new beginningsI

It seems fitting that I'm returning after almost a year-long hiatus to blog a baby quilt and shower. I hope that this will be a new beginning for me with this blog just like the weekend was about celebrating the impending arrival of a new life. I didn't mean to be away so long; life kind of had her way with me, however. I was not at all sad to see 2013 transition into the new year, but I am immensely excited for all the love and fun that 2014 will bring!

Chief among them is the arrival of my niece or nephew next month.  To celebrate, I threw my sister in law a party. Full of awesome bites, easy games and handmade presents. See for yourself!

Our wedding bunting, still useful and cheerful!

The food table. We like to eat when we party!

Still using those vintage sheet cloth napkins!

Games and handmade vintage sheet goody bags!

Baby shower guest art. Each guest took a rainbow ray to write a blessing/prayer/hope for the baby.

I must confess, I am really proud of the way this original idea turned out!

The baby quilt I made for my niece or nephew - front.

A closer look at all those triangles.

Love this detail on the backing!

The back of the baby quilt.

So proud of this binding job. I am also now IN LOVE with clover wonder clips.

It has been some time since I quilted with new cotton fabrics (instead of vintage sheets). I'm loving the crinkle!

Too many photos of binding?

My sister in law and baby!

It was a great weekend and a great excuse to sit back down at my sewing machine. I did need to take a nice long nap on Sunday after church, but hopefully I'll be back soon with more sewing updates.

Moses Henry is 7!

Moses' new favorite toy is a tennis ball we put in an orphaned sock.

Today is Moses Henry's seventh birthday!  He is our little sweetheart, a constant source of joy I would not have known my life was missing if Mark hadn't brought him into our marriage.  He is the most laid-back pup ever; sleeping a lot of the time but still with enough spunk and pep to bring a smile to almost anyone's face!  He loves to snuggle and has mastered the commands 'sit,' 'down,' 'stay,' 'barrel roll,' 'bang' (play dead), 'spin,' 'counter-spin' (spin the other way), 'up,' and 'sayang' (gentle).  He is very smart and is a good listener (you can tell because he cocks his head to the side).  His favorite toys include tennis balls, which he brings home almost daily from the tennis court behind our home, plastic easter eggs, plastic water bottles and his best friend, Goat.  He loves going for walks, sniffing around our neighborhood (or any) dog park, riding in the car-car, and running through the grass (especially if you cheer him on by calling out 'yay!').

I have finally gotten (mostly) over my issues picking up his poo, and I could not love him any more than I already do.  He loves to eat rice and most fruits and vegetables (we don't give him the no-nos), and we both treat Moses to those kitchen scraps whenever the other isn't looking.  Happy birthday, Moses Henry!  Thank you for all the joy you bring to our lives!

farewell, old friend.

Our beloved family cat passed away today.  He just made it past his 18th birthday.  I'm so grateful for many years of laughing at his antics, snuggles with him, and his determinedness when it came to being pet.  Crazy how sometimes that used to drive me nuts.  I would give him all that and more now, if I could.  Bubba, we love you so.  Hope you're reunited with your brother Stinky (Socksy) now, curled up like yin and yang the way I remember you both best.  Farewell, old friend.  You are already missed.

Patches "Bubba" Din, 4/13/95- 4/22/13

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

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{this moment} ritual from Soulemama

daddy's quilt

Daddy's quilt

This was a long time coming!

Mark and Moses enjoying the quilt before it's washed and mailed.

I 'gave' this quilt to my father for Christmas the first year Mark came home to Texas with me (2010).  At that time, it was a pieced quilt top and that was it.  Needless to say, my father was less than impressed with my unfinished gift.

Moses knows it's not for him...

I brought it back home to DC with me and it sat for a good long while on my shelf collecting dust.  Eventually (I don't remember when), I got around to doing the quilt sandwich and started stitching.  But my straight lines weren't straight and the quilt was doing that horrible shifty thing quilts sometimes do.  In frustration, I stuck it away for another long period of time.

Last fall, I finally dug it out again and spent several hours with my seam ripper.  I re-basted the quilt and then started the stitches again with my walking foot, this time, smooth as buttah. I bound it, washed it and mailed it to my dad this last Christmas.

I'm so glad it's finally done!  

I quilted dense straight lines across the white sashing approximately 1/4" apart.

