This is my inspiration board, it isn’t very full but it is filled with things I want to keep and recreate.  Especially that lovely little JCrew bag in the corner, one of these days I’m going to find just the right fabric to remake it in.  I’m SO in love with the classic crisp look of the white and red together on the baby gap bedding in the top left. The pink baby bunny? My mom made that for me as a kid, a whole family of them, this and the mommy are all I have left.  I want to make a set for my daughter.

What is on your board?  Snap a picture and then post the link in the comments, I’d love to see what inspires you.

*if you have a 2-4yo little girl in your life you may want to enter the giveaway over at Grosgrain.  The prize is an ADORABLE appliqued pinafore.  But really, I hope you don’t enter, because I want it for my daughter!

*another book to add to your summer reading list “I thought My Father Was God“, it is a collection of stories from NPR’s story project.  Short, simple and true tales from everyday folks.

Back in May Rebekah and I did a little pattern swap (i’m always interested in swapping patterns…hint hint), she sent me this uber cute Aunt Martha transfer, already stamped on a GREAT towel.

I started it over Memorial Day weekend and slowly worked on it every morning while I waited for the kids to finish swim class.  Today was the last day of classes and I finished it with 10min. to spare!  I packaged it up and sent it off as a surprise to someone I think will really like it.

Thanks for the great pattern Rebekah, I can’t wait to work on the rest of the set!

son:”Mom, what is a nightgown?”
me: “a dress that little girls sleep in.”

Before I get started on a quilt for Karin I thought I’d get a little sewing done for my daughter.  It has been so dreadfully hot here (par for the course) that I decided she needed something light to sleep in.  You might remember this fabric from a blanket I made for my sil awhile back.  I had a yard and a few inches left and decided it would make a beautiful summer nightgown.

I’m making view #3 minus the collar.  I bought this pattern at a sidewalk sale years ago when I was in college

I wanted to show you some fun *new* embroidery patterns I used this week (new-meaning not vintage).  I was unsure at first about stitching the elephant all in one color, but I was very pleased with how he turned out!

The patterns are from Amy of PeaPie Designs.  She has some really fun pattern sets, I’m thinking of getting the Blossom Wink design as well.  Her patterns are extremely affordable and she allows her designs to be used for re-sale (with credit)!

Also of the telling nature:

I recently discovered Oliver+S sewing patterns!   I’m longing to make my daughter this dress (the shirt can be made as a dress).  I have a beautiful piece of thrifted white linen that I want to use (white, I know, but I can bleach it). Check out the blog to see what is coming in little boy patterns this fall, and to see some of thepatterns sewn. Oh, for those of you out there who make and sell children’s clothes, for $6 you can buy a license that will allow you to sew these patterns for sale.

I was gabbing with my mother the other day and she was telling me about YouTubes connection with online learning.  Apparently they have contracts with certian universities and YouTube will show videos of entire lecture series.  How cool is that?  As this grows and developes think of how it will open the door to higher education to basically anyone with a library card (free internet access).  I did a little clicking around on YouTube searching under “university lectures”.  Here is a fun one on Emotional Intellegence.  My mother also tells me that something similiar is being done over at skype (I thought it was only a phone service).  I don’t quite understand it, but she said that you can download whole lectures or interviews for free from skype.  Does anyone know more about this, I’m really fascinated?

It was a long hot saturday at the hales’ pad today.  Husband worked 14 hours (well, I suppose more as he has not left the office yet), which made it impossible for me to complain to him about how tired I was after spending so many hours in the summer heat (he had to get up at 3:30am for work).  We went to a birthday pool party, where their was shade and a misting system, but it is after all summer in arizona, and I am always looking for something to whine about.  When we got home our power was out (read no air conditioning), but I can’t really complain about that as it came back on within 15min.

To buy myself some time to relax this afternoon I bribed the kids, telling them they could take the cushions off the couch if they would leave me quietly alone so that I could read.  I was able to read for about and hour and a half, but this is what my living room looked like after the fact.

After repeated attempts to get them to clean it up I finally resorted to setting the timer- they managed to get it all done in about 5 min (my smart little girl has figured out how to get her brother to do all the work…must teach boy to be smarter than that!).  This was all followed by a dinner of yoplait yogurt topped with Mickey Mouse sprinkles, we are really gourmet around here.  The kids are bathing now so that they can be sent to bed a bit early whilst husband and I enjoy some Pei Wei in peace!

If any of this seems worth it to you, and you would like to spend a few hours reading this summer, here are a few books that I have recently read and really liked.  I’m not terribly loquacious when I describe books but I will attempt to say more than, “this was a good book, I liked it and you should read it too”; but know that underneath whatever I do write that is really what I am saying.

Pasadena-David Ebershoff
I am actually not finished with this book yet, I’m on page 267/485 and it is really hard for me to put it down.  It takes place in and around Pasadena, CA post WWI.  Ebershoff’s writing style reminds me very much of Isabel Allende’s (my hands down favorite author, did I mention I heard her speak years ago?  I did, and I think I’m cool) Portrait in Sepia (another good read).  The book is a love story (or so I think at this point), that is being told to real estate agent Andrew Blackwood through 2 of the important characters 20 or so years after the events happened.  Each story teller adds their own embellishments and the reader is left comapring the two versions and peiceing together the rest.

