Category: Uncategorized

  • Rice Pillow

    Going through the blog roll last night I came across a quick project that appealed to my senses right away. A rice pillow that you can put in the microwave a couple minutes and drape over your neck, great for those sore neck muscles after hours at the sewing machine! I had made one of…

  • Knitted Hand Warmers

    For when it is not completely freezing outside or when your kind of cold inside.Nina always has cold hands inside, especially when she is sitting at the computer too long. I made her these hand warmers out of Knitpicks Shine Worsted. They are soft pima cotton, she always feels itchy with wool, even merino. She…

  • Tired? get your B12 checked

    Who knew a little B12 could make a person feel so good. I found out recently that I have really low B12 levels categorized as anemia. I thought my low energy was because of my thyroid (Hashimotos disease). It is odd since I am not a vegetarian, evidently it has taken years for my B12…

  • The Silver Belle

    I finally finished! All I need is some fabulous buttons. This was really interesting to knit, it went together in three pieces. The bottom panel and the two sleeves came up to make the front and back. The seaming is practically invisible. I think I started this in September, it took me a long time…

  • Happy Birthday Nina!

    Eighteen years ago today, the best thing in the world happened to me, I became the mother of a beautiful girl. I remember holding this little bundle in my arms and being amazed that I had given birth to her, it seemed completely miraculous. Those big brown eyes would gaze up at me and I…

  • custom domain drama!

    I bit the bullet and bought a custom domain and set it up according to what Blogger says to do and screwed it all up. That is why my blog has not been available the last day or so. I was scared I had lost it forever! The frustrating thing about Blogger is there are…

  • Amazing Rare Things

    I have been reading this beautiful book. It is an historical overview of scientific illustrators between the late 1400s and the mid-1700s. This book is filled with illustrations of plants and animals by many different illustrators of these time periods and there are more in depth histories of Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian and Mark…

  • Happy New Year!

  • Happy Holidays!

    I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday, with good health and happiness in the coming year. My daughter Nina illustrated this portrait of our dog Abby in photoshop for a Christmas card this year. Abby has recently discovered her love for candy canes after finding a half eaten one lying within her reach.…

  • Happy St. Nicolas Day

    I can’t believe this one snuck up on me with out my being prepared. Every year I bake cookies for Saint Nicolas Day, except this one evidently. I guess I am just a little overwhelmed this year. I am writing a couple articles, potentially working on a new quilt with a fast approaching deadline, getting…

  • Happy Thanksgiving

    I woke up this morning to see snow flurries out my window. That really makes it feel like the holidays are here. Yesterday I finished painting the birds that I started for Open Studios in Houston. It was so nice sitting down and painting. I began listening to a book called The Pillars of the…

  • Wonderfil thread

    Two days at the International Quilt festival is never enough time to see everything, but I had my short list of priorities. One of my priorities was to make it to the Wonderfil booth. A textile artist can never have too much thread in my opinion. Wonderfil is a thread company based in Canada, and…

  • Silver Belle Progress

    Amongst many other projects in the works the Silver Belle progresses. The peplum is done and I have begun a sleeve. My son has a long appointment today at the orthodontist so I should make some good progress on that sleeve.

  • I am off to Houston

    I am off to Houston first thing in the morning for the International Quilt Festival and then I will be flying back to Chicago Saturday morning to go to SOFA. I am so bummed this year I have to split my time between the two shows. I love them both! I probably will be off…

  • check this out

    This bus showed up at Oprah’s studio yesterday. It is parked out there today (photo taken from my 5th floor balcony). There is a website printed on the side of the bus RoadtoOprah.com. Evidently this is a community film project to raise money for charity. Click on the link to see a short film explaining…

  • 7 odd things

    Pam tagged me for 7 odd things about me. Well, last May I was tagged for 7 random things about me. I think at least 5 of my 7 random things could be characterized by many as odd. So instead of boring anybody by repeating it, if you are interested you can check out my…

  • The Silver Belle

    This summer I picked up Vogue knitting (Fall 2007) and fell in love with this pattern. It is free on the Vogue Knitting website. I was able to read about other people making this pattern on Ravelry and by googling the pattern name to see what issues people had when making it. I love the…

  • Portfolio Day at the Art Institute

    Yesterday my daughter and I did portfolio day at the Art Institute. We spent four hours standing in long lines to have her portfolio reviewed by our top picks for Art schools in the country. We did this last year too. That time each school we saw gave her very conflicting advice about what they…