A few years ago, The Daddy Monkey and I moved into the smallest of our home’s bedrooms, the room that was once The Boy’s nursery.  When we had to switch bedrooms around years ago, we found ourselves hastily moving into a periwinkle blue room.  Years later, the same art and belly casts still hung on the wall.  It was time for a serious update.

While I tend to like a lot of color when it comes to interiors, the mama in me yearned for a pale, neutral, adult space.  I painted the room a pale, pale gray.  And ten weeks ago, I began sewing a new quilt to replace our old one which was in sad shape.

Here it is at last.  I had the idea for this quilt years ago, as The Snail and I browsed the local quilting shop.  Several years later, and after ten weeks of stitching, it’s on my bed.

I wanted this quilt to be all about texture.  I think the all-white theme does a good job in keeping the quilt and all its doily-ness from being too cutesy.  I raided my stash for most of the fabric, and I would say I spent only about $40 on extra batting, a few new pieces of fabric, and the doilies. The top was pieced in a quilt-as-you go method that can be found in the book Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki.  I completely improvised the design as I went along.   The back is made of a king size sheet I found at a thrift shop, with a small strip pieced in to give it the length I needed.

I really love how the white quilt makes this tiny bedroom look a bit bigger.

I still need art for the walls and I can’t decide what direction I want to go on that–if I want to keep it neutral, or go for some color.  But for now, it’s a haven for my tired eyes and body at the end of the day.  A space just for me.

I spent the past weekend processing the 73 pounds of tomatoes I picked on Friday, and it was exhausting work.  But now I have thirteen quarts of canned tomatoes, five pints of frozen oil-packed oven roasted tomatoes, thirteen pints of tomato chutney, and six pints of tomato jam.  Whew!  That’s a lot of chutney?  Do you like chutney?  Come over and get a jar.

Also on my mind lately is worm composting, vegetable gardening, chickens, and beekeeping.  I’m loving this video on “Backwards Beeekeeping.” All of this inspired by the book The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. I first read about Kelly and Erik in the book Radical Homemakers. 

The Urban Homestead has knocked my socks off.  I’ve always come up with excuses for not gardening or keeping chickens, and now I have none.  We are going to be removing a (mostly) dead tree in our backyard, and cutting another way back, to try to create enough sunlight for a narrow veggie patch.  I am so excited about it!  I have big plans for the front yard too, which involve a citrus tree and a rose garden, all watered with graywater from our bath.  I’ve always thought it was such a waste to not re-use all that barely used water, and now I see that there is a real way to use it.

I also started my first wooden spoon, and I just finished the quilt top for the new quilt I am making.  I’ve been a busy bee!  But for now, spring has made a brief return to Florida (It’s usually summer temperatures here by now) so we are on our way outside for some reading.

Here are the rugs I hinted about.  I really love them.  The instructions can be found in the book Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki.  (The same book I used to make these two little purses.) Made entirely of patchwork from my stash.  I am really mindful of trying to use what I have lately.  Again thinking of the words,

Use it up, wear it out, make do, or go without.

Now I will admit to not “going without” sometimes.  But with some things, I’ve been trying hard to not spend too much, or to make it myself if I can.  I’ve been making a good effort to use my fabric and yarn stash and it feels good to not head to the craft store every time I start a project.

And I have to say that I really, really love these rugs.

Here’s to “using it up.”

Really busy. I’ve got spring fever something fierce.

I’ve given my kitchen a makeover.

I’ve made progress on my Spring Wardrobe Project–two tops and one skirt finished.  (It is impossible to take photos of oneself without a tripod, I’ve discovered.)

I finished this sweater.

I whipped up some shorts for The Girl on Sunday.  Nothing better than a Sunday morning date with the Featherweight.   I remember purchasing that fabric years ago, knowing that someday I would make some clothes for my little girl.

When the shorts were finished, she told me that they needed a pocket.  Of course she said that after the shorts were done.  There may be a patch pocket in her future.

And here’s a preview of what I’m working on for the kitchen.

And came out with this:

Meet the new Fall quilt.  Mostly from the fabric store, some from my stash.  Solids in purple, brown, tan and gray.  Corduroy, velvet, sateen and broadcloth, all in cotton, linen and silk.

