Planted!

Damn this is Hard

2012-02-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Curves Camp week 2 is improv curves. I wasn't going to do the first project (notecards) because it looked to easy. I am so glad I sat down and practiced improv curves before getting into a big project. Improv curves are hard, I messed up a bunch of times, threw out a couple of atrocities and I have two cards that I am ok with but not totally in love with. I hope my learning curve isn't too

Curves Camp Project 2

2012-02-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

I want to love this pillow but it is a bit wonky. I suck at making pillows.

Curves Class: Project 1

2012-02-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is a daycare day for the kids and I usually use it to sew and clean. Who am I kidding? I just sew and chat with The Man. So far, I am keeping up with the curves class (one project in haha) ;here are today's results. I took the pictures after I hung it on the wall and couldn't get a good angle in the boy's tiny room. I think they will like it!

Countdown Time!

2012-02-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

The Man has been gone for almost ten months and really most of the year, but he is coming home soon. How soon? Well I can't tell you that, that would be bad for OPSec. It is soon but really at this point, not soon enough. The boys, especially G, are anxiously waiting for spring because they know that is when Daddy will come home. G has been asking everyday if it is spring yet and he scrutinizes

Whoops!

2012-02-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I got stuck in traffic and didn't make it home in time for my "weekly mortification", aka Zumba. I was going to cancel my sitter but figured he was likely looking forward to a bit of money so, I went out to buy batting for The Wedding Quilt and D's Colourbrick. Fabricland was the only option for a Monday evening fabric batting hunt and I already knew that the batting would be

Little Boy Colourbrick Quilt Top

2012-01-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Year of the Quilt is off to a great start here in my cold little house. I have completed one quilt and two quilt tops. I am pretty impressed with my pace of work given, that I am also trying to clear out all my pending projects in anticipation of my class starting Feb 1st. Here is D's completed quilt top! And a few close ups of the cutest fabrics *excuse the horrible

The Ugly Duckling Quilt

2012-01-22T22:22:00.000-08:00

A year ago I bought some beautiful fabric from the Flora & Fauna line by Patty Young. The fabric hung around for about 5 months before I decided that I wanted to put all of it into a quilt for my friend and sister-in-law Cate. I wanted to attempt hexagons and went about noodling how to make it happen without having to hand sew them. I discovered a method using large fabric squares with smaller

D's Quilt

2012-01-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

Last year I went to one of the most beautiful and touching weddings I have ever had the pleasure to attend. My little sister married a woman who I am so proud to call family. (You can see the deets here The Aunties Get Hitched ) This past spring The Aunties commenced on the path to becoming Moms; they took a very precious boy into their home and embarked on the adventure that is starting

New Fabric

2012-01-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

My fabric stash just experienced quite the explosion, most of the explosion is due to a recent cycle of being lonely at night and shopping fabric on-line. I also have been enjoying the ocassional visit to some of the beautiful local fabric stores and love the less boutique and more warehouse style places, where there is usually a gem or two in the offerings and defintiley all the basics. It

Bad Blogger and Wedding Quilt Update

2012-01-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

I am a really bad blogger. I haven't posted in over a year; egads! I really want to be better at this and chronicle my crafty exploits with the boys and my forays into sewing and knitting. The Big Man is and has been away and will be for a while longer. My plan to pass the time is to sew, a lot. I have finally finished The Wedding Quilt top. It needs to get put on the back burner while I take a

No Wedding Quilt Wednesday

2010-11-17T20:17:00.000-08:00

No progress on the wedding quilt today, unless thinking about the quilt and not doing anything about said thoughts could be considered working on the quilt. It was, however, a quilting day today. Everyday for the last five days has been quilting day. I am chugging away at a lap quilt for my grandma; the first free motion quilt I have ever attempted. Since I am an overachiever, I finished the

Wedding Quilt Wednesday

2010-11-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it really isn't Wednesday and I am a bit late on posting this but I really did work on the quilt last Wednesday. For those just joining me I am making the quilt pictured below for The Aunties as a wedding gift. The pattern is from http://purlbee.squarespace.com/wedding-quilt/. It would have been easy to simply go with the colour scheme laid out by the pattern designers but that, would be

Crunchy Granola!

