Introducing an Innocent Crush

First Impression. LovesMe LovesMeNot. Maybe. Mixed Signals. Woodcut. Turn of Events. Queen of Hearts. Shattered. Slow Dance. Bubble Burst.

These are subtitles that moved along my little story of an Innocent Crush. (Okay, maybe not such a small story.) They're not just plot twists, but also the titles of each of the ten prints that compose the whole saga. I had such alot of fun with this group. That might show itself, I think (like my slip peeking out of my skirt not-so accidentally). But this story is for you. Make of it what you will, as innocent or not as you choose. I will start you with a thought, though, because its one that drove my whole design process: I love the phrase Innocent Crush, the paradox, the youth, the sweetness of it, the awkward-not-quite-right, mismatched, fickle-ness of it too. Harmony is inspiring for some, occasionally an emotional collision is even more so. Enjoy!



Quilting Cottons: Charmed palette 44/45



Quilting Cottons: Swept Away palette 44/45



Cotton Sateen Home Decor: Dream palette 54



Cotton Sateen Home Decor: Blush Palette 54



Cotton Voile 54



Cotton Velveteen: Wink palette 54



Cotton Velveteen: Smile palette 54"

Of course you know I'll be posting lots of projects and inspiration for you as well as some comprehensive info about how best to welcome velveteen into your sewing!

Have a great night, xoxo,Anna

Afloat in a new Patchwork

Today in the studio, I am playing with scant new samples from Innocent Crush, mixing them into the well-worn favorites from Little Folks. New patches swimming around with familiar patches, and I am afloat.

To pick up a bit where I left of in fabric, I wanted to answer questions in regards to the Innocent Crush Sneak Peek - right after I say thanks so much for all the excitement!!!- (even if most of is was for the tights!- that's okay- I chose those myself, so no insults!) No one is more excited than me, and here is the low down on what Innocent Crush will inlcude: 22 quilting weight cottons; 14 home decor cotton sateens; 10 cotton voiles; and 8 cotton velveteens (!!!!) I'll be sharing 3 free patterns for the collection and we're working on loads of inspirational sewing to share for all the different fabric substrates. I am so excited. I am jittery right now and the coffee finished its job a little while ago- these are bonafide fabric jitters. I will share all the images next week!

About the darling "dress" in the photo: Its made from one of the new voiles called "Shattered" and it is not a dress at all! The top is a Roundabout Blouse (we just left the lower band off) and it's tucked into a "Flirting the Issue" skirt which will be one of the free patterns due out at the same time as the fabrics (Oct/Nov). Making the blouse and skirt of the same fabric achieves the lovely dress look, but with the obvious advantage of wearing the pieces separately too, if ya wanna. Make note of this with an ink pen on your palm.

The tights are from Anthropologie and I picked them up a few months ago. They are from one of the their in-house brands, called Eloise, otherwise I would stock them and sell them to you. I would get say sentences like "I stock stockings in my store". So it would be worth it for that alone. I think I may have helped sell out the last of them the other day once it was figured out. Sorry. I mean, you're welcome Anthropologie. The shoes are red suede pumps from Steve Madden that are so perfect to behold, but so hard to walk in. Perfect for shoots.



Now. I can't say enough how much I appreciate your comments ever since I wrote a mini-novel. Like a beautifully woven, fine net, catching me before I fall too deep. Thank you so very much. I have read every word and happy to be in accord with so many kind souls. This is new. And while I realize that the indulgence I take here every so often with my thoughts is more than some of you might expect, or even care for, from just a mother-artist-business-owner-designer-fabric-lady, what I'm sharing with you, I am sharing with myself too. And it helps.

I cried at the meat counter in the grocery yesterday. I kept buying things that she likes out of habit. But every minute, it gets a little better. After wrapping up a very busy day of work yesterday, still catching up from that lost rainy day in Astoria, I got the meat in the oven, potatoes prepped, peas ready for steaming, a few started on their homework, Jeff had started a bath for Roman and I dared to think I could go out for a quick evening run before everything/one came to need me for something. I quickly changed into my gear and headed for the door. Then in one single instant Roman pooped in the bathwater and helmut-less Nicolas slammed his head into the driveway curb after skating something fancy on the quarter pipe. I stood frozen between the two, trying to figure out if I should give Jeff a pack of ice and give Nicolas some wet wipes and the tub cleaner....or the reverse.

