Someone very special to me just welcomed her second son into this world!! I am so excited for her and her (now) family of four that I could just burst! And, if you saw pictures of this little bundle, your heart would just melt – he’s so precious!
Such a special occasion deserves a special gift – little cutie’s mom had told me previously that she was planning on doing his room in an elephant theme (awesome!) and the first vision that popped into my mind was a fabric I had seen with mod/retro outlines of elephants repeated all over the fabric. But, finding my ideal fabric in the ideal colors at the ideal price was no easy task. But, three days before he arrived, I found it!! From a woman in Japan (who has no idea what a lifesaver she now is!) who had the PERFECT combo of fabrics to make my vision a reality.
Now, I don’t want to give away too much (just in case momma is reading….) but I will give you a tease of the fabrics, and later, after it has been signed, sealed and delivered, I’ll reveal the finished product! Let’s just hope it lives up to all of this hype I am creating here….AND that I can get it done before little squirt’s first b-day!??
Would it surprise you to know that I have never had a proper sewing lesson in my life? Well, I haven’t. And I don’t think I will break the trend anytime soon. I am a totally self-taught quilter and learned everything I know today about quilting by reading others’ quilting blogs, examining online tutorials and picking apart Google images of quilts….Now that I say that, it seems like it would have been far less exhausting and time consuming to just attend a class or two….But, my secretly stubborn personality would not allow anyone else to show me how to do something – I’ve got to figure it out myself, I’ve just got to!
(…you can imagine my parents’ regret when it actually came time to instate their rule that we had to learn to drive stick before we could get our drivers’ licenses…being the oldest, I was the first to have a go at it, and I would imagine that is the very reason why, when it came time for my sister to learn, the rule turned into a mere suggestion…we Phelps/McKinley women can be a little set in our ways at times (oh, ok. All the time.) and I am positive my dad didn’t want to have a repeat of his driving lessons with me – haha! :))
And, since becoming a mom, I am starting to see that my intolerance of instruction is 1. Being genetically reflected in my 3 year old’s budding stubbornness…you can’t show her how to do something to save her life! 2. Reflected in my overall parenting approach. I like to let my kids figure out the world around them through trial and error (…of course always trying to avoid any major accidents from happening) because that is how I prefer to learn.
My husband, on the other hand, is a sponge. He seeks others’ opinions and advice on everything. He asked so many questions of his dad growing up that his dad coined the phrase ‘I don’t know, I’m not the answer grape’ when my hubs would get a little too eager to learn. Consequently, he wants desperately to show our kids the workings of the world and spread the wealth of his knowledge to them in any way he can, because that is how he prefers to learn…I appreciate his passion and admire his attempts, but unfortunately for him, our daughter, being 99.9% a reflection of my husband’s personality, has inherited the steadfast, unyielding, ‘you can’t teach me nothin’’ side of my personality…. J (a part of me loves that!) Ah, well, I guess we can hope that the twins appreciate instruction a little more than my daughter and I do, and are able to give my husband the much needed audience he deserves!
So, back to the blog at hand… Here’s a small list of the Blogs I use/used to teach myself how to quilt. These ladies are fantastic and offer so many wonderful tutorials and inspiring photos of their own creations. I check them regularly and am always impressed! Cluck Cluck Sew Red Pepper Quilts Crazy Mom Quilts Oh! Fransson A Quilt Is Nice Cabbage Quilts
P.S. My parents’ rule about driving stick…..was, looking back, one of the BEST rules (and I didn’t have many) they ever had for me. Its purpose was to keep me out of a pickle – be able to drive home in any car under any circumstance…and I, of course, plan on passing that rule on to my kids. And you can bet I will be ready and waiting for all of the ‘I got it, mom!’ ‘I know!’ ‘Just let me do it!’ s that come my way :)
I’ve always loved color and have never been afraid to use it. There honestly is not a color I don’t like (although if I had to rank them, purple would fall towards the bottom of the list…) I have found though, and I have a feeling this may be true for most people out there, that the colors I am drawn to for my home decorations are not the same colors I am drawn to for my wardrobe, which are not the same colors I am drawn to for my quilting and fabric projects. Now that I think about it, I may have just discovered something interesting (odd) about myself….my home is decorated in mostly rich Earth and spice tones and my wardrobe consists mostly of vivid jewel tones and my quilting projects….well, they have been a combination of both Earth/spice tones and jewel tones….interesting….
Predominate colors decorating my home Sampling of my wardrobe....did I mention I like color??
And, yes. I hated every minute of rehanging these clothes :) The Quilts I have made that are awaiting new homes :) Where some people might struggle to add a little color to their life, I struggle to not overwhelm my (and other’s) senses with too much color – and although I long to create a cream tone or a black and white quilt, every time I start my fabric selections I am inevitably led astray by the richness of the rainbow! One day, I will do it, but for now I am neck high in a color collage of fabrics for future projects….and loving it!
All of this talk of colors has reminded me of something that I find to be a fascinating concept – does everyone see color in the same way? Is your green the same as my green? Maybe your green is my blue? Or maybe your green is brighter, more vivid than my green? I think there are differences, even huge differences, in the way each of us sees color. Perhaps this explains why some people are attracted to one color while others are repelled by the same color? Of course these questions can be asked about all of our senses: smell, taste, sound….wouldn’t you love to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes just to know how they see, smell, hear the world!?
Ok, enough philosophizing…I’ve got three sets of eyes starring at me. And, I am pretty sure that the only color they will be seeing if I don’t get some juice in their cups ASAP, is red!
With these delicious Strawberry Shortcake Cookies from (none other than) Martha Stewart's recipes. What makes these cookies so great is that you can make them start to finish, clean-up all of the dishes, and still have some time to sneak in a few bites of the finished product, all before the kids wake up from nap time (...which, is the way I now judge whether or not a recipe is worth making...). Plus, strawberries are in abundance this time of year, so you can use fresh plump berries, not those soggy, lackluster frozen ones (Martha would be so proud)!
And, what makes these cookies different is that they are actually not that sweet -- which works for me, because I am not a HUGE fan of sweet things (although, don't get me wrong, I have been caught face down in giant piece of chocolate cake more than once...). Think more shortcake and less cookie. I omitted the sanding sugar on top, but if you would like a little more sweetness to these gems, sift that sugar like no tomorrow!
Now....do I have enough time for ONE more bite??? :)
PS: Recipe note -- I substituted skim milk for the heavy cream and didn't miss it (I am hoping my waistline takes note of that substitution....ahem.)
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