Hoop Up!

I can't say no to Hoop Up. I love this swap!

This cycle, I chose as my inspiration piece "notebook notes and doodles" for Jaxon's new bedroom.

Here is what I came up with:

The quote is here. I had trouble deciding, but ultimately the Disney quote won out. the "notebook paper" lines are machine stitched. The "Jaxon {heart} Mommy, Mommy {heart} Jaxon" was a request from the baby boy. So sweet!

I've finished my first swap piece (of two). The inspiration is vintage, kitschy Hawaiiana. Right up my alley! I went with a Shag (my favorite artist) inspiration, to come with this:

Wait, is that shot too artsy?? Here is what she looks like:

I struggled with the purplish skin -- I was afraid she might look like a hula zombie. I went with it, though, and I think she looks fun and kitschy.

I have one more to go!

*tap, tap* Is this thing on?

No excuses, I've been absent too long, ignoring my little home on the interwebs. I have plenty I could have talked about, but always composed blog posts in my head, rather than actually typing them.

I've caught up on all the blogs I try to regularly visit, and I organized my Google Reader so I don't get overwhelmed with unread posts (maybe I should blog about that!).

So a quick catch up from November...

...health...I had a skin biopsy come back positive with melanoma cells. More skin was removed from the area, and an additional three biopsies all came back negative. I have some pretty heinous scars, but not cancer, so I'll take them!

...family...Jaxon has only two months left of kindergarten! He has started taekwondo lessons and loves it! Swim lessons are a distant second in his mind. Wait until he starts piano lessons!

Jaxon ready to perform at his first school music program

Since the last time I blogged, we lost a member of the family. Charlie's stepmother, Cathy, died unexpectedly just before Thanksgiving. Charlie's dad, Chuck, and Cathy married in 1981, so she had been a part of the family for many, many years.

Cathy and I at my MFA conferment, 2003

Chuck sent me a box of Cathy's clothes to make into a quilt, and they sat in the laundry room for a couple of months before I could bring myself to cut into them. This past weekend I attended a local quilt retreat, and Cathy's quilt was my number one priority. I finished the top and it will go to Susan for long arm quilting this spring.

Please disregard the elderly golden retriever!

...and sewing! The retreat was great for getting me back into the sewing swing of things! Work has been so busy -- spring quarter begins Monday, and then it will be time to convert to semesters! I think the mix of the retreat falling just before my spring break and attending with my BFF Lisa did wonders for inspiration and sewing excitement!

Besides Cathy's quilt, I finished quilting another quilt that I will have bound and photographed over the weekend, designed a new quilt around some fabric I've been hoarding, and made some progress on another quilt that I've been pebble quilting for far too long.

Before the retreat, I hadn't done much sewing, but I did make this quilted duffle bag for a friend's daughter.

She bought a twin quilt on clearance, and I used Simplicity 2600 for the pattern. It went together really easily, and I had enough of the quilt left that I bound the cut edge and included it as a lap quilt.

And this week I was inspired to make these guys, from a mixture of tutorials (here, here, and here). Can I bring myself to stab them with pins?

I still need to tell you about the sewing room switch -- Jaxon graduated to the larger sewing room and I got demoted to his smaller bedroom, my next tutorial, and a couple of WIPs that are almost done! I promise to be back very soon if you promise to stop by again!

My blog brain broke

Uuuummmmm...yeah....

It has been a crazy quarter, and obviously blogging (and sewing) has taken a back seat. What I *haven't* shared...

I'm the associate director of our school and we are working hard on the transition from quarter to semesters. It's madness.

It's week 10 of the quarter. Which means next week is finals week. Ouch.

I have another tutorial over at Havel's.

I think I've sewn one thing in 10 weeks. I am going through serious withdrawal. I am going to a retreat next weekend. Can't wait.

I had a skin biopsy that came back positive, and had to have a bit of surgery. Two more to go in November.

The "one thing" I've sewn in the last 10 weeks, is a Captain Jack Sparrow costume for Jaxon (and a bit of my costume, too).

Captain "Jax" Sparrow

My costume, the inspiration, and one of my students (we dressed up for class!!)

And a close up of my TARDIS and sonic screwdriver.

Swapped, 80s style

My oh my, international post to New Zealand takes awhile -- almost 5 weeks! But now that I know the package has arrived, I can share!

