Nifty

this moment

inspired by this.

my last college sketchbook

My very last sketchbook for college is made! Every quarter I have been making a little button hole stitch book for my senior fibers classes. I do realize that this is week five of ten and I am just now making my sketchbook for my portfolio class (oops). For the paper on the cover I cut up a really pretty paper bag that I received with a purchase from a yarn store and on the inside I simply glued in a piece of kraft paper. The pages are nice mid weight graph paper and are just beckoning to be filled with pretty drawings, inspirational photos, thoughts, and ideas (I have a nice stack of things all ready to be pasted in!)

received

Collections: Old Family Photos

I love old black and white photos. They are just so beautiful to me. On my last trip to Vermont I went searching through my nana's attic and came across these fun old photos of women in my family. Here is a sampling of my favorites...

My mother when she was four years old with her dolls.

My grandmother with her hair bleached with peroxide--so cute!

My grandmother and her dog Kelt. I think I look a lot like my nana.

My great-great-aunt Ruth. Gotta love the apron and curlers look!

xo CBB

see more collections here.

Sourdough

Sourdough bread might just be my very favorite food--especially when it is fresh out of the oven. But what fascinates me even more is that sourdough has a history.

this is my jar of starter.

If you aren't familar with how this works here's a brief run down. Sourdough is a living yeast and a "silent pet" of sorts. The starter is kept in a jar in the fridge and it has to be used at least once a month. Once  I use some, I have to "feed" it with flour and water so it will regenerate back what was used, leaving an unending supply of what gives sourdough it's tangy flavor. Since it can be regenerated in this way, sourdough starter can be given away. By spreading the sourdough love, it actually changes the starter because it will pick up wild yeast making each person's starter unique.

this is how the dough looks after I knead it but before rising. I made the bread board out of maple wood with the help of my grandfather. I insisted on making one with scalloped edging because it you haven't noticed already I am a fan of all things cute!

 My starter came from my mother, who has been making sourdough for as long as I can remember and probably the reason it is my favorite food. It is like a taste of home. When I was growing up she would bake all of the bread for our family. That must have rubbed off because I don't buy storebought bread; I opt to bake my own instead.

the bread I baked for easter dinner one plain baguette and two onion and caraway seed topped ones--YUM.

Friends: if interested I am always happy to share a little sourdough ♥!

xo CBB

Easter Dinner

The second annual Easter dinner at the apartment was quite the success. I mean you can't go wrong with 15 friends coming over for a potluck meal to celebrate such a wonderous occasion (He is risen!). This year I cooked up a ham and baked some sourdough bread(more on that topic in another post!). My roommate and I pushed together all the tables in the house, rounded up all the chairs, and used just about every piece of china and silverware (we did have to have friends bring along 2 chairs and 2 dinner plates so that no one would be left out!) It was a really lovely time and there was SO. MUCH. FOOD.

This is what the table #1 looked like all nicely set, pre-dinner.

All the lovely guests--I'm seated on the right side facing outwards.

It went so wonderfully. Entertaining is my favorite.

xo CBB

this is what I'll miss about Savannah...

Yesterday I took my sewing to the park, spread out my picnic quilt, and enjoyed the shade of the trees on a very hot sunny day. I have just six weeks left in Savannah and then I'll be headed up north to Vermont (after I finish college, walk in graduation, and all those important things). In the meantime I plan on making the most of the time I have left with all the wonderful people I know!

there are sooo many patterns going on in this picture!

xo CBB

tumbling blocks

I have always had a fascination with the tumbling block quilt pattern, especially the beautiful ones made by the Amish. Over last summer I started taking my fabric scraps and delving into the world of hand piecing. There is something exciting about seeing all the random scraps come together and it is also fun to have a project that I haven't really decided what I am making it for or how big it's going to be or anything specific. This is my current go-to project when I've got some spare time or when I watching a movie or just hanging out and working on stuff with friends. I always have a little something to occupy my hands (in the colder months it was this--which still isn't finished). Perhaps because I was created in the image of a Creator I have this affinity for making.

this is my first time paper piecing as well...

a plastic zip lock bag just doesn't cut it for toting around my projects so I made this little zippered pouch.

 

xo CBB

a few tricks up my sleeve....

I am constantly making, even in my spare time. Since the last time I posted I've made up just a few things.

The first is a custom order sewing machine in red. It was fun to use some trim that I sourced last summer while in NY.

The second is this mock-up for my project in my Advanced Computer-Aided Surface Design class(that's a mouthful). The prompt is that we create an interlocking (no adhesive!) three dimensional surface--which leaves the possibilities of the end usage open for interpretation. The computer comes in because we are designing the surfaces in Adobe Illustrator and having them cut out by the laser cutter. I kind of stumbled upon the idea of making a cuckoo clock made from different kinds of paper. This version is just me working out my ideas with scrap paper and scissors. The final version will be 1. larger and 2. have a working clock movement.

Oh and I also whipped up one of these this afternoon.

Sometime I'll have to share my little ongoing project that I pick up in those spare moments...

xo CBB

Collections: Thimbles

This little collection is a group of thimbles from women in my family going back several generations. I received them as a Christmas gift, nicely stacked in their little box.

I love that it also included a little written history of whose thimble belonged to whom. When this collection was gifted to my grandmother(who in turn gave it to me) there was a to/from label with a note suggesting that it is for the "what not shelf".

xo CBB

 

see more of my collections here.

fabric fabric fabric

fabric shopping could quite possibly be one of my favorite things and yesterday when I was at Jo-Ann Fabrics I spied a few little prints that I recognized from my internship last summer...

kinda fun, right?

I remember sitting around the lunch table last summer brainstorming names for the collections. One is titled "fairground" and the other "picnic", these two being from the latter.