29

When I was little, I always asked my parents to sneak into my room the night before my birthday and leave my presents next to my bed so that when I woke up, I'd see the pretty wrapped boxes right away.

But I grew out of that (but it was definitely fun). Now my presents come in other forms - sweet doggie kisses when I come in my apartment door, nice messages from friends, and my sweetie who will soon be meeting me at a lovely little restaurant for a quiet birthday dinner, just the 2 of us. All day today, this day that is my 29th birthday and marks the start of my 30 year (whoa!), I've been reflecting on how happy and lucky I am. It's important to mark milestones this way, I think.

I plan on ushering in this 30th year by doing a 365 (366!) photo project. We'll see how long it lasts but I'll try, probably mostly using my iPhone.

And it begins with sparkly tights, and black patent pumps...

Rocking out

Do you listen to music while you sew? How about watching TV? Typically, when I'm cutting and ironing, I watch TV if I have a lot to do. Otherwise, I listen to NPR or music. I'm a huge NPR nerd so I always have podcasts handy. I also have pretty eclectic music taste so I could be listening to anything from John Mayer to Marvin Gaye to Billie Holiday to the Beastie Boys.

After receiving the awesome wall quilt from Brooke, I got a big kickstart of creative juice to finish my project for her. Here's a little sneak peek!

My sweetie is still sleeping but since I bought some new kick-ass headphones (I was still using the crappy ones that came with my iPod), I'm sitting here blogging, sipping coffee, and listening to music. I think it's time for the crafting to begin...

Happy weekend, everyone!

Happy Friday

I woke up to a beautiful dusting of snow today. We got a few inches last night and it's fluffy and lovely. Maybe it's due to the snow, maybe it's the need for creative activities but I'm in a serious picture-taking mood today (sigh...can't WAIT to get a digital SLR camera - long way off but definitely something in my future). Snapped a whole bunch this morning while enjoying my coffee and now I'm off to do some "real" (aka not fun) stuff before getting back to crafting and such.

A few things... Finally finished my Kindle 3 cover. I don't know why it seemed so complicated but I guess I was just having a major brain fart about putting this together. Spatial stuff is so not my thing (I know, you must be laughing, this coming from a knitter/quilter) but I think I'm getting better at it. Anyway, reworked an Etsy pattern and whipped up a cute little case. Have to go to Michael's to get some Velcro to seal it up. Also off to the post off to mail some fun mix CDs (hi, brooke!) and to the library where The Gourmet Cookie Book is waiting for me on the hold shelf.

Stay tuned for some more pictures later today. Happy Friday, everyone!)

Weekending...

The hours are ticking down as I get closer and closer to turning 28! Eeek! It's been a great weekend so far. Last night my sweetie and I went to Braai where they had some service issues but more than made up for it with heaping free glasses of pinotage (my fave!). The ribs doused in rooibos/chocolate sauce were AAAAMAZING. Seriously. As always, our dinner made me miss SA like whoa. *Sigh* Can't wait to get back. Some day...

Today was spent doing fun things: sewing (placemats!), groceries, shopping (including a very hilarious conversation with an adorable 2-year old and his mom on the subway - he had awesome orange/blue sneakers - too cute!), mani/pedi (SO overdue), and lots of quality time with my boys.

Looking forward to a night in, with breakfast for dinner (mmm) and one more sleep til my birthday...

Hope you're having a nice weekend!

Friday

I had these grand plans today to do a long post, with pictures of knitting, fabric, quilts, you name it. I made us these really cute napkins, worked on same baby quilt tops, and almost finished the backing for the New Wave Quilts. So much to share!

But obviously that didn't happen.

I had too much else to do and have been feeling a little discombobulated this week (who knows why) so sorry about the lack of action here.

This morning I got so frustrated with a number of things, and for the last few hours I've gotten crankier because I have to go into work for a few hours.

But then I looked over at this little face. How can you not smile???

Not just TGIF but also TGIL = thank god it's Louie.

Happy weekend!

100

I can't believe it but this is my 100th blog post! Phew, that was fast! Since it snuck up on me, I didn't plan any sort of giveaway or special feature post. That will have to be planned for my 1 year blog-a-versary (also coming sooner than I realized!). For now, let me just say that I've enjoyed blogging and hope that you enjoy reading. I have no idea who or how many there are of you out there...