I snapped to. I am needed here. Everyone got taken care of and I headed out for my run. Each pound on the pavement was accompanied by knowing that my life is full and these changes are new patches being sewn onto the familiar. And it is all so beautiful, no?

with thanks, xoxoAnna
(the tub & Roman are both sparkling and Nicolas' head is fine)

the Bridge

I'm not sure what I was expecting. Taking her to school. I should have guessed what would have drummed up inside me ready to spill everywhere, leaving a trail of years and memories between here and Brooklyn. But I didn't see it coming, not all of it. I am very used to living in the present, but was shot out of a canon to the past. So many times over this past summer. Just shot towards her birth and the beginnings of all of us, the beginnings of Jeff and me. But being hurled past it in a rush of memories it is so hard to see it all the way you saw it then. You think it will last forever, and some days even wish away the difficult parts. Humans just don't know the blur it will become. I believe this to be by design. Inherent in our making. We couldn't handle the frailty of ourselves walking around, if we knew how fast.

Getting her settled, saying our goodbyes, it was bitter and sweet and beautiful and sad and perfect. We walked slowly back to our hotel with the sky threatening rain, my eyes threatening worse. We took a detour through Fort Greene to sit and take the walk as slow as possible. And it happened. The sky sobbed. I rained. And we were stuck, under the shelter of the visitor's center. We are after all, only visitors. We waited for it to stop. Waited. Waited. Didn't bother to verbalize much of what we were already feeling in perfect synchronicity. Fearing we would miss our flight, after waiting as long as we could there, and with no change in the weather, we decided to drown down the hill in a rush of water and emotion, getting utterly soaked.

At the hotel we made a quick grab of our suitcases, while the taxi waited, and headed to La Guardia. Not much conversation, but an unusually talkative cabbie who asked us all about our family, was shocked we had a daughter old enough to be in college, further shocked that we had 5 waiting at home, and I wasn't in the mood for any of it. "I like you two", he kept saying. "Children are God's greatest blessing" he said. And I. Was not in the mood for conversation. I was definitely not in the mood to hear that all the crying the sky had done delayed our flight by an hour. Two hours. Four hours, so now we'll miss our connecting and be stuck in Baltimore. Cancelled. So now here we are. Rush back to her? See if she wants to skip orientation and hang out one more night with her parents? No. Stuck. Floating in a sea of rain and utter sadness. It was calling to mind something, a memory, I couldn't place what.

Then the waiting. We couldn't get out of New York for another whole day later. I needed the intoxicating hugs of the rest of my brood. I wanted to cry into Roman's bewildered but willing little neck. We poured into a nearby hotel. The room was freezing and the only thing that I could do was crawl into the bed. I didn't move for hours. Didn't even shift. Just Jeff and I there. Waiting for the hours to go by. Jeff went to get us food. Went to get us water. I slightly laughed at a movie or two, but mostly just laid there, out of body. Looking around inside my new self at how it looked and couldn't see much that made me happy without her. I dozed off around 1am. Woke up around 3am. And was arrested again by the familiarity of this set of circumstances. Trying to get somewhere, but getting stuck twice, once in the rain, once at the airport, then the all night waiting. Jeff. Me. And searching. Looking for her precious smile in my mind.

And then remembering.

We were 19. Unmarried, and unexpectedly expecting. Expecting Juliana. We had chosen adoptive parents. It seemed like a good idea at my age and we could continue the paths we had begun. She could continue with an eager family who was prepared for her. Had been praying for her.

We went to the hospital in labor, lawyers, parents, everyone, waiting in the wings. My labor stopped after I got there. We got stuck. Then sent away. We went again, a second time, to the hospital in full labor, which after an hour of convincing everyone around me that it was the real thing, decided to stop in its tracks. On the way home, I realized it wasn't a mistake. It was her, begging to be mine. My body would not give her up, even if my mind already had. I called off the adoption. Then the third time in labor, we decided to wait it out at home. Jeff. Me. And searching. Looking for her precious smile in my mind. For a whole day. And then, the third time, she was ours.

