Monthly Archives: June 2015

on the telly

I never watch TV anymore.  I suppose that is not unusual among those with young children.  However, Netflix, ah Netflix.  I watch more Netflix than I cared to when I was pregnant and not feeling well.  Then I used it to pass the time when I was nursing B around the clock.  Now, H and I are finally finding some time in the evenings to watch TV together.  H likes nature shows and action flicks.  I prefer dramas.  The only thing we can both agree on are British cop shows.  We’ve made our way through what is, in my opinion, pretty much the best TV show ever, Inspector Lewis.  We tried a few other candidates, but we’ve settled on two very different, but both enjoyable, British cop shows.  First, Hinterland.  This one is based in Wales and, interestingly, was filmed twice – once in Welsh and once in English.  It requires paying very close attention, but all the main characters are interesting and likable, and the plot is well-developed and fairly unpredictable.  Our second favorite is Death In Paradise.  This one is comedy meets cop show.  It’s easy to follow and lighthearted, a bit more predictable than its Welsh cousin, but overall also a good watch.

My personal favorite drama these days is Bloodline.  I started watching it only because Friday Night LIghts is my favorite television show ever, with the possible exception of Inspector Lewis, and Kyle Chandler stars in both shows.  Bloodline started slow, but it built nicely, and if you enjoy a good drama, I recommend it.

a good life

L continues to be her own person.  Perhaps I don’t spend enough time around three-year-olds.  I have to admit my idea of what a typical three-year-old is is based on scant evidence.  Last week, we headed to the park Thursday morning to meet a friend and her daughter of the same age.  There was a school class there for some reason, and they were swarming all over the play structure.  L’s little friend was un-intimidated, but L did not want to tangle with all the rough and tumble kids and preferred to simply stand and watch.  There was a spray park there as well, but L does not like to risk getting sprayed by water.  Half the time when we go to the park, L will do very well in the sense that she will run (or walk at least) around and play on the various play structures.  Other times, however, she just opts out.

Friday, we headed to the pool, and once again L’s approach to life and its difference from that of the other kids of similar age was on full display.  I have learned when we go to the pool to leave L alone for at least ten minutes, sometimes fifteen.  That is the length of time she prefers to sit on the pool steps and gradually get used to the water.  She’ll spend at least five minutes sitting on the first step, then gradually move the second step and so on.  After the full warming up period, I’ll encourage her to move around the pool a bit.  We stay in the young kids’ area of the pool.  It varies from 2 to 2.5 feet, and she can stand up throughout.  Anyway, usually she can be enticed to walk along the wall and jump, maybe try and kick her feet and just move around the water a bit.  Last time we were there, she was willing to walk around the pool a little without holding onto me, but this time, she didn’t want to walk across the pool even holding my hand.  I have to admit I was a little disheartened, wondering if she would ever learn to swim.  She is such a little sweetie.  She tries so hard and wants so much to please, but not at the expense of her personal safety nor at the risk of water in her eyes.

We checked out Ferdinand from the library last week, and I think it may be my new favorite book simply because L reminds me very much of Ferdinand the bull and vice versa.  She prefers to sit and smell the flowers.  It’s really a lovely book.  I recommend it.   (Beware if you decide to buy on Amazon; the first result that pops up is an abridged edition.)

L continues to be an enthusiastic reader, to put it mildly.  On an average day, she must look through dozens of books.  Her favorite activity by far is to look through her books and then cart them throughout the house.  She pages through them, piles them up, “reads” them, opens them and stands them up.  My favorite, of course, is when she reads them aloud.  She hasn’t shown much interest in the alphabet, but I prefer her original version of the stories anyway.

We’ve been taking advantage of the beautiful weather lately, and we go to local beach parks frequently.  One benefit of our move last summer is that we now live quite close to Lake Washington.  Our favorite outdoor outing is a local park, New.castle Beach Park on the lake.  It features a flat paved path, maybe 1/3rd of a mile, and we’ll go around a couple times with L on her trike or scooter.  Lately, she loves to play in the sand.  It is frankly exhausting to try and manage a 9 month old in the sand while making sure L is safe (given the proximity of water), but L loves it, so we’ll usually spend half an hour or so at least on the beach.  L is very into making channels from the water inland.

It’s a good life.  The days are exhausting, but I try and realize the pleasure in everyday life – in our little outings to the park or the library or even the grocery store, in lunches and baths, in cuddling with B when she nurses.   I honestly enjoy cooking in the evenings most of the time (and H does the cleanup), and of course, I enjoy my quilting in the evenings as well.  I’m starting a new long-term project, but more on that later.

 

 

 

kona sunrise / sunset quilt

As I mentioned previously, I’ve been wanting to make a very large quilt for using outside.  We often sit in the backyard in the afternoons, and keeping B from eating grass, dirt and rocks is a full-time job.  I usually end up spreading out every quilt we own.  Many or most of them are quite small, and folding up ten quilts every evening is a little annoying.  Plus, there are always holes between them which she exploits.  Enter the Kona jelly rolls.  Kona makes two jelly rolls, sunrise and sunset.

Sunrise:

Sunset:

I’d seen some very simple striped quilts on pinterest.  For example, here’s a link to a dirt simple striped quilt by Red Pepper Quilts.  It’s merely a bunch of solid strips sewn together, but it’s beautiful.  I thought that perhaps I could sew the sunrise and sunset strips together side by side and make a very nice quilt.   Each strip in a jelly roll is 2.5 inches by 44 inches.  The sunrise and sunset roll ups each contain 43 strips.  Therefore, I figured if I sewed all the sunset strips together and all the sunrise strips together and then laid them side by side, accounting for a 1/4 inch seam allowance, I’d end up with a quilt 86 inches by 87.5 inches – a very large, square quilt, about queen size in fact.

