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My favorite part of having company for dinner is setting the table, choosing dishes, staring at the linens for an hour deciding which to use. Okay my favorite 3 parts. And I like wrinkled white, almost sheer linens the best. At least for summer. Even though the mood of our get-togethers is never formal, I just like setting. I was always the setter in our family. Presentation. Presentation. Presentation. I also like the flower hunt in the yard. With very little time for any gardening this year I resorted to one of my faithful crepe myrtles. She is so trusty. Whether she's dressed in white, autumn red, or scantily clad in bare branches, I can rely on her showiness. In the summer I like to deleaf the part of the branch that will go in the water and let them float instead of tangle. They look happier like that. We are kind of saying goodbye to summer almost aren't we? It's still really warm but I can hear fall knocking on the door. So I considered our dinner a transit...

Just an update on the current state of Grandma's afghan . Some of you seemed truly concerned, so thought I should share news of its safety. It is pleasantly warming the playroom couch. Well, maybe I can't assure its safety, but it is all in one piece. And it will remain in one piece. I like it here. The little monsters love it. I'll likely crochet, knit, patch my own funky cover for the ottoman instead, but the weather needs to cool off before I can get in the mood to do that. The rain is ushering in some of those cozy feelings though. N'kay, back to housecleaning, hosting supperclub tonight. Hoping to share my little feast with you here tomorrow. xoAM

The other night our power went out. Again. Power loss is one thing in the winter when you can huddle close, bundle up, light candles, etc. It's another thing all together when its a million degrees outside and you want to stick your head in the freezer after about 30 minutes of it. But doing that would sacrifice the freezer temperature so you don't. Luckily this time Jeff had all the little ones at the pool and stayed an extra long time realizing there was no reason for them to be at home. So Juliana read by her window in her room and I folded every clean and dry piece of laundry I could find. Then I picked up a baby gift I've been working on. On and off. Power off. Hand sewing on. Thankfully there was about an hour or so of good light left so, I pulled a chair over to the living room window. What is it about handsewing?! Anyone else know what I mean? Are you sad when you're done? I'm heartbroken when I'm done, I cherish it, really, really. This i...

Our radio wakes us up to NPR every morning. My eyes were filled with tears this morning before they were even open. Again. I've been following the tragedy of fires in Greece since I first heard on Friday night and I am shaken by the grief it has caused this beautiful place. My parents are in Greece right now visiting their home there and all the family so I was quick to check on them. They are fine as are all of the dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins that I have there. The closest fire to them out of nearly 200 burning now is probably still 40 miles away. So many of you have emailed me with concern, some knowing my parents are in Greece right now and some of you just knowing that I'm Greek and that I may have family there. I do, lots of family and, thank God, they are all safe. Thank you all so much for your concern, really so kind. My mom always brings me her plants to care for while they are away, so I'm watering them and keeping them alive. I can't stop...

Hey its me and the Chicks! Look what this talented group of designers has been sewing up with Chocolate Lollipop. There are some astonishingly adorable frocks to be had at their ebay auction that just went up this week. Be sure to arrange by the newest items first to see all the Lollipop thingies that are continuing to be be updated. I am so humbled when I receive emails from readers who tell me how much my fabric has inspired them, or how one of my ideas may have gotten them out of a rut and started sewing again. I really just can't even tell you how wonderful that is. Certainly I make my living doing this, but seeing what you do with my fabrics is payment beyond measure and is actually inspiring to me. More than you realize. Getting paid for something really never tells me I'm doing it right. Watching what happens after it leaves my hands is like dessert. I really am paying attention to what you make, what you say and what you do with my fabrics. As a designer its...

There was lots of puppy love for Bela's birthday . After about 30 minutes of passionate deliberation, Juliana and I came up with a great plan for the cake. We used to 2 standard size sheet cakes and only frosted the bottom one. Juliana was the smarty who decided the top yellow cake shouldn't be frosted so it would look like a furry yellow lab . Bela's favorite . I cut the cake using the same design I used for Bela's new tote bag. Juliana did the yellow polka dots and the "bela" frosting. Eleni licked the frosting. Very helpful. The big kindergarten girl chose her own selection of fabrics for her new tote. The applique was very easy because there was no turning involved, I just left the edges raw for a furry little puppy. I even made this little Puppy Love silhouette and simple instructions for any of you dog lovers who might like to try it. Just click on that link to download the 11x8.5 jpeg to your desktop then print it out (the link is also over i...

Isabela is 6 years old today. Happy Birthday to Bela! And a Happy Birthday to Grandpa Jack. I'll never forget having birthday cake in the delivery room on the fun day that Isabela shared her arrival with Jeff's dad's birthday. My sweet school girl was greeted with a sprinkley breakfast this morning lest she forget it is her day. We'll save the home made yummies for later on. A puppy cake has been requested, of course. Bela is our resident dog lover, as you know . It is so hot in Tennessee that the schools only have a half-day, and perhaps more half days this week. Although we've declared Isabela Day as the reason. We had our first rain in weeks during the night. It sounded so wonderful and comforting that I almost crawled out of bed to watch it. Almost. We had a busy weekend with a little bit of everything. Yard work, swimming, hiking, shopping, thrifting, baking. Oh, I found those 5 little sunny plates for 25 cents at Goodwill. It fed my folk love ...

