I'm going to need a bigger kitchen...

It's taken a while, but it's coming together. Little by little, my faith in the original pattern is being renewed, and my tendency to run off in a different direction with it or tweak it to "make it my own" is, I'm happy to say, diminishing. Less work that way. Less thinking. Which, at this point, is a good thing, because I just need to get it done.

However, it's going to be much bigger than I anticipated, and I don't have that much floor space in my kitchen without moving things around quite a bit. So it looks like I'll be rearranging some furniture this weekend!

Acres of plaid...

Still chugging away on these. I've always been a blue & white fan, but now that I've gotten these all laid out on the floor, I believe I'm falling in love with plaid. (Plaid! Me!)

Which, as we all know, makes a project move along so much faster...

Life in the big city...

As tired as I can get of Big City life and do my best to escape from it as often as possible, there is one thing about living where I live that I would really, truly miss if I ever left. On weekend mornings, as I sit at my computer, this is what I see. And hear. And, on occasion with the wind is right, smell...

(You'll have to pardon my filthy windows. It rained last night and,
OK, I admit it: I just don't wash them very often. If ever.)

The sound of hooves on pavement as the carriages make their way from the nearby stable to the streets of the Magnificent Mile is, to me, one of the most comforting sounds I can think of. It probably goes back to an obsession with horses and a few years of riding lessons in my youth, but it's one of the reasons I fell in love with this neighborhood in the first place -- a little bit of country in the big city. Add to that the baby rabbits in my garden, the red-tailed hawk that patrols the stable grounds for rats, coyotes in Lincoln Park, and I can almost forget I'm living in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the country. (We even had a cougar venture into Roscoe Village this spring, which brings up a ton of encroachment issues and it still gets me upset to think about what happened to him that we won't go there this fine morning.)

What I'm actually looking forward to, though, is the next few weeks, when they outfit the horses with bell harnesses for the Christmas season. Which makes their late-night return to the stables almost magical.

It almost makes up for the 3am drunken bar patrons and the car alarms that go off then the El goes by...

In praise of gadgets and other stuff...

Making more progress on my homespun nine-patches this week, trying to maintain focus -- which for me is incredibly difficult. So no new quilting news to report...but I felt the need to post today, anyway.

Being relatively new to the blogosphere, I'm still exploring much of what it has to offer in the way of bells and whistles to enhance my audience's experience. It's pretty fascinating, all the stuff that's out there, and I could gadget-up my sidebar from here until next week if it weren't for my desire to keep the look of my blog relatively streamlined and clean (not sure how I'm doing on that one, but I try).

Out of curiosity I had to put up a counter (though I'm pretty sure a third of the hits are my own -- AOL doesn't seem to recognize that I'm the same user visit to visit), and just recently discovered, in all my blog-hopping, the FEEDJIT map, which I think is the coolest thing since...well, since blogs themselves.

I'm not deluding myself into thinking my audience is that big, but I find it pretty darn enchanting to find out there are folks halfway around the globe (in Israel! and Brazil! and Australia! and Spain and Norway!) reading my words from sweet home Chicago.

So I'd like to take this post to give a shout-out to what looks like a growing reader base in Kansas (most likely thanks to Jacquie, so major props to her), to devon in the office down the hall, Judy up in the 'burbs, my two loyal followers, a "how's it goin, eh?" to friends north of the border, and a big "Happy Friday!" to all of you checking in from all over the place to see where I'm bouncing next.

I love the idea of making this big ol' world a little smaller, one post at a time.

Of course, this little tool also allows me to tell who's not reading...like my sister in Winston-Salem, for instance, and my best friend for as long as I can remember Jackie in Brooklyn. Nothin' like a little global humiliation to bring you around, is there?

Anyhow...

I leave you today with one of my favorite pictures, because a post without pictures just doesn't feel post-y enough for me...

I took my parents up to northern Michigan last month for a week of R&R (mostly for me, they've been retired forever and live a life of R&R, for the most part). Married 61 years this past June, and they're still holding hands. Not many people can say that. Makes me feel like a very lucky girl.



P.S. Thanks also for all your comments -- under the tutelage of StephanieD (who, by the way, is up to some major Halloween ghoulishness), I'm working on my blogging etiquette and trying to respond to all of them from now on.

Another little diversion...

I spent most of Saturday making plaid nine-patches. Which was productive, but quite frankly, tedious.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the project (it's perfect for its recipient!), and I'm enthusiastic about making progress...but there's something so much more liberating about cutting loose and not following a pattern.

