Gehring Road

this weekend

Much to do this weekend... the end of vacation means, for me, attending to things that I've put off and meant to take care of during this too short week. It's laundry, grading, putting in comments for the end of term, preparing for the week ahead and adjusting to life in reality. And yet, it's also much peeking outside... to see Rob working away at the wood pile for the coming (oh, too soon) fall and winter seasons, to see the forsythia in all of its glory, to wonder back at that sweet little redish/pink bird the likes we've never seen around our feeder. This weekend has been lovely... curtains have been re-hung, plans have been made for sewing, new sewing tools have been bought and placed in their spots in the loft, Miss Kylie has found the sun, I fell in love with ranunculus... again. And these days have me thinking (with much anticipation!) about the coming summer... the projects that will be started and (hopefully) finished, the spying that will be done through open windows, the adventures that will be had during those beautiful days that are all my own. Soon, soon. Happy weekend everyone! 

look away if you don't like snow

So we had some snow... I'm not sure if you heard or not (wink, wink!)... thirty inches give or take. At one point during the evening, it was snowing so hard that it looked like rain. A downpour of snow if you will. We had some thundersnow and the wind luckily didn't take out our power. It continued to snow into the afternoon yesterday. We've been out clearing our driveway, the mailbox and everything hurts. I swam through snow this afternoon trying to get in front of the snow blower. So. much. snow. Sore has a new meaning around these parts, Rob has done something to his back which makes us a bit nervous. Trying to stave off cabin fever, I prepared bobbins for quilting this morning. Looks like I'll have some time to quilt some Strips and Bricks tomorrow. Oh my, people have been so wonderful and sweet about that near finish. Such good motivation to finish it. I'm thinking I'll make some binding tonight. Decisions, decisions. I hope you are warm and well cared for wherever you are! Happy weekend to you! 

weekend work

This weekend was lovely... two days given (almost) totally to working on my Anna Karenina Quilt blocks. I love all six (six!) of them and really owe my speediness and excitement to this method of making log cabins. So fast, so enjoyable, just what a weekend spent sewing should be. To the right of my machine, I created a little seam steaming and trimming station, which was just perfect for this project. To the left of my machine, I have my trusty clementine box filled with fabrics. Each block has a bit of fabric uniquely (in my mind at least!) connected with this beautiful novel... scripted french writing, city block Liberty lawn, woodland scenes, bits of "lace", bold colors, beautiful geometric prints, even a moustache (Vronsky!) and some small mushrooms (Kitty!) will be hidden within these blocks. I began a board on Pinterest to gather some inspiration and have been using some of those color combinations in the images to create the blocks as I go. I love how it is coming together and am delighted with this quilt in the making. Very Russia, very Anna...so far. Happy Tuesday to you! 

scenes from our weekend

It was a low, low key weekend around these parts... much sleeping, some reading, cupcake nibbling and zero sewing. The loft was re-arranged a bit... I moved my ironing board closer to my cutting station. I folded a bunch of fabric, and realized I have too much. I'm thinking of a destash before Christmas. Stay tuned. Rob installed a new light fixture, I love it. After much debate (and staring at far too many lights) we found just what we were looking for at Ikea of all places. I've been loving Stitched Gifts by Jessica Marquez and Ashley English's A Year of Pies. We're busy planning for not one but two Thanksgivings this year... much to love about all of that... and all those pies! Speaking of baked goods, you'd think with that box of cupcakes we had company this weekend... not so. Remind me to get back to running, stat. And those amazingly red (the picture doesn't do it justice, really) roses were picked up during our shopping run. I love them. And how I loved this weekend. Happy Monday to you, it is the start of a very short work week for me!

bloggers feast at the Denyse Schmidt Sample Sale

Oh my goodness, what a lovely day yesterday was. Not only was I able to explore Denyse Schmidt's annual Sample Sale, but I was able to meet up with some lovely fellow Connecticut bloggers, and one Aussie blogger as well! Audrie (who I joke lives a parallel life just ten minutes up the road, our paths never cross though we frequent the same places days apart...usually fabric stores as it turns out) and Shannon brought the super wonderful and talented Rita who is spending some time in NYC... Jamie also made another trip down and it turned into a really wonderful afternoon. The quilts, the fabric, the new friends... perfect day actually. Here's what I saw...

(Rita bought that hexagon quilt...it's so beautiful!)

(Denyse's office in the background... I had an unhealthy fascination with this corner!)

(see?)

(unhealthy obsession #2... the improve quilt... I would looove to take this class next fall)

(that's Jamie and a sweet helper stitching for "Peace by Piece")

(Shannon took home this lovely storage unit)

And that last picture is my (fabric) loot... I also bought a really pretty vintage wooden box that is being filled in the loft. Those are yard cuts of some lovely DS Quilts fabric, a 10'' charm pack of Shelburne Falls and a little pack of Fancy Free (13 prints!). So much fun. Happy Weekend! 

weekend intentions

I had big plans for this quilt over the weekend, mostly finishing the piecing and pressing for quilting. Instead, I spent much most of yesterday with that sweet lady. Curled up on the couch, grateful to be warm and in our home, all too aware of how lucky we are. There was some catching up on some much loved TV. It was perfect... and there actually was a finish, I've finally finished re-reading Anna Karenina! Here are some things I'm loving this weekend:

* Efforts to hope those in need. We're hoping that our neighbors here in the North East are well cared for and given every bit of help they need. We're thinking of the line workers and volunteers who are working to get things back to some semblance of normal. 

* Lizzy House's holiday shop... rainbow bundles, heaven! 

* Planning for the annual trip to Denyse Schmidt's Studio Sale. Maybe a glimpse of Shelburne Falls? 

* Loving, loving these boots and this amazing bracelet. Contemplating a splurge. 

