I've been stitching on this skirt slowly.  I pick it up when I have a few minutes - in the carpool line and other times while I am waiting for the girls.  It lives in this bag, with the Alabama Stitch book, thread, scissors and a pin cushion.  It's a project that has a nice pace to it.  Easy to pick up, and equally important, easy to put down.  I'm a little more than half finished with the reverse applique so, fingers crossed, I will be wearing it some time this fall.

And not as slowly, but definitely as surely, I am making camera straps and some other goods to sell in the shop.  As of right now, I plan on re-opening the shop on Thursday, September 3.  I haven't set a time yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you know here.  Sound good?

I am trying to finish up my blocks for the Virtual Quilting Bee.  This one is for Eren, who sent the leafy print on the bottom left and the yellow and white print on the top left, as well as the off white solid.  I took a good look at the our flickr group and picked some other prints that I thought would go well with the other finished blocks.  I didn't have enough of the off white to put it in the center so I chose this aqua out of my stash.

This was my first attempt at paper piecing.  I used the great instructions found here by Christina at The Sometimes Crafter.  It was easier than I had anticipated and now I wonder why I waited so long to try it.  I can totally see this block done in three monochromatic solids - wouldn't that be cool?

Happy Monday!

According to the random number generator, the winner of Crochet Adorned is number 63.

Melissa!

Email me your address and I will get the book off to you.

Thanks you all for your enthusiasm about my pillow and the book.  I think there is much more crochet in my future!

Hope your weekend was as nice as mine.

Crochet Adorned is the new book by Linda Permann.  If you follow Linda's blog, you know that she is a master with yarn and a crochet hook as well as a talented seamstress.  Her book is just as lovely as she is!

 

And if you have been reading this blog for awhile now, you know that I don't really crochet much at all.  I taught myself how to do it just so I could make granny squares.  And really, that is about all the crocheting I have done.  This book has given me the confidence to move beyond the granny square and try something new.  Linda gives wonderful advice and directions for beginning crocheters and lots of illustrations to help you get going.  The back of the book has an immense stitch glossary - trims, motifs and stitch patterns all written out and charted.  I had an epiphany when looking at the charts!  Crochet started to make sense to me and now I know that with a few basic stitches, I can probably make anything in this book.

So of course, I had to try to make something!  In the book, Linda shows you how to adorn store bought and hand sewn items as well as to alter clothing you might already have with crochet.  The possibilities are endless.  I took the same trim that Linda added to this trench coat and crocheted it to add to a pillow for the window seat in Jane's room.  I had never made anything with a foundation chain before so I was a little worried that it wouldn't come together properly.  With Linda's written directions and the chart, it was a breeze.

 

 

It's super cute and it received the Jane stamp of approval.  It was also a very quick project which means I will definitely be making more pillows for her room with crocheted trim.

 

 

Some of the other projects that I really like are the tote bag with trees and the apron with a butterfly.  But I think the butterfly might end up on a t-shirt and the trees might end up on a pillow.  Like I said, these projects are versatile and will get you thinking about how you can use crochet to adorn different items.

Linda has been kind enough to offer a copy of her book to one of my readers.  If you'd like a chance to win Crochet Adorned for yourself, leave a comment on this post before 3:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, August 23.  I will announce the winner next week.

. . .

In other news, I've been working on camera straps so there will be a shop update within the next couple of weeks.  When I have a definite date, I will post it on the blog.

Thank you all for the kind comments about the plight of my tomatoes and the girls' first day back at school.  It's been a full week around here with its share of ups (school starting, gifted tomatoes from a friend, riding bikes to school) and downs (late blight, the kitchen faucet that broke off in my hand).  I am so glad it's Friday.

Happy weekend, everyone!

One kid was super excited (Kate) and the other was nervous (Jane).  Both came home in a good mood, but hungry and tired.  Homework, cookies, bike rides, dinner, crazy eights, reading and then bed.  A good first day.

 

Today

 

Last year

 

Two years ago.

Time sure does fly.

