Introductions!

Hello! Welcome to the very first post of Pinwheels and Pancakes. I’d love for this to be mostly about quilts and food, but really consider it to be a lifestyle blog. 

What is a lifestyle blog? The idea started a couple of years ago, really, when a new friend asked "how do you do things?" It was such a funny question, I first thought she was joking. But she'd heard a little about how I cleaned with natural products, cooked my own food mostly from scratch, fixed and upcycled old items, and created beautiful new items for fun, and she wanted to know more. We chatted for awhile and she finally said "you should teach this stuff!" I should have listened then because blogs like this one have exploded in popularity over the last few years. Oh well, better late than never. 

Honestly, I have felt a little guilty thinking about teaching it, because I've fallen off the bandwagon a little. I haven't yet replaced paper napkins with cloth like I meant to, I went back to buying a little bit more processed foods, I moved to an apartment that has a porch with less sunlight for homegrown tomatoes... but as much as I try to use these excuses to wimp out, I realize there are things I've figured out over the years that I can share with others. And really, isn't conversation so much better when we honestly discuss the things we struggle with? I am a little bit of a germophobe, and can't quite muster the courage to use cloth rags to clean the bathroom. It doesn't mean I never will, it just means there are other steps to a healthy lifestyle that I have focused on first. 

So here's to conversations about sustainable healthy food, homemade quilts, personal choices in all areas of life, and the successes and triumphs that come with all these beautiful pieces of what it means to be human. 

-Nicole

Quilts for Boston

Thanks so much to Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts for her post on quilts for Boston. There are two projects going on that I want to contribute to.

Boston Modern Quilt Guild is collecting quilt blocks to assemble quilts for people directly affected by the bombings. This is an opportunity to give warmth, beauty, and comfort to those who have had to face the very worst in humanity. They've requested blocks that are yellow, blue, gray, and white... I've already started pulling fabric!

Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is collecting small flags to put together a bunting to hang in Boston later this year. I *love* public installation art projects like this and am excited to finally be able to participate in one. It's sometimes hard to immediately see the value in a project like this, but I think it is a beautiful way to show some love. Down the road I'll start some conversations here about the nature of art and why a thing can be valuable simply for being pretty and not holding a specific useful "function."

There are more details, guidelines, and instructions on each page. If you're one of my local friends and would like to make a flag or a block, I'd love to collect your contributions and ship them off all together. Please have any blocks to me by May 19 and any flags to me by May 26 so that we can meet the respective deadlines.