slacker

ok so I've been a bit of a slacker these days with blogging and sewing. My goal this year is to make all my gifts or, at least buy handmade. I sent an email to my family with a link to etsy asking them to please buy handmade as well. My sister is really good at this - she makes something every year - so that's my goal.

better get to work! man christmas creeps up on my every year!

a table runner, some scraps and an a tired 'ol sofa cushion

I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, my sofa was horrid and I don't mean it was cool then, so that makes it cool now type horrid, it was just bad. I remember the day the truck pulled into the driveway with this brand new set of furniture, getting glances now and then of the brown and orange wool flower pattern on one side and brown pleather on the other, thinking what have my parents done!

well, not all old sofas were that bad, I know. A while back one weekend at my soon-to-be-inlaws, my mother-in-law had recovered her couch, but still had the pillows. she was just going to throw them out I think, but there was something about the fabric that I loved and I loved the shape of the pillows, so I took them home. They sat for awhile in my spare room and I wondered what I would do with them until the other day I got a brain blast and thought -- how great would this pattern be in a tote? I looked around to see what would go with it and I found an old table runner and some scraps.



et voila! I'm super happy with the turnout. I showed M the final product and he shivered from the memories he got of his old sofa growing up but I think it's great to keep the memory of that 'ol sofa alive...and what a way to reuse the stuff you have around the house.

My sister still has one of our old couches in her apartment, and I can guarantee you that I will not be making a tote out of that one.

Project: Cozy

Project: Cozy
Originally uploaded by s_dodge@rogers.com.

my mission this fall/winter is to make my basement cozy. we got a leather sectional a couple years ago and sometimes it's not the coziest so I thought a few pillows would make difference. I made these last night.

the urban hike

last weekend M and I went for a drive up to Sutton to check out the cottages there and to spend some time out of the city. After driving around for a bit we came upon a hiking trail, and, even though it started hailing, we sauntered into the wilderness. we thought the hike would take us 40 mins max but we somehow took a wrong turn into a part of the hike they coined "The Big Meany" and 40 mins turned into 1.5 hrs. I honestly thought were weren't getting out -- the sun was setting and although we heard voices, we didn't pass too many people. The Big Meany quite lived up to his name - he was windy and twisty and turny and several times we just walked off the path towards where thought might be the parking lot. I pictured us huttled beneath the trees, shivering and munching leaves to wane our hunger until someone found us.

We finally got out and looked at the picture of the hiking trail in the parking lot and realized that The Big Meany was similar in shape and size to our intestines and really there was only one way in and out.

So when M mentioned that we should go on a hike this weekend it was the last thing I wanted to do -- I enjoy hiking, but after The Big Meany I was done for a while. All I wanted to do was 'hike' across the danforth and look at some trendy stores and sip on a tea or two. But M wasn't into it, so we compromised: we decided to take a hike from our house to Bayview Ave which has many fun and trendy shops to keep me happy.

We took the Taylor Creek trail which is a few streets north of us and we travelled up and down and around and all without seeing one car until we got to Bayview. I honestly didn't think there was that much greenery in Toronto -- it blows my mind away but really if you want to get out of the city for a hike, check out your own back yard first -- there really are loads of trails to choose from and you'll never have to put the key into the ignition to get there. Check it out next time you're up for hike.

katie's jumping rope on grey's

Did anyone else see Erica Hahn's ('the new burke') scrub cap on Grey's last night? I'm pretty sure it was made of Denyse Schmidt's Spotty Royal Blue ~ Katie Jump Rope fabric. It's the little things that excite me I swear. Happy Friday!