Girls' Room - Before

Last week I had the most awesome pleasure of a week to myself at home. No kids, and mostly, no husband. I think it might have been the best week of my life. Well, at least of the last few years. We sent the kids to Camp Baba/JoJo/Grandma - our family out of town. Hubby was working, and I stayed home.

I quilted, I read, I worked a little, I cleaned up my house. It was all done at a leisurely pace and with very little stress. I ate nachos for dinner and went for long bike rides because I didn't have to report back to anyone. I mentioned that it was glorious, didn't I?

One of the things I did do that certainly felt like work, but was utterly necessary, was clean out and redo the girls' room. It was chaotic and crowded in there. And with only a two bedroom house and a husband who works at home it was high time I got it organized so the girls and I could actually function in there if Hubby is home working.

Our house is only two bedrooms and a few years ago we switched and gave the girls the bigger room. This means all their toys and activities can be in their room, instead of taking over the house. And that way my crap can take over the house instead! But the room was messy and full of stuff no one was using anymore. So, in between my little breaks of personal creativity and relaxation, I tackled the room.

This week I'll share the before pictures. Next week, after I finish hanging pictures, I'll share the after pictures.

Christmas decorations still on the wall, an old mattress for guests/trampoline, and crap everywhere!

Two dressers, yet clothes piled everywhere. This bookshelf creating a hallway and blocking off the room.

The bookshelf - the closest bit of order in the before pictures.

A dresser storing fabric, some of my clothes, the Monster's clothes, and dress-up stuff. The diaper genie still there when diapers disappeared from our lives 3 months ago.

The dresser I grabbed from my Mom's basement (minus the legs) to refinish for the girls. It might have been my brother's when he was a kid. It sat next to the deep freeze, filled with fabric scraps from home ec and family sewing projects in the 80s, as well as some baby clothes of my Mom's and some Ukrainian embroidery.

I'm pretty sure I drew on this as a kid. No one remembers, but it is most likely that I, the biggest brat in the family, did it.

Next week, the afters. Just wait! I can tell you that the girls love it and so do I.

A Pie for Mikey

You start out with an idea, a concept of where you want to take it. A taste, a feel, a look. A finished product to be savoured and enjoyed. Something to share, to show off, to take pride in.

You gather the things to make it, and you bring them close. You handle them, you edit, you cut, you taste. Add heat, maybe some sizzle, and quite often a long simmer. At many times will you season, highlighting the flavours and subsequent adventure.

Usually it gets messy. You are either the type of person who cleans as they go or the kind that has a third hand following them washing and wiping as you move. It doesn't matter, as long as you address the mess at some point.

Eventually you sit to enjoy. It isn't necessarily what you expected it to be. Sometimes it doesn't work and you have to start over tomorrow. Quite often it's better. Much better than expected.

One day it explodes. The pleasure is insatiable. The joy immeasurable. On another day it is more subtle, simple. It is good, but not great. The pleasure and peace, however, is there. It's lingering and comforting. Perfect.

At least, this is how my marriage feels.

My husband is my best friend and an incredible man. Kind, generous, a little bit wicked. Committed, driven, and horribly sarcastic. He owns his own business and used to race mountain bikes. But I always thought I'd marry a professor or snooty intellectual. We'd live in an old house filled with books and no kids. Obviously that isn't what I've got.

My man in my life and our marriage came about like a farmers' market dinner. One day you find something that looks fantastic and you go with it. And so we have, experimenting along the way. Some days it explodes with pleasure and some days it is lingering and comforting. Perfect.

Imagining a life without my husband nearly stops my breath. Cold.

And now there is a colleague, a friend I met through blogging, who is living this fresh hell right now. Her husband, the father of her two little girls, suddenly collapsed and died last week. She is feeling the immeasurable pain of loss, the unimaginable.

This pie is for Mikey, for her, for their girls. This pie was his favourite and it deserves a celebration. As does he, as does the love he and Jennie shared. Their recipe gave the world this pie. Let's celebrate.

The food blogging community - including those who live close to Jennie and are lucky enough to share a drink and pizza with her - are gathering around her right now. This is community. Today we are making pie. People the world over are taking Jennie and Mike's pie and making it for their own loved ones. They are adapting the pie for themselves, making the recipe for their own loves. In doing so we celebrate a man, relationships, and the spirit of adventure in love, cooking, and life.

A pie for Mikey.

Little Feet, Pins and Needles (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of the Little Feet, Pins and Needles series. Last time we talked about setting up your space and bringing a relaxed attitude to quilting when you've got young kids around. This week I want to talk about some ways to encourage creativity and an interest in quilting with your little ones.

This is about more than encouraging the with needle and thread or getting them literally involved in your quilting. (That's next week in the series!) Getting your kids thinking about colour, about the motions of quilting, and the aspects of design is a great way to foster an interest in your hobby/work without ramming it down their throat.

Here are a series of activities, games, or toys you can bring out to get your kids playing. You can always have these set up beside you as you sew. You could also get down on the floor and play with them. That's a great way to play yourself and find some inspiration along the way. Its always a welcome break for everybody.

1. Lego

As a kid, my favourite way to play with lego was to build houses. House after house, one day blue beds, another day red. Space lego was really out there for me. Now that my girls are getting into Lego I am struggling with do more than that. If they aren't asking me to make something specific I find myself defaulting to shapes and lines. My youngest took over my thought process and now she makes Lego quilts, working fastidiously to cover the entire green slate with colour.

2. Paper Quilts

We have a bit of a scissor issue in this house. To direct that habit I put coloured paper and recycling in her path. That leaves us with bits of paper everywhere. Everywhere. Now we take those bits and I hand them a glue stick. Voila! Paper quilts.

3. Sewing Cards

A kind reader of my blog sent my girls sewing cards. (Thank-you Nanci!) When they asked me to teach them how to sew this is the first thing I pulled out. We patiently work on front-to-back and back-to-front concepts with these cards. I let them explore the where to sew next question rather than guide them. This way they learn the rhythm. Or they don't, but then they love the end result more.

4. Embroidery Hoop

This was actually the first thing we did together. Thread, some linen, and a hoop. Go to town! They weren't getting the concept entirely, but they loved the feel of needle pulling thread. I believe the important part is them enjoying that feel and loving what they created. As they get older we can work on stitches. This will be an age/development aspect that you can adapt to your own kids.

(Put together by Abby, Amanda Jean's little one, while I was visiting.)

5. Their Own Design Wall

If you've got a big design wall, or even a small one, letting the kids go wild with their own designs is great. I'll admit, it can be stressful when they want to "help" you lay out a quilt. By giving them a space with some fabric or blocks of their own they can explore on their own. And who knows? It may end up inspiring you! When I was visiting Amanda Jean her little girl was always making creations in a corner of the design wall. It was great to see her determination at times, an her abandon at conventions we might hold close.

6. Mess Up the Scraps

Because I sew in a very shared space there is fabric everywhere. If I kept it all precious and off-limits then I would spend more time being stressed. So the girls have free reign of my scraps. Actually, they have free reign with my fabric stash too, so long as I'm with them for that. My youngest, in particular, loves to organize, stack, fold, and play. She makes sculptures, presents, and generally, a mess. And she loves it. It will keep her occupied for quite a while for a 3 year old. Her pride in her creations is immeasurable.

My goal isn't to create future quilters - although, that would be nice. Rather, my goal is to foster a playful energy towards colour and creating. My medium happens to be quilts and so I can encourage development through my medium.

Little Girls, A Dog, and Quilts

Remember, quilts are made to be used. Blankies too.