So there it was, in the middle of the night (a Sunday night after 3 am, quite near how she was born) at a hotel in Astoria, New York, raining, I was granted the memory to answer the nagging something that I was recalling. We brought her, again into a world. This time she is her own.

This past June just she and I went to Brooklyn to get a feel for it, and just enjoy some time together for four days. Really, the trip of a lifetime. We did nothing special, we didn't have to. On the last night, we took in a French film in a small theater in Soho. Leaving Manhattan into the wee hours of the morning, those cabbies fly. It is funny, how fast, and like a roller coaster. As we approached the Brooklyn Bridge, I thought, there it is: the bridge between where she is now and where she will be at the end of the summer. The summer: the bridge that will give us our last childhood days with her. We were so tired, barely spoke, but both obviously enjoyed the coolness that had cloaked the city after a hot day, windows down, our hair whipping everywhere. Then as we encountered the stretch across the water, I was flooded with memories of her as a baby, a toddler, her bubbly face, her beginnings, the she that almost wasn't mine, and I fought back tears. I couldn't believe we were about to reach her soon-to-be-home, just on the other side of the bridge. Rushing through the lights and under and over the architecture , I was looking back in time deep inside of me. Then I heard her say it, and I couldn't believe it. She said, like a little child, filled with excitement, "Mom, look back!"

I am! I thought, screamed, inside my head, in wonderment at the moment. How did she know?

I looked away from my side window where I was hiding some tears, that thankfully were quickly being licked up by the wind, to see her looking through the back of the taxi at the lights of Manhattan. They flickered through the thousands of suspension cables in the most mesmerizing way, like a dance. Like a filmstrip of life gone by. She was suspended there on the bridge. The thought of it is suspended forever in my mind.

And I am, more than I am anything, grateful.

To quote a cabbie, "Children are God's greatest blessing"

xoxoAnnaMaria

Innocent Crush Sneak Peak

Launching at market in October, in stores this November! More soon!
xoxoA

the early

Our bed abandoned earlier than normal.
The bed pillows piling in the corner chair each night.
Seen under an earlier than normal light.
An explorer setting off to his tasks.
Earlier than normal.
The house, so quiet. Just the cicadas on the other side of the window.
One yellow canary finally settling after so much early singing.
One yellow dog breathing in a cold marble entry floor. Dreaming.
One father to work.
Two girls backpacked, fed and brushed on the early bus.
Two boys, backpacked, geared for afterschool activities, fed and hand-combed on the later bus.
One young lady still sleeping in this house. For now.
One baby back to bed after enough exploration. Eagerly to bed.
And a mother. Thinking of what the quiet might bare.
Thanking the early.

Found: After-school nothingness nap

Its amazing the toll just a half-day can take.

xoA

Wanted: More summer days in which we do nothing

I could at least stand to watch the kids do nothing a little longer even if I have to do something. But alas, I will deposit 4 out of 6 children onto a school bus in the morning. There are some emotions there. Hmm, what are they? I think generally relief for a schedule again. Tomorrow is the day I thought I had been waiting for since the moment they tore through the front door on the last day of school. But now that its here, I dunno. I like turning around from my work every now and then and seeing just this sort of silly nothingness that seems to only happen on a boring summer day with nothing better to do than hang upside down from Mom's studio chair.

But then. Relief, yes. They are ready, as much as they whine, to have a big round clock to watch for prompting them onto to the next room, next friend, next subject, next experience and then home again. And by this time next week we'll have Juliana just about packed for her venture off to college. I know there are emotions there. My pillow is a bit damp with those most nights. I haven't quite figured out how to put those into words yet, but they are swirling about up there inside my skull. I think I'll go hang upside down on a chair and turn them into a dizzy brand of summer nothing for now. My capacity for denial improves with every passing year.

xoxo, Anna

Favorite

My favorite photo of the week of my favorite version of the Evening Empire Dress made from my favorite combination of Little Folks Voiles worn by my favorite model twirling on about on my favorite piece of earth. Home.

