar with pics of her latest projects - some adorable baby outfits. Did I mention how creative and amazing she is?! It was her birthday Saturday too - I'm sure she'd love some birthday comment love!

Oh yeah, don't get me started on the scarf I am crocheting - it is lovely, but I've had a hard time getting it right! Maybe I'll write about it when it is finished.

So we've been busy - luckily we've also managed to get a few naps in.

weekend projects

I finally got the labels finished for my bags, thanks to Penny's label tutorial! I wanted to get these done so I could finish the bag I'm working on. I will post pictures this week - I really like this one! I would keep it for myself if it wasn't already spoken for. But I think I say that every time....

What do you do when you have a prolific jalapeno plant but not enough tomatoes to make enough salsa to use the jalapenos? Jalapeno Pepper Jelly!!

Does that sound weird to you? My husband wouldn't even try it. I was introduced to it at a family gathering last summer where cream cheese in many forms was consumed. My favorite was a Ritz, cream cheese and a dollop of this sweet hot jelly! I know, it doesn't sound very sophisticated, but it sure tasted good!

I've also had it on a turkey pot roast sandwich and it was great that way too! This weekend I had it on a roast beef sandwich and it didn't disappoint.


Welcome Autumn! I've always wanted to leave a pie by the window to cool. So I did! I used some fresh Ginger Golds for our apple pie - delicious. Nothing fancy, super simple. And just as good for breakfast as it was for dessert the night before!

flowers for friday

My zinnia's were so big I needed to prune them so they wouldn't fall over and completely die. I thought they would be nice in a vase for you. So here you go! Happy Friday!


And to those of you wondering what I did with that ginormous squash (1/2 of it anyway)? Well what else do you do with the end of summer orphaned vegetables? Ratatouille!!

l-r: 1. cubed yellow squash, green pepper, orphaned eggplant, zucchini, carrots.
2. saute with vidalia onions, herbes de provence, salt and pepper.
3. add tomatoes, fresh or canned and simmer until your rice is done.


One other thing I can't believe I forgot to mention. I won Karen's (@ lulufish) giveaway!! I'm so excited!!! I'm anxiously awaiting my goodies and will post more dramatically on them when I get them! Thanks, Karen!! GO read her blog - she's funny! and inspiring!

clarify, please

When your neighbor asks, a little hesitantly, if you want a yellow squash, be sure to see it before you say, "Yes!"

garden update

I haven't posted about my garden much lately. I got a late start with some of my plants so my cherry tomatoes are just now really ripening up. My larger tomato plant is working hard to get some fruit out and the cukes are doing really well, along with the herbs and jalepenos. My beets were being over shadowed by my dahlias and zinnias so I transplanted them to the new box. They survived pretty well. That's the nice thing about this square foot gardening, since the soil is all the same 'recipe' you can move things around pretty easily without a lot of root shock. My zinnias wilted at first, but my garden mentor Lisa told me to cover the roots/base of the plant to keep them cool and it should be fine. And by the next morning they were.

About my zinnias. Let me first say, I really don't know much about gardening except from what I saw my dad do growing up (predominately tomatoes and squash) and what my friend Mel has taught me from his book.

A few summers ago on our way from CA to VA we stopped in Washington (the state) to visit my brother. My sister-in-law took us to a cutting garden that was the coolest thing I ever saw. This woman had a huge flower garden with rows on rows of flowers. She had a little bench with scissors and supplies for cutting your own bouquet and then you left money in a little ballot box type thing. I wish I'd taken pictures that day. It certainly inspired me to plant flowers.

So back to my zinnias - I just thought they looked pretty on the seed package. I thought maybe they'd grow into a small plant like a gerber daisy. I didn't know what color I would get, it was a multi-colored packet. I planted a lot of seeds just before we had terrible rain all weekend. Most of them washed away, but one took. And boy did it take. It's at least 5 feet tall and is blooming it's gorgeous head off! Here is AK posing for perspective (granted, she's short, 2 ft something). I didn't know she was winking until I downloaded the picture later that night. I laugh every time I see it. I smile every time I look out my back window. Who knew gardening could be so fulfilling!

That's my cherry tomato plant on the right. It's not bad either. Oh and the marigolds - I decided I like them! And that's lavender in front of them - I'm hoping to get some flowers to dry.

Update: Garden and other stuff

My attempts at being productive this summer seem to get stymied at every turn. I haven't been able to sew as much, because, well frankly having a 5 month old a two year old doesn't leave a lot of time for the leisurely things. And I don't have the room to drag everything out all the time. I have been reading a lot of crafting/sewing blogs though. I will have to add them to my sidebar.





The biggest problem though came about 11 pm on Friday night when I went into the operating room to have my appendix taken out. Yep, that's right. The good thing is, at least I'll know I won't ever have appendicitis again! I've been lazing all over the couch this week reading blogs and getting motivated to be more creative, productive, and interactive with my kids. Now, if I could just feel well enough to do it!

So the big lesson of gardening I've learned this summer is that as long as you do a lot of prep work and get some strong plants, you can be incapacitated for a week, and with the rain we've been having, your garden will do just fine. (However I did take this pics last week before I got sick). Maybe I'll hobble out there in a little bit to check on everything. I can see from the window that my Zinnia's are blooming.

My first harvest: cuke, cherry tomato, jalepenos

Cherry tomato plant with a side of dahlias

Zinnia bud - I love the color and it was just a random packet - lucky me! Beets - mmmmmm.

Gardening Epiphany

I hadn't checked on my garden in a couple of weeks. It's been raining A LOT. I was sure everything was ruined. I went out to check on my little plants the other day and everything has shot up!

My dill has grown about 3 feet tall and the cucumber "bushes" turned out to be vines with 10 blossoms each. The cherry tomatoes are flowering and there is some fruit on them already. Along with the jalepenos - whose leaves look yellow but are bearing fruit nonetheless. Even my seeds that I sprouted in the ground (poppies, zinnias, cosmos and beets) are doing well.

The epiphany is this: Put them in the ground, let it rain and ignore them and they'll still do their job!!

I rearranged a few of the plants, moved them to a different square so that I can get my tomato plants this week. I also need to build my trellis for the cukes and tomatoes. top row: (R-L) marigolds, lavender, dahlia yellow, dahlia pink
2nd row: zinnias, cleared for basil (sprouting), beets, cherry tomatoes
3rd row: dill, tarragon, poppies and cosmos, jalepenos
bottom row: cleared for tomato, cuke, tomato, cuke