I hope this weekend finds you looking forward to the week to come, surrounded by loves and love. 

my favorite kind of sidewalk sale

We've been enjoying just the most wonderful little weekend, so far. Yesterday, we took another drive up to Cambridge yesterday to enjoy the beautiful weather walking around the city and because Gather Here (one of the sweetest little yarn and fabric stores ever) was having one of their sidewalk sales. Buy 10 fat quarters and get 10 free... ok! We had a really nice walk around Harvard Square (which was welcoming the class of 2016 that day... gasp) and stopped at LA Burdick's for some iced chocolate (I loved it), pastry and an amazing raspberry tart. We admired Anthropologie's sewn flowers, the beautiful homes around Cambridge and headed home. Lovely. I love Boston and we find heading to this area really relaxing actually. It's a beautiful and very walkable city. 

So here's what I got... twenty fat quarters, ahem...

I was "that girl" who snagged the Chicopee I could get my hands on. Sorry fellow sidewalk salers! 

I also bought some yardage of that beautiful Field Study print for a quilt I have in mind to make next, some Liberty prints for my collection and that lovely Valdani thread for some quilt ties. Chocolate and fabric, my kind of day. Today was breakfast at one of our favorite dinner spots and some time to sew. I'm loving this weekend. 

to market

We are so very fortunate to have such a beautiful and well supported Farmer's Market each Sunday just down the road from our home. It inspires us to grow new and different things in our garden and try new and interesting things in the kitchen. It's a Sunday treat from June through October. We just love it. Today, the colors were amazingly brillant. The flowers are especially beautiful this time of year and I grabbed that bundle of zinnias and celosia to brighten up my desk tomorrow as I head back to work. Sigh. Today it was all about enjoying the market with Rob. It was also thinking about this for dinner. And finally, it was a little very early planning for Spring (we're thinking of keeping bees this coming year!) grabbing some echinacea and autumn sedum at our local garden center. This was weekend perfection and a really lovely way to say farewell to blissfully free summer days... until next year. 

playing catch up

Beautiful Moon/Planet Alignment captured by Rob

The stars aligned this week (they really did, did you see it?) and I had a chance to get some things done besides course work. It was magical. Let's play catch up, shall we?

it snowed... finally! I was almost missing it... almost... but glad it caused very few problems

Rob made the.most.amazing.dessert.ever... and because I didn't successfully double my weight after gorging on it this week, he's making it again before he leaves for Seattle tomorrow... I tell you, I'm lucky... and in need of a good run... Here's the recipe... it's ok, eat it all and then come running with me...

we also ate tons of brussel sprouts... I love them roasted...

I cut my finger (badly) making dinner (ha! I don't often cook, and there's why, but the stars aligned you see). You're shocked that it wasn't with my rotary cutter, I know, I am too... it was remarkably close to an old rotary cutter incident scar...I'm fine and it has healed... already...

Lady Mary came to visit... I found her here... she came beautifully wrapped (of course she did)...

... I also treated myself to this beautiful little printer drawer from Etsy... I'm filling it with vintage silk spools and hanging it in the loft... I'll keep you appraised of it's progress... pretty slow right now, but kind of perfect...

I bought these tiny bits of new fabric in my new favorite colors... that poor lonely granny... oh well, soon... I did notice I had a shocking lack of peach in my stash, so I used it as an excuse to buy fabric... how those golds and that beautiful orange also landed in the cart is beyond me... I have little control... see above notes on dessert...

... I organized (well, kind of) my scrap bins... it was freeing... and a little frightening... must not save every little piece and must find a scrappy project (maybe this one?) for them soon...when sewing is an option...

 ... and this sweet lady has been making us laugh and keeping me grounded... I miss the lack of stress and work, looking forward to time with this little bean when grad classes are not in the back of my mind...

Semester is nearly done... I'm tasting the end as near more and more. April 4th is done-day for one class, May 5th for another... so, so close! Though we've had some snow lately I'm feeling the pull of those Spring days... they're getting closer and it feels very good... for so many reasons. Rob is off to Seattle for a few weeks, which is always difficult, but he has some non-work related adventures planned which makes me happy. His return is yet another thing I'm looking forward to... in the meantime, head down, balance, and breathe. Happy weekend to you! 

today there was sewing!

Hello there from bronchitis land! I have the full blown version, Rob seems to have bronchitis light. It really isn't fun and consists of coughing, little sleep and congestion that feels a lot like someone standing on my chest cavity. Go away, bronchitis! I carved a bit of sewing time out of the day today anyway. Following Jenni's pattern, I made "The Everything Bag" with the small bit of Ruby Star Shining I picked up and Alexander Henry Heath from my red stash. I used ribbon for the pulls because I wanted this quick project to be even faster in the making. I love the pattern and know it will be a go-to bag for many things. So fun! Then there was napping... and coughing... mostly coughing.

I wasn't going to mention this here for fear of the world thinking I'm insane but since we're speaking of coughing, in the wee hours of this morning (hello 3 am coughing fit) after watching Project Runway and trying not to wake a sleeping Rob, I searched the web in desperation for a fix for persistent coughing and found... Vicks on the feet. Have you heard of this? Literally hundreds of sites and testimonials where people put Vicks on the bottoms of their feet, covered them with socks... and slept, finally. I'm a little embarrassed to say, I tried it... and it worked! I have no idea why it worked, I really didn't even care why it did, I just wanted some relief! I tell you... in five minutes, my incessant (breaks of 30 seconds at most for hours) coughing was almost non-existent and has been much less even today. I know, crazy... but next time you're battling a night-time coughing fit give it a go. I'm off to Vicks my feet and not ashamed... sort of. Happy (and healthy) weekend to you!