Shared with you on my favorite day of the week.

have a good one. xo, Anna Maria

Finding Passion

Sunday afternoon, Jeff and I were taking a few minutes at the dining room table to have some after lunch coffee. A favorite Sunday moment. Chatting away about the kids, the upcoming family visit that we are in the midst of now, the looming escorting of Juliana off to college here in a few weeks, recapping the book signing from the day before, etc. Typical life download that we do every few days when we get the chance. I started talking about the exhibit at the Frist as I had seen it for the second time the previous Thursday (going again today, I'm a junkie). There are television screens throughout the exhibit playing a loop of fashion footage from the era of the show. Black and white moving images of 1940's models prancing about in the perfected and gorgeous frocks, holding themselves so still yet moving here and there. And my favorite, the scene of women employed by the house, several of them, sitting around an endless chiffon hem and hand stitching a scarf hem all around. Talking, laughing, enjoying, working. Working.



I cried. Jeff got that look on his face like oh no she's crying. I really am not a crier. Really. Talking about it, thinking about it. The idea of these dresses being the result of the dream of one, then the work of many. The subtle twists and turns of several eager, knowledgeable hands whipping needle and thread and cloth and a dream into something tangible. Still, though tangible, a dream to behold. And half a century later, I'm sitting at my dining room table crying about the beauty of the hand stitching, trying to explain why its so special. And my poor, patient, sweet husband, who looked as confused as he could be was not at all confused. I didn't just wet my lashes with nostalgia or appreciation for a dear craft. I sobbed like a baby. I kept saying over and over.... what is wrong with me, I'm such a freak , why am I crying so hard about this. Its my grandmothers, are they doing this to me? I think of them when I see that group of women sewing, I think of each of them... How does this not make everyone cry? where can you see this anymore? - a scene like that- I'm sorry. I am such a weirdo, I'm sorry



You're just passionate, he said. (insert adorable husband smile with that)

Oh. Yea. I guess. And weird, I said. (insert dorky, wimpery wife sniffle with that)

The next day I was putting some freshly washed bath towels in the linen closet of the boys' hall bathroom and I was sure that I heard the sound of running water through the walls. I instantly thought back to a few months ago when I learned too late that the boys had let the outdoor spigot on for like, uh, two weeks without me knowing and we paid an impressive water bill. I dropped the towels, headed outside, mummering something about a lashing (though I've never delivered one in my life). But the spigot wasn't left on. After following the snaking hose, I found at the mouth, a really damp area where it had been left on weeks before. And for the first time ever in my yard I found a tangley patch of wild passion flowers growing out of the damp earth. Beautiful. Plucked one. Plucked a green pod fruit too. Completely forgot about the running water sound. On the way to the studio to take pictures (of course I had to) I thought of the embroidery that I had started the day before. The flower made me. The colors. So unbelievably beautiful. Like sea life. The flower, and those spindly, curly threads, of course. Threads.

So if I didn't have passion the day before, when I was accused of such, sobbing at my dining room table, I found it the very next day. In the midst of laundry, no less.

xoxo, Anna

My Sardinia Sweater

I don't want to take it off. The temperatures being what they are, however, I will be taking it off. While this is definitely a perfect Summer sweater, I wouldn't call it a perfect Summer in Tennessee sweater (not sure there is such a thing) until perhaps the evening hours or indoors only. But this is going to be a perfect year-round layer. Happy. Happy.


I made the medium size (pattern and yarn details here) and I feel like I could have made the small- though I wear a medium to a large (8-10) in most clothing items. I am pretty sure the linen yarn gives more, and therefore the overall is a bit stretchier and hitting longer than shown on the model in the book. But thankfully the open drop style and sleeve style lends itself to being really cool whether the fit is generous or abbreviated.



One sweater for me.
Check.
Now for those baby pants.
Amanda is currently setting me straight there.

xo, Anna

Sam & Sally said that you're, like, totally invited to my birthday party

And they know everything because they live on Eleni's thumbs.

