Small Craft Advisory

Strawberry fields

Forevah... Thats how long it took to get out to the u-pick strawberry farm on Sunday. But once we got our boxes and rode the tractor out to the fields, we were having fun.

  

 

Sort of. Its backbreaking and hot and buggy out there. I have questions about my future as a farm laborer. At one point I was tempted to shout out to my fellow pickers "Lets Organize and Fight!!" 

But Maria told me to pipe down, that we had paid for the privilege of picking our own berries. And then later, we would pay for the berries, too. 

 

Whoa, I thought I was back in India for a moment. Must be the sun directly overhead. 

 

This being a full service farm, they also had chickens. I have wanted a chicken and a coop in my backyard for years, but my spoil sport husband refuses to go along with my dreams of poultry ownership.

   

But if you were wondering what to get me for my birthday later this week, a little chicken coop like this one and a couple hens would be awesome 

. 

Or you could go for the full package, and throw in a goat or two. 

I'm just saying...

 

This & That

This was on the kid's bathroom door, and made me laugh.

   

This girl had a homerun at her softball game and then some downtime at the pool. 

 

This pie was scrumptious! 

 

This was a nice break from softball, baking and bathroom cleaning.

 

And this is for the readers out there who just drop in for the sheep photos. 

 

Happy this & that of your long weekend!

studio smackdown

There has been some serious cleaning in the studio this past weekend. 

 

Some projects need the finishing touches, some need love and attention, and then there are those that just need to be firmly escorted out the door. 

 

I've added a Friend Tuffet for visiting pals and a little girl who likes to do her homework near Mama. 

 

And that? Ah, thats the Corner of Shame. I'll get to those eventually... 

Mother's (Birth)Day Extravaganza

My mother's birthday is in the first week of May, so inevitably we celebrate on Mother's Day- Sunday being the day most likely to find us with a morning or afternoon free from teaching, kids sports or other weekend consuming activities. This year was no different, and it was fun with birthday cake and presents and flowers and lots of coffee in a chaotic celebration of my mom and her two daughters who also happen to be mothers, and have daughters. And sons. You get the picture. 

I made my mother an apron. And then I had to make one for myself so I wouldn't feel left out and pout during the party. I made the pattern from an beloved thrift store apron made out of 1930's feedsack fabric. I wore it to shreds, and then realized I could draft a pattern a make a new one. 

 

And there were a few Mother's Day goodies for me in the morning, too. Some lovely cards, a bouquet in a customized dixie cup, and these lovely new Ugg slippers. Because my old pair kept showing up on my children's feet.

   

And a pedicure, of course.

 

So I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day whether you are a mother, or just have one.

And your little dog, too.

It has rained almost every day for as long as I can remember...ok, the last week or so. All that rain put a serious damper on my picnic plans. But not my picnic planning! Behold the completed Picnic Quilt. A little make-it-up-as-you-sew-along kind of project that I worked on (and off) during the dreary winter months. Somehow the happy pink and yellow and peach fabrics screamed Picnic to me and so it became. I lined it with flannel, more for the experiment than any other reason. I found it made the quilt heavier, and drapey-er, in a good way- flannel being heavier than batting. I have a mostly solid backing, except for the part where I ran out of fabric and had to use some leftover squares. Add a narrow bias binding I happily hand stitched on last night. Its all ready for the first picnic. Oh, and this is the amazing vintage picnic basket I found at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival last weekend. Isn't it perfect? I believe Miss Gulch stuffed Toto in this very one. Or I could fill it with goodies and take it to Grandma's house tomorrow. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I plan to do.

Inspiration

I tend to be somewhat scattered and easily distracted. (Yes, I know there are meds for that) I used to try to "stay on task" and "finish the job" but at some point, I realized it was just the way I'm wired, and it actually works for me. I see something, and get absorbed with it, while I'm doing something else- loading the dishwasher, paying bills, on my way to boot camp. Its as if I roam around shedding rational thoughts and simple chores like breadcrumbs in the forest. And I'm off on a tangent. But low and behold, it pops up later as inspiration, or an idea for an illustration or a quilt, or at the very least a story to make my yoga students smile in the middle of half moon pose. I've come to love this about me- the distractability, the circuitous route to creativity, the ability to set aside the mundane and chase a rabbit down a hole. This caught my attention last summer in India. Isn't it gorgeous? Which turned into this as soon as I got home to my sewing machine. The colors of the quilt were so scrumptious I wanted more. Which turned into this pillow. What's that peeping out of the covers? Its a little crib quilt for Lydie made out of a dress I wore constantly whilst she was in my belly. (I think I was supposed to be washing sippy cups when I started cutting and sewing that one.) Not that? Oh... that? Its the repository of all the pyjamas she has worn in the last week or so. Also known as The Jammie Museum. I guess she gets distracted too.

cold AND rainy

This is what my world looks like today. Too much rain and time behind the wheel. But it is looking very green out there.Yesterday, the weather was just the same. But we forged onward because it was Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Day!! And even though the weather was most unpleasant, we were thrilled when we encountered the Delaware Sheep & Wool Queen outside the softserve ice cream stand. She was very accomodating and let us take her photo. 

Nevertheless

Marianne Moore wrote a poem in 1944 called Nevertheless.

It begins

you've seen a strawberry 

that's had a struggle; yet

was, where the fragments met,

a hedgehog or star-

fish for the mulitutde

of seeds.

This morning I found a couple of strawberries that had had a struggle. Locked up with indecision about whether to be one big berry or lots of small berries. A hedgehog or a starfish?

Moore wrote the poem in part about WWII- the struggle of nations clinging and binding and separating from one another. But I think of it too, of our own smaller struggles. What to keep, what to discard. 

Berries, nations at war, women with paring knives standing over their sinks, peering into a plastic case of strawberries.

We all struggle.

Welcome to Santa's Sweatshop

OOps, I mean Santa's Workshop. Its all getting a little frantic and down to the wire here at Small Craft Advisory

.

     

 I'm getting that panicky feeling that I might want to rush out and buy some gifts, in case I don't have time to finish knitting the other sock, the scarf, and the sweater I was planning on giving day after tomorrow. 

 

Oh, and sew the little library tote bag. Hmmmm. Maybe I was too ambitious this year?

    

 

Never! Some things may have to slide around here. Like dishes and laundry. At least till Friday. 

 

Happy Handmade Christmas!

While I was out...

You know that I'm easily distracted, and sidetracked. So give you the Cliff Notes version of my month since last I dropped by SCA

First, I ran a 5k race...

 

with my sister...

Surly Teen and I visited several high schools in the area. 

Here he is carbo-loading en route to an interview and tour.

 

We're getting to know our new bunny.

                                    

Smudge has friended Bunny...sort of. 

 

I spent a lovely weekend in New England... 

 

Finished a red sweater for Spygirl Jr. that's getting some wear time. 

 

Remember this hat? 

Well, she lost it. 

sigh. 

 

But I forgave her. 

We had a delicious lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill after we saw the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker last Friday.

This is her ginormous chocolate dessert.

                                      

Oh, and the day after Thanksgiving we went on a family girl shopping trip with my mom, sister, niece and daughter. 

Guess which shoes are mine!