Hi, I’m Abby. I am a very nice girl in my mid-to-late twenties. I live in Seattle in a condo full of baking staples and craft supplies with the Official Quilt Snuggle Tester, Mia the cat. She is whiny but very cute.
I come from a family of accomplished, nonprofessional crafters and sewers and artists and quiltmakers and cooks. I grew up among a plethora of creative tools and was always encouraged to make stuff, so I do. My current favorite craft is quilting – I always say, “Everyone has to sleep under a blanket – why shouldn’t it be a quilt made with love?” My favorite part of quilting is playing with the different colors and patterns that quilt shops have to offer – thinking of it in a way as making my own art out of someone else’s art. I also have been known to knit a hat or whip out a cute handbag from time to time.
I’ve been baking for a while but became the Official Birthday Cake Baker at my office a couple of years ago, and it is currently snowballing – I am making 4!!! wedding cakes this year for some very good friends who have the luck to get married while I’m just getting really good at making cake. I am really excited to see how this portion of my life pans out. I can’t tell you my five year plan but my 20 year plan includes a bakery. In addition to cakes I also turn out a veritable plethora of cookies, biscotti, and lots of other yummies.
Baking is not my only strong suit in the kitchen – I can also cook for a crowd. My brother started weekly movie nights at his house five years ago and fall through spring anywhere between 10 and 30 people show up for dinner! It is really fun and I’m glad we do it. Our whole family is pretty close and we all live in Seattle, and my brother and I live just a couple of miles from each other and enjoy the same friend group. It’s pretty cool.
The sewing machine of choice in my family is a vintage (1970s? 80s?) Pfaff synchromatic 12 series. My mom had one, then I got one for a high school graduation present, and then when my dad kept using our machines for art and messing up the bobbin tension, he went ahead and got his own. If you can find an old metal brown-and-white Pfaff, get it. Seriously. Your local sewing machine store can clean it up for you (In Seattle, I am a huge fan of Quality Sewing & Vacuum, I frequent the Ballard and Northgate stores) and it will run close to forever. I saw one on Craigslist, with a cabinet, for $250 recently. A steal!
When I’m not in the kitchen or at the sewing machine, I love to sample Seattle’s glorious selection of beers from around the world with good friends – or sample beers from around the world in their native habitats. I have friends in Scotland I visit frequently, plus friends in London and around the US. I haven’t been to Australia yet but there are people I need to visit there too! (Hi Folps, Pat and Mel!) I love flying and I love to see new places, but mostly I love to see old friends.
I hope you enjoy my ramblings on this site, and that you are inspired to make pretty or delicious things.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Abby
