No-sew pillow

Hiya all, been missing this blog so much. My camera went kaput. I managed to salvage a few projects I will share with you. A very nice friend has lent me her camera to try out so I should be able to get back into the swing of things now.

This is a no-sew pillow inspired by the no-sew fleece blanket kits you find at craft stores. My neighbors daughter is so adorable and she loves to make stuff and draw pictures. She sketched out a pillow design one day and I decided to try and turn it into a craft project for her. The no-sew idea came about as a way to make it easier for her to put it together.

I bought:
1 16" pillow square
2 yards of fleece for the pillow
1/2 yards of fleece for the initial

For the initial: I printed out a letter A on copy paper. I Cut it out of the paper and traced it onto the wrong side of the fabric with a sharpie. Be careful to flip the letter the wrong way around when you trace. I then cut out the initial from the fabric and sewed it to the center front face of the pillow.

For the Pillow: Cut the fabric in half and lay both sides together, right sides facing out, measure 17" for the pillow and add 7" around each side for the fringe making the total square to cut 24". Using a fabric pen I traced the center 17" for the pillow and cut fringe around the edges 7" long and 3/4" wide all the way around, cutting through both pieces at once. Separate the pieces and lay the pillow in between. Tie the fringe pieces together in a knot, pulling tight to close any gaps.

Pomegranate seeds are really yummy except for the crunch. Is it o.k. to admit I spit the seeds out? They burst in your mouth like caviar except without the disgusting salty fish taste (sorry caviar lovers). They are so pretty too like little edible rubys. c.

Telltale

We had a little outing to MCA over the weekend. I still maintain that if you can keep your child from touching the artwork (which can be hard, I realise), that modern art is kid friendly.

Kids get a kick out of rooms transformed into psychedelic inspired spaces, alien shapes planted in the center of nothing and piles of random stuff. Ok, well I mean, she did say her favorite part of the day was the cookie at lunch time but I know she got a kick out of the rest. There was smiling, laughing and running, the telltale signs of amusement. So we focused primarily on the Liam Gillick exhibit because 1. it was cool and 2. the main exhibit starts n-e-x-t weekend. Never mind, it was still great. Gillick uses architectural sculptures, plexiglass and color to transform spaces that are intended to reflect on the gap between utopia idealism and the real world and in my opinion feels like surreal world. What's not to love?

And our Halloween was super great. I wish I had photos to share but my camera is not working properly, which is part of the reason I've had some time off here. It was a cheap-o camera to start with. You know, you get what you pay for and for my camera, well it was free. c.

Fall flowers

Some years the leaves get ripped from the trees really early by a big storm. This year it seems to be maturing slowly and quite beautifully. We can see the geese going south and want to join them. c.

We celebrated a few birthdays around here recently. G is now 4 and our dog turned a year older but she feels it's not ladylike to share her age with you. Dog years are not exactly fair.

I've been swamped with invitation work.

Some crafts to do in Spanish. They are the creative ideas of a woman who teaches Spanish through crafts and songs to little ones.

I heart caramel apples

So I have a really, really big weak spot for caramel apples with peanuts. Growing up my mom used to melt a bag of caramel squares, unwrapped in a double boiler with a splash of milk. We used popsicle sticks to dip the apples in. It really was so much fun. I might try a recipe from scratch over the weekend because g's not fond of the peanuts. I tried to explain to her from many different points of view what she was missing but she would not budge. c.

Perusing the pumpkin patch

I really love Halloween. I have to admit I'm a little more into the cute than the creepy but a nice mix of both will do just fine. Sort of like these lumpy orange pumpkins and the moldy looking green ones. Don't you just love them? We didn't get any yet, can't bring myself to buy them until it's at least October.

Then there was some kite flying. In the world of a three-year-old this is beyond cool. c.

Already?

Goodbye summer, it's our last day together and I'm really sad to see you go.

Today is the September equinox and so now the balance will shift from day to night.

An uninvited guest (again)

My favorite little annoying friend the opportunistic Rhinovirus has arrived uninvited. One, two, three we all have it and so does anyone we've been with in the last few weeks. Who knows who gave who what but it's still warm out and warm weather colds are the worst.

I wonder if they would ever consider just putting some solids on those tissue boxes? I'm kind of tired of the flowers and abstract pastels. c.

