The Poppies: Time to Nominate Your Friends

The fine folks over at Poppytalk are hosting virtual awards called The Poppies. Today is the last day to nominate your friends, then it's time to vote! Here's more info:

We don't wish this to be a competition, however more an appreciation and acknowledgement of the handmade community; a light and fun process to celebrate the Handmade! The nominating will start effective January 7th, with nominations running through to Tuesday, January 12th at 11:59pm. Followed then by voting to ensure a TOTALLY democratic process. The voting of the finalists will commence Thursday January 14th through to January 20th at 11:59pm. The winners will be announced January 22nd, 2010.

Click here to find out about categories and more specifics on the awards!

Quick Craft: Fabric Rosette Cards

As I'm working away on a big quilting project, I need, on occasion, something smaller—a project that gives me almost immediate results. Since I needed two birthday cards, I decided to whip up some using the blank cards I received for Christmas. Here was my process:
1. Pull out one of the bins where I store fabric scraps.
2. Dig around until I found pieces that I felt like using, which in this case was a bit of the Liberty fabric that I used to make these window panels.
3. The pieces were in long strips and for some reason they had been stitched (I can't remember why), so I trimmed them with pinking shears, and used Mod Podge to adhere each strip to the upper third of the card.
4. Not satisfied that the strip was special enough, I used other thin strips to make rosettes (you can see the technique here).
5. I stitched on the flowers, admired my work and that concluded my quick crafting session.

Making both of these took about 10 minutes total, and given that I'm very pleased by the results, I'd say this was a successful craft.

Inspired Image: Snowy Forest

Taken during a hike over the holidays, this photo reminds me that snowfall can be lovely and magical (when it's not being frustrating and hard to drive in). An important thing for me to keep in mind here in the Midwest.

A Few Things to Do in 2010

Since I enjoyed having a written reminder of my goals last year, I've decided to do it again. Nothing too lofty or serious, just things I know make me happy and I want to make sure to make happen. Here are a few things I'll be trying to make happen in 2010. Notebook and image above via Oh Joy!

1. Go backpacking at least once.
2. Spend one weekend a month offline.
3. Spend more time with my Des Moines friends.
4. Start a quilting project for myself.*
5. Read my camera’s manual so I actually know how to use it.
6. Camp in the Loess Hills.
7. Read at least one book each month.
8. Teach quilting classes and learn how to be an effective communicator in that setting.
9. Cook more in advance so I can eat delicious, thoughtful meals everyday. (I made a breakfast porridge of bulgur, millet and steel cut oats, with cinnamon, vanilla, coconut, dried peaches and cranberries for breakfast this week and it's been a total treat!)
10. Make pasta for friends in Des Moines.
11. Send one homemade card per month.
12. Get a library card.
13. Find ways to be as active as possible without triggering back pain.
14. When I do have back pain—which happens sporadically due to my three herniated discs:(— be patient and gentle.
15. Profile one woman each month on the blog who’s reinterpreting a classic crafting technique in Instant Heirloom posts.
16. Make kolaches.
17. Live in a house surrounded by more trees (my lease is up in late spring) and with a yard to grow some vegetables and herbs.
18. Make better coffee.
19. Find more inspiration in the details.**
20. Buy one postcard a month from an independent artist.***

*This is a holdover from last year. I have one more large project in the works and after that, I’m going to focus on something for myself.
**I’m not exactly sure what form this will take, but I’ll definitely be exploring this idea through my regular Friday Inspired Image series.
***I did this last year with prints and it has filled my house with so much visual joy. Partly due to wall space and partly due to cost, I’m going to stick with small prints this year and hang them all together in my guest room/sewing room.

Momma's Homemade Panettone

My holidays were filled to the brim with food—feast of the seven fishes, antipasto, egg noodles with white truffle oil, two kinds of homemade ice cream, trays of cookies, breakfast casserole, lasagna, the most amazing stuffed pork, and this homemade panettone. My mom seriously outdid herself.
Every other year of my life we've had panettone from a box, which is totally normal. I've never heard of anyone making it at home. I mean why would you when if you're Italian and you're preparing for holiday food, you've got about a 100% chance of being in a store that sells it. It seems to never go bad and you can eat it as it, toasted or made into heavenly (and rich) French toast. This year, however, my mom decided to make it herself.

I helped her find a recipe—we used the one from King Arthur Flour because we trust them and there were a ton of step-by-step instructions and photos—and she got her schedule straightened out since you can't really make it ahead of time, but it take a while to make. On Christmas morning we were so giddy about it and it was so good that my mom made two more batches before I left NJ. She even made some small loaves that are carefully wrapped and tucked into my freezer to ration out through the next month or so. I love that this has surely become a new family tradition and that I have a family so committed to an overabundance of yummy food.

Mom's Quilted Wall Hanging: Completed!

In just the nick of time, I finished my mom's wall hanging! I actually didn't sew the hooks on until after Christmas, but otherwise it was totally done.

That's my momma, holding the quilt up so we could see how it looked on a wall (note, the wall it will actually hang on is pale yellow, and it get a ton of sunlight so it will look much warmer). All of the quilts I've made have been big-life-event presents, so this was my solution to make something for my mom concurrently with my larger projects. She was very happy with the results, which of course made me even more happy.

Here you can see the back and the hooks. I sewed four strips to the back to hit just below the binding at the top so that you won't be able to see the hooks or the rod when it's hanging. That way, as my mom wanted, it will look more like a painting than fabric.

I was the most nervous about this step, but I was really pleased with the way it turned out. And most of all, I'm delighted to have finished another quilting project that I know will have a good home.

Back to Blogging: Holiday Recap

Hello! Well, I have to say that my week and a half blogging break (which coincided with a break from work and as much time away from the internet as I could manage) was fantastic. It's been months and months since I took time away from my computer and I truly felt the freeing effects. I expect that now that the memory of time offline is fresh in my brain, I will be trying to do it more often—even if it's just for one weekend a month. Very refreshing.
All of that was made even more wonderful due, of course, to getting to spend the holidays with my family in NJ. It was snowy when we got to the shore and Josh and I promptly headed out for a walk because it is a real rarity to see snow on the beach.

We walked most days that we were there, talked a lot over long meals that my mom had been planning for weeks and weeks, and I am fairly certain that I laughed more than I ever have over the holidays. I am truly thankful for my family and their endless attempts at word puns.

It might be a little unusual, but I actually prefer the beach in the winter. The town where my parents are is mostly a summer town, so the winter is amazingly quiet (apart from when Santa rides around on the firetruck) and deserted, in a good way.

Here you can see my stocking, which my paternal grandmother made for me when I was born (as was her tradition), which is hanging next to the one that I made for Josh. I ran out of time and didn't get to embroider his name on there, but I will make sure to do that for next year. I love that it was plenty big to fill it with treats and that it seemed to fit in very well with the rest of our stockings.

I'm going to spend much of this week sharing a few other handmade highlights from my vacation (which also included time in NYC and skiing in the Catskills) and also gearing up for 2010. Last year I made myself a list of 26 things I wanted to do throughout the year and I love how it motivated me to do more with my own two hands so you can expect to see a new one from me shortly. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and were able to spend some downtime relaxing with friends and family.

P.S. Aren't you excited that I finally figured out how to make my photos bigger?! I certainly am!