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Happy Tuesday, friends!

Today I am knocking out a list of sewing projects (loads of nursing covers for the North Carolina shop I sell to), running errands, and drinking a large quantity of Chocolate Monkey Rooibus tea (think of it as a hot tea version of Ben & Jerry's "Chunky Monkey", I know, it's my favorite flavor too). This fabulous song, which has already been played a number of times, was discovered via pandora radio a few weeks ago and I've been enjoying it ever since; good tune and lyrics make for a wonderful combination. Also, slightly on the back burner, I'm getting a few things together for a small get together celebrating twenty-something years of this curly head; yes indeed, a birthday is just around the corner (like, next week)! More on that later, but if you want to plan ahead, check out my pinterest for gift ideas, if you want...

of english pillowcovers and avocados

{Burlap Pillowcover---England Flag} 

Well, hullo everyone!
The past few weeks have been filled with watching children, a wee case of bronchitis, driving around downtown Austin (love doing that), estate sales, eating a Democrat at Torchy's Tacos (great place to congregate!), meeting new and wonderful people, and spending late nights talking. :)
How about you?

Today I posted the above throw pillow, yes friends, my very own curtsy to the plethora of hits I received after this Union Jack post, who knew those simple words would cause that much traffic?? So, I figured that creating a shop item with an English theme would be the best way to acknowledge those 45+ hits a day.
I really enjoyed creating my own version of St. George's Cross, in fact, this could be the beginning of a beautiful, flag-reproducing relationship...

What flag do you think should be next?

In other news, the avocado seed is growing marvelously! What was once a homegrown, California avocado is now a budding plant, contentedly shooting out of a depression glass on our kitchen windowsill.
Now to research what to do next!

Have a beautiful week.

knitting my bit

{source here}

I really love these posters from WWII, they're so creative and echo a unique time of hard work; it's one of my very favorite periods to study and I love reading about nearly every area regarding it.

As you can imagine, the one above print is one of my favorites. : ) 

Last week I mentioned that I was arranging my samples to take to North Carolina, well this week I am here to tell you that I. wasn't. kidding. There is a mental list somewhere with a outline of each item I need to make before flying out on Friday; there's really only three sample boxes to make, and--if I spend my time well--there is just enough time for what I need to make. This time around I'll mostly be knitting, with only a few sewing projects; thankfully they're both things that can be done in traffic, long grocery lines, listening to this groovy tune and this enjoyable book, and while watching Jane Eyre (I l.o.v.e. that one). 

Praise the Lord for this glorious wind blew in a delicious 65 degree morning today and I am reveling in the chilly breeze! It makes working with wool blends that much more wonderful.

So, until Friday evening, I'll be 

          ...singing. Yes, though only one of us Marques Chica's takes lessons, we all sing quite liberally. We've taken to turning up our playlists on youtube and pandora just enough so that we sound just like the bands we play. 

          ...working out every.day. even though my Dad isn't here to partake in our bleary-eyed sessions. 

          ...sewing up necklaces to take to NC. Instant gratification projects are just great.

          ...knitting up items to take as well as planning a knitted outfit for the bun in the oven of a sweet friend (It's so fun to knit for little babies).

          ...sipping a yummy brew of coconut chai (with almond milk, please!)

          ...packing, both mentally and literally. The former for a trip to Dubai and the latter for this trip to NC, it's so sad/funny that I have to continually be...

          ...reminding myself that I don't own these fabulous english riding boots (or these either), like I said, sad/funny mostly sad though.

          ...containing my utter excitement at visiting with some beautiful and dear people in the coming weeks and months (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

What will you be doing?

Sweet Summer Days

{Design*Sponge}

This week will be full of moving, packing, moving, swimming, packing, moving, and more packing (more on that in me and my sister's blog). Tomorrow night my sister, a few friends, and myself will be seeing the opening performance of Emma--so excited! I'll admit that I'm a lover of Jane Austen and Emma is no exception, one of my top three Austen favorites you might say.

