“Re-imagined” dreams of a travel quilt

When Disney Imagineers make significant updates to an attraction, they will sometimes refer to it as “re-imagined” instead of refurbished, remodeled or any other similarly drab and uninspiring reconstruction word. Well, I am about to tell you about a grand idea I had that didn’t quite work out the way I expected… but I hesitate to call it a failure. No, I would rather refer to the results as re-imagined. Because after all, creativity is one of my favorite things in the world – and creativity is not simply getting from Point A to Point B. Nope, it’s about the journey that gets you there!

My BFF Albert Einstein agrees.

Some months ago, when I realized how elaborate my international trip was becoming, I decided I needed to set some goals. Was there something I wanted to do in each country, or collect from each country, or do to prepare for my visits?

I decided that my number one goal was to buy a journal specifically for the trip to be sure I captured as many memories as possible while traveling. After much research – because I can never make purchasing decisions without research! – I finally decided to buy a SmashBook for my trip.

SmashBooks come with a pen/gluestick combo to assist with the “smashing.” GENIUS.

I’m happy to report that my SmashBook was a SMASHING SUCCESS (Get it? Ha ha ha) – I wasn’t sure if I’d keep up with the journaling, but I even impressed myself when I spent the little free time I had jotting down thoughts and smashing mementos into the book.

Spent my “day at sea” on the cruise ship working on my SmashBook in the solarium!

My secondary goal? To collect fabric from each country and sew a quilt when I returned home. Could it be done? I did some Google research, and sadly… there’s not much out there about making a travel quilt. So I went into this goal blindly and hoped for the best. I thought I would collect any sort of fabric I could find… a clothing item, a tablecloth, a pillowcase, whatever!

Well, this is where the “re-imagined” part comes in, because I’ll admit this right up front: I was not able to collect fabric from every country. And each piece of fabric that I did collect is fabulous… by itself. Each fabric type is different, with varied weights, colors, styles, etc. The idea of putting it all together for a quilt now seems like an overzealous dream and would likely ruin the integrity of each piece.

Time to re-imagine! I’m taking a look at all of the pieces I did manage to collect and coming up with individual new dreams for each one of them… which I hope to share soon!

Have you ever had to re-imagine one of your goals?

The blogger on the milk carton

I know, I know – it’s mid-July and I’ve been MIA since Easter! Don’t panic! You can take my photo off the milk carton, now!

Ahhh! Get me outta this box!

I have some really exciting news, though. The reason I’ve been missing for so long is that I was preparing for, then experiencing, and then recovering from a glorious world tour! And as a result, I have some really great stories to share – even sewing stories. Wheee! Although I wasn’t able to blog while I was abroad, I did my best to update my Twitter account – @SewLindsaySew – as much as possible. I hope some of you were able to follow along!

My glorious adventure included six countries, with flight layovers in two more!

As a part of my MBA program, I traveled to Istanbul, Turkey and Budapest, Hungary to experience the international business world and some cultural fun with my classmates. And even after the academic portion was through, I extended the trip with some friends and traveled to Vienna, Austria; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; and St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. WOW! As someone who had never left the United States prior to this adventure, I feel incredibly blessed that I was given this unbelievable opportunity and able to experience it with such great people.

Flying high during an excursion to Red Square in Moscow!

I refuse to refer to my international trip as “once-in-a-lifetime,” because I still have a pretty long lifetime ahead of me and my adventurous spirit won’t be fizzling out anytime soon. No, I will never experience this exact same trip again with the exact same countries and the exact same people – so in that context, I supposed it’s okay to refer to it as “once-in-a-lifetime.”

But as far as ADVENTURE goes, I know that this is just the first international escapade of many! I have a European electrical outlet adapter and a whole pile of international currency waiting to be put to good use one of these days.

I can’t wait to share my stories and photos with you now that I’ve come out of hiding and returned to my blog. Stay tuned!

The (not so) big two-eight.

