wonky windows #16.

a window into our wonky world...
the mister and i love fruit. not fruits and vegetables. just fruit. we occasionally eat vegetables, but it is fruit that finds us in the grocery store four or five days a week. mostly we eat bananas, strawberries, pineapple, nectarines, and apples. but a few months ago we added watermelon. don't get me wrong....we always enjoyed watermelon, we just did not consume it that often. now i happen to be a lucky lass, because i am married to a championship watermelon picker. okay fine, he has not ever won a championship, but if there were such a contest, i would bet a lot of money that he would come out on top. he honed his skills in the fields of lesotho, so the grocery store with plenty of pickings is no match for him. we always got the lovely little watermelons, which according to this ny times article, are called "personal melons." right-o. they are about the size of a honeydew melon, seedless, taste delicious, and fit nicely into the refrigerator. oh and the mister and i can consume one in less than 24 hours.

the twenty-eight pound monster.

as of last week, those personal melons are old news. we have now regressed into the world of seeded (gasp!) and gigantic watermelons. last week the mister brought home a giant that was probably close to 20 pounds. ummm...we ate the whole thing...in 6 days. today, the mister was not feeling so bashful. he bought a 28 pound behemoth that is so gigantic it will not fit inside of the bag he was planning to use to keep it fresh. are we having a party? uhhh..nope. sharing with seven other families? uhhh..nope. this massive gem is just for the two of us (well three...pringle is a hungry little one). this leaves me wondering...is it possible to consume too much watermelon???

sew baby sew.

the moment i found out i was pregnant, i started planning my sewing projects. since i love to design and sew bags, i knew that i would make our diaper bag. for months i pondered all manner of tote bags, debating the merits of various accoutrements. and then i talked to my mums. she mentioned that my brother and his wife use a backpack. i firmly explained that i am NOT a backpack person, hence i would NOT be using a backpack. she gently pointed out that using a backpack means your hands are free, but at my further insistence that i would use a tote bag, she dropped the issue.

fast forward a few months. one afternoon, upon arriving home, i realize i have my school bag (tote), gym bag (tote), and two grocery bags (totes) to carry upstairs. eek. in order to simplify the carrying process and avoid two trips, i carried my school bag like a backpack and grabbed the rest in my hands. it was this moment when i realized that, as per usual, my mums was right. a backpack would be a whole lot easier when i need my hands to carry important things like my BABY!

needless to say, all my months of designing the bag in my head went right out the window. luckily i found this glorious backpack design on the internet and some fabulous plaid fabric. i did not actually use the pattern, but i did use this bag as inspiration and then made my own pattern. of course, i could not do simple things like a basic flap. oh no...my flap is a zippered pocket with a magnetic closure. and why have a flat pocket on the front, when you can have a zippered pouch pocket? i spent some time calculating with paper and pencil, then cut out the fabric, and then started sewing. it was a daunting task. there was definitely some cursing, oodles of whining, a lot of action for the seam ripper, and settling for some moments of less-than-perfect sewing, but, it is officially complete.

 naturally, you cannot have a diaper bag without a travel changing pad and a wipes/cream case. so i made those too. now i am on the prowl for my next project. i already made burp cloths, changing pad cover, nursing cover-up, crib sheets, and oh yeah...the quilt. i wonder what is next.

THE quilt finito.

a rather startling event happened this weekend....i finished the quilt. not one step, or two, but the whole durn thing. that is right kids. the quilt is done. finished. fertig. finito. just as i was starting to think that i would never ever complete this monumental task, i bumped into a whole lot of motivation and voila. success. this must be nesting, because lots of other things have also happened in the last seventy two hours, but that is a story for another day. for now, the quilt in all of its glory.

we are still awaiting the fabric from the mister's family in lesotho. yes, it has been a loooong time. six and a half weeks. ugh. luckily the quilt's design allowed me to finish, while leaving a space for the missing pieces (those pieces are included in all of the quilt "counts").

forty six contributors sent  fabric from five continents: north america, europe, australia, asia, and africa; five countries: united states, germany, australia, united arab emirates, and lesotho; and twelve states: arizona, california, colorado, florida, georgia, idaho, illinois, new mexico, new york, rhode island, tennessee, and virginia.