Today was glorious. This morning it started out cloudy but then the sun came out and it was actually HOT outside. I wore flip flops (which I swore I would do less and less in this dirty city). I sported my insanely huge sunglasses. I made sure to put some sunscreen on my pasty skin (it's truly embarrassingly pale). Now I'm sitting here with the windows open and thinking that ice cream would be a good appetizer for dinner.

Today was my day off from work and the main event was a job interview. FINALLY. It hasn't actually been that long since my last one but these waiting periods seem endless. We're talking agony (I'm sure many of you know what I mean). This job would be.......perfect. Seriously. I wouldn't joke about this. In fact, it's so perfect and amazing that I have to stop talking/writing/thinking about it because I'll go nuts. I should hear next week if I made it to the second round. And that will have to be all about that for now. (Gulp.)

On the crafting front, the baby quilts (4 out of 5 - the last one is half-bound) are in the wash as we speak. Expect to see them go up in my shop this weekend. I promise I'll get my butt in gear and FINALLY reopen it.

I've been working on the New Wave Quilt, the Laura Gunn version. Is it absurd that I'm doing 2 versions of the same quilt? I just love it. One goes with this quilt (I like matching things - I'm a nerd). The other one is mostly pink and girly (don't think my sweetie will be sitting under it very much). They look very different so I'm going to say it's OK.

P.S. Erin has started a website for the beloved Flickr group Quilting Bee Blocks. Check it out here!

Inspiration

Ok, before I get back to real stuff (job search), wanted to send a wish list (and feedback prompt?) out into the void. I have a few ideas for new projects (a cover for my rolling file cabinet and some cute curtains for our bedroom) and would love to get my hands on One-Yard Wonders and Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. Anyone have other suggestions for good crafting books?

Shades of gray

For some reason, I really love the combination of gray and raspberry. I'm thinking I might want to do a quilt in just those colors. I would use fabrics like these (the gray stack is from sewdeerlyloved's fabric shop on Etsy):

A new hobby begins...

So now that I have finished my first quilt, I think I'm hooked! I also finished the top of another quilt (I know, I know) using Tina Givens fabric (her Zazu line). I'm partial to her stuff, not only because it's awesome but because she's from Southern Africa, a place that holds a special spot in my own heart. (To see more about my time in South Africa last year, please visit my other blog!) Anyway, my Mom bought this pattern from another Etsian and it has GREAT instructions. I finished the top (pictures to come) but think that I'll pay someone to do long-arm quilting on it. The craziness of the prints just scream for something other than quilting around the edges (which is all I'm up to doing).

Anyway, I have 2 more quilts in the works! One is a kit from

Hancocks-Paducah by Timeless Treasures that's called "Central Park" so I'm going to make it for our apartment in anticipation of the big move to NYC. Here's what it's going to look like:

The pattern is free and you can download it at Hancocks-Paducah (which if you're a fabric lover and haven't been to you MUST go to!)

The other quilt will be made using a free pattern by Valori Wells but with Kaffe Fassett/Westminster fabrics. It's mostly blues and greens and is going to be a small lap quilt (about 50" x 50"). That fabric was purchased from Glorious Color and I can't wait for it to get here. All the Westminster artists are just that - amazing fabric that looks like painted art!

My Etsy store desperately needs attention and I plan

on adding the new pics today or tomorrow. I need to also advertise it more - any suggestions?

In other crafty news, fall knitting patterns are starting to emerge and I'm getting so excited! I'm a serious knitter (have been knitting for about 10 years) and it's my true textile love. I'm repacking all my boxes from my move, many of which contain my wool not very carefully packed (they're packed tightly and with cedar blocks but it's SO disorganized!). Time to sort through and get ready for knitting season to begin! (I'm not really a cotton/lightweight yarn knitter so I pretty much knit from September to April and am always itching to get back to it by the end of August). Interweave Knits has the cutest fall patterns. I think I'll make this one first:

Technology update: after reading about it on Etsy, I joined Soopsee AND bought my own domain. You can now visit my store and blog at http://littleolivebranch.com! Woohoo!