The fabrics in this quilt are very meaningful to me.  I am certain most quilters have favorite fabrics that they love to work with. These blue batiks are cut from a few meters that I truly consider some of my most prized possessions. I purchased the fabric from a market in Yogyakarta when I lived in Indonesia almost 7 (!) years ago.  They were probably the most beautiful thing I brought home with me!  I'm sure you can find batik fabric online and in stores that is also lovely, but I still remember haggling with the vendor, adding more meters to drive the price down, stretching my Indonesian language skills, working my mental math muscles as quickly as possible in the dappled sunlight.  These hand printed batiks will be very slowly portioned out for only the most special projects until I can kembali (return) to Indonesia some day!

I love the fact that the quilting isn't perfect.

Although I was afraid I mailed it too late to arrive in time for Christmas, it did finally arrive on time (after being two years late, that is).  Anyway, my dad knows it was worth the wait!

keeping the back simple with a soft solid white sheet.

I got creative and quilted two concentric squares in each individual batik piece.  It was a little bit of a bear to keep rotating the quilt, but I was so happy with the finished product that it was totally worth it.

you can see the quilting I did in each of the squares between rows of sashing.

We couldn't get to Houston last year, my first Christmas away from my family (besides the one I spent in Indonesia). As Mark says, a quilt is like a warm hug.  I hope my dad feels that when he lays in his recliner under this quilt at night to watch TV.

happy quilt!

I was glad to see my dad using his quilt during my visit to Houston.  It is already well-loved!

love you, Daddy!  

my mama's garden

Although those photographs might all look similar, there is actually very little overlap in the contents of each image.  I took all the images standing in one spot in the middle of my parents' backyard, rotating clockwise about 25 degrees each photo.  My mama's garden is a container garden full of more than 30 10-gallon pots.  Plus, a fig tree (far left) and some smaller pots for herbs (pictured separately, below).

Houston is very lucky to have such a long growing season.  Actually, the weather reasonably permits two whole growing seasons-- time to grow a whole set of plants and start over in the middle of the summer with a whole new set of plants.  In DC, we hadn't even begun our seeds yet (although we could have), and my mama's already eating zucchini she grew in the backyard.

tomatoes 

eggplant

aren't eggplant blossoms the prettiest?  and those dark purple stalks!

My mama's growing all my favorites.  She has over ten tomato plants, bell peppers, zucchini, squash, eggplant... if I were home, I would eat from her garden all summer (and spring and fall) long.

pepper blossoms

more tomatoes.  tomatoes are my favorite to grow, too.

zucchini

yellow squash

Although I have successfully regenerated green onions in our apartment before, and I tried to start a pineapple plant, I'm amazed by the plants my family has cultivated from pits of food purchased at the grocery store.  Mangoes, avocados and I think my mama might've mentioned a guava?

incredible avocado plant grown from a pit

mango tree grown from a pit

all the herbs: cilantro, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and basil

even lemongrass!

Definitely makes me want to get my hands in the dirt!  Even though it's getting a bit late to start our plants from seed this year, we will definitely be doing our own container garden again.  I can't wait!

oil ranch

Alanna, posing at the entrance to Oil Ranch

my sister Michelle, 'milking a cow'.  sort of.

Friday during my Houston trip, I accompanied my sister Michelle on my niece Alanna's field trip to Oil Ranch.  It wasn't exactly chaperoning, because this is pre-school and the parents almost outnumbered the kids.  But it was fun to be able to do something special with my niece (and my sister).

hen and eggs, being a chain link fence.

feeding the sheep.

Oil Ranch is part amusement park, part petting zoo/dude ranch.  It seems to be a popular spot for elementary school aged children and apparently corporate events?  They have tons of animals (donkeys, geese, chickens, bunnies, cows, donkeys, etc), offer pony rides, train rides, hay rides, and several other interactive children's activities.  It was not a hot day by Houston standards, but the sun was strong, and we really appreciated their picnic pavilions (where we ate our packed lunches)!

bunnies!

pony ride, anyone?

Alanna on a big horse

I really enjoyed watching Alanna be active and interact with other children.  She'll be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I am sure that she will do well in relationships with her teachers and classmates.

my niece and I at Oil Ranch - courtesy of Michelle Herrera

The day was fun, but tiring.  Did I really forget, after all my summers working with children in camps and the year I spent nannying, that children are a lot of work?  My niece was not high maintenance, and I did not even provide much direct care for her, but even trailing around after one child (with my sister) at Oil Ranch was exhausting.  I also got pretty sun burnt, so I must not be used to equatorial conditions anymore.  Or perhaps my whirlwind, less than 5 day trip to Texas had an impact on my energy level?  I didn't sleep in the same bed twice for the five days leading up to our field trip.  Yeah, let's go with that.

Alanna, milking a cow.  for real.

In any case, I already appreciate the memories from this day and hope I get to do something similar with my nephew David in the next few years!