Slow and Steady
I really love the quilting process, especially when it goes so smoothly.
(Yes, it's another quilt tease. I promise I'll show the whole thing soon.)
I think I'm in over my head getting this quilt done in time for the 11am baby shower tomorrow, including hand sewing the binding, adding a label, making the shower favors, and making the cupcakes. Yikes! Wish me luck...
Labels: quilting, simple pleasures, wip
Such a Tease
This was the craziest weekend I've had in a while. I am so proud though - yesterday between church in the morning and taking my mother-in-law out for a belated birthday dinner, I made a complete quilt top from first cut of the fabric to final press with the iron. I've never done that before! (Sorry for the tease again,
AmandaJean - I'll show the whole thing when I get it quilted!)
Labels: simple pleasures, wip
Last Day...
I finally have to go back to work tomorrow. I would have worked all week and more if it meant others would be spared the devastation of the hurricane, but I did try to make the most of my time off! My house is very clean (for the moment) and we took care of a lot of to-do's that have been on our list for ages.
On the craft front, I finished another
zipper pouch - this one using upholstery samples picked out by my mother-in-law again.
I also made some progress with some of
this fabric. In fact, it is now a finished quilt top.
Going back to work is the last step in life getting back to normal. We are so lucky to have it be so easy - a lot of families with children are struggling with childcare because many of the schools are still closed, not to mention all the people that haven't even been able to get to their houses! We were so blessed to make it through Ike, and be able to move on.
Labels: bags, sewing, wip
Day Off
My office building is still closed, a reminder that there is much worse damage out there from Ike than my fallen fence. To stay out of the way we haven't ventured too far from home - less than three miles from my house is (was?) the
Kemah Boardwalk, and I've heard the wood of the boardwalk is all gone, the ferris wheel is tipped, and sailboats are washed up on the access roads. It is tempting to go see the damage, but how can you be a tourist to the suffering of others?
Instead we fixed our fence, helped our neighbors when needed, got our shutters down, and tried to put our house back in order after frantically moving things upstairs to avoid potential floodwaters. With that work complete, and work still closed, I moved on to putzing.
I finished a project that was abandoned during our evacuation, chose fabric for two new quilt projects, did a few random neglected chores, and cuddled the kitten - who is now named Addie for no particular reason other than we liked it (Pete thought of it because of how easily she is distracted, like she has ADD).
Now that the repair work is done around our house, if work is still closed tomorrow I think I'll go see if I can help, distributing ice and ready meals or just putting together care packages for our friends that are still without power. It just didn't feel right treating this afternoon like a vacation day when so many are still trying to put things back together.
(Edited to add: Last night would have been Night 28 for my no tech nights. I think the events of the weekend earned me a quiet night with a little TV on Monday!)
Labels: 52 nights, fabric, me, wip
Thank goodness for my seamripper.
I knew there was a reason not to cut up my "good" fabric. Or at least not to cut it up for an untested design. I chugged along through my Anna Maria
WIP and was so happy with how it was coming out. Until it came time to finish the bottom. And people, the bottom is horrible! Saggy and shapeless and awful. See?
But all is not lost. The majority of the work is just fine, and can be saved.
I've already had a date with my seamripper and am ready to reassemble the bag. I will survive to cut up good fabric another day. Finished photos soon, I hope!
Labels: bags, quilting, sewing, wip
Stop the Presses!
This is a momentous occasion. I actually
cut up some of my Anna Maria Horner fabric!!
And I only bought it a week or so ago. Usually fabric like this would sit on my shelf as eye candy for a very long time.
For example, also in this picture, is a little bit of Amy Butler fabric I've had pretty much since I started sewing. And I'm actually using it!
Is it strange to be proud of myself for this?
Labels: fabric, wip
Switching Gears
I still have a long list of sewing projects, but I decided it is past time to get started on a few long-awaited paper projects.
I haven't done any true scrapbooking for a while, and it has been fun to work with paper again! I have quite a collection, because I am no better at resisting pretty paper than I am at resisting fabric.
