Mulching

Mom wants things as low maintenance as possible.  It is time to seriously apply mulch to any exposed dirt.  Last summer my sister and I cleaned out, tilled, purchased plants, and installed plants into this flower bed....

The plants are now well established.  The above picture was taken last week.  Right before I installed 1000 pounds of mulch.

Lovely!  And the dark mulch shows off the plants really well.

Next up was the rose and peony bed in the garden.  I installed another 1000 pounds on Sunday.

The pink tree peony is very happy with the change and is blooming vigorously.

I have now installed 1 ton of mulch total (it's actually compost, but we are using it as mulch) and still have at least 1 ton to go to cover most of the vegetable garden and any other exposed dirt areas.  I am also collecting all the grass clippings and mulching all the pathways in the garden.  The paths are now very quiet when you walk through them.... very zen and meditative.  Maybe I should lay out the grass paths in a labyrinth!  and then we could walk the labyrinth (with coffee in hand) to meditate and solve our problems.

I love the one in the Chartres Cathedral.

Since this would take up most of the planting space in the garden, I don't think Mom would go for it.

In Idaho for 6 Weeks

I am in Northern Idaho staying at my parent's farm and teaching for 6 weeks at the University of Idaho.  This is the first week of teaching.  So far it has gone well, I have a good group of students, and we have a great start in the two classes that I am teaching.  Will post more on that as the session goes along.

In the meantime,  I am enjoying some lovely spring on the farm.

This is the Cutty Sark.

She is NOT the house cat.  That position is already occupied.  BUT she would like very much to be the house cat.  So for now she just follows you around... and she likes to roll... A LOT.

We have many, many apple trees on the farm and they are all in bloom this time of year.  They are so white and fluffy.  It is almost the end of the blooming period, so the blossoms are falling.  It looks like snow.

Butterflies are coming out to sun themselves.

More rolling.  Because it is better in dirt and then you become a dirt powder puff and can distribute said dirt (which is now dust) onto anything you rub against... including dark denim pant legs which show off the dust best.

These are yellow roses... or will be.  These are a wild form that my great grandmother planted.  They do not last at all as a cut flower and they only bloom for a few weeks... but when they bloom it is spectacular.  This should happen when I am here... so stay tuned!

Mom's flower beds are perking along.  All the bleeding hearts are blooming.  The Lily of the Valley is getting really close.  Ours in Portland was in full bloom when I left.  I don't think they will still be blooming in 5 weeks.  Luckily I'm going back on June 7 for a quick 3 day visit, so maybe I can see them in all their glory.

Saturday we are rototilling the garden.  This is my big work out for the summer.  Wish me luck!

Big Pattern Sale!!

Gertie reported on a huge pattern sale over at Vogue Patterns!  I think it ends tonight at midnight, so I snapped up a few Vintage Vogue patterns for $3.99 each!



I promise to sew them up into something shortly after they arrive.....

Amazing....

Have you ever dreamed of doing this?



Sometimes dreams do come true.

Edit:  The original video is MIA... which is a complete bummer because it was absolutely beautiful and the music was so appropriate.  So in the meantime enjoy this link for the info
Jetman Flying over the Alps
It is not as emotional as the Vimeo video, but it is still amazing.

This link is good too:
Breitling and Jetman

Love, love, love this...

I am so in love with the Johnny Was brand.  I shopped there last fall when I was in LA with a friend.  The fabrics are so beautiful and diaphanous.  Everything is intricately designed and embellished.  The store space in Santa Monica was just beautiful.

I wish my pocket book was filled to the brim with extra cash.... I love the word "pocket book".  That is what my Grandma Kottke used to call her purse.  Always pocket book and never hand bag, purse, or anything else.

Behold!.... the dial-a-stitch!

This was our thrift store find of the week for $20!!!  It is very heavy... a tank of a machine.  Everything works well and is fairly quiet when it sews.  It has a VAST array of stitches.  I will need to go through each one and play with it.

Automatic button hole system too!

There is a bobbin winder on the side.

We have not found much information on the web yet regarding this machine.  But I do know that it is a Japanese machine and is considered very good.

I took the top off for some cleaning and oiling, but everything inside was spotless!  The workings and screws looked brand new.  There are some chips in the finish on the base of the machine indicating that there was some use, but I don't think the previous owner used any of the fancy stitches or the buttonhole system.  It has 3 feed dog settings: embroidery (completely lowered), silk (barely peeking through the throat plate), and all the way up.  I'm really excited about the silk/delicate fabric setting.  My trusty Bernina Sport has either up or down, and if I'm sewing on really lightweight silk there are feed dog tracks.

The dial-o-stitch is primarily for the spouse's stitching of paper art book/zines, but I think there will be some use from me as well.
I also have a Singer Slant-o-Matic that we found last fall with every attachment you can possibly imagine.  It is currently at Montavilla getting a tune up.  LOVE the people there!   I will post pictures of that one once it is back.
I'm seeing a trend here in sewing machine names.

