a quilt for my sweet boy

Remember this color palette? Finally, the quilt is actually done. And my boy couldn't be happier. This is the first quilt I've actually finished since I took Joelle's patchwork quilting class almost three years ago.. it sat for over a year all pieced and ready to be quilted, and then once quilted, sat for a few months patiently waiting to be bound. And of course, now that it's done, I have a million ideas for the next one.

For those of you who are new, this quilt was made from a pile of old dress shirts my husband was throwing away. I love the idea of my son sleeping under a quilt made from his father's shirts.. I tried to incorporate as many little details as I could, a pocket here, a placket there.

I sewed most of this quilt while visiting my mom. When I lived back East, I would try to fly home each summer for a few weeks to visit my parents in California. This quilt came with me on a few of those trips. My mom has a beautiful Pfaff that sews like a dream, and switching back to my machine sometimes felt like switching from a Mercedes to a Pinto. (For my birthday last year, I finally got a Pfaff of my own.. not quite as nice as my mom's but it's so lovely to sew on..)

I made a little sketch of my quilt in Illustrator before I cut up the fabrics, so I could see it a few different ways. I decided to just keep the design very simple, in hopes that it would have a classic feel and that my son might keep it on his bed for some time.

For the backing, I wanted something with a very subtle pattern. I found a Japanese grid fabric at Purlsoho that was perfect. (thanks for your help Jen!)

When it came time for the binding, I didn't know what to do. I had originally bought a solid blue fabric, but it seemed so plain. In the end I decided to sew together some of the extra squares I had leftover from the shirts and piece the binding. I'm so glad I did. I think it makes the back look almost as pretty as the front.

I did a very simple "stitch in the ditch" quilting. For some reason, I'm just scared to death to throw it in the washing machine, so it has yet to be washed. I think the squares will have a little more poof once they've been washed and dried.

I wanted to leave a message to C somewhere so I finished it off with a little cross stitch... "to C, love MOM". Using a grid for the backing certainly came in handy.

After finishing my quilt I started researching other quilts made from men's dress shirts... turns out it's not such a new idea. I came across so many beautiful examples, I will be sharing them with you over the next few days. They make my simple little quilt look quite elementary... but my son loves it, and that makes me so very happy.

this weeks library book

We love Not a Box, the first book in this series by Antoinette Portis. We own it. We read it all the time. So Bee and C were excited to see another book by Ms. Portis, Not a Stick.

Not a Stick is about a little pig playing with a stick. Each spread shows this pig using his stick in a different way. "Look where you're going with that stick."

"What stick?" answers the little pig. Holding his stick in one hand, he imagines he is the leader of a marching band.

Or he imagines he is fishing off a pier, using his stick as a fishing pole. Other spreads show the little pig as a weightlifter, or fighting a fire breathing dragon.

Such a simple idea turned into such a beautiful little book. I love any book that encourages a child's imagination, and what child doesn't like to play with a stick? Or an empty box?

the magic balloon

While everyone was out for spring break, some friends and I took a field trip up to what I call the "Magic Balloon". Built on the old El Toro marine air field, the Great Park will someday "include a 2.5 mile canyon and lake, miles of walking and biking trails, a cultural terrace, Orange County's largest sports park, and a botanical garden." But for now, they've got a big orange balloon. And you can ride it.. free of charge.

The balloon goes up to 400 feet, any higher and it would cause some problems for the nearby John Wayne airport. 400 feet doesn't sound that high, but when you look down and see that the only thing holding you to the ground is a tiny cable, it sure seems high.

I'm not sure who the designer is behind the Great Park, but they've done a wonderful job. Everything has been so cleary considered, from the graphic design to the landscape architecture to the little details like these huge offset arrows on the landing strip. Orange and white have never looked better.

I love these patches of orange and white checkerboards in the parking lot.

And they've kept some of the old markings from the old Marine air station runways. Viewed from the balloon, they are big and bold and just beautiful. I love the huge graphic circles they designed around the landing site.

The kids thought it was great. Bee was literally jumping up and down most of the time we were up. C was a little concerned, but warmed up once we started playing a little game of "I SPY".. I spy a little blue car.. I spy a patch of red flowers, etc.

We recently read James and the Giant Peach and while we were up in the balloon, being blown around by the wind, I thought of James and his crew teathered to a flock of seagulls flying around in a giant peach. Not such a bad way to travel.

spring in a box

When we lived in New York, this time of year was hard for me. The end of March and the beginning of April, when spring should be out in full force, were usually still cold and dreary. Winter seemed never ending. There's only so much you can do with two children under 3 when it's freezing cold outside, and for a girl born and raised in sunny Southern California, I had had enough.

I have a few friends who have had tougher winters than usual this year for various reasons. Friends who have been cooped indoors with colicky babies, or feeling down about just about everything or wondering how much longer they can stay sane in their tiny New York apartments. Oh, I remember.

