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Look! I’m growing a garden patchwork quilt! Also, it’s my best spring garden ever. The secret? Sprinkle SO many seeds, way more than you think you need. Currently growing: arugula and lettuce, 2 kinds of snap peas, 3 kinds of radishes, 2 kinds of turnips, chiogga and golden beets, Swiss chard, cilantro, bok choy, tatsoi, 2 kinds of kales, mustard greens, and an Asian green mix. As I told Nik last night, we are officially in the “eat salad for every meal” season. 😍 Also, my dianthus appears to want to take over the world. I just planted this clumps last year and they have probably tripled in size! #salmonandsouvlakigardens #growwhatyoueat #organicgardeningLast fall, we were raising five swallowtail caterpillars. They turned into chrysalises and then did not emerge as butterflies, meaning that in their wisdom, they knew that they were the generation to overwinter and emerge in the spring to continue the lifecycle. Each chrysalis was in its own quart glass jar and we put them out in the garage to stay cold through the winter. I checked on them a few weeks ago and there were no signs of life. And then I FORGOT ABOUT THEM. 😩 Today, as I went out to our garage to get our wagon for the walk to co-op, I realized I needed to check on what was probably the awful butterfly carnage. Instead, we found three live butterflies!!!!!!!!! Releasing them into the world was one of the coolest things I’ve done in a long time. ❤️😍❤️ Now, we just need to plant a bunch of parsley, to convince the adults to lay their eggs in our garden so we can raise swallowtails all summer. There are still two intact chrysalises, so we moved them to our porch where we can see them . Hopefully, we will be able to release two more soon. 🦋#swallowtailbutterfly #savethepollinators #salmonandsouvlakigardensI finally managed to get this name tag in the mail and it’s been received so I can show it to the public. This is one of the secret sewing projects that I posted in my stories a few weeks ago. For the recent @baltimoremqg name tag swap, I English paper pieced three-quarter inch hexagons in 17 different green scraps. Elaine said she liked greens and cream. This was a fun little project! . . . For perhaps the first time in my life, I was also brave enough to hand write those letters, rather than printing some off from the computer. Go me! 👊 #salmonandsouvlakisews #englishpaperpiecing #eppeverywhere #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcialChrist is Risen! Happy Easter! (Click the link in my profile to get to my blog for our full Easter post.)Today I had the fun of teaching an English paper piecing workshop to about 25 students during QuiltFest! at the Maryland Historical Society, @marylandhistory. I taught as part of a team of women from the @baltimoremqg. We explained the history of EPP, did a show and tell with lots of EPP projects (first picture, not all my own work), and then each student got a chance to sew their own hexie flower. We are so grateful to @createdomesticity, @paperpiecesepp, @andoverfabrics, and @aurifilthread for their exceedingly generous donations of class materials. Everyone was thrilled to be able to take home fabric, paper hexagons, and thread! 😍 #baltimoremqg #aurifil #andoverfabrics #domesticitystudio #paperpiecesepp #englishpaperpiecing #eppeverywhere #salmonandsouvlakisews . . . Many thanks to @summer_k_rankin, @urokeay_imokeay, Deanna, and Bobbi for being a great teaching team!Quilts, quilts, and more modern quilts with the @baltimoremqg at the @marylandhistory QuiltFest! My work here includes #fancyforestmedallionquilt, #laurashexiequilt, #carkaihexie, Marko’s HST quilt, and the Facing East mini, pattern by @carolynfriedlander. It’s fun to share the love of modern quilting! #salmonandsouvlakisews #baltimoremqg #marylandhistoricalsocietyWe’re camping at Elk Neck State Park this weekend and the weather was glorious this afternoon! Just right for wading and digging and soaking up some spring sun. And why yes, I have picked up knitting as another portable hobby because I really want to use this yarn that I bought in Iceland when I was pregnant with Marko. 😉 #elkneckstatepark #chesapeakebay #driftwoodbeach #salmonandsouvlakiknitsAHHHHHHHHH!!!! A dragon is living in our yard and keeps trying to break through our windows! First the dragon started chasing Marko. He escaped but then it started chasing Ellie!! What should we do?!?!?! Scream the dragon’s ears off?????? Send help!!!!! . . . This spring silly is brought to you by Ellie and Marko with technical assistance from Mama, as partially inspired by Martin and Sylvia of @sparkle_stories. 😉We have a new loose tooth in our house! 😍 Rather than the tooth fairy, at our house, we celebrate losing teeth with a special Mama-made bag to keep the baby teeth in and a dinner chosen by the child on the occasion of the first tooth loss. Marko finally has a loose tooth and he has been pestering me for over a week to make him a tooth bag. So I finally did. 