Blame it on the rain

Originally uploaded by BethieBoonuttz to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethieboonuttz/2287718194/

No, not quoting milli vanilli here... but I sure felt motivated yesterday morning and I made a big list of stuff to do (sort of dropped enthusiasm today). Here's some of that list, in no particular order:

• Make a shirt for myself in the spirit of Top Week (See Made by Rae icon in the sidebar)
• Practice lettering and preschool stuff with ds
• Go to his teacher conference (done)
  
• Clean the drawers, silverware, tray, utensils (mouse sighting/capture--UGH!-done)
• Take some in progress photos of Ottobre stuff to make a helpful file
• Find the grass seed
• Reclaim the dirt at the bottom of the driveway and put it back where it belongs (thank you rain runoff and sloped driveway)
• Get some office supplies for organizing my sewing patterns/tracings
• and of course, pay the bills (so I know how much I can spend with my 40% off certificate to the sewing store) =)
• and get some books on hold at the library (on hold, now to wait)
  

Here's a sampling of the books I'd like to explore at the moment:
Anna Maria Horner's "Seams to Me", Heather Ross' "Weekend Sewing", Amanda Soule Blake's "Creative Family" and "Zakka sewing". I'm also looking forward to Amanda's newest book, coming out "Handmade Home".
And after all that, I'm going to go enjoy some chocolate moose tracks ice cream and watch a show.

Spring flowers

20090424_17.JPG, originally uploaded by twolilacs.

There is a small collection of blooms happening now in the yard, these sky-blue, forget-me-not flowers on varigated bugloss are one. The flowers themselves are teeny tiny, and usually the plant is loaded with them for a little while.
There are also lots of daffodils and spring beauties about. I noticed today that the one or two spring beauties I planted behind my hostas have spread in a huge mass around the tree base. I'll take a pic tomorrow if there's no rain. My goal is to have my front yard loaded with little white flowers, just like grandma's house.
I have a lot of work to do in the garden this year, mainly tidying up and dividing. It will be hard to buy stuff for the yard with my new passion (fabric). LOL! I just got the new kids issue of Ottobre, and there is quite a bit of cute, practical clothing in there. I went to the kids resale Saturday and did not find much for ds, so it looks like I need to make a list of things I can sew for him. I ordered some Michael Miller bot camp for him, so that should be fun. I have such a laundry list of things I'd like to make, but I really overwhelm myself with grand ideas. I am sticking to sewing though. I forget when I started last year, but I'd say it's been about a year since I committed myself to treating sewing as more than a hobby. I'd like it to be a lifelong thing, and something that maybe my two will enjoy themselves. DS has learned that my machine is not a race car, and finds great pleasure making colorful, decorative or zig zag stitches.
I did use my embroidery machine for a real project last night, too. I put a small sanrio kitty cat head onto a sundress I got dd at the kids resale. it didn't come out perfect to my standards, but it still looks pretty good. I thought she'd choose the bunny, but she picked the cat. I'm trying to accommodate her with fun characters and patterns in her clothing, she's pretty choosy at 2 1/2.

Time is getting away from me

The crocus' are withered away and spring has come, some of my flowers are blooming. I'm so excited to see that my handful of Prairie trillium have multiplied. It will be years before they all flower, but last year I was graced with one full beauty. I grew up calling them bloody noses... but my curiosity as a gardener wanted to know the real name. They aren't a typical looking flower, but one of my favorites. I think second in line would be Spring Beauties, as far as bulbs go.
We'll see what this year has in store for the garden. I have some lemon drops that I bought at a plant sale, and last year my one or two plants turned into at least two dozen seedlings... and now there is a full crown starting. My mind tells me I should be dividing them soon. It's suppose to be 70° here friday, so maybe then, if the kids allow me to wander away from the playset. Whatever I did with that helpful sheet with suggestions of when to divide and deadhead.... I always try to look before I dig since I can't remember all the plants likes and dislikes.
I finished my aunt's purse last week. I made it from the Ottobre pea pod purse pattern(free download). It came out pretty well, she was excited to have something made for her, too. I've never used the fusible batting before. It wasn't very difficult, but I had some challenges putting in the zipper and stitching along the top. I had to restitch some of it because the fabric was folding over itself, so I had lost about 1/4" in a few stretches. I'm glad I didn't just leave it and move on. I thought putting the bottom on would be hard, but it was just a matter of maneuvering the fabric around. I didn't get any puckers there. The expanded instructions were great. In a few weeks, Tuula and the Ottobre staff will be posting the rest of the bag photos they received on their new blog.
I'll come back and post some photos after lunch.