HELLOmynameisHeather

Pot Warmers & Leg Holders

I have had the hardest time falling asleep this week.  And I'm not talking about midnight or 1am.  I've been up till 4, 6, 7am before falling asleep.  Such a drag!  But, I've made some important half-alert discoveries. 

For instance, last night I analyzed the implement of leg warmers.  I thought back to the dance classes of my childhood and had no recollection of cold ankles or even dancing outside in cold weather. And if a dancer were to dance outside in cold weather, wouldn't her whole body need an extra layer, not just her lower legs? 

I then flashed back to 5th grade and the vague recollection of a leg-warmers- over-jeans trend.  Now in that case, leg warmers were an accessory, an expression of personal style and good taste. Right?  Anyone?  So, is this what leg warmers are to dancers, just an accessory?  Hmmm, no, that couldn't be, as they would surely have been named something other than "leg warmers."  They would have needed a snappier name like Kickies or something.  Or Lady Legs.  Ya, good one.

No, no, there's got to be something more to it.  Hmmm... legs, ankles.  Oh yes, ankles!  Skinny jeans! (Hang in there.) Skinny jeans only look okay on a small sampling of female forms.  I've got it!  Leg warmers balance out the figure.  Make a dancer's hips look smaller.  Just like flared jeans do vs. skinny jeans.  Some smart lady from way-back-when just named them "leg warmers" so dancers of all shapes and sizes could save face.  "Oh, these old things, they just keep my legs warm."  Such a nice lady.  I wonder what her name was...

And so my evenings have gone.  One important discovery after another. 

It's getting about time to pull out the potholders.  Every pretty, vintage potholder that makes its way home with me tends to end up on my funky junky Christmas tree (check these out). Makes me laugh to see them hanging there in the mix, "Hee, hee, there are potholders on my Christmas tree!"  I even like them there when I'm well-rested and sane.  It's true. 

Okay, I'm off for a Friday date.  Make sure you stop by on Monday -- I've got something REALLY BIG planned.

Free Download!

So, look what I found!, a download of the pincushion pattern I wrote for Better Homes & Gardens' Quilts & More. I've probably had over four dozen requests for this pattern in my inbox, but am under contract to not release it for a few months.  I had no idea it was up on their site and available all of this time.

I'm not sure how much longer they'll have it posted, so go get a copy.

Fun little stocking stuffer!

One of Those Moments

How are you guys doing this?  Getting through the turkey comas, family get-togethers, late-night movie parties, early-morning shopping sprees, etc, etc, & so on, then fitting in a Happy Thanksgiving blog post? 

I missed it.  No Thankgiving post.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but I have no photos and I'm a couple of days late in posting.  And of course, there are no luscious pies left to photograph!  So shall I move on or add my thankful chimes to the music? 

I'll chime a little.

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am so deeply grateful for so many things this year.  A bulleted list could never cover it.  And my little niece was baptized today to add to an already moving week (Ocho is now an Adam!).  My mother gave a perfectly beautiful talk that had me fighting tears several times throughout.

Then Charlotte decided to be a big girl this week.  Monday night she announced, "I need to go potty," and she hasn't turned back.  I'm even moved by this!  What's up?  She's just been so responsible about the whole thing.  It's her thing; she owns it.  My baby. 

Oh, I really could go on.  Whole categories I'm not touching on.  I'll say it's been one of "those moments" (from that quote up there) all week. Good timing for a holiday called Thanksgiving.  Of course, I am eyeing the couch (still feeling my turkey). 

Before I go though, I must express my gratitude to all of you! Taking time from your days and families to make me smile, bring me to thoughtful tears, send me rolling on the floor with laughter, provide me restorative distraction and share with me sweet sisterhood from around the world.  What a magical force you are for good.  Thank you dearly. 

Happy late Thanksgiving!
Love, Heather

Ocho

What do you do when your sweet sister's in the hospital giving birth and you're anxiously awaiting the news?  Assuming you've already worn a hole in the floor from pacing, you can fiddle with your hair.  Then, when it's finally time to go see the baby, your hair is all ready. 

And that's about how it went yesterday. 

Introducing my newest little nephew, what's-his-name, or as my dad likes to call him, Ocho (the eighth grandbaby).  He doesn't have a name yet, but isn't he darling and perfect? 

He looks a lot like my little Elijah did when he was born, but for the nose.  And his little head feels like the inside of a rose petal -- velvety, velvety soft. 

So, hooray and heaps of love for my sister Julia and her husband Brent -- well done!  A perfect and sweet new baby boy to fight over at family get-togethers.

I love him the most - me first!

Re-FRESH-ed

Enough about TV and movies, right?  Can anyone tell I've had buttoned lips (for forever it seems)?  At last, here's something I can show, my new Freshcut logo. 

And you'll notice, there's the official HB logo up there too.  That was a long time in the works.  Or I should say that I was effectively putting off that task for a long time.  Defining yourself in type is surprisingly tricky. 

Are you an all-caps kind of girl or scrolly & silly?  Modern?  Vintage?  Modern & vintage?  Romantic?  Floofy?  Straight-forward? And when you've answered these sorts of questions, then you have to figure out how to translate that personality into type.

Kinda fun too.  Fun enough to do again.

So, what's the new Freshcut logo for?  Hmmm.  Well, that I'm hoping to announce next week. 

Snap Sparkle Pop

Any minute now.

---

Back again.  Anna did a fabulous job... and wore just the right sweater!  Yay Anna!

Bric-a-Brac in Brief

Lots of artwork going on in the studio this week, keeping me occupied and content  My sister's due to have her second child any day now, so I've got that on my mind as well.  I've got about five projects that each need a good nudge before the week's over and I'm enjoying the busyness.  Perhaps getting sick last weekend was just what I needed to have a good rest in prep for a carnival of activity this week. 

