Something New

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Many years ago I saw a picture of this painting by Carl Bloch, titled Christ in Gethsemane.  At the time I had no idea who the artist was, but my emotional response to it was memorable.  I have since learned that most of Carl Bloch’s art touches me deeply and he has become one of my all-time favorite artists.  Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Carl Bloch exhibit at the Brigham Young University Art Museum, where I stood before the life sized original of this incredible piece.  It was an experience I will always remember.

Last Easter I purchased a small canvas print of Christ in Gethsemane from the museum, and this Easter I had it framed.  It’s not large (about 12 x 15) but I love it.

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I’m not sure if this will be its permanent location, but for now it hangs in my bedroom.  The light switch you see controls the fireplace on the left.  If it were missing, and if the thrifted shelf below had a flat instead of slanted top, I could do more to fix the gap between the two.

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Regardless, it’s nice to hang something new because it catches your eye as you walk through the room, and this beautiful image of the Savior being strengthened and comforted by an angel as he wrought the Atonement (which strengthens and comforts us) is a wonderful thing to see.

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And it’s one less unfinished project in my house – always a good thing!

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What I’m Working on Wednesday

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This week Tula Pink’s new book, 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, arrived on my doorstep.  I love the way it’s written (and illustrated) and had to make Block 1 right away.  This is going to be a fun project!

BOMquilting

I finished up my Block of the Month quilt top a while ago, and am hand quilting it.  Progress is very slow right now, as life with 8 children is running a little out of control but I do enjoy stitching and hope to get better at it as I go along.

 

16patchfabric

I’m thinking that the St. Louis 16 Patch quilt along that has sprung up on Instagram (hashtag #stlouis16patch) looks like fun.  I have a special quilt to make for someone and decided to pull out my Flea Market Fancy to build on for this project.  It was fun to audition other prints and try to come up with a selection that doesn’t look matchy but still works together.  I may fiddle with it some, but plan to make my first block tomorrow.  I’m excited to get started!

Linking to Freshly Pieced

 

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Fabulous Finds Friday

Here are a few things that I have been loving lately!

1. Michael Miller’s Out to Sea Nautical Map designed by Sarah Jane.  I have been wanting this fabric for a long long time and I finally treated myself to some.  I am excited for the project I have waiting for it.  I Love maps.  world map out to sea 2.  I think this babies breath wreath is adorable.  something about it is just simple and fresh.  It makes me even more eager for spring (real, actual spring.  Not the kind that snows every 4 days.) The only thing with this is that I worry that it wouldn’t look “fresh” for very long. wreath-13.  Painted wooden doormat.  I love the rainbow planks. It just makes me happy.

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4.  My husband just got us one of these perfect tear paper towel holders that mounts to the wall.  It is amazing.  Totally worth it.  Not only does it keep the roll off my already tiny amount of counterspace, but the perfect tear works like a charm.  You can use one hand, which is usually all that I have anyway, and it only tears off one sheet of paper towel.  No more wasting paper towel or having a pile of it sitting next to the holder.   paper towel holder

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My latest project

I am taking over a bedroom and turning it into my office. I am keeping a bed in the room in case we need it for grand-kids  so I made some pillows for the bed to try and make it look more like a daybed. It is fun to have a room of my own!

My inspiration was these curtains.

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Here is how they turned out, I love the colors and how they look with the painting above that my mother painted.

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I think this one is my favorite.

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Since I am not a great seamstress, I am always grateful when a sewing project turns out (and when it is FINISHED!)

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Quilt Bee Blocks are finished!

I finished by blocks for the quilt Bee Swap and I’m headed out to the post office to mail them today.  I started out doing improv, as I showed last week, but decided to be a strict rule follower and go back and use a pattern.

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These are the 6 blocks I came up with and I think they turned out looking nice.  I’m excited to see what comes my way and to put them all together.