Next month, Pete and I celebrate our fifth anniversary, and each year as our anniversary approaches I swear I'll finally finish our wedding and anniverary scrapbooks... Doesn't look like I'll make it this year, either.
These paper projects are good after work projects, so hopefully I'll make some quick progress!
52 Nights Update - Night 25 - Last night was great. The weather was a little cooler thanks to some thunderstorms so I went with my running partners to the track for a little speedwork, made dinner, then spent some time in my craft room on the above projects, plus a new sewing project. Deadline on the sewing project is fast approaching so you should see it here soon!
Labels: 52 nights, paper craft, wip
Under the Needle
You are all so sweet about the
quilt! We've been sleeping under it for a few nights now and it is wonderful.
I am busy tucking into my next project. It involves pink. I never liked pink when I was little - too girly - and I am making up now in a big way.
This is another project for me, before I get started on several that I will have to send out into the world.
Also, tomorrow officially starts my media blackout to keep from hearing any spoilers for
Breaking Dawn. My copy is on its way from
Amazon, so if you don't hear from me for a few days picture me curled up with my new quilt reading teen lit!
Labels: sewing, wip
Almost!!
Are you sick of me talking about this quilt?? Well, you don't have to put up with it too much longer!
The binding is on and halfway handsewn, so I plan to finish tonight. Progress is slow and my finger keeps going numb, but now that the end is in sight I feel the push of that "must finish" motivation.
So plan on a picture here Tuesday of my new and improved master bedroom, complete with handmade quilt!
Labels: OPAM, quilting, sewing, wip
Getting There
The quilt is quilted! I still have about 5,000 safety pins to remove, much to my pricked fingers' dismay, and then the binding... But it's quilted!
And the cat couldn't even wait for it to be done before sleeping on it, so it gets the fur-baby stamp of approval. Right after this picture he starting attacking a safety pin and trying to pull it out with his teeth!
Labels: OPAM, quilting, sewing, wip
My View
This is what I'll be looking at for the next few days...
I don't know how people talk about finishing the quilting on a project in a matter of hours! Just wrangling this huge quilt through the machine is giving me a workout. But I am making good progress, and the deadline is definitely helping my motivation!
Labels: OPAM, quilting, sewing, wip
July Plans
Those who can't do... Plan!
1. Use these conch beads to make some earrings and a necklace or two.There are just never enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. I'm sure we all wish we could get by on a little less sleep, skip (even more than I already do) the less pleasant daily chores, come home from work a little earlier...
2. Find some cute red gingham and pair it with these cherries for a new lunch bag.But since crafting usually has to be a little lower on my list, behind, say, paying the bills, I spend a lot of time day dreaming about what I want to do next!
3. Make a wall hanging for my newly painted nook.So I always have a lot more dream projects on my list than I will ever be able to get to.
4. Finish the nook project by cleaning and organizing all this wonderful storage space - this will be my July OPAM.Above are a few I hope to get to get started on over the long weekend. What are some of your tricks for having time to
do it all?
52 Nights Update - Night 18 - I made
dinner right after work (super yummy), folded and put away about 5 loads of laundry from the weekend, and tried out the yoga class at my new gym. I haven't been to yoga in ages and man am I inflexible! I think I'll have to make that class a regular activity...
Labels: 52 nights, OPAM, wip
Coming Up!
Due to popular demand I'm busy working on a tutorial for a recessed zipper like
this and
this.
Rather than writing more here I'm going to get back to work on the tutorial! I'll post it tomorrow if all goes well.
52 Nights Update - Night 16 started off well with some sewing and a trip to the gym, made dinner... Then we finished Season 3 of Lost instead of more productivity. Oh well!
Labels: 52 nights, bags, sewing, wip
Big Undertaking
When I started my master quilt, I did so knowing it was going to be a challenge. I'd never made a king-size quilt before, never used the true quilt sandwich method, never had to baste anything so large.
Drawing lines for quilting with a little help from Hitch.Luckily I have an awesome mother-in-law who is always excited to help.
Our innovative smooth and pin work positions.She borrowed a million safety pins and a cool pin-closing tool from a quilter friend and came over today to help me work.