😉 He requested green with a blue initial and I used some vintage rickrack from my stash for the tie. The design is my own. Swipe to see Ellie’s bag next to Marko’s. I did my best to make them exactly the same although, now that they are finished I see that I made the ties pull in opposite directions. Close enough! . . . See the link in profile to go to my blog and search for “tooth fairy” if you’d like to learn more about why we have chosen these particular traditions for our family. And while you’re there, if you want to, you can search for “Mark quilt” to see pictures of the quilt I made for his first birthday, in which this green fabric is featured. This probably matters to no one else except for me but I find it thoroughly satisfying. First quilt, first lost tooth! #salmonandsouvlakisewsWe just experienced the most amazing living history presentation at the @lewismuseum. We lived Harriet Tubman’s life with her as the actress told us her story. It was such an immensely difficult story to hear but told in such a way that our kids could engage and understand. Thank you to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. . . . Here Marko is standing in front with Harriet, so that we could all see how young and little she was when, at age six, her slave master told her she had to earn her keep. SIX!!I decided today was my turn to be *that* person who comes to the @baltimoremqg monthly meeting, having finished the project that she started at the class the day before. 😂 I stayed up way too late (made even later by the time change) and turned these two 24” square practice quilts into a nice big tote. My children were concerned that it needed a way to stay closed so I even added some Velcro. @jacquietps’s lecture at today’s meeting was fabulous and I had fun showing her my tote. 😀 #salmonandsouvlakisews #charmcitysewcial #baltimoremqgI had a wonderful time today at the @baltimoremqg class with @jacquietps! I’ve been quilting with a walking foot for over eight years (as long as I’ve been quilting) but I still learned so much and came away inspired. I’m definitely going to use gentle curves (1st pic) in an upcoming quilt. The 2nd and 3rd pictures are from the same sample piece. With curves, you get the orange peel pattern and with straight line, you get diamonds. So cool! As always, I am now inspired to do and make more. I’m so grateful that I found BMQG three years ago. Thanks to @makergonnamake for convincing me I would like it there. She was right. 😉 And thanks so much to @rauenamy and Marcia for all their hard work to make the class possible. 😍 #salmonandsouvlakisews #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcialCategories
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Monthly Archives: December 2014
Handmade Christmas 2014: A Baby Bird For A Brand New Baby
As is my custom with my nieces and nephews, I sewed a little baby bird (using this tutorial) for my newest niece, Annika, who was born the middle of November. This is the first time I’ve had the chance to … Continue reading
Posted in family, sewing
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October/November Sewing: Hooray for Katie and Baby Annika!
Ellie and Mark gained a new cousin when Baby Annika joined my brother’s family in November. I have four siblings and I’ve now made five diaper bags, one for each family! (Here’s ours, Eric and Meggan’s, Jon and Leah’s, and … Continue reading
Posted in family, love, sewing
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Hot Pads of Apology
Last summer, while visiting my family in Alaska, I was taking something out of my mom’s oven and somehow managed to drop one of her hot pads on the electric heating element on the bottom of the oven. Soon, there … Continue reading
Posted in family, sewing
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Mark’s Color Book
I don’t know if anyone has actually ever used the color book tutorial that I wrote about 18 months ago. I however, was really grateful that I’d done it because I used it myself when sewing this for Mark! I … Continue reading
Posted in Mark, sewing
6 Comments
Handmade Christmas 2014: Retro Christmas Tree Lights For My Siblings
Continuing my “Christmas ornament” theme from the past couple years of presents for my siblings, this year I sewed everyone a string of retro Christmas tree lights. I even managed to sew a string for our tree too! Thanks to … Continue reading
Posted in family, sewing
4 Comments
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you! He is the Messiah, the Lord!
Merry Christmas!! We love you all! Love, Nik, Laura, Ellie and Mark “Hurry! Hurry! Have you heard? A child was born tonight, And every creature large or small Is precious in his sight.” from Hurry! Hurry! Have You Heard by … Continue reading
Posted in Ellie, family, love, Mark
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Look! Two Presents for Ellie!
Thanks to all for your kind thoughts and prayers for me about my recent sorrow-filled post. I probably shouldn’t allow myself to press publish when I’m tired and sad. I’m feeling much better now and the past couple days have … Continue reading
Posted in Ellie, sewing
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