apriltwoeighty

destash!

2012-05-27T16:14:00.001-04:00

still going on in my etsy shop...

Instagram catch-up

2012-05-26T11:02:00.001-04:00

This gets us caught up to last week... Classes, wigs, the beach, the cats, etc! Xo

MIA.

2012-05-22T20:17:00.002-04:00

hey everyone. i am MIA for a bit.. going through some incredibly tough personal stuff over these next couple of months. i hope to pop in with some instagram photos at least very soon, but otherwise it will be quiet around here. think good thoughts. XO

Lately, in Instagram

2012-05-06T12:37:00.001-04:00

Well, spring is moving right along and I have a million things I feel like I should be doing and I haven't done a thing yet... Hoping the rest of May will be productive! Lately I've been rocking the wigs, I had an awful cold and stayed home sick from work a day, and have started working on a quilting open house for the shop....

House sitting... Again.

2012-05-06T12:31:00.001-04:00

A lot of you on Instagram have already seen these photos, but I'm house sitting for some friends/co-workers who have the most inspiring house & garden (plus cute pups and cats!)! I will be here for a week, and I'm ready to move right in! ;)

Shop life.

2012-04-28T19:43:00.001-04:00

This week in Instagram...

2012-04-27T19:44:00.001-04:00

around here..

2012-04-25T19:04:00.001-04:00

i'm still here! things have been a bit busy... getting ready for classes at the shop, unloading some of my own stash on etsy, working on a small living room re-decorating project, finding time for work and play and the mountain of laundry that seems never-ending... you know how it is. the usual.

a few scenes from the sewing room lately..

a lot of planning and not as much doing as i'd like, but that will change soon enough. there are talks in the works currently for some of my commissioned work to be made for and sold at a designer retail company, so this could be exciting. i'll know more next week!

2012-04-22T12:38:00.001-04:00

Scrap bags up in the destash shop!!!
www.littledestash.etsy.com
xoxox

spring destash.....

2012-04-20T18:17:00.001-04:00

the destashing has begun!!!

much more to list, but for now:

destash shop! !!!!

Week/end in Instagram!

2012-04-15T19:19:00.001-04:00

Finally got my tattoo finished!

2012-04-15T18:47:00.001-04:00

I spent another few hours with my buddy Chris Dingwell yesterday getting my sewing tattoo finished up - all of the color was added! I love it so much and am starting the recovery/ healing process.
This blogger app doesn't add pics in the order I put them in, so excuse me if they don't seem chronological! ;)

Weekend catch-all, in Instagram!

2012-04-08T16:35:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend and Easter! I spent some time in the shop, some time with friends, and some time with family. Xoxo

This week in instagram...

2012-04-04T19:33:00.001-04:00

Hopefully getting back into the sewing room this week/weekend... But had a lovely birthday with my BFF, and got so many awesome birthday wishes.. Xo! See you soon!

(BFF!)

weekend catch-all.

2012-03-31T21:40:00.003-04:00

well, its been a while since i've done a proper post. things were a little disjointed around here... i feel like i'm back on track, somewhat, but not 100%. its a process, i suppose, sometimes.

[these photos were taken with Instagram, so the quality isn't up to my usual standards, but they were the only photos i've taken all week!!]

i guess the biggest thing that happened around here is that on thursday evening i (finally) shaved my head. i'd been talking about it for a while and trying to muster up the courage... i decided it was now or never, and just went for it. there wasn't that much more to shave off, really, as it was pretty short from when i had cut it, so i guess that lessened the blow a bit. ;) i really do like it, though. talk about low maintenance! it will take some getting used to, and the grays are more prominent than ever before, but i'm happy to be back to basics and thinking of it as a new beginning. its a totally clean slate to start my 32nd year of life....

today was the first day i had been back to The Atelier Stitch in weeks it seems.. my partner and i went over our books and profits for our first month, and we did pretty well! we spent some time brainstorming our spring/summer schedule and some fancy/special events coming up! good things will be happening, for sure!

this afternoon i donned my fabulous wig (that i bought quite some time ago! - it is going to come in handy on those days when i really just don't feel like being bald!) since my head was chilly, and headed over to my parents' for some birthday goodies a couple of days early.

yum!

tomorrow will be a catch up day around the apartment, i am still trying to get back into the swing of things from being gone for a week! i've had some emotional days lately, and it shows in my house keeping. ugh. but i'm really looking forward to celebrating the big 3-2 with friends and family on monday, and only working a half day! bonus!!

xoxo

A little hiatus...