Nifty safety pin closer thingy to save our fingers.She's teaching me the tricks she's learned - start in the middle, don't baste the whole quilt at once so you can resmooth after doing a section of the quilting, roll tightly so it fits in your machine... I'd be struggling so much more without her help!
It is still a huge project, but just working with someone else makes it so much better!
Labels: OPAM, quilting, sewing, wip
Getting Back Into It
Thanks for all your comments on my lost mojo. I'm feeling much better, and got some much needed crafty time in this evening...
Working on a tote for my cousin.
Planning two necklaces for special orders.
Figuring out how to make my master quilt the right size.It was very... restoring... to have some time in my craft room. I definitely get fidgety when I'm away too long!
Labels: jewelry, quilting, sewing, wip
Sewing Room Friday
So without actually signing up for it, I had been thinking I would try to do
NaBloPoMo. Seeing there is a big empty space where a post from yesterday should be, obviously I am off to a great start!
I read over at
Beki's about
sewing room Friday and decided that is a good kick in the butt to get me posting! Once I had the new furniture and paint, I got too excited and went right to work, totally breaking my promise to my husband to keep the room neat since it's at the front of the house. What follows is the current state of my craft room, in all its messy glory!
My jewelry/scrapping table.
Piles, piles everywhere!
Sewing table with in progress blankie.
Gorgeous shelves, hidden by, you guessed it, more piles!My hope is to participate every Friday and gradually see things get a little neater...
Gorgeous Alicia-esque studio, here I come!!
Labels: craft room, wip
WIP Wednesday
I know, it's supposed to be WIP Friday, but hey, close enough!
I definitely couldn't go five weeks without crafting, but the knitting project I brought along (
the same plane project, yep, still not done!) got old quickly. I didn't want to buy a lot of supplies I already have at home, so when I saw a cross stitch kit in the gift shop at Edinburgh Castle I knew that was the perfect solution.
It's a small project, in fact I've almost finished since I took this picture, and it's westies and scotties! Perfect!!
Labels: needlework, wip
Sunday Again...
Wow, where did the week go? Maybe it's under the pile of works in progress on my sewing table...
This weekend went by so fast. Friday night I went into the city to eat dinner with my mom while my dad had his third round of chemo... Early Saturday I went back into the city for the
Rodeo Run 10k (which went so great). I barely got home when and it was time to head to soccer, then I showered and headed back out for our church dinner group... Phew! I spent today almost exclusively at my sewing machine, with little to actually show for it other than a stiff neck!
I love weekends like this. Time flew by, I felt really busy, I worried about little things like getting the laundry done and whether I would finish everything on my to do list... And then I'd stop and think about how lucky I am, that
my dad is getting better everyday, that I have a whole room in my house to take over when I'm in the middle of projects... I know people dealing with so much right now, it really reminds me to appreciate my life.
It's a little late to count this for gratitude Friday, but I figured you would forgive me just this once!
Labels: gratitude friday, wip
WIP & Gratitude Friday
For once, I actually got done tonight what I had on my to do list! That on its own is reason to celebrate.
My WIP this week is a baby quilt, which I am so excited about. For now I just have a peek at the fabric, though I did get it all cut and arranged after I took this picture:
(Click to see my first attempt at a picture of this much fabric - but be warned, the shot includes my feet, which nearly 20 years of playing soccer have left not too pretty.)
For Gratitude Friday, I've got a few... My dad is feeling better everyday, my uncle is here to visit, I have an awesome camera that let's me take
pretty good pictures even inside at night, and last but not least, I have almost all day tomorrow to spend on projects and then I get to go hang out with my whole family... It's looking to be a good weekend!
Labels: gratitude friday, wip
WIP & Gratitude Friday
Sometimes the days just go by so slowly. I thought this week would never end! I'm so glad to have made it to the weekend. I hope my quick fix crafting last night gives me some momentum to complete some things over the next couple days! One project on my table (literally!) involves a little patchwork...
