Happy Easter! I think I know what we're going to be eating for the next week...
And, in the garden excitement category...I spotted one tulip bulb beginning to pop up on Thursday afternoon, but I had to wait until yesterday to get a photo. After all, the 4 inches of snow that fell on Friday had to melt first.
Jon and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this weekend with a trip to a bed and breakfast in Guelph, Ontario.
The B&B was such in a beautiful old brick house in downtown Guelph. The breakfasts were delicious and we enjoyed relaxing in our red room. Our host at the B&B gave us lots of great suggestions for restaurants and touristy things to do, so we were able to take in some local culture and expand our waistlines with delicious food.
On Saturday afternoon we drove to St. Jacobs, ON, a Mennonite town, and visited the farmers' market and some of the cute little art and antique stores in the downtown area. As we were leaving, we saw our first horse and buggy (!)
Then, on Sunday afternoon, we took a short driving tour of Guelph (it was cold!), and stopped off at the beautiful Catholic church perched on the hill overlooking the city.
After, we headed to Elora, ON, which is a quaint little town known for its Gorge.
We window shopped and then ended up eating at the Old Mill Inn, an inn and hotel situated right on the Gorge. We sat on the outdoor covered/windowed balcony and enjoyed our lunch while taking in the amazing view.
Lastest Craft Miracle:
The Beauty Bag from Bend the Rules Sewing
I attempted making this bag last fall and failed miserably (I blame the crappy fabric I used)! This time was a great crafting feat. I finished it in two hours and with little frustration...truly a rewarding afternoon project.
Things I changed about the pattern (it is from Bend the Rules Sewing)
Handles: changed the length from 22" to 24", created 1.5" wide bias tape handles, rather than sewing a two-toned handle. I also moved the handle position from right over the pleat to just inside the pleat
Interfacing: I used a cotton interfacing on the outside fabric (pleats and all) instead of the recommended flannel lining
And, if I ever make this pattern again, I will definitely remember to add a magnetic snap closure!
Fabric: linen-esque khaki fabric from IKEA, tree print from Japan
Something I still don't understand: I had the hardest time doing the final top stitch because the part where the pleats are folded in together has about 12 layers of fabric (three layers from the front pleat and three layers from the back pleat sewn together to attach the outside and lining and then and folded over for the top stitching to create 12 layers)...how is this supposed to lay flat? I have examined lots of bags in the flickr pool, and none look as bulky as mine. What did I do wrong?
Latest obsession:
weeHomes - We'd love to build one of these some day on a nice patch of property in the woods with enough sunny space for a large vegetable garden. We can dream, right?!
Latest Musical Discovery:
My best NPR find since The Album Leaf: Bon Iver, currently playing at SXSW in Austin. Can't wait until he comes to Detroit!
I just pulled this quilt out of the dryer...so satisfying to finish such a long term project (total lapsed time: 9 months!). I'm so glad I decided to pick this up and finish it last weekend. It feels good to cross another thing off the list!
Here are the details:
Quilt Pattern: What a Bunch of Squares from Denyse Schmidt Quilts
Fabric: Solid fabric is Kona Cotton, Binding fabric is a great leaf print that I picked up in Japan last year. I don't know the designer, but I have seen it in this online store, re:makeables, featured here. I used the binding technique seen here to finish it off.
Quilting inspiration: this great vertical line quilting seen here, and since then here and here. I used white cotton thread, marked vertical lines 2-3" apart from each other.
Final size: 76" x 100" (a skinny, but long queen size)
(we have the MALM bedroom set from IKEA. Thank goodness, or else this skinny quilt would not have reached down to the bottom of our mattress on a normal, non-platform bed)
Remember this quilt from last summer? Yeah, the one I had intended on using instead of our down comforter during the summer. Well, the good news is that I'm hoping to have it finished by this summer instead. I pulled it out of hibernation last weekend and assessed the damage. I had to pull out all of my basting pins (sad!) and rip out the little quilting that I did do. I washed the top to get rid of the lines and re-drew parallel vertical lines (as seen here), re-basted it and have been quilting a few lines here and there in the evenings. I will definitely be glad to have this project out of the way!
And, here's a set of bibs that I made for Oiyi's daughter, Melody, who was born back in January. I used the now famous bib pattern from Chick Pea Sewing Studio, some japanese character prints that I bought in Japan last year, and the side view of the pig from the Christmas ornament freebie at weewonderfuls (my attempt at hand sewing a stuffed golden pig was quite laughable, so I went with the two dimensional version instead!).
Happy birthday to my little (but taller) sister, Ruth!
Thanks for being a coerced willing participant in my crazy schemes (playing dentist with a set of nut pickers seemed like a good idea at the time). I'm sorry that you've had to put up with a bossy older sister like me for the past 24 years!
Jon and I have been on a bit of a used book buying binge lately. First it started with paperbackswap.com where I've been trading my unused books for new to me books. Then we discovered the little library used book store, which has great prices (nothing over $1).
And then Jon finally introduced me to John King Used & Rare Books in Detroit. Why had I never checked this place out before? I don't know. We headed down to the city yesterday afternoon and spent a few hours browsing all four floors of books. It's the mecca of used books on any and every subject you can imagine and is the largest used bookstore in the country. The store was overwhelming at first and I was kicking myself for not bringing along my book wish list, but I ended up finding a few things to purchase - two novels and a great book on the history of NPR (my daily necessity!). It's so inspiring being surrounded by shelves and shelves of books! There's so much out there to read and learn about!
We ended our Saturday afternoon book tour at a local used bookstore: Royal Oak Books. It was a bit pricier than the library book store and John King, but they had a good selection and we both found a couple of books to buy. Plus, the store was "run" by these two cute calico cats that followed us around the store while we were browsing. A bookstore with cats...great combo in our eyes!
And speaking of books...I was accepted into grad school for Library and Information Science and I start my first class in May. I hope to complete my master's degree in two years and am so excited to head back to school and to see where this new field of study takes me.
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