About my birthday party: This Saturday July 31st, from 2:30-4:30, Textile Fabrics is hosting a book signing for my new book, Handmade Beginnings. When working with them to schedule the event, I scanned July, day after day, weekend after weekend, and realized that of course, there was nothing scheduled on the 31st. Why would there be? It's only my BIRTHDAY. (internal sigh.) But HEY. That's perfect. What better way to feel like a birthday girl than spend the day telling lots of people its my birthday. Now I know that you might already have your own plans of how you spend Anna Maria Horner Day, but if you could spare a few minutes, do come say hello. Let me sign your book. Let me give you cake. Let me kiss your babies. Let me sign your babies. Let me let you sing Happy Birthday to me. I am not excited. This is just part of my job. I do not like cake, but don't want my friends at Textile to feel bad, so I will probably eat most of it.

About Sam & Sally: Eleni sucks her thumb. Which I am cool with. She is not as cool with it as she used to be. I told her that her Aunt Eleni (my sis) used to suck her thumb when she was little too. And that at some point Aunt Eleni wanted to stop. It was at this point that my mom made her little thumb friends to wear to sleep. Aunt Eleni soon stopped sucking her thumb in her sleep. My little Eleni was very excited about the notion getting a pair of thumbsters to sleep with. And Saturday that little dream came true after cutting the thumbs off of some mismatched gloves and bringing Sam and Sally to life with a little embroidery thread. She said the boy should be kind of like a monster, and the girl should not really be like a monster, but a little bit monster-y with pretty hair. The wisdom of a six year old is astounding.

xo, Anna

Isabela's Argyle Block

This is the sewn up version of the Argyle Block that Isabela designed for our Rainbow project. Planning out colors carefully to make that cool overlap of color so often found in argyle patterns would make for a really amazing quilt- I might just have to make a whole quilt with this block and see that happen. So as promised to you and the kidos, here is the second installment of free downloadable block instructions to inspire your own patchwork-Isabela's Argyle Block Template. Have fun! I love this one, because its only one same triangle for the whole block. Some days that is all my brain can handle. Like today for instance. And yesterday. And, I'm just guessing tomorrow too. Anyway. Both this one and Joseph's Block are linked at the Rainbow page too. More soon!



And somewhere under the Rainbow we have a great writeup over at the Etsy blog. It is such a good, good article- my friend Linzee McCray (she blogs here) wrote it, and she is just a really talented writer. You often are interested in articles due to the subject matter, but that aside, she just makes the read informative, smart, real, thoughtful and such a pleasure to read. Take note editors- she is a gem! Thank you Linzee! Also woven into the story is another quilting effort headed up by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. There is just no shortage of kindness. Its always about connecting the dots. Connecting the generosity with the need. A beautiful thing! And I will keep saying thank you to those of you who have participated so far and who will be participating, or sharing the news or donating, or whatever, thank you. I am only connecting dots. That was always my favorite.

kisses, Anna

So, Roman is still just wearing diapers

Does that make me a bad mother? Its just that I got this book, and I got this yarn, and I can't put either of them down for anything lately. Just look how pretty that sweater is! I could really get used to this following-a-crochet-pattern-business, now that I found one that I actually like! Maybe I don't look hard enough, but I rarely find a book of patterns for crochet that I love- it's always shawls and granny squares (which I love, but don't want to wear), and not basic enough- there is so much more out there for knitting, and somehow that still hasn't gotten me knitting. This is why I normally make things up as I go along, and almost never make fitted items, because I am too impatient to sit down a make a plan before I begin. (Insert your crochet book recommendations here.)



I am making the Sardinia sweater which just happens to be on the cover. This brochure is filled with gorgeous patterns, I would wear every one of them. Seriously. I could be slightly swayed due to all most of the pattern titles being named after Greek Isles. ('Cept I think one is called Sicily. Close enough.) But they are all just so wearable looking which is key. I have to keep double checking myself as I go because the book is written with all the UK denotations, so I have to translate dc to sc, etc., since we Yanks insist on having a different name for everything compared the European stitch names (units of measure, size charts, on and on), but once the pattern gets going, its very simple.

