the second amendment

The second thing on my list that needs replacing is number seven: Be able to do a handstand.

There are several reasons this one is getting bumped, but mostly it's just that right now, upside-downess is not my friend.

So I've decided to replace it with something I can't believe I forgot to put on my list to begin with:


#7: Learn to make a pretty macaron.

Ever since the first time I saw one in a magazine a few years back, I was smitten. I could care less that they're "trendy", or that they're supposedly the new cupcake (seriously, how can cupcakes go out of style? Cupcakes are classic!!). I have absolutely no idea how they taste, and it's entirely possible that they taste, well...gross. But I don't care. I want to be able to make them anyway. Because they're pretty. And they look like tiny, festive hamburgers. Mostly I think it's because they're tiny and I like tiny things. Aaaaand they come in all kinds of pretty colors. Here are some of my faves from Pinterest:

Source: sprinklebakes.com via Jenn on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Jenn on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Beatrix on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Sonoe on Pinterest

Source: loveliegreenie.tumblr.com via Sonoe on Pinterest

If that doesn't make you want to rush out and drop ten bucks on almond flour, I don't know what will. If I had ten bucks right now, you can bet your sweet boohiney I'd be at the natural food store RIGHT NOW raiding the gluten-free section before heading over to Michael's for more gel food coloring. But I don't have ten bucks. Curse you, inspiration! Why must you always come when I can't afford supplies!?

I guess I'll go take a nap instead. And dream of tiny, colorful hamburgers.

the first amendment

No, not that first amendment. 

After a bit of thought and some...circumstances popping up...a few of the things on my thirteen by thirteen list are going to have to be replaced. First up--goal numero uno:

1. Take a dance class.  

This one, unfortunately, is not going to happen before 2013. It's just not. And there's no sense having it on my list, taunting me (because honestly, it's the thing on my list I want to do most) when I know it's not possible. So I'm removing it and hoping it'll happen some time next year. Replacing it is:

 1. Make a terrarium. 

Something I've always wanted to do, and today--I did! Now, lest you think I went out, made something, and then slapped it on the list cause I couldn't think of anything else to put on there, this is something that's been on my mental to-do list for about two years. I've read books on the subject, and spent hours drooling over pretty indoor gardens on the internet. It was high time it happened. 

Obviously, I'm new to this, and not rolling in funds with which to make magical tiny gardens appear inside amazing expensive terrariums like this one. So forgive my paltry little attempt at bringing green things indoors. But I do kind of love it anyway, the way you love your kindergartener's misshapen potholder--it's just made with a lot of love and enthusiasm if not much skill. 

I actually made two small terrariums. One is a tiny "desert" arrangement for my bedroom, using a year-old echeveria I got from Ikea and then managed to nearly kill the other day. I consider this a pleasant way to attempt some cactus rehabilitation. If it dies, well, I tried.

The bigger one was made inside an apothecary jar I've been drooling over for...um...two years. So I finally got the jar and the sand and whatnot, and came home to realize, uh, duh, I don't have any plants. Nor can I buy any right now. 

So I went out to my yard searching for something tiny that loves humidity, and I found this wee, sad little elephant ear sitting on the side of my house. The thing that is so fun about this is that I have an elephant ear plant outside my front door that is a freakishly huge thing with nearly six foot leaves that makes you feel like a Tyrannosaur is going to be coming around the corner at any second and eat you. And inside my house is a three inch version of the same plant. How cool is that?

I also gathered up some tillandsias (air plants) from my oak trees and tied them into a ball and hung them with wire. Not a terrarium, but something I've wanted to do for awhile and it's indoor-plant-related so it counts. :)

So that's it. This is officially the first thing I am crossing off my list. Although I doubt that I'm actually done making terrariums--I can feel the obsession cycle beginning even now...plant names rolling through my head...severe inability to concentrate on non-plant related subjects...a nagging whining voice in my head going, "but why, WHY can't I have that geometric hanging terrarium?! It's only my food budget for the next few weeks!!" But still. I have done it. I am crossing it off. Breathe a sigh of relief for me. It feels good.

playing favorites

Yesterday both me and my oldest started losing our voices. Last night, a croupy icky cough started. This morning had me in tears struggling to breathe and wondering how people with asthma can keep from panicking. I. Don't. Like. It.

Since I feel icky and utterly uninterested in doing anything I should be doing, I decided to make a few more x+ blocks. A friend of mine recently sent me a box of scraps and I thought it would be fun to incorporate some of the unusual (for me anyway) fabrics into some of the blocks. Here's the eight I have so far:

Do any of you, while working on a scrappy, improvised quilt, ever find that some blocks are sort of...meh...and others just jump out at you and go, "Me! Pick me! I'm your favorite!"? I certainly do. This one is my favorite so far. 

