I've Moved!

I am transitioning to a new website! I am working on transferring my few posts from here, but in the meantime check out my new site:

www.ekgdesigns.com

Woo!

See Jane Run Quilt

See them run! Run, guys, run!

Back in June (when we were wearing shorts- just think, tonight has a forecasted low of 17 degrees!), I began a quilt using Dick and Jane-themed fabrics. You can see from those original layout pictures that I still ended up with something different. My bad math meant that I was going to be short two blocks to make it the twin-sized quilt I had originally intended. Bummer. I played around with potential sashing and maybe just large borders. I ultimately ended up with a framed center block.

Arranging the pink and blue blocks still provided me a challenge.

The framed center added some visual interest while allowing me to keep my intended size of the top.


The final pieced top. Not too shabby, if I say so myself!

I quilted it with replicated loops all over. I am happy how this one turned out! I used one of the blocks that had been pushed out by the framed center block and made a matching pillow. All that bad math paid off!



Quilt and pillow, ready to go!

Handmade Holidays

Craft fair weekends tend to fly by in a blur. This weekend was just that: a blur. A festive, smiling, holiday-feeling weekend. I loved all the minutes of it.

The Clarksville Parks and Recreation hosted its third annual Handmade Holidays market in Clarksville, Tennessee. It gave me a chance to meet lots of people, sell my handmade items, and see the glowing faces that were going to enjoy their goodies as they marched off successfully with their newly-acquired treasures.


A few times some folks would express interest in an item, mention they would think about it, leave and then return to see it had sold. That's the tricky-and-awesome part of craft fairs. Everything is unique! Most everything is one-of-a-kind! But if you are one to hesitate because it my be considered a compulsive buy, you might miss out. I missed out on a ceramic spoon rest that I saw this morning. I stopped back by early this afternoon and it was already sold. You never know what you will find!


Thanks to all the behind-the-scenes workers who made for a successful craft fair this weekend! And thanks to all the other vendors I met who shared the same passion as I. And a special thanks to those who came with an understanding that what they saw were treasures, for those who supported craftsfolk and artisans. Your smiles and enjoyment keep me going.

Why I am not a Food Blogger

Weekend mornings give me a little extra time making a quality breakfast. My husband and I tend to avoid the glutens, so I cook a lot with squash (and can find some delicious paleo recipes thanks to the interwebs). One of my favorite recipe sites also contains one of my favorite recipes: Breakfast Stuffed Acorn Squash. I use spicy sausage to compliment the sweet taste of the squash.

Now, the very first time I made this, I followed all the directions and baked the egg within the shell of the squash. Feeling a little Martha Stewart-y that day, I also plated it on my hearty Fiestaware plates and provided a side of applesauce. (I think my husband sighs a little when I am feeling Martha Stewart-y, as it means sitting at a table rather than eating in the living room in front of the television. It also means I dirty more dishes than necessary for the aesthetic of a meal and he has more dishes to wash.). Look! Look at the fancy egg in the shell of the squash!

That happened once. Even with my extra free time on weekends, I don't have time for that nonsense! This is now what results in making my favorite dish:

I baked the squash on foil in an attempt to clean one less dish.

Shredded squash shells and a messy pan. Never mind my plating! This sucker gets served in a bowl with a fried egg on top (because the whole baking-an-egg thing takes time and I am hungry!).

mis-matched bowls, because everything else is in the dishwasher.

Finally, the true food blogger knows how plating, aesthetics, and quality photos can really sell the food and food-for-thought. This is pretty much what is really happening when I am working in the kitchen:

cooking is essentially a blur, as I rush around to avoid burning things.

So I will continue to cook. I will continue to eat. I will continue to read about others' foodie experiences. I will limit my sharing about food, however, and leave that to the real food bloggers.

Quilt Earrings!

I have been playing around with polymer clay recently. A while back, while I was cutting fabric scraps for a scrap quilt, I needed to take a fabric break. That's when it hit me: quilt earrings! I could still maintain the quilt motif while using a different medium!

I love the way these guys turned out! They are small and the stitching details make the "quilt" pop!

I love the way these turned out! It took some serious concentration and steady handwork. They are cute! Some I attached to stud posts and others clip on earrings.

The dime conveys the size.

Some are clip-on earrings.

Some have posts.

I listed a variety of them in my mom's Etsy shop. I will list the clip-on earrings later. These are too cute! I can special order colors and blocks. I can also do bulk orders. Check out the earrings at Cumberland Quilting Co.'s Etsy shop!

Dreamin'

Sometimes dreams seem a little lofty, but they are still there.

Do you have dreams? Aspirations? Goals?

Sure you do. You're human. Even if you dream that the dishes would do themselves, you have a dream (a lofty one, sure, but still a dream).

Do you take steps towards those dreams?

The difference between the dreamers and the doers is that: doing. Sacrifice. Mistakes. Getting knocked down and trying again. Shaking off that dust and moving forward.

