Montessori child's apron

I used Meg McElwee's Montessori child's apron pattern to make two aprons this fall and I love how they turned out! The pattern is available free at Sew Liberated and it's perfect for the 3-6 year old in your life. This ingenious apron is designed so the child can independently put it on, so handy! The neckband is elasticized and the waist strap has a velcro attachment on one side. What an improvement from the apron we had been using where I had to tie the neck strap and waist strap for my daughter!

Sophie in her apron, making porridge with Grandpa

I made both aprons using Alexander Henry's apples and pears print. Sophie has the brown one (with Kona red on the back) and the blue one (with Kona chartreuse on the back) was a gift to a friend who was turning four. Funnily enough, after I had decided to use that fabric, I noticed that Meg had used the same brown apples and pears print for the pattern photo!

My cooperative model in the blue apron

The pattern was easy to understand and went together smoothly for me. My only problem came with the velcro - I didn't realize there were both adhesive-backed velcro strips and sew-on strips available! You want to use the sew-on velcro for this project. Sewing machines and adhesive-backed velcro are not friends.

Thank you, Meg, for making a great pattern available for free! I hope to make many more in future!

Vancouver neighbourhoods

You can now get your own awesome poster of Vancouver's neighbourhoods, courtesy of Ork Posters. Thanks to Inside Vancouver for letting me know that our fair city is now part of a group that includes NYC, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Chicago and Toronto. Think this would be a great Christmas gift? Buy it online here: http://www.orkposters.com/vancouver.html

This view makes me happy

Tulip trees (aka Yellow Poplars) lining West 10th Ave in Kitsilano

We were lucky enough to have several days of sunshine here in Vancouver during early November. It looks like the rain and clouds have set in for a while now, so I'll just have to remember the glorious yellow leaves shining in the sun. I love the trees of Kitsilano!

Car-free no more!

After nearly nine years of living car-free (with the help of our Co-operative Auto Network membership), we finally bit the bullet and bought a car! We are now the proud owners of a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid!

The obligatory cheesy shot as Dean accepts his first ever set of car keys

A brief history of my car ownership:

1995: I bought my first car, a 1991 Toyota Tercel that served me well through university.

2001: I became a member of CAN, Vancouver's car sharing network

2002: We said goodbye to the Tercel in favour of living car-free

2007: Sophie was born and we kept on living car-free

October 26, 2010: Hello Honda Civic!

Our car! (sorry, we picked it up at night, so the photos aren't great)

By daylight (photo credit: Pacific Honda)

I have to admit, as an environmentalist, I've been quite proud to go almost a decade car-free. I've expanded my walking radius, gotten to know the bus system extremely well, commuted by bike, and I've been a loyal CAN member. I even wrote about our car-free lifestyle for Blog Action Day 2009. So, it's a little humbling to have to say, "I'm a car owner." However, I'm proud to say I stood by my 2001 pledge to Honda written during the heady, idealistic days of my early twenties: 

"I have pledged to never buy another solely gas powered car."

Why the need for a car, you ask? Let's see if you can figure it out...

Yes! We're expecting our second child in the spring! We're thrilled that Sophie is going to be a big sister. We have decided that the transition to a family of four necessitates the transition to a car-owning family. We'll still keep our CAN membership for those cases when we could use a van or a truck. Dean will still commute to work on his bike and we'll never give up transit, walking and cycling. But, frankly, this environmentalist stay-at-home-mom is pretty darn excited about the freedom that our new car promises! Any suggestions for our first road trip?

October VMQG recap - membership cards, pumpkins & selfless photographers

As of October 21, 2010, I am now a card-carrying member of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild! We had our October meeting last night and welcomed our first official members. Thirty members paid their dues - hooray! Another reason this meeting was a momentous occasion was that it was the first VMQG meeting I didn't chair. I sat back, relaxed, and let our new president Kalin take the reins. She was organized and kept us on track and efficiently got through the important guild business so we could have lots of show and tell time. Thank you, Kalin!

Kalin at work

We started by sharing our Halloween blocks. I liked this little paper-pieced pumpkin that I whipped up yesterday afternoon (yes, I'm a terrible procrastinator!). To the person who won my pumpkin, I'm sorry that it's six inches rather than six and a half! I hope you can add a little extra sashing!

 Show and tell, as usual, was the highlight of the evening. This was Arita's wonky Halloween houses quilt. I took a few quick photos, but many more will be available soon on our Flickr group. 

 Paul's monkey quilt created from our very first challenge blocks.

 Paul always has creative ideas for the back of his quilts! Thanks to Anna and Terry for being our quilt holders last night!

 Sonja, our amazing photographer, is also a talented pattern designer. Here she is showing off her Chuck Wolfman block.

And here she is, showing her dedication to "getting the shot" and her complete disregard for her physical comfort. What a pro!

I'm already looking forward to our next meeting!

October Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild Meeting

It's nearly time for the next meeting of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild! Looking forward to seeing you at Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge from 7-9pm on Thursday, October 21st!

I'm excited to officially become a member of the VMQG (don't forget your dues!), see all the Halloween challenge blocks, and, of course, admire the many beautiful quilts at show and tell!

p.s. Check out our brand new VMQG logo, designed by the amazing Cynthia Frenette of greencouchdesigns.com. Thank you, Cynthia!

I love my bike!

Isn't this the perfect button? My sister surprised me with it this week and I love it! If you, too, love your bike, you can pick up your own button, plus oodles of fresh local produce at one of the Vancouver Farmer's Markets like the Kitsilano Market (today at the Kits Community Centre parking lot from 10am-2pm). I love riding my bike to the market and taking advantage of the bike valet!

Art by Jane Koo

The "I Love My Bike" button was designed by the very talented Jane Koo, who created this year's amazing poster for the Farmer's Markets.