Hipster Games

Being a HUGE fan of The Guild webseries, and loving spoof in general... and being from Portland, home of Portlandia.... this made me laugh really, really hard.



I hope they make more.

I also realized that I only posted twice the entire month of March.  I need to be more prolific.

Estate Sale Finds!

I went to an Estate Sale on Monday and found this INCREDIBLE quilt top for $24!!!!  All the fabrics appear to be from the 40's and 50's.  It is almost full size.  Just needs the batting, backing, and binding.  I am going to tie it with black.

I also found this completely finished needlepoint pillow top.  I thought it would look great in my living room.

It was made in 1973 and Donna Peterson put her tag on it.  I think I will keep the tag on the pillow when its done.

Felt Roses

So I was over at Gertie's blog and saw her tutorial on felt roses.... and took a break from work, projects, etc and whipped one up!

It took me a bit to figure out the turn back, wrapping thing, but once it clicked it was easy!

Not sure what to do with it yet... I could put it on a hat.

I think I should make some more.

Need to get some bangs?

How funny is that?!?!?

It must be Leap Year!!!

The spouse always buys me flowers for Leap Year, the most under-celebrated holiday.  This year was no exception....

I love the delphiniums.  They are the most incredible shade of violet.... now, if it would stop snowing/sleeting outside.

New Blog Love

I love a good sewing, creating blog.  My new favorite is Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing.

I found her just after I purchased this class on Craftsy.

I love that her projects are retro-inspired, for normal sized ladies, and that she is so enthusiastic!  I can't wait to get started on my Starlet Suit.

Alexander McQueen Love

These images are from the McQ line for Fall 2012.  I am loving the full skirts and jackets!  I haven't even done any sewing for spring or summer yet, but am pondering the possibilities for fall.... I think I have a problem with focus.  Look at the BOOTS too!

The next three have floral motifs which I am really warming up to... especially the black and pink long jacket/dress.

I did watch the Oscars tonight but haven't had a chance to really think about the dresses.  There were a few stunners.

Pina

We went and saw Pina last night at Cinema 21.  Wim Wenders was there to introduce the movie and answer questions after the movie.  It is the BEST use of 3D that I have seen in a movie yet.  The 3D was not used to make the film jump out at you... or to make the action more intense.  You feel the depth of the dancers on the stage and outside as the dancers move through structures and space.  The screen disappears and you are drawn into the movie and the dancers.

Full Moon

Pina dancing Muller Cafe

Rite of Spring

.... just gorgeous.  And Wim is someone I could listen to for hours.  Very humble and thoughtful.  Cinema 21 is a smaller theater, so even though we were in the balcony in the back, you could still see Wim clearly and hear him.

Hat is Finished!

You will notice that there has been a gap in my posting.  Every time I build up steam and motivation and start to post regularly, life gets busy and I loose my momentum.

Here are the finished pictures of the hat that I was knitting for Miss E.  I am trying really hard to complete projects rather than having UFO's pile up to the ceiling.

I think it turned out well.  She has been wearing it often and it is usually in her back pack.

Dress inspiration turned up to 11!

If anyone is looking for a gift for me... for any reason... say Valentine's Day?

100 Unforgettable Dresses

This is a gorgeous book!!!  I found it on Pantone's Color and Design Blog.  There are so many amazing dress moments... fantastic shapes, silhouettes, color, and detailing.  I do love books.

Knitting Stash

I keep my knitting stash in this lovely old trunk owned by my Great-Aunt Elsie after whom we named our daughter.  Aunt Elsie was an amazing woman who was into all sorts of crafts and herb drying and fun.  She would brush their dog Sardis and knit things out of his hair.  I have very fond memories of her.  Her name is still on the trunk.

I was desperate to find a storage place for my ever expanding yarn stash which had two exponential leaps in the past couple of years:

1. My father found a trove of wool yarn and hand weaving yarn at a yard sale for $7.00... and of course you can't say "No" to a deal like that... so it was added (not all of that haul is in the trunk by the way)
2. Last spring I went to an Estate Sale of a MAJOR knitter, world traveller, and Powell's Books employee and found unbelievable deals on mohair, lambswool, and sock weight wools.  So into the trunk those yarns went... the books are on the bookshelf.

The trunk being rather old and closed up for many decades by the time I received it wasn't smelling too fresh.  This past summer, determined not to let my lavender go to waste, I sewed up two really big sachets.  You can see one of them in the picture in the green and black check.  The trunk smells fantastic!  Especially when you first open it and that first blast of lavender escapes.  No moldy, ancient smells anymore.

I did some yarn sorting and organizing today and put some yarns together in plastic bags and left others in their piles.  I don't think anything is going to turn itself into a complete knot in here.  It did make me remember what I had.  I unravelled some UFO's that weren't going to ever get finished.  In some cases I had forgotten what I had even started.