since many of pringle's well-wishers sent more than one cloth, we had sixty-four fabrics to work with. as much as possible, i tried to include a large and a small circle of each contribution, which resulted in a grand total of NINETY NINE circles. 

in keeping with the spirit of the circles, i added loops to my favorite meandering quilting pattern (the white lines looping all over the fabric is the quilting). i cannot tell a lie...i love the way it looks.

we are still in awe of the number of people that sent fabric for the quilt. family from around the world. friends from childhood, college, peace corps, and work. some folks we have never even met in-person, others we have only met once or twice. but no matter how new or old the friendship, it has been amazing to discover how loved our little nugget is, even before her/his arrival.

to everyone who sent fabric, this quilt's for you, from you, because of you!!! THANK YOU!!!

THE quilt on speed.

ummm...so remember a few days ago when i was a bit worried that perhaps i might never finish pringle's quilt? yes well, apparently my fears were completely groundless. i was totally possessed and energized on saturday, so i got to work.

totally wacko knee pads.

i laid out all the circles...crawling around on my makeshift kneepads (some of the mister's socks strapped to my knees) until i was completely satisfied with the placement of each circle. around the time my knees were ready to fall off, despite the "knee pads," the circles were ready for pinning. since my knees could take no more, i flopped onto my rump and scooted around pinning down every single circle. and then i had to iron each circle to activate the fusible interfacing (glue) so the circles were attached to the background fabric. finally i had to sew circles around the edges of each circle. holy bananas.

did i mention that there are ninety-two circles? just in case you did not get it the first time, there are NINETY-TWO circles!!! as you can probably imagine this entire process was rather overwhelming. needless to say, it is with relief and disbelief that i can tell you the front of the quilt is complete. well, as long as you are willing to ignore the seven empty spaces reserved for the fabric en route from the mister's family in lesotho.

next step...the back of the quilt. the little pieces are all sewn together. now i am waiting for the rest of the fabric to arrive (hopefully tomorrow). once i have it i can finish the back and then finish the whole quilt. gasp. it is starting to seem like maybe, just maybe, this quilt will be finished before the little one's arrival. phew.

THE quilt snooze.

the glorious roman glass pastel.

it has been a little while since my last post. considering that there is a new life brewing in my belly, a slightly overwhelming quilt project in progress, and the regular nonsense that is my existence, you would think i would have something to say. i do, except i have been sleeping. a lot. oh and trying to get semi-prepared for the impending arrival of little pringle.

my "extra" fabric from fabric.com. yum.

but it is time for a quilt update. although i have been hitting the snooze button a LOT, i have accomplished a few tasks. i officially decided that the backing fabric will be roman glass pastel - big thanks to those of you who put in a vote. it is expected to arrive on tuesday and i canNOT wait. of course, all i had to do was spend an extra $15 to get free shipping, so naturally i had to buy some other goodies. poor me. i got a couple simple, but lovely designs. but back to the quilt. after coming up with a design two weeks ago, i finally finally finally cut all the pieces for the back. it was hard to find the time in between all my sleeping, but it happened.

lots of backing pieces...yahoo!!

it has been a few weeks since i have pondered the front of the quilt. i cut out the background fabric, marked the edges of the design space with masking tape, and started laying out circles. my plan was to arrange the circles by size...spreading the various sizes out evenly across the whole design. sadly the result was a discombobulated hodgepodge. then i tried arranging the circles by color and voila...i was in love. but that leads us to a BIG problem. i am STILL waiting for the fabric coming from lesotho. it has been in transit for over a month and we have no idea when it will arrive. super frustrating, but what can you do? sooooo after waiting another couple weeks, i finally gave in to the fact that i have to begin sewing without this fabric in hand. the mister called his sister to inquire about the colors of the expected fabric, so i will  be able to save spaces and start sewing. 

messy hodgepodge. this layout clearly ain't working.

long story short...today i am officially laying out all of the circles. i have strapped a pair of the mister's socks to my knees, because my ordinary methods of squatting or crouching are simply not gonna happen with my mondo-belly. instead i will be crawling around on my makeshift knee pads. awesome. soon, very soon, i will post some pictures of quilt progress.

