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Today was not my favorite. But then –

3 Sep

Today was eh.  Office work and some work that I kinda feel shouldn’t be within the realm of pastoral duties.  Work like climbing into a parked semi trailer to take photos of auction items.  [Did I miss that on my job description?]  And this weird work – there’s lots of it.  With the school year beginning [wait.  summer is over?  how did that happen?], church work doubles as it is.  Rally Sunday, confirmation kick-off retreat, annual meeting [ours in in September.  it’s best not to even ask.], schedules, plans, pull-out-my-hair.

So today in the office was not my favorite.  I told Marilyn and Bob-the-treasurer that I was going to cry.  But then –

For confirmation this year, instead of one big informational meeting that half the families can’t make anyways, I’m visiting with each family one-on-one.  Tonight I headed just down the road a mile and a half to visit with my ninja friend, Elly, and her family.  Coming to confirmation this year will also be her younger sister.  They’re just a super warm family and even though I promised them that my visit would only be 15 minutes, I was there for an hour.  We talked about confirmation and then the kids went away while their parents and I talked about all things vintage.  Pyrex, Nancy Drew classics, mason jars.  For a living, they go to auctions, snap up stuff, and then sell it on etsy and ebay.  They showed me their goods and talked about their business.  Super interesting!

They also told me a neighborhood secret.  About three-quarters of a mile from the church is a road.  A secret road.  Okay.  It’s not secret at all but I always just assumed it was private property and only used by farm equipment.  Turns out this access road is fair game.  It’s gravel and dirt but so much more relaxing than walking Mabel on the road.  We found our new walking route and explored it tonight.

On our way back from the [not] secret road, all of a sudden, one of the neighbor kids is sprinting towards me.  He was running just to, you know, chat.  And show me his new wallet.  The neighbor family had been gone for two weeks on a road trip and things were really kinda lonely without them around.  It was weird to walk past their house and not see them outside playing, or see lights on in their house.  So Alex ran to say hi and tell me that the favorite part of his trip was seeing the beach where The Goonies was filmed.  Then his older sister, Rachel, rode her bike down to join us.  Soon the younger brother was there, along with the mom and the dog, and we stood in their driveway for a good 45 minutes catching up on summer.

Now I’m home.  I ate farm-fresh eggs for dinner [thanks to administrative assistant and chicken farmer extraordinaire, Marilyn] and the day will end on a high note by watching Netflix and basting hexagons.  Today was not my favorite … but then it turned out to be quite okay.

I'll be adding to this pile - the weekend's productivity.

I’ll be adding to this pile – the weekend’s productivity.

Where’d you go, Lindsay?

12 Aug

You haven’t posted since last Wednesday, Lindsay.  No Friday Favorites.  No other posts.  Where have you been?

Honestly?

Honestly.

I’ve been hand sewing hexagons and watching The West Wing.

True story.

I checked out a book on English paper piecing hexagons last week from the library.  Hexagons have been on my sewing to-learn list for a while now and I finally decided to tackle them.  One of the best things?  It’s hand sewing so I can do it while watching television.  About that …

I needed a new series to watch on Netflix.  I chose The West Wing.  I chose right.  I’m hooked.  In the past week, I’ve had a hard time distinguishing what political stories are actually facing the country in real life, and which are fictional.

So that’s where I’ve been.  Sewing hexagons and watching meetings in the White House while really liking Danny the press guy.  That’s probably where I’ll be all week too.

[It’s not the only place I’ve been.  I went to the Cities for college friend time on Friday.  I cleaned my bedroom – a room in my house that’s been a disaster all summer.  It’s lovely now.  I ran errands on Saturday morning, timing it deliberately so I could mail a package when the cute, young guy works the post office counter.  Mabel and I went for many meandering walks in this beautiful weather.  I finished another baby quilt.  But the one place I haven’t been?  On my computer.]

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Friday Favorites.

2 Aug

I feel like I could share this video and just call this post of favorites good because what more does a person need?  Thanks to Sara for sharing this series.  That’s right – it’s a series.  Like it?  Watch seven more.

The new IKEA catalog came out this past week.  Mine hasn’t arrived in the mail yet but I anticipate it soon.  Also rumored – that IKEA will begin carrying a line of paper/stationary goods.  Look at the photos!  I can totally get on board with an IKEA paper shop.

