back home and sewing a baby blanket

i've finally gotten some time put into my niece's baby blanket and its coming along quite nicely now. i'll soon have all the square patches put together and will then start on the embroidery work for the back of the quilt. As i mentioned before, i'm going with a garden/farming theme and will decorate the quilt backing with all the animals and flowers from our family farm back home.

i'd like to have some kind of nursery rhyme or lyric to embroider around the edges of the blanket but i can't seem to find anything that fits just right with the theme. i'll have to spend some more time tomorrow flipping through the old volume of mother goose nursery rhymes from when i was little in hopes of finding something. so if you've got any leads, tell me! i need help!

o! and tomorrow, in addition to posting new handsewn items to my little shop, i am going to make a vanilla buttercream cake to bring to the small new year's eve party we are headed to. pictures and recipe to come!

geschichtenvonkat shop update!

i've just posted a few men's vintage patterns to my shop (check out the retro pajamas!) as well as sale items. more envelope sets, patterns, and kitchen items to come in the days ahead.

zoë wishes you a very merry little christmas—and chanukah!!!

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:1-14, KJV

and they're off!

our cat is freaking out because the suitcases are all packed up. she always seems to know what this means and is presently flipping out in response sprinting from one room to the other as she hisses and stares with beady little eyes. poor thing, i hate leaving our pets but we have a great friend coming to feed her and such so all is well.

must run though now so we can hop on the metro to catch our flight to Boston! so very excited for a bit of new england winter (as long as it does not interfere with our flight). Since moving all around after college, i have not had a proper winter in 4 years!! give me the brisk coldness over a melty dc summer any day.

image source: http://www.tompeters.com/blogs/main/general/

mix tape addict: music for mellowing out

just a small helping of sarcasm

we saw the first two superman movies on tv just a bit ago and i kind of ended up liking them alot. campy and all of course, but why was i not aware that christopher reeve was so darn charming?! my other half can get pretty excited if i show any interest in all things involving science fiction or comics so the last two superman movies are now in our netflix queue.

i was attempting to ask some stupid questions that might push his buttons so i wondered aloud if there was any chance that superman and santa claus might be in cahouts...after all the fortress of solitude IS at the north pole right? they'd obviously end up petsitting for eachother or borrowing a cup of sugar since no on else seems to be around up there! AND what is more all-american than superman and santa?! exactly.

so then, he found this comic and sent it to me which i love! it's pretty much exactly what i had in mind when i thought of superman and santa claus being in cahouts...i hope it's not one of those things that i find highly amusing but doesn't quite come across in translation ;)

in other news, i'm slowly filling the shop back up with new items this week. i sold several individual lined envelopes at the show monday night so i thought i'd try putting some up on etsy too. i've also added a lovely set of vintage napkins which i think are just beautiful, perfect for an afternoon tea party!

a sigh of relief and contentment

so last night was the holiday party/trunk show/everything but the kitchen sink soiree and we had so much fun! I loved the experience of meeting so many new and interesting folks from around DC, setting up my wares to share, and eating way too many mini brownies. I'd say the event was definitely a great success and a good experience for me to have as my first attempt at in-person selling as it was very relaxed, no pressure, and lively atmosphere.

so glad i can take a break from sewing my fingers to the bone though, i must admit. still, i will use my christmas break to work on the quilt for my niece. it's so lovely in a creamy white and calico rose with ivory satin binding. the back will have embroidery work with a lullaby and nature/farm themed vignettes to complement the roses and that our family comes from a long line of sturdy german farmers :) i'll have to post some images once i get enough work done on it to share and here's hoping the lack of a definitive deadline should keep my finger tips from cracking and peeling any more!



before fully giving in to the holiday break though, i need to head to the post office and ship out the last of the christmas orders. i would so much love to stay in bed with piles of blankets and tea, my cat, and a good book, but duty calls and i'll soon be off to the post office in georgetown.



this too shall pass, as my mother would say. i'll spend the rest of this week photographing all the new pieces which i made for the show, baking up a serious christmas cookie storm, and wrapping all those gifts i bought on etsy. i am so excited to see people's faces when they open them!! apart from the midnight candlelit service, those faces are pretty much my favorite part of christmas.

those elusive little treasury spots

they can be hard to come by, but i finally managed to get a spot in the treasury today! Here is the link so that it can be viewed in its full glory ;)

"Vintage in the Kitchen"

my first trunk show!

cheese. crafts. winter. wonderful.