So I decided to mail them a little something.. I call it "Spring in a Box". I gathered an assortment of all things yellow and orange and wrapped them up in the brightest paper I could find, including a note about how spring would definitely come.. that they had almost made it through the long cold winter. And I included these two lovely quotes:

The packages have all been received. Sunshine delivered by way of the USPS. Friends are cheered. Spring has come. Mission accomplished.

NOTE: Yes, it is because of the long, hard winter that we moved away from NYC and all its charms. Now we enjoy winter in southern California, usually wearing flip flops and making lemonade from the lemon tree in our backyard. So California has its charms too.

this week's library book

Bye Bye Baby by Janet and Allan Ahlberg tells the story of a little baby with no mommy. "He fed himself and bathed himself. He even changed his own diaper." One day the baby realizes "I am too young to be doing this! I need a mommy!"

He sets off to find a mommy. "Will you be my mommy?" he asks whomever he finds (including a teddy bear, a horse, a kitty cat, a wind up chicken, and a nice old uncle). But none of them can be his mommy.

Finally, he meets a nice lady pushing a baby carriage. "I am a little baby with no mommy" he cries. "There's a coincidence," says the lady. "I am a mommy with no little baby!"  And she takes him home and gives him a warm bath and feeds him cookies and tea.

After a while, the baby realizes he doesn't have a daddy. He sets off once again until he finds a nice farmer and asks if he will be his daddy. And of course he says "Yes!".

Note: I am new to the work of the Ahlbergs, but they have written quite a few lovely little books including The Jolly Postman; Each Peach, Pear, Plum; and The Runaway Dinner .

easter outfits

Last year I made my first Easter dress for Bee. It was the Tea Party dress from Oliver + S, which turned out rather sweet, but I felt badly that I didn't make anything for my son C. This year I decided to try the Birthday Party dress, which Liesl assured me I could handle despite it's perfect pleats and five (!) buttonholes.

I made the dress out of linen, which proved a little shifty, but I love it nonetheless. Bee is a very active three year old, so there really is no hope of keeping it wrinkle free for long, but lucky for me, it looks just as cute rumpled. And Liesl was right, although the construction of this dress is a more complicated than anything I've made before, if you just follow the directions carefully, it will all work out in the end.

But what to make for C? The plan came together when I saw Molly's tie pattern on the Purl Bee. Perfect for a brother-sister duo. Matching, but subtle. Sweet, but not too sweet.

I didn't realize the tie is mostly hand-sewn, and it was fun to make. You can easily finish a tie in one sitting, and I get a weird sense of satisfaction sitting down on the couch with my needle and thread, stitching each little stitch one at a time.

I don't know how many more years I can coordinate their outfits. C is going to start having opinions about his clothes at some point. But I'm sure going to try and keep this up for at least a couple more years.. The pictures alone are priceless.

sinking eggs

My little boy C has asked me every day this week if it is time to "sink eggs". It took me a minute to realize he was talking about dying eggs, which we do each Easter.

I love the beautiful eggs my friends make using natural food dyes.. but I opt for the PAAS kits, I hope you'll forgive me. There is something about the little fizzing tablets that takes me back to my childhood. The kids think they are magic.

I love Easter... lots of fun, but somehow less filled with pressure and holiday stress than Christmas. We roll pretty low key around here. An egg hunt, church, a walk with Grandma and Grandpa, dinner with family, and some strawberry shortcake. Perfect.

easter cupcakes

Do you ever get so excited about a recipe that you find yourself making it over and over again, despite your husband's hatred for coconut? My latest obsession are these coconut cupcakes, made from Ina Garten's recipe (aka the Barefoot Contessa). I am a fan of most things Ina makes, simply because they usually turn out exactly as I expected (and sometimes even better than I dared hope!).

When I was an art director at Martha Stewart Living, Ina had a monthly entertaining column. She would plan a menu or a little party and share her recipes and tips. You may not know that Ina was a very successful caterer for years, running her shop and catering business The Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton. I had the chance to art direct a few of those entertaining columns, and though it was sometimes crazy getting up at 5 AM to make it out to East Hampton at a decent hour, I always enjoyed being in Ina's home. She had a lovely garden just out the back door where you could cut some lettuce for a recipe or grab some fresh herbs. And spending any day in the Hamptons was always a treat.

But back to the cupcakes. These are the best cupcakes I have ever made. The cake itself is super moist and chewier than a standard cupcake because it has coconut in the batter (as well as coconut on top). The cream cheese frosting has a bit of almond extract that makes me crazy. And they're just so pretty.

I'm thinking if you toasted the coconut in the oven for a bit and then added a few candy eggs on top, this might be the perfect Easter cupcake.

ribbon egg cards

Lecia over at A Day That is Dessert asked me to share a little Easter craft on her sweet blog. For directions and to see more photos, hop on over here.  (Thanks Lecia!)

designer fortune cookie #1