Going to the theater is not an everyday occasion for us, so I treasure each time we can go--are there any other theater-going lovers out there?

Next week I will be heading off to the Texas Hill Country again! Yes, as my eldest sister is expecting her fourth (this will make three girls!), I'm off to be with her before, during, and after she has her baby. Lord willing, my brother-in-law will be in town during the birth, so my job will be the "Mary Poppins" sort. : )

Which I absolutely love!

I'm going armed with new recipes (we'll see what the Stickies think about paleolithic eating), some crafty projects, and supplies to make a few baby booties and possibly another sweater.

Let's not forget my sweater for The Summer Sweater Knit a Long! I'm halfway through the back piece and am slowly but surely knitting along! I'd really like to finish soon as I am excited to wear this very sweet sweater (the entire outfit is planned already!). I'll also be working on some new items for the shop, some fun summer things to keep it interesting. : )

I'd love to squeeze in some reading time but with everything else I'm not sure that's possible, do you have times like that? I am plenty of half-finished books on the shelf and for the most part, that's where they are most of the time--on the shelf. I'll have to show you the new literary treasures I've found (actually my Mum spotted them first) at some recent estate sales; one is an illustrated first edition of Cranford and the other is an edition of Jane Eyre--nope, haven't fully read either copy yet! But I can assure you, they are treasured even if they aren't read!

And How Does That Make You Feel?

{My dear Maggie, who used to be my affectionate sleeping buddy

and is now a free and mouse-catching farm cat.}

Today I've started studying for my psychology exam, yep, that's what I said too.

Though I'm only in the first 48 pages of the textbook, I must confess that I'm finding

it all terribly interesting, despite the liberal leanings, I'm really enjoying it so far.

However, after reading the first 48 pages, I'm thinking that now would be a good time

to begin reading Jay Adam's Competent to Counsel, which I'm told is an excellent

resource for Biblical counseling.

More thoughts on psychology and Freud are soon to come, I'm sure. ;)

Aside from that, this week is devoted to purchasing the edible and non-edible goods for the wedding, as well as sewing beads to trim a certain veil. As I love multi-tasking, I've been listening to the fascinating mysteries of Sherlock Holmes while I sew, it's so entertaining!

I'm still (slowly but surely, just like the turtle) working of projects for the newest addition to my sister's family. An eggplant hat and green sweater are in order, as well as, booties and diaper covers (in times past they were wool sweaters).

As gifts, I will be knitting this beautiful Cedar Leaf shawlette

for some special ladies, isn't the pattern lovely?

All of that will go along much faster next week (read: after the wedding)!

How is your Monday looking?

Living. Sewing, Studying. Rest. Repeat.

Here's the post about our progress with our Dubai Covers!

Well, after a fabulous start with a sweet friend, we got to work on

the cutting and sewing of the other fabrics when our dear machine

decided it wouldn't cooperate!

So, as you can't sew on an out of service machine,

we went back to the craft room of our sweet friend and had a wonderfully

productive sewing day!

(As evidenced by the first four of our covers that you see!)

Thank you very much for having us, Mrs. Julie,

and for being so flexible!

It's no small offer to have two young women work

in your craft room during a school day

and we're so grateful for the opportunity to

visit, sew, and experience life in your home.

So,

Merci. Gracias. Danke. Grazie.

I hope you enjoyed this quick preview of our progress.

{heads up}

To make things a bit easier on our end,

we'll be selling our covers through this blog and not on my etsy shop,

but more on those details later!

Due to life and a wee bit of sickness in our home,

(Not to fear! Your covers will come "germ-free"!)

we'll get details and pricing up soon;

thanks for your patience. :)

Now back to living, sewing, studying, and-hopefully-rest.

Repeat.

