Patisserie
Due to a few camera related difficulties (that have since sorted themselves out, thank goodness!) this post is a few days late…but I think that’s just life right now. I get to things when I get to them!
For patisserie week, we decided to undertake the delightful challenge that is macrons. Like so many of the sweets we’ve been playing with, there were both successes and…slightly rougher moments! In the end, though, half were filled with a tart lemon curd, the rest with a rich, espresso ganache - and out of the two, it was hard to pick a favorite. All I can say is, not bad for a first attempt. Even the less pretty cookies tasted delicious, so I can see why people become obsessed with these!
One of the few pieces of advice I’ve received (that I’ve actually taken to heart!) since finding out I was pregnant was to make sure I spend a little extra time doing the things I love to do on my own before our new family member arrives. Which, for me, has meant spending hours and hours tucked away making things. And here are a few of the things that have sprung into being these past few weeks!
First up is a sweet kid quilt - made using this pattern here.
I’m pretty sure I first saw these sweet sparrows on Instagram last year, before I had need of a little quilt - but there was another one entered in the county fair that I saw, in person, in August and I just KNEW I had to make one. My mom sewed a quilt for me when I was a baby, so it’s felt only right to continue that tradition with my own little one.
Arranging the colors, cutting the pieces, and assembling the top just about broke my brain…it was slow and it was painful and (having so little quilting experience) I did many things rather inefficiently - but it was also awesome. I loved the process. Quilting - it might be a new obsession!
This is the absolute best this quilt will ever look. From here on out, it will be a picnic blanket (dragged through the dirt). The roof of a fort (covered in dog hair, blocking out the sun). A symbol of comfort (offering warmth, familiarity, and a way to mop up the endless messes that childhood presents). This is as it should be - a piece to use and grow with through the years.
This first sewing project was followed closely by another - a giant, oversized tote that we can use to carry all the STUFF that will soon be required for every outing. The outside is made from a waxed cotton I’ve been saving for years, the inside lined with the last of a beloved printed canvas that I’ve also been hoarding. For awhile now, whenever someone has asked me if I’ve packed a hospital bag I’ve tried to dodge the question - because the answer was no. No I hadn’t packed it, because I was still making it! Never fear, though, it’s finished and packed now!!
When I next feel up for it, I’d like to explore a backpack version of this bag. Something with straps and zippers, a little easier to haul about. For now, though, the tote life is the life we’ll be living.
As we come closer and closer to the end/beginning, I’m releasing resources. Seeking to pour ideas out of my head and turn them into beautiful things made with the beautiful materials I’ve so carefully collected these past years. Why has it taken the feeling of time being short to free me up? How can I remember this in the days, weeks, and years to come? What was I waiting for all this time? There is no moment more perfect than the moment I’m in.
This was the mentality that also had me pulling out my knitting needles. I can’t say you’ll ever catch us wearing matching, family pajamas - but alpaca wool hats, made from some treasured yarn? Yeah, I can get behind that.
One other thing got finished up this past week - yet another multi-stone pendant.
This one’s extra special, though, because I filmed the making process - so, when things settle and it’s time to get back to work, I’ll be turning all that lovely footage into my first project class. I walked through my process of picking cabochons and building designs. Trimming and fitting bezels to irregular stones. Soldering, hammer setting, and polishing the finished bezels until they glow. And the process of doing so made made ME glow a little, too. My goal, initially, was to have three or four projects filmed and ready to edit by birth-day…but one is good and solid. A foothold I’ve provided for myself - for someday, for the other side.