2012-03-24T16:34:00.001-04:00

You may have noticed I sort of disappeared over the past couple of weeks from the blog... That was unintentional, but I've been house sitting for the past week and honestly haven't had much to write about. I've been using it as a good opportunity to enjoy the playlists in my iPod/car, think, hot tub and catch up on cable ( which I have decided I do not really miss). I'm hanging out with two awesome dogs a little bit out in the country, where it's actually dark and quiet at night. We had an incredible stretch of summer- like weather, hitting 80! But now we're back into the normal 40's. Sigh. I got an IPhone 4s today, one of the pretty white ones and am trying to figure it all out! ;) otherwise, life will resume normalcy tomorrow late in the evening, just in time for the work week to start again. I still have quite a bit on my mind and am anxious to get home to a ton of laundry and the bachelor pad - I am quite sure the kitties have missed me! The boyfriend had an awful round of flu the day that I left so I will have much disinfecting and cleaning to do... I hope to get back into my routine and get sewing again soon! Until then, these are the only photos i have taken lately, and using my new phone! Whee! XO

so, about the hair.

2012-03-14T19:47:00.000-04:00

its true, i used clippers to cut my hair since i was last here. my original idea was to just shave everything, buzz it down.. but i stopped at the 1" guard for the clippers and knew that right now i couldn't go any shorter. come summertime, it may be another story.

i did have reasoning behind this.

if you've followed along with apriltwoeighty.com over the years, you may have seen some of my progression, from cut to color. lately, i've felt a growth of sorts. its hard to explain, and some parts of it i will most likely never verbalize {except to my best friend}. but i knew that part of that big change was going to be letting go of my hair - not only because it was really pretty unhealthy from all of the coloring (even though everyone would always tell me it seemed so healthy!) - but because i was starting to feel as though my hair defined me. some days i just didn't want to be the girl with the pink hair. some days i just wanted to blend in, and not seem so different. part of my personality definitely showed through in my hair, and i don't want to lose that part of myself, but i've just decided i'll need to find a different outlet for it. if you make it through to the end of this post, you'll see how it looks buzzed to 1", and black. i've gone back to black, and once it starts to grow out and i continue to cut it, i'll let it come in naturally. my goal is to not dye it fun colors anymore. sad, i know, but its time...

lets reminisce a little, shall we? these are by no means all of the colors/styles over the years. i have dyed my hair since highschool. any of my friends/exboyfriends (and current!) can attest to my many changes.

sometimes, it did look healthy and normal!

there are a lot of people who i know, mostly at work, who have never seen my natural hair color.

they'd ask me what it is, and sometimes i'd have to think for a second...

i'll be honest, these days the normal hair growing in is gray.

but, throughout the years, my favorite color was always blue.

2009:

when it would fade to green, i could always go back to black. and i often did.

in early 2011, i cut it super short.

not because i wanted to, but because for the first time, i fried my hair.

(notice we kept a bit of pink!)

since then, during the growing out stage,

my hair was pretty much every color in the rainbow...

may 2011:

(and many shades of red,brown,black in between!)

october 2011:

and,

november 2011:

and,

december 2011:

and then i shaved the side into an undercut.

and for a while it was just all black.

but then...

february 2012:

march 2012:

and now............

i love it. i've been short many times, but not this short.. its still slightly uncomfortable, but its good.

it makes want to wear red lipstick everyday.

all i need is a little frizz control cream and i'm good to go. it air dries in about ten minutes. no combing.

i'm excited to think that my hair will no longer be a topic of conversation, at least not as much as it has been lately. there's so much more to me, and i feel like i can show those things without being on display. no more strange looks while walking through the hospital corridors. no more stained pillowcases, funny colored hairs all over the bathroom floor. a little simpler.

i already miss it, though. i was loving the pink hair these past couple of weeks, but it just didn't feel right.. although, it was all a big part of me. and part of who i've become.. time to say byebye and see whats next. ♥

weekend catch-up!

