… more snow

still snowing



still sewing



still drinking cocoa (this time with a side of chocolate chip cookies)

it's a good day for being still

(p.s. can you tell i'm on instagram? i'm @arajaneo, if you want to be friends!)

… a snow day

we rarely get snow in seattle, so it was so exciting to have several rounds of gorgeous whiteness descend on the city in the last few days.









on sunday, at the first snowfall, we ventured out with some friends for a walk with hot cider in hand. and took lots of ingrid's-first-snow pictures.



this morning, after several days of on-again-off-again snow, we woke to a serious blanket of white. i love it. and, even though everyone makes fun of us when it comes to snow, i love living in this city, where at the first sign of snow we all stay home from work, turn into giddy little children and venture outside to make snowmen, go sledding, and throw snowballs.

now excuse me while i sip some hot cocoa and admire this lovely landscape before it all melts away.

… stashing locally

i really have to work to keep on top of my stashing habit. i mean, i need at least a yard of fabric for every week for the first year of my little one's life to maintain this photography project. and let me tell you, that's not easy!



last week i stopped in at my lqs, the quilting loft, to see what's new (to me). i found two large-scale floral prints and the smaller red floral print from the peacock lane collection. these are the kinds of prints i look for when i think about what would look good behind the little snowdrop. prints that are bigger, dramatic, and high contrast. unfortunately, these are not always the same kinds of prints that i am usually drawn to for quilting.



when i sew i tend to like small-scale designs, and lately i find i'm really into single-color, linear graphic designs. like that red grid print by kyla may for the smirk collection, or that green i heart squiggle print by rashida coleman hale. and always, always polka dots. i ordered this stack from drygoods design online, an absolutely lovely site run by the equally lovely keli, who i recently met via the seattle modern quilt guild. not only does she stock a terrific selection of gorgeous fabrics, but if you live in seattle she will hand-deliver the order to your house. i can't think of anything nicer than that. and even if you don't live in seattle your order is packaged up so sweetly (mine was tied with baker's twine and topped with a pixie stick!), she seems to offer great deals on shipping, and there are currently lots of great fabrics on sale.

(i should also point out that no one pays me to say anything nice. in fact, the thought is making me laugh to myself. it's probably pretty clear that i do not have sponsors or underwriters. all my fabrics are purchased by me alone and all my nice words are thought up by me. so when i say i like something, you can trust me that i honestly do mean it.)

so yay for adding to my stash and yay for quality local businesses!

now on with the sewing.

… making progress

i had enough time this week to make another arkansas traveler. this one is all aqua. i am still in love with this block. good thing because i have 18 more to make.



and good thing i bought a new, gigantic cutting mat (super cheap with a coupon at joann--i've come to realize that if you're paying full price at joann, you're doing it wrong). i'd been getting by with an 18x24 mat for the past few years, which was fine for smaller projects, but cutting larger projects was a total pain in the butt. now i don't have to sidle around to the awkward side of my desk when i need to handle larger cuts of fabric and cram the hangover into my scrap baskets.

ah, sweet freedom!

and seriously, this new mat is terrific since i apparently had forgotten how much cutting is involved with making a whole quilt top. it's been that long since i've made one on my own, and i feel like i've spent hours and hours and hours just cutting. yikes!



and here are my two blocks together. i am so excited about the white space that is forming stars. i am seeing some beautiful quilting going on in there… beautiful quilting i'm not sure i can do myself. oh well. we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

… the new year

happy new year! i finally took down the christmas tree today (i know, i know) and felt so sad that the holidays are over. there's this dark little corner in our living room that looks so empty now. sigh.

but i do like a fresh new year. every year we have a family motto. last year's was "don't be scared" and the year before that was "don't be a slave to comfort". this year it's "make it happen, cap'n!" i love it. there are so many things that i need to make happen. so many exciting things that i can't wait to share with you.



c's birthday is early january, and he doesn't like a big to-do about the occasion, but i made a little cake (lemon cake with lemon curd and cream cheese frosting… yum!) and we had a tiny family celebration.



we also had our annual new year's day party. we should really just call it the scone party. i make a whole bunch of my favorite scones and friends stop by throughout the day to say hi and welcome the new year. i have to admit, it was a whole bunch of work this year, what with having a baby to take care of, but still i love having this party. there's nothing like spending the first day of the year with good friends and good food.

let's see, what else have i been up to?



making herringbone blocks for rachel's quilt for do. good stitches.







becoming a pie ninja at the pantry at delancey. i would like to move into this kitchen, thank you very much.



fabric: joel dewberry rustic dots in peony (from the deer valley collection)



fabric: my mind's eye dot in purple (from the so sophie collection)

taking pictures of my little snowdrop, as usual.



and working on something new. meet my new favorite block, arkansas traveler. this was a block from the summer sampler series, but i'm so smitten with it i'm going to make a quilt made up of just this block. i honestly can't remember the last time i sewed something just because. i love it.

i'm making it happen, cap'n.