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Seven years ago, there’s no way I could’ve predicted that a global pandemic would be a reason why people might be interested in making and using cloth wipes as an alternative to toilet paper but nonetheless, I did write a blog post seven years ago that might be useful to you! Head to my blog (link in profile), search “cloth wipes”, and you’ll find an extensive post with all about how to make, use, and wash your own cloth wipes. Swipe to watch watch a little video I just shot in my bathroom for the current state of our cloth wipe usage. You definitely could just use an old pillowcase instead of sewing your own bag to put in a trashcan for the dirty wipes. And you also don’t even need to sew anything. You could just cut up old sheets or T-shirts. Basically, what I am saying is, there is another option besides toilet paper. 😘 (And, I know that cloth wipes are not the only option besides toilet paper. It’s just the only option I am an expert on. 😉) Let me know what questions I can answer for you about this! #notpnoproblem #clothwipes #salmonandsouvlakisews #charmcitysewcialThere is plenty out there right now to be worried about so I decided to do my part to share some beauty for us to focus on instead. It’s our apricot tree! In full bloom! 🌸 Marko is currently having fun throwing his tennis ball over the top of it. 😀 #salmonandsouvlakigardensThis is our new favorite “dessert”! It’s frozen organic figs (from our super abundant fig harvest last fall), frozen organic blueberries, and a little bit of fresh grapefruit juice, blended until smooth. As far as we can tell, this is an original recipe that the Internet has not yet thought of so Nik is taking the credit as the inventor of fig blueberry grapefruit ice cream. 😀 I interviewed Marko about this delicious treat in the stories over at our new account, @adventuresofellieandmarko. #salmonandsouvlakieats #eatwhatyougrowHey everyone! My kids and I decided to start a new Instagram account, @adventuresofellieandmarko, where we will be sharing our family’s adventures, interests and projects. For those of you who know and love my kids, this is where you’ll get to see pictures of them and even hear from them directly about what they are learning about and enjoying. Over the past couple years I have slowly stopped sharing pictures of them on here, in large part because this account has become a chronicle of my sewing and gardening adventures. So, I am hoping that this will be a way for me to actually get the pictures that I keep on taking off of my phone and into some kind of organized documentation of our life. 😀 I will also occasionally be sharing my thoughts over there about what it means to be a mom who homeschools, and specifically who unschools. Feel free to request to follow if any of that sounds appealing to you. (We are planning to keep the followers of the new account restricted to the people who we actually know in one way or another. ♥️)I am making progress on my #onewordchallenge quilt for the @baltimoremqg. I have the word totally pieced at this point and I just have some embroidery to do to finish out the mini quilt. Feel free to continue to guess which word I have chosen but please don’t give up the answer if I’ve actually told you. 😉 These letters are from the #refrigeratormagnetpattern from @elizabethagh. And I for the record, don’t really love sewing letters although these weren’t too bad. If it wasn’t for me giving a demo about how to sew these back in January, I likely would not have even made this quilt. 🤣#salmonandsouvlakisews #baltimoremodernquiltguild #charmcitysewcialOne of my main goals for myself in 2020 (when it comes to my sewing life) is to finish up, give away (finished or not) or make progress on every work-in-progress (WIP) I have. My intention is to NOT start any new projects until I’m done with the ones that I have already begun. (I am reserving the right to change my mind of course but I’m really serious about this, honestly!) I’m also committed to evaluating every single item in my sewing room to decide if I need it or not. My goal is to significantly reduce the size of my stash and supplies, in the service of more simplicity in my life as well as knowing that in the not too distant future, we will likely be switching around bedrooms in our house and my sewing room will be significantly shrinking in size. . . ✂️🧷 As a way to quantify the work that I’m hoping to do (and because I like cold hard data 😉), I spent the last week or two, off and on, weighing everything in my sewing room (plus everything I collected from around the house) related to my sewing life. . . ✂️🧷My grand total? 244.75 pounds! I have some work cut out for me. My goal is to have much of this ready to head out to #destashbaltimore in March. It’s nice to have a deadline! #salmonandsouvlakisews #charmcitysewcial #baltimoremqg (and local maker friends, follow Renee @missceliespants for more info on #destashbaltimore 2020.)Presenting my first quilt finish of 2020! The center block sub-units were pieced by Debbie Kratovil (swipe to the end for the pattern specifics). She gave them to me (via her daughter) three years ago and at the end of December, I decided it was about time I put them into a quilt! She also gave me the extra purple fabric that I used for the outer border. So I just had to add the inner polkadot border and the backing. This measures about 42 inches square and is destined to be another quilt donated to Early Childhood Headstart via the @baltimoremqg. Debbie is a prolific quilter, teacher, and author but she doesn’t seem to have an Instagram account. If you Google her name, you will find her blog if you’d like to know more about her and her work. ♥️ . . . It’s been years since I used this particular quilting pattern, but I love how a tiny change in the angle at the top of the quilt results in such a big difference at the bottom of the quilt. You know that saying, “Small hinges move big doors”? Here’s a graphic representation of that! ♥️ (I love @healthymoving’s take on mindset and implementing small, incremental change if you are wanting any encouragement on that in the new year.) #salmonandsouvlakisews #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcial #debbiekratovilI am working on samples for a demonstration that I am doing at the @baltimoremqg guild meeting on Sunday. I am demonstrating the freezer paper method for constructing words to be added to a quilt. This is the #refrigeratormagnetpattern from @elizabethagh. Our guild is doing a one word quilt challenge, as part of our yearlong 10-year anniversary celebration. Currently, I am working on the letters A, C, and T. There are four more letters to go. Can you guess which one word I’ve chosen for the year? 