Tomorrow I turn 28. I want to write something profound, but I’m at a loss. What’s there to say about 28? I keep typing and backspacing, so I’ll just start with this celebratory birthday photo from 1988 instead:

My fourth birthday at pre-school, 1988

So much has changed in the last year that I can’t help but wonder what 28 has in store for me.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY…

I lived in a tiny apartment… now I’m in a grand ‘ole townhouse with the most spectacular sewing nook in the world!

My life was Winnie-less… so hard to believe this precious puppy hadn’t even been born at this time last year. She’s been a part of our little roommate-family since July, so it’s hard to imagine life without her. I’m so thankful that my roommate Katie brought Winnie into our home and our hearts!

Winnie love.

I was working two jobs… office by day, retail by night. Since then, I quit the retail job and I’m spending a zillion hours pursuing my MBA instead… which might as well count as two jobs!

I had never run a half-marathon. My longest race had been a 10K – only 6 miles. But in October, I completed Disney’s Wine & Dine Half-Marathon with my two wonderful friends and running-mates, Joe and Chris. We were so proud!

Race photos are never attractive, so thanks in advance for not judging!

I had never gone home for the holidays since moving to Florida in 2006. But this past year, I went home for Thanksgiving and spent the day on a dairy farm with my family and some dear friends.

And speaking of family, my brother Jason was finally able to visit me in the Florida for the first time!

Spending some time with my favorite mice, my brother Jason and his girlfriend Sarah.

I still had all four wisdom teeth… now I don’t have any. So much for being old and wise!

Some dentist humor...

I had never traveled abroad. And while I still don’t technically have any international trips stamped on my passport, I will in just four months as I head to Turkey, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Finland and Russia!

I never could have predicted any of the ups and downs that came my way at 27, for better or for worse. I’m insanely curious about what 28 has in store, but there’s only one way for me to find out! Stay tuned.

November and December in 15 photos or less…

I haven’t updated my blog since Halloween, and tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Talk about MIA!

I could write a novel about what I’ve been up to since then, but instead, I’ll show you… iPhone-photo-library-style…

I went home to Chicago for Thanksgiving... I spent some time cuddling my brother's dog, Gizmo, in the backseat of the car while we drove to Wisconsin.

We spent our Thanksgiving on a dairy farm!

On Thanksgiving, my family was a part of a very special tradition in which we each received a special ornament. The little spool of thread fit me perfectly!

Back to Florida, and put up the Christmas tree. We don't have a tree topper, so the Mickey ears Santa hat is our traditional solution.

Winnie proudly admires the Minnie Mouse wreath I made two years ago. We have the most magical house on the block!

Put the finishing touches on my Christmas card clothespin wreath. Since then, we've filled it up by clipping our Christmas cards on all of the clothespins! I promise we're more popular than this photo portrays.

Found this lil guy sitting on my desk one morning and felt really happy!

I tried to keep it healthy one week and made some delicious corn chowder. As you all know, Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, so I use my heart-shaped measuring cups all year long. The hearts were a welcome break from all of the Christmas madness! A lovely reminder that my favorite holiday is just around the corner.

Sewed a few Christmas cards by quilting some fabric panels and sewing them onto blank cards. It was my first attempt at free-motion quilting. Man oh man! Free-motion quilting is crazy, you guys! As you can see, I didn't do a great job - LOL! More on that later...

My mom came to visit and we spent a lovely weekend at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. We loved watching the zebras and giraffes outside our balcony when we weren't hitting up the Disney parks!

Delicious zebra domes were the snack of choice when we returned to our room each night.

It wouldn't be Christmas without seeing the sparkling Christmas lights on Cinderella Castle... caught this pic post-fireworks at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with mom.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

Squeezed in some craft time and sewed this lovely Wizard of Oz inspired zipper pouch! Ruby slippers and a yellow brick road...

And of course, through it all, I've been doing schoolwork. This morning I worked on my accounting exam while Winnie snacked on my accounting textbook. Nom nom!

