Not an unhappy post.

I was going to have one of those depressing posts where I complained about how the words "Get down off of the piano" came out of my mouth no fewer than 50 times in the course of an hour this morning, and my being irked about how our incredibly slow school district took two weeks to send me a letter indicating that I needed to register my son for school after my calling and speaking to an actual person, back when there was plenty of time, asking what I needed to do to get special services set up for my son, and he now has missed a full week of school after having received no services over the summer because of our moving across the country.

But instead I decided to play with my new pears.

So pretty. So carefree.

They like sitting in their new cherry colander. You can get a pear for yourself here tomorrow.

It was time that I started making the pincushions in different prints, although some of the old stand-bys are there too. I even made a ginormous pear after a request to make a large pillow-sized cushion for a child's room.

This isn't the custom pear, but one I did for practice (okay, maybe I thought the giant pear idea was so cool that I needed to have a one for my work room). I enlarged my pincushion pattern by about 400%, and it turned out a bit squatty, but still very pear-like. I knew this would happen, as just simply enlarging a pattern makes it all wonky with the out-of-proportion seam allowances, etc., etc., but I do think it turned out cute. I'll post the custom pear later this week when it's finished.

Oh, and completely off-topic, but relevant to current events, please register to vote if you haven't already! I'm doing so today, even though in Wisconsin you can register to vote in person up to the day before an election (how awesome is that?!). Check with your state/county (I Googled "How to register to vote in...") to find out how.

Have a Happy Monday!
Kim

happy rainy day

We have had a remarkably sunny summer this year, but today is rather drizzly and cold. Rico curls up on my lap, shivering, every time I sit down someplace even for a moment. I let the boys play outside (I sat just inside the house watching through the door, I know I'm a wimp because I hate being chilly, but they had a blast) until Jack's teeth were chattering and Joey was too cold to get down from the playhouse, they are so in love with mommy right now.

I haven't felt much like sewing today, but I have been playing with some new fabric and taking pictures of my new digs. My work space is in our basement, and though I do have a window, I don't get a lot of light, even on sunny days.

Do you ever get a new box of fabric and just unfold it and roll it and fold it again and make pretty stacks of it until it's just right? I do. I think it's part of my creative process, to actually feel the fabrics, see how they look next to various other prints, put them in a fun display so I feel happy when I get a glimpse of them while working....

My work room is still very much a work in progress, in fact, there is no way that I will show you any more than just my nifty little storage ledge until the place is in better order. Which will be soon. I hope.

In the meantime, maybe I will go splash in the rain a little. Have a happy Thursday!

Kim

birthdays and bear cubs

I've just had one of those weeks where I look back and marvel at how differently my life has turned out than I might have expected (warning: contemplative birthday post to follow). For instance, would I ever imagine the following things come out of my mouth, and even more surprisingly, directed at my children:

"Stop licking the piano."
"Stop licking the TV!"
"Stop licking the window!!"

only to be followed by:

"Don't eat your book."
"Don't eat the dog kibble!"
"Don't eat that pencil eraser!!!"

I celebrated not only my birthday this past week, but also my 9th wedding anniversary--a little bit strange as I still see myself as a youngster right out of college. And speaking of which, I never would have expected that my current job would be: mom of two bear cubs and independent designer. Especially considering my favorite subject in high school was biology and even my parents expected that I would go on to study zoology or something similar (I ended up majoring in psychology, then worked in publishing in NYC, and went on to a graduate program in speech pathology, so in retrospect, I suppose it was the natural order of things to do something else completely different).

But, I love it. I get to be at home to nuture my two young cubs (see? I am studying animals after all!) and nurturing myself with creative endeavors (and possibly a little extra-curricular reading).

So, necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, or was it something about idle hands....? Instead of continuing with my "No, no, no" one-sided conversation about which household items are appropriate for mouths, I ran to my sewing table, cut out some fabric and whipped up some candy for Bear Cub No. 1 to chew on. It was pretty brave of me, too, as I used no pattern (which I never, ever do) and I even cut into one of my favorite fabrics for the occasion instead of practicing with muslin.

and...? Success!