I'm a youngest child -- and while I never considered it would have a huge impact on my crafting, could it be that the streak of rebellion bestowed upon me by my birth order is now manifesting itself in creative spontaneity and eschewing others' directions? Hmmm...

I tried doing a little hand quilting to mix it up a little, but sadly had to temporarily abandon my efforts due to my little orange friend, who couldn't seem to stay away from the project whenever I picked it up. It sounds like a weak excuse, I know (and poor animal training on my part), but there is something about this particular project that has him entranced -- except for rearranging blocks on the floor, he doesn't pay attention to anything else I have in the works, pin-basted, hanging threads or otherwise. I'd sit back on the sofa to start quilting, and Archie would literally jump into the middle of the frame and either settle down for a nap or start chewing on safety pins. I'm admitting defeat (again, only temporarily) -- but hand quilting, I think, will have to wait until he's a little older and not as curious. The quilt is already basted, so it can be easily machine quilted, anyway (sigh).

Which brings me to a machine update:
I called the shop before I left last weekend and explained my situation. Turns out their tech is on vacation and they aren't taking any machines in until November -- and then she assured me I still had a window of time before I drove my 440 completely into the ground without servicing. I'm still a little leery, given how much use it's getting pre-Christmas -- anybody else have any experience with this, or are you all totally on top of things and take care of your machines right away and I'm just a big loser?

Anyhow...in the interest of giving my overworked machine a rest yet still satisfying a need to play with fabric, came up with these cute little things:


I should have put something up for size reference -- they're just under 3" tall and totally adorable! The takeout from Friday night's dinner wasn't that great, but the fortune cookie box was too cute to resist and proved to be a great template!

The possibilities, methinks, are endless. These could be addictive!


P.S. In response to all the warnings I got last week about cats and sewing notions, my house is now kitty-proofed. I just have to find someplace more convenient to keep my pincushion than in the cupboard above the sink!

This is going to take a long time...

OK, this is going to be more difficult than I anticipated. Not the quilting part, I'm liking that, though I have to work on getting my stitches even on the front as well as the back. Fortunately, the backing I'm using is a busy print, so it hides my novice attempts pretty well.

No, it's the trying to accomplish this with an inquisitive kitten in the house part...I hadn't factored in Archie's curiosity, and newly-discovered love of thimbles...

and safety pins...

and thread, which he's been trying to eat. Wet thread isn't very easy to quilt with!

...and then there's worrying about where the needle is when he gets a hold of it.

If he's not on top of the quilt, he's underneath it, pawing at my hands. Not quite sure why he's so fascinated -- I don't think it's an attention thing, because he could pretty much care less about me except when he's about to get fed.

I am getting so little done!

Why put off today what you can put off until tomorrow?

I'm totally, utterly incapable of working on one project at a time.

I have all my strip sets sewn for the homespun quilt (hooray!) and have started slicing them up and...hey, wouldn't that wonky pink and yellow quilt look kind of cool if it were hand quilted????

I get distracted so easily I amuse myself.

My kitchen/sewing table is covered with little piles of 2" plaid and muslin pieces, but no worries! You can do hand quilting anywhere!

Which means I can leave all that mess and come back to it later, when I'm partway done with this new endeavor and have begun to feel the pressure to get three quilts finished before the holidays. Or found some other new thing to try -- hand dyeing, perhaps.

No matter that I've never hand quilted before. And that the wonky pink and yellow quilt top was in itself a whim, not intended for anyone and therefore not a priority project this close to Christmas. It's another in a long line of experiments, both successful and failed, intended to put something off that's more important. I'm aware that's what I'm doing, and understand the potential frenzy that may ensue in December as a result, and yet...

This whole hand quilting thing has been in the back of my mind for a long time, and has chosen now, of all the inconvenient times, to cut to the front of the line. And it's not like I can stuff it back there with the belated birthday cards, dry cleaning, guitar lessons and other things I've been meaning to get to -- it was persistent enough to shove its way through the crowd, and it ain't goin' nowhere until I grant it an audition. So...

I spent my pre-work hours today pin-basting the top and putting my newly-purchased PVC lap frame together.

Wish me luck.

Color IQ

I've seen this link on a few blogs over the past week. I had taken it a couple times at work (shhh! don't tell!) with my contacts in and was a little disappointed in my score...but with the contacts out and my home monitor...hah!


So for all those thinking they have better color sense than this little test would imply, keep in mind that your monitor and the lighting in the room can also have an impact on your score. And give it another try!