I just posted an "ooops" post to apologize for a momentary template loss on my blog in case anyone saw it. I've yanked the "ooops" post and replacing with this one. It's my appeal for your feedback fellow bloggers! When I started blogging last year I ended up at blogspot by default...no real thought went into other than, well, its free, I'll try it. Had no idea how much I would fall in love with the process of it and with my readers and fellow bloggers. With love comes demands. Blogspot is disappointing me and I'm finding I need more out of our relationship. I've been committed, faithful and yet I never get emails letting me know about comments anymore or I often have a hard time uploading photos. Which results in wasting time and not getting to respond to comments as often as I wish. So, do tell. Tell me why you love your particular blog service. I'm not looking to do anything overnight, but its been on the list. I am much better w...

Eleni is the official only one at home this school year. Even sharing a room with Isabela, she can't manage an eye open early enough to see the other kids load onto the bus. So every morning she wakes up and asks where everyone is. She sorta doesn't seem that disappointed. She hasn't even asked why she's not going to preschool like she did in the spring. I surprised even myself with that decision as busy as my days are. Something in me just wanted her here. Maybe because shes the last. Is she the last? God only knows. I get that question a lot. A whole lot. More than I did when I had 2 or 3. Now that we're up to 5 people assume we're already crazy, so they wanna know just how crazy maybe. Which is fine. Truth is I don't know how to answer it. I don't know what our number is. So I usually say "oh, I think 5 is a good number" which is not a lie. But its not the whole story maybe, just an answer. My cup runneth over. I can har...

To make our new standard school attire more bearable for the resident fashionista (the other one), we decided to do a small story showing off a few little tricks. So here are the options... Shirts: white, navy, green or yellow button-downs and polos and turtlenecks. (green and yellow? I know, don't ask, school colors) Bottoms: navy, black, khaki pants,long shorts or skirts Dresses: black, khaki, or navy shirt-dresses ,polo dresses or jumpers Clearly its going to be imaginative uses of a few colors, eye-popping details and less ordinary silhouettes that keep Juliana on the fashion bus. Lets start with this short story. Her hair has changed a bit, no? I love it. So does she. A little pink streak never hurt anything either, especially when conservatively tucked back with a silver bow. And balanced on the other side by a single gold butterfly earring. More sparkles at the toes. No rules about sparkley toes. Heres a new jumper and tote she made herself. I love the floral buttons ...

We miss you. I finally got a nap in yesterday afternoon. Our 4am trip to the airport did not do much for my single parenting patience yesterday. I forget how hard it is when you're gone. I took the boys and Isabela to the science museum this morning with Karen who brought Josh and Leah. They all had a blast, dinosaurs, flight simulators, and every other gadget-y science-y trick. Karen and I got to watch from the comfort of a bench and an overdue conversation about life, family and parenting. I needed that. How did we get so lucky to land next to another family of 7? What great neighbors. Afterwards we swung back home to pickup Juliana and Eleni and headed for our favorite lunch spot. They were all like moths to a flame at the pastry counter, naturally. But they eventually gave in to the $4 PB&Js instead. Juliana and I got our usual Greek salad and Mediterranean veggie sandwich. Yum. Well the spat over whether or not Juliana can glue all her magazine clippings to the...

So maybe your scrap piles are overflowing like mine. I have been sewing up a storm this summer, and all on stuff I can't share yet . I did however lessen the load in my scrap boxes recently by stripping some fun pillows for the patio . I encourage you to organize your scraps by warm colors and cool colors. It might be the control freak designer in me but, I am just about 100% positive this trick alone will make you a happy person. It made me happy to randomly grab scraps from each box when stitching up these little doo-dahs. I perched them on the wicker sofa in a cozy corner of the patio for now. Right on cue the little two also noticed I had moved some of their books out there. Do you ever move some kid books just to see if they'll follow them? It works. I think they stop seeing them if they're in the same place all the time. Plop a stack somewhere else in your house and see what happens. I am telling you its like birdfeed. Eleni said she had to sit next to tha...

Here are some very early morning photos of another studio wall that got some color recently. Miss Form is wearing a dress by Juliana in progress. You've seen the airy blue wall here and there and I am enjoying how it mimics the early morning light from the windows. Then there's the deep straw-ish color I shared recently too. I'm pleased now to introduce you to the creamy-coral-pink wall. This space is so large and multi-functional that choosing one color for all the walls felt a daunting task. I face a different wall depending on whether I'm sewing, painting, drawing, reading, blogging, cutting, etc. Choosing several colors makes this place feel like four different rooms in one. It makes it feel cozier. Thats a metal trashcan thats holding rolls of fabric. I have to wait until they get skinnier before I can fold them and put on the shelves happy and tidy . This is not a new pillow, as you and my banner know. The bed now unfortunately looks more sink-into-a...