One of my quilting, blogging heros wrote a post about taking a Craftsy class on patchwork bags.  I’m in love with the final product.  And here she is again with a finished checkerboard quilt.  I love her color choices and always love her binding.  Her whole blog is total inspiration.

Zucchini noodles, anyone?  I have to say I’m intrigued.  And I do love zucchini …

What about puffy popover pancakes?  Yum.

It was JK Rowling’s birthday this past week and a tweet about that directed me to this – a hand drawn spreadsheet of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  So interesting!

I think that’s enough for now, eh?  On with your day!

A quilt for a baby girl.

30 Jul

This quilt went out the door and in the mail today.  It’s a quilt for a girl about to be born into a house filled with boys.  She will have four very proud and protective brothers to watch out for her!  Because she’s the first girl, I figured there was no route to go but pink all the way.  Pink, pink, pink.

I followed a pattern for this one and added appliqued circles to my list of techniques tried.  I’m pretty content with how it turned out.  I hope the soon-to-be-born baby girl banana enjoys its warmth and sprinkling of love from her Auntie Lindsay!

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Friday Favorites.

19 Jul

First, it’s Friday.  That is my favorite.  Tomorrow is Saturday [Bavarian Festival in New Ulm?  I think so.] and then it’s Sunday.  After worship on Sunday, I drive north.  To Bayfield.  Where I get on a car ferry that takes me to Madeline Island for my week long continuing education course at the Madeline Island School of the Arts.  I can barely contain myself.  It’s going to be a dream.

But, in the meantime –

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I made homemade strawberry fruit roll-ups and they were super yummy.  A little time consuming but worth the effort.

I devoured Where’d You Go, Bernadette? this week.  I think this one review from the Washington Post sums the book up perfectly –

Warm, dark, sad, funny – and a little bit screwball … This is an inventive and very funny novel that gets bonus points for transcending form.

What book is up next?  Well, I loved watching this story unfold this week – the story of J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym being uncovered mysteriously with a now deleted twitter account.  The Cuckoo’s Calling might be calling to me.

I’m wrapping up one baby quilt and bought fabric this past week to move onto the next.  I’m thinking stripes. Simple.  Straight-line quilting a la this tutorial.  [Spoiler alert: The fabric has monkeys.  Monkeys. I might need to add an appliqued banana or two.]  And my scrappy gumdrop quilt continues to grow on the design wall.  There is no rhyme or reason to it – only that they are scraps from my scrap egg basket.  [Most people have scrap bins.  I keep mine in an egg basket.]

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I’ve been enjoying Endeavour on PBS Masterpiece Mystery every Sunday night.  After being alerted to the joys to Downton Abbey, I’ve become more aware of the awesome programming Masterpiece offers.  Sunday night. 8-9:30pm.

I think that’s quite enough for one Friday.  Happy weekend-ing!

Friday Favorites.

5 Jul

After a week hiatus, I’m back.  And I must say – three day weekends are my favorite.  It’s nice to have a holiday that falls on a Thursday and not a Monday because that means three days off for this person who has to work on Sundays.  Also my favorites –

Feedly.  Normally, many of my Friday Favorites would come from the blogs I follow on google reader.  Google reader met its planned demise on July 1st.  Google shut it down.  On June 30, I made the dreaded switch to another feed reader, Feedly.  And I love it.  Almost more than the dead google reader.

This summer veggie tortellini looks super yummy.

When you eat with a knife and fork, do you cut and switch?  This story is about the ways Americans eat … and why we should change.  I find this whole idea fascinating.  It comes on the tail end of finishing David Lebovitz’s book about living in Paris, in which he talks about how once the French start eating a meal, they never put their knife down.

I had no plans yesterday for the Fourth, which was really okay.  I did miss my Bananas, the people with whom I spent so many Fourth of July’s, having so much fun.  While missing them, I spent the day cleaning, washing furniture slipcovers, and quilting, all of which were really okay.  I dived back into a baby quilt that needs to be done soon and spent time thumbing through quilting books I had just checked out from the library.  It’s in one of those books that I fell in love –

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I want to make this quilt.  It’s primarily scraps and so simply awesome.  Think it would make a cute baby quilt?

