Billie Ann doll

I LOVE a handmade doll. Seriously. Like more than my three girls love dolls.  For years I have made various dolls for my girls and others using Bit of Whimsy patterns. They sew up very quickly and easily and have just that vintage look I like.  And the best part - my girls love them!

Here is L's Katie Kitten:

And E's Mae doll:

M's Billie Ann doll has been much loved and looks it:

Like the princess bandaid?

M's doll (named Shirley Ann) even kept M company in the hospital while waiting for the surgeons to set her broken arm.

This is the Jane doll I made for a dear friend's daughter.  Her daughter has an old soul so I tried to make her a more mature doll:

So when I was trying to figure out what to give my precious niece for Christmas that wasn't plastic (I really try to avoid landfill gifts whenever possible), I decided to make her a Billie Ann doll to be cousins with M's doll.  I was a little nervous about what she would think (if all advertisements directed at you as a young child are full of plastic toys that light up and twirl, why would you be excited about something as stationary and boring as a handmade doll?) but she loved it!  The best part was seeing the cousin dolls playing together.  Wish I had taken a picture of that!

I also made her brothers homemade gifts for Christmas.  But more on that later.  My goal for next year? To make each of  my girls quilts for Christmas!  Here's to handmade gifts!

Working mom

Hello again, much neglected blog.  Where have I been?  I have been taking care of children, sewing, cooking, trying to clean my house, working part time, all the things we all try to keep up with as moms.  I thought about you a lot, composed many entries in my head, had many projects to show you, but alas, never made it to the computer.

Anywho, here I am, back to you.  I hope to be better about posting but no promises:)

So last night I attended my church Circle group.  The topic of discussion was New Year's resolutions and the wonderful ladies in our group had some great ideas.  The ideas involved family, work, personal time, but all centered on balance.  What a tricky word that is for moms.  I know it is for me.  I have started back to lawyering as a consultant but may have to ramp those hours up even more for various reasons.

My return to work means that I will have to address issues of balance in a more intensified way than I have in the past two years.  I have grown so much while not working in all areas of my life.  I don't want to lose what I've learned and I hope to be a more balanced and centered working mom than I was before.

I feel closer to my children and more connected with them than ever before.  It took me a little time to learn to just be with them, listen to them, hang out with them without constantly worrying about work.  They are growing and changing into their own individual selves and it is so cool (and sometimes scary and frustrating) to watch that process.  I must make sure to hang on to that connection.

I also have grown exponentially as a creative person.  I have completed several quilts, learned more than I can even enumerate about quilting, sewing, piecing, color, texture, etc., and have made many garments as well.  This creativity makes me so happy, which benefits everyone in my family.

The lack of stress and light heartedness I have cultivated over the last two years has been a gift I did not realize I needed.  When I run into lawyers I used to work with, they without fail comment on how much happier I am.  I am chattier with supermarket personnel, I smile at bank people (for the most part) even when they are enforcing all of their ridiculous rules that prevent me from accessing my own money.  (Don't get me started on this subject!)  I actually have lunch with friends for no reason except to just catch up.  I hope that I can keep this perspective as a I move forward.

So to sum up, here are my new rules:

(1)  Work only while the kids are at school or asleep.
(2)   Do something creative at least 3 times per week.
(3)   Try my very hardest not to take everything so seriously.

Think it will work?  I don't know.  But I am going to give it a shot:)

Teacher gifts

It's that time again when all moms scramble (at least this mom scrambles) around trying to find the perfect teacher gifts getting ready for the onslaught of children home for summer.  This year I decided to actually use some of the craft items I have purchased from Pick Your Plum.  (I buy everything PYP offers.  Seriously.  They sent me a gift at Christmas last year for being one of their best customers. My husband was not proud.)

