Why, hello beautiful.

Yeah, be jealous. This mid-century modern beauty is headed into my dining room in about a week. The woman selling it is a friend of my grandma's, as she's had to move into a home. Her realtor wants to keep it staged as long as possible, and I need to clean out our office/dining room/storage/cat play pen to properly house this piece of art.



I think I'll reupholster the cushions, just because as funky as the fabric is, it's not exactly our style, and looks like it would collect a TON of cat hair.



What do you think of this buffet? Kinda ugly, but it has to come with the table. So, I'm thinking about selling it, or painting it. Then selling it. Maybe. Bright blue, perhaps?

New Gap Kids line!

Oh my jeez. Why would I even CONSIDER making my own clothes for Delaney, when GapKids has these things around??





Photos via CocoPerez, obvs.

Welcome to the Jungle.

AKA, my backyard.

When we first moved to Alabama, the backyard (and the bathroom) were the only pictures on Craigslist. The yard sold us! Dreams of AllieDog running freely, barbecue parties and veggie gardens danced in our heads. We moved in in February when everything was dormant and manageable...I quickly got to work carving out a piece of the sideyard for my tomatoes and zucchini, and potting fruits and flowers.

Then, April came, and I got pregnant. We both started working overtime, the summer heat rolled in, and found ourselves with a huge yard with no energy to tend it. I mean, we did our best: I'd occasionally spray weed killer (killing lawn patches along with weeds), and Trevor would mow every two weeks. But then winter rain came, with the baby following close behind, and we completely neglected our favorite asset of our rental.

So, for the purposes of honesty and motivation, is our current state of affairs:


Don't let the greenery fool you, that's all weed.


Long ago, a hydrangea lived here.


The meadow. There is a paved path leading to the deck (with more potted weeds)... can you find it?


More meadow, with overgrown lavender and some sort of palmy/ferny/spiky thing out there.


Far overgrown and deceased veggie garden, and yep, more weeds.



Excessive amounts of concrete, and general chaos. We DID buy that patio set for $100 on craigslist, custom made.

We really aren't bad people. Swear. It's just the circumstances listed above, the incredible amount of rain, and this being our first yard to take care of... the excuses go on and on. We tackled the front yard this week, which we have not let get as bad as the back. I still have some clovers to pull, and would like to add come colorful flowers in, but it's passable.

Inspiration: Mustard Festival

photo via AhZut

It's that time of year in the Napa Valley, when the locals come out to celebrate the mustard flowers growing between the rows of vines, and along the highways. It's no surprise, then, that I'm currently obsessed with pops of yellow.


I already purchased Heather Bailey's Pocketbook in Tangerine, I just need to come up with the gumption to cut into it. I purchased a yard, so I think a pillow cover, and then a quilted wallet, so I can carry sunshine around in my purse at all times.


photo via Rachel Whiting
Yellow and other citrus colors against grey directly reminds me of winter turning into spring.


Our little house is yellow.


photo via Chiots Run
My lemon tree has a TON of teeny tiny lemons on it...soon enough they'll be big sweet Meyer lemons, perfect for lemonade.


photo via Tasi Fashion
I'm making an effort to be more fashionable as I lose this weight, and a yellow dress is perfect for spring/summer


Delaney looks good in yellow, yes?


photo via Poppyseed Living
While I love the shabby look, it doesn't work in my house (shappy paint+copious amounts of pet fur = MESS). However, I have my side dresser, and Trevor's side dresser to paint, and since I paid exactly $0.00 for each, why not paint them yellow? Guess I'd need bedding to coordinate.


photo via Past Enchantments
Cute cute cute! On a dark grey cardigan? Yes.

DIY: Ironing Board Cover

My ironing board was in desperate need for a facelift. It's nothing fancy, just a cheapo package deal from Walmart, something like $10 for the board and pad. This in itself was not too ugly (I mean, it's only an ironing board), but one day I found out just how sharp my rotary blade was, and ruined it for life. I continued using it, with some frustration, but too cheap to buy a new cover, or use pretty fabric to recover it.

But then, when decorating onesies with my sister, we completely destroyed the thing with iron on transfers. Oops.



Hot mess, hmm?

Luckily, Sew4Home JUST had a tutorial of how to make an ironing board cover. That, paired with common sense, and a discarded body pillow case, helped me create my new (if plain) ironing board!




I'm not so great with rolled hems and curves yet, so I sorta just made pockets at the challenging parts. But, its works fine for my purposes, and sure looks a whole lot better that the previous. Lesson learned about the rotary.

To-Do: Make pretty stuff.

I guess it's good the baby doesn't sleep much during the day, or I might get in more trouble. I purchased three different fabrics yesterday, from three different Etsy sellers, with three different shipping costs. Blah. Good thing everything is cute (and fat quarters. Yay cheap.)


This, as I mentioned, is a potential bedroom color inspiration. I'm thinking pillow shams? I love the almost citrus green against that light blue!


Okay, this just SCREAMS spring to me. It's been rather gloomy here, and I'm ready for some sunshine. I bought a whole yard of this, so I have some options. Use for a springy quilt? Make some sort of bag tote? Staple to a canvas frame for instant color gratification? The possibilities are endless.


This is a linen/cotton blend. I'm thinking a new wallet? Or maybe a skirt for Delaney.

Any suggestions?

QFH: Finally finished, and moving on.

Well, the Quilt From Hell is finally finished, without any help from this guy:



As much as I'm still in love with the color and texture combination, I'm now fully aware that I should have combined them in, say, a collection of throw pillows, rather than trying to create a cohesive unit out of four totally incompatible fabrics. Originally I was just planning on creating a pocket and turning it inside out, then doing simple line quilting over the top, but no. Boyfriend insisted it was too light, just as I was about to finish the last side. So, because I'm so over this thing, and really just wanted to get it done, I pieced together two lightweight fleece blankets and tacked them to the inside.

Then I finished sewing around the edges, flipped it right side out, and quilted straight lines down the middle of the squares. Only one direction, however, because despite being as careful as possible with this clunky, awkward thing, certain fabrics stretched more than others, and I was left with a bubble in the middle. Awesome. Needless to say, no pictures, and it's a great blanket to throw on the floor for baby. Enrich her mind, and crap like that.

Eventually, somewhere down the road I'll tear it apart and quilt it properly, but only after I've beefed up my skill set. You know, using quilting weight fabrics only for a while. Maybe trying a smaller size as well. I'm apparently not a big fan of baby steps.

As I mentioned, my best best friend is pregnant, and I'd LOVE to do a quilt for her baby. She's using my favorite Mendocino line as inspiration for the baby's room, after some not so subtle hints from me. I decided it was too romantic for me, but it works perfectly for her. So maybe I'll finally use that in a baby quilt for her. Precut, yes :)


Alexander Henry Zoo Primary


Tanya Whelan Dolce Grey
*actually, this is where I want to go with our bedroom color scheme.


Joel Dewberry Meadow, Lake
*mm, scratch that, maybe this. Hah, all over the place, much?


Tanya Whelan, Dolce Pink
*perfect for Delaney's room!

Then of course, you have Moda to make things even easier. The strip width makes me a little nervous, with 2.5" ea, and a 1/4" seam allowance, it doesn't leave much room for error. But this one is sooo pretty. And on sale!



I think someone told me ebay is a good place to find pre-cut fabric, squares even! But I don't see anything that strikes my fancy. I want to make inspired beautiful quilts like Christina and use gorgeous fabrics like Jeni. The Joann's and Hancock's around here are just not doing it for me. What's your favorite fabric source?