CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

babyshower and off I go!

Today: I invited a friend for vegan pancakes form here and to handcraft her baby shower invitations. We sprouted a garden of stamped flowers on the front and I printed the text inside. I hope the weather is good and we can have it in the real garden, some flowers might have sprouted by then, not just fading bulbs.

Tomorrow:  I am off to Quilt Market in Portland. This was decided and agreed upon a long while before Finn was born, Portland is after all my favorite American city. I am not quite sure on what foot to stand about such a tremendously cool trip. Leaving the baby to fend for himself with his newly minted grandparents; having to pump milk to keep my supply up; hoping he will agree to pick up nursing again when I return...
I worry about all those things, and chew on my finger tips a lot lately.

Very Happy Mother's Day to me!

This was my first Mother's day ever! let me tell you, it's not one bit overrated... I just enjoyed it to the last stroke of midnight. Granted I spent about a third of it slumbering on the sofa; this in itself is a treat when you consider the new family dynamics.

Finn did very well to impress me (with some major help from dad). I received a Birthday Card (!) and the camera of my dreams. I think the baby wants to ensure that his childhood is thoroughly documented!

Today I read some really sad news on my best-blogfriend webpage. Karin has decided to compose the final entry of OrangeFlower.  I deeply respect her need for more free creative time, and yet I mourn the end of the blog that was the first to link ChickpeaStudio and is responsible for many of the graphic improvements this page has seen. Although I gained one of my life very best (pen)friend out of this adventure, I can't help but  feel like an orphan today.

Bath Time

I thought  a nudy pic would cheer us all up on a rainy Friday.

Fabric I love

I have been looking around for heavier weight fabric in wide width ( especially Denise Schmidt) to make more slings for baby Finn. There are a lot of details I would like to change with the sling to make it more comfy.
Along my web search I encountered these finds:

These are from Robert Kaufman , they are a blend of bamboo and cotton. Sew Mama Sew carries them.

Oh! and I bought myself this book yesterday:

It contains a nice pattern for fabric baskets...I should make one soon and report back to you !

Narrow Hem Photo-tutorial

Here is the promised How-To on narrow hems. Narrow hems are, I suspect, nobody's favorite. In this tutorial I show how I tackle the problem. It doesn't make it a snap (alas) but at least you are left with a nice/clean/regular result you can be proud of. I am using the Bernina Aurora 440 that came to live with me for twelve months, I was particularly happy during this project  (the sling) with the ease with which the sewing machine handles multiple layers. It sewed over folds with gusto and I felt very little stretch... Great stuff!

Coming soon: rounded flat-fell seam tutorial.

Belly button

This amazing thing is my son's belly button, I seem to have just discovered how marvelous it is, and can't get enough of it!

I rather be...

I am on a tight deadline to finish a project for work...a quilt to be precise; one with elaborate pieced borders. Unfortunately, I am not 'into' it at all anymore. It's one of those projects yous started so long ago it has lost all interest... I feel, as my husband so elegantly puts it, that I would rather receive a swift kick to the groin than keep working on this. It has to be done, it must be done, it will be done!

But I'd rather be working on this new alteration project I have in mind. While pregnant I bought this lovely dress (not cheap) from Mimi Maternity and wore it a grant total of zero times! That is why the tag is still attached. The fabric is just gorgeous, I can't give it away... So I have been thinking : why not make a skirt out of it? I am not quite sure how, but I am working on it...

 

Friday's salad

A food post...it's been a while. I read somewhere that nobody wants to know what you had for dinner, but I remain  unconvinced. Karin always has the most scrumptious food posts, so does Angry Chicken. Anyway, the sight of my lunch made me happy today, so I am sharing, sorry if it's a terrible bore.

You are looking at a mix of greens, edamames, pine nuts, gruyere cheese and croutons flavored with olive oil and garlic. I made the croutons this week, a day when we had nothing but lettuce and dry bread to eat. I cut the bread in smallish pieces, mix it with olive oil and chopped garlic cloves and put it to crisp under the broiler. I always have pine nuts in the freezer because they make everything special ( even frozen pizza). The croutons keep well in the fridge and I am debating freezing some for even more desperate times. I hate to go shop for groceries, can you tell?

Day 30: Focus

It's the last day of the Macro-photo challenge. It will be interesting to see if I can take any good non-macro pictures now.  I would like to take 'nature morte' now. I think they are called still pictures.

This wonderful challenge resulted in a large collection of pictures of the boy.  Those pretty eyes might be on the other side of the camera soon enough!

Finn of many faces...

Thomas calls this Finn's survival face. He makes those cute mouth movements so my heart will melt, this way he ensures that I keep feeding him!