So I broke out the Silhouette.  Now I am not one of the crafty paper people who can make seriously cute things out of a piece of paper and some scissors.  I am more a fabric kinda girl.  Case in point - I have owned a Silhouette for over a year but have not done much with it because it scares me.  All the whirring and cutting just makes me nervous.  And I have messed up some perfectly nice vinyl trying to use the thing.  But I really like the idea of what it can do so I decided to give it another try by making some teacher magnet boards.

These are made from a pre-cut wooden base with a piece of sheet metal that fits in the base.  I started by painting the base red.

  The first coat turned out to be a little too red so I mixed it with some brown, applied a second coat, and let it dry.

Next I printed the teachers' names on adhesive vinyl with my Silhouette (fingers crossed the whole time), then weeded out the negative space.  I applied the vinyl to the painted wood using transfer tape and a scraper.  This is where I normally screw up the vinyl but lo and behold, it worked!!

Hooray!  I applied some Cosmo Cricket scrapbook paper (another fabulous purchase from PYP)  to the sheet metal using Mod Podge and had the kids write a personal note to the teacher.  Voila!  teacher gifts!

The magnets could hold pictures, notes, recipes, anything! I hope the teachers like them!

Robyn

Easter/Spring skirts in Hello Luscious!

Have you seen Hello Luscious by Basic Grey for Moda?  It is my absolute favorite new fabric line since my last favorite fabric line.  In all seriousness, it is, well, luscious.  No other word for it.  I buy some of it every time I go into Whipstitch and now have a full fat quarter bundle that I am saving for just the right project.

The sweet, vintage vibe of this line seemed perfect for Easter/Spring skirts for my girls.  Since my oldest was at the beach with a friend for Easter, only the little two got skirts.  I made them using this tutorial from   Everyday Chaos.  It was super easy to follow but you do need to know how to bind a blanket or quilt.   (I love this tutorial for that.)  I can totally see these skirts in some DS Flea Market Fancy and corduroy for Fall.

Hope you like the wrinkled look:)

 
Apparently, it is an unwritten rule that after your mother makes you a new skirt for Easter, you should immediately put on rain boots and pick up your favorite chicken Valentine.  You don't even need a shirt.  Who am I to argue with that logic?  I like to hug Valentine too:)  Although I generally wear a shirt.

Happy Spring!

Robyn

Meat water - otherwise known as Texas style chili . . .yum!

My husband is crazy.  Mainly for putting up with all my craziness ("but I will DIE without another fat quarter bundle!") and for never saying "don't you have enough fabric?" And for saying yes to chickens and a second dog.

But what makes him really crazy is his definition of chili.  Specifically, he claims to like chili but only if it does not have any beans or tomatoes in it.  Huh?  Isn't that just meat with water?  So over the years I have tried endless variations of chili because I like it and 2 out of 3 kids like it - which is a huge success in my book.  But to no avail.  I could never come up with the perfect "meat water" recipe.

Until now - ta da!  Meat water, otherwise known as chili with no beans and no chunky tomatoes.   Apparently there are other crazy people in the world like my husband who like chili this way, including Lyndon Johnson who purportedly loved this recipe.  The craziest part?  The kids and I love it too!

Pedernales River Chili 4 pounds chili-grind beef chuck or venison 1 large onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican 2 tablespoons chili powder, or more, to taste 1 teaspoon round cumin Salt to taste 2 to 6 dashes Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce 2 cups hot water 1 1/2 cups canned whole tomatoes with juice  METHOD Place the meat, onion, and garlic in a large, heavy frying pan or Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until the meat is lightly browned. Add the oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt and hot pepper sauce. Pour in the water and tomatoes, and bring the chili to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour. Skim off any fat during the cooking. Serve the chili hot. Serves 5 to 6 (click the recipe title to go to the website where I found this recipe)

 When I make this chili, I cook the meat on the stove and then dump the whole thing, spices and all, into the crock pot on low for several hours.  I also have some kidney or black beans on the side so those who like beans can add them.

