{~*Stormy*~}

It's been pouring and windy outside all morning, I'm wearing layers & surrounding myself with cheer-y colors and things.

Right now I'm a sucker for berry tones. I woke up this morning and decided I'd work with these hues all day, more hand sewing. Bits of blues, bright fuchsias, tiny pops of yellow and small hints of off white. Something like raspberries, blueberries, lemons, marionberries & whipped cream.

Last night I got little to no sleep, more coughing. Poor Mr.McPorkchop *never* complained, even though I was thrashing around, cuddling close because I was frozen then kicking him because I was hot, stealing all the blankets...you know, generally being an awesome person to sleep next too! He gets home early today so I'm making him lunch, baked eggs in creamy tomato basil sauce with roasted kale & whole wheat toast. Something filling and very warm. I might add some red quinoa as well for more protein.

Speaking of food & berries! I did some quick math & realized since my New Years Resolutions I've lost 14.8 lbs! That's great! And deserves a present in a berry color ;) So I treated myself to this Sleepy King Woodland Owl Wing. Savannah is *super* nice & friends with my bestest BFF buddy Jenny & lives in Chico! Sweet! I'm not sure how it will look on me, mostly because I wear glasses and I don't want my head to look busy. Yup. I just typed that. Haha.

I hope your having a great Tuesday! Stay cozy!

xo

P.S; I use wordpress & I'm using threaded comments, which is next, except I can't figure out how to give myself an icon! If anyone knows how, let me know! wordpress is kinda scary. I'm always afraid of tinkering around with it in fear of breaking something.

{*~Monday~*}

Sunday evenings I generally plan my upcoming weeks meals. I've found the more I plan, the better we eat, the less extra money we spend and the happier my stomach is. Last night we made a quick trip to Safeway where I stocked up on some of my favorites; kale, cauliflower, oranges, organic vanilla & chocolate milk (my personal "junk" food), dutch potatoes & some onions. Strawberries were buy one get one free and smelled delish, but they are imported from Mexico, my New Years Resolution is USA produce only. We have a *lot* of farmers in America that we gotta support, both local small growers & larger farms. Especially here in California with the abundance of farms & great growing conditions, I personally think there is *no* reason not to buy US grown produce. *steps off soap box ;)*

I can happily report that I did try Smitten Kitchens Cauliflower & Caramelized Onion Tart! I bought a whole wheat pie crust at the co-op that I *really* liked the flavor & texture of. It was a two pack, so I have an extra shell for later. I substituted Gruyère for Loleta Swiss & only added 2 ounces. I also got some incredible mascarpone imported from Italy that was heavenly. I really really *really* loved this recipe & I think it's a good jumping off point for other flavor combinations. I only recently have started liking onions, so far I only like them caramelized or extremely softened. One thing about eating vegetarian has made me do is try new things and give previously disliked things a second chance! Next time I make this I'll try ricotta, use 2% Strauss milk & add a lot more cauliflower. The head I bought was kinda on the small side & I'm obsessed with it, I'd say it's in my top 5 favorite veggies. I love heavy cream as well, don't get me wrong, but the flavors are already so fantastic that it simply doesn't need the extra fat, so 2% would be totally fine.

I used my nifty little egg cooker last night & hard boiled some eggs for this week, Mr.McPorkchop has already been at them, he's an egg addict as well. I love to make fun egg salads; a tiny bit of bbq sauce (I use one by Annie's!), 1 teaspoon of canola mayonnaise, dijon mustard, dill, a handful of fresh spinach with some whole wheat toast....heaven!!!!!!!!!!

At some point last night I got up, walked into the kitchen & took cough syrup because I kept waking myself up, except I have no idea what time that was and it's every 12 hr medicine. Way to go Self!!!! Eeep!

Today I'm working on some hand sewing for stuff for the shop. I came up with an idea earlier in the weekend, ran it by some friends & I'm putting it into action today. Think hexes & linen! I'll be hunkered down on the couch all day busy with a needle in my fingers! Does anyone watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I started to watch this fall and got side tracked, now I'm back on season 2, it's on hulu. I never watched it when the show originally aired but for some reason, I really like it!!!!

I hope you have a great Monday & thanks for all your nice comments yesterday :)

xo

{*Stash Interview*}

Good Afternoon & Happy Thursday!!!

First, I'd like to give a very big thank you to sewmamasew for mentioning my little doll quilt. I've actually changed two squares on it since then and have cut the sashing! Now I'm extra motivated to finish it!

During the month of February they've been interviewing various crafty ladies about their fabric stashes and it's been so much fun to read along. I recently (earlier in the week) switched up my sewing area so I thought I'd play along, even though it's March ;)

What do you usually sew?

I sew reusable cloth menstrual pads! The idea is hard to wrap your head around at first, but it's great for you and the enviroment, plus I love to buy rad fabrics!

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy?

I'm strictly a fat quarter kinda girl! I can't buy large cuts of fabric because I simply don't use all that much! I also share a very tiny two room home with my fiance, Mr.McPorkchop, and as it is, my business takes over our space big time! It bums me out when fabric shops aren't fat quarter friendly, but the ones who are know that I shop from them 2-3 times every few weeks! I do buy a lot of Japanese prints in half yards because I've started making pouches from them, plus once you can't find a print, it's gone forever!!!!

