Gehring Road

june... so far

So happy to be back blogging. When I'm gone from this space for a bit... as it has been lately, I always find the catching up a little daunting. Hopefully my snapshots from June will do that a bit better than I am able to. This June has been stressful, lovely, joyous and difficult, as life most often is. A difficult school year ended, I immediately got very, very sick (stomach bug? food poisoning?) and just started feeling a bit more like myself yesterday. That along with the crazy end to the school year are the reasons from the quiet around these parts. In life, things have been much less quiet. We've been doing some work on a bedroom in our house. Painting and repairing and I am once again amazed at the talents of this wonderful man I am lucky to love. We've had so much rain! Little sewing has happened, but plenty of planning and more fabric buying most certainly has. Nothing new on that front! My left foot has been causing me much grief. The medication I was given for it caused even more. The garden is loving the rain and we had the most beautiful peonies this year. All kinds of treats have been cooked, baked, prepared. We're loving almost every recipe in Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kichen Cookbook. We said goodbye to a four legged one in our family (not our sweet girl, but it certainly reminded us to hold her even closer), but are preparing for new little ones in the not so distant future. Life is very full. Thank you for those who continue to read in this space while life takes me away from it. I'm always so amazed by that. Your visits and words of encouragement are so much a part of what makes this such a meaningful outlet in my life. Thank you. Happy Friday everyone. Rob's been away for work and he's home tonight, Miss Kylie and I are on pins and needles until then! Back tomorrow...

twelfth night

image found here 

image found here

We really, really, really love our local theater company, Hartford Stage. We've made it a tradition to go to their annual production of A Christmas Carol, and last year Rob planned a day watching their production of The Tempest for my birthday. This year, their production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night also corresponded with my big day and we had a chance to see it, with some friends, on Tuesday night. This production was so fantastic, from the set (an intricate and well used labyrinth) to the acting (I loved Malvolio best) to our seats (we were literally front and center but there just isn't a bad seat in this theater) to the laughs - this is one of my favorite comedies of all time, we had so much fun viewing this little production. I really couldn't stop taking photos of the set... besides the labyrinth which they worked into the play so cleverly, the floor of the center of the stage dropped down revealing Orsino, a bath tub, other characters... it was so well done. I did show a little self control and refrained from snapping photos during the production but Hartford Stage has some stunningly beautiful shots here. We're so looking forward to the coming season, it's Macbeth first (yay!) and a Steve Martin production called The Underpants (ha ha!) as well as our beloved A Christmas Carol to get us into the holiday spirit. I hope you are lucky enough to have a really fantastic theater company near you and if you are in Connecticut, stop by and check out the wonderful things Hartford Stage is doing, we so love their work! Happy Saturday everyone... we're pulling up flooring in one of the bedrooms and painting a bit. Wish us luck! 

a sunny stack and a promise

 Southwest Sunset Bundle (top) from Pink Castle Fabrics 

It has been just two weeks since the tragic events at the Boston Marathon injured and changed the lives of so many. And while these horrific events threatened to cause us to question so many facets of human nature, they have in actuality, reminded us of the very best of the human spirit. The will to help others is alive and well weeks and days later, as it was in the moments following those blasts. In our own sewing community, there are several efforts getting underway just now. I wanted to bring them to this space as well. 

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is looking for sewists to make quilt blocks that they will sew together, making quilts for victims and families. Blocks should be yellow, grey, blue and white, the colors of the Boston Marathon. Natalie of Greenleaf Goods put together the most lovely stack as inspiration for those who are interested in making some blocks. I just love this idea and will be making some blocks today. 

Quilt guilds from around the globe, including The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild have also organized a beautiful campaign, "To Boston With Love". Sewists from around the world can create flags to be sent to Boston. The Flickr Group has more details (including mailing instructions). 

I'm in, who's with me? Happy weekend everyone! 

while at Gather Here

On Monday, at Gather Here, I picked up some really lovely new fabric. My excuse to make the trip up to Cambridge (which is really only an hour and twenty minutes from us) was to buy some yardage for a new dress. Have you seen this beauty of a pattern from April Rhodes? It's called The Staple Dress and I can't wait to make a few of these. They look perfect for work (with a bit of a lining possibly), especially during the coming warmer weeks. I bought some of that lovely Liberty Lifestyle Stile in Lowke Spice for my first attempt. I'm goingt to try a mock-up in some muslin before I crack into my new fabric, though the fabric looks pretty easy, I'm waffling between sizes and styles. April has included many modifications for this project which is so lovely. I'll keep you posted! My second stop on my excursion was at Mike's Pastry. My poor father has been struggling with a nasty case of pneumonia and I decided to swing by to pick him (and us) up a few pick me ups. They've come in very handy this week. We're finding comfort in sewing projects, the beautiful weather we've had so far this vacation week and our small lady...