Well, 15 iPhone snapshots later, and I’ve covered November and December!

So… what have you all been up to?

Ghosts of Halloweens past!

Happy Halloween!

This is the first year in many that I haven’t prepared a Halloween costume. While I don’t have access to photos from every single Halloween I’ve ever celebrated, here’s a sampling of some of the “ghosts” of my Halloweens past!

Pre-school Years: A repurposed dance recital ensemble turned Tooth Fairy costume. Yes, Tooth Fairy. See the tinfoil wand that says “Tooth Fairy” at the top? What can I say? I come from a family of dentists, and I was easily impressionable.

Kind of a sad little Tooth Fairy...

More pre-school years: I’m a store-bought bunny, and my brother is a skeleton. My mom made the skeleton costume herself by tediously cutting white felt into bone shapes and sewing them onto black sweats. My mom is awesome!

Kind of a sad little bunny... why was I always so sad!?

1990: I’m a non-politically-correct Native American. One of my favorite costumes, despite the fact that a boy in my class was also a non-politically-correct Native American that year, and everyone said we were going to get married, which is a traumatizing statement in the first grade.

So excited to bring my non-politically-correct Native American baby doll to school!

1992: I was a “50′s girl” complete with a poodle skirt and a silky pink jacket from the Mirage in Las Vegas… because every girl from the 1950′s had a Vegas jacket. LOL!

Why were there poodles on skirts back then, anyway?

1994: I was a mime. Not pictured, as it was one of my most embarrassing costumes. However, if you ask my mom, it was one of her favorites and she’ll show you pictures. So don’t ask my mom.

Don't ever let your mom talk you into being a mime.

With the exception of freshman year (when I didn’t know any better and wore a Dorothy costume to school), I didn’t dress up in high school. I went to a Catholic school with a strict dress code and there were just too many restrictions to even bother. Back then, we were just happy if we were allowed to wear blue jeans. And I didn’t dress up in college because I consider myself a person who values dressing tastefully and appropriately, and dressing up isn’t an option in college if you dress appropriately.

After college, I moved to central Florida and started spending a lot of time at Walt Disney World… after a long hiatus of no Halloween costumes to my name, I was excited to jump back in to the wonderful world of Halloween – especially in a place where awesome, appropriate costumes are valued. All of the sudden, Halloween was fun again!

2006: I was determined to dress up as my favorite Disney character, Wendy Darling, and ordered a handmade Wendy costume from Kelly’s Costumes. I wore it to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with some friends who dressed up as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell!

What's a kiss?

2007: Because I just couldn’t get enough – Wendy returned.

Sometimes Peter gets mistaken for Robin Hood... what's your vote?

2008: I debuted TWO costumes in 2008 for two separate parties! One Tinker Bell costume, complete with light-up fairy wings and – my favorite – poof ball shoes. I was so adamant that the shoes be exactly the way I pictured them that I made them myself – celery green Prima Crocs with a poofball sewn on top.

Perfect poof-ball shoes!

And one Mouseketeer ensemble, easily created with a white t-shirt, iron-on letters and a custom set of Mickey Mouse ears.

Y? Because we like you!

2009: Two chefs hats, a chef jacket, some red hair dye and an “Eiffel-tower-on-a-stick” created the perfect Remy and Linguine costumes from the movie Ratatouille. I wore all gray and pinned craft-foam rat ears to my chef hat. I also decoupage’d that pretty fab version of the cookbook from the movie!

Can you believe I was lucky enough to go to the Halloween party with Nick Lachey?

That brings us to last year, which was the first year I sewed a Halloween costume! I dressed up as Boo, and I sewed this gigundo Mike Wazowski costume!

Nick Lachey loves Mike Wazowski!

So why no costume this year? Well, at the risk of sounding like I’m full of excuses, I’ve just been too busy with school, and dressing up as an MBA student is kind of boring.

Not the coolest costume in the world.