Happy Fall!

It was very orange at the beach this weekend...

(OK, this woman's sweater isn't really orange, but they were such a cute couple I had to get them in here somehow)

And...surprise! Another fabric purchase. "So South Haven," the local quilt shop, moved into an old farmhouse just outside of town. The owner and her husband rehabbed, and it's a great little place! Red house. Lots of quilts hanging off of the white porch railing. An old wagon. Mums. And tons of fabric. "Nuff said.

These caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door...perhaps inspired by AmandaJean's flying geese project, I thought these Bali and Hoffman batiks might translate well into something similar. If I ever get over my hatred of triangles.

Ack! Unwanted setback!

I have put off getting my Bernina serviced for a few months now because I always seem to be in the middle of a deadline. The only dealer at the time I bought it was 35 miles southwest of the city, which doesn't sound bad but in Chicago traffic can take over an hour to get to, so the inconvenience factor is extremely high.

I called the dealer when my oil warning went on in the spring, and she told me how to turn it off, but warned that the machine would do it three times...and the third time it wouldn't go away. And this morning when I fired the machine up, that damn oil can was there, blinking ominously for the THIRD TIME.

Yes, I understand the need to keep my tools in working order. I oil frequently and clean the fuzz out regularly. I realize that not having my machine for a minimum of ten days of service is a small tradeoff for a very expensive but inoperable machine. And I fully intended to get it there as close to my year anniversary as possible, honest. But why now?

I have at least three quilts I need to finish for Christmas, and was on a roll with this latest project. My hope is that I can get all the homespun strip sets done tonight and haul the dang machine out to the 'burbs tomorrow on the sort-of-way to Michigan for the weekend.

Enough whining, Kate. Suck it up and take care of it, already!

Gettin' there...

It's been a busy week, not much time for sewing...or blogging, for that matter. I tend to work long, wacky hours, so when I get home I'm usually not good for anything but decompressing in front of the TV until bedtime. Consequently, I try to get up early and do my sewing in the morning...but it's been so much harder to get up now that it's dark out. It's only October -- way too early to shift into hibernation mode!

So progress on the homespun nine-patches has been slower than usual. I was hoping to be at least piecing them by now, but when the alternative is staying huddled under the covers and grabbing another half-hour of sleep, I'm OK with it...

Strip sets up the wazoo...and another 15 to go

This stuff is much stretchier than I'd anticipated, despite the use of sizing. Which makes me think that the piecing process will be very forgiving -- and that's a good thing!

Workin' for the weekend...

Well, it's been a productive weekend so far.

In addition to getting all of the middle strips for my homespun nine-patches done, I finished up the second fleece blanket. It went much quicker after I decided to do just the one reverse applique letter instead of a bunch.

More fleecy goodness passing inspection

Both blankets got wrapped up and delivered upstairs to baby Kiera and her big brother Ryan, who immediately put his on as a cape and flew around the living room. I think it was appreciated.

But the big achievement of the weekend has been food. Specifically, breakfast.

I discovered Corner Bakery's Swiss Oatmeal a few weeks ago, and have been fighting cravings for it ever since. Not only is it calorie-packed (the website says 300 calories, but I swear the one I had said 500), at $3.99 a pop it's a little pricey for the number of times a week I'd really like to eat it.

So I set about trying to make my own. And after a few Google searches and discovering that I wasn't the only one trying to replicate this concoction, I came up with my own version. It may not photograph well, but it's mighty tasty!

Call it Summer Oatmeal, call it muesli, call it whatever you want, I'm calling it delicious!

Swiss Oatmeal

1/2 cup whole oats, uncooked
1 cup plain non/low-fat yogurt
1/4 skim milk (or less, depending on consistency preference)
1 tablespoon honey
1 apple, peeled and diced (I used a Granny Smith)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 banana (whose next stop in two days may be banana bread or, say, the dumpster), diced
cinnamon to taste
a pinch of salt

Some of the recipes I found called for partially cooking the oats, others for just letting everything sit for a few minutes before eating. I got the best results by mixing the yogurt, honey and oats together and putting it in the refrigerator overnight. If you like your dried cranberries a little less chewy, mix those in the night before as well.

Add the milk to your desired consistency in the morning, along with the rest of the fruit and salt; dust with cinnamon and enjoy!

Though the apples provided a good crunch, I'll probably add either chopped almonds or walnuts next time.

And then start working on a new exercise regimen.