Wednesday, September 17, 2014

what I love right now

I've always loved the name of my friend Ara Jane's blog-- you know what I love?-- because that's what blogging should really be about. It's been a crazy year, but I am slowly getting back into routines and am feeling jazzed about sharing what I love in this space again. There is so much good stuff coming up.

What I love right now:

Being Settled 

We moved into a new house in June, after living in a teeny condo for 9 months. It was crazy fast-- 5 days from making an offer to moving in. We traded my dream area for one that is actually more dreamy in the end. We are just a 5-minute walk to one of the best trail systems in Anchorage. Our yard has an incredible amount of aspen and birch trees and hosts moose just about every day. It's so peaceful here. But the best thing? I have a sewing room again. I'm calling it my studio though, because a lot more goes on in there than just sewing. I could pinch myself, I love it so much. The wallpaper? Not so much. But its time is limited.

It turns out that this glorious view is just a 15 minute walk from my house. Can't believe we hadn't gone down this way yet! Neighborhood cuties.

Dinner: The Playbook by Jenny Rosenstrach

Anyone who talks to me on a regular basis knows how much I loathe cooking dinner. It's not something that comes easy to me. I get distracted by the day's activities and then panic around 5:00. It's so much work, and with 4 kids, someone is bound to throw a fit about what I make.

I received Jenny's first book, Dinner: A Love Story for my birthday this summer and have slowly been reading it and loving it. So I pre-ordered her newest book, Dinner: The Playbook, and devoured it soon after it arrived. Something about the way she writes, and the way she lays out her recipes, clicks for me. We sit down as a family on Wednesday nights and plan for the next week. So far we've had things like shrimp rolls, chicken parmesan meatballs, kale and chorizo frittatas, and creamy greek chicken noodle soup. Everything has been delicious and totally manageable to make. The kids don't love it all, but they are trying things and getting excited about each new meal. I know that meal planning is nothing new. But I swear that this book has turned me into a happier and better cook already. If you don't have this book, get it.



Carrie Bloomston

I'm participating in a blog hop next week for Carrie Bloomston's new DVD with Interweave called Art Techniques for Quilt Design. I'll have more to say then of course, but after watching parts of it last night-- WOW. I've always appreciated her fabric lines and patterns, but she has so much more to contribute to the quilting world as an artist. I love watching her translate her artistic training into exercises to drive creativity. I'm excited to watch more, and learn more, in the next few days.


Making

After what felt like a pretty big dry spell, I am back to making and creating every day. Some days that means waking up at 5:00 a.m. so I can get time to myself. Some days it means letting the laundry stack up. I've been carving stamps, dyeing and painting fabric, stitching quilts and bags and clothes, sketching, and experimenting. I'll share some of it. Some of it will have to wait for sharing until later. But it's so great to be doing what I love again.

Cleaned it up and put it on a moleskine. I could do this all day. Every day. #wishfulthinking
Back to an old favorite, in preparation for Loon Lake @kristieocd
We've all been painting this afternoon. Untitled

20 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new house and reopened studio. It makes such a difference to have a dedicated space.

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  2. I love how happy you sound! Nice studio, beautiful makes. I'm going to check out that book - our fingers have become to boring.

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  3. Love your new space and congrats on the new house. It is wonderful to see your creations again!

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  4. If I looked out at what you see through your window I would get nothing done, but I would not have to take blood pressure medication. Lovely, lovely, lovely. And your creating space is fabulous as are your creations.

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  5. Looks wonderful - is that beautiful scenery your view from your home? I am working with some of Carrie's fabric now - her Collage line and love it! I went to interweave just now and bought that DVD thanks to you!!!!!

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  6. Love your happy post Krista. Excited for you

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  7. you know what i love? this! it's weird: i was just looking through my old blog posts yesterday, and felt strangely distant from that old self who found so much to love. so it makes me so happy to read this post! i'm totally inspired by this list! and i adore those birds. seriously adore.

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  8. oh, and you know what else i love? the fish pouch you made. love love love. thank you!

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  9. I wake up early almost every morning to make. I've had to learn that the laundry isn't an emergency...generally;)

    Your prints are awesome.

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  10. Oh, that sound so good!
    I love seeing things from you again!
    Have fun!

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  11. How nice to hear from you again! Wishing you lots of happy times in your new home and especially in your "studio"!Greetings from Germany

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  12. Great post It took me forever to finally come across your website. Sometimes bing makes it time consuming....Best Cccam Server

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  13. How fun to see you pop up in my feed again. Congrats on the new space and feeling inspired to create again. Your work is always inspiring to me, so I hope to see the bits you have time to share!

    cutie patchwork blocks, by the way.

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  14. Love the pouches...LOVE your studio! Aspen and moose. And thank you for your kind words. So much.

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  15. Awesome to see you pop up in my feed!! Seriously love the bird printing and the fish pouches and am so happy to hear that you are settled and loving your new home.

    On a different note is anyone else having problems posting comments from with in the bloglovin feed? I keep getting a message "this content cannot be displayed in a frame" Not on every blog just some, including yours. Weird.

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  16. Great to see you blogging again. Love the studio and the fish pouches.

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  17. Thanks so much for sharing the Dinner books! - I hadn't heard of them before, and I opened a new window for Booktopia and bought them both straight away. They sound perfect and I can't wait for them to arrive ... and I also finally bought Quilters' Mixology, which has been sitting on my wish list for far too long! Your studio looks fabulous - and I can't tell you how crazy it would be for us to see moose in our Australian backyard :-) Love your bird and fish printing, it's so wonderful to be able to print and sew with your own designs. And Carrie Bloomston! - love her new Paint range so much already. There was so much in your blog post, thanks so much! Cat x

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  18. Love the fish pouch! What kinds of paints/dyes do you like to work with on fabric? Do you have to heat set them?

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  19. Hi. I'm so happy for your sewing room. Well done.
    Could you perhaps tell me what paint did you use for the fish stamped on the bags?
    Thanks so much.

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  20. Hi. I'm so happy for your sewing room. Well done.
    Could you perhaps tell me what paint did you use for the fish stamped on the bags?
    Thanks so much.

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