About the yarn, Rowan's Lenpur Linen, which is a viscose/linen blend: the weight is such a dream- it moves like water after just a little cloth is crocheted/knitted up. Not too heavy, not fuzzy, not stiff, its perfect. I had a hard time choosing a color, because any of them would be beautiful, but I already have enough gray/purple sweaters so I went with Lagoon. (If you're still reading you might want to skip down to the bullet point version of this post.) I think the book recommends using the Cotton Glace for most of the sweaters, so I had to have Amanda at Textile help me convert the thickness factor (?), etc. (I really don't know what I'm talking about- she does- I just want to do the crocheting part- I figure if I keep letting other people figure these things out for me that I'll eventually learn what they're doing. That's a lie. I don't care. I just want to crochet.) This essentially meant I went down a size from what I was planning to make, and still I think it might fit slightly larger than shown. Which will still be pretty. Really super pretty.

Okay.

Bullet point version of this post:

*More sweaters for Mom
*Less pants for Baby
*More Lenpur/Linen for mom
*No tuition money left for Juliana
*Some sort of blanket apology here

xo,Anna

Where the baby wears about as much as the dog

I'll admit its been awhile since we did laundry. But when I changed Roman out of pj's this morning there wasn't really anything to put on him. He has grown out of so much, leaving only winter clothes, a bathing suit, and a handful of Onesies that still fit. And with his adventures in feeding himself, we go through the summer outfits quite quickly. The laundry just doesn't happen quite as fast as Roman happens. I think its time for more Quick Change Trousers, as he's grown out of all his pairs. I am thinking however that I'll make some of the shorts variety. Jeff refers to all the pants I make Roman as fancy pants. And he gets a teasing look on his face and a teasing sound in his voice when he says fancy pants. And I don't care.



And I will dress my baby in fancy pants.



And I will dress my doggie in a fancy collar.



And they will both be fine with it because I also give them treats.

There. Weekend planned. Fancy Pants and Dog Treats.

have a good one. xoxo, Anna

We made a movie

And we had a really good time doing it. Rainbow Around the Block is set to get some wonderful press over at the Etsy blog soon (I'll keep you posted) and they requested a photo for the interview. So I started devising a photo shoot that would include the kids since they've been such a help to me. Juliana, Alexia, and I were all working in the studio today as I started discussing what we could do, and this sorta just happened. Nicolas (12) helped me with the imovie details since I'd never used it before (I need to show you his skate videos sometime soon-he stars, directs, shoots, edits, etc.). After just about 3 hours we had ourselves a mini movie that we all had a hand in. Roman's hands were allover everything too, but they weren't especially helpful in this case. But he sends his love.

enjoy~
xo, Anna

(Music: "folding chair" by Regina Spektor sold here)

Humidity + and Humidity -

Humidity -
This heat and humidity makes my camera lens fog up! So if I need accurate shots I have to let my camera rest outside for about 3o minutes before I begin shooting. However, as shown above, taking a shot through the foggy lens can have a sort of beautiful result too, especially in early evening sunlight.


Humidity +
A most definite plus to the humidity is watching the golden headed boy turn into a curly headed cherub once we're outside for more than a minute or two. As if I needed another reason to dote. And I sweep him up and kiss the sweaty nape of his blonde curly neck. He must wonder why he gets kissed in the dreadful heat like this over and over again.

Sorry I slipped away without a "hey I'm slipping away" note. If I could add tags to my last week or two with a few keywords they would be the following:

New York, TopShop, Balthazar, Purl, Brooklyn, Pratt, Williamsburg, Knoxville, fireworks, honey whiskey, family, cousins, swimming, sunburns, fireworks, needlework, slip-n-slides, gin & tonic, lime, lemon, yum,

Be back next week! put your feet up! xo,Anna

Rainbow Makers

Kids really have the most enthusiasm. After the flooding happened here in May, there were endless local and national news stories detailing not just the tragedies involved, but also the countless, selfless acts of relief going on all over town. Compelled by all they saw and heard, Nicolas and Joseph particularly were ready to rip out drywall and tear up floors anywhere they could if they were just given the chance. They complained to me that we had to find a way to help people. I was moved by their inherent compassion and it helped inspire me to create Rainbow Around the Block. And because of their hearts, I've wanted to keep them involved as much as possible.

