Who won’t love to be a textile designer. People like Anna Maria Horner inspire me. Dude, the lady has like 6 kids and comes out with a new line of textile design every year!

I did some research and found spoonflower to be a super easy way to print up fabric using my own designs. I had a yard printed up on the quilting weight cotton. I wish the fabric was softer and lighter, but there are other fabrics you can print on for more money. The cotton I used costs $16.20/yard.

The shirt was made based on a pattern from this Japanese sewing book. Yeah for new clothes.

Florence has had a low grade fever for the past 4 days. I’ve been going a bit crazy from cabin fever. Yes, we’ve watched movies; Sound of Music, Curly Top, Alice in Wonderland, but we need to do other things too.

So here are my ideas on what to do to keep you and your sick kids happy:

1. Bake something - I know you don’t want your kids germy hands touching food, but it’s going to get baked in a 400F oven so the germs will die right? Probably not the baked goods you should share, so please just keep it within the family. We made some awesome butternut squash and feta muffins this morning.

2. Go to Goodwill, but leave the sick kid at home please- goodwill doesn’t sell toys anymore, but there are plenty of great puzzles and games to keep kids entertained while taking it easy at home.

3. Put your kid in their stroller and go for a walk. the fresh air and sunshine is a great way to get rid of those icky germs.

4. Eat popsicles, especially ones with vitamin C

What do you do when your kid is sick? Do you have any family traditions?

i know…it’s been awhile. i got pregnant a year ago and now have a beautiful little 3 month old girl. my body seemed to be too busy making a baby to really make anything else little lone update my blog. so here’s my first update in a while…

i need some new clothes, but don’t have time to shop or the money for the fabrics and quality i really want. last year i had one of my designs printed up on some fabric from spoonflower. it cost $18/yard which isn’t cheap, but it sure is fun. i’m going to make another one of my gathering shirts. let’s see if i can get it done while taking care of two girls. i’m giving myself a week.

now that it’s rainy season i’ve spent much more time hiding out in my basement making stuff. as you can see i’ve been enjoying playing with inks and washes, painting on fabrics, making things out of clay, and knitting.

the braided knitted necklace is kind of cute but i’m having some serious problems finding the right outfit to wear with it. the pattern is from aromy’s originals via winkstenmade.

i’ve been taking a ceramics class at pcc and am trying to figure out how to put my drawings onto my pieces. these are done with underglaze pencils, but there will be more techniques to come.

detail of the hand painted silk scarf and knitted braid necklace.

i made this shirt a few months back from this japanese pattern book and am finally getting around to posting it. phew, i’ve had a busy few months with freelance work. i love the fabric but the chest area is a little weird. it would be a great shirt if you were trying to hide that you’re preggers cause it puffs out a bit. if i made it again i would probably tweak those gathers in the front. i found the fabric at fabric depot during thier 40% off sale. it’s a vintage reprint of a 1940’s pattern.

if i had time i would make myself that skirt, the dress, and learn to die fabrics. really great clothes by shabd.

a few weeks ago we had nothing to do on a sunday and so david decided to bake a pizza and have florence help. it was a totally fun activity for a toddler. she got to kneed the dough, and put the toppings on. she devoured the pizza after it was done baking. everything tastes better to florence if you help make it.

it can sometimes be a real challenge feeding my toddler something healthy. if she had it her way she would only eat mac and cheese and hot dogs. it seems lately whenever i get together with other mom’s that have children the same age we tend to talk about how we get veggies into our kids. i read a great article on rookie mom about different ideas on how to feed your kid so that inspired me to share some of my tricks.

breakfast - this is the hardest meal of the day because florence seems to never want to eat.
- thawed frozen berries (i try to leave a container defrosting in the fridge, but if that one has been used up i just thaw some in the microwave for a few seconds)
- meatballs
- steamed broccoli with butter
- toast with organic peanut butter and smashed berries (she eats the good stuff on the top and never eats the bread, but at least she’s getting some protein.)

snacks
- freeze dried peas by Just Peas
- crackers
- fruit - she loves it when i let her walk around and eat a whole pear or whole tomatoe.
- larabar - this has chopped nuts and dried fruit with nothing else added. lots of protein and fat
- avocado - either in bit size chunks or mashed and put on crackers
- edamame
- plain firm tofu

lunch
- mama’s mac and cheese - kamut macaroni noodles with a butter and whipping cream sauce. i usually add finely chopped spinach, fresh if i have it frozen if i don’t and a little bit of cheese.
- leftover from previous meals

dinner - here are some of florence’s favorite dinners. if you can’t tell my child is fond of pasta.
- pasta with meat sauce
- chicken noodle soup with the chicken cut up finely
- noodles with white sauce and peas
- morrocan stew - a sweet potatoe stew with chick peas and tomatoes, but i always have to add some pasta to hers
- whatever we’re eating but with pasta added. my latest trick i learned from my grandmother is to - have a bag of cooked pasta in the freezer, because sometimes we can’t wait the 10 minutes it takes to boil.

right now i’m working on a summer clothing line and am pretty excited about how things are turning out. i hand printed the graphics on the bottom of the linen skirt, which was inspired by lena corwin’s book printing by hand. the cotton knit shirt is a smaller version of one i made for myself a few weeks ago.

i would love to make a few adult clothes as well, but don’t think i have the time to get that done too, so i guess i’ll just stick with the kids stuff and see how it goes. hmmmm

fingers crossed the etsy shop should open in about two weeks.

i love love love this photo by Rineke Dijkstra. so conflicting…composed yet traumatized, strong yet hazy, beautiful but also pretty creepy.