The Cottage Revolution

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Quilt No. 2

    My friend had her first baby! He is a precious child, and I don’t throw baby compliments around. Apparently tiny humans are my only excuse to sew (see: here, here and here). The quilt I made for her new baby evolved from something totally flat and lifeless into a piece I ended up really digging. It…

  • My Fear of Children (and a Mobile)

    Baby projects are so sweet and perfect, but they kind of freak me out. When my niece was born, my sister and I made her a quilt. I checked that thing a million times for needles. When I gave it to my brother on the day my niece was born, I asked him to triple…

  • The Vocabulary of Creation

    This week I had to say the words, “grouper in papillote” over and over for a voice project only to realize I had no idea what papillote meant. I was essentially a parrot for a full hour, repeating a pronunciation without understanding exactly what I was saying. Once I left the studio, I looked up…

  • Inside January

    I’m not a resolution person, but going into 2016 I said I wanted a better work/life balance. Last year was great for professional growth — I wrote some serious grants and got some serious money for great causes, created some scripts (for corporations, not for creativity’s sake), got some super-cool marketing pieces in place and…

  • Another Post About Kale

    The internet doesn’t need more kale recipes. I almost didn’t post this for that very reason, but then my husband reminded me the internet wouldn’t exist without unnecessary and redundant information. And I’m not posting kale recipes because it’s trendy. I’m posting kale recipes because it’s all I grew this summer so it’s all we…

  • The Alphabet Shoppe

    During the summer of 1998 I worked at a summer camp — not as a counselor or any of those  roles one might someday remember fondly. I was the Dining Hall Steward. What’s that, you ask? It’s the person who makes meals run smoothly by calming hundreds of screaming kids and introducing each menu item.…

  • The Princess and the Pea

    My sewing machine has been on a shelf since I made the McCall’s 6442 jacket in January, and my blog has basically been on the shelf since then too. But when the temperature fell below 50 degrees earlier this month I got out some yarn and knitting needles (my crafting gateway drug), and the sewing…

  • Apricot Kale Salad

    This summer we were strolling through downtown Nashville, TN on a nearly 100 degree day seeking shade and an escape from the competing music blasting from each bar. That’s when we turned down a small street and saw PUB 5 with closed doors and no music at all – just a soccer game playing in…

  • A Clementine Vodka Cocktail

    February wrecks me every year, but this year it destroyed me. My friend and I joked about my existential crisis of 2014, but our joke wasn’t too far from the truth. It’s hard to know that spring will arrive and I’ll feel better soon when I’m  busy questioning my own existence. But crisis or not,…

  • Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress

    I had so much fun making the first Oliver + S Family Reunion dress that I just had to make another. This one turned out to be less fun, but that’s because I’m kind of an idiot and didn’t realize that a bent needle was the root of all my sewing machine woes until too…

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