2012-03-11T21:06:00.003-04:00

this weekend has really been a hurricane of things and emotions and sleep and cleaning and organizing and sorting and creating.

yesterday i taught my first beginner quilting class at The Atelier Stitch. it was a lot of fun and i had great students - one of whom had never really used a sewing machine before! they both made adorable table mats/mini quilts, and i was so excited to see how completely different their colors/designs were! it really just hit home for me how personal creating art is. everyone is really drawn to something different and special to them. it was a gorgeous (almost!)spring day, so we had sunshine streaming in the windows and even had the window cracked a bit! i was totally exhausted by the time i got home in the afternoon, so i gave in to a nap after doing about a hundred loads of laundry. much needed (both things), and the nap was much enjoyed. i haven't been sleeping all that well lately...

okay, back to quilting.. last weekend i mentioned i had started my victory garden blocks (finally), but wasn't sure when i'd be able to work on them again... well, surprise surprise! i finished my first block tonight and actually started/finished a second! this was super exciting for me, until i realized about halfway through my second block that i'd used one of the wrong sized strips. ehhh.. oh well. i kept going anyway - its only mildly noticeable. it just means my skinny cross-X is fatter than the original blockhahah - typical me - this is why i never use patterns, i can't ever seem to follow them.

(pardon my flash/nighttime photos.. yuck!)

to give you an idea of size, for those of you who have not made these blocks yet:

i have decided instead of doing an entire large quilt of these like the pattern calls for, i'm going to just do four blocks for now and make a mini! which is awesome, that means i'm halfway done already. this will be a pretty big mini, so it will end up a wall hanging.... i've realized that setting large goals right now isn't fair to myself, and it really kind of stresses me out and keeps me from getting into my sewing room - too much pressure to make something amazing and large. so, i've decided for the time being to keep things small(ish). i want to be able to create as much as i can and use some really incredible fabrics in the meantime, but i simply can't commit enough time to my own sewing right now.

after figuring this out, i also spent a little time tonight working on planning a couple of projects. remember my courthouse steps quilt i had pulled fabrics for months ago? i'm so torn on being excited and simultaneously made miserable by the thought of this project - so this will also be one that i pair down to a mini! i'll be making four blocks, so i will still get the steps effect. each block is 9.5", so it will be relatively small - much smaller than my victory garden mini. i whittled down the original pile of fabrics to just my very favorites...

and! one more! i dug out my material obsession 2 book and got excited about making a third mini - a quilt i would NEVER make full size because the thought of it just makes me want to pull my hair out.. i think thats the hardest thing for me about quilting, i am often so intimidated about making large projects that may get too tedious, i don't want to lose the fun in it... i actually added a handful more fabrics to this pile after i took this photo, but you get the idea for now. i LOVE this quilt, but all of those flying geese, oyyy..

i can't wait to use these fabrics, i have had them set aside for quite some time now!

i'd been feeling restless lately - i think sorting this process of creating out in my head a bit and seeing it all laid across my table in my sewing room, made me feel somewhat better. i feel guilty when i can't get in there and make something - and i feel even more guilty when i plain ole' don't want to. which is more often than i want to admit. i'm a quilter - through and through - but i find myself getting slightly depressed by all of the incredible talent out there on pinterest and flickr. sometimes its super inspiring and helpful, other times not so much. i just have to get back into my groove, making things that i like and am proud of..