These Is My Words-Nancy Turner
A fictional diary account of a young Sarah Prine in the Arizona Territory, I think you can appreciate the story even if you have no ties to Arizona.  It is an immensly sweet love story as Sarah meets and discovers the love she has for her husband.  It is a relationship not without its stuggles and set backs.  In her diary she describes the daily hardships and difficulties of territory life.  Turner so eloquently describes the personal stuggles and insecurities of a young girl in a way that makes Sarah Prine so real and so identifiable. This book was an easy read, a weekend read if your children are really good at playing alone!

Firefly Summer-Maeve Binchy
I first read Tara Road a few months back, and I have a habit of obessing over an author and devouring everything they have written.  I think this is my 4th Binchy book this summer!  All of Binchy’s books take place in Ireland (I love when authors write about places they really know- and Binchy knows Ireland!) and this one is no exception.  An American developer returns to his roots in a small irish town with a plan to rebuild Fernscourt (a former Manor house) and reopen it to everyone as a hotel.  The lives of the Developer (O’Niell) and his family become so intertwined with the lives of the local families.  The building of the hotel comes at a great costs to O’Niell and to the community.  This is a bit of a coming of age story between the Ryan Children and the O’Niell children, that takes place during the 1960’s.  The one thing that this story lacks that stands out to me, is a better understanding of the original Fernscourt.  I wish Binchy had flushed this out more, what drove the Fern’s out?

Wasn’t The Grass Greener-Barbara Holland
I rarely read non-fiction, I don’t know why but I find it dreadfully dull most of the time.  If I am going to pay the price for reading (see picture above) then I want to get totally lost in a story, I want to be so wrapped up in other peoples lives that I forget about my own temporarily.  Again, I haven’t finished this one, but I really do enjoy it.  Barbara talks openly and frankly about the so called “advances” of our society and why she thinks the grass really was greener in the past.  This book is a series of essays about topics such as “suntans”, “the doctor”, “war” and  the neighborhood pub.  Holland delivers her opinions and stories with an ounce or two of humor.

I found my daughter like this after dinner.  She was eating cashews and watching Ratatouille, I rotated the bucket around to use the natural light from the window to snap the shot.

I am done using my fingers to tie a never ending supply of water balloons for eager cub scouts, and am ready to use them for stitching and pinning again.  I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed though.  I have a huge custom order that I am nearly done with- 4 1/2 onesies left to embroider!  But, then the list of friends who need/want blankets for their little babies is ever growing- I think my friends need to stagger their re population efforts (karin, diane, mirinda, amy and others!).  And my poor etsy shop…it is sitting their neglected.  Nothing new is going in because I am busy sewing for other reasons, but I so want to add some quilts like this to the shop.  My mind is just overflowing with great ideas!  I have recently (in the last 6months) purchased some great vintage dress patterns that I want to make for my little cashew eating daughter.

Let me know if anyone has figured out how to add more hours in the day, I think that and a little bit of organization is all I need!  This summer thing is really kicking my butt.

1. Tap Water, 2. fun with water, 3. Cool Water!, 4. Water is life!

I spent 8 hours in the desert yesterday with a local cub scout pack, it was 112 (no I am not kidding).  I will do it again today, my main focus is making sure myself and each of the boys is drinking their weight in water! We’ve had bee stings, hurt knees and tears- who knew 8-10yr old boys would cry in front of other boys?

Drink an extra glass for me today!

will find me curled up in front of Howard’s End with these:

These are part of a much larger order that will be off to frances’ very soon.

Yesterday my husband had the day off which meant that I could sneak away for a few hours and visit the local antique mall. I was so sad to find that the pattern selection at my favorite booth was so limited, the owners must be doing some great business! I managed to grab a few American Thread Company transfers, an old Aunt Martha’s and one Simplicity transfer. Here is one of the Aunt Martha patterns, in case you needed something to stitch this weekend!

Lemon Layer Cake
3 3/4c flour
3 3/4t baking powder
1t salt
2 1/3 sticks of salted butter (each stick is 1/2cup)
2 2/3c sugar
2 1/4t vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/4c milk (or half and half)
1/2c fresh lemon juice

Mix dry ingredients together and then set aside.  Blend butter, sugar  and vanilla together.  Add eggs one at a time and mix really well.  Add dry mixture and milk/lemon juice alternatively and mix well.

Pour into 3 prepared (greased and floured) 9″ round pans.  Bake for 30min at 375.  Cool inverted on wire racks.

Lemon Curd
3 eggs
1/3c lemon juice
3/4c sugar
4T butter

 Boil water in a large pot, and leave to simmer.  Add everything but the butter to a stainless steel mixing bowl.  Put the bowl over the simmering water (your going for the double boiler effect).  Whisk  curd continually over simmering water for about 10min, until it gets as thick as sour cream.  Remove from heat and whisk in butter until melted.  Cover and chill in fridge.

Putting it Together
When cake is cooled and lemon curd is chilled you can assemble.  Add the lemon curd between the layers.  For the top, dust with powdered sugar.  Add whipped cream (I had thought about piping it out of a frosting tip for a more decorative look, but changed my mind), and dot with fresh berries of your choice.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.