The Maiden Voyage

Sometimes, breakfast should be more of an adventure than a square start to your day; it's days like these you find yourself asking, "isn't there a more thrilling coffee mug?"

You're not alone. All across the planet people are pouring their hot drinks into vessels of mediocrity; they're sipping steaming beverages from beakers of sheer ordinary. It's just one of the many normal things we do, and keep doing, over and over again. Where does the cycle end? Does it end?

Don't believe for a minute that drinking from an average mug is your destiny; it doesn't have to be that way. Succumb to the lies and you'll soon find yourself spiraling downwards through a dark tunnel that ends...where? Acceptance of drinking coffee out of styrofoam cups at the office? Thoughtlessly using the same nothing mug, morning after morning?

Perhaps it would help for you to take a step back and look at your life objectively. Close your eyes; imagine yourself at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper or checking the stocks. In your hand is a mug. You can see the steam rising from the brim, but the mug itself is hazy. Focus, focus. What do you see? This is important...your mug will tell you who you are. Cream colored with your insurance company's logo printed on it? That says you're bored, too bored to explore the possibility of owning a mug with character. Or maybe you see a mug that's chipped a little and solid navy. It's your go-to mug, and that's where you're going wrong. Don't be a go-to mug person; it screams "comfortable," and "completely lacking in originality."

This is depressing, isn't it? I can see you're beginning to wonder if there's any hope, or if a future of being wrongly defined by your coffee mug is inevitable. But don't sip into despondency just yet; there IS hope.

It's time to embrace your need for early morning adventure, and your plain-Jane mug isn't going to cut it. You need something fresh, edgy, something that takes you places you never thought hot beverages could go. You need to be transported. A good mug can do that.

In an effort to inspire to you think outside the mug, take a look at this beauty. It took its maiden voyage just last week and proved a worthy vessel for my morning rooibos tea. I'll be booking the Dawn Treader again in the future when I need something more than breakfast as usual :)

This is another fine artistic piece by THE Todd Overbeek Jr. :) To read more about his process, check out last month's post here.

Dear Amanda: I can quilt!

Dear Amanda: I can quilt! I finished it :) My first-ever quilted potholder is done! And...

...stuffed in a drawer :/ 

The thing looks rough, Amanda, really rough. It's crooked. It's uneven. The stitches vary in length and look like I was failing a sobriety test when I sewed them. It doesn't lay flat but kind of stands up in the middle, probably the result of a lack of tension, or maybe too much tension? I don't know. And whatever you do, DON'T turn it over...the back is a horrific mess of knots, tangles, and "corrected" mistakes. It's enough to make even the most gracious seamstress wince like she was just jabbed with a #9 needle. Todd tried to make me feel better by telling me that it just had a “hand-made” look. That kind of talk goes over really well at craft shops. Hand-made items are supposed to be special because they’re one-of-a-kind, they can’t be replicated. Let’s just say: I hope so.

Yet, despite its...existence, I love this potholder :) Not as a thing to look at or even use for its intended purpose, but as a symbol of accomplishment. I really enjoyed sitting down to work on it. It was fun! I like the fact that I learned a lot of things (mostly what not to do) during this, my inaugural quilt-sewing experience. Here they are, in numeric outline:

1. I’ve taken up a hobby that requires math. Apparently, there are such things. I know that accuracy isn't good enough; you need precision. I thought I cut all the pieces just like they needed to be cut, but the end result tells me otherwise. Rather than individually measure ever single pice I need, I think next time I'll make a window template. That way I only have to measure the same-shaped pieces once, eliminating opportunities for discrepancy. And sheesh, it will speed that part of the process along considerably. Even with Todd's help that part of the process was by far my least favorite. 

2. Similarly, all the seam allowances need to be identical. If it's supposed to be 1/4 inch, make it exactly 1/4 inch. It will come back to haunt you if you think you got it almost right. Almost is not good enough when it comes to sewing. Why oh why was I not born a perfectionist?

3. I've learned to cut the backing and batting a little bit bigger than the quilt top...I learned that one the very hard way. 

4. It will probably work better if I sew the quilt sandwich from the middle and work my way out, rather than the other way around. In fact, it might fix my tension problems altogether. 

5. I need a seam ripper. And some shears. And a tape measure. While I'm at it, I need a sewing machine. That would work wonders for my sewing. 

So, while the finished product looks like a miserable, embarrassing failure, I know it's not, really. It broke me of my fear of sewing, it taught me I really can do this, and it set me on my way to accomplishing more useful and hopefully more aesthetically-pleasing projects. I was proud to look at my poor, warped potholder and know that I, the formerly sewing-challenged Meredith Overbeek did every single crooked stitch. With my bare hands. Which, being bare, fared as you might expect. 

Thanks for all your help and advice...and for not laughing at me when I told you I wanted to learn to quilt :) Now, on to bigger and better things, right? Well, not exactly, not yet. I think I’ll try to make this potholder again and see if I can’t improve on things a bit. That and the prospect of tackling anything larger without the aid of a machine scares me.

Here she is: I think I'll call her Wonky. And no, I'm not showing you the back so don't bother asking.