Just as naturally as the compassion came, so did the excitement to help me with the quilting efforts. I got out a few different quilt books for reference, a stack of graph paper, colored pencils, rulers and we all sat around the counter in the studio and had one of the best nights of the summer. After they knew what we were making and why, they were so inspired and had so much fun. We continually stressed that they could design their square however they wanted and not to worry about color or lines. I promised to work each of their colrings into a block design that we could sew from. And the icing on the cake for them (and me) was the idea to share our blocks with you! It was interesting to see that some of what they dreamed up on their own were already very basic and traditional block designs. It was also joy for me to watch how each expressed their individuality (what I know well and love about each of them) through the language of color and geometry.

So here is the first installment of the Horner Family Blocks: The Joseph Block. You can click on the link to download an instruction page. His was a very basic square in a square block. I love this block, and have been making lots of them. I'll continue to add more in the coming weeks, and also linking them over at the Rainbow page.

kisses, Anna

One in a million

Out of a million things I could/should have done with the last hour or two I did this. I cross stitched and covered a button. I did not let the joy I took in doing this task distract me from how important it was that I did it at the very instant that I did. It. I had to. Do. It. There are certain endeavors that once you have the mind to do them, there is just no escaping it. Not sleep, not meals, not even 6 children and a design studio could keep me from this one today. If you have the mind and want to do: I used 14ct Aida cloth, Perle cotton-sz. 8, and one of the zillions of un-packaged not labeled or remembered needles sticking out of my pin cushion to be exact. The design was my own doodling on graph paper before starting. That part can help with the kids if you tear a sheet or two out for them to doodle too.

Oh- which reminds me! I will be back later this week with a Rainbow update, and some downloadable templates that I'm working from our own family block design time. We have been overwhelmed with gorgeous blocks & generosity over here so far!!

xoxo, AM

Dear Dad, I made you lunch!

Even though we're not together today, I thought I would make lunch for Jeff in your honor, so of course..... a tomato salad made the Dad way: fresh tomatoes (chopped in bite size pieces the way you like them, but sorry no one was patient enough for me to peel them first); chopped onion ; chopped cucumbers (the smell of which always reminds me of standing in the kitchen with you & a salt shaker, eating them fresh from the garden); Kalamata olives (the only kind of olives, as we know); a healthy dash of oregano; a heaping pour of the brightest, greenest olive oil (from your very own trees in Greece, naturally- I think we still have enough to get us through the year thanks to your winter oil visit); and plenty of salt (and even more when no one is looking, of course). Plus crusty bread and lots of people to help you eat it since you're not here. Thank you for teaching me the only way to make tomato salad and the only way to eat tomato salad (using the bread as a chewy, edible utensil).



I also decided that you would like some sardines straight out of the can with lemon, even though I could never personally manage to find that appetizing. I did however manage to find a very loving man to marry who happens to gobble this dish right up. He is a dream come true. (I can help with the cold beer, not a problem.)

I love you Dad! We're frying fish tonight and I'm about to start a blueberry pie......sure you don't want to take a little car ride west?

Happy Fathers Day! xoxo, chuffmuffin

Museum Tunic + instructions

Well I'm not sure what you were expecting. When I read my comments from the last post at dinner last night, I cracked up at the notion that some of you assumed that the flier image I showed in the post was the dress I was going for! SO funny! I guess you might think that at a glance. But come on, I only had about an hour! That would have taken at least an hour & 15 minutes (+ 2 days).



Anyway, I've had the thought to make this ultra simple tunic from the Square Dance fabric for a while, and decided at the last minute last night to give it a quick whirl. It is truly nothing but rectangles and 1/4" elastic. I have Here are some quick renderings of the simple process drawn up for you. but didn't have time to edit and upload today. I promise I will edit this post to add them this weekend. (Do I keep promising things?)