😀 #salmonandsouvlakisews #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcialHere are my top nine posts and my year of color. Family, quilting, and lots of colors. Sounds about right! 😍 Happy New Year’s Eve!Handmade Christmas 2019: reusable teabags. That’s it. 😆 In years past, I sewed and sewed and gave handmade sewn presents to nearly everyone. But this year? It was a really rough fall that I hope I never have to repeat it again. And when I got to December, not much sewing happened (at least compared to my high output years). But I did make about 60 of these reusable teabags, made with 100% cotton organic unbleached muslin from @dharmatradingco. I gave them away along with dried peppermint from @mountainroseherbs. It seriously makes the best peppermint tea you’ve ever had. ♥️ In the picture, you can see that one of the teabags has also been used with black tea because it’s beautifully dyed. 😍 . . . How to use them? Fill with 1/2-1 tablespoon of loose tea (for herbal tea you need the larger amount), brew as usual, take the teabag out, allow to cool, turn inside out to remove the wet tea leaves, rinse, and dry to use again. It’s zero waste tea, especially if you compost the tea leaves! 🌏 #salmonandsouvlakisews #reusableteabags #zerowaste #zerowastehome”Earthquake Consolation” is a series of six quilts that I made last summer (June/July 2019) as presents for my family and in response to the November 30, 2018 magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska. With too many thoughts to be contained in one little Instagram post, I dusted off the blog and wrote a couple blog posts instead. See the link in profile if you want to read more and to see many more pictures. ♥️ . . . This was my most ambitious sewing project of the year by far! Quilt design inspired by a free tutorial from @emily_dennis_. Almost all the fabrics are #konacottonsolids from @robertkaufman, from my stash. Flannel backs from @joann_stores #salmonandsouvlakisews #charmcitysewcial #baltimoremqg #quiltersofinstagramI am really intent on finishing up all my outstanding projects in my sewing room (either finishing them or giving it away to someone else who might be interested in actually finishing it). So with that in mind, in late November, I made this baby quilt from blocks which I received from my bee mates in #beehiveswarmmerrilee in 2017. @driftedindrive was our leader for that year. Thanks Merrilee! After I assembled it, it didn’t feel quite fun enough for a kid so I added the little turtle appliqué. And then I had fun piecing together all my cute green fabrics for the back, including turtles, bugs in jars, frogs, and green beans! I donated this one to @baltimoremqg’s work with Early Head Start. . . . Block pattern: #treasurehuntblock from @blossomheartquilts #charmcitysewcial #blossomheartquilts #salmonandsouvlakisews #baltimoremqgCategories
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Category Archives: cleaning
My Life, Under New Management
Two weeks ago, I went to a workshop led by one of the founders of Agile Learning Centers (ALC). The workshop was focused on learning how to use agile management tools in support of self-directed learning. I’m in the process … Continue reading
Posted in cleaning, cooking, house/neighborhood, reflecting
2 Comments
A New Thanksgiving Tradition
We certainly have some Thanksgiving traditions in our family. I always make these pumpkin orange rolls, of course we eat cranbrosia, and we (for three years running now) braise our turkey for the most incredibly delicious and moist turkey you’ve … Continue reading
Misappropriation of Party Planning and Preparation Time
Last Saturday afternoon, I had the fun of hosting a bridal open house (like a shower only with no presents involved) for one of my best friends. I had allocated the day before (Friday) for house cleaning and food preparation, … Continue reading
Posted in cleaning, friends, gardening
6 Comments
Folding Laundry (shades of “Journal of Best Practices”)
Here’s how I like to fold laundry, in my ideal world. First, I sort it into piles – Ellie, Mark, Nik, Laura, bath towels, sheets, kitchen (wash clothes, towels), napkins, etc. (I didn’t do this initial step until I had … Continue reading
Life Hack: Make Your Clean Space Attractive Enough to Motivate You to Keep It That Way
I love how our dining room table looks when it’s clean. Chairs pushed in and totally clear of clutter The vase was a Christmas present from Nik’s brother and sister-in-law. I love the structural beauty of it so I leave … Continue reading
Posted in cleaning, useful beautiful
5 Comments
KIOS: Grooming, Part 4: In Praise of Infrequent Flushing
This post is part of my series, “Kickin’ It Old Skool: Why and How We Are Old-Fashioned” or KIOS for short. If you’re new to the series, please read my disclaimer before continuing on. I’m keeping a table of contents … Continue reading
When Principles Meet Nostalgia
Nik and I have some fairly strong convictions on what kind of toys we want to have in our house. I blogged about this more extensively in this post. Specifically, we decided that we didn’t want to have any plastic … Continue reading
Posted in cleaning, Ellie, parenting, useful beautiful
8 Comments
