Snip Snip by Momo. I found a remnent of this at Bolt in Portland and had to snap it up!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
sunday stash #8
Snip Snip by Momo. I found a remnent of this at Bolt in Portland and had to snap it up!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
what i did on my summer vacation: part three
Okay, it's a little late to be posting this, but the final installment of what I did on my summer vacation may be my most favourite part: Seattle!
On our last day of vacation we ventured to Seattle. Both Portland and Seattle are on my list of American cities to visit. (Also included: New York, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, Chicago, etc.) Obviously, one of the major pulls in Seattle is Pike Place, but I also really wanted to see the Troll. Don't ask me why, I just think it's awesome. Since we only had one day, we didn't get to see near enough, but I was glad to be able to go. We left for Seattle at 5:30am in order to beat the rush hour traffic and arrived just before 7:30. We found some parking by the pier, and some breakfast at a really cool Sourdough Bakery.
We walked through Pike Place for a couple of hours. Sampled fresh fruit and smoked salmon, watched the fish mongers toss around trout and sniffed all the spices. I was particularly in love with the flowers. I couldn't believe the piles and piles of beautiful fresh local flowers for DIRT CHEAP.
Things that you would never be able to find in Calgary, like piles of Dahlias, and if you could find them, they would be $60 a bunch, no $10.
I tasted a nectarine as big as my head.
Obviously, they discourage public displays of affection with the fruit.
We checked out the Starbucks flagship, which was really crowded and couldn't resist buying a set of mugs with the original logo on them.
We went to the gum wall. Gross.
Seriously.
Took a cliche picture or two:
And then we headed off to the Troll.
How cool is that?
At the end of the day (read: 4pm) we were exhausted! Besides all the landmarks, we also visited a really old part of town which I know can't remember what it is called and walked around on crazy cobbled streets. We watched a glass blower for a while, at lunch in a really delicious but really sketchy, dirty Italian restaurant with the worlds tiniest bathroom/furnace room, and took a thousand more pictures.
We left Seattle around 4pm and got stuck in rush hour. What were we thinking? It took almost 3 hours just to get past Tacoma! When we finally got home we were pooped! We had just enough energy to pack some food and our stuff up, load the car and collapse into bed before our early morning departure back to Calgary.
Once again, a BIG thanks to Krissy and Lucas for hosting us. Other than some short trips to visit family, this is our first actual vacation since our honeymoon more than 3 years ago, and it may be our last for a while since Joel is still in school. I would say the vacation was a huge success and on top of getting to mark two cities off my list, it was so good to see Krissy and her husband.
On our last day of vacation we ventured to Seattle. Both Portland and Seattle are on my list of American cities to visit. (Also included: New York, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, Chicago, etc.) Obviously, one of the major pulls in Seattle is Pike Place, but I also really wanted to see the Troll. Don't ask me why, I just think it's awesome. Since we only had one day, we didn't get to see near enough, but I was glad to be able to go. We left for Seattle at 5:30am in order to beat the rush hour traffic and arrived just before 7:30. We found some parking by the pier, and some breakfast at a really cool Sourdough Bakery.
We walked through Pike Place for a couple of hours. Sampled fresh fruit and smoked salmon, watched the fish mongers toss around trout and sniffed all the spices. I was particularly in love with the flowers. I couldn't believe the piles and piles of beautiful fresh local flowers for DIRT CHEAP.
Things that you would never be able to find in Calgary, like piles of Dahlias, and if you could find them, they would be $60 a bunch, no $10.
I tasted a nectarine as big as my head.
Obviously, they discourage public displays of affection with the fruit.
We checked out the Starbucks flagship, which was really crowded and couldn't resist buying a set of mugs with the original logo on them.
We went to the gum wall. Gross.
Seriously.
Took a cliche picture or two:
And then we headed off to the Troll.
How cool is that?
At the end of the day (read: 4pm) we were exhausted! Besides all the landmarks, we also visited a really old part of town which I know can't remember what it is called and walked around on crazy cobbled streets. We watched a glass blower for a while, at lunch in a really delicious but really sketchy, dirty Italian restaurant with the worlds tiniest bathroom/furnace room, and took a thousand more pictures.
We left Seattle around 4pm and got stuck in rush hour. What were we thinking? It took almost 3 hours just to get past Tacoma! When we finally got home we were pooped! We had just enough energy to pack some food and our stuff up, load the car and collapse into bed before our early morning departure back to Calgary.