Renegade Handmade Chicago

This weekend we went to the Renegade Craft Fair. What a delicious feast of wonderfully handmade objects. I seriously wanted to buy something from every single person there and I can assure you that I had a pretty intense inner dialogue going on between my will power and my spending power.

Luckily a compromise was reached and I picked up a few cards, one from Jill Bliss who was really lovely in person and one from Bubbles Binsburry. Really cute don't you think? Oh, and the stamps are from The Small Object. So fun. The necklace by Sofia Masri and I'm wishing now I'd bought at least one more.

Two prints, Red Bird Print is from Jaime Zollars and the pink biker, sadly, for some weird reason, we have no record of the shop.

There are two more Renegade Craft Fairs scheduled for this year. Holiday sales in Chicago & San Fran. I'll be at Chicago along with will power and a spending power who will no doubt pick up the same argument right where they left off!

Color squeeze

Hiya

Did you think we went m.i.a? Well we sort of did because we have been swamped with too much to do. Looks like things will slow down a bit now and we will have some stuff to share with you in the coming weeks.

I'm wondering how all of you are spending the last few days of summer?

Here are some of our days.

Art and the park

My last post about NYC wouldn't be complete without a bit about the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle. I loved this museum it was really inspirational. It's not a big museum but it is full of really great design. There is a fantastic exhibit, Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics which was gorgeous. Again here's me with the three-year-old in tow looking at fine art, this time with porcelain laying all around. Not as relaxing as it could have been but mind blowing just the same. It's a collaboration between modern designers and some of the oldest porcelain manufactures in the world and the results are stunning. Old meets new here and something wonderful happens.

Then we made one last stop in Central Park which is just opposite MAD for a little walk, a run around the water park and a good long swing on the tire swing... 'cause Elmo lives in NYC don't you know and you never know where you might see him ;)

Sunday afternoon in SoHo

No surprise here but I loved SoHo. We took the subway out from Midtown where we were staying and walked around Greenwich Village, SoHo and a quick walk through Little Italy. Nice time, lovely little cafe lunch in SoHo and a much anticipated stop at Purl Patchwork which was really wonderful.

Hot MOMA

I spent half a day at MOMA with a three-year-old in tow. Not exactly the best way to take it in but to her credit she did really well (and the bribe in the gift shop didn't hurt either).

I loved this exhibit by Roman Ondák, Measuring the Universe where viewers are collectively creating the art by measuring their height and marking it on the wall with their name. It was really satisfying to add g. to the wall. I've always loved performance based art.

These little metal frames hold an unknown photographer's photos. The photos are interesting to look at and so is the composition of the little frames. It might be fun to take inspiration from this and do a series of photos of one person in little vintage frames.

Song Dong's, Waste Not, displayed the contents of her mother's home that she amassed over 50 years during a time the Chinese promoted a concept of "waste not." Incredible to see it all laid out in one space. Hard to imagine what I would have after 50 years. Something to consider for sure.

NYC getaway

Well, I'm not even sure where to start, except maybe to stand on top of the Empire State and exclaim, "I just went to NYC for the first time!" And there was a lot to shout about for sure. What an amazing and intense and energizing place. I think I have enough creative juice to last me a good long time.

And the heat, oh it was hot, two showers in a day hot. I kept thinking of the beginning of Spike Lee's, Do the Right Thing where he brilliantly portrays a sweltering hot day in Brooklyn. And the subway, that was a bit hotter. I feel like I've just run a marathon, had a massage and bungee jumped. I'm awake now that's for sure and I loved every single amazing moment.

Warm

...taking a break until next week.

Bioluminescence

Did you happen to read the article that came out last week about the discovery that people glow in visible light in really low levels? I found it so interesting. I've had a fascination since childhood with animals that can glow. They say we can't see humans glow with our own eyes but I beg to differ. When I'm with certain people I swear I can see them glow.

Here is a great video of glowing fish. c.

Saving time

If I could put time in a bottle I would have scooped a bit of it in there today. We went to a town fair with some dear friends and g. saw her first parade. It was an idyllic summer day and I could tell g. was enjoying every minute of every new experience along with all the candy that was thrown her way. c.