today was also a little liberating personally - i had been toying around with the idea of cutting my hair lately. actually, i had wanted to shave it but knew today wasn't the day for that. i felt too impulsive! ;) so.. i just chopped and chopped until i was happy. its a little hard to tell by my photos, but its super short, pretty much all around, though i did leave my bangs pretty long. i can't put it up into a pony tail or even little pigtails. i always grow my hair out as long as i can stand it, but realize i'm really not a long hair girl because i always just put it up. lately i really have been feeling like i'm hiding behind my hair. that if its pink (or blue or purple or whatever), people will see that i'm bold and daring without me actually having to be bold and daring. though, i admit, i never really get used to the stares and strange looks i get when out in public. some people just can't get past the hair. i guess i can't blame them really, its definitely not "normal." but! both of my grandmothers like it! and if they like it, i know its all good. ;)

ugh. tomorrow is monday which means its back to work, back to reality, back to facing the day to day. some weeks this is easier than others. last week seemed particularly difficult, and judging by how i felt this weekend i'm expecting more of the same. i know i need to just let go of things i can't change or control. that whats meant to be will be. but i'm still feeling a little stormy inside. i've got kitties snuggling up around me right now, though, so i suppose i can enjoy the last couple hours of the weekend quietly. ♥

storm.

2012-03-06T21:07:00.000-05:00

spending some time tonight working on the blog for The Atelier Stitch, designing a couple more workshops that i'll be teaching in the next month or two, painting my nails, and making my budget for my upcoming paycheck. fairly typical start to the week...

i think i have decided, though, that when summer comes around i want to make that bold move that i've always talked about, and shave my head. the thought of it scares me to death, but the practical person in me knows that i can't bleach and dye my hair forever. the idea of starting fresh with a whole new healthy head of (probably mostly gray!) hair sounds so appealing to me. but not when its still below freezing outside! ;) my hair grows pretty quickly, so it wouldn't be super short for very long.. for now i'll enjoy my bright pink locks, and cherish them while i can... but oh, i have a few spots where its almost impossible to hide the unhealthy ends.. eeeek....

i'm adjusting my sails a bit around here. planning ahead, as usual. its the little things that excite me right now: cleaning out old magazines, ordering a cheap new pair of glasses (even though my Rx is a bit outdated and the website may or may not be totally legal, whoops! ;)), considering a huge apartment cleanup.. but i have to admit, the storm lies mostly in my heart. i have a little fantasy world that i keep close to me at all times, and yet its so far from the reality of my day to day life that its sometimes hard to keep a grip. if it is meant to be, it will be. in meantime, a topcoat of clear polish, a sleeping kitty, and a bit of this is all i need:

♥

happy sunday!

2012-03-04T17:43:00.002-05:00

hahaha - i actually started a project. i'm laughing, because i have no idea when i'll be able to work on it again. and i didn't even get one block completed. just partially done.. but, you get the idea. i've had this pattern kicking around for ages, and i had hoped to be able to work on it long before now - so i guess secretly i'm really excited i even got this far...

i got to spend the morning with the boyfriend, and then settled in to do laundry and dye my hair. i'd been meaning to make a more drastic change for a while, the turquoise bangs had faded to a weird green (as they always do), and i had a container of lightener just waiting to be used..

soooooooooo... now its pink! ♥

back to the grind tomorrow.... and teaching my first class at The Atelier Stitch on saturday! woo! see you soon....

weekend! (& what makes you create?)

2012-03-03T19:13:00.001-05:00

we had our grand opening at The Atelier Stitch last night.. and despite the snowstorm that hit the day before, we had a pretty great turnout! a huge thanks to our friends, family, and total strangers who made the night a success! we sewed up little dresses for africa, booked some classes(!), ate cupcakes, and had a grand old time! ♥ i'll have some photos to share of the event soon (once my mother emails them to me, hehe..)!

today was the shop's first full day open, and both G and i were there. i spent most of my time making some pillowcases. i'll be teaching this beginner class a handful of times from now until may and wanted to brush up on my skills and the design. they were just as easy as i remembered! i used some awesome anna maria horner flannel that i got recently and instantly put them on my bed when i got home. i can't wait to sleep on them tonight!!{if you're local and interested in signing up to take this class, please contact the shop at atelierstitch[@]gmail.com!} i have about a half dozen pairs of these that i've made over the years, and they are such a fun and gratifying project to put together!