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

I only buy fabric for my shop, I've only bought fabric three times for myself, twice was something I needed, fabric for my birdie sling and fabric for my frenchie bag, the third time was my biggest fabric investment and most prized piece of fabric ever. When I shop for my business, I buy new collections, I buy stuff that I genuinely like, not stuff that "I think will sell", because I don't want to sew with it if I don't love it! Every little fabric I buy for my shop I buy because I adore something about it, the color, the print, the designer...something!

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?

Yup! Since my fabrics go on an intimate part of the body, I prewash all my fabrics twice using ecover delicate wash, just to remove any excess sizing, make sure it's 100% shrunk. I wash it asap because I can't wait to get my greedy little hands sewing with it!

Do you iron it?

Oh yes! My iron is one of my most prized possessions actually, and I know how weird that sounds! My mom & stepfather gave it to me as a Christmas gift the day before he passed away. When I opened it he said "well, I had to get you this one, it shuts off automatically", haha because clearly, I get wrapped up in a project and you know...forget about things. Like hot irons. :)

How do you sort it?

Color Chronologically!!!!

Do you have any special folding techniques?

Nope! Just nice and neatly!

How do you store your fabric?

This shelf! Plus I have three rubbermaid clear small bins that hold my home decor weight fabrics and half yards of fabrics. I keep my bolts of bamboo and cotton fleece next to my sewing desk. Anti-pill fleece is in a giant soft squishy pile at the edge of my desk as well in a big basket!

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

I think it's just a matter of buying what suits your personality!

When do you say enough is enough?

When it won't fit on my shelf!!! I'm on a no-half-yards-of-fabric-diet right now!!!!

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Well, I really really am into quilts right now so I've been saving my scraps and cutting them into pieces! I also like adding fabric tags to things, typing on fabric, gluing fabric to things...

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

Oh man. Ok. This is my favorite, most expensive, most most most FAVORITE (Can I say that again?) print ever! It's a yard of Liberty of London, Tana Lawn. I bought it from a fabric shop in the UK and I just die when I look at it. I'm not sure I'll ever sew with it, I've dreamed of making a skirt with it, but it's only a yard of fabric. It lives in my hutch with my yarn and I only take it out on special occassions, crazy right?! I know!

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?

I'm led to believe that the perfect stash simply must belong to Martha Stewart. I'm pretty sure I've seen bits and pieces of it in her magazine, but come on, she's gotta be rolling in some phenom fabrics!!!!!

I'll share these new fat quarters with you that I just got today!

I love them!

Ok! That's all for today! I'm answering questions about custom orders, packaging orders and working on some stuff today! I might sneak some pads into the shop later tonight!

Have a fantastic Thursday everyone!!!! I'm going to maybe try to make some pineapple shrimp with jasmine rice tonight! eeep!!!

xoxox

{*OmNomNOM!*}

So Wednesdays are my favorite day of the week. I'm honestly not sure why! I mean, each day is new and different, but Wednesdays are just my day!!!

Last night I made the most gorgeous lasagna ever. I'm so glad I twitter because I got all my cooking tips from my pals and its so rad having so many people chatting away!

I roasted some veggies, ohhh veggies, I roasted kale, endive, spinach, bella mushrooms, olives, pinole nuts, yellow squash, japanese eggplant...basically, I cleaned out my fridge. I tossed all the veggies together with some super nice evoo, sea salt and black&white fresh pepper. I couldn't stop grabbing the crispy kale pieces and nibbling on them as I was assembling the lasanga! lol! I used some left over homemade marinara sauce that I had tucked in the freezer and some ready to bake whole wheat pasta sheets!

Not the best photo, but you get the idea!!! I love the size of this dish, it was perfect for 6 serving sizes! Rad! Today it tasted better than yesterday, the roasted flavors of the veggies totally came through! YUM!!!

So I have so much to share with you but I don't know where to begin!!!

Well, lets see, the shop is updated with some very pretty new things! I got some very rad mail today, but don't have photos of it yet, so that can wait..hmmm..ok moving on :)

Ok, first off, Shanna, has written a super rad review of my reversible liners!!! Totally check it out because its a really honest review and that's so so so helpful. Lots of people don't talk about cloth, don't want to think about cloth, cloth just eeks them out and thats *totally* understandable so it's nice to see women being open and talking about it! Thank you so much Shanna!

So, I've talked about how I'm doing Oh, Fransson's Quilt-Along right? Well I'm totally torn on fabric choices! People are already starting to post photos in the flickr pool and I'm so over whelmed! I can't decide if I should use fabrics from my stash, scraps or buy some new stuff locally! I know that I don't want to buy a bundle of all the same fabrics, I don't like anything too matchy matchy, but at the same time, THIS IS SCARY STUFF! This is my first full sized quilt folks!!!! These Three Inspire Me! Choices choices choices!!! I totally have tons of great fabrics, but can I make a rad quilt from them? hmmm...remains to be seen!!!!

Ok! I'm off to sew a bit more before bed! Have a great night everyone! Xoxo