Spring!

Spring is definitely here in Arkansas. My most favorite part of Spring is seeing the daffodils spring up, almost overnight. I'm so happy that at my new house we have lots of them in the flower beds.

I can't believe it's already mid March. I have been wanting to plant a vegetable garden for about four years now but have never quite gotten around to it. This is the year that changes! I've already got someone lined up to build me a few raised beds, and I've still got my seed packets from a few years ago. A friend of mine also has the hookup with some potent compost tea and compost so I'm really excited about that. I plan on using the square foot gardening technique that I learned in my organic gardening class at UCA.

I think I'll also try to do some canning this year. Punk Domestics has some great recipes and canning ideas throughout the year. And thanks to the ridiculous amount of cabinets I have in the kitchen at this new house, I have plenty of room to store canned goodies.

This week Lex was at home with a nasty cough that we're trying to finally cure so I made myself useful and cleaned up my desk and craft area.

 What with all the pregnancy, holidays and new baby, It had gotten pretty messy.

I've been feeling the need to purge myself of all the junk I've been holding onto (I get a little sentimental about it), so this was a good start. Now I just have to do my closet and bedroom...

I really do love spring. And I love that I have a great yard with great flowering plants throughout it. It just makes me smile. I can't wait until Lex and I can chill out in the yard. :)

Quilting

So, I'm kind of afraid to say this out loud, but I really want to make a quilt. I have wanted to make one for a long time. In fact, it's on my bucket list (dorky, I know).Thinking about actually starting it--actually buying the fabric and everything--is scary.

I guess I see it as a really big undertaking, but I suppose it doesn't really have to be. And now since I have a baby, it's a perfect opportunity to try my hand with a baby quilt. I poked around the Internet a little and found a couple of patterns that might work. Nothing too fancy--I just want a basic patchwork quilt for him, really. Here's what I found:

Rail Fence Quilt. The colors on this example are a bit too hokey (and girly) for me, but I like that it is a simple pattern.  It also looks kind of like chevrons, which are really in right now.

I love everything over at Red Pepper Quilts, especially the Alice pattern.

I keep seeing Oh, Fransson! mentioned whenever I read about modern quilting, and her stuff is just lovely. I also stumbled across the Modern Quilting Guild site and I love all the inspiration there. If I get into quilting, I would love to start a guild here in Central Arkansas.

I also really like the Family Picnic Blanket by Erin at Decor Allure. It would be an easy first project and I would get a nice big quilt out of it.

I may just go for a simple patchwork quilt of simply different squares of fabric.

 My memaw gave me this great vintage quilt top that is hand sewn. I want to finish it up and make it into a real quilt. I haven't decided on how to affix the top to the backing. I'm thinking about securing it with vintage buttons.

Most likely I'll finish this quilt and then start on one of my own. Who knows, though. As much as I hate sewing granny squares together, I'm not sure if I'll really enjoy it. We'll just have to see. 

May the Force Be with You

When I found out I was having a boy, I was happy that I would not have to deal with teenage girl drama or pay for a wedding.  But, being the crafty lady that I am, I was disappointed that I would not get to make all those adorable dresses, dolls, etc out there in crafty land for my baby. The world of craft is definitely dominated by things for girls. There are so many different accessories and types of clothes that girls can wear. The possibilities really are endless. As a result, boys tend to get overlooked. That's why a couple of my favorite blogs decided to create a series called "Celebrate the BOY."

Dana of MADE and Rae of Made by Rae are a couple of amazing crafting mamas who also have boys. To help remedy the lack of crafty boy stuff out there, they have collaborated to round up some great projects for the BOY. I'm loving it.

Since February's all about the BOY, I whipped up a little something for my little man. I bought some rockin' awesome Star Wars undies from Wal-Mart for V last month. They were briefs, and he's really more of a boxer guy, so they've just been sitting around the house. Last night, I got inspired and got to work. The result:

an awesome Darth Vader onesie!

His daddy was quite pleased. :)

In other news, for Valentines Day, V got me a serger! I am so excited about all the potential things I can make now. Thanks to "Celebrate the BOY," I've also got lots of great ideas. What have you made for your boy?

Ready to go out

One thing I like about my job is that I can crochet or knit while on the phone. It actually helps to pass the time a little more quickly and take some of the stress of calls away. Since I was able to work on it while at work and thanks to the snow storm we had on Wednesday, I got the blanket done in no time.

I love that it has a seat belt hole for the car seat.

The hat size is for a six-month-old, so it is a bit big on him. He'll grow into it, though, and it works for now.


And of course the day that I get it done, it's 60 degrees outside and we had no need for a cute blanket with matching hat. I'm sure there will be some more cold days still to come. Love that Arkansas weather!

Still Here

Wow, the last two weeks were definitely something. I started back to work, and while the first day was hard, I think I'm overall ok with the daycare situation. Lex seems to be doing well-- eating and sleeping like a champ. I swear he gets bigger every day.

I've been trying to get a hang on getting home, feeding Lex, making dinner and trying to get any other stuff done. This week I'm going to try some slow cooker recipes to make life easier.

With all the snow we've been getting here, I've finally found the motivation/inspiration to crochet again. Carting Lex around without a suitable winter hat when I can knit and crochet seemed like a shame. I found some lovely new colors of Red Heart Super Saver yarn at Wal-Mart of all places. They are called Windsor Blue and Tea Leaf. Very English, don't you think? I am in the process of making my boy a matching hat and blanket set out of Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker. It's gonna be adorable! (pics coming soon)

What have you all been up to?

Goodbye Maternity Leave

The time has finally come for me to return to work. I always knew it was inevitable but last week, especially, I was stressing about it. How will Lex do without me for such a long period of time? Will he take bottles? What if he always wants to be held and they call me to come pick him up?

I have been preparing Lex and myself this past week. Now he takes bottles just fine and I think he's ok with chilling in the various baby-holding devices we have. I have got to put my worries aside and trust that he will be ok. And he will be. He'll be in the hands of professionals, and I'll just be a phone call away.

I wish that I could be a stay-at-home mom, but it's just not feasible for us right now. When I was pregnant I thought I would be uncomfortable leaving him with others when he was so little, but I'm surprised at how quickly he has grown. I also thought I'd feel guilty about not being with him all the time, but I have to work--plain and simple. And we'll still have two full days together as well as the evenings. Plus he'll have a day all alone with Daddy each week.

I'm looking forward to getting us into our new schedule, and making the necessary adjustments. I know it's going to be rough at first but we'll figure it out.

Dreaming

For the past few days, I've found myself day dreaming of a lot of things but especially of building this... 

and this...

and a bunch of other stuff!

I recently discovered ana-white.com and I cannot get enough of it. Ana is amazing! She thinks up all these plans for magnificent furniture and then provides them for free. Her Facebook page is also great. There's a fabulous community of builders who help each other with the plans and suggest new ones and different variations. 

I have been so inspired by her blog and by all the fan photos. She makes it sound really easy to do. I've signed up on her site and already have a list of things to build. The husband has been dying to get some power tools ever since we moved into a house with a garage, and now I'm totally on board.

I love feeling the gears in my head turning, thinking of what kind of furniture I've always wanted and how to make it happen. I can't wait to get my tax return so I can buy some power tools and lumber and get started.