When finished, this WIP will provide a little color, and some much needed organization, to my half-done craft room. Speaking of which, the room itself is another one of my works-in-progress. I was in there last night and I am still quite dissatisfied with its setup... So I rearranged a little furniture, and dreamed up some grand plans for getting it in order. Now, I can't believe I'm going to post this picture, but I'm using it as motivation to get my rear in gear and make this a place I can really relax and get my creative juices flowing. This is the current state of my craft room:
I have let it get to be a mess before it's even finished. I haven't done anything to liven it up, make it pretty. I'm going to refresh myself with
a little much needed inspiration and get to work.
As for Gratitude Friday, again this week it will be easy! I'm grateful for the medicine they gave my dad so he can eat again, the doctors at MDAnderson who accepted him as a patient, the clinical trial that is giving us all so much hope, my aunt who sent me a wonderful
lucky charm, and all my friends, who totally are putting up with my one track mind these days!
Labels: craft room, gratitude friday, wip
WIP Friday
...or, Why I Need a Quilt Wall!
Here is a current work-in-progress spread out for arranging. Luckily, this WIP has made it much farther since this picture, since it is a Christmas present! I am no longer panicking that it will not get finished.
It would be much easier to do this if I had a nice felt quilt wall like
Amy's.
Spreading it out on the couch at least helped me envision the finished product. This will have to do until I get my act together and finish my craft room!
Labels: quilting, wip
WIP Friday
As I sat last night catching up on shows from during our vacation that my Tivo had lovingly saved for us (I told you I was a TV junkie!), I was able to finish up the stitching for a few different Christmas projects. The rows of neatly stitched shapes was very pleasing to my Type-A side. These will eventually become my annual
card set I send along with goodies to out-of-town family. It was fun this year coming up with a different idea from what I've done before! Stay tuned for the finished product, hopefully next week.
The beaded snowflakes are for the postcard swap. Yes, that is still a WIP, despite the deadline of Dec. 1. I am pretty sure I will be able to get them finished up and to the post office tomorrow - there is only one step left to finish them. I also have to package up my ornaments for the ornament swap to get them in the mail. Shame on me! Many of those are international, and I will feel quite bad if they're late... Hopefully one day will not ruin me!!
Labels: swaps, wip
WIP
I am having so much fun playing with different materials for the various swaps coming up... I went home sick Tuesday, and sat on the couch with my box of tissues playing with wire and beads for the
holiday ornament swap.
The weather changes we've been having down here in Houston are wreaking havoc on my sinuses. I get allergies this time of year anyway, and when it goes from the high 80's one day to the low 60's the next and back, my body just can't handle it.
Laural was asking if this fall seems colder than normal, and I have to say I agree. But, when it comes down to it, I'll take the cough and stuffy nose in order to wear my sweaters!
Labels: swaps, wip
Still Knitting
I had an out-of-town class for work a while back, and I wanted a portable project I could take to work on. I had bought some Koigu yarn last fall, intended for a Christmas present that was never made. So I grabbed that, printed out the
feather and fan scarf pattern from
Wendy and set to work. I had a good bit done when I started second guessing myself...
I consulted my mother (husbands are no good with questions like this) and she agreed it would look good one scallop narrower. So I ripped the whole thing out!!
(Aren't those counters gorgeous? That's at my mom and dad's new house.) By the time I left, I had one pattern repeat done.
It goes faster now that it's narrower, so hopefully it won't take me too long to get back to where I was!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
May Quilt Square
The pieces for my May quilt square are cut up. It didn't take too long, but there are a lot of pieces in this one!
I learned a neat trick for the triangle pieces - it's hard to explain, but the larger pieces in the corners all become triangles. Here are the directions for the final square:
You can see a little better now what it will look like.
In other news, I finally got out my scrapbooking things again to work on my wedding album! I have a lot of work to do to meet my goal of finishing it by our second anniversary - only 4 months away now!
Labels: quilting, sewing, wip
I Just Might Make It
Well, as of this weekend I think I might have a chance of finishing the green blanket. I am almost caught up to where I was on the yellow blanket when I stopped: 50 rows on the green to 56 on the yellow... I think I can do at least 10 more tonight. The trick will be to decide when I'm half done so I can switch to the other part of the center section. Okay, enough words, you want pictures!! I linked them this time so you can see a larger version..