THE quilt conundrum.

when people think of quilts, the focus is always on the front of the quilt. but after putting hours and hours of work into a quilt, it seems silly to make a boring back. after all, with just a little extra design you can have a second quilt. fancy. sounds simple. but then you throw me into the equation and it becomes enormously complicated. first of all, i want to incorporate each of the fabrics that were sent by friends and family. ohh-kay, that is a lot of fabric, but with the perfect design it is going to work.

the design.

second, i need a base fabric (the large greenish sections of the design) that will be interesting enough to make a "second" quilt, but simple enough that it does not outshine all the other fabrics. oh and it has to be gender neutral, because pringle is a surprise. in other words, the perfect fabric. mmmhmm...no problem.

marimekko unikko.

luckily, mrs. nipper knapp recently succeeded in nudging me to expand my fabric horizons, beyond the local joann's fabric store, to include the internet. now i am confronted with overwhelming amounts of fabric, to say the least. i immediately fall in love with the glorious marimekko unikko fabric, which i have convinced myself, despite the flowers, is not gender specific. great! until i discover it is $43 per yard. jeepers. that is a bit much, even for my beloved baby.

back on the prowl, i  spent three hours perusing etsy, fabric.com, and purl soho. after ogling hundreds (maybe thousands) of different fabrics, i narrowed my list to nine contenders. and then the mister came home and put in his two cents and we are down to four choices. now we need your help. please please tell me your thoughts....or pick a favorite or two (keep in mind these swatches only show 4" of fabric and the quilt will be about 50" square). grazie.

roman glass pastel (kaffe fasset).

illuminating dots lime (penny lane).

paperweight lime (kaffe fasset).

stones earthy (naturella).

THE quilt day 7.

this is the second to last round of circle creation. we are still waiting on fabric from the mister's family, but since it is traveling over eight thousand miles, from a country with a dubious (at best) postal system, we are not sure when it is to be expected. this weekend i have plans to start figuring out the arrangement of the circles. i have a lovely digital representation, but it needs to happen in reality. and maybe, just maybe, i will begin the official sewing. i am having an internal debate about the merits of hand sewing versus machine sewing. i suspect technology will win, but one can never be sure. i am thinking that any inkling i have for the idea of hand sewing is prompted only by my desire to utilize my darling needle holder...

me thinks everyone should have a snazzy needle case.

anyhow, with no further ado, the latest round of circles, which came to us from california, new york, and dubai.

p.s. just in case you were wondering...it is officially too late to send fabric. but thank you for thinking of us!!

THE quilt day 6.

a wee bit of time has passed since the last installment of quilt news, but there are good reasons. first, the mister and i went on a much needed and first-ever vacation. oh we have traveled together, but we have never gone somewhere, just the two of us, for the sole purpose of relaxing and spending time with just each other. ummm...i do not know why we waited four years to do this. i guess we had some idea that it would require lots of planning or money or time. it did not. we drove two hours, found a lovely little motel on the beach, and plunked down for two days of doing whatever we felt like doing whenever we felt like doing it. it was dreamy.

lounging at vero beach.

second reason is that i have officially entered the third trimester of pregnancy and my weekday energy has been zapped right out of my bones. which leaves me the weekends for sewing. long story short, yesterday was my first day of sewing in ten days. gasp!

this time around we have circles from california, virgina, florida, and germany.

the last bits of fabric are trickling in from around the globe. despite wanting to wait for every last person i have ever known to send fabric, on march 31st, i finally decreed that i would no longer accept new offers. so the last pieces of cloth are making their way to us and the design is finalized. phew. i cannot wait to start putting it all together!

wonky windows #15.

a collection of random photos from the past week.

this is a picture of my inner elbow. i had to go through a three hour glucose tolerance test, which included four, yes FOUR blood draws. not cool. now i know that my veins are challenging, but typically after some whining and griping, the nurses do hit their target and there is no problem. ummm..not this time around. this is the chronology of my arm. on the left is the day after the test. in the middle is about five days after the test. and on the right is seven days after the test. it is now nine days after the test and it is still the same. i am starting to wonder if this is permanent.

