A SECRET SANTA QUILT.

merry christmas! i'm your secret santa!

i hope you like your quilt! i am not really great at sewing. i don't cut fabric in straight lines and i don't sew straight either. i've named your quilt a "hodge podge" quilt. i don't know if you saw online or not, but i've started an etsy shop. i wanted to keep myself busy with crafting- well, anything really. i've realized that it's something i need to do to stay content. i need to make. so i've made christmas cards and a print.

for december, i decided that i would make this quilt my monthly project. it is the "season of giving", so i'm not listing anything (this quilt) in my shop. now that you know a little bit about the background, i'll let you in on the story of the quilt.

when rorie was just 5 months old in the winter of 2012 i drove to the lincoln square area and picked up two garbage bags full of fabric scraps. i used freecycle and thought i could make something for rorie. well, i didn't. but i held onto the fabric and moved it with us to NH.

some of the fabric i used was from my old kitchen curtains in chicago.

some are scraps from jacobs crib sheets (stars) and my current kitchen curtains (newspaper).

there's a red sweatshirt material from a "camp squanto" sweatshirt whose original owner was my dad (it was falling apart).

other fabric is leftover from the pillowcases i sewed while pregnant with jake. i was nesting (little red flowers & green).

and lastly, there's fabric from the scraps of a dress my mom sewed for rorie when we were waiting for jacob to make his arrival.

the back of the quilt is an old fleece blanket i impulse bought at old navy when i was in high school in VA. both of my kids have spit-up on it (don't worry, i washed it!).

so there you have it...the story behind this epic "hodge podge" quilt that i made specifically for you,

my "secret santa 2014: out-of-towners-edition" (town=chicago-birth place of the burgh babes)

so merry christmas, again!

i love + miss you!

chelsea

p.s. i had my friend britta... if you were wondering who this was sent to.

NOVEMBER-WHAT YOU LOVE SHOP.

i had a lot of fun brainstorming, planning, & creating this month's craft. the phrase "i can do hard things" stuck with me the first time i ever saw it. i knew it was something i wanted to have in my house as a daily reminder.

it was also the mantra i had while slowly carving out each letter. it was hard work. it was mainly hard work because i was doing it late at night, during nap times, while children were interrupting me when they were supposed to be playing, and one glorious hour at panera. a man thought i was cutting a bagel all funny. nope, it's a linoleum block.

as i worked i repeated the phrase i was carving "i can do hard things, i can do hard things..." over and over again. because it's true.

i'm very tired a lot of the time. i wake up groaning when, in a previous life, i woke up alive and spunky. this print is a reminder of what i can do. i can do hard things. 



this print is for the mama who is up all night with a teething baby- i can do hard things. (me!)

this print is for the teen with too many broken hearts- i can do hard things.

this print is for the freshman trying to make it onto the varsity team- i can do hard things.

this print is for the sixteen year old studying to take their driving test- i can do hard things.

this print is for the college student during finals week- i can do hard things.

this print is for the twenty-something working harder than hard for peanuts- i can do hard things.

this print is for the mother who is watching her son drive off to college- i can do hard things.

this print is for the father who drives and hour to work everyday and misses too many mornings, afternoons, and nights with his kids- i can do hard things.



we can all do hard things. and this is a simple reminder of that. the hard things mold you. the hard things test you. the hard things give way to the great things in life.

i can do hard things.

there are two options: b&w or color.
you can purchase your own print here.
thank you so much for your support.

ST. PAT

aaron is on-call today and just left for work. we have already been busy, busy today. daddy & roro went to the park and picked up a newspaper. we had homemade zucchini soup for lunch. two naps have been taken. we've been playing with toys, watching irish cooking, history, and travel shows, and drinking coconut water. 

life is good in roro world.

happy st. patrick's day from our home to yours.