Speaking of babies, have I shared with you this photo of a baby in a crocheted Cabbage Patch wig/hat?  There is nothing more adorable.

A happy sewing room.

13 Jun

Blog break!  [I feel like a need a song to sing.  Blog break!  Blog break!  Blog break!]

I’m at work on the last day of what feels like the longest week ever.  After being at Synod Assembly last Friday and Saturday, it quite literally has been an eleven day work week.  And so I declare a blog break to tell you about my happy sewing room.

I cleaned it last night.  I technically cleaned it in preparation for my mom and sister [who arrive tomorrow so we can fly out of MSP on Saturday]; the futon lives in my sewing room and someone will need to sleep on it.  That wouldn’t have been possible filled with stacks of fabric and odd sewing supplies.

It’s now a happy place to which I’m ready to return.  I have a couple more baby quilts for friends to complete before the summer is out and I have a silent auction baby quilt to make.

A what?  A silent auction baby quilt.  Jenna, my friend and Luther College fellow alum, chairs a Twin Cities Luther alum event – one that raises money for Luther scholarships.  She emailed and asked if, as a Luther alum, I’d be willing to contribute something to the silent auction.  Oh, for nice.  I was honored and certainly willing.  Give me an excuse to make a baby quilt and I’m there.  I’m ready to start finding new patterns and fabric!  I’m ready to make my sewing room messy again with creativity.

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Babies & quilts.

21 May

Babies are being born and thus quilts are being quilted.  One baby, to seminary friend Kari, was born this past week.  Exciting!  Two more are still on their way, both to Bananas.

Here are the latest two quilts:

Quilt 1.
A better view of the great fabric for quilt 1.
Quilt 2: front.
Quilt 2: back.

Letterpress, part 2.

20 May

A week ago, I went back to St.Paul for the second session of my letterpress class.  It was time to set type and print postcards.  I was ready.

I decided on something a little more versatile than shut the front door.  I went with hello. how are you today?  In Kennerley Old Style.  Size 18.

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I set the type upside down and left to right.  I used furniture and quoins to set it in the frame.  The dear instructor, Mary, told me I had a great geometrical eye.  [And I don’t just say that to anyone, she said.]

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And then it was my turn to print a whole lot of postcards.  Maybe you’ll get one in the mail someday.  When you do, it might look like it was just made on a computer.  But run your fingers lightly over that print.  It’s letterpress, baby.

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Letterpress, part 1.

8 May

Dingbats, furniture, and ink, oh my.

I drove three hours for a 2.5 hour class on Monday night.  And it was worth it.

I signed up through St. Paul Community Ed to take Beginners Letterpress.  I’ve been oogling over letterpress classes for years; the one at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts is super expensive.  This two-session community ed class was $37.  Score.

The woman who teaches the class is delightfully eccentric.  Her studio is in her home and so I joined five other female students in what appeared to be her dining room.  [It was an interesting, old home.  I’m not sure where the refrigerator was and there appeared to be no television or sitting area in general.  But I give her credit for having a room full of paper.]  She gave us the brief introduction and told us to choose a dingbat.

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A dingbat is an image, as opposed to letters which are typefaces.  Out of the hundreds of options, I chose a pig.  Next, you take your dingbat [which looks like a stamp on a metal or wood piece] and using metal pieces called furniture, one sets it in a frame.   I know I’m making no sense.  I don’t have a photo either.  You’re just bound to be confused.

We took turns at the letterpress machine.  As you pull a lever, the press inks your dingbat and pulls whatever you’re printing on towards the inked dingbat and -viola- it’s printed with 600 pounds of pressure.  It’s pretty intense.  And this is just a baby press.  Next week, as I understand it, we use the big daddy.

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So this past Monday we used our dingbat to print six notecards.  Next Monday we will set four inches of type in 18-point and print 27 postcards.  The postcards and type we set can say anything so that’s my challenge this week.  To choose the most witty, fun, and awesome saying that will be no more than four inches.  Thus far in the running is shut the front door and – that’s actually it.  That’s all I got so far.  This is where you come in.  What should I print on my postcards?  If you help me, I promise to send you one hand-pressed postcard.  You have until next Monday.

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