January sewing, baking, and going

I'm back. Having the girls home was a very busy and good time. They went back to school on 1/21. I had a cold the entire last week that they were home, and still managed to do quite a bit. Last week was a chance to catch up and survey the landscape. I'm making sewing plans and yard plans and work plans.

Here are some things I recently finished....

Pajamas for Jenna.
(True Bias Hudson pants and Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt.)

Sweatshirt for Jenna.
(Another Linden Sweatshirt from beautiful, soft, Japanese knit. The fabric from a line called Echino, by Etsuko Furuya, and was purchased at Momen+, a wonderful fabric store in Torrance. The store has an incredible selection of Japanese fabrics.)

True Bias Ogden Camis for Dana and Jenna, from rayon.

Next up is another Ogden Cami for Dana from this silky shibori fabric.

And, I am still working on the Spools quilt.

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Dana and I also visited the BROAD museum downtown. This new modern art museum is a space so full of light and has plenty of room to allow the viewer to step back and really take in the art. Many pieces are quite large, even wall-size,  canvases.   I loved it. I want to visit again soon. I often find museums to be the antidote to shopping, or to consumerism in general. I'm free to enjoy. No purchase pressure or compulsion. Art in museums is not for sale. Taking time to just look and think is very relaxing and clears my head.
At the stair landings, heading up to the second and then third floors, there are windows into the storage warehouse (for the paintings not currently on display).

Finally, there is currently an exhibit called INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM-THE SOULS OF MILLIONS OF LIGHT YEARS AWAY by Yayoi Kusama. It's a tiny room that you enter for only 45 seconds, one person at a time. You can request an entry time by iPad after you enter the museum.
It was interesting and worth waiting for.

Recipes.....

Dana and I took a sourdough bread baking class at BLVD Kitchen in Sherman Oaks, and so far I have made two beautiful sourdough loaves of my own:

I also came up with a tasty new salad that I like.

Kale and Oranges with a simple dijon lemon vinaigrette.

1 bunch Kale (any type) cleaned, stemmed, and chopped

1-2 oranges, tangelos, or tangerines, peeled and seeded and separated into segments
(If orange is large, cut segments in 1/2)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste (1/8-1/4 tsp)
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 garlic clove, pressed

Mix dressing ingredients, then pour over chopped kale and massage dressing into greens well.
Top with orange segments and serve.
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Maybe I should write these posts more frequently, and then they wouldn't need to be so long.
Until next time, 
Beth Ellen

New year, new me, new blog post

It's been about 1 week since I decided to log out of Facebook on all of my devices. I was feeling stuck, and also felt I was spending far too much time mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. I want to read more (books, the daily paper) and scroll less. My account is still active, but I will not check it frequently. Initially I am planning to go a month without it.

I was driving on the freeway yesterday and realized that I actually feel calmer without Facebook as my constant companion. I still have an Instagram account, because it doesn't seem to take hold of my brain in the same way.

I am making time to read the paper in the morning instead of checking FB, and I don't miss the constant anxiety over the state of our country (especially over all of the anti-Trump posts). I can hear my own thoughts again.

So far, all good.

J and I are seeing "Amelie" tonight at the Ahmanson Theatre. I have plenty of sewing on my plate, and the girls have about 10 days before they go back to NYC for school. We have plans to go to the Broad Museum, and D and I are taking a bread-baking class at BLVD Kitchen.

I'm also going back to work 2 days per week, and after some initial nerves about how different it would be from my usual routine,  I am excited about it.

Here's a smattering of what I'm working on in the sewing room:

 True Bias Ogden Cami, one each for D and J, in these fabrics, both fluid, draped rayons

Pajamas for J from this cute waffle knit, which will consist of a pair of True Bias Hudson Pants, and a Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt.

This quilt, in Liberty of London cotton prints,

Those are just a few of the sewing projects on the horizon. More soon.