But in a dream world, this is what I really would have liked to be this year… maybe this is something I can sew for next year? If I get started… now… I might just finish in time…

Giselle's blue "curtain dress" from Enchanted! Dreamy!

Any fun Halloween costumes in your world this year?

The day I broke up with my TV tray

Ever since I bought my sewing machine a little over a year ago, I’ve been using a sad little TV tray for my sewing setup. Yes… a TV tray. Wah wah.

TV Trays: Ideal for lunch, not for sewing machines.

I recently moved from a tiny apartment to a luxurious townhouse, and in the process, moved into a new bedroom with the most spectacular sewing nook in the universe. The angled walls create a picture-perfect alcove that screams “CREATIVE THINGS NEED TO HAPPEN HERE!”

I refuse to let this cozy nook be anything less than amazing.

It was immediately clear that a TV tray sewing setup would NOT do my sewing getaway any justice.

I’d like to introduce you to my new best friend: the HEMNES secretary desk from IKEA.

I promise I will actually read that Econ book once I'm done using it as a photo prop.

My love for this desk is threefold.

• One: The need for a new sewing oasis (Sorry, TV tray… this just isn’t going to work out)
• Two: A place to do my schoolwork for grad school (Studying: a necessary evil)
• Three: The desire for a neat and orderly bedroom… (i.e. – shove all my junk inside the desk and close it up. Secret messes.)

And as a bonus, this desk matches my already existing HEMNES bedroom set.

Yep. I might love this desk more than I love fabric softener.

Anyone need a sad and lonely TV tray?

The evolution of a favorite color

When I was in elementary school, my favorite color was blue. I think it had something to do with the fact that everyone loves blue at some point in their life. But mostly, it was because of the “Cerulean” Crayola crayon.

The highly coveted cerulean crayon...

(Photo Source)

Fast-forward to my college years when I abandoned blue for pink – maybe because there wasn’t a huge demand for Cerulean crayon usage in college, or because pink seemed to be a trendy color in the early 2000′s (pink iPod mini, anyone?). Pink has remained my color of choice for a long time. With the help of my scuba buddies, I even managed to build up a collection of pink dive gear, officially making me the most obnoxious diver on earth.

Not pictured: My hot pink air tank. Even the sharks would raise their eyebrows if sharks had eyebrows.

I still thoroughly enjoy pink, but since I’ve started sewing, my color preference has started to change. Lately I’ve been drawn to green, especially when it comes to fabrics. I like muted, earth-tone or pastel greens best. Check out this dreamy green inspiration board I put together to show you my newfound love for green!

It's easy being green when you're as pretty as these things!

I can’t really explain why I’ve started to love green so suddenly, but I do think it has a lot to do with sewing. Is green an up-and-coming color trend in the fabric stores? Am I only noticing a lot of green because I’m looking for it? Am I looking for it because it’s an up-and-coming color trend? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Am I asking too many questions?

Anyway. What’s your favorite color? Am I the only one who has gone through favorite-color stages?

SEW you want to go to school?

Tis the season of PB&J, new shoes and a fresh box of crayons – back-to-school! And while shopping for brand new school supplies is one of my favorite things in the world, I have not be able to personally celebrate the back-to-school season in many years. I tend to live vicariously through my friends who are teachers until summertime rolls around – and then I want nothing to do with my teacher-friends since they don’t have to work and I don’t want to hear about it!

Recently, Joe, a dear friend and fifth grade teacher, sent me this photo from the One Stitch Two Stitch blog and said, “If you were a teacher, this is what your bulletin board would look like!”

Click the photo to read more about this bulletin board at the One Stitch Two Stitch blog!

Oh, Joe. You know me SEW well!

Since I’m not a teacher, there is no bulletin-board decorating in my future. However, I’m happy to report that I personally celebrated the back-to-school season this year as I recently started the journey towards my MBA. Sadly, I didn’t need to buy any school supplies for my first day – apparently, there is no need for a box of crayons in grad school.

