new fun fabric

Coming soon! -- a little Alice in Wonderland quilt

flannel and chenille

With a flannel top and chenille backing, this baby blanket is super soft and really warm.

In fact, the heavier weight would make for a nice lap quilt... but I think I'll stick with small projects for a while longer. Small and manageable = nearly instant gratification.

lime leggings

Are you guys sick of the projects from my new book yet? Hope not.

Here's what will soon be leggings for a baby leprechaun...

urban planning

I'm building a new city. My city has gardeners, houses, birds, cars, and rainclouds. And soon, it will have a truck, a frog, and a picket fence.


My inspiration was a little quilt square that Two Straight Lines made a while ago. So creative and cool was her block, I wanted to create a whole city.

There are 12 blocks to the quilt -- 8 are made up of 4 smaller blocks, and 4 are big 'parks.' I'm still stitching away at the details, but I'm loving it so far!

As for finishing, I'm kind of leaning towards doing ties that open to the back of the quilt -- rather than machine quilting -- to keep this city from getting too busy. What do you think?

a bird's eye view

pasta with lime, proscuitto and arugula

Time flies when you're out of town for work! I'm back home now -- and glad to be catching up on my sleep. I'm also happy to be eating home-cooked meals and to be knitting some adorable little pants (stay tuned for pictures!)

This pasta recipe comes from a beautiful cookbook that Jeff gave me for Christmas: Flavours by Donna Hay. If you've never checked out one of her books, do! The pictures are just beautiful and simple, and I've had success with all the recipes that I've tried (I can't say the same for Martha's recipes.)

This book is divided into...you guessed it... flavours. What a great idea, eh?! In the lemon + lime chapter, you'll find our new favourite pasta recipe. We've made this a couple of times, or rather, Jeff has made this a couple of times. He's been honing his mad skills in the kitchen while I sit and knit. =)

spaghetti with lime, prosciutto and arugula
serves 4 (adapted from Donna Hay's recipe)

1lb spaghetti
extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs lime zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teas dried red chili flakes
2 Tbs capers, rinsed
8 slices prosciutto, roughly chopped
2 cups loosely packed arugula, washed
3 Tbs lime juice
1 cup crumbled feta
fresh black pepper

Cook spaghetti until al dente. Drain.

While spaghetti is cooking, (trust me, this part goes fast - no need to start it before cooking the pasta) heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add lime zest, garlic, dried chilies, and capers and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add prosciutto and cook for 2 minutes, or until the prosciutto is crisp.

Add drained spaghetti to the pan and toss to coat. Toss in arugula and lime juice. Mix thoroughly. Divide into serving bowls and top with feta and some freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy with a glass of red wine and a little candlelight.