meet the library pocket totes (and a question for you)

Summer. Hot sun. Keds. Pulling my little brother behind me in his wagon. A purple bike complete with banana seat and white wicker basket. Walks to the neighborhood library for books. Stopping at the Burger Dairy corner store for popsicles. Walking home and curling up on the orange-flowered cushions on the screened-in porch with a stack of books…The Yearling, Trixie Belden, The Boxcar Children. Adventures await...

This is a peek into the summers of my childhood. I remember carrying a small rectangular tote bag with a rainbow on the front during these walks to and from the library.

With these memories in mind, I designed this tote for the summer reading of my adult life. It will hold adventures where I might:

Have a picnic at Pemberley
Take a walk in the gardens of Green Gables
Have tea in Cranford
Solve mysteries in Sleepyside

I can't wait.

I would love to know some of the places you visited while reading through your summer reading lists of the past...or the present. Where have you had a picnic or solved a mystery or twirled with laughter? I would love to join you there...and a bet a few others would too.

Share your favorite summer reads with us...

(I have added a few of these and some simple selma totes and some aprons to my etsy shop)

selma quilted pillows.

i've been having so much fun creating these quilted patchwork pillows over the last few weeks. they are part of the patchwork line named after my great-grandmother selma.

there is something truly magical about creating things that make you smile.

i am learning that we must focus on creating and doing the things that make us smile. we must surround ourselves with the things that ignite our inner spark. we must listen to the whispers of our hearts. we must pause long enough to hear the whispers...

the group of pillows that is left after the show is currently nestled on the guest bed...the colors grouped together in all their happiness.

i've uploaded a few of these pillows to my etsy shop. i hope you'll stop by for some tea and take a look.

home. happy and exhausted.

goodness what an amazing show the farm chicks put on. a fun time had by all surrounded by the most wonderful women! (i will share links and other fun things over the next few days.)

i've been home since 1 AM yesterday and i am a bit exhausted though as i am sure most vendors are. and even though it was 32 years old that i turned on saturday, i am feeling a bit more like i turned a few years older than that. while driving home, my helper extraordinaire and good friend anne and i talked about how we ached like two women just a bit older than ourselves (that is we talked about that when we weren't singing billy joel or lionel richie or fleetwood mac or the indigo girls or prince.... while trying to stay awake). set up took one day. tear down took two hours. enough said on that i think. wow.

i really loved how the booth turned out. it truly was a little room. and we now know that a ford expedition (rented for the occasion) does indeed have enough space to hold the contents of a little room and two people.

i have much more to share but need to keep taking naps and working my full-time job and taking more naps and fighting off this cold that is trying to settle in and unpacking and patting my sewing machine on the head for a job well done so that she doesn't feel neglected when i don't sit with her late into the night for a while. i have many emails to respond to and phone calls to return. if you are reading this, you know who you are, and thanks for your kind understanding in how long it is going to take me to do those things because i need to take a few more naps than usual...like right now. i am taking my new vintage quilt and going back to bed after i post this.

i wanted to check in though to let you know that the show went really well. i learned so much and had the best time! i met some amazing people. sending natasha aprons and maude bags and other creations out into the world while connecting face to face with people was really wonderful. i also wanted to check in to say how much i appreciate all your support these last few weeks as i worked so hard in preparation. (thank you.)

it is nice to come home with a few things (i made so many items. when we had them all out, i just looked around in amazement as i didn't quite realize all the work i had done until seeing everything in its perfect spot). and, i am starting to add these items to my little etsy shop.

patchwork pillows have begun to appear (i can't stop making them...they are too much fun and i will share some photos tomorrow but you can probably see a few glimpses in these photos). pin cushions will be coming later today, followed by some bags and aprons later this week. i will also share some new designs with you that debuted at the farm chicks show.

thanks again for your support...well, thanks for everything really.

blessings,
liz

a winner...and a few peeks

congratulations to miss supafly aka Christine from The Sweet Flypaper of Life (aka my boarding school roommate for two years!). she is the winner of the pink and white apron! (i used random.org to choose a number based on the number of comments.) christine, send me an email with your address and i will get the apron out to you next week!

i have been having a lot of fun with fabric this week. i have hit that point where a panic attack is not an option, and i just know i will fit it all in before the big show. (at least that is what stephanie and i keep telling each other. she will be at the farm chicks show too. we are pretty sure that our booths will be next to each other...fantastic fun!)

i am loving patchwork right now. just makes me so darn happy. and one thing i am learning while in the midst of being a bit of a one-woman sewing factory is that you must, must create what makes you happy.

natasha aprons are making me smile too as i dive into and pair up some of my favorite fabrics...love thinking about where these aprons will go exploring with their new owners...

hope you are in the midst of a beautiful day, wherever you are...

a day for wearing an apron

i found out about national apron day last year at the apronista. i think it is supposed to be the day after mother's day, but i haven't really heard any whisperings about it in blog world this year...but i am celebrating today all the same.

i suppose the real point it to wear your apron out in the world...but i am not so much getting out into the world today...however, i did wear my apron:

watching 30 minutes of marie antoinette and feeling quite inspired by the colors in that movie

dancing with millie while the indigo girls sang "virginia woolf"

choosing fabric for some patchwork

eating some m&ms dipped in peanut butter

changing from annoyed to grateful when thinking about the garbage truck waking me up so early this morning (because of it i was able to finish editing early enough to sew this afternoon)

making tea

thinking about what flowers i would like to plant in the pots outside

smiling when jonny emailed to say he would pick up some food for dinner

reading an email from a friend just checking in with me

creating a few aprons that will look like this one (though this is my favorite photo of that apron in action)

chatting on the phone with a friend

singing along with billy joel to his glass houses album while the sewing machine whirred

feeling hopeful and content