Meet the Green-Eyed Sticky

{The first-born of my sister's offspring, Sophia--or Sophie as her Tia's call her}

This is Sophia (The Green-Eyed Sticky).
She is small and very funny.
Yep, those green eyes are very real and very captivating.
I think she does a fabulous job sporting the newest birthday crown, made for a special little someone.
Want to order one? No prob, just head on over to the shop and let me know--I'd love to recreate something in the shop or perhaps you already have an idea in mind? I'd love to work with you!

There are lots of things being checked off my "To-Knit" list, good thing too because there are things being added!
Check out the {on the needles} page to see what I've done and what is still in the works.

What projects are you working on?
In this season of my life there are many wee ones to make things for.

Recently I've had a flurry of ideas for my sisters baby-to-be

and today a larger scale project has been brewing in the back of my mind,

here are the keywords:

Planes. Mica. Fabric. Sweet Friends.

Stay tuned.

{A packaged good for a customer ready to be shipped!}

p.s. I came across these adorable, comfy looking shoes;

it's never too early for birthdays you know ;)

There Once Was A Chair...

...quite a plain chair.

This piece has been in my room for a few years and recently (like, two months ago recently), I bought some fabric that better suited my fancy, and took off the original fabric.

For some reason that I can't remember, I waited a while before putting the new fabric on, and I realized that this new project went a wee bit over my head (read: I was very nervous).

Thankfully, I now have a sweet, friend helping, who is a much more accomplished seamstress than I. After just one afternoon, we've made some wonderful headway and are half finished with this chair! I'll post more when I've finished :)

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{side note}

This post from Oh, Hello Friend (you are loved) reminded me of how fun it would be to learn about printing on a letterpress.

Sew Sweet+ London

::Yes, it is the chair again, I saw it at Anthro a while ago.

If you see it just sit in it, don't look at the price--too sad::

I've come across another great blog link!

This one came from Soule Mama, on her book list, and I was attracted to it because of the great refurbished cardigan on the cover. Sewing Bits and Pieces looks like a fun book to give ideas for all of those scrap pieces of fabric you have in your possession. I can only imagine what cute things you could do with the projects!

The author, Sandi Henderson, also has a website (with a free projects page!) and a blog called Portabello Pixie. Both have cute designs and

I'm looking forward to getting ideas and projects from her!

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In other news, we are getting ready for my Mom to meet my Dad in the UK.

He is there on business and will be until the end of May. Thankfully Mom will be able to spend the next two weeks with him. Us girls will be staying with our grandparents in the hill country of Burnet, Texas. In addition to a crash course in Spanish, we'll be busy cooking, sewing, knitting, walking, and studying. I'm enjoying the pleasures of living "out in the country":

fresh wildflowers every day,

being able to look across the street and see nothing but wildflowers and pecan trees,

hearing the windchimes,

and beautiful sunsets.

Now, I'm not saying it's perfect!

After all, who wants to miss important phone calls on account of the spotty service?

At any rate, I am so excited for my Mom. England is so lovely and they are staying in such a sweet little hotel! Although London is very expensive, I'm sure Mom will have no lack of things to do. They don't charge you to walk around; she could even feed the birds by St. Pauls--

it's only tuppence a bag...

Spring: Cleaning and Arranging

I've started my re-upholstery project at last!

It is a simple, swivel chair that had hundreds of staples; now I'm working on pinning and cutting fabric, very exciting (!!). Although I must say that I am now eyeing other chairs in our house, it was pretty fun to pull out all of those staples :)

And, in case you were wondering, my lace cardigan is coming along! Although I am finding that this is a project that I cannot multi-task with unfortunately. But I can listen to things while knitting it! Only please do not talk to me, the answer may come back in pattern form.

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Well, I was looking across some older projects and I thought of a great company that sells very cute yarns and patterns:

Spud and Chloe

There is an especially cute sweater/hat set called Baby Bartlett--check it out. It's so very adorable.

Speaking of adorable, this Bubble dress from Amanda Soule, would look just yummy on my niece Mia, she has the little squishy arms to pull it off :)