Leek Rx

I made my potato leek soup last night and the color of the chopped leeks looked so pretty. I bet you're wondering why in the world I would make that when it's 80 degrees going on 87 today. Well it's because we are trying to get over our summer colds. Yep that's right, smack dab in the middle of the highly anticipated visit from granny we got sick. I'm talking croup and bronchitis, the whole shebang. Ugh. c.

Garden love

We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden with g's granny yesterday.

It certainly does inspire one to get ones hands dirty. The Circle Garden is currently planted in shades of blue and purple and it is absolutely stunning. My eyes couldn't soak up enough of it's loveliness. The color pallet was so relaxing and gorgeous, I have to try and recreate this somehow next year.

We saw lots of chubby slow moving honey bees doing their part to keep the flowers blooming. I couldn't help but think about the threat of Colony Collapse and how scary it is that we don't know what is causing the bee population to decline. c.

A visit

We've got family visiting us at the moment. It's nice for g. to see her cousin and for the rest of us to be together.

Here are some scenes from our day. A view from the hotel, a boat tour on Lake Michigan, a splash at Millennium Park and a great picture of cousins. c.

Babs

Looking good even when your hair is not is why you either love or hate Barbie. c.

Notes from Haiti

I just read the Notes from Haiti over on the Mama to Mama site about the caps we sent in November. Thinking about one of the caps I made helping to save the life of a newborn baby is warming my heart beyond belief right now.

Some other ways to help in Haiti. c.

Relaxing

We are taking it easy in between the time that work and tasks take up. I think we are caught in a perpetual state of home improvements.

How is the summer where you live? In our world it has been cooler and rainier than it should. I worry that come October we will feel it never properly arrived. c.

Lions and tigers and bears

Oh my little lion sitting there second from the left. It takes a lot of courage to perform for the first time. c.

You know you want them

Thinking of ways to get your hot little hands on a set of these cream cheese carrot cupcakes goddesses? I bet you are. I was going for a red, white and blue theme obviously, or was until the raspberries that were meant to adorn the fluffy little peaks like glistening red gems of patriotic spirit went all mushy while I wasn't looking. How dare them!

These little lovelies were picked up at our local bakery, but I have tried with much success when I'm feeling a lot less lazy this wonderful recipe.

Everyone got their own personal stash of highly explosive and incredibly dangerous fireworks handy? Now all I need is a 10 foot match, that'll make things safer. To this day I am still amazed that all 3 of my guy cousins emerged with 30 fingers between them, evenly distributed.

Actually the 4th of July tradition in this house is a lot less exciting. Our dog thinks that fireworks signal the end of life as we know it. By sundown on July 4th you will find us all on the floor of the closet with a dog that is in cardiac arrest munching on cupcakes. Happy 4th of July weekend to all of us here in the States. c.

Take two

Waiting for ballet. Costume was on by 6 a.m. today. Last night she went to bed super excited, it's like we hit a pause button that resumed playing in the wee hours of the morning. c.

Perfect peach pie

Father's Day was about baseball, swimming and pie. My neighbor made a peach pie that was incredible. She's a great cook which has a lot to do with why it turned out so good. She shared the recipe with me but it's on Cook's Illustrated which is a subscription site so unless you are a subscriber you can't access it.

She opted to skip the lattice top and instead cleverly used one of her kids play-doh cutters to create this really cute top pattern.

I promise to find and personally test some peach pie recipes to share with you in the coming week. It's a tough job but someone has to do it! c.

Early bird

Happy Father's Day a little early.

I haven't been able to do my daily posts the last few weeks because work and family life have been pretty hectic. July looks like it's going to be a lot slower and I've got some project to share.

Hope your weekend is relaxing. c.

Full swing

Summertime activities are in full swing around here. We did a lot with animals over the last few days which included a trip to a little farm and to Brookfield Zoo where some of the creature were real and some were not. c.

Paint

We've been trying to get the kitchen area painted for a long, long time. I think you will see why from this photo. I hope to have before and after pictures (one day). c.

Filling the silence

We had a blast at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago the other day. Space seems to capture the imagination of everyone. They have lots of interactive exhibits and fun movies to watch.

There was a wall of post-it notes where kids wrote down what they thought they would need if they went into outer space. Some said things like oxygen and food while others asked for books and grass and music to fill the silence.

The grounds around the museum are pretty too, offering a great view of the skyline. c.