PHEW.

this blog has taken a bit of a back seat in the past week. i'm not even sure the last time i thought of it. so sad. well, i'm back. a lot has happened. rorie is now crawling. it's a little wobbly, but she crawls and pulls herself up, has started standing up in her crib and pulling down anything she can get her little hands on in her tiny room, and now it seems like teething has officially reared it's ugly head again. i wonder which teeth are next? phew!

i thought i'd let you in on a fun new thing from etsy that rorie received and loves. well, mama loves it too! i never really appreciated that our kitchen counters and cupboards were made of metal until now. they are these cute fabric numbers from margauxmakes :

it's great because i can plop rorie down on the kitchen rug in front of them and she plays and plays. it's great! and soon we will teach her numbers with them, but for now they are just fun to take on and off the cupboards.

it's been great because i can make her bottles with her sitting right there or do the dishes and she's perfectly content. i just love them. i didn't get to take a picture of rorie playing with them yet. we've been a little busy- she's very fast now that she's crawling and scooting.

i'd also like to get the alphabet set that she has here.

i suggest heading over to her etsy shop and taking a look around.

CJN FLOWERS & PRIMITIVES

the woman behind our wedding flowers is carrie of CJN Flowers & Primitives. she was a joy to meet on the morning of my wedding day and we have continued to keep in touch through facebook. she is a mama of two handsome boys and somehow finds the time to make cutie hair accessories and other handmade goods.

i suggest you head over to her etsy shop and look around: countrycraft101

rorie actually won an owl hairclip in one of her weekly giveaways!

i love these hairties.

you can find her on facebook, too!

sign up for the CJN email list while you're at it. so far, i have loved the emails she sends out. they are full of fun information and ideas. and of course, new items!

also, if you're in the new england area and need a florist for your wedding... carrie's the one to call. we loved our flowers.

and we love her handmade pretties.

TEETH.

Well, it seems as if the first week of 2013 brought little miss some teething discomfort. Yep, she's officially working on getting teeth. yay? eh, well... she's grouchy, temperamental, uncomfortable, drooly, short-tempered...shall I go on? I bought this Wisconsin shaped wooden teether for Aaron... I mean Rorie. Isn't it cute? The family who makes it are actually in WI, so I'm sure they love orders for it. I'll keep you posted if any pearly whites show up.

HANDMADE. HOMEMADE. 2013.

Aaron and I have been talking a lot about what we want our life to be like, what we want to do with our time, where we want to live, the kind of family we want to be, etc. We are all getting to that age where we decide the kind of life we really want to have. We have the ability now to make choices and changes for ourselves and for the world. 

We want to eat well, buy handmade, make homemade, and support America. 

We aren't really into resolutions, but we have decided (coincidentally it's new years resolution time) that we want to make a conscious effort to change the way we eat. Now that Rorie is getting the chance to try her first foods we are understanding how important it is to eat clean, healthy, organic food. It's an expensive challenge in this city-we are finding. Jewel and Dominick's have a very limited amount of organic produce. Most of it is going bad on the shelf I've found. That takes the fun out of shopping. I love going to Trader Joe's, but it's quite a hike to get there. Whole Foods is just down the road from us, but I'm a little overwhelmed by the prices. Maybe when I have a bit more time I can better navigate the store and find success there. For now, it's been mostly Dominick's. After just getting home from the grocery story I can tell you- it's possible at Dominick's. We created a budget for food and I have managed to come in $20 under budget for this week- which makes me grin from ear to ear. Not to mention I managed to buy all organic produce. Yay! I have successfully made Rorie organic squash puree and plan on making more foods for her soon (she loves squash! and it tastes good to me too!!!). I'll be writing more about her food a little later. 

I think it's very important to support people. As an artist of sorts, I understand the hard work that goes into making something with your hands. That's why I have tried to buy Rorie toys and stuffed friends that are handmade. Specifically, handmade in America. I've loved shopping on Etsy. It's addicting because our fellow Americans can make some pretty awesome stuff. Way more awesome than a machine can. And no plastic. Which mama likes a lot. Rorie has collected handmade rattles, wooden teethers, stuffed animals, and handmade dolls. And I love everyone of her things- so does she :)  She plays on quilts made from women at Aaron's church in Ellsworth. She sleeps on hand sewn sheets. It feels good to support people in this way. To make conscious shopping decisions and to make her things with my own hands. Of course, sometimes it's easier to go to Target and pick up something- which we do. Or a gift comes from a big box store, or overseas, or is made of plastic. And it's not a bad thing- it is what it is. 

But we do make an effort to support other people, make our own, and buy American when we can. 

I challenge you to do the same this year.