What a year!

Hey everyone!

It's my blogging anniversary today.

I have never kept a journal for more than a month or so.

Keeping this blog is a big step for me.

I am commemorating the occasion with a give-away.

I have some stuff that I have made but can't get rid of any other way than to pass it along to y'all.

Here are three aprons that I made for a craft show last December, and they have been sitting in my closet longing for a home
Let's call them-
Blossoms

Lemon
Tomato

I also have a tea cozy that wasn't quite acceptable to the customer for whom it was made.

Please leave a comment indicating which one you would like and I will pick a winner at random.

So many things have happened in the last year.

My children have grown so much.

The Elder Hug-a-Bug started going to School, and the Younger Hug-a-Bug is newly toilet trained.

Goodbye diapers!!!

Coming here every few days has helped keep me on task with my knitting and sewing projects too.

I have a habit of starting too many things and then forgetting what it was that I was working on, but now I have pretty pictures to look at to remind me.

The best thing about being here in blogland is the lovely community of bloggers.

I have made new friends and found old ones.

Such a joy.

Thanks everyone for coming and sharing this space with me.

Jess.

Update: the comments are closed. Winners chosen. Thanks,

Jess

One Year

Where is Coffee News?

Coffee News Cafe is on Grand Ave. in Saint Paul a block west of the Macalester College Campus.
Sometimes the parking is challenging but it is so worth it.
Sorry for leaving this off the last post...

Fry-day

So I'm picking up the Elder Hug-a-Bug from school and we're chatting and she says-


"Today is Friday? Does that mean that we get fries?"


Yup.


So we pack up the car and get ourselves over to Coffee News Cafe.

And we ordered the best fries in the city.

If one is a fan of potatoes, salt and fresh garlic (as I am) these will hit the spot.

So tasty.

So cruchy.

So perfect for a gloomy afternoon.

Mmmmm.

Hope you have a good Fry-day too!

Jess

Stay tuned for a give-away tomorrow.

Time for me

I have been lucky enough in the last two days to find an hour to myself.
Yesterday, I had a quick doctor appointment, and the kids were taken care of until I had to be at work about 2 hours later, so I went to the Mississippi and did some exploring.
Bear in mind that it had been about 14 years since I have been up and down these paths, and I was also wearing totally inappropriate shoes, but I had a terrific time.
I had so much fun that I went back today during my semi-weekly 50 minutes of personal time.



I'm glad that this time I wore my sensible shoes.

Have a great day!

Jess

ps thanks for the nice comments, ladies!

C is for Cat

I was going to cheat and buy a present for the neighbor girl whose birthday party was this afternoon.
I was going to cheat, until the Elder Hug-a-Bug said, "Let's make her a soft kitten to hug"
Well, luckily for us both, I got this great book at one of my favorite haunts, Sixth Chamber Books.

There is an animal pattern for each letter of the alphabet.
A for armadillo
B for bear
C for cat
D for dog
You get the idea, but beyond the usual suspects, there is also X for Xiphosura which is the scientific name for a horseshoe crab, and V for vole.
I am very tempted to make everything in this book.

The cat came together pretty easily.

I cut out the pieces last night and did the assembly this morning.


I had to adjust the shape of the head a little in the back, it was kinda poofy, but the rest was really well designed.

As with every birthday present that I have made in the last year, the Elder Hug-a-Bug insisted that she lead the way with the stuffing, and she loves to sew that last seam.

I am pretty happy with it, I did have a lot of trouble with the face, but I always do.

The best part is that I get to make the toy, but then it clutters up someone else's house.

I wish you all happy sweater-wearing,

It is officially fall 'round here,

Jess

Tree Period

When you take an art history class you often find that artists go through periods where everything is a variation on a theme.

I am definitely in my Tree Period.

Last year I began a mural on the wall in my children's room, which is still in progress, ahem, of a tree in the spring.

When I was in Germany, I became somewhat the butt of jokes for taking so many pictures of trees.
This one is a metal-plated fallen tree in the Insel Hombroich in Neuss, where we spent an afternoon.O.k. I obviously didn't take this one, since that is me there, but you get the idea.

This is only a sampling, I took a bunch more, and I may indeed have a problem.
I even had my friend Sofie pose on this stump.

Can you imagine how big this tree must have been?

When I taught my children using fiber class at the Yarnery we made needle felted pictures and here is my sample.


My new project is this:
I have wanted to do a collage-feel tree quilt for a while.
When I came across green scraps of fabric I set them aside and the other night I cut out a bunch of leaves.
Here it is all laid out, but I think I've made an error, because now I don't quite know how to attach them.
I probably should have ironed stitch witchery on the fabric before I cut out anything, but I just wanted to get going, famous last words...
I was going for an ordered chaos feel in the leaf placement and I hope that I can replicate when I finally attach them.

On another note, I have finished the scarf I was making out of the 13 Mile Organic Wool.
It is blocking right now, and I am excited to take it out for a test drive.

Have a terrific Friday!
Jess.