A few notes: I used what's considered a panel and a half of the Square Dance fabric (45" length). I started by cutting the panels apart into four pieces parallel with the selvages. In the sewing, I pressed open all seams, turned allowances under twice and topstitched them down on either side of the seam after step 2, step 3 and again after step 4. This way there are no raw edges anywhere, and you can catch the armhole and neckline openings in this step too. I used 3 rows of elastic about 1/2" apart from each other right under the bust for an empire silhouette. You just stretch the elastic as you zigzag it onto the wrong size. I find this so much quicker than the mock smocking technique with elastic bobbin. I also find it more reliable in terms of good stretch. And this fabric was so easy to follow a straight line because of the square print.



The front is exactly the same as the back, and equally flattering from the front and the back too! And oh my gravy so comfortable. Perfect worn over a nude colored slip, or really any slip. I was originally going to wear it with the belt, but I decided it was a little dressier without for the occasion.



The style could not be more simple, and it felt really appropriate to enter the amazing Golden Age of Couture show in something very simple. There is just no way to compete with the elaborate beauty that is on view now at the Frist Museum. Oh geez. SO gorgeous! I am gonna have to go over there several times this summer, to get a good look at everything. The hardest part for me was the urge to touch everything. Anyway, exciting news: the kind folks at the Frist have asked me to teach a workshop in conjunction with this amazing exhibit! I'll be teaching a sewing class at the museum at the end of the summer and all the info you need is here. They have a beautiful facility and it should be a wonderful inspiring time for me + 20 eager seamstresses!

Thanks for your enthusiasm yesterday about the dressmaking madness, and hope you try one too! xoxo, Anna

Cutting it Close

I am in rare but typical Anna form. Cutting and sewing something completely last minute for an event tonight here in Nashville. I think I just figured out why I rarely do my hair. I'm too busy making what I'm going to wear to any exciting event.



Anyway this is the tease. I have a few snips left and I think I will have myself a dress. Back tomorrow with the reveal (fingers triple crossed behind my back (impressive considering I'm also typing, right?)) and with more fun info about this amazing show that is here this summer!

Will she do it?

Will she be wearing a handmade dress to the museum tonight?

Check back tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel!!!

xo, Sew Girl

Sewing Secrets

Did you know that the Roundabout Dress & Slip pattern has a slip? You'd think it should be obvious from the title of the pattern, but so many people are like Oh there's a slip pattern too! Yes there is. And an option to make it a camisole too. Bias cut, both of them for a sweet fit. (Not to mention a blouse option for the dress. I know, its very generous of me.) And if you are super crafty you can add a panel of fabric around the bottom of the slip for this lovely number. Instant summer happiness. My favorite new go-to-gorgeous dress. And by far the most talked about piece of clothing in my Quilt Market booth a few weeks ago. It's always the thing that you did last minute and took you 1 hour, no? Today we launched a new Pattern Pack section in the store, and we'll be adding to it over the coming weeks to give you some more varieties.

And that is the mailing list news that I spoke of yesterday, just too pretty of a photo not to share here too. This is how you hang all your clothes at home, right? Right.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
xo,Anna

Summer inside & out

A long, challenging (because of all the humans here), loud, interrupted, rainy, busy day of work in the studio left me with these lovely slips and camisoles. (Mailing list subscribers will hear more about this tomorrow! The sewing, that is, not the chaos. Who would subscribe to that? Well if you're reading this then I guess you would.)



A simple walk out the front door at the end of day left me with even more beauty.

Of the two endeavors, walking outside was lots easier.

Just sayin. Anna
(who apologizes for the recent summer-length posts....I'll get wordier here soon, then you'll be sorry.)

Today's Lesson

If at first you don't succeed, you can always find your sister and play Go Fish. I am certain that if my sister didn't live hours away, that an occasional hand of Go Fish with her would solve every kind of woe, big and little. In fact, just listening to the giggley rounds of these two playing seems to have done the trick on this rainy day.

summer advice from your pal (xo) Anna