Wedding pillow

I made a (clearly very late) wedding gift for Abby and Chris, and I finally finished it and mailed it off. The first time I saw this old transfer (which I got from Floresita's vintage transfers on flickr) I immediately knew that I would use it for a Chris and Abby wedding pillow. They are both cat lovers who also have the best collection of antique everything. I used the coveted bird and wave fabric for the back:

I think I have to use my last remnant of the bird/wave fabric for my very own pillow. I like using the black piping for the edges.

And that is all I have to show for my crafty old self right now. As I recently mentioned we have had illness after illness around here in 2009 (nothing serious, and I am always thankful for that) and our latest bout has been with THE CHICKEN POX!

My poor little guy came down with the chicken pox in the middle of spring break, during a big annual music festival (South by Southwest). Needless to say, I did not get to see any bands. There was a fever, and a lot of waking up at night, and not a lot of sleep for mom or dad. I had intended on getting Harlan vaccinated just before kindergarten, but in a way I am relieved that he got the virus out of his system, since now he will not have to re-vaccinate himself every twelve years. I can not imagine very many grown men remembering to vaccinate themselves, and getting chicken pox as an adult is really horrendous. While Harlan was sick I heard from many friends who got the virus in their teens, their twenties, and even during law school finals! Lucky for us, there were enough parents around who wanted their toddlers to get the chicken pox too, and we were invited over to their homes. Harlan is such a social butterfly, and he hates being cooped up inside (no pun intended). I know some of you may be floored by the thought of intentionally getting your kids the chicken pox, but I can definitely see the benefit of it. I had it when I was thirteen, and let me tell you, I was way more miserable than Harlan was with it at three (which was really no walk in the park either).

So, we are all in a period of relative wellness (I know it's just a matter of time before my allergies return. I just finished a second round of antibiotics for an ear infection) and I am trying to catch up on work. At the end of April I am going to be selling at the Funky Finds Spring Fling in Fort Worth, so come check me out!

Doin' my Homework

Between South by Southwest, old friends and family in town, and the bathroom renovations, it's a miracle I have accomplished anything above and beyond keeping my hair clean and my kitchen clean. I eek in time when I can these days, and my Superbuzzy stash is finally going to good use.
We bought this rocker at Ikea when we first moved to Austin. When we got home, there were no cushions included. I am not sure if we got ripped off or not, but I ended up buying some foam at a local upholstery store, and making my own covers for Harlan's very own rocking and reading chair. I used a cotton/linen blend on the back of the chair, and the sides of the bottom. I also used a green Kona cotton, some of the Joel Dewberry faux bois print, and the Superbuzzy trees. My brand new Janome machine came in super handy and I decided to trip out my pillow with this stitch along the borders of the fabrics:
Fancy, don't you think?
I also finally got around to buying a new foam seat for my mid-century love seat, and I covered it with some velvet Crypton fabric, and of course added some pillows made with Japanese fabric from Superbuzzy.

The blue leather ottoman is from John Derian in NY. It's one of my favorite stores of all time. In fact, I would be perfectly happy if Anthropolgie would move in next door, and City Bakery would move in on the other side. They could knock down all the walls, and I would move in and only let in my friends, people who promised to take in and care for stray animals, orphans from Africa and any eastern block country. O.K. you can also come into my store-house if you give me personal Pilates lessons each day with your expensive Pilates machine.

Those pillows on the sofa are also from my Superbuzzy stash, and I must admit that I sewed them a couple of months ago but forgot to post them. Here are details of all the pillows.


Here is a sneak peak of bathroom number one which is just about finished. The tiles are by Cocktail and the color is Mojito. They are made from recycled glass and they are super light and remind me of the ocean. I'm going to make both bathrooms pretty much the same, and my theme (yes, I'm giving my bathrooms a theme) is of course, the sea (or if you want it make it sound really fancy, let's call it la mer).

I've been slowly making more items for Rose & Duke, including more of the tree applique with painted deer shirts, onesies, and pants. I will be adding them to the shop tonight or tomorrow. I decided to stop hand painting the deer and go with using freezer stenciling them for now, since it's a little more crisp looking and leaves less room for error. A few of the hand-painted ones were not what I was hoping for and so I'll be adding them to a new SALE section of the site. I've also started sewing together the long-awaited waterproof play mats. These are great looking quilts with PUL waterproof backs. The PUL is the same fabric used in some cloth diaper covers to prevent liquid from getting to the other side of the cloth. The idea of the waterproof play mats is that they can be used with young babies whose diapers often leak (and who often puke all over the place unexpectedly). This way, mothers can protect their floors, beds, couches, and those of people whom they visit with baby in tow. The play mats are also perfect to bring to a park where grass may be wet from morning dew or rain. I hope these are a hit. Here is the first one I've put together:
As you can imagine it will be a challenge to photograph these since they are quite large. I'm probably going to make them in a large size and a small size, so that customers can have options.

As many of you know, I love to bake, and each week I make a batch of muffins, scones, or something else both tasty and full of fiber for us to grab in the morning and eat as we scurry out the door. I realized that if I at least post the breakfast of the week each week, along with accompanying recipe, that I'll be forcing myself to check in here four times a month. I think this is a must as I tend to get distracted easily and forget to post on a regular basis. This week's breakfast is a mixed-berry lemon muffin.
The special ingredient is a Meyer lemon which have been in the supermarkets around town this week. For those who have never had one before, those suckers are super sweet and delicious. I also made a big batch of vinaigrette with a few of them for salads.

Mixed Berry Meyer-Lemon Muffins:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
Mix in mixer for about five minutes until light and fluffy. Add a swig of vanilla, and then slowly add four eggs, one at a time, being sure to mix well after each addition. Meanwhile, have four cups of well-mixed grains. I vary what I use here, and this week I used 1 cup of white flour, 1 cup of oat bran, almost 2 cups of stone ground whole wheat flour, and a dollop of ground flax seeds and wheat germ. Total grains should be 4 cups. Add to this 1/2 tsp. salt and 4 tsp. baking powder. Mix well. Grate the skin of an organic lemon (non-organic lemon skins are supposedly pretty chemical-laden) and add this to the grains. Have a cup of buttermilk set aside, and squeeze half a lemon into it. With the mixer on, alternate pouring in some flour with some buttermilk, ending with buttermilk. Add three cups of mixed frozen (or any kind of) berries. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.
Last but not least, I'm excited to have joined Ravelry, the knit and crochet community. I first heard about over at Futuregirl's blog, and boy am I psyched to get back into my projects. If any of you are on Ravelry, please look me up (VioletteCrumble) and make me your friend! You know I love this web-community jazz.

Also, I need your opinion on something. Should I cover the rest of my mid-century sofa in the same pumpkin fabric that I just made a new seat in. I love the funky pattern of the original fabric, but I'm not sure if it's just too many crazy things going on at once. I am slowly learning how make my surroundings a bit more minimal looking. What say thee? Yea or nay?