Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
First finish of February – Horses!
This was actually supposed to be finished in January in time for my niece Grace’s birthday, but because I was ill and my trip to Victoria got postponed – the whole thing got pushed into the first week of February.
For this project I used a template by Ann Wood – first sewing fabric onto card stock printed with the horses on the back, and then cutting the horses out and gluing them together. After putting down the background fabric on a cheap canvas, I glued the horses on top and then glued on their buttons (sewing through layers of cardboard and fabric was going to take too long and leave me frustrated, so I opted for lots of white glue). Everything was mod-podged about four times afterwards to get rid of the uneven surface and it turned out quite nicely (this picture makes everything look a bit orange).
I didn’t get a picture of Grace receiving the picture last weekend, but she did point at several of the horses one after another – taking them in – which I hope she will continue to do over the next few years as this picture hangs on her bedroom wall. This was a fun project – there’s something so lovely about the prancing horses and I’m glad I have a two year old in my life to make such fancies for.
It’s my new year!
Making, Meditation, Movement, Music.
This weekend marked the passing of my 41st birthday, which was spent in Victoria with my niece and nephew at the Shaw Discovery Centre – this is my niece grace pointing at the starfish. She’s awesome.
It was a really nice, low-key way to spend my birthday after a month of being sick (not to mention a pretty rocking birthday party a week earlier) and I was glad to have a little travel with Brian (whom I’ve been feeling particularly close to recently).
I’ve decided that for this, my 41st year, my focus will be on the four activities listed at the head of this post – making, meditation, movement and music. I’m almost close to finishing my master’s degree (could be done as early as fall) and I am naturally shifting gears towards other activities (besides coursework and hanging out with folks from uni) – like playing music, making stuff for the house and for friends, and regular meditation practice and study. The movement piece is one I’ve dropped the ball on for awhile due to rain and sickness, but I’m eager to start walking to work again now that the days are lighter and less cold — (I just ordered a new pair of walking shoes since I entirely wore out the pair I bought last year on my birthday). I’m also looking forward to getting back to our little piece of land and doing some work on it.
So yes. I suppose my theme for 2014 is setting my direction towards the things which give me the greatest sense of my ever-becoming-self.
Real life sewing injuries!
Last night I put a sewing machine needle through the very tip of my thumb and this morning I woke up cramped and sore from neck to feet after spending 7 hours sitting at my sewing machine in a determined effort to get the quilting part of my most recent quilt done. Hazardous! But it’s only because I’ve been so damned prolific on the sewing front lately.
On the weekend I finished this satchel for my husband to use for work – since the one I made him four years ago finally shredded (something he failed to mention until there was a hole right in the bottom of it – that’s what you get for using quilting cotton). This was made with water-resistant fabric using the Cooper bag pattern – though it has some wonkiness because I cut the fabric funny and couldn’t square the bottom. Overall though, I’m happy with it because it involved installing magnetic snaps, rivets and an adjustable strap for the first time ever. I have cut fabric to make another for myself – which I’ll start working on after the weekend. (Pattern: Cooper by Colette Patterns.)
And yesterday, as I mentioned, I spent about eight hours working on my Flower Chain quilt – two hours blocking and taping, and then six hours quilting. Rarely do I have the energy to sit at a sewing machine that long, and I’m paying for it today – but powering through means that I don’t have to worry about abandoning it mid-quilt as I so often do. Tonight I will square the edges and correct a few small issues in the top before setting it up for binding tomorrow.
Sorry, no photo of the quilting yet, here it is at blocking stage though:
Next up I’ve got plans to finish two more projects – a crochet sweater started last February (it just needs sleeves), and a kindof ugly quilt I started making nine years ago. I am feeling done with having old projects hanging around, so if I can’t get ’em finished this year — out the door they go!