I know, I know.  I’m insane.  But at least I just discovered that this is not a new phenomenon.

Let’s not speak of the other unfinished quilts. This made me do it.  I’ve had quilting on the brain ever since.

And this one’s going to be done lickety-split, I swear.  Just in time for fall.

Last week I had the great pleasure of visiting a collection of quilts from The Gee’s Bend Collective, right in my very own town!  The Snail clued me in, and we decided to meet there (without kids!) for some mutual inspiration and adult company.  What a joy it was.

The show was small, only ten quilts total, but what it lacked in quantity, it far surpassed in quality.

The quits are the work of a multi-generational group of women who are the descendants of slaves in the area of Selma, Alabama.  These women, out of the sheer necessity to keep family and loved ones warm, made beauty from discarded fabric. Tiny fabric scraps, discarded bedsheets, old blue jeans, parts of old sweaters, and even dirty rags found on the side of the road were worked into their beautiful quilts.  Making due however they could, these women took refuse and turned it into art.

Working without patterns or (at times) sewing machines, these women left behind traditional quilt patterns and chose to work in an improvisational way.  It is amazing what can be done with the humble needle and thread.  Nothing like this had been done before, and their work has inspired an entire new wave of improvisational quilt making.

What these women contributed to the field of modern art in this country cannot be understated.  According to this exhibit, their work is viewed as important to modern art as that of Henri Matisse or Paul Klee.  A retrospective of their work exhibited in museums of twelve American cities including The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

I found myself choking back tears as I read the words in the exhibit, as soulful African-American spirituals played softly in the background.

I walked away from the exhibit feeling humbled, inspired, and grateful for the abundance that I receive every day.

It just amazes me when a day starts out so ordinary and ends so profoundly.

I’m doing this completely improv, making it up as I go.  The last quilt I did that way was so much fun, and very liberating.  No math!  I’m using a quilt-as-you-go method because I want this quilt to be all about texture.

Just look at that gold silk in the sunlight!

I’ve been squeezing in little bits of time here and there to work on it.  I can’t wait to see it finished!

Wear your new yellow tights with your new gray corduroy skirt.  (I think I finished this skirt just in time for it to be too hot to wear it, but I love it anyway.)

And…go to the fabric store, in search of a single pack of bias tape, and come out with a stack of yellow fabric.  I mean, it was on sale.  I added the textured cotton/linen and the gold silk on top from my stash.  Thank you, M for that silk, I’m looking forward to finally using it.

This is going to be a new quilt for my bed.  I know I already have three quilts in progress, please do not remind me of that.  I know I should be working, please do not remind me of that, either.  But, I thought a new fun project would motivate me.  So my new goal is to allow myself 30 minutes a day to craft just for me.

Because sometimes a girl just needs a little carrot dangled in front of her, to keep her motivated.

When I was pregnant with The Girl, I bought this wooden doll cradle at the Goodwill for $5, because I was so convinced that she was a girl.  This month, I finally pulled it out of storage and it was a mess.  It had nails sticking out of it, and it was spotted with paint and dirt.   I sanded and scrubbed it, then polished it with some nice beeswax polish.

I made a little mattress and quilt, and to my delight, this doll fit perfectly inside.  That is the doll I made for The Boy years ago, which he never played with.  I gave the baby a good bath and made a new little gown and diaper for it.

I love the little cloth diaper.  It’s details like that which made me totally fall in love with certain dollies when I was a little girl.

I put a lot of time and love into this gift.  It makes me so happy to see this old doll (and cradle) get a new life.

So what’s a mama to do when she worries about her baby?

Sew.

When I am worried, stressed, anxiety-ridden or angry, I know I can turn to some cooking or sewing to take my mind off my troubles.  Busying my hands and mind takes my mind off my troubles while allowing me the space to work through it.  And I’ve been sewing up a storm.

I’ve started working on the quilt for The Girl’s big girl bed.

In the meantime, I whipped up this rocking chair cushion.  I was close to finishing it in one night when I had to go to bed.

We have been packing this last week before school starts with many fun activities with our friends.  And this has left me exhausted.  So the projects sit on my ironing board, unfinished.

But even though that nervous energy and the worry remain, I do feel a little bit better.