Things That Are Not Sewing

Umbrellas
Josh and I caught an episode of Free Agents the other day, which takes place in Portland.  I was sewing, so I didn't pay too close attention, but something stood out to me.  Free Agents is about people at an advertising firm, and in this episode they were trying to figure out how to sell umbrellas to men.  Because, apparently, umbrellas are not manly and so men in Portland won't buy them.  I think the real problem, though, would be selling an umbrella to any Oregonian at all!  Ride the train, look around the city, or take a walk and you'll see that the majority of the folks just tough it out with a raincoat, or some microfleece and a hat.  We snickered like natives in on the joke that TV doesn't know what it means to be an Oregonian.

Vacations
It's been a year and a half since our Europe trip and we still haven't put up any pictures on Facebook.  Oops.
We leave Friday for an epic East Coast Adventure.  We're spending a day in Hartford visiting friends and family, a week in a cabin in Maine hiking and rowing, five days in the Smokies backpacking, and a couple days in NC visiting friends.  We've been working hard over here.  I'm ready for a break.  I'm ready for fall.  This is going to be awesome.

Adele
I have a vocal crush on Adele.  I love to sing along with her songs.  Singing Rolling in the Deep is hard!  I have never heard a good cover of it.  I'm sorry to say that includes my listening to John Legend's version.  I thought if anyone could do it, it would be him.  They always fall apart at the chorus.  But so do I, so I totally understand.  No one can do it like she does.

Have a great two weeks, world! 

Frilliness

Ruffles are popular right now, so I don't have to hide that I am in a ruffle phase.  Luckily, I have friends expecting, or with brand new, little girls.  (Note: If you are Laurie and haven't received a box from me yet, wait a couple days before scrolling down)  So I started with a super-girly hot pink zebra ruffle-fest for Aleah:

 I don't think Ada gets how much fun ruffles are

And then I made a diaper bag, complete with pleats, for Allie (or I guess for Allie's mom):

Allie's grandpa picked out some special quilts for her, so I thought I'd try something a little different. It's the first time I've made a diaper bag, and the first time I've designed my own sewing pattern, so I started by making a practice bag out of tissue paper.  It worked, so I charged ahead.  Upon assembly, I decided to put a bird on it, in true Portlander fashion and in keeping with her mom's impeccable taste.  Once it was finished, I didn't want to smash it, so I may have picked an unnecessarily gigantic box in which to ship it.

I also received a ruffly apron from my sister-in-law Ruth Reese (who can meet all your photography needs), friend Marissa (with whom I could talk about sewing for hours), and niece Abi (who picked out the fabric).  It helped me get into the ruffly spirit as I worked on my projects.

Ready for Anything

We're having a baby shower for a coworker next week, and I offered to make a little, inexpensive, but unique present from our department to him.  So, I put together these (unauthorized) Red Cross onesies:

I have a plan to embroider "Be Prepared" on another, but I was unhappy with my machine's embroidery font.  So I may have to rethink that idea.  But, I'm pretty pumped about the way they've turned out so far!  I plan to go to the Sidewalk Sale on N Alberta on Saturday, so maybe I'll get some ideas on what to do with the other two.  There are some pretty creative folk around here!  Yet another reason I know I'm right where I belong.

I finished a couple gifts for some friends this week.  I'm waiting to post pictures at least until I get the packages in the mail.  I'm very excited about them though, it's so hard to wait to share them with the world!

Bright Hope

The other day, Josh and I were sewing (yes, both of us) while watching the classic She-Ra cartoon.  I was working on a quilt, Josh was re-sizing a fleece jacket (which is a manly sewing endeavor), and She-Ra was saving some miners from the Hoard.  We were all enjoying what is a perfectly acceptable evening in the Reese household, when She-Ra accomplished what Josh and I had not been able to for a couple weeks:  She-Ra named our boat!

She and her team were sailing off in a boat she had just purchased, and She-Ra declared in her noblest voice, "We shall call it The Bright Hope, in honor of our journey."  Josh and I decided that was exactly what, and exactly why, we would name our boat. And so, I give you our anniversary boat, The Bright Hope, in honor of our journey:

We took her out for her inaugural row on Saturday, and I discovered a side effect of naming the boat Bright Hope.  I spent most of the evening with the classic hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness stuck in my head.  You know, "...strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow..."  At least it's a lovely song!