A smile and an... interesting face. Levity and light is good. I hope you are all well and comforted by those around you. Happy Thursday everyone, be kind to one another! 

another day... another snow/sew day!

Today, there will be sewing... and snuggling... and reading... and period film watching. This is tinged with a bit of sadness for me, we're off again for a (surprise!) fourteen inches or so of snow. My last day of school will now be June 24th. Ugh. I'm choosing to hold back the frustration as the snow literally rains down outside... it looks a bit like this...

It really is quite beautiful, but oh, my... my summer! I cherish those days in the summer and they dwindle, they truly do. Today I'm choosing to sew, snuggle and be satisfied with the day we have. And for a true silver lining (Excelsior!), the weekend looks like a Spring preview around here... highs in the low 50s. A treat for sure. Today I sew, and peek outside to wonder at how changeable this little corner of our world can be. A very happy start to this weekend for you, I hope you are finding yourself surprised today! 

welcome march

 February 365 Project (still going!) 

March is here... I'm beside myself with happy! It's just around those long days of February (oh my, remember this?) that I begin to long for and attempt to find some bits of Spring wherever I can. Tulips are purchased, I attempt to leave the house with just two layers instead of four, I convince myself that the days are oh so much longer. Yes, it's time. Happy March everyone, I hope it finds you as ready for it as we are!  

scenes from a weekend...

 (that is Kylie sleeping!)

Our weekend didn't go quite as planned. Friday night was spent with a great friend enjoying some tastey eats and many laughs. It was downhill from there in a big way! A touch of sickness for all of us (including the dog at two hour intervals on Sunday morning, ack!) and it was a lounging on the couch kind of weekend after all was said and done. We ventured out for some macarons (passion fruit was calling me) into the snow/rain mix that seemed to linger. Oh yes, it was lounging weather for sure. Sewing just didn't happen. Breaking in the new quilt did. Luckily, it escaped Kylie's path of destruction, poor sick girl. She's quite well today, as are we, and back to work today! Happy Monday everyone... 

today, I am...

Today, I am... 

* Making binding for the quilt... I love the brightness of this print!

* Looking forward to watching last night's The Walking Dead, and hoping Daryl comes back! 

* Fielding work emails on vacation, I know, I know.

* Enjoying a little lip gloss, even while just finishing a quilt... maybe because I'm finishing a quilt! 

* Avoiding two baskets of laundry that desperately need folding. 

* Watching my sweet girl find the sun and sleep soundly. 

* Thinking that this favorite fabric should have been something I stockpiled, I'm down to my last few bits. 

* Loving that my guy is just down the hall when I need a hug or smile. 

* Wishing that I had scooped up one of these bundles while they were available. 

* Dreaming of opening a little store... but happily watching this one turn two and this one for inspiration.

* Contemplating putting the loft back in order... it looks like thread exploded everywhere up there... 

* Preferring to fold said laundry to cleaning the loft! 

* Vacationing... oh, yes! 

Happy Monday everyone, I hope it finds you enjoying whatever this day brings your way! 

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! 

today... so far.

The snow is piling up outside, but inside, it's been a day of sewing and resting. So, so good. I decided to spend a bit of time basting (finally!) my Strips and Bricks quilt. I cut fabric for this quilt in 2010, yes 2010. When I laid it out on the floor in the living Rob walked by and said, "When did you make that?" Ha ha. I really wanted to back this quilt in Kona Ash, but I recently used some of the yardage I bought for it in my Semiology Quilt and was just shy of what I needed. I went with Kona Coal because I had it on hand and didn't want to lose momentum. Probably for the best as Kona Ash is almost the same color as our couch. Change is good. It will be quilted tomorrow if the power stays on. Cross your fingers. I also had some time to work on some Anna Karenina blocks. All in all, I've loved this snow day turned sewing day. Rob would like you to know I didn't bake or get out of my pajamas. Just how snow days should be, don't you think?