Tillie Studio

i'm still alive...

It is embarrassing that I have been in hiding for so many months.  I have been terrible about taking photos of my work,  so I have little to add on here.  I am hoping the new year will bring many new posts and lots of photos.  On a fun front, to any of you who just check in here periodically, I am pregnant with my first baby, a boy, who is due in early May!  Maybe once it gets growing to interesting proportions, some belly shots will be in order! 

Hope that you all have been enjoying the holidays!  And for all of you who have been whomped by winter weather...hang in there! 

shudder to think and other randomness

I am not sure why it is so hard for me to keep up with the posts I want to do.  I guess the fact that Labor Day brought the beginning of the new school year, and with that more work that I can handle.  The combination of grad students and 3-9 year-olds is a bit depleting when they all come at once.   I am hanging in here, though. 

So in terms of an update, I had the pleasure of getting to see one of my favorite bands from high school perform their first concert since the 90's on September 5th.  Shudder to Think played at Park West, one of my favorite venues in Chicago, and they really kicked butt and put on a great show with great energy.  Craig's (the singer's) whole family was in the crowd, so it made for an interesting show.  I forgot I knew the words to every song, as I made a point of NOT listening to them before I went so I would be surprised and not let down.  Here are a couple of photos...look at all that sweat!!  The guitarist actually split his finger open because he was hitting his guitar with such gusto...quite the showman. 

Two other random things have happened in the past couple of weeks right outside my house.  First, I walked outside the other day only to find this van parked right in front of my house...I did not get any answers about what they were doing...

I was also was having trouble falling asleep the other night because of a strange blue light that kept passing across the bedroom windows...I finally got up to check it out and discovered giant event spotlights (think Hollywood opening) set up below our place.  Something BIG was going on at Galleria Marchetti's next door...red carpet, the lights, television crews and then music went on through at least 2am...and it was a Wednesday.  Here's why the lights were so distracting...

I am hoping things at work settle down over the next few weeks so I can get into some type of fall rhythm.  I am tired.

boston

I forgot to put together a post of our trip to Boston a couple of weeks ago, and I just was looking at the photos and decided to go ahead and put some up.  It was great to spend some quality time with my dad (that's him in te wetsuit) and Elyse.  I got to show Brandon Fenway, and the old Cambridge Victorian we lived in when I was a baby. We got pampered at Lavinia's spa for a day, myself more than B.   We got to enjoy a nice mixture of Boston and the beach, heading out to the beach house on Sunday afternoon for some sun, snoozing, kayaking, and lobster.  It was a nice little getaway!

 

 

happy birthday to me....

Today is my day...I have permission to be selfish.  I had Mexican food for breakfast, which is my all-time favorite.  Chilaquiles, refried beans, and lots of tortilla chips and salsa. I got to open presents - and I love presents:-)  Brandon was kind enough to not only get me a Wii so I can play Mario games to my hearts content, but also tickets for the Dirty Dancing play that is starting here in Chicago at the end of September.  I love that movie so much (and regularly get sucked into watching it when it is on TV) and I cannot wait to see what they are going to do to transfer it to the stage.  I love that Brandon had to suck it up and buy the tickets...the Wii I am sure he wanted, too, but the tickets were truly a gift for me, and that makes me happy:-) 

So to celebrate my day, we are going to go to a movie and perhaps go bowling, too.  I am interested to see how this day turns out...but with my tummy full of Mexican yumminess, I am off to a fabulous start.   I think I may need to find a carrot cake cupcake, too...that would be the perfect way to sweeten up this day!  Here's to another year older and hopefully wiser.  I love these photos of me as a little girl, enjoying my summer in California (and the fact that I have always been a clutz - bandaid on the leg as proof)...they remind me of how fast time passes and how we need to strive to enjoy each day.

quickie update...

i am running out the door to work, but i wanted to quickly post a few photos and update you on the fabric situation.  The investigation into the missing package of fabric has gone nowhere.  I don't know if they are thinking it will turn up or what, but no one seems to have any idea what happened.  Surely someone out there is disappointed if they stole the package in hopes of some fun electronics or something...oh well.  I have another package of some different prints on schedule to be delivered tomorrow...hopefully that one goes more smoothly:-) 

As for the photos, I wanted to include a photos of the skirt I made for this past Saturday night...as well as a bag that I realized I never posted a photo of...I will be back later with the new fabrics:-)

 

minor irritations...i need this weekend!