Before sewing – I wasn’t thrilled with this:

I commenced sewing them together in batches of ten:

They look really cool on the music stand.

Laid out the way I envisioned the quilt:

I do think they look considerably better laid out above.  However, I think either group makes a very nice quilt.  I’m not sure they make a great quilt together.  (A single group is 43″ x 86″ or so – not a great size for a quilt.  A twin quilt is 65″ x 88″.)  Then again, this isn’t destined for the Louvre or even a friend or our own bed.  I’m just looking for something we can sit on outside.  Some options are:

1.) Sew together as is

2.) Sew together as is but with a strip of white or gray or denim or yellow fabric between the two sides.

3.) Chop lengthwise (such that every cut would run through 43 colors) and divide into six strips.  Sew the ends of the strips together and shift the starting point so I had six strips of 43 colors, one starting with purple, another with blue, another with pink, and so on.  Sew the strips together.  A variation would be to separate the six strips with a solid piece of fabric (like #2) in some color.

The major downside to #2 and #3 is that I would have to order fabric, but I’ll probably end up ordering fabric to back this quilt anyway, so that’s not the end of the world.

4.) Make two twin quilts.  Add solid fabric on either side, width 10.5″.  Keep the bluer one for L (since she loves blue) and give the other one away.  I don’t really know a lot of people who I could give a twin quilt to, though.  It’s kind of an awkward size if you don’t actually sleep in a twin bed.

 

 

watercolor coasters

H’s mother has been asking for some artwork from L.  We’ve been really into painting lately.   Until recently, we’d stuck to the Crayola washable finger paints.  They really are fairly easily washable, and L can now get the paint out of the bottle herself.  She usually ends up with a big brown / gray / black blob in the middle of her paper, though, which I haven’t really felt like saving or sending to relatives.  L also enjoys the paint-with-water.  We’ve tried the traditional kind where the paint is actually on the page, like this, and she has a lot of fun with it, but again, the result is not really anything to write home about.  Recently, we tried this version of paint with water.  Basically the paints are at the top of the page, and for a three-year-old, I liked it a lot better.  L had a lot of fun with it (though I fell short trying to answer her why questions regarding the paint attached to the top of the page), and the results were actually really pretty, as much as rainbow painted cars, trucks and automobiles can be.  (On a side note, my appreciation for Melissa and Doug toys has been increasing as L ages – no Disney characters, basic, fun toys of every description, and more affordable than its Hape / Haba cousins.)

Inspired by the paint with water, I decided to buy L some water colors, and I think the water colors are much more forgiving than the finger paint.  I’ve even sat down myself and done some painting with her.  I decided we’d try and make some simple coasters for my MIL.  I just cut some seven inch squares of white fabric and gave them to L and let her have at it.  Then I cut some five inch squares of white fabric and some wool batting.  (In retrospect, I wish I’d used lower loft batting, but wool was what I had on hand.)  Once the paint had dried, I just layered the three together with the five inch squares centered on the seven inch squares.  I folded the seven inch edges over twice in half inch widths, and then just stitched the whole thing together.  I do think the result is quite cute considering the age of the artist and the low effort involved.

L was very pleased with them and doesn’t want to send them to Nana.  Too bad!  Off they go.  I feel I really should quilt them somehow, but I guess we’ll try that on version two.  The idea is that they could theoretically be used as coasters, but that may be incompatible with watercolor paint.  Fortunately, I think Nana is not a very though critic when it comes to her granddaughter’s art.

a rainbow world quilt – finished

I finished my rainbow around-the-world quilt this morning and handed it off to its intended recipient.  About midway through, I was quite concerned that the color scheme was just not going to work, but in the end, I think it came together nicely.

The initial inspiration for the quilt came from two quilts by Blue Elephant Stitches, this one and this one.  I ended up doing a 7×7 block and followed the instructions here.   I did run into some trouble by using a block with an odd number of squares.  I had to re-iron some seams, among other things.  Otherwise, it’s a simple and effective technique for an around-the-world quilt.

Fabric

Patchwork: I obviously used quite a variety of fabrics for the patchwork quilt.  Below is a list of some of the fabrics and fabric lines I used.

Brambleberry Ridge by Violet Craft

Wee Wander by Sarah Jane

Littlest by AGF Studio

Morning Walk by Leah Duncan

Meadow by Leah Duncan

Saltwater by Natalie Lymer

Hello Bear by Bonnie Christie

Dots by Riley Blake Designs

Dots by Michael Miller In House Designer

Color Weave by P & B Textiles

Briar Rose by Heather Ross

Calico by Dear Stella

Catnap by Lizzie House

Indian Summer by Sarah Watson

Doe by Carolyn Friedlander

Batting

Quilter’s Dream Orient

This is the second time I’ve used this batting, and I like it a lot.  It has a bit more loft than their lightest weight cotton batting and nice drape.  It is not “all natural,” but that doesn’t bother me much.  It is also a little on the expensive side.

Thread

Piecing, machine and hand sewing of binding, and quilting: Aurifil Mako 50 in White 2024

All in all, this was an enjoyable project, and I’m excited to move on to the next.  I’m leaning towards making a very large quilt for us to sit outside on.  Briony is a real hazard these days in terms of trying to eat grass, dirt and rocks.  She might stay on a large quilt for a few minutes, right?