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This is the block I made for myself – with the colors of aqua, orange, and white like I requested.  I love color.  I’m learning that what I love about quilting is the many many possibilities.  There are so many ways to put things together and so many options for the outcome that it just makes my heart sing to know what could be.

Happy monday!

E

 

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Getting ready for Spring

It is snowing outside, but I am trying to get ready for Spring!

lemons centerpieceHere is my dining room centerpiece.

I have painted and recovered this chair to give it a more “Spring” feel. I am sewing some new pillows to go with the chair and hope to have them finished soon.

I am so happy Spring is on it’s way!

white chair better

 

 

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What I’m working on Wednesday

This week, I’m working on some solid quilt blocks. I joined a hive in the 3×6 bee on flickr and am doing this for the first time.  Honestly, I procrastinated like crazy and then made one test block that wasn’t big enough so I picked a block from one of my books that is the right finished size and went for it.

3x6 bee solids hive

3x6 bee block

It’s from the book Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers” target=”_blank”>Modern Blocks and I’m really hoping my group likes it. I’m worried they will think it’s too simple, but hopefully it will mix well with the other blocks they get.

Linking up here.

 

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Fabulous Finds Friday

This week I have been looking at cute outfits and dreaming of owning them and looking like a skinny model in them :) . I found these cute shoes online:

 

Oh and I am totally crushing on these shoes too.

Source: balielf.com via sisterview on Pinterest

I also spent some time organizing this week and had a fun time making my sewing binder with the patterns and project plans I have.
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And in the mean time,  I also considered the books I would love to purchase with more fun patterns. Such as:

Tula Pink’s City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks

 

Hand Quilted With Love

 Simply Retro with Camille Roskelley: Fresh Quilts from Classic Blocks

 Denyse Schmidt: Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration: 20 New Designs with Historic Roots

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Learning …

Since I have now finished two quilts in the past few years I started thinking that I could become a quilter.  I have since become a bit discouraged as it seems like every time I have a good idea my seams don’t line up at all and I apparently cannot sew in a straight line.  I’ve tried blaming this on my thirty year old machine but I don’t think that is the case.  I’m in a block bee exchange this month and as the date for mailing comes closer I am getting more and more worried that people will be disappointed in my work.  I am of the mindset that perfection is boring but I know a lot of people who do not agree!

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These are some of the blocks I keep trying and working on and there are many more I have deemed not worthy.  Here’s to a better week of sewing, hopefully in a straight line!

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E

 

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Fabulous Finds Friday

I am so excited for my first FFF post! So many fun things to think about…

I love to cook so I thought I would start with a couple of fun recipes I am loving right now.

First is my new favorite smoothie.

The Green Machine Smoothie from whatsgabycooking.com:

GM Smoothie

This recipe makes 2 full servings and a little snack / kids smoothie.

Ingredients:
2 bananas
1 cup frozen mango
1 orange, peeled and segmented
1/2 cup guava juice (add more if smoothie is too thick)
1 large handful raw spinach
1 apple, cored and chopped
1/4 cup non fat greek yogurt
handful of ice

Add everything to your blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy immediately.

 

I am also enjoying this salad from ourbestbites.com:

Citrus-Pomegranate Quinoa Salad
I will just include the link as the recipe is a bit long (but delicious)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/01/citrus-pomegranate-quinoa-salad/

Citrus Pom salad

For me, I am loving this really fun pair of yellow jeans from the Gap. They are a bit outside my comfort zone but it is good to try new things!

1969 printed always skinny skimmer jeans - yellow print

For my girls I love this cute little dress idea. I can’t sew but if I could I would love to make one for each of them. I actually have one of these in my size and I LOVE it!

http://www.iammommahearmeroar.net/2010/11/upcycled-t-shirt-dress.html

upcycled t-shirt dress

For Jake’s easter outfit I found the cutes tie (also at the Gap):

Printed bicycle chambray tie - bicycles

For books I am reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown (she recently gave a great TED talk you can find on youtube).

Daring

Have  a great Friday!!!

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