R has gotten really into drawing - with markers. I usually have her table lined with one nice big sheet of construction paper, but she prefers small sheets. She gathers up all my old receipts & bits of scrap paper and hoards them at her table for a future masterpiece.

R is somehow, miraculously, really into green vegetables lately - broccoli, zucchini, peas. Whenever I have a salad in front of her, she begs for a bite of my lettuce! Needless to say, we've been cooking a lot of asparagus around here and I recently learned a great trick for getting rid of the tough, woody base. Instead of trimming off the ends with a knife, gently bend the stalks, with one hand at the base and the other at the tip, it will naturally break right at the point where it becomes tender, leaving the woody base behind. Brilliant, right? Not to mention really fun.

I don't know where the motivation came from, but I woke up yesterday morning ready to tackle some projects. I think mainly I've been itching to start some new things and I know that I am not allowed to add to the stash until I've taken some things away. I decided to go ahead and get quilting.
The very first craft project I worked on back when I was still temping at Martha Stewart was about quilt repair and care. For the story, we re-edged a quilt that had been hand-pieced by an editor's grandmother. It was a postage stamp quilt, originally pieced in the 1930's, and I fell in love. I decided that even though I had never done any patchwork, I would try to make my own. I collected dozens of fabric swatches & cut hundreds of squares, but when it came to actual sewing, I didn't get very far. The finished piece is about 30 inches square. This was 7 years ago. Three years later I took another go at it, accepted its small proportions and started quilting. I figured since I hand-pieced the squares I really should hand quilt too. I didn't get very far with that either. Today I gave up all ghosts, revved up the machine and went for it. I cannot believe that I can actually say the quilting is done. It is still waiting for its edging, which I'll hopefully get to some time in the next 7 years.

Another great project I worked on for Real Simple Family was these fire breathing dragons, made out of toilet paper tubes. The full instructions are here. Painting the eyes was the most fun. They each came out with their own distinct personality. We all agreed that the red guy is kind of a dope.

I worked on a few really fun freelance craft projects this summer that are just out now and I am so glad to finally be able to share them with you. The most fun were these pasta necklaces, made for the Real Simple special Family issue. I found a great technique for dying the pasta and had a blast mixing the colors and shapes. I think the necklaces turned out surprisingly sophisticated for being such a classic kiddie craft. In fact - almost all of them got snatched up after the shoot by the adults on set!

 

To make the colors, mix one tablespoon rubbing alcohol with about 15 drops of liquid food coloring, or one good squirt of gel in a resealable plastic bag or glass jar. Add the pasta and shake until coated. Let sit for about 3-10 minutes, shaking periodically to keep the color even. Remove pasta and place on a towel-lined cookie sheet. The pasta should dry in about 5 minutes and you're ready to string! I had about 10 different types of pasta and made loads of colors, so the mixing & matching for the finished necklaces was really fun. I loved experimenting with all the different shapes and seeing how they worked together. What combination would you make?

 

R has become the keeper of my collection of plastic bead necklaces. She loves to wear them around the house - and never just one, it's got to be all at once. Until of course she's ready to take them all off.

 

 When in Ireland, we spent an afternoon wandering the halls and grounds of Bantry House, a historic mansion overlooking Bantry Bay. It was all a little bit wild and over grown, inside and out, but gorgeous nonetheless. Lots of great patterns and colors inside. E and I were both particularly taken with a small collection of eggs on view in the parlor. I also loved the carpet on the second floor.