Anniversary Stories

For our first anniversary, I wanted to get something great for Josh - and I had an idea that I wanted to follow the traditional gift guide.  Now, I'm not really sure when that whole gig started, but whoever began it decided that the first anniversary gift should be something paper.  I needed something awesome...and made of paper.  I felt pretty lucky when it came to me that I should blow up a photograph he took and have it framed for our new home.  It was no ordinary picture, you see, this was a Tulsa State Fair third place winning picture of Mount Hood from the yard in front of Pittock Mansion.  There was a couple in the way of the shot, and I remember being disappointed that we couldn't get a better view.  But they brought a nice warmth and balance to the whole thing, so I guess I owe that mystery couple a "thank you."

Anyhow, I had it matted and framed and I wrapped it up and presented it to my husband.  He opened it and got the strangest look on his face.  "Dangit," I thought, "he hates it.  I should have gone with a different frame or something."  After a minute of me feeling like a failure, he got up and told me to follow him into the garage.  In the back of his pickup truck was a fantastically done painting of the same picture he asked his brother to do.  At that moment, I think we might have yelled "MFEO!" (Made For Each Other?  Sleepless in Seattle?  Anyone?) because we got each other pretty much the same present.  We hung them next to each other in the living room as a testament to our synchronicity. 

Here is the painted version, plucked from the background of another picture

We've done well at following the gift guide since then:
Year 2 (Cotton):  I commissioned a Tulsa-inspired painting on canvas done by his favorite Saturday Market artist, and Josh got me tickets to see James Taylor because he mixed up the first two years and thought it went cotton then paper, instead of the other way around.
Year 3 (Leather): We picked out cowboy boots together
Year 4 (Fruit/Flowers): We got a membership to a local vineyard

Today is our fifth anniversary, and the gift this year is supposed to be wood.  We thought about a nice piece of furniture, or maybe a tree, but we don't have a house anymore.  So that's out.  Instead, we've been looking at little boats on Craigslist.  I'm getting pretty excited about it!  I like our tradition.  It makes us get a little creative, and our anniversary gifts have always been memorable!

Old Timey

A few months ago, I went to karaoke with my Aunt Laura.  *Fun Fact: I was named after her.  Fun Fact 2: She was named after the song Laura that was composed in 1945 and performed best (in my humble opinion) by Nat King Cole, whom I love.*
Anyhow, before we joined my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jim at the Elks Club to sing the night away, she gave me some treasures to complete:

They are quilt squares made of what I always want to call "scrunchies," but are actually "yo-yos."  If I remember right, it was her husband's grandmother that made these 24 squares, and Aunt Laura asked if my mom and I could figure out how to connect them into a full quilt.

Well, I had seen these before at my favorite tea/antique shop in Beaverton.  So the next time I went out to Tea Thyme and Lavender, I brought these squares along and asked Claire, the owner, for some advice.  Aside from making delicious tea and French treats, Claire makes quilts out of yo-yos and she was kind enough to walk me through how to put them together.  So, I've been working on connecting them (by hand) intermittently these past couple weeks.  I'm not very far yet, but it's been fun!  And I'm enjoying having a portable project.  I can sew outside in this gorgeous weather we've been having because I'm not tied to a machine.  I'll get a picture up once they're all together, but be warned, it may be a while!

I Made It!

By "it," I mean my deadline, not just the quilt this time.  Josh's dad was in town last weekend, and in order to not have to pay shipping on the quilts I was making for some Oklahoma folk, I wanted to finish them in time to pack them in his car for the trip back.  And I did!  Three of them were posted in my last update, but the crown jewel (read: the most time consuming) has yet to be seen.  Well, voila!

This was my first time doing applique and my first time doing a pieced back - I will definitely do both again.  Also now that the weather is clearing up, I plan on snapping more of my pictures outside.  The colors look so much better in the first picture than the last picture.  I was kind of sad to say goodbye to this one, but I have more projects up my sleeve that will soon get my mind off of this one!