this picture was taken through my windshield. i was stuck behind this behemoth the other day and i could not help but chuckle. i always find it amusing to see gigantic gas guzzlers making claims towards environmental friendliness. now i realize that this company deals with liquid waste cleanup (i.e. sewage spills), so that is probably a good thing for the environment, but it still made me laugh.

i am overly fond of buying large bags of oranges, clementines, tangerines, etc. unfortunately they often sit on the counter until they rot and then we throw them away. terribly wasteful, i know. but last week i bought a bag and promptly devoured them. deliciouso!!! holy cow they were so perfect easy to peel and super duper juicy. so i bought another bag. and another. the mister and i have consumed approximately nine pounds of these mandarin oranges in a mere ten days. and the stickers? could they be any cuter?? i mean, seriously, could they?

this is the cutie that got away. it rolled behind the tv stand and bikes. the mister declared it out of reach for mrs. prego. i grumbled that he was being ridiculous. and then i saw the location and realized that he was right. grrrrrrr.

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shirr impossible.

last week was my spring break and i have a tradition of sewing my way through spring breaks. of course, this time around i am awfully pregnant, so 23 hours straight at the sewing machine was out of the question, but i did spend at least a few hours a day working the pedals. most of the time i was fussing over pringle's quilt, but once i was on a roll sewing circles, i had some spare time. i decided that it was imperative to make a long sundress. i hopped on the internet to search for an easy sundress pattern and well, the results were a bit less than fruitful. i mean, there were a LOT of dresses, but they all seemed to be for little girls.

the dress in my imagination.

soooo...i figured that since i like to act like a five-year-old, i might as well dress like one. i used this shirred dress tutorial, which is of course modeled by a little girl. no surprise there. now i do not know about you, but i have never shirred fabric. a few months ago i discovered a shirring tutorial and bought some elastic thread. i never actually sat down to do any shirring, so the elastic thread was still hanging around in my sewing bins. i dug out a gigantic piece of cloth i bought in lesotho in 2004. clearly it was time to use this gorgeous fabric. 

i have hoarded 5 meters of this fabric for 7 years. i like it. lots.

i cut out my pieces and sewed the sides together. and then i shirred. and shirred. and shirred. and shirred. ten inches of shirring later and i had the bodice of the dress complete.

shirring.

the shirred bodice.

unfortunately when i tried on the "dress" it looked about as awesome as a potato sack. not cute. so i cut off the bottom, added more material to make it ruffly, and then reattached it. now, when viewed from the front, it is definitely a dress, but then i turn to the side and well....it does not exactly show things off in grand style. rather it makes me look like a big-bellied whale with a gigantic arse. still not cute.

lovely dress that i cannot yet wear.

of course i convinced myself that if i washed the dress, the fabric would relax and it would all be golden. sadly, no. the dress is lovely, but it is decidedly NOT maternity wear. so i will be the cutest post-prego ever, but i still gots no long dress for wearing with the little pringle ensconced in my belly. but i have grand plans. i am going to make this dress again with floppy fabric that will drop straight down below the belly, rather than using the belly as a ramp to flip out an additional three feet. it is gonna be awesome. you'll see.

THE quilt day 3, 4, & 5.

fabric has been coming in a few pieces at a time, so i have been making a few circles each day. here is where i should note that the "day" in the title represents the days that i actually work on the quilt. i take pictures after each set of circles, but somehow i got a bit sidetracked with who knows what and i neglected to post the pictures from the weekend. my deepest apologies to mrs. s.s., who expressed her desire to see the latest contributions (which include hers) by telling me to "get to it missy!" i cannot argue with enthusiasm, so all i have to say is "yes ma'am."

day three. representing new york, illinois, arizona, and florida.

day four. representing colorado and germany...added another continent!!! yahoo!!

day five. the most recent contributions. representing virgina and ME! for reasons unknown, when i finished sewing my wedding dress, i left all the scraps at my parent's house, so i have been waiting for the arrival of that fabric. in case you are not sure, it's the white circles.