You are cordially to a holiday party on Monday, December 15 - peruse
handmade merchandise from four DC area artisans, sample and learn
about fine cheeses, hear some live music, warm your toes by the fire and
just take in some overall holiday goodness.

Details:
Where: Monica Shimamura’s beautiful home at 1520 12th Street NW
(12th and Q, near Logan Circle)
When: Monday, December 15 from 7:00 pm until 11:00 pm
Feel free to bring something edible and the beverage of your choice.

Crafty Ladies:

Catherinette
Handmade and recycled gifts and accessories
www.catherinette.etsy.com

Art Shark Designs
Limited-edition gocco prints, screenprints, and more by
Megan Nolton
www.artsharkdesigns.etsy.com

geschichtenvonkat
Vintage and handmade items with a good helping of
indie style, storybook charm, and old-fashioned themes
www.geschichtenvonkat.etsy.com

madame joy
Metalwork and jewelry by Amy L. Faust
www.madamejoy.etsy.com


Music:
Listen to the guitar sounds of Eric Fuller,
photographer and musician.

Cheese(!):
Cheese specialist Jessica Wurwarg will offer a
tasting of and a lesson about the season's
most festive and delicious artisan-produced
cheeses. The evening will include (for $10) a
tasting of five cheeses, a lesson on wine and
cheese pairing, the history and techniques of
cheese making, and the variety of milks, rinds
and flavors that go into cheeses.

some randomness and some name dropping

tonight we are going to a friend's place up in cleveland park. we're not quite organized enough to have a book club so we are attempting to start meeting here and there to watch and discuss all kinds of different documentary films (and eat of course). I believe tonight we will be watching 'The War Room,' an older one which chronicles the 1992 Clinton campaign and the tactics of the two men behind the scenes, James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. I'm excited because, well, i'm a nerd.

and you know what?! on an only somewhat related tangent...this past spring when i was waiting for the bus after work on a quiet georgetown street, i realized the cute family passing by with their dog was none other than Mr. Stephanopoulos with his wife and two daughters...terribly cute family i must say! my first childhood crushes were on Peter Jennings and George Stephanopoulos (yeah, i was a strange kid) so I was a bit flabergasted as i stood on the corner not really knowing what to do. well, i only peeked out of the corner of my eye as i did not want to be that annoying googly-eyed weird person who interrupts an obviously nice family moment.

moving on from mr. stephanopoulos though...SIGH...i wanted to ask if anyone out there has any recommendations for interesting documentaries? As an art history junkie, i've been hoping to see The Rape of Europa. the summary on IMBD describes it much better than i:


"THE RAPE OF EUROPA is a feature documentary that takes the audience on an epic journey through seven countries and into a violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare that threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. For twelve long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on a scale unprecedented in history. But heroic young art historians and curators from America and across Europe fought back, mounting a miraculous campaign that would rescue and return the millions of art works displaced by the war. Joan Allen narrates this chronicle about the battle over the very survival of centuries of western culture." (Written by Actual Films)


So let me know what you think are must see documentaries, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

insert sewing binge here

i admit, i've been a terrible blogger in the last few days, but i must say that it's quite amazing how much work i can get done when i am not feeding my computer addiction! here are about half of the potholders i've gotten started...material is cut, stuffing stuffed, and the linoblock prints have turned out really nice for the opposite sides. i've used the colander and utensil stamps that i made previously and also tried them out on some linen dishtowels which i think turned out pretty nicely if i do say so myself!

now i just need to do the hand stitching inside and out, add the fun details of the twill loop and tag and then they're set (goodness, that sounds so much quicker than it will actually be)! i'll be taking a batch of them to my first trunk show(!!) which is coming up next week and hopefully they'll all come out as nice as these which are currently for sale in my shop.












i've also gotten the chance to make those draft snakes i mentioned before, my favorite is this one which is almost set to take with me to the show as well. don't fret though, there are doubles of almost everything and those i will be posting to the shop!


and yes, i have just a very small affection for LOTS of COLOR! :)

Mister postman look and see, do you got a letter in your bag for me?

Deliver the letter, the sooner the better!

i'll be adding a handful of new items to the shop throughout the week so keep your eyes peeled! today i've posted two new letter sets, one (pictured above) which is vintage themed and another which is christmas themed. each listing has detail pictures of each envelope showing the custom liners. these make great stocking stuffers or a small but special gift for creative friends—especially those you wish you'd hear from more often ;)