The Quilt: Get A Life

Some of you may wonder, why a quilt? Well, last winter I was taking stock of my life (a terrible idea, by the way) and I realized that I have no hobbies. Yes, I have activities, memberships and interests --which I see as all being purpose-driven.

But I wanted something that's just for fun, that I can daydream about, that's stimulating without adding pressure.

Fascinating, you say, but it still doesn't explain why a quilt? Well, I opted to make a quilt to help me get a life because: 

• I can sew (note I did not say I love to sew. Some people do; I, on the other hand, have a functional --and sometimes antagonistic-- relationship with my sewing machine);
• I can work on a quilt in little, tiny increments in between interruptions;
• I am attracted to the historicity of quilting and its place in women's experiences;
• and, finally, I feel no urgency to complete such a project (other than meeting a self-imposed deadline), as no one will suffer if it takes me until eternity.

Plus, I like pretty fabric. Another added bonus is that there's a large (very large, it turns out) community of quilters and fabric artists online. Inspiration, tutorials and encouragement abound.

In case you're wondering what kind of quilt I'm making, the design is called "Liberty Coins" from the book Quilts Galore by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes (1991).

If you've embarked on a similar journey, share! I'd love to hear about it! What are you doing, and where do you find encouragement?

amazon.ca

(My quilting will have to take a break for the next month, as I'll be occupied with Christmas-related projects. Details to come!)

We're Still Cool, Right? Check This Out...

A little cheater post today: check out this Parent Rap video from Bluefish TV. If your self-esteem needs a boost, this is it! Yes, put anything in slow-motion and it looks really cool. Anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_NspDWssIY

Boy/Girl Tea Party, Part 2

Much delayed, but here is the second instalment on our boy/girl inclusive tea party! (If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.)

Setting the Table


Knowing that I was likely to host several more kiddie tea parties, I left my "grown-up" finery safe in the cupboard, and instead checked the thrift store for cheap and child-sized tableware. Our table boasted:

• assorted small "tea" cups and saucers, which I think were originally intended as espresso cups, but that happened to be a nice small size;
• assorted mini glass dishes --some were probably punch glasses, others were tiny dessert glasses, and I think one was an oversized jigger;
• colourful paper napkins that we already had on hand;
• and a lovely tablecloth, hand-embroidered with ... teapots! (Okay, I admit, the tablecloth I picked up in the summer. I just couldn't let that nice stitch-work languish in a thrift store!)

No joke, the cups/saucers and glassware totalled less than $1 per guest, and the tablecloth was the most expensive single item at $7.99.

Food

Although our theme was "a cupcake tea party," we decided to offer more fare than just sweets. And because I wanted to try the "Mad Hatter" tea party game, we served the food in courses. Our menu was:

• thinly-sliced veggie sticks --carrot, celery and red pepper-- served upright in the individual glassware with a small shot of dressing in the bottom;
• a combination of cubed fruit on skewers;
• and, last but not least, cupcakes and two kinds of tea, both herbal --one camomile, and one chocolate spice.

Cupcakes

My boys requested that we make "bat" cupcakes (another idea from Chirp magazine), and I thought they'd be nicely complemented by some "butterfly" cupcakes, inspired by those found in the kids' cookbook Cook It Together by Annabel Karmel. Both were a hit!

We decorated the bats with Smarties eyes, jelly bean mouth with sunflower seeds for fangs and dried mango as the wings. The butterflies had two half-cookie "wings" piped with a butterfly outline in chocolate.

The party was such fun, and I'm looking forward to inviting guests for a springtime tea party!

Why We Can't Be Camera-Shy

The past few years, whenever a camera is raised, I duck. Or quietly slink out of the room. Why? The full explanation is in a previous post, but let's just say I do not like the way my after-baby body looks.

Then a thunderclap, in the form of a link sent by a friend to a recent Huffington Post article, jolted me into a new perspective.

The author of the article --herself a mother of a couple of wee ones-- ponders what sort of message we send our children when we absent ourselves from our family's photographic memory for a number of years (or longer) because of our own self-perceived lack of visual appeal.

What does such self-censorship tell our girls, and our boys? Better yet, what are we telling our children when we joyfully participate in on-camera memory making, complete with extra heft, a few more chins, droopy lids, birds-nest hair and mismatched wardrobe?

The answer to that question, my friends, is what I'm going to keep in mind the next time a camera comes out. (I'll let you know if I get cold feet.)

What do you think?

The Halloween Candy Conundrum

Does anyone else find Halloween candy more plentiful than you remember it being when we were kids? This Halloween, my kids --who are small and don't move fast-- each came home with a sack of loot that I swear had a combined weight greater than any one of the boys!

I know there are lots of smart people out there who will give you sage advice on the best, most responsible way to dole out the Halloween stash. And then there's me...

Last year, I limited my guys to one piece of candy each per day. Sounds reasonable. Except that I had to endure, every day, the relentless badgering of, "Can we have the candy now? Can we have it now? When? Now?" It made me hate all candy that was and has ever been.

This year, I decided to ignore all the sage advice and just try to eliminate the sugary stockpile as quickly as possible. Here's the progress to date: Halloween night, I let my exhausted kids binge on their accumulated candy mass (they were so tired no sugar high could keep them from sleep). That got rid of a certain amount right away. Then, each morning after breakfast I've been letting them at their stash again.

The result?

1. We have relatively little candy left at this point, just under a week post-Halloweening.
2. A good portion of the stash never got eaten, because being free to sample they'd discovered what they liked and then opted to relinquish less palatable items.
3. They're choosing to consume less and less each day. I think we're down to just a few choice pieces each.
4. Our home is a badger-free zone. Knowing that they get free access to the candy each morning has meant that they aren't asking me for it the rest of the day.

Now, I'm not so naive as to think that this method doesn't have any flaws or drawbacks. Nor am I suggesting that it's the right solution for everyone. But for us (for me) this plan is working! 

I've also been trying to think up ways to limit or stem the intake right from the start. No epiphanies yet. Any ideas?