Super Size Me

These super sized bags are my first ever sewing commission.  When I say big, I mean big!  This one measures two feet by three feet:

And this one measures two and a half by three and a half feet:

Each one took over three metres of fabric and more than a few pulled brain stitches I have to say!
So, what could you possibly use such large bags for?  They will be used for transporting art to art shows.  Kind of like a portfolio bag, but for finished works.  If you want to see what kind of art will be transported in these bags, take a look here.

My First Souffle

I'm pretty excited about this one!  I have a always been a bit intimidated by the idea of souffle.  I think if I had planned it too far in advance, I would have chickened out in the end.  Yesterday, while perusing one of my new cookbooks I saw a recipe for a cheese and herb souffle and suddenly had the courage to do it.  It turned out beautifully:

The recipe is from Laura Calders new cookbook, French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating. 

Something else to get me excited in the kitchen are these:

The squash display at the grocery store was so pretty I could hardly contain myself.  I can't wait to try them out.  Just having them sitting on my counter makes me happy.

Now that the kids are back in school I have been Busy.  I am currently working on the Total Garage Organization Project.  I have not been able to park my car in the garage since February and I want to be able to before winter comes.  The way the weather has been, winter feels like it may just come a little earlier than expected.  My ultimate goal is to get both cars parked in the garage at the same time.  Funny thought, using your garage to store your cars.  So very un-North American where we value our junk more than our cars....

Have a great day!

Summer Reading Program and Beyond...

Every year I sign my kids up for the local library's Summer Reading Program.  It's a great way to keep them reading over the summer and insures regular library visits.  Little prizes for reading achievements are a bonus too!

Our Favourite Girl has her favorites:

Our Favourite Boy read a lot from these old school readers:

They combine bright, vintage pictures with the word count of grade one chapter books to keep both of us happy.

I ended up reading a lot this summer myself.  I read quite a few mysteries and historical novels, and branched out into new sections of the library.  

One of the best things about reading a lot is that you want to read more.  I don't want to stop just because summer is over and the library program has wrapped up.  I decided to reward myself with a lovely box full of books from Bookcloseouts.  Their prices are quite fantastic so I didn't break the bank with this:

I shall be enjoying myself over the next few months I think...

Flannel Memories

One thing I have never been able to get rid of are my kids receiving blankets.  I had always intended to try making a rag quilt out of them as a keepsake for me, and indeed if I'm lucky enough to become a Grammie someday those little babies can loll about on bits of blankies from their parents' infant days.
Hard to believe, but it has been about six years those bits of flannel fabric have been sitting about in a plastic bin.  I know that the longer something sits around un-used, the greater its chances of being sent out for good.
So last week the muse struck a very loud chord and in less than 24 hours I completed my first rag quilt:

I would say it's crib sized.  Or just right for the floor when having "tummy time".

I cut the squares out into 8x8 inch pieces, and the batting at 6x6 inches.  The cutting was the fiddliest part, but  all in all it wasn't too bad.  I think I enjoyed the whole process: the cutting; the layering; the quilting; the assembling and finally the cutting again.

I think the happy memories of the fabrics made the whole process so enjoyable.  I know there are much prettier flannels out there now, and certainly  much softer ones - after all, these have been washed more times than anything I own -but they remind me of my no-so-little ones from their sleepy, squeaky, wormy little infant days.  Precious times indeed.

Vacation

I've had a bit of a break as you can see.  After my Mum came to town and I baked this for My Favorite Girl;

...we took off for New Brunswick and stayed in places like this:

(Algonquin Hotel: St. Andrews, N.B.)

...and this:

 (Carriage House Inn:  Fredericton, N.B.)

We also ate lots of this in one form or another:

It was a fabulous girls only - no kids trip away that was so much fun I didn't want to come home!  Well, really I just could have used a few more days, but I did miss my family!

This last week has found me spending my nights in this:

...which is only in the backyard but the spirit of it all is still there and the kids are enjoying it immensely. I love how they just had to make the space "theirs" with some of their favorite things:

Perhaps they get it from me?

