... my dutch bike

oh my goodness, i can't believe this is the first real picture i've taken of my new bike since i got it over two months ago. but really, she's quite photogenic, no?

i am smitten.



this is the oma, a real and true dutch bicycle from the seattle dutch bike co*. shiny, black, sleek, comfortable, lovely and handsome. notice the enclosed chain ring and skirt guard. that means i can wear whatever i want when i ride to work or to the store. in fact, i find that i dress up just in order to ride my bike.

seriously, doesn't this just cry out for a flowy skirt and high heels? (i got the skirt part down pat, but unfortunately am i not the heels-wearing type. only in my dreams.)



i can't really explain how happy this bike makes me. i think it is, in fact, impossible to be angry or irritated or sad whilst cruising around town on it. and it seems to inspire happiness on the part of people i ride by. i get so many smiles and whistles and stares and shouts of "great bike!" when i go past. how awesome is that?! maybe this is corny, but i feel like some kind of ambassador of happiness on my bike.

on my inaugural ride home from the bike shop a fellow rode up next to me on the burke-gilman, looked my bike over and asked, "is that electric?"

i smiled back, "no, it's dutch!"



and now when c and i bike to the store, i can load up my panniers with our groceries and the box-o-wine fits nicely on the rack of his bike. but maybe the box-o-wine is a you know what i love entry for another day. (dook dook dook.)

*the dutch bike co. has the most gorgeous new shop on ballard ave. everyone should stop by for a test ride and an espresso in their new cafe. in fact, we were their first customers in the new space before the shop officially opened!

... scraps!

what my last project taught me is that i need a better way of storing my scraps. all my scraps were previously sorted by color, but they were in plastic bags kept in a tub under my desk and not super easy to access. so after this quilt--where i was pulling scraps out of bags and throwing them around like a madwoman--it looked someone barfed up fabric all over my sewing room... yikes!



i loved these simple scrap baskets from the sometimes crafter and went on a bender the other day making basket after basket. these are so easy to make, yet so so so adorable, that even a dummy sewer like myself can make them easy peasy.



the pattern calls for interfacing to help the baskets hold their shape, which i did use, but for some of the baskets i also used home decor weight to give them that little extra oomph. but honestly, the ones that i just made with quilting weight cottons are still plenty shapely.



is it crazy to think that these are going to change the way i sew? no? great.

... impromptu vacations

lucky me, i had most of the week off. so tuesday morning, c brings me tea in bed (i know, lucky me, right?!) and says, we're going to go somewhere today. but where? so, by noon some decisions are made and we are packed, in the car, and headed toward the olympic peninsula. yay!





see, i don't take a lot of vacations because i am horrible at making plans. i hate figuring out where to stay and what to do and i agonize over every decision. but this was such a nice change of pace, an i-don't-care-let's-just-get-out-of-here-and-stop-worrying-about-it-all attitude was so refreshing.



we booked a room at the lake quinault lodge and i couldn't have been happier. seriously, this place is the greatest. super charm, old-school quaintness, cozy corners, beautiful lake views, adirondack chairs on an expansive lawn, fireplace... did i say yay? yay!

















we went on hikes through the woods around the lake, we lounged by the great fireplace and read books, we sat and enjoyed the sunset by the lake, we ate the most delicious veggie burgers at the mercantile across the street from the lodge, we enjoyed the company of each other.



my recommendation: get a quinault steamer after dinner and sit by the fire with your sweetie and your book. sigh.



my only regret: canoe rental season at the lodge was over. which was made even more insulting as they left all the boats out on the lawn, but we weren't allowed to take them out on the lake. and all i wanted to do was get in one of those darn canoes... phooey!







on our drive home, we first stepped out onto the beach and enjoyed what i think is the most amazing view ever: the vastness of the pacific ocean in all its grey, stormy goodness.







we also stopped by the hoh rain forest for another hike. sigh. such drippy lovely green lushness.



and, lastly, what trip to the olympic peninsula isn't complete without a stop in forks? really, we didn't plan this, we just wanted a milkshake and this place looked awesome. still, gotta love the vampires.



wait, shouldn't they have drawn fangs on that smiley face?

... pink blue pink!

wouldn't you know it, as soon as i posted that last post, i sat down at the machine and started sewing and couldn't stop. i had a scrap of an improvised log cabin block lying around from a while back that i picked up and built off and it went from there.

good thing i pretty much finished all the blocks that day, because the next morning i woke up sick as a dog.



i suppose a deadline also didn't hurt. this was made for my friend heather's baby girl, who should be arriving next month (on halloween, no less!) and who had a baby shower today. whew, finished it just in time!

i went for very minimal quilting for reasons thrice: 1) my last quilting experiment was waaaaaay overwhelming 2) i liked the look of simple squares to outline the log cabins and 3) i was kind of running out of time.



the happiest part is that it's about 90% made of scraps. and 100% made from my stash, including the backing and the binding... and the batting and the thread!



quilt specs:

• it measures 35 x 46 inches.
  
• the blocks are improvised log cabins that varied in size so i finished each with pink and blue kona cottons (sorry, don't remember the colors) to make 12" blocks.
  
• fabrics used are too numerous to mention, but i'm happy to report that it includes quilting weight cotton, voile, canvas, linen, flannel and double gauze.
  
• i made a simple pieced back with a strip of fabrics used on the front, plus two lovely folksy flannel prints for super baby softness.
  
• the binding is kona coal. i love kona coal.
  

... inertia

even i am surprised by my lack of motivation these days.

can you believe that instead of actually doing something i roamed the house taking photos just to document my own laziness?

wait, does that count as doing something?



so many unfinished projects.



so many things to not do. so little time.



this is what happens when you forget about your knitting project for the past six months and the moths go to town on your business. so many holes. yup, it's been frogged.



and this is what happens when you decide to sort all your books, but lose interest halfway through the project.



the fiction made it onto the shelves (alphabetized even!) but i'm unhappy with the layout. this will be reorganized. at a later date, obviously.



nyrb gets its own special area. i will always heart nyrb.