adventures of the gluten free sort...

Recently I've noticed that I am far more sensitive to gluten. When I was first diagnosed with a wheat intolerance I found that little amounts (the breading on a chicken nugget, the crust on a cheesecake, etc) didn't seem to bother me. I cut out things like bread and pasta, but clung to everything else. In the back of my mind I've wondered if this was ok... the disease that killed my father has been known to begin with undiagnosed celiac disease. My grandmother was also intolerant of wheat. Did I need to cut it out completely? That would be far too difficult... I counted myself lucky that I didn't have to read every label and worry about where and how things were manufactured.

I've been reading a book called Gluten Free Girl. I've learned more about gluten free living, celiac disease and wheat intolerance in the past couple months than I did in the last 8 years. So many of the symptoms that Shauna, the author, experienced are eerily familiar to me. Armed with new knowledge of how gluten attacks someone with my kind of intolerance and old knowledge of isolating foods to find out what is negatively affecting you, I was ready when I started feeling poorly the last couple months. After a week of stomach ache and headache, I cut out the only things I could think of that had been changed in my regular diet. When I reintroduced those things in the following weeks I found the symptoms returning.

Trying to eat completely gluten free is like learning of my intolerance all over again, but this time I have an amazing support system (you know, that boy I'll be marrying in 97 days?) urging me to try new things and cheering me on as I begin to make things from scratch using ingredients I'm only just learning to understand.

The last week has brought:

Chicken Pot Pie with a Gluten Free Crust & gluten free flours to thicken the gravy
Chicken Noodle Soup with rice noodles
Onion, Swiss & Turkey Bacon Quiche with that same Gluten Free Crust
More of the Banana Bread I've mentioned before
Impromptu Apple Pie for two (yes, the very same pie crust)

A peek at the quiche (which luckily passed the test from my fiance the quiche lover!)

New Organization

in two forms...

1. I am now gainfully employed! Wednesday and Thursday of last week I interviewed with a small privately owned company which make, refurbish, and repair MRIs and CT Scans. I start my job as "junior accountant" this coming wednesday. Yippee! This means I have one week to truly relax (sitting at home spending 5 hours on career builder wasn't exactly relaxing...). I have one week to work on wedding and home projects before things get busy. What shall I start with??? Oh yes, addressing envelopes. Then perhaps I can recover the living-room table/ottoman (I can justify spending the $15 for the fabric now that I have a job!).

2. We're now the proud owners of a new (to us) ikea expedit shelf! We've been watching out for this shelf/entertainment unit for our living room. With one small modification (which required me to hand saw a shelf until I couldn't feel my arms) it is a perfect fit. Ample storage for records, books, and whatever else needed its own place. I love to organize... its true... and this shelf has made me a very happy girl!



Ok, on to enjoying my week!

crafty updates...

My very first quilt (small thought it was) is finished! This is the very first project I started with my lovely new sewing machine and was finished just in time to mail off for Erin's baby shower! More pictures to come when my camera cord makes its way through the snow to me...

My favorite part of the quilt was hand sewing the binding. It was surprisingly relaxing and satisfying... each stitch bringing me closer to an actual quilt, not just pieces of fabric pinned together. Each stitch, just like the women who've quilted before me. I know this will be something I enjoy for the rest of my days. I can fill my home, my children's home, my grandchildren's home with lovely quilts I hope.


Fabric for the wedding-table-squares came last week also! I've done quite a few... the tally:
To do: 13
Done: 12

The bottom two fabrics I am unsure of. The white pattern I adore, but I realize it may not stand out enough on the ivory table cloths. And the last, the green stripe, is much more neon green than I had supposed. I'll keep these in mind but may keep an open eye for other patterns that would be better in their place.


Updates of other natures...

My second job interview was today and went well! I truly think I would be a good fit and would love the job and the company. I hope it works out... I should be hearing this week sometime.

Hoverson Love

The library here is quite wonderful... I can request books online and they'll have them ready & waiting... I can request books they don't have, & they'll purchase them! Which is exactly what I did a couple weeks ago.

There are a few books I've been wishing would come into my ownership... so in the mean time I requested them from the Library to be sure that they were as useful and likable as I've imagined. One of those books is Patchwork & Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (the owner of Purl Soho, one of my favorite places to look for fabric). This book is fantastic (even sans patterns... which for some reason the library took out) and I will definitely want it to be a permanent addition to my crafty library.


While browsing this lovely book, I enjoyed my third batch of gluten free banana bread (from gluten free girl), which is my favorite so far. I've tweaked the recipe a bit and this time added ground flax seed and left out the cocoa powder... all it needs is a thin layer of light cream cheese (add that to the mental grocery list).