Once again, a BIG thanks to Krissy and Lucas for hosting us. Other than some short trips to visit family, this is our first actual vacation since our honeymoon more than 3 years ago, and it may be our last for a while since Joel is still in school. I would say the vacation was a huge success and on top of getting to mark two cities off my list, it was so good to see Krissy and her husband.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
milestones
I'm sure that many of you can relate to this:
As a blogger, I put my work "out there" as a record for myself, but it feels nice to think that there might be other people reading and enjoying what I made and write about.
Recently, I added a bunch of my Flickr photos to different groups, and was surprised to see how much action those photos get now! I always find it interesting to see which photos people fave, because it's not always my favourite projects that people love.
The point being, it feels really good to know that the things I put so much love and work into are being appreciated. Call me an ego-maniac - I don't care!
It's also been neat to see the number of subscribers grow from my husband and friend Candace to 19 people now! I also discovered that Google Reader keeps track of the number of people who subscribe to my RSS feed, and that number is a whopping (at least whopping to me) 33! It's pretty cool to have officially surpassed 50 readers.
Another milestone I am going to reach soon is 100 posts. I thought about counting years instead of posts, but since I took such a huge hiatus while trying to figure out if I really wanted to blog, I won't. Including this post, and several scheduled posts that will be coming out in the next few weeks, I am up to 85.
All this to say, I think it's almost time for a giveaway! I think what I will do is schedule the giveaway for the 100th post. The reason I am announcing this now (15 posts ahead of time) is to get some input from my readers. What would you like to win?
Here are your options:
A buttercup bag
Children's apron(s)
A mini quilt/mug rug
Or something else (you name it!)
The most popular idea named in the comments will be what I give away. No comments means I choose, and well, it will just end up being whatever I feel like making at that moment. :)
So, PLEASE, if you don't normally comment, but you do read, let me know!
And now, because I want to add a picture, look at this cuteness:
More on the pile of fabric later. It's (somewhat) quickly becoming a new quilt.
As a blogger, I put my work "out there" as a record for myself, but it feels nice to think that there might be other people reading and enjoying what I made and write about.
Recently, I added a bunch of my Flickr photos to different groups, and was surprised to see how much action those photos get now! I always find it interesting to see which photos people fave, because it's not always my favourite projects that people love.
The point being, it feels really good to know that the things I put so much love and work into are being appreciated. Call me an ego-maniac - I don't care!
It's also been neat to see the number of subscribers grow from my husband and friend Candace to 19 people now! I also discovered that Google Reader keeps track of the number of people who subscribe to my RSS feed, and that number is a whopping (at least whopping to me) 33! It's pretty cool to have officially surpassed 50 readers.
Another milestone I am going to reach soon is 100 posts. I thought about counting years instead of posts, but since I took such a huge hiatus while trying to figure out if I really wanted to blog, I won't. Including this post, and several scheduled posts that will be coming out in the next few weeks, I am up to 85.
All this to say, I think it's almost time for a giveaway! I think what I will do is schedule the giveaway for the 100th post. The reason I am announcing this now (15 posts ahead of time) is to get some input from my readers. What would you like to win?
Here are your options:
A buttercup bag
Children's apron(s)
A mini quilt/mug rug
Or something else (you name it!)
The most popular idea named in the comments will be what I give away. No comments means I choose, and well, it will just end up being whatever I feel like making at that moment. :)
So, PLEASE, if you don't normally comment, but you do read, let me know!
And now, because I want to add a picture, look at this cuteness:
More on the pile of fabric later. It's (somewhat) quickly becoming a new quilt.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
blogger's quilt festival - fall 2010
I decided to take the plunge and enter the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side. I missed it last year because, well, I forgot! Oops!
In trying to decide which quilt to write about, I really only considered which was my favourite. So far, it's probably a tie between The Wonky Baby Girl Quilt, The Sea of Blue Quilt, or the Plain Spoken II Quilt. Since I couldn't decide between them, and I haven't finished either of the 3 quilts I have on the go that might take top place, I decided to write about the quilt that I have learned the most from.
So, for the second time in just a month, let me write a bit about the Argyle Quilt of Doom. This time, instead of ranting or complaining, I will really explain the process and reason behind the quilt.
I guess this quilt actually started before I knew it. When my husband and I were married for barely six months, we had an opportunity to move out of our teeny tiny basement suite (a 500 square foot bachelor with no bathroom door, I kid you not!) and move into a bigger space with a roommate. The roommate would be Troy, a friend of Joel's from university. Though our time at University overlapped, I had not really spent any time with Troy, even though he was in our wedding. But Joel and him were good friends and he seemed like a really great guy so I was excited for the opportunity. Joel and I love hosting people in our house and generally living in community. I think it keeps us grounded and also helps us avoid becoming a little independent bubble couple.