"Dusty roads mean dirty feet." -Sara Watkins

I have ideas of what I want to do with my life (dreams). I have aspirations (ultimately, work for myself). And that takes sacrifice. I work longer hours. I work at one job that I don't like so much. I try new things- some work, some don't.

So here I am on this unsuspecting Tuesday morning, thinking and dreaming. I have another full day ahead (of stuff and work that I don't really want to do). But I will also have a few evening hours to create, design, write, and promote. I will have a choice! Television or invest in my dreams. "Chill out" or invest in my dream. Even goof off! or invest in my dream.

Make it happen.




What dreams are you pursuing? Are you making sacrifices to get there?

Creative Roads are Rarely Straight

So in my last post, I had been crocheting squares of scrap yarn with the intention of making an afghan. While working on the squares yesterday, I decided to make them into a bag.

I don't really know why, because I was excited about the idea of a scrappy afghan. The little knotted yarns just asked to be made into a tote. You can find the tote on my Etsy shop:




I love the way this came together. It is not too big and is perfect for summer.


When have you been creating and found your project move you in an unexpected direction?

Yarn Scraps

I had one tangled, hot mess yesterday afternoon. I have been trying to organize all of my crafting supplies and work space but had been avoiding a particular bag of yarn. It had been my catch-all bag for a while now.

No excuses! I told myself. Time to face the mass of tangles head on.

It only took me about an hour, but I created several neatly wrapped balls of yarn (stored safely in their correct plastic bins. And was inspired to start using some of my scraps to make a scrap afghan throw. Here's what I started:

I think with a variety of colors and textures, once this is all sewn up it will be a cute and quirky afghan! I love it already!

What do you do with your scraps?

Vintage Apron Window Decor

I have always loved the style of the 1940s and 1950s. For my bridal shower years ago, my mother listed on the invitation for guests to wear heels and pearls to the shower. It was a surprise bridal shower for me. She had been secretly collecting vintage aprons. When the guests arrived, they got to complete their 1950s housewife look! I walked in to a room of heels, pearls, and aprons!

I have had those aprons for over a decade now. In a few apartments, I hung them all on hooks above my washer and dryer (I could at least look at the vintage aprons and appreciate that the chore I dislike most is easier now than it once was). I thought of different ways to display them. Sometimes I even wore them (I have my real kitchen apron- I don't want to ruin the vintage ones!).

In our new place, we have space. I love the space, it inspires. In the kitchen, I decided to finally make use of the aprons:

My dining set is also "vintage." The table belonged to my great-grandmother.

I could never decide which apron was actually my favorite.

Gingham! Rickrack! Polka dots! All of the vintage!

I pinned the aprons to the curtain rod, creating a valance out of the past. I also used my Fiesta wear mugs as plant holders (I am still in the process of plant-collecting, so they aren't all used, yet.). 

Fiesta-wear as plant holders. A perfect compliment to vintage aprons!

I love to walk into my kitchen. The colors spark the space and it makes me smile. And I am glad I finally found a way to display my aprons!

Oh-My-Stars!

All the stars! I wanted to make some red-white-and-blue decor pieces to jazz up my house for Independence Day. I found a star pattern and got my yarn ready when I saw the Love of Knitting/Love of Crochet tweet about a collaborative yarn bomb event.

We've already received some stars for our #FourthofJuly #yarnbomb and #giveaway! You still have time to enter and... http://t.co/LQFqfiK4i7

— Love of Crochet (@LoveofCrochet1) June 20, 2014

Love! I already had started experimenting with star-making! This was perfect!

My initial experiment of star sizes/rounds

I finished off each of the stars and added the loops like requested so that the stars can be hung. I am excited to send these in for the yarn bomb event! I'm not going to lie, I am also crossing my fingers that I win one of the ten prize packages, too... :)

My star "contributions"

Then I started piecing together other stars to decorate my chairs in my kitchen:

What else can I do with these? Do you have any other decorating ideas?

Check Meow(t)

I finally did it! I opened my Etsy shop! Find me here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/designsbyekg

You'll find all sorts of fun stuff on there, from paintings to crocheted items to bags to earrings.

Here is my very first item I "stocked" in my shop:

Find this treasure in my Etsy Shop!

I am still listing things, so keep checking back for more fun stuff!

Bad Math = Opportunity

I used to do well in math. I suppose without constant exposure to geometry, one can lose those skills (like a language learned in high school). So I drew out how I wanted to use a stack of fabric. I counted, I added, I multiplied, I did it all again. This will be great! So I began cutting it all out. I love this Dick and Jane fabric!

I made two sets of open nine-patch blocks, one with blue and light pink and one with green and a red-pink. Hot diggity, the blocks came together nicely! Then it was time to lay out the blocks. At this point, it was probably 11:30pm and I was feeling giddy. I love it when projects are closer to completion than beginning.

Wait a minute. I had done bad math! Or miscounted! Or ahhhgkkghh! I made too many blue and pink blocks and not enough of the green ones. So the alternating pattern I had in mind wouldn't work out! Gah! Should I make the top and bottom just blue blocks? Should I make a throw-size quilt and a baby quilt, instead? (I had intended this to be a twin-sized quilt). It was time to leave the miscounted blocks laying there and go to bed.

