Marie Grace Designs

Friday Facts...

~In June the majority of my knitting looks an awful lot like a spreadsheet.

~Kids that say they don't like green beans will not be impressed when you bring yellow beans home from the farmer's market.

~ 7 year olds don't make straight rows of carrots even if you use string. They also refuse to thin the little carrot-lings insisting that would be carrot murder.

~ Blueberries are plentiful. And yummy. Right now.

~ Smocking dot templates save lots of time.

~ Babies who get fresh air on late evening mountain hikes in backpacks sleep pretty tough.

~Fridays come and go way too fast.

You should make this cake...

So its 11pm on a Friday night and I'm blogging for the first time in what... a week? 2 weeks? Sort of a running theme as of late.

To make things even weirder I'm posting about cake. I figure that if I can't get my wits about me enough to put together a decent post containing anything remotely helpful I may as well post cake. 

I'm really not too sure how to explain what goes on around here lately. I get up each morning and start the day and there's a flurry of diapers and kids and laundry and weeds and hurried bouts of stitching of one sort or another and the next thing I know the whole day is over. Just like that. Kinda crazy, don't ya think?

So anyway I went to the farmer's market today to get some veggies and there were neat little baskets of blueberries and so I got some of those too.

While the girls were snapping beans to go with dinner I made this cake and when I turned it out of the pan one of the corners got stuck and a piece stayed in the pan. So I dug it out and ate it. And then I cut a whole piece and ate it too. And then the kids got hold of it. And then Mac Daddy got home from work. I probably don't need to tell you that there's no more cake.

The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen so get going and make yourself this cake this weekend. Its super easy and unreasonably delicate and good. I'm going back to my stitching while everyone else is asleep.

Have a great weekend!

Smocked Blouse...

There was enough fabric left from the dress to make her a blouse.

Constructed the exact same way... just a shorter length.

 

Simple Smocked Sundress...

 

 

 

 

The most simple of smocked dresses made from just 2 identical rectangles of fabric, one for the front and one for the back, plus 4 narrow strips for the ties. No pattern at all.

Marked and pleated by hand, without a pleater.

Smocked with 3 strands of cotton floss and basic smocking stitches.

 

 

Still smocking...

Weeding the garden, mulching the flower beds, picking strawberries.

Hanging laundry on the line, making the baby giggle, and hanging out in the kitchen with the kids.

And smocking.