I like to make this on the days when my husband and oldest daughter beat me home from gymnastics with the other two.  She can shower while he spoons the chili onto whole grain Tostitos scoops and tops with cheese.  Pop those into a 350 degree oven for 5 - 10 minutes and you have some yummy nachos.  In theory, when the other two and I get home, we are greeted with a wonderful dinner, smiling husband and older daughter, and general peace and happiness.  Well, at least I am guaranteed a wonderful dinner!

Happy cooking!

Robyn

Made in Cherry - 4th of July style!

As soon as I saw the Made in Cherry quilt design, I knew it would be perfect for my in-laws.  They love 4th of July more than any other holiday - I swear, it is bigger than Christmas to them.  I think it is because all three of their sons and their sons' families converge on their lake house for 3 - 4 days and just hang out.  It is definitely more relaxed than Christmas when we are all rushing around from place to place trying to keep the kids from imploding from all the Santa-mania.

The lake house is a special place no matter when you go.  It is in the north Georgia mountains and the lake itself is fed by mountain water so it is the clearest, deepest green you can imagine.  You can actually see the bottom of the lake from the dock.  It is a place full of fun memories.

The house is beautiful but not fancy.  I don't have to worry about the dogs or the kids coming in wet from the lake and I don't have to constantly shout at them to pick up their stuff (thank goodness because I would go hoarse from all the shouting).  The house radiates the love that my in-laws have for it and their family.

But I digress - as usual.  This quilt pattern is one very large star and I thought it would look perfect in red, white, and blue.  So I chose totally random prints in those colors and put them together in what I hope will be a nice birthday gift for my in-laws.  Hopefully such a nice gift that they will overlook the fact that it is late.

I love the rockets and the bikes.  Fireworks and playtime, just what summer is all about.

This is a beast of a quilt, 80 x 80.  Just compare the size to those little legs in the background and you will get what I  mean.  Now to get it quilted and bound before my in-law's next birthday.  Wish me luck!

And here is a shot of our family from the lake.  Just because.

May summer get here soon!

A happy discovery . . .

Every year starting in 3rd grade, the kids have to do a large project for school.  (The school's requirement, not mine:))  In 5th grade they have to study their family's immigration history - when did the first family member come to this country, what was it like for them, what are some interesting things about the country from which the family came.

Since my mother came to the United States from England, Ella chose to tell my mother's story and to research England.  (More about the story later, it is pretty funny.)  Part of the project also required her to find a recipe for a traditional english food and make it for the class.  

Ella didn't want to do scones because that's what most people do for England (love that she wants to be original!).  Plus, I can't cook scones to save my life.  The whole cutting butter thing throws me off.  

So I dug out the cookbook my grandmother bought for me on one of our trips to England to visit her.  Ella started to look through it and out fell several small pieces of paper with handwritten recipes on them.  I had completely forgotten that my Nana had written the recipes down for me as good ones for the novice cook to have in her repertoire!  What a wonderful discovery!  

Ella decided to make banana tea loaf from this recipe:

     

How cool to cook from her English great-grandmother's handwritten recipe!  With some conversions here and there (gas mark 4 is 350 degrees and bicarbonate is baking soda) and some adjustments (the sugar is a dry 3 ounce measurement plus a cup), we worked it out and Ella cooked it.  And let me tell you, it is wonderful!  Much better than the banana bread I normally make!  The addition of the lemon is something I never would have thought of but really brings a depth to the taste.  The only change I might make is the amount of sugar makes it very sweet so you really don't need the over-ripe bananas that banana bread usually requires.  

Even though we were separated by an ocean, we saw my grandparents frequently.  My Nana and I were very close and I always loved spending time with her and my Mom.  I felt lucky to be able to experience a relationship with three generations of my family.  

This is a picture of Nana and me is from the early 80's (which you could probably tell from my awesome hairstyle.)  Now my Mom and my Nana are both gone and I miss them terribly.  Which makes it even more special that a fourth generation is getting to know Nana through her recipe.  Love that!