The next morning I got up early and took a moment to appreciate the day and drink some coffee. My dad's coffee is near thick enough to have to cut with a pair of scissors. It surely will kickstart anybody's day. With a breath of fresh air in my lungs and caffeine surging through my veins, I decided to do some rearranging. 

Half of me loves the new layout (with a different design within the blocks). Half of me knows this is just a cover up for bad math. Ultimately, I ran out of time to piece these together, so I put them in a box for the next time I venture up to my mom's. Maybe by then, I'll have completely come to grips with the new block pattern and will complete it. (Or maybe I will just go ahead and make two separate quilts).

Qualitative brains, unite!

Cheers to Generations!

I have been in the process of moving and settling into a new place. While in some ways it has been exhausting work, in other ways, it has been freeing. I have been able to purge unwanted stuff. I am now in a better house and the layout is inspiring. I discovered some forgotten stuff. Like painted plates.

I found buried in a box some fragile, hand-painted ceramic plates that my great-grandmother painted. She painted ceramics and canvas and had her pieces throughout her house. I loved to visit that West Texas house, a pale yellow structure resting on the rugged, rolling plains. Pulling these pieces out immediately flooded me with memories of my great-grandmother, trips to West Texas, and visiting family.

This is one of my favorite pieces of my great-grandmother's work.

Dogwood was Nonnie's favorite flower.

I love the vibrancy of this bird.

Amazing detail!

Nonnie's signature on her painted pieces included a "V" and "A" for her initials.

Nonnie grew up the eldest of eleven children. They made a life on the nearly-barren landscape of West Texas. She loved to read and dreamed of going to college. She didn't quite make it that far in her formal education, but she passed down her creativity to her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Do great-grandmothers realize their impact on the future? Mine certainly impacted me.

I know today is Fathers Day, but I think in a bigger sense, it is a day we can appreciate past generations and how they have impacted who we are and who we have become (and even, who we will be as we continue to grow). Dads, granddads, great-grandmothers: they all have impacted our lives in one way or another. Cheers to generations!

Painting Squirrels

So I don't always quilt. Sometimes I do other stuff, too. Like paint.

Last year, I decided to paint a squirrel for my dad (a gift for his birthday). It is an abstract squirrel.

 Wait. That's not it, that's just how it started.

That's it.

I watched half of the first season of "Bates Motel" while painting this squirrel on a lovely, rainy afternoon. The squirrel is on our family crest (if we had one). My dad rather enjoyed the painting, I think. My husband liked it so much he wanted one, too. Except he wanted a brown squirrel with a camo background. I love the guy, so I obliged.

Initially, I was hesitant to paint camo. But it turned out well. This squirrel is almost more of a cartoon squirrel, the brush strokes making him more rounded. I also had to trial-and-error the painting of camo. I painted it while watching the last half of the first season of "Bates Motel." 

The camo squirrel now hangs in our office space. 

Scrappin' Log Cabin-Style

My mother brought me a bag of scraps during my time working at an isolated park (in rural, south Georgia... in a cabin). She mentioned I might have time (since I had no cable nor internet connection) to iron some of the pieces out and "do something" with them. She was correct. I had time.

So I ironed and cut. I did not have a sewing machine, so I just laid the blocks out. On the kitchen floor.

Kitchen floors *can* serve as a work space.

Log cabin-esque seemed appropriate, as it could accommodate various sizes AND I was living in a cabin (although, it was not made of logs). I stacked them neatly in a box for when I had a chance to use a sewing machine. (I cut out enough for two quilts... incidentally, I still have a box of scraps in my closet). That chance was at my mom's house a few weeks ago. So I headed up to Cumberland City with my box-o-scraps.

A table, mat, and ironing board prove better work surfaces than kitchen floors.

I pieced the blocks together as I had originally intended, then laid them out into rows (the blocks varied in size, so I laid blocks into rows with similarly-sized blocks). I pieced together the rows, then cut the edges so they could lay together.

TA DA!

The finished product!

It came together quite nicely, if I say so myself. I chose to quilt it with an all-over larger stipple, as I did not want to take away from the funky of the scrapness. So now I have a scrappy, log cabin quilt (that was born in a cabin). I have more pictures over at the Cumberland Quilting Co.'s Etsy page, if you want to take a peek.

Fun with Owls (and Quilting)

I had a chance to visit my Mom's yesterday and finish up some projects we started together a while ago. We completed three baby quilts for the Clarksville Downtown Market (of which she is at currently!).

She pieced these puppies while I quilted them. My favorite turned out to be the owl quilt. A combination of the cute fabrics and panels provided for fun inspiration.

"hooo hooo"

all the quilting! 

stars and swirls

ribbons sewn in the seams provide tactile stimulation

I had a blast working the longarm these past few days. I also finished up a scrap quilt (for another post!). Now I turn to my next project. Hmmm...