i've been thinking a lot about this, and fellow quilters/crafters/etc please feel free to chime in here. what makes you create?.. its okay to create something beautiful simply for its beauty - whether its just a piece, like a lonely quilt block, a partially finished work in progress sitting in your cupboard quietly waiting its turn, or a finished project completed from start to end - creating something pretty because of the colors or fabrics or design or style. aesthetically pleasing... but what about the bigger picture? creating for a purpose? to mean something? shouldn't you feel something? i sometimes find my lack of creativity, or a total block where i simply can't make anything, is usually because i won't let myself feel something. whether its personal and private, or something as simple as laziness... i think art should evoke some kind of emotion inside of the artist. and sometimes when i sit down to create, i know its out of necessity. part of owning a business. part of getting ready to teach others. and its something i struggle with... i'm very much anticipating being able to teach my students, from beginners to intermediates, all that i know - but sometimes i'm scared of where my inspiration comes from. i want my students to learn how to channel their own creativity into their projects, to nurture that creative hum they've got inside of them. to participate in something and make it important... to be accepted and understood. to show them that these projects can be direct reflections of themselves - that sometimes they'll create to get away from themselves, and sometimes they'll create to push themselves further. today i created without any emotion, in our new space looking out onto the snowy and rainy streets below, and it was hard. to leave those feelings at home - to not listen to those songs on repeat and write in my head as i stitched, the way i do when i'm alone. i made something that was simply pretty, and although i'm happy with the outcome, its such a strange thing.

.....i'm so glad that the weekend is here.. we'd been working so hard leading up to the opening, and i slept so hard last night! i really had to force myself to get up and out of bed this morning! i'm laying pretty low for the rest of the weekend, remembering how important it is to slow down sometimes. tomorrow i'll be driving out into the country a little bit to see where i'll be house-sitting for a co-worker (for over a week) later this month (a different place than the four corgis, for those of you keeping track!). otherwise, i'll just be doing some computer work and catching up on cleaning around the apartment! there's a laundry pile about a mile high in the kitchen that i'm dreading having to tackle. ;)

meanwhile, i can't get enough of these two songs:

they've pretty much been on repeat in my car lately...

♥

i have been finding myself sinking in that that strange mellowness that hits me every winter, just before it breaks into spring.

inked.

2012-02-26T16:14:00.001-05:00

in a few weeks i'll be getting it finished

(adding a turquoise-y/green background, and yellow to the tape measure)..

but for now:

done by the incredible chris dingwell, portland, maine.

weekend approaching.

2012-02-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

i'm typing this from bed with slightly tacky (both in color and in wetness) nailpolish on.

multi-tasking.

tomorrow morning i drive up the coast a bit to Alewives to teach my hexie class to just under a dozen most-likely fabulous crafty ladies. of course, i'll be doing this after i fill my gas tank and get some quick breakfast at dunkin donuts (and gather my mother who's coming along, as usual, for the ride and the fabric shopping ;)). after my class i'll swiftly be heading back to portland so that i can sneak across town to get a good-sized sewing related tattoo on my upper left arm! eek! pictures of all of these things to come later on, i'm sure. but first (but after my tattoo), i'll be stopping at the shop to drop some things off, pick some things up, hang some things, and generally get a grasp on what else needs to happen before our grand opening next friday evening! then i can sleep. and sunday i'll be working on kits for my classes/the shop all day, probably. if my arm is in good working condition. haha...

i'm anxious to get teaching, and i hope that folks are interested in signing up for what we have to offer! although my rough schedule is laid out through mid-may, i am in the process of planning a few more special one-time workshops; one for each skill level (beginner, advanced beginner, and intermediate). these are more specific and involved than the rest of my classes, so i think they'll be fun! i am probably getting ahead of myself, but thats typical. especially when it comes to quilting and my craft - it doesn't matter what i'm doing, i'm over-planning, moving too fast, and brainstorming at lightening speed. its just nice to have some sort of outlet for some of it. ;) i hope my business partner doesn't think i'm insane. i just know what i want to be doing, and i'm pretty sure i know how it should be done. to a point. its definitely a learning experience. even while working fourty hour work weeks, i've got all the time in the world to dedicate to this, so i'm hoping that we can get it off the ground and keep it running.