The I Heart the 80s swap was so much fun! I spent way too much time listening to 80s music and watching clips of my favorite 80s movies on YouTube.

I received this fabulous package from quiltinkimmie:

I was so excited to get this "Sixteen Candles" wallhanging!! So brilliant! And Jaxon and I wrestled for the extras. The Kermit the Frog pillowcase is now on his bed...but I won the pop rocks! Thanks, Kimmie!

And I was excited to make for a blog friend, Viv!




It was time to cut up Charlie's childhood. Yep, that was one of his bedsheets. He gave it to me when he refused to allow me to cut into the Star Wars sheets. I thought Viv would appreciate it, along with a friendship bracelet I whipped up, a set of PacMan crayons from Etsy, and some pop-a-point pencils (my favorite 80s writing utensil).




I embroidered around PacMan and the ghosts, and then quilted the whole thing with X-es in the pellets. I hope you like it, Viv!




I also stocked up on 80s-themed crafts, just in case we needed a swap angel. The rubic's cube tissue box cover is presently on my cutting table, and the Mr. T embroidery hoop is going to be hard to part with, although I do need to do a five year blogiversary giveaway soon!

-- Post From My iPad

In a blink

It's hard to believe I started this blog almost 5 years ago. And in the very first post this is the very first photo I posted of Jaxon:



And this was yesterday:

Jaxon's first day, a photo by modernjax on Flickr.

Kindergarten. My blog and my baby are all grown up.

Thanks for sticking around!

Come on over...

I've been hoping you would visit!


We can snack on some fresh tomatoes from the garden. Please. And while we are at it, you can take home a few pounds of zucchini!


It's been storming off and on all day, so we can sit in the dining room and catch up. I just mopped the floors and put down a new rug. I don't know how long it will go without having chocolate milk spilled all over it, so let's enjoy it while we can.


Oh, there's the oven timer, the peach cake is done! I have an abundance of peaches getting soft, and I love a good peach dessert! Charlie isn't a fan, so eat as much as you can!


Michelle isn't one to miss a party, and she has traveled a long way, so I'll let her rest* on my SHAG WDW pillow**...


...and maybe have a drink* out of a SHAG WDW tumbler**...


...or you can stare longingly* at my SHAG WDW map print.**

Why all the domesticity you might ask? Anything to keep my mind off Jaxon's first day of kindergarten tomorrow. He's no longer a baby!

* No resting, drinking, or staring longingly on/from/at/near my SHAG merchandise please!

** SHAG (AKA JoSH AGle) is my favorite artist. The day after I returned from Disney World, I read that SHAG had produced a line of artwork commemorating WDW's 40th anniversary. He would be at the Magic Kingdom signing autographs later that week. Exactly 3 days after I got home. *sigh* I couldn't get his autograph, but Disney mail-order helped me out with some merchandise. By "helped" I mean took an exorbitant amount of my money and shipped said merchandise to me. I'm still pining for the charm bracelet and Hawaiian shirt.

Did I blog about this?

Do you do that? Do you take photos of some little thing, thinking "this will be great for a post," and then never get around to blogging about it?

I do. A lot. My iPhoto is riddled with photos of events and small projects I never got around to posting. I have a folder of color corrected photos sitting on my desktop ready for blogger. But I am usually on to the next big thing.

Here's a couple of small things I came across recently that I never shared with you.


A tried my hand at making salsa verde. Our health center emailed a recipe, and because it is my favorite of the salsas at Casa I had to try it. Not as good as Casa's, but still pretty good.


I made Jaxon's friend Evelyn a bandana dress for her cowgirl-themed birthday. I used this tutorial, but modified it to accommodate a lining. After washing (which I deemed necessary due to the stiffness of the cotton), the pink bandana seemed a little thin. The other problem with pre-washing bandanas? Shrinkage. Which isn't that big of a deal, there's still plenty of fabric for coverage, but is it too much to ask that two matching bandanas shrink uniformly? I will try to get a photo of Evelyn wearing her dress, I hear from her mom she quite likes it.

I can't type the word "shrink" without typing "shrinky" and having to delete the "y." Why is that? I don't often type "shrinky dinks." Or ever. Shrinky.

Now I want to make shrinky dinks.

edited to add: I had a request from a no-reply commenter for the salsa verde recipe. Here it is -- I hope you come back and find it!