So I planned a day off on Wednesday, and instead, by 8:30 in the morning, it was all over.  It started with an emergency phone call and I never got back control.  As much as I work at helping my clients set appropriate and healthy boundaries between home and work, sometimes I lose track of my own.  I knew on Tuesday night that it looked grim for Wednesday.  I had a fully-packed Thursday schedule and a presentation to give at a school on Friday (today), so Wednesday was likely going to be taken from me (just based on odds)...but jeesh...I really needed a day-off mid-week.  A day to get organized and composed.  So to top off this annoyance, a package from J Caroline Creative...a huge package full of all sorts of fun and beautiful new fabric (drool) was supposedly delivered yesterday at noon by UPS...a package that would have raised my spirits as well as creative energy...well I never got it.  Gone...poof...thin air...ugh.  So now UPS is starting an investigation and I am trying to keep optimistic that it will show up.  If it doesn't I happen to know that many of the prints I ordered are gone...which means that it will be a long wait for a replacement order.  I am doing my best to remain patient, and taking care of household business this afternoon that was supposed to be done on Wednesday to distract myself.  I cannot express how thankful I am for the weekend!!  TGIF!!

Happy Birthday Ruby...and the fun of getting quoted

I took a break from sewing this weekend, aside from this birthday present for Ruby...who had her 1st birthday party on Saturday afternoon.  Kelly's Kentucky roots inspired a pig-picking for the party, which was quite a celebration!  Any suggestions for a name for this style...Ruby is already taken.

I was also alerted by my a number of my clients and colleagues that I was quoted in a parenting article in the Chicago Tribune this weekend.  It was kind of fun having a few minutes of celebrity based on my real job:-) 

sorry

Okay...so Siri caught me being lazy about posting.  I have been busy (what else is new?) but that is really no excuse as I have taken lots of pictures and been sewing up a storm for my trip to DC this past weekend.  We had an amazing time on our annual boating adventure.  Lots of sun, water, loud music, grilling and beer with great friends...honestly there is nothing much more perfect.  We also got to spend a little time with my family, and even got an hour of floor time with Jenny and Carter.  Here are some photos of recent projects, as well as some boating pics.  Sadly I was really bad about taking photos over the weekend...probably has something to do with being in a bathing suit from dawn till dusk:-)

accomplishment

I love sewing because it gives me that feeling of accomplishment that I rarely ever find at work, as my work is never really done.  As most of us sewers (and knitters) know, we often use our craft as a form of therapy.  There are few things in this world I find more cathartic.  So, despite back pain from sitting at the good ol' Bernina for endless hours this past weekend, I feel GREAT!!  I came up a with a bunch (like 5 - seriously) new bag patterns and shortened my to-do list by double-digits.  The boys' golf weekend ended up being quite profitable for me, and as Courtney likes to joke, my projects support B's golf habit anyway, so it is a workable cycle we have going. 

Dresses (The "Ruby" and "Grace")

Two sets of placemats and napkins in City Girls and Art Gallery Fabrics

Clutches

Shoulder bags

Really bad timing...

It has been a good weekend...I was able to start on some orders I have gotten recently (I will post photos of that later) as well as get together at a friend's home for dinner on Saturday night (and did not make it home until almost 2am:-).  Today I had an appointment to take Cooper to the groomer as he has been in dire need of a buzz cut for about a month now.  With the weather hitting 90 this weekend, he appeared hot and miserable.  I was planning on a before and after photo, as it really is amazing how fugly he is underneath all that fluff.  Needless to say the true "after" will have to come another day.  About two hours before I expected to hear from the groomer that he was done, I got a call that the place had lost power in the most recent thunder storm and so he was half done but needed to be picked up.  They were not expecting power to return.  I get there and he is soaking wet, and truly half done.  He looks like Aslan from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when the kids shave him...huge furry head, a shaved body (and I mean nearly bald) and big furry feet and pom-pom tail.  He looks absolutely pathetic and if a dog can be embarrassed her definitely is.  Here is the intended before photo and some afters.  The photos do not do the look justice!