Feeling grateful.  Looking forward to Thanksgiving.

Anyhow.  Two TV things:
  1.  My good friend will be on Martha tomorrow (Nov. 15th).  I've got a Martinelli's chilling in the fridge and popcorn ready to pop. Martinelli's and popcorn?  Not sure why.  It just seems like a good way to celebrate such a thing.
    2.  Project Runway is back.  Tonight.  It's been a while.

12:10 to Bed

One more Halloween photo -- If you could capture true magic on film, I expect it would look something like this. This is Charlotte "poofting" me into a pink frog. She's been poofting cars into carriages, toys into cakes and balloons into horses.  Today she "poofted Daddy into a kingdom" (king).  Ribbit.

I went on a date with my mom tonight.  We tooled around some new boutiques in town, then went to see 3:10 to Yuma, which was excellent! I love when a story ties every wandering thread into one tidy bow for the ending.  It's, well, magic when you realize, ""Yes, of course!" 

And Christian Bale.  What can I say?  Just go see it/him.

Hmmm.  Well, I didn't intend to drift into a glowing movie endorsement and then call it quits, but I've got the flu and was just hit with a wave of fatigue.  Next post will be non-Halloweenish.  Or is that non-Halloweenie?

(Did you know that Christian Bale starred in Empire of the Sun (amazing movie) and Newsies as a kid?  I didn't realize that until tonight.)

The Aftermath

There are lots of ways of dealing with the aftermath of Halloween -- the candy.  Isaac and I let our kids have at it for a couple of days and then get rid of what's left.  I have some friends who stage it out, dishing one candy per day for who-knows-how-long.  Then there's the pick-out- your-favorite-insert # here- pieces method.  Makes for a good alternate discussion topic amongst mommies when you've already memorized everyone's birth stories! 

Ok, being a bit sarcastic, yes.  We have plenty of other things to talk about than birth and candy!  In fact, we didn't discuss birth or candy at all last weekend in Houston.  Oh wait, I did hear how Anna's fourth baby was her most difficult delivery.  But beyond that brief interlude, it was all art and schoolmarms. I probably had too much fun at Market.  My next fabric line didn't quite make it in time to be released this Market, so I was free to hang out as I pleased.

I met some new friends and some old ones too.  If you haven't seen Liesl's new company, go take a peek!  My gush over her paper dolls was a bit embarrassing in hindsight.  I even ran to get my sketchbook to show her all the paper dolls I've been sketching.  Just to prove, "You see, I'm not just saying that I'm excited about your paper dolls!  I really am."  Ridiculous.  Liesl, forgive me.  And what a sweetheart and smart.  She's really got things together.

Hmmm.  I don't know that I'm up for listing everyone this time.  The list keeps getting longer.  I'd rather just report my embarrassing moments : )  I was a bit sleep deprived and shouldn't have been in a professional setting that last day.  Nothing horrible... I just get a little too excited about things like thread and Japanese fabric, you see.  I've got to chill. 

I figure I now have six months to rest up for before Portland (yah, right).  My eyes and my stomach are set on this chocolate palace for an evening escape.

Had the best time showing Laura around too!  So fun.

And yes, there were plenty of perfectly polite, well-mannered, calm conversations as well.  I've just got to get more sleep next time!

Want some candy??   

The Mermaid

Pure elation!  Do you see it?  And I thought I'd have a little pirate girl, or a piggy, or a little cardboard robot girl with a polka-dot bow.  No, Charlotte was very clear that she wanted to be a mermaid.  And somehow the timing worked out well this year, so I went all out!

I created the tail texture by running gathering stitches in a fanned-out pattern.  Huge relief that it worked as planned!  The skirt is supposed to be the ocean, but I didn't quite get to the seaweed and fish I had in mind.  I love the color variegation there though - makes for great interpretive water.

I made a removable plastic sleeve for the fin so Charlotte could enjoy her Halloween without being barked at about dragging her tail.  It worked out swimmingly -- though the tail stayed off the ground anyhow as she pranced around in just about the same pose as you see in this photo. Crazy cute!

I drafted the pattern for the bodice and went a bit nuts with ruffles and trim.  At one place in the sleeve seam there's something like 12 layers (a couple sets of doubled ruffles & piping, trim, & the usual stuff).  I had to outfit Charlotte with a sleeved dance leotard underneath to keep her little arms comfortable.  And dance she has, in full regalia, on Halloween and every day since.

Isaac's contribution was the crown.  I handed him the materials and said, "Go for it!" 

He responsed, "What's wrong with this one?" (The original plastic crown underneath all of the goop). 

"Nothing's wrong with it, but it could be so much more mermaid-y."

"Ya, I guess," he said, but then proceeded to spend the next thirty or forty minutes deeply enthralled, improving in every way my original plan.  He even got out the drill so the button shanks on the back of the crown jewels would nest into the plastic just so.  I mean he really got into it.  He's proud of that crown.

He went a bit crazy with the wand too.  Got burned in the process : (

Besides the hot-glue burns, we had extra-fun this year.  It was Charlotte's first Halloween where she understood what was up - costume, candy, costume.  What a joy to see the magic in her eyes!  She's really pretty caught up in her underwater fantasy.

And obviously, Elijah's still got the magic.  Thank heaven Jedis lead a simpler, less-layered, unglittered existence or I might not have made the deadline.  Love my twirly, big-eyed dreamers.

The Jedi

The Jedi, as promised.  Not shy, is he?  My kids really are the best appreciators.  Schwohng!