I noticed that I tend to like more graphic quilts and blocks. Busyness and a lack of good contrast makes me feel squirmy and unsatisfied inside. Really. It does.

But the bottom line is, I know even those "meh" blocks will have their place in the big picture. Even if their purpose is to make the really cool blocks pop out, still. So I keep them and try not to hate on them too much, because I know that eventually they will be an integral part of the finished deal. There have even been times while working on a quilt that I've thought the whole thing was going to be an unmitigated disaster, and the end result was something that I couldn't believe. Like the Scrappy Sunrise quilt I made a few years ago. 

I absolutely detested every single improv'd block as I was making it, but once it was quilted...wow. Love was in the air. 

So even though I'm totally guilty of playing favorites from time to time, in the end no block will be left behind. Unless they're really ugly. :)

heat wave, 2/3

This past weekend, two things happened at once: our air conditioner broke, and my oldest and youngest started running fevers. 

It's June. We live in Florida. This does not make for an ideal situation, people.

Two straight days of having 103 degrees of sweaty toddler suctioned to my side left me feeling less than inspired to do anything other than jump in the pool when the littlest conked out, or stare out the window in heat-addled malaise. I discovered that as long as you sit directly next to or under a fan, don't move too much, and have a giant Mason jar of ice water right where it takes minimal effort to get it to your mouth, you can survive a few days in the elements without too much misery. But drape a whining, feverish two year old across your chest and your chances of coping go down significantly.

( I've said it before and I'll say it again: nothing is cuter to me than seeing my kids totally passed out with fevers. I think it's because it's the middle of the day, and because they look so...peaceful. Try not to judge me.)

Strangely, last night I had the sudden inspiration to finish my painting, which makes me two thirds closer to crossing #4 off my list. So at least there's that.

Here's to hoping our a/c gets fixed tonight, because seriously--UGH.

One third of the way closer to #4

Well, I did it! 

An hour of "quilting" followed by 2.5 hours of hand sewing on the binding (seemed like a good idea at the time) and the Summer Sampler "Quilt" was ready to be washed, dried, and enjoyed while still warm and nice-smelling. 

It's everything I wanted it to be when I started--oversized blocks, puffy filling, a good size to snuggle under...ahhh. 

One down, two to go. And then twelve to go. But what's the hurry, right?

#4--WIP Wednesday

The last two days I spent at the beach and at a friend's house visiting, and today I find myself with a wide-open day, no gas to run errands, and a house still surprisingly clean from yesterday. What's a girl to do? Why, tackle something from the very public to-do list she just posted, of course!

I went straight to the studio to make an inventory of half-finished, mostly finished, and barely started WIP's, and guess how many I found?

Three. 

What? That's IT? I could have sworn I'd had at least a dozen in there--hiding in crevasses, peeking from under fabric piles, looming in the dark corners of the closet just waiting to rear their ugly heads and make me feel unorganized and out-of-control for starting so many things I'd neglected to finish. Cause that's how those things make me feel...like I'll never feel the satisfaction of a job well done because there will always be one more unfinished object hanging over my head. Finding out that I have only three makes me feel pretty good about my chances of crossing #4 off my list.

So here they are:

#1--The fabric map I started in, what, November? October? Way too long ago, that's for sure. It's almost done, all I need to do is stitch around the border of the country. Originally I'd wanted to stitch around each individual state, but since this is destined to be behind glass (I want to frame it for the school area) I don't feel it's necessary. So this one should be a quick finish. 

#2--A painting I started last year, and then put in the closet and forgot about it. A good friend of mine still talks about how she wants to see it finished, so I'm going to do it!

#3--This is the one that makes me cringe. Last YEAR'S Summer Sampler quilt. Oye. I can't believe it's been a year with it sitting in my closet. The main reason (yes, I'm making excuses. Shut up.) is because I was thinking I wanted it to be more of a comforter than a quilt. So I used to TWO layers of hi-loft batting between the layers. Which makes it extra fluffy, and an extra big pain in the butt to get through my machine. Thus its year-long confinement in the back of my studio closet. 

Being that #3 is the most shameful, that is the one I will be tackling today. I. WILL. FINISH. THIS. Today. Hopefully. Maybe. I'll let you know.

Have any of you come up with lists of your own yet? If you do, put in a link in the comment section so I can read about it. Now that I've made my list, I keep feeling tempted to add more things as I think of them, but I'm committed to keeping it limited so it's more attainable. But I'm still really interested in the things other people really want to do. :)