The Robots

This was my latest quilt for a friend that is having a baby boy in March!  I love the fabrics, I might just have to make one for Lincoln.  I had to wait until I sent it out to post the pictures, I did not want to ruin the surprise!  The idea from the quilt was from a picture I saw on Flickr.  I love to get ideas from the great quilters of the world!

Shopping Like you are in the Big City

Have you ever wondered where people really shop when they are in the big city?  Now you too can dress like the New Yorkers do.  You can pick up your Carhatt sweatshirt right from a website!  Of course if you are in New York you could always just drop by Dave's and try one on too.  If you live in the south where the weather is much warmer most of the year, you could pick up a few of the Carhatt shirts.  I really like the long sleeve logo t shirt.  I just find it great that you can get anything you want on the web.   Whether it is clothes sold in a shop in New York, or fabric from Japan.  The web gives you access to all these great things without the cost of airfare!

Everything is coming up roses...or tomatoes.

So here they are.  My little heirloom tomato seeds are growing.  Those little green leaves really popped up sooner than I thought they would.  Unfortunately, now the cat has found them, and he had a small snack of fresh green leaves.  I caught him in the act, and will have to watch him more carefully.  I am extremely happy with their progress, and would definitely recommend www.tomatofest.com as a place to get great heirloom variety seeds.

Seeds Started

I got my tomato seeds!  They are officially planted today February 4th.  I started 25 tomato seeds (plus a few extra in each cell).  Eight varieties of tomatoes will be my first experiment.  I hope that I will get a harvest from each plant.
Here are the varieties that I bought from TomatoFest.com.
Hillbilly, Marvel Stripe, Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Black Cherry, Blondkopfchen, and Vintage Wine.  The kind folks at tomatofest threw in an extra seed pack of the red peach.  Thanks for the extra pack!  I will keep you posted on the progress of my tomato crop!

Re-Enlisted

I just had a request for custom made cornhole bean bags.  The fabric that I used (in combination with duck cloth) is worn military uniforms.  From the battlefield to the playing field these uniforms have been re-enlisted to make this cornhole game special for a retired military man.  I made these with duckcloth and the uniforms and sewed them with heavy duty thread so that the bean bags can withstand many backyard barbecue parties.  Each bag is filled with two cups of corn, and sewn in a 6 inch square.  I can make more of these if anyone needs custom bags for their own cornhole game.  Contact me here by leaving a comment.

Pots and Pans

I asked Santa for some new pans this year for Christmas, I guess he does check his list twice.  As I did not get any new copper pans.  I wanted something shiny to spruce up the kitchen what better to do that than some functional ruffoni cookware.  For me, I love the look of the copper, it becomes functional art when you display your ruffoni copper around the room.  The sun catches and makes fun reflections on the walls and ceiling.
The ruffoni not only looks good, but heats evenly on low heats for great ease of cooking.  They have the perfect pan for everything you could ever want to cook.  From sauce pans (which I love) to the jello molds that dear husband loves.
Maybe I will be getting the cookware for Valentines, one can only hope!

Let me count the ways

Cloth diapering seemed like a great place to start to be more eco-friendly with a new baby around.  In our first weeks we used disposables and they worked fine, but the massive amounts of trash leaving our house was just gross.  I felt like I was changing the trash bag as often as I was a dirty diaper.  Prior to the arrival of our little boy we had purchased and prepared (washed several times) a variety of cloth diapers.  Here is the break down.
6 Little Gpants with 6 cloth inserts
3 organic bum genius all in one
3 bum genius pocket diapers
3 gro-baby diapers
Our baby is 6 weeks and 10 lbs.

I will start with the gdiapers.  I love them.  We started using the biodegradable inserts, and have moved to the cloth inserts, which I find to be so absorbent.  At the changing station we have the gpants loaded with their plastic liner, and the cloth insert in that.  Changing time could not go any smoother.  Once baby is changed and happily secured in his bouncer, I rinse and throw the cloth insert into the waterproof laundry bag.  Easy as a disposable, better for the environment and baby's bum!  We only had one leak with the gdiapers with the cloth insert.  The outside shell of the gpant can be used several times before being laundered.

