Physics Quilt

So this is a quilt I was working on last year for my youngest brother, he's in university now studying mathematics and physics (don't worry, I don't understand any of it either).

This is actually the first quilt I ever did on my own. As you can see even in this picture, it doesn't really line up perfectly but I feel like that's a part of it's charm.

I made it particularly long because, well, he's particularly tall.

I wanted to use fabrics that were specific to him so I managed to find this amazing site called Spoonflower where people can design their own prints and sell them through this site, the Spoonflower company prints the fabrics on demand and mails them out, kicking back a percent of the profit to the designers.

One is a light blue Fibonacci Spiral and the other is Equations.

This was really fun to make and I'm happy to have sent it to him.

Grass and Rejection

Where have I been this time, you wonder?

Well, I finished a Swedish gardening and greenhouse program (Swedish due to the language not the style in which the growing of plants was done) and, much more importantly, I finished the book I was writing. It's the first of a series I've planned. I didn't even chicken out after doing the read through. I wrote up a lovely query letter, did some agent hunting, and sent it in to the first of many. I started work on the second book, though have admittedly lost a little steam after receiving the first rejection letter from the first agent I sent a query to.

I fully prepared myself for the fact that seeking an agent was going to be a long and painful endeavor (especially since most want you to wait until they've rejected you before sending in to another) but no amount of logic can sooth the pessimistic poet in you when your work goes unwanted.

But fret not, my attempts will continue. I have a whole list of potential agents here that I intend to bother with my hopes and dreams.

Wontons

Wontons are a labor of love. Either you love wontons or you love the person you're making them for.

They're incredibly easy to make, just chop up whatever you want inside and mix it in a bowl (I used carrots, mushrooms, vegetarian ground beef, and onions). Lay out some wonton raps, flour side down. Put a little of the mixture in the middle and then wet two sides before folding it into a triangle and pressing. Some people make them into little packets instead of triangles by bunching the sides but I think the triangles are easier. The only thing about wontons is how tedious they can be. You can only put a little in each one and it takes a bit of time to set out and seal each of them.

We boil them real quick before eating but you can always fry them... lets face it, you can fry anything if you really want to.

Forslunda

The winter wonderland that is my new school! We finally hit minus 20(celsius) this week. It seems that the prettier it is outside in the winter here, the sunnier and brighter, the colder. It's a strange trade but it offered me some really nice picture taking moments. My classes are going well. The students are all really nice and I'm hanging in there with the Swedish.

Half Apron

Last month I had a sewing day with LinnLinn and made a couple aprons. This is one of them (and my favorite).

After some not so extensive google searching I found a bunch of suggested patterns and liked this one the most (in no small part because it gave step by step pictures).

I'll definitely make this one again. Although, as you can see from the picture, I'm not much for ironing, so imagine it smoother.

Pigs have people eyes...

So I made it through my first week of school in Sweden, real school rather than swedish for foreigners classes. I'm taking a gardening program out at Förslunda, the bus schedule to get out there and back is absurd by the way. There are several days in my schedule where I'm either out there two hours early or (and sometimes 'also') not able to go home until two hours after class as ended. Luckily I've always been a rather self entertained person and have a stack of books that need reading.

The program has several different classes which I'm really looking forward to and a greenhouse that makes me all smiley to stand in. I went out to the farm part of the school and looked at the cows, pigs, and sheep. I learned that I have a slight desire to own a cow, something I had not previously considered about myself, and I also discovered that monstrously large pigs have very human looking eyes. I'm not sure what to make of that.

The classes are all in Swedish and I seem to be the only foreigner in the program but everyone has been really nice. With the exception of the biology class, I'm following the Swedish pretty well. I think I just need to get ahead in the biology textbook and learn the words.

I hope to get some pictures of the school up soon!

Sewing Machine Cover

This was really easy to make. I've made one before but somehow I managed to lose it. I did the first one with a big pocket on the front but I found that it was really just aesthetic since putting anything in it made the whole thing hang funny.

To make it you only need to cut two 15x23inch (38x58cm) squares. Place them faces together and sew the short sides and one long. Cut 2.5inch (6.5cm) squares out of the top corners (the ones sewn on both edges) and then pinch together and sew. Hem the bottom and you're done!

I love this fabric. I wish I had more of it.