It's the closest I've ever gotten him to a real lollipop (you think I'm lucky, but I assure you I'm not... he also won't touch anything containing nutritive value. Thank goodness they put vitamins in cereal!

He thinks the corduroy is the tastiest part.

It's back to real life for me now, and you know, I think I prefer it to the one I had imagined for myself as a young'un.

Take care,
Kim

pears aplenty

It's a fortunate thing that pears are my favorite fruit because I've been making a lot of them lately. Thanks to all of you who love these pincushions as much as I do!

A stack of pear pieces, ready for sewing

A few leaves, freshly hand embroidered

(This is where I would insert a picture of a finished bushel of pears if I didn't have to wrap them up and ship them out as fast as I can sew each one. One of these days I'll catch my breath and actually get ahead for once. Maybe. But I also sort of hope not to.)

Kim

Where O Where

You may have been wondering what the heck I've been up to, and, well, let me tell you. I just moved across the country from Georgia to Wisconsin (adding that to the list of states I've lived in brings the total to 10--just 40 to go, woo!). It was a big move, though not the furthest. That distinction goes to the time we moved from New York City to Portland, OR. We did that one in the middle of winter, apparently because we enjoy a challenge. So this time, we loaded up the troops in the minivan (2 kiddos, 4 dogs, 1 fish and 2 houseplants, one of which--my poor African Violet--became a casualty of the road) and drove for 2 days to get here. Let me tell you, if it weren't for this guy, I would still be looking for bits of my sanity strewn alongside the interstate.

I am still searching for some of my things, however, many of which are still in boxes, due to the fact that the movers used all manner of creative thinking in arranging our items on the truck in such a way as to break almost every single piece of storage furniture that we own. So until my shelves are replaced, I'll have a small warehouse of boxes in my basement.

Found, however, was my fabric and sewing gear, mostly because I convinced Paul that it absolutely imperative that I lug it all with us in the car. I needed a lot of it with me because I have been working feverishly on a top secret project that I dearly wish I could tell you about, thus explaining further the dearth of project pics and commentary from my corner of the internet.

Anyhoo

I can share with you my latest obsession

I've been wanting to make some cute toys for my little boys, and the image of this fun guy popped into my head.

Of course I couldn't sleep until I was holding him and thinking that it's almost 3am, so perhaps a little shut-eye would be a good idea. Red is made from prints in my favorite retro color combination (his back is comprised of 45 patchwork squares, what was I thinking? Oh yeah, it was, "I'm having so much fun I think I'll make another one!")

and Phoebe is just so sweet in blush Ginger Blossom prints

These two owls will be for sale in my etsy shop soon, meanwhile, I'll be making up a batch of these guys to perch on a shelf in the boys' rooms.

Did I mention that our new house came with a swing set in the yard? Heavenly. I think perhaps I'll take the boys out to play, and maybe work on some owls later tonight, fittingly, when everyone else is asleep.

Be good!
Kim

Summer

It's hot. It's humid. I'm feeling slow and lazy and sleepy. I haven't felt up to making anything new today and then something keeps catching the corner of my eye



No, no, go back to sleep, I'm not sure I'm ready for you yet.



I know I made you months ago, but then you turned out so darn big and I didn't know what to do with you. I'm sorry you're feeling neglected and lonely. Maybe I should ask blogland if they have any ideas...a giant tote bag? A pillow sham? What do you think?

Serendipity

I inherited a black thumb from my mother. I don't know where she got it from because her mother was the plant whisperer and could bring back nearly any houseplant from the dead. My mom could carefully water and feed her plants, play soothing classical music for them, and whisper sweet nothings into their tiny green plant ears every day and they would still keel over. Perhaps they couldn't handle that much love.

As for myself, I sort of have the opposite problem, so maybe I don't have so much of a black thumb as a "Got caught up with life and forgot to water the plants for two months" thumb. In any case, I have no explanation for how these came from my backyard





But I'm sure glad they did. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and apparently one of Jack's favorites, too, because he can't seem to walk by the vase without getting up on his tiptoes to touch them.