The BumGenius diapers are great too.  I like the all in one organic.  It is super soft, and with that diaper you just rinse and throw the entire apparatus into the bag for laundering.  We have not had any leaks with the BumGenius organics.  I really like the snaps, as they don't get tangled up and stuck to all the other diapers in the wash.  They have an excellent fit on our 10lb baby.

BumGenius pocket diapers are also good.  I have found that they are very resistant to staining.  It has been very rainy out so I have not been able to sun dry any of the diapers.  But so far these have no discoloration.  The pocket diapers are a little harder to use, because you have to stuff them prior to diapering (no big deal, I have a stack ready to go) and you have to unstuff after changing before you throw it into the bag.  Again, it is not a big deal, but compared to the all in one organic, there is a little more work.  That being said, we have had no leaks with this style either.

The last one we tried is the Gro-Baby.  I love the look, and the velcro that they have (very sticky), but our baby doesn't have the chunky legs required.  The outer shell always gets dirty, though you are suppose to be able to use it for several changes.  We have had several leaks with this diaper.  I hope that once he plumps up a bit they will fit better, and the leaking problem will be solved.  For now, these are at the bottom of my list.

There are so many reasons why people choose cloth diapers, and for those of you who think it is difficult, I am here to tell you it is not!  It is easy! I chose to cloth diaper for the environment, but now, cloth diapers how I love you, let me count the ways.

Ease of use
Less trash
No chemicals on baby's bum
Soft, soft, soft
Believe it or not less stink
Easier to clean bum with wipes!
No midnight trips to the store because we ran out of diapers
Lastly they are so cute!

If you use cloth dipes and have any input, I would love to hear it!  If you are considering cloth diapers and would like more info let me know.

Gardening resolution

Another one of my New Year plans is to grow a large bounty of heirloom tomatoes. Several different varieties that I can share with my neighbors. I learned today that the neighbor across the street shares the love of tomatoes with me. He too plants tomatoes each year, so that he can finally have flavorful tomatoes that the grocery stores are lacking. Today I told him of my goal, and he shared a few tips with me. He has to grow his tomatoes in pots due to a diseased soil in his yard. I am very excited to share that I just purchased my seeds for this growing season. These are the plants I will be trying to grow. I stress the word trying since my thumb is far from green.

Black Cherry-Tomato Seeds
Cherokee Purple-Tomato Seeds
Marvel Stripe
Blondkopfchen-Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Vintage Wine
Hillbilly (I just had to get this one for the name)
Mortgage Lifter, Red

If I have success with the seeds, I should not only have a nice bounty of tomatoes, but a colorful harvest as well.  I purchased my seeds at TomatoFest.com today, and I can't wait to get them.   Time will tell if my goal of a tomato garden will come to fruition.

Curious about Lincoln?

Check out his blog to find out how we are doing with our new addition. From the daily activites, fun outings and cloth diapers. The last 5 weeks have flown by.
Lincoln's blog

New Duds for a new Year

I am starting a new workout routine for the new year.  You may have seen it in a previous post.  I think I will treat myself to new workout apparel.  It is important to feel confident when starting a new workout routine.  I think it is one way to keep you motivated.  That is the reason for new clothes.  I will check out a pair of new asics sneakers, for maximum comfort for my feet.  Keeping my feet comfortable is a top priority for me.  I don't mind a little muscle discomfort, but I don't like my feet to hurt.  I also think I will pick up a Patagonia fleece.  Since the temperatures are a bit chilly here, and I don't want to have the heat cranked before my workout, this fleece will keep me warm while I do my warmup!  What is my warmup routine you may ask, well, before each workout I like to warm up with my reebok exercise ball.  I find that it is a good way to get my muscles stretched a bit before I start the intense workout.  For all of you out there that are "resolving" to get in shape this year, I would love to hear how you stay motivated.