This morning, after the kids were at school and I had walked the dog, I started bread dough.

There was a time not so long ago, but also not in the recent past, when Fatty declared that I needed to bake more bread. Mind you, this was not a declaration of his love of freshly baked bread, although I think he does enjoy it. Nor was it a testament to my baking skills - he doesn't like a lot of sweets.  He said that I am happier when I am baking bread.

Truth be told, I was taken aback. It's not that I don't like to bake - I do find it very enjoyable, although my waistline does not. I just didn't see it. I didn't see the happier when baking scenario. But his words weighed on my mind, and still sometimes do. Bread? Really? After awhile of pondering how baking bread could possibly be making me happier, I had the revelation. The bread baking was just another way of making. It was the making that was producing happiness.

I need to make.

So today because I had things that I had to do while the kids were at school and I knew that after they were home, I would not have time, I did my making early. I mixed the water with the yeast and the salt and slowly stirred in the flour. I let rise on the counter for 3 hours before baking a loaf for dinner. We ate it with soup and it was delicious.

The making does not happen everyday. I don't want you to think that my life is perfect and each day goes swimmingly. This is not the case. Life happens here, too. But when those little pockets of time appear, I grab them. I might sew, I might crochet, I might simply make dinner. My making doesn't need to be a huge project, although sometimes that is really nice. A few stitches in fabric does wonders for my outlook and puts a smile on my face. What I require is some ingredients or materials, a little time and my hands. With just those things, I can make.

And it's knowing that I need the making that is making all the difference.

We're back in the laundry room, folks.

My final household sewing project that was on my goals list for 2012 is finished. It is so boring, but, hey, it really needed tackling. So without further ado, here is my new ironing board cover.

See? I told you - BORING.

BUT practical and pretty, too.

This is super easy to make. I used this tutorial as a basic guide. Lay down your fabric, trace around your ironing board, giving yourself about 4 inches all the way around. Make a casing for elastic around the perimeter (I serged my edges and folded them down once) and stitch it in place leaving a 2-inch opening. Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through the casing, try it on your ironing board to make sure it's nice and tight. Sew the ends of the elastic together and close up the casing. Done. In an hour or less.

So that's it. I just have the one quilt of 2012 to finish and I've hit all of my sewing goals for the year. And it's only March - that leaves me 9 months of solid sewing play. I love that.

Walking through the kitchen yesterday, I spotted a one of our log cabin potholders sitting on the table and found myself smiling. Immediately, I decided that I needed to make more little log cabins. I rummaged through the scrap bin, pulling a handful of pinks, blues and greens that were left over from various camera straps and Jane's quilt. I brought them downstairs to the family room (where I have been sewing lately) and set them on the table for later. After dinner, I spent forty minutes stitching and cutting. It was fun and satisfying. It also reminded me that sometimes I just need a little time to play with fabric - no agenda, cutting without a ruler, sewing strips together willy-nilly, making for making's sake.

Also, is it crazy that spying little handmade things makes me insanely happy?

Hey. Long time no see.

I finally got around to almost finishing my Sullivan sweater that I started back in August. I just had to three needle bind off the shoulders and knit the applied i-cord. I got just as far as necessary so I could liberate the rosewood Lark for the granny squares. This weekend, I'll get out the tapestry needle and weave in all the ends. Then it's blocking time.

Or maybe I'll just make more granny squares. I like watching the pile grow. That sounds like more fun.

Happy weekend to you.

I couldn't wait to start so I forged ahead without a swift and ball winder. I do think that they would be excellent gifts (ahem, Fatty.). But for now, I'm doing it by hand. I wind three skeins and then I get to make 1 granny square. Rinse and repeat.

Blair's tutorial is up. Go and learn. Then get hooking. I am using a Clover size 7 hook (4.5mm). It's between a G and a H and seems to be a good size for the Lark yarn. I bought it at JoAnn's - all crochet hooks are on sale this week, in case you are in the market for one.