My other serendipitous moment came yesterday as I was making a new style of bag. Everything was going fantastically well until I sewed the label to the lining, when I noticed that I hadn’t left enough room to put in a magnetic snap. Oh I fairly agonized about whether I should move the label or leave it as it was. Laziness won out and I left the label and finished the bag.



I hemmed and hawed over the bag until this morning when I realized that as I had put a fabulous print on the inside of the bag as well as the outside, that I wasn’t so dim-witted as I was genius--the bag is reversible! And so it is.



I think my (extra) lack of sleep of late (toddler nightmares) has further muddled my mommy brain. In a former, non-sleep-deprived state I would have planned to make the bag this way in the first place. The bag can now be found in my shop and as this was one of those ohmygoshIlovethisbagsomuchIwantokeepit creations, I expect that more will follow.

Perhaps after I've had a nap.

Sharing

I wanted to share these totes that I made for my son's developmental preschool teacher and paraprofessionals, who went above and beyond the call of duty this year. These wonderful ladies completely "get" Joey, let him be himself, and love him for who he is, and I am so very grateful for that! I actually got all verklempt while I was making these bags and thinking of the incredible progress Joey has made this year.

For those of you who don't already know, Joey is 4, and on the autism spectrum (along with little brother Jack, 2). I never would have expected to have such a positive experience with special education in the public school system, so let it be known that it is possible! I can only hope we'll continue to have similar experiences throughout both kiddos' educations.

The patchwork and lining/pockets are in Amy Butler's Lotus line, and the pictures may be a little misleading as the bags are big enough to hold a few large "teacher" books. I couldn't decide on just a couple of pictures to show because I wanted to capture all the special details for these truly special ladies.











Now to go find a few fun goodies to put in the bags!

Have a lovely Thursday!
Kim

Where to begin?

I'm just now emerging from the post-house-falling-apart frenzy that has been the past few weeks. It's about the time you say, "Honey, let's finally get rid of all the carpet and replace it with that gorgeous laminate flooring we've been dreaming about," that your upstairs shower decides to start leaking through the kitchen ceiling fixture below it. Then the air conditioner suddenly stops working, and when the repair man comes to check it, tells you that it has an unreparable leak and the entire unit needs to be replaced. And you realize that this may not be the best time to have the landscapers tackle the Amazon jungle that is the backyard (you know what I'm talking about if you live in the South and have let even one tiny vine survive past infancy). And it's definitely not the best time to replace your stone aged computer. Sigh.

On the crafting front, however, I think I am finally getting into the etsy thing. I created my very first treasury the other day, and it was so fun to feature some of my favorite shops, as well as read all the sweet comments that were posted.



And I was happy to discover that one of my totes made it to the front page in this gorgeous treasury last week:



Then I tried out the fabulous reversible Emmeline apron pattern by Montessori by Hand for a Mother's Day apron swap. I got lots of suggestions/requests for me to make a sundress in this style, so one of these days when I'm feeling clever and brave enough, I may just tackle that task. In any case, here is the apron, in Amy Butler's Midwest Modern fabrics.





Things are picking up now that it's May: the end of the school year approaches, custom orders are rolling in, and a crate of pear pincushion-sized boxes will be arriving on my doorstep tomorrow so I need to get sewing!

I've also spent a bit of time planning out some new designs, which I would like to try out soon. Barring any more adventures with The Money Pit, that is.

Happy crafting and house-not-self-destructing vibes to everyone!
Kim

Happy Birthday, Jack!

I can't believe the little guy turned 2 yesterday!



I never thought I'd be so happy to see a child dive face first into a birthday cake.



Smile for the camera, Sweetie!



Wait, no, don't rub your--



Ah yes, this is what baths were invented for.

We had fun, just our little foursome. We don't live near family but they were with us via phone calls, packages, and pictures.

Happy Thursday!

(P.S. You probably caught a glimpse of our lovely primed-over wallpaper in the background. Actually this was a gift from the previous owners of this house, that I found beneath 2 other layers of wallpaper that had been painted over. And beneath that? Nothing but drywall. So many home improvement projects, so little time. Ahh, but I can't bear to think of that any longer. I think I'll have some more cake.)