Itching to make something & having finished my big secret project (photos coming soon... can't risk the recipient mother-to-be catching a glimpse) I wanted to sew! I fell in love with this adorable pin cushion from the aforementioned book but was without those pattern pieces. I gave it my best guess and dug through my scrap pile... definitely cut the pieces too wide, but hey, its still cute! Is it strange that I color coded my pins without much thought? Thats the OCD accountant type shining through in my crafts I suppose...


Now I'm simply hoping that my wedding-reception-table-square fabric comes tomorrow so I have an excuse to sew all day!

My big interview has again been rescheduled, now to Tuesday morning at 9am (silly CEOs who are always flying here and there!). In the process of rescheduling I did deduce something quite nice... I believe I am one of two candidates in the final interview process. The CFO emailed the agency asking if the collective interviews could be changed to 9 & 10am on Tuesday morning. Sounds like two interviews yes? Well the 9am is me. Down to the wire... what shirt should I wear with my suit (must make a visual impact so they remember me)?

productivity

The delivery man brought me a present early this morning... the order from paper source! It was only ordered on Sunday... fastest shipping ever! The envelopes for our invites were on sale, so now they're stocked up and waiting to be turned into a lovely package!

I got a lot done today, even a couple wedding projects under way...

22 inch squares for center of table -
To do: 23
Done: 2

9' table runner for our buffet table - DONE!

Now I just have to wait for the lovely package of fabric that is headed my way from fabric supplies etsy shop. They were kind enough to sell me a few fabrics in my 1.25 yard increment and I'm so excited about what they had. Fantastic prices too- on the fabric and on the shipping... I'll be watching their page.

For my dear family... my big interview is now on Friday at 11am! I wish it had been today... the weather here didn't end up as bad as they weathermen made it out to sound. I also got a call today about a temp position as a staff accountant for 4 to 6 weeks so they're presenting my resume for that. I'll update when I know more...

as it were...

I've discovered that I managed to leave the cord that blends the world between my camera and computer in Atlanta. So, until it finds it's way into an envelope and weathers the trail betwixt an old home and new, I'll have to make due with my macbook's photobooth.

I present to you, a christmas gift...


She is beautiful, is she not!? My dear boy managed to conspire with my family and make her mine.; I couldn't thank them more! She hums... oh, she hums. A fantastic machine, I will treat her well and give her plenty to do!

My first project came but a day into our relationship... I made a day-after-christmas trip to Joann Fabric near my grandparent's house and picked up a few goodies. Pictures will come... but not yet! I need to finish up and ship off before I can let the cat out of the bag.

A project you CAN see... I'll be making 21'' squares for the middle of the round tables for the wedding reception (why 21'' you say? Because I can make 4 squares per every 1.25 yards of fabric that way, most fabrics being 44 or 45 inches wide that is, and I can justify the project knowing that It will only take 10 yards or so). They're 66'' rounds, and will have 120'' ivory table cloths. I wanted something to add a little color and after realizing that making 200+ napkins was out of the question, I settled for 25 squares for the center of each table.

I'll be looking for fun fabrics to use, and the exciting part is when it's all over, I can still use the fabric for other exciting projects! 2 for 1 bonus! I've been swooning over this "wedding ring" quilt (an adaptation of the color wheel quilt in the book Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts) that another bride made using the napkins that she made for her own wedding. So here, you can sneak a peek at my first square, donned with decorative stitch (have I mentioned my new sewing machine?), and below it a picture of the quilt which has stolen my heart!

Enjoy :)

(source: the purl bee)

the old college try

I'm a bad blogger. There, I said it. I spend free time pouring over other people's crafty blogs imagining that I have the patience to write about my own endeavors. I even started this particular blog last year with those intentions.

I get distracted. I used to write in response to all sort of activities... it made them feel more whole, having the chance to sit and reflect, to tell the story of how they affected me. Perhaps making the time to think and write on these things will become a sort of centering, to keep me mindful of what it is I'm doing, of all the implications that come along with participating in the nature of creation.

I've just moved across the country (vertically). My immediate and extended family who I've been near and close to since the day I was born are all (nearly) in Atlanta, GA. I've just moved to be with my fiance and in-laws-to-be. How in the world do I keep up on the sharing of my life, my crafts, my loves of nature and beauty? I call them of course (and beg them to visit)... but I also urge myself to give time to this. A place where they can come to see what I am working on or dreaming up.

I've finally a solid reason to keep myself at this. Years ago, blogging felt selfish or at the very least, arrogant (who am I that the whole world would want to read what I have to say). More recently blogging became an amazing collaboration of admirable, crafty, thrifty, creative people who I can admire and gain inspiration from. And now, now blogging is even more, it is a chance to root myself, reflect on myself, and connect with those who helped to mould myself.

Bonus: I always forget how much I love to write... this will come in handy as I begin my career as an accountant crunching numbers five days of the week.

Once I uncover the cord to my camera... a peek at a christmas present and projects of all sorts. For now, I leave you with a picture of my very first, made from scratch, gluten free, chocolate banana bread!