Sometimes I wonder how I became so compulsive about making and about needing to do things right away. Now, not later. And then I remember that the key to my happiness is making. It has taken me a very, very long time to figure this out. I need to MAKE to feel fulfilled, to be centered, to be mindful, to be present. I have to remind myself of this frequently because it is so easy to get caught up in the house cleaning, grocery shopping, kid carting, dog walking of my daily life. Without the making, I am unbalanced and crabby. I don't like that side of myself and I know that family does not appreciate that part of me either. So, get ready. This year there will be constant self-reminders in the way of blog posts about MAKING for making's sake. Just thought I'd warn you.

Ok. That said, there's a box of yarn calling my name.

I'm having one of those days. The kind where it would have been better to not get out of bed at all. It started with some less than stellar parenting and has gone downhill from there. I'm trying to turn it around by adjusting my attitude, but it was a half day of school and the ten year-old is singing Christmas carols. Loudly. Off-key. In February.

On the bright side, I did receive my rainbow of Lark yarns from Quince & Co. earlier this week. Blair is promising a granny square tutorial and I'm going to go for another afghan fully knowing it may take me three years to make it. And I'm not even counting how long it'll take to hand wind all those skeins into usable balls. Maybe it's time for a swift and ball winder. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

When we redid our kitchen in the spring of 2010, we also redid the mudroom which is down the stairs from our eating area. We put in wainscotting, a new tile floor, cubbies for jackets and shoes, and new treads for the stairs. To make it all work the way we wanted, we had to give up a small built-in bench. I wasn't really sad about that as the bench really was used more for throwing random stuff on and no one ever sat on it. But I also knew that it would be nice to have a place to sit and put on shoes so I started searching craigslist for a schoolhouse or windsor chair. I hit the jackpot towards the end of our project and scooped this one up for $15. A few coats of spray paint later, I had a cheery, red chair.

One of the household projects on my to-do list for 2012 was sewing a cushion for this chair. Sure, it was cute and bright, but it wasn't the most comfortable chair. I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted the cushion to look like. One of the major concerns was that we have an outdoor rug in this space that doesn't have any red in it. While searching the sewing room for something else entirely, I came across this fabric that I bought a few years ago with the family room or kitchen in mind. When I realized it had green, brown, blue and red, I knew this was the fabric for my chair!

I had everything else I needed on hand. I covered plain cording with the navy polka dot fabric (tutorial here) and used 2" high density foam covered with a layer of low-loft polyester batting. The cushion has a lapped zipper in back (tutorial here) and ties to the chair.

Now that this is finished, only one of my five household sewing projects for 2012 remains. Dang. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by this. It may appear as if I have given up my procrastinating ways, but I don't think that is the case. For me, just saying that I was going to do these things gave me a clear path as to what to tackle project-wise. I've pretty much just put my head down and made them happen. Bonus: I saved the easiest one for last.

I made this quilt for Melissa and her sweet baby girl, Truly.

I used the Proverbial Quilt pattern by Denyse Schmidt. This is the third time I have used this for a baby quilt and I love how it comes together quickly and is still interesting to make. For the fabrics I used Kona Snow and three different Liberty of London prints from my stash (one for the letters, one for the back, one for the binding). I wanted something girly, but not too pink or too cutesy and I really think the Liberty does the trick. It is also so super soft which is wonderful when sewing for baby. I quilted it myself with a very loose figure-eight style of loops. This was my first time quilting a pattern like this and I like how it came out.

I was incredibly happy almost every minute spent working on this. It was the most fun I've had sewing in a long time. It may have something do with the materials or the pattern. Heck, it could even be that I am just feeling plain old creative these days. Imagine that! Regardless of why, I'd like to think that the fun is infectious and that my smiles traveled across the country, wrapped up with the quilt to bless the sweet baby girl and her family. I am thrilled for them.

Welcome to the world, Truly.