February Feasts: Another month of meal plans
As many of you know, I have been sick for the better part of January and am only now considering myself mostly recovered. Even so, I managed to make all but five of the meals I scheduled in January. Those meals that I missed out on have been added to this month’s plan so I can at least try them and see what I think.
One thing I found with being sick is that even though the meal plan was overwhelming on my sickest days, for the most part I found that it helped me to shop for and make decent meals when I didn’t feel in the least inspired or creative.
(And for the record – yes I do look that spotlessly made-up in the kitchen after a full day of work – naturally).
Saturday, February 1: Birthday Party Dinner – Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives, Cardamom Meatballs, Hummus and Laffa Bread, Couscous, Cucumber/Mint Salad
Monday, February 3: Curry Chicken and Rice Casserole
Tuesday, February 4: Leftovers
Wednesday, February 5: Thai Pork and Noodle Soup
February 6-9: Out and/or away
Monday, February 10: Claypot chicken rice with shitake mushrooms w/Stir-fry bok choi
Tuesday, February 11: Pacific Pork Kebabs with Pineapple Rice w/cold-sliced veggies
Wednesday, February 12: Artichoke, Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta w/mixed greens
Thursday, February 13: Leftovers
Friday, February 14: Frittata w/greek salad
Saturday, February 15: Smokey Gouda Mac and Cheese w/steamed broccoli
Sunday, February 16: Seafood Stew w/bread and sliced cold veggies
Monday, February 17: Claypot Roast Duck w/stir-fry green beans and carrots
Tuesday, February 18: Lemon Shrimp with Rice w/roasted beets
Wednesday, February 19: Roast Pork Loin with Carrots and Mustard Gravy w/green salad
Thursday, February 20: Asian Dumpling Soup
Friday, February 21: Red Lentil Curry w/brown basmati rice and cold sliced veggies
Saturday, February 22: Polenta Pizza with Spinach, Mushrooms, Bacon & Tomatoes and green salad on side
Sunday, February 23: Pork Ragu w/spinach salad
Monday, February 24: Seared Duck Breast with Amarula w/roasted yams and green salad
Tuesday, February 25: Totchos Salad (Finally, a salad recipe that includes tater tots!)
Wednesday, February 26: Cold Marinated Sirloin Noodle Bowl
Thursday, February 27: Spinach Artichoke Orzo w/roasted beet salad (beets roasted night before)
Friday, February 28: Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash
January Patchwork Round-up
The only thing that being sick was good for was keeping me around the house – which meant lots of hand sewing, and a little bit of machine work when I felt well enough to sit up for a couple of hours. This resulted in making good headway on some projects as follows:
These horses (template by Ann Wood) have several friends in various shades and textures. I’m in love with them – and they will comprise a collage for my niece’s 2nd birthday. She is learning about horse riding right now – and I hope these brings some cheery dreams of riding to her bedroom wall! Finished piece by next week.
I cut out all the fabric for this lovely Denyse Schmidt pattern in 2013 before realizing there was an errata on the petal template which meant that all my pieces were the wrong size. Frustrated, I set all the cut fabric aside and let it be until December when I pulled out the petals and re-cut them. Over the last month I’ve appliqued and pieced this queen-size quilt top which I am preparing to start quilting next week (time willing). I have only ever made one queen-size quilt for myself, so I’m excited to get this done in time to grace our bed top in the spring.
And this! I had this table runner half-pieced in 2013 and then it languished in the sewing basket until I had endless hours and not much more than bad TV to keep me company. I went for a really primitive quilting style which matches my less than perfect patchwork – this is my first ever hand-pieced project of any substance and I’m pretty pleased with the overall feel.
For February I am planning to finish two Cooper bags (one for me and one for my partner), a crochet sweater that I started last year and only needs sleeves, and the above quilt. I also would like to cut out a pattern for a cape that I’m dreaming about making – we’ll see, it’s not at all season-appropriate but I feel inspired to work on it now. Really back into sewing all of a sudden and loving it…..
Red Cedar 