needle and thREAD

So, no sewing to report. Yet. I have a flannel nightgown day planned in honor of the forecasted snow, but that won't do much good this morning. Instead of works in progress or finished works, I have for you today the Grand Plan. Here's the sewing I have planned for the year. I figure this will keep me organized, give me a reference when I don't know what to do next, and hold me accountable (a bit) to use what I have.

First up will be flannel nightgowns made of Marmalade. I have lots of eyelet with which to trim them. Today. I must do these today.

Next up, Easter dresses. I'm planning three fairy tale dresses made of Ladies Stitching Club fabric, one in each colorway. To go with them, three Tiny Tea Leaves cardigans. One is nearly finished (I started it for Katie 18 months ago--it will be Karoline's instead) and the other two will be knit of Amy Butler Belle Organic Aran (this yarn has been discontinued).

After the Easter dresses (or maybe concurrently), this fabric will become a quilt for Mary Beth and draperies for her bedroom. The fabric is Heather Bailey Home Dec Garden District and the quilt will be our variation of the Picnic Blanket. We will do a drapery tutorial when we make these drapes. Cari's got it all written, but I want to take pictures as we go.

Then, it should be time for summer shirts and sundresses. I'll pull from the stack above.

This is Sarah Annie's stash. Pink. 

Dresses and tops for summer will come from this basket of Oliver + S patterns. We have more than enough in our collection for some variety.

Knitting after the Easter sweaters are complete will be Christmas knitting. We've got yarn stashed for scarves and cowls for cousins and teachers and special girls in our life. Still searching the perfect patterns (suggestions?). To go with the handknits, this year I'm resolved to give gifts in fabric bags. I still need to find a tutorial for nice drawstring bags.

I've set aside some bags we have to see if I can find the best method of "drawing the string." We have an abundance of Flurry fabric from the Christmas quilt. Some of it will become another quilt and the rest will be gift bags. 

I'm hoping to get to several quilt tops over the summer. I have jelly rolls of Kate Spain's new Honey, Honey set aside for the little girls. They will each get to choose the yardage for the backs and binding. I need to do that soon so that quantities aren't limited. I plan to use this quilt pattern.

I'd like to finish the California anniversary quilt. Maybe by our next anniversary?

Speaking of quilts, there is fabric here for a quilt for Mike's parents (some older Joanna Figuera) and then there is some more fabric from the quilt I made for Sarah's Posey-pie. Not sure if there's enough there for TWO more babies (you did hear she's expecting twins, didn't you?), but we're creative types around these parts; once we know gender, we'll put our heads to that.

There are some more of those fabulous Anna Maria Horner scarves to be made. I love these so much and truthfully, this fabric is earmarked for me! I hope to squeak them in rather soon. I also have a stash of ribbon. Opportunities to use pretty ribbon always seem to present themselves. It's good to be prepared.

There is also some long-ago stashed Anna Maria Horner on this shelf, enough to make a large voile quilt. I purchased it before I realized how slippery and fragile voile is. It's patiently waiting for my skills to improve. There's some velveteen, too. I was thinking about this cape. Maybe? 

That's more than enough for the year, I think. I haven't left any room for new inspirations. That's probably a good thing; I have imposed a spending freeze upon myself, too:-).

Reading? Did you notice that the girls' jelly rolls sit atop Deborah Moebe's new book? Stitch Savvy. You might remember that it was Deborah's book that got me going on this sewing path. That and Sarah's insistence that we both learn to sew. Instead of learning to sewing, Sarah had a baby. I learned to sew (a baby is better, I tell you).  Now, she's having twins. Guess that means my sewing goes into overdrive and I read Deborah's new book?

Stay tuned.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

Now, I must click this shut and focus on our pending snow day. 

And sew some flannel nightgowns. Today. Promise.

Still Talking Food (with a side of knitting)

After reading Cravings, I picked up An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace. It's not really a cookbook, but I sure am learning some things about cooking! It's a book of foodie essays about elemental things, like how to make good stock and how to cook eggs well. I've been cooking eggs for a very long time and I promise you, I'll never look at an egg the same way again. I think we'll call it an "intentional kitchen book." It brings me back to the basics of food and what it is and what it can do with just a few simple skills. It's so well named--if you are a "judge a book by the cover" type, know that this cover suits this book. There is a certain economy to this kind of cooking and I confess that when my friend Tonia mentioned how much her food bill had dropped, she persuaded me to read the book. I consider myself a bit of a foodie and I've cooked many, many meals for quite the growing crowd. I couldn't imagine what new morsel would be between the covers, but they were there! I haven't finished yet and I do offer one caveat: there are lots of references to crusty bread brushed with olive oil and to shaved Parmesan cheese. If you are on a restricted diet, please consider that your craving alert.

I'm still knitting Katie's Tiny Tea Leaves, nearly finished with the yoke. Knitting and sewing time seem a bit scarcer than I'd like lately. Not quite sure why...

Join Ginny for more tales of reading and knitting.

Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image, and God

{This post is a part of the Cravings blog tour.}

Five years ago, I resolved not to diet. (Go ahead. Read it. I'll be here.) As I said then, I come from a long line of dieters, and an astonishing number of women with eating disorders. For the rest of that story, you'll have to click the link. For today, I want to tell you about the last five years and a most extraordinary book. 

Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image, and God was written by Mary deTurris Poust. 

Mary is an author, columnist, journalist, speaker, and blogger who has written for dozens of Catholic and secular publications. I think you will want to add her blog, Not Strictly Spiritual to your "read frequently" list. I first read Mary when I picked up Walking Together: Discovering the Catholic Tradition of Spiritual Friendship.

The funniest thing happened right after I read that book. Well, maybe not the funniest, but definitely worth smiling about. Linda, one of my dearest, closest friends in the whole world called to tell me that she was reading this awesome book that just reminded her of us and she wanted me to read it with her. Had I ever heard of Walking Together?

Um, yep. A little;-). I had blogged about it and had a delightful conversation with the author and Lisa Hendey for a Faith and Family podcast that very day.

Linda doesn't read my blog:-)

I love her any way. But I digress.

So when Mary asked me to review this book, I jumped at the chance. Honestly, I wasn't all that enthused about the subject matter, but Mary is an excellent writer and I really like to read her books because she thinks big thoughts and she thinks them thoroughly. In this rapid-fire internet world, those big thought, thorough books are becoming rare.

I wanted to read this book, not because I have an obsession with dieting or any kind of eating disorder, or even a poor body image. I wanted to read this book because, dang!, it's really, really hard to eat the way I have to in order to avoid setting off an autoimmune reaction. Between Hashimoto's and Celiac disease, I've learned to eliminate all grains, dairy, legumes,and sugar. Ideally, the meat in my life hasn't been fed grains, either. Think about that a minute. That's a whole bunch of food that's not in play. I feel like I think about food all the time, just to figure out what to eat next. And frankly, I'm tired of wreatling with food all the time. I don't diet, but sometimes I starve--not because I mean to, but because there truly isn't anything available to eat. Poor planning. 

So, I read this book with different eyes from most of the reviewers on the grand blog tour. Much of what Mary wrote about the voices we hear as women rang true, but for me, I was looking for something else. I had mostly quieted those voices; the taunting of different voices was ringing in my ears.

From the middle of July until last week, I stuck carefully to a very strict eating plan. And I felt well, really well. And then, all at once, the wheels fell off. I helped myself to spoonful of cream cheese frosting, then, two chocolate chips, and before I knew it, I was dipping bread in butter. That day, writhing with a stomachache, my mouth full of blisters, I tried to help my family see my son off to college. Emotional eating? No way! I had conquered that, remember?

Maybe not.

Walk with me a few minutes through Mary's book. I'll pull some quotes that spoke to me and hope they speak to you, too. They are a bit eclectic. Think of it as a buffet.

Make a list. Start to write down the tihngs you've always wanted to do, a Bucket List of sorts. I did this not long ago and was suprised by some of the things that made their way onto my list...Weight loss or  poor body image don't seem to have anything to do with those things, at least not on the surface. But when you dig a little deeper, you begin to see that a poor self-image makes us less likely to tackle something new, something that might call attention to us, when what we really want is to fade into the background.

Oh, yes. That fade into the background desire. I know it well.

I've often said the greatest weapon I have in the war against eating something that makes me sick is the Eucharist. If I can remember between times that I receive Communion that I won't even take the Lord in a form that contains gluten, it's hard to persuade msyelf that any other forbidden food is worthy.

Mary quotes Cathy Adamkievwicz, who says, 

Whenever I go to Mass, I'm offered Jesus himself in the Eucharist. It's become a profound reminder that he will feed me--repeatedly. He is always there, ready to give me exactly what I need.

And really, I don't need a grilled Brie sandwich on artisan sourdough.

Nurturing the connection between body and soul starts us down a road less traveled, one where we crave healthier foods, slower mealtimes, more physical and spiritual space. From this new perspective, we willingly choose fewer mindless high-calorie fillers [or fewer autoimmune triggers?] because we don't want to bog down our bodies and souls with things that wear us out, fatten us up, and lead to sluggishness and dissatisfaction and acedia, or inertia...We can find magic in the moments of chopping, stirring, baking, eating, savoring, and sitting around a table and enjoying our food rather than standing at a counter eating directly from the bag. But that shift in attitude takes work, so get out your shovel and let's start digging.

My college going-away-day binge?  I don't think it was deep-seated emotional muck that required a steam shovel. Instead, I think it was largely fatigue and about eight weeks worth of to-do lists that never once bulleted self-care moments. It was the royal crash my spiritual director had warned about the night before the wedding, when he gently chided, "Martha, Martha..." This book and a small spade, and I think I can shovel out of this one.

