The Sewing Dilettante

Here's that promised roundup of highlights from Christmas (which now seems about a millenia ago!) Clockwise from left:  1. A special tied birthday quilt made for baby G by my patchwork pal, Mrs. L . Amazing, right? It's completely hand sewn except for the binding and features the cutest little fussy cut sock monkey fabric. The picture doesn't do justice to it all, because the weather here seems to have just one setting at the moment: grey, overcast, and wet. Trust me, though, it's a gorgeous, cuddly quilt with lots of visual and tactile interest for a 1-year old!  2. Two 'scrumptious' Moda charm packs I picked up on my travels in NH for next to nothing (or so it seemed when compared to the prices I pay here in Ireland and Northern Ireland). At least one of these is destined for a baby quilt for friends who have just announced they're expecting their first. Fun! 3. Baby G's first birthday cake! I made red velvet , and, inspired by Pin...

I admit, this post's title isn't quite as catchy as 'born in the USA', but it certainly sums up what I did while in the States a couple of weeks ago. You see, in addition to those lovely little purchases I made at Portsmouth Fabric Company , I also picked up a handful of colourful prints during a trip to Mary Alice Dalton's Children's Couture shop in Belmont, NH. Mom and I had been told about this hidden gem well before baby G arrived, and it was decided that, on her first visit to the States, we would call on Mary Alice, along with several other mums, grandmas, and babies, to marvel at (and purchase!) the beautiful, skillfully crafted children's clothes she makes. Duly we did, and what a pleasure it was! Mary Alice's tremendous abilities as a seamstress were clear in all of the lovely outfits displayed around her charming boutique, and her amazing selection of bright and beautiful fabrics made me feel like a little kid in a candy shop! It took me sever...

Two weeks ago, I fully intended to write an update about the zigzag baby quilt I started a while back (it's actually progressing nicely. Hoorah!). Obviously, that didn't happen, primarily because I was preoccupied preparing for baby G's first transatlantic trip. That's right: at the ripe old age of five months, this little kiddo is already an international jetsetter, having flown over to Boston to pay a visit to all of her family and friends in the US. She handled the flights with aplomb and, of course, charmed the million or so people she met during our stay. She even managed to convince her besotted grandparents to take care of her for the night while hubby and I whisked ourselves away to  a fancy hotel  on the coast to indulge in a bit of pampering at the hotel spa and explore the charms of nearby Portsmouth, NH (ignoring the rain as well as the hotel's occasional resemblance to  the Overlook . Freaky.) Included amongst those charms, much to my delight, was ...

I spent this morning in a quilter's paradise! Remember that friend I mentioned, for whose son and daughter-in-law I made the Double Irish Chains quilt? Well, she (Mrs. L.), my mom, and I whiled away a couple of blissful hours in The Quilt Patch , an amazing little shop that looks deceptively small from outside but which actually houses an amazing selection of brightly coloured cottons, baby fleeces, quilt kits, charm squares, jelly rolls, and pretty much any quilting tool you can imagine. Mrs. L. is currently working on a wedding present for a young lady getting married in October with a Halloween-themed wedding! The quilt Mrs. L. is planning is, appropriately, black and white, and we found some amazing spider-web print black cotton for the backing as well as a couple of lovely ash grey and marbled black fabrics for borders. For my part, I picked up a few fat quarters in colours to match my earlier purchases , another few in white to add to my hexie quilt , and a lovely, soft p...

Well, I've been away in Montreal for the past week or so with work, sweltering in the record-breaking heat and humidity! Despite my enthusiasm about all such weather here in North America, even I found myself a tad bit cranky, especially after four nights in un-airconditioned student accommodation in the atmospheric but suffocating Grey Nuns Residence at Concordia University. I don't know how the nuns ever survived summer in this place, but, if their name is anything to go by (the term 'les soeurs grises' in French means both 'grey nuns' and 'drunken nuns'), alcohol might have played a key role. Then again, as one Montrealer informed me, this is the hottest, most humid summer they've experienced in 800 years! Anyway, as you might imagine, I was delighted to get back to New Hampshire and my parents' air-conditioned house for a last couple of days of family time before heading back to Ireland. That's where, on Sunday afternoon, I sat practic...

Appearances may suggest that I've completely neglected all patchworking during my holiday, but such is not the case. In fact, I finished binding my Double Irish Chains quilt early last week and have been waiting for the perfect conditions in which to take the photos of the finished product, all lovely and crinkly after being washed. Of course, despite the weather here being only gorgeous (as I may have mentioned!), the lighting still hasn't cooperated and, typically, today it started raining! So, that nixed the outside photo options. You get the idea though... The quilt is now all packed away in its gift bag ready for leaving with the bride and groom on Saturday. Had I been organized enough, I would've snapped a few outside shots of the quilt in all the sunny weather we had this weekend and the early part of this week, but there were loads of things happening that kind of preoccupied me, including a road trip to Saratoga Springs, New York with friends thes...

Yesterday, Mom, Dad, my brother, and I spent a fantastic afternoon visiting with family friends at their camp on Northwood Lake . It was the perfect day for such an outing, by which I mean, there was MORE hot, sunny weather. I could definitely get used to this! My view from the picnic table I spent the better part of the afternoon lying on one of the cushions in the pontoon boat, reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and soaking up the sun. *Bliss*  Naturally, given the weather and the location, dinner involved a barbecue and lots of lovely salads, followed by these homemade treats... Red velvet cupcakes! I can't help but wonder who first thought of dumping a load of red food colouring into their cake batter to inaugurate a baking tradition, but it definitely works! I used this recipe from the mighty Bakerella , and they were really amazing - super moist, a tad bit chocolate-y, and completely more-ish, especially with the decadent cream cheese frosting! So good were t...

I've been remiss in posting this week but only because it's been an action-packed one! Here are a few highlights... Dad and I had some quality father-daughter time on Tuesday when we drove up to one of my favourite restaurants - Parker's Maple Barn - for pancakes. I was a bit over-ambitious and ordered a towering stack of three fluffy pancakes topped with Parker's own maple syrup. Delicious!   Pancakes - nom, nom, nom! My three different layers: chocolate chip, pumpkin, and blueberry I managed to eat about three-quarters of my plate before admitting defeat and letting Dad finish them off for me. I left a very happy camper! Later that day, my mom and I visited one of the local farm stands to pick up some fresh produce and marvel at the gorgeous display of flowers.  Beautiful, huh? While we were there, we noticed that you could pick your own blueberries and figured we'd come back early one morning to do that. At the rate I'm eating them, i...