Summer Work

There's nothing like impending company to get your house in order.  And when it's your Mum, well, let's just say I have been busy this week.  A few weeks ago I thought I wasn't going to kill myself trying to get the house tidied up, after all it is summer and it has been quite a while since the last tidy, so really it will be a lot of work to get things back on track.  I would just do a skim-coat clean so to speak.  I'm not sure how it works, but such skim-coat cleaning often ends up in full-scale house warrior mode, because suddenly it's immensely important that baseboards that haven't been put on yet be put on, and basements still recovering from being turned upside down need to be set to rights: this week. The simple act of decluttering my kitchen counter top ended up taking a meandering path to completion, yet one of the perks of that was getting these made:

Dilled carrots.  Mr. Crafty World and I loved these as kids.  Lets hope we still do because I made six jars!

My basement still looked like I was preparing for a garage sale, even though I had a garage sale two weeks ago.  Stuff got hauled out, thrown out and now it's really starting to look nice down there.  I have been wanting to put some of the more special pieces of art by the kids up on the walls and this pressure to get my act together finally made me do it.

Today I will finally take the computer out of the spare room and make it a nice place to rest; and tomorrow I'll re-acquaint myself with my dust rag.  I will not look at my to- list and the things not yet done, because it really doesn't matter.  I have at the very least stirred up some stagnant energy around here and made a few positive changes. Those baseboards aren't on but the touch-up painting is done!  By tomorrow night I will be happily expecting my Mum and looking forward to the few days she is here before another vacation starts.  My crafting space is in a much better state than before (although not quite picture ready!), and I'm hoping for a little bit of mother-daughter-grandchildren crafting time.

Have a great day!

More Simple Pleasures

We've had another mini vacation over the weekend: this time to a lovely sandy beach on Georgian Bay.  I didn't think it wise to take my camera to the beach to get filled up with sand, but the water was lovely and I bobbed about in the waves for a good hour.  After getting on the freeway and seeing how slowly it was moving, we got off again just as quickly and wound our way up to our destination on secondary highways.  It took twice as long, but I am so glad we did.  We had lovely views of the rolling hills that ripple through our region, and passed through sweet Victorian main streets that are so prevalent in small Ontario towns.

This was as good of a shot as I could get out of a moving car window, but it sure was purdy.

I mentioned before that we have had a birthday at our house.  Our Favorite Boy turned six on Monday and had a lovely time building all his new Lego.
I made this birthday banner out of card stock on Sunday night: it's really too bad it's in shadow because the colors are nice and bright.  I would ultimately like to make a longer lasting one out of fabric, but it's going to take some time to get just the right birthday-ish fabric.  I hung it up before I went to bed so the birthday boy could see it first thing in the morning.

I received my latest Cross Stitch and Needlwork magazine in the mail yesterday and read it by the pool as the kids took their swimming lessons.

There is a pumpkin ABC in it I would like to stitch, the only problem is I never feel like stitching fall themed things in the summer.  By the time fall comes around it will be too late unless I plan on hanging it up next year!

I am trying to get back to doing a bit of stitching everyday, and for the last week or so have been working on it outside.  It's always lovely to do that because the light is so much better.  I especially need it for projects like this that are stitched over one on 40 count fabric using a magnifying glass.

This is a gift I am working on that has been too long in the making; I am really hoping to make some serious progress on it by the end of the summer.  

Yesterday I purchased two new cookbooks by two of my favorite TV chefs: Laura Calder and Michael Smith.  Thank goodness for Costco for having affordable kitchen inspiration.

I also like Costco for their inexpensive growers  bunches of flowers.  I saw these sweet little tea roses and had to bring them home.  An added bonus is that once they were out of the chilly cooler I noticed they are sweetly fragrant.  The scent reminds me a little of the wild roses from my childhood, and as such puts me in a profoundly happy state of mind.

Have a great day!