A few days ago, I suspected that our tomatoes were suffering from late blight.  I did a little research, but wasn't convinced until I saw the first rotting fruits.  At that point, I knew for sure.  I got up this morning, had a cup of coffee and then went outside to pull my tomato plants.  It was sad - I may have actually cried a little bit.  I harvested all the green tomatoes uneffected by the disease.  The rotting fruits and every part of all seven plants were closed up in large, plastic garbage bags to contain the blight.

The green tomatoes fill two large pyrex bowls and the better part of a shopping bag.  It would be a terrible shame to waste all this food.  I am hoping that some of them will ripen on my windowsills.   We will certainly fry some of them and I hope to find some recipes for pickled green tomatoes (like tomolives) or maybe even a green tomato relish.  If you have any tried and true recipes, would you email me (hillroad at bellsouth dot net) or comment with a link?  I'd appreciate that.

Also, if you are growing tomatoes in your garden this year, take a minute to educate yourself about late blight.  There was a great op-ed piece in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago and this video will show and tell you more.  Many farms and gardens have been effected by late blight this summer  - even Martha Stewart's tomatoes got it.  Left untreated, late blight will spread to other gardens and farms as it is an airborne disease.  Taking care of the problem is being a good and conscientious neighbor.  As much as it hurt me to lose our tomatoes, I know that pulling them was the best thing to do.

We won't be able to plant tomatoes or potatoes (it affects them both) in the same soil for a number of years.  I'm still researching, but I think there is a good chance we can plant some fall crops there now and other vegetables in the spring.  That's the silver lining for me.   That and the fact that I really wanted a third raised bed for next year.  If Fatty wants tomatoes, it looks like I'll get it.

While looking for a birthday gift among the craft kits at Target, I saw Crayola fabric markers.  The wheels started turning so we picked up a box of those in addition to a bead kit for Jane's friend.  When we got home, I pulled out a couple of plain canvas totes and set the girls up for some craft time.  I instructed them to draw a sketch of their idea on plain paper before they started drawing on the tote.  An hour later, Jane had produced the cutest bag for her friend Kathleen and Kate had a new tote of her own.  I heat set the markers by putting the bags in the dryer on high for 30 minutes.  The whole project was fun for the girls and kept them occupied for a good chunk of time which was good for me.  We wrapped the bead kit in the tote bag for the cutest, reusable wrapping.  You bet we will be doing this again.

Our babysitter, Liz, has been watching the girls since she was in 7thgrade.  She has been my number one, go-to sitter for six years and sheis leaving for college next week.  I get a little teary thinking aboutit - I actually did cry at her graduation party.  The four of us aregoing to miss her, but she is headed off on to her newest adventure andwe couldn't be happier for her.

 

I finished Liz's quilt on Tuesday night and washed it yesterday.  I am really happy with how it turned out  - in fact, it may be among my favorites.  Blue is Liz's favorite color and I wanted it to play a strong role in her quilt.  I also wanted the design to be something simple and fresh, young and vibrant just like the girl who is receiving it.  I started with a few sets of Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party fat quarters.  I cut 30 separate fat quarters in to rectangles measuring 13" x 15.5" (my fabric was pre-washed).  I arranged them in a grid and sewed them together.  This took me a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in late May.

 

For the back, I used two pieces of a turquoise solid that I joined using a patchwork strip.  The patchwork rectangles were from the scraps of the original fat quarters.  The back still wasn't long enough so I added another strip.  I told you all what happened with the batting.  Once I had a piece that was big enough, it was time for the quilting.

For the quilting, I chose a blue thread that is slightly darker thanthe aqua that is on the back.  I'd call it a French blue.  It took me avery long time to decide how to quilt this.  I contemplated manydifferent options until I settled on the wavy horizontal lines.  I usedmy walking foot and started sewing the lines free motion - well, asfree motion as you can with a walking foot.  They were very fun to sew and I love how they look.  For the binding I chose ayellow polka dot (not sure who makes it, sorry) because I reallythought the quilt needed a good pop of color.  I think it works well.

After washing and drying, the quilt measures 60" x 88".  Now it's time for us to wrap this quilt up and deliver it to Liz.  And then we have to say good-bye.  Pass the tissues.  I'm going to need them.