I loved Mary's reminiscing about Sunday afternoons in Brooklyn. They reminded me very much of my cousin Ellie's similar memories. I could smell the Bolognese gravy and hear the great-aunts arguing about the right way to make the perfect meatball. I don't think the value of Sunday dinners can be overstated.

In the chapter on balance, Brother Victor of The Gift of Simplicity and the wonderful Monastery Kitchen books, writes, 

Make preparing food an enjoyable time. People can get into it and learn the value of these different elements, how to balance a meal. It's not just a question of eating and filling ourselves up and then just forgetting. Making food is something that can really bring quality into your own personal life and your family, not only on feast days and special occasions. Do it as an everyday thing, even if it's in a simpler form, and then perhaps on weekends or feast days you do something more elaborate.

My kitchen time of late has not been enjoyable time. It's been crazy-busy, hard pressed, and utilitarian, even when feeding large crowds of loved ones for special occasions.

Brother Victor again:

The daily rhythm of a monastic life attaches great importance to the time spent in the kitchen and food preparation, to time in the refectory and the act of consuming food. Saint Benedict attached great importance to these matters, and throughout the whole of monastic tradition, food retained a sacred character because of the importance given to it by Christ himself. Anyone participating today in the life of a monastery notices the importance the monks and nuns give to their meals, their practical and healthy method of cooking, and their reverential way of serving food at the table and their equally reverent consumption of it.

I've been at war with food. A former foodie with an Italian passion for food and feeding my family, I've been fighting food this past year. It's truly too hard to feed an entire very large family with my food restrictions. After reading this book, I'm ready to fill myself with Christ, and--so filled--to cook with intention for my family, secure in knowing that I can forego some of the foods they are eating because food isn't bigger than the Spirit that fills me. 

I'll let you know how it goes. 

I highly recommend the book and I have a copy to give away. Leave a comment below; join the foodie conversation (I truly do love foodie conversations). I'm going to try to pop in frequently in the next couple days and follow up on comments.

You may leave separate comments if you share this post/giveaway on Twitter and Facebook (or even Instagram--I love Instagram. And foodie Instagram, all the better. I'm @heartofmyhome). The contest ends at 8 pm EST on January 25, 2013. 

Also, there's this giveaway. It's a biggie! Win a Williams-Sonoma gift card.

needle and thREAD meets Yarn Along

I had an a vision during Advent: a handknit sweater, a skirt made of stashed Anna Maria Horner flannel and a pretty AMH ribbon, and those TOMS (the ones that have taken on such meaning). Sarah would wear it all for Paddy's brunch the day after the wedding. It was a golden vision.

Totally in my head.

I never really put them all together until after I was finished knitting and sewing (and that happened around the morning of the 28th). The vision didn't quite become a reality;-). The sweater is a bit too snug through the chest and not really the right shade of gold to go with the skirt. Oh, well. She likes it. She went to bed talking about her "golden clothes."

Reading has been sparse this week. I started two books, The Language of Flowers and A Homemade Life. The first glances of each were depressing so I put them aside. I downloaded The Art of Family to read in the orthodontist's office, but my friend Jen was there, so we spent the morning chatting instead.

What are you sewing and reading this week? Tell me about your handmade Christmas gifts!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

 For more knitting and reading, visit Ginny.

needle & thREAD

This was supposed to be the St. Lucy's Day edition of needle & thREAD. There were to be three flannel nightgowns here for happy pictures. Alas, I spent the weekend relearning slope-intercept and graphing inequalities. Saturday morning, fabric all smoothed out and newly-traced patterns pinned in place, I recognized that these nightgowns weren't going to happen before exams were taken. They might not even happen before Christmas. When I make them, I'm going to make them extra long. They can wear them in January and February and then again next year. 

I do have some things to show you, though. iPhone pictures are beginning to frustrate me. A camera is moving to the top of my list of things to research. Do you love yours? Tell me why.

The drapes for the main floor of the house are finished. Cari and I worked on the sewing room drapes this week and I finished them yesterday morning, early, early. Mike's been working ridiculously long days, splitting his time between here and Miami, so the rods aren't hung yet, but the drapes are so pretty!

I'm nearly finished with the great pillow expedition in the family room. I love the pop of color on some otherwise rather dull couches. 

One last pillow remains to be covered. I've been doing a little stitching sampler on a scrap of the drapery fabric. It will be the center of a log cabin square. This seemed a grand idea when I first conceived it. In reality, this fabric is so loosely woven that it frays if you look at it the wrong way. It's not fun to make patchwork with it. I'm determined to make just that one pillow, but my grand plans for lots of them were squashed pretty quickly. I do want to do just this one pillow, though. The needlework competes with my knitting time whenever I sit down these days. I want to finish Sarah's sweater by Patrick's graduation party (the day after the wedding). Knit? Stitch? Math? 

I haven't done much reading. Last week, Emily recommended Dirt and the Good Life. I have the book now, but haven't yet begun to read. After the math final...

So what's happening out there in needle and thread world? Are you working on Christmas presents? Racing to the finish with something special? Do tell.  

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)