my love is in the fabrics, in the pairing and unpairing and repairing. its in the little designs or the big sprawling flowers, in the brights and the muted, in putting two awful colors together to create something gorgeous. its an unexpected art, sometimes, this quilting. i have so many ideas that will never get made, but just having the ideas alone is sometimes enough for me, sometimes the execution ruins it (you know, kind of the way you feel about a crush? sometimes when you get to really know them, they aren't at all what you thought?). i feel for some fabrics the way i feel about springtime and wearing peep-toed shoes. i'm ready for them all of the time, but sometimes they just don't work. sometimes you have to wear big wooley socks for a bit until the time comes.

the time is coming...

except for this snow we're getting tonight...

and meanwhile, i miss my boyfriend. even though we live together and sleep next to each other - most days the sleeping is the only thing we get to do together. tiny conversations at 3am when the cats are stirring and i steal the blankets back. i'm asleep when he gets home from work at night, and he is asleep when i leave in the morning. perhaps on sunday he'll want to help me make kits? (i'm kidding. ...kind of.) i miss him, and realize that we won't always spend most of our talking time on the phone during lunch breaks; just a bit longer. he's had a few job propositions but nothing serious and likely nothing worth taking, but everything is getting thought about. i didn't schedule myself to teach any classes the weekend of his graduation. i didn't think i should miss that. ♥ ten years after the fact, he'll have two degrees and a second piece of paper, hoping it will land us somewhere interesting and fulfilling. fingers crossed.

what will i do then? i've decided i'll teach regardless of where/if we go. i'll teach somehow or somewhere if i can't teach out of our home. wherever home will be. if we can't stay here, i'll figure it out. until i can have my shop. maybe we'll stay here, and AS will really take off. for now, i can't see much past next friday pm.

who am i kidding? right now i can't see much past tonight. i'm exhausted with an early wakeup call. lots to do. but, thank goodness i seem to be on the mend, after my second round of this chest cold, two weeks each time. ugh. too much to do to be coughing. not even enough time to take any pretty pictures this week. i'll remedy that this weekend. i promise!

xo.

the end of the four day weekend...

2012-02-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

a little late night fabric cutting from yesterday..

working on getting kits made up for my two beginner classes!

i think i cut over 100 - 5" squares.. and there are probably double that in strips waiting to be sized!

today i made an example/model for one of those kits...

here are some photos from along the way! ♥

i still need to do the top quilting on it. :)

now, to match up all of those little squares!

fabric everywhere!

2012-02-19T17:33:00.003-05:00

this morning i got up nice and early to finish a custom quilt i'd been working on for my aunt - she'll be giving it as a gift. i don't normally take custom quilting orders, because it tends to just be too much these days, but i never turn down family or close friends. i used all fabrics from my stash, mostly from my scrap bins, for this - including the pinwheel blocks. (those were pre-made as part of this project!) anyway, she's picking the quilt up from me tomorrow, and i hope she likes it!

in the sun:

i am spending this evening working on cutting kits for some of my classes at The Atelier Stitch...

cutting the fabrics is the easy part -

it will be writing out basic directions to use alongside (and outside) the class that will be tougher for me!

luckily i don't teach my first class with a kit until 3/10, so i have a bit of time to do the writing...

this morning, i also basted my four mini quilts that you've seen before..

i hope to get those quilted and bound in the next two weeks before our shop opening,

and they'll be listed on etsy, too - along with these guys:

there's actually one more hexie hoop that i finished,

but its going with me next saturday to teach my hexie class at Alewives.

and last but not least, i've started to paw through my kona solids some more,

in anticipation of my color theory class

(that isn't until may but will take the most planning and sewing)...

i'm glad i pulled them all out, because i am seriously lacking in green and blue!

AND, finally - see those three fabrics draped over the armoir door?

i'll be turning those into standard sized bed pillowcases in the next two weeks, also.

as examples for one of my beginner classes!

they're going to look great on my bed ♥

i'm so glad i've had this long weekend to get things accomplished, but i'm not out of the woods yet! soooo much more to do, it seems!! XO