Regardless, I am appreciative that I am officially a part of the back-to-school season at all this year. I hope that this magical sewing bulletin board inspires my teacher pals. I’d love to see photos if you create a sewing theme on your boards!

Happy 2011-2012 school year! Let the learning begin.

Crayon rolls for a cause!

This past weekend, I made an exceptionally last-minute decision to fly across the country to see my parents. Here’s why: My mom, who doesn’t sew very often, was telling me how she was thinking about trying out the crayon roll tutorial. One of her co-workers was collecting small trinkets and toys to put in birthday boxes for foster kids and she thought the crayon rolls would be a fun and creative addition. The thought of my mom trying out the crayon roll tutorial without me there to join in the fun was just too much to bear, so I booked a flight and left the Sunshine State before you could say “Just one yard of each, please!”

Now, I know you’re probably all thinking that sounds like an incredibly rash decision and that I’m a crazy person. Well, it was, and I am. It was the first time I’ve ever jumped on a plane with just a day’s notice, but I’m so glad I did! I usually have an agenda when I visit my parents – a wedding, a birthday, a family vacation – but this time I savored every uneventful, unplanned moment from walking the dog to enjoying a steak dinner off the backyard grill.

Of course, my mom and I visited three different fabric stores and whipped up a handful of crayon rolls before the weekend was through!

Crayon rolls for a cause!

At the risk of sounding incredibly gushy, I have learned throughout the past few months that my family means more to me than anything else in the world – and I would not trade a last-minute weekend with them for anything. We may be a little family – just my mom, dad, brother and me (and recently, a precious little pup named Gizmo!) – but we sure know how to do it right. No family is perfect, but my family is perfect for me.

It’s strange to think that without the presence of fabric crayon rolls in my life, I may not have taken that last-minute trip home!

And now I leave you with a photo of Gizmo that is sure to make you feel a little melty…

Gizmo!

Keep moving forward

It’s been more than a month since my last blog post. In general, the longer I wait to write, the more and more pressure there is to write something astounding, similar to when an antsy crowd is waiting for a speech and goes silent as the speaker steps up to the podium. That pressure just makes me procrastinate more as I prepare my next what’s supposed to be my next earth-shattering move.

But truthfully, a lot has happened in the past month, and I’ve been wondering how to address it. When I started this blog, I wanted the focus to be on sewing, not my personal life. But obviously, my sewing is intertwined with my personal life, and the things I experience day-to-day will affect how, when and why I sew.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about the major themes woven in and out of my personal life lately, whether it be my empty blog, exciting changes at work or horrifying letdowns in my personal life. And I realized that lately, my mantra for all of the above has been the following: KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

One of my favorite Disney movies of all time is Meet the Robinsons. If you’ve never seen it, PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch it immediately! The screenshot above showcases a phrase that is used over and over throughout the movie: KEEP MOVING FORWARD! Here’s an inspiring (non-spoiler) clip from the movie to wet your appetite and show you the emphasis of the phrase throughout the movie.

So, what does “KEEP MOVING FORWARD” mean to me?

It means that no matter how wide my blogging gap, my goal should be to simply pick up where I left off without feeling pressure. Each day deserves equal opportunity for a blog post, regardless of what happened yesterday or the day before. Keep moving forward!

It means that when exciting changes at work come with a bigger margin for error as I try to learn the ropes, I shouldn’t live in fear or making decisions, meeting new people or trying new things. Keep moving forward!

And when I experience the ultimate betrayal in my personal life , all I can do is continue to put one foot forward at a time… hoping, trusting and having faith that happiness is just around the corner. Slowly, slowly, slowly, but surely… keep. moving. forward.

Getting me through it all have been a variety of creative endeavors, whether it be sewing or making silly videos with friends. But more importantly, I’ve taken on a handful of new sewing projects throughout the past month which I anticipate that you’ll be hearing about very, very soon!

Stay tuned as I KEEP MOVING FORWARD!