2010-11-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

We have had some pretty productive days here in the burbs since I convinced the man that I would like for us to stay home a few days a week. I usually go along with his get out of the house quests but I need to regroup from the epic road trip. This week G and the man hammered through a jumbo box of organic granola and at $9 a box that can be a pretty spendy habit. Today it occurred to me that,

The Aunties Get Hitched

2010-11-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

So the purpose of this epic family road trip was to get to Georgetown in time to be a part of Amy and Anita's wedding. We were so honoured to be invited, not only, to be there but to participate as well. The beautiful brides, newlywed He looked so impressed The brides were stunning, the weather was great, the flowers were beautiful and I drank way too much red wine. It was a beautiful day

Road Tripping With my Three Favourite Allies

2010-10-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Road Trippin by The Red Hot Chili Peppers is my favourite road trip song. We usually start each day of a road trip with it. When it was just Ian, myself and Fiji we fit the song perfectly but this time around it needed just a little tweaking. It makes me a mite sad that one of the original Allies is gone (RIP Fiji) and we aren't a merry band of five making our way across Canada and the U.S.A.

Resurrection

2010-10-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

So we are on a road trip and I during the 12 hours of stops and driving I was inspired to resurrect the blog. Maybe it was inspiration, could have been boredom and it might be that I have illusions that people actually want to read about the weird chaotic things we do. During the hiatus I spawned another sidekick via a very emotional 40 weeks 3 days and a very intense 45 min. The sidekick is

Guu was Guud!

2009-07-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

On our visit to Vancouver we took advantage of having family and went on a date while the sidekick remained with Cate and Marc. We have been on one "date" since getting to Edmonton as teenage babysitters charge crazy amounts of money here and the people we childcare swap with keep getting posted. I love my little sidekick but it was really nice to have an evening out without having to parent.A

Family Vacation -The Glorious Train

2009-07-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Gaius and I have travelled a lot this year; it was nice to have Ian along with us. During the July, VIA rail has been offering free trips for current serving members of the military and veterans and 50% off trips for their families. We had planned to stay put in Dredmonton all summer due to finances but we couldn't pass up the awesome deal. Thank you VIA rail for making an amazing family

Headed to Vancouver with Both my Sidekicks

2009-07-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

The whole fam is getting on the train to go to Vancouver tomorrow. Stay tuned for awesome pics of training it through the Rockies, Vancouver adventures, and so many sweet kids you might get diabetes.Oh, and also stay tuned for Plot 56 pics. Plot 56 is coming along nicely despite cutworms, cold, potato beetles, and a late start. Plot 56 is the reason for the blog lag. I am out at the plot watering

Ready to ship!

2009-06-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

People who have known me a long time know that I make jewelry. I make jewelry and intend to sell it then I look at what I have made and decide it isn't good enough to sell. I also used to buy supplies to manifest my inspiration and either not have time to develop the idea or by the time I do get around to it I am no longer inspired.When I worked at Workshop I was surrounded by hugely creative

2009-06-23T10:48:00.001-07:00

Go Team 56

2009-06-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

A while back I was pretty excited about getting a community garden plot for $20. A while later I was disappointed to learn that I was not fast enough in my signing up and I would not be getting a garden plot. I was pretty upset but I resigned to break CFHA rules and garden on my lawn. I prepared one bed and ran out of room so I have been in the process of collecting materials to make some raised

Planted!

2009-05-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

The garden is almost 100% planted! I ran out of room in the bed I prepared at the back of the house so I have decided to create more beds using the square foot gardening method.I am already freaking out at how much this gardening adventure has cost us; Ian doesn't care by the way (about the money that is). This house and this garden are most likely mine for this summer and next; I don't feel that

"Before and After" Amanda's Garden Plot

2009-05-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

Oooh, makes me feel all Design Sponge .I didn't get a garden plot so I had to make my own in my backyard. FYI it is totally against the rules but I figured that since the grass was dead anyway it isn't going to be a big deal. It took me a week of digging and raking a few hours every day but I did it and I present you with the results.I know it looks like 80 square feet of dirt with a yarn and

30!

2009-05-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

I turned 30 years old today. It has probably been my most laid back and reflective birthday ever. I was reflecting on where the last decade has gone and realised how full and charmed my life has been for the last ten years. There have been some ups, downs and some outright grief but my life has been full and interesting and has helped me grow. I think I might finally be a grown up. I feel like a