Living with Troy turned out to be great! I quickly got to know him and appreciate living with a roommate. Troy became (even more) special to us over the almost 2 years that he lived with us. He witnessed the birth of my quilting obsession, and was always willing to offer an opinion on design, colour, layout, anything I asked.
At some point while he was living with us, I asked him what kind of quilt he would like (since obviously, everyone I know needs a quilt) and said he would really like an argyle quilt. I really wasn't sure how to do that, and had other projects on the go, so it got moved to the back burner.
And then, Troy met Amanda. And Amanda is perfect for Troy. We knew as soon as we met her that they would end up "happily ever after."
Photo by Vivid Photography in Nanaimo, B.C.
So, when the date was set, I knew I had to make the quilt. Even with all the struggles I had, I am really glad that I made it, and that it has found a home in the Dunham house.
I learned a lot through making this quilt. I learned that they way I made the quilt is probably not the easiest way I could have done it. I learned not to rely on Fabricland to stock anything. Even basic stuff. I learned how hard it is to quilt something that large on a machine with a relatively small throat. I learned what a great resource Ikea linens are. (Especially when they are on sale!) I learned that it's okay for things to be imperfect and I need to pick my battles when it comes to fixing mistakes. And finally, I learned that even though it is better to be late than never - it stresses me out to give a wedding gift months after the fact.
I love this quilt. But I don't plan on ever referring to it as anything but "The Argyle Quilt of Doom" because that's what it felt like to make. And unlike childbirth (not that I actually know this from experience) I haven't forgotten the pain of making it.
In trying to decide which quilt to write about, I really only considered which was my favourite. So far, it's probably a tie between The Wonky Baby Girl Quilt, The Sea of Blue Quilt, or the Plain Spoken II Quilt. Since I couldn't decide between them, and I haven't finished either of the 3 quilts I have on the go that might take top place, I decided to write about the quilt that I have learned the most from.
So, for the second time in just a month, let me write a bit about the Argyle Quilt of Doom. This time, instead of ranting or complaining, I will really explain the process and reason behind the quilt.
I guess this quilt actually started before I knew it. When my husband and I were married for barely six months, we had an opportunity to move out of our teeny tiny basement suite (a 500 square foot bachelor with no bathroom door, I kid you not!) and move into a bigger space with a roommate. The roommate would be Troy, a friend of Joel's from university. Though our time at University overlapped, I had not really spent any time with Troy, even though he was in our wedding. But Joel and him were good friends and he seemed like a really great guy so I was excited for the opportunity. Joel and I love hosting people in our house and generally living in community. I think it keeps us grounded and also helps us avoid becoming a little independent bubble couple.
Living with Troy turned out to be great! I quickly got to know him and appreciate living with a roommate. Troy became (even more) special to us over the almost 2 years that he lived with us. He witnessed the birth of my quilting obsession, and was always willing to offer an opinion on design, colour, layout, anything I asked.
At some point while he was living with us, I asked him what kind of quilt he would like (since obviously, everyone I know needs a quilt) and said he would really like an argyle quilt. I really wasn't sure how to do that, and had other projects on the go, so it got moved to the back burner.
And then, Troy met Amanda. And Amanda is perfect for Troy. We knew as soon as we met her that they would end up "happily ever after."
Photo by Vivid Photography in Nanaimo, B.C.
So, when the date was set, I knew I had to make the quilt. Even with all the struggles I had, I am really glad that I made it, and that it has found a home in the Dunham house.
I learned a lot through making this quilt. I learned that they way I made the quilt is probably not the easiest way I could have done it. I learned not to rely on Fabricland to stock anything. Even basic stuff. I learned how hard it is to quilt something that large on a machine with a relatively small throat. I learned what a great resource Ikea linens are. (Especially when they are on sale!) I learned that it's okay for things to be imperfect and I need to pick my battles when it comes to fixing mistakes. And finally, I learned that even though it is better to be late than never - it stresses me out to give a wedding gift months after the fact.
I love this quilt. But I don't plan on ever referring to it as anything but "The Argyle Quilt of Doom" because that's what it felt like to make. And unlike childbirth (not that I actually know this from experience) I haven't forgotten the pain of making it.
the wedding
The wedding was fantastic! It really is wonderful to get to share such a special moment with wonderful friends and to celebrate their fantastic love. Breanne looked absolutely gorgeous in her beautiful and simple flowing dress (and look! There's my veil!) Jeremy was teary eyed before she even came down the aisle. The wedding with full of personal touches that made it very them. I am glad to say I was there when they became Mr. & Mrs. Heide!
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