Oh, and if you click on the close up, you can see where I messed up early on. Oh well! It proves it's handmade!!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Yellow Baby Blanket
As I mentioned before, I've put the yellow baby blanket on hold to try to madly make the green one for a baby shower in three weeks... Anyway, here's how far along the blanket is now:
I'll probably start working on it again during our ski trip in March!
And another note - this is 56 rows into the center section of the yellow blanket... I'm already almost 20 rows into the center section of the green blanket, so there is hope that I might be able to finish it in time!!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Blanket Progress
I took these pictures the other day (I'm actually a little farther than this now) but I totally forgot to post them. Here's the beautiful seed stitch border on the Big Bad Baby Blanket - it's done and I'm on to the center pattern!
Here's a close up of the seed stitch. I'm proud of it because I've never done it before, and I think it's coming out well!
The blanket is actually being made with a skein of pale yellow and a skein of cream held together, so the blanket looks very light yellow... not the white it looks in the pictures. It's going to be very pretty.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Updates
Check out the cool progress bars I added! The trick will be to actually update them - right now I actually have to modify my Blogger template and republish my journal to change them, which is kind of a pain. There must be a better way to do that... But they're so cool! So I thought I'd add them for now.
Also, I've finally unveiled one of my super secret projects because I decided to take the pressure off myself by not making it a gift... I've been working on the Angel of Freedom off and on for two years now:
It's counted cross stitch on super tiny linen, and it's taking a long time. But so far it's coming out great! Hopefully I'll have it finished by next Christmas!!
Edited to Add: The picture above is from the web, and is what the project will look like complete, not a picture of what I have done so far!!
Labels: needlework, wip
My Night
Well, I did get done what I planned to, tonight, so I guess I shouldn't complain...
My intent was to at least cast on for the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch N' Bitch. And I did that. I decided I had time to do at least the first row. Of course, when I got to the last of 126 stitches, it was a knit, and it was supposed to be a purl (seed stitch: k1, p1, repeat). I counted, and had 127. Crap.
It was so so tempting to rip out and start over. That's what I used to do when I messed up. Instead, I looked back through the row and actually found where I messed up. I got out some spare needles and similar yarn, and tried to recreate what I did. I was able to do it, and fix it, after about 10 cast on test rows. To keep this from getting any longer, I was able to fix the blanket row, but it did me in for the night. So here is what I have to show for probably an hour or more of knitting:
It's kind of depressing - all that work and you can hardly see it on the table. The circular needles still like to curl up from being in the package, and the box still has the next hanks of yarn in it. The gray yarn and blue needles are what I was using to recreate my mistake. See the dog in the background? He's kind of why I messed up in the first place... yeah, it's his fault! Anyway, there's a happy ending, and I'll get to knit more tomorrow night, maybe.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Future Projects
I went to JoAnn's a week or so ago, and got some things for some fun projects, so I thought I'd share...
I had originally gotten yarn to make the kids (Maegan, Kendall, and Grant are often referred to as the kids...) scarves, but I have decided that would be a little ambitious. And I'm not sure they'd appreciate handknit scarves anyway. So I picked out this fleece that matches the yarn I had already gotten:
I am going to make fleece hats
like these with yarn pompoms, and then simple fleece scarves with a fuzzy blanket stitched edge using the yarn. I think they'll come out really cute!
I also couldn't resist this fabric on sale:
The picture just doesn't do it justice. I'm going to pick up some small clutch handles and make a fancy purse out of it, I think. I may end up selling it on eBay or giving it away, since I don't think I'd ever use it... I just thought it would be a fun experiment! It will probably wait until after the holidays.
Finally I got this fabric and suit pattern to make a skirt for Thanksgiving with my tall boots and cream sweater:
I'm going to alter the pattern just a little to make the skirt slightly shorter. Since we leave for Virginia day after tomorrow, I'm going to go start cutting the pieces for this right now, and hopefully even start sewing it. I'll finish it tomorrow for sure! I get to install my first zipper, hopefully that won't be a problem!!
I made a couple bags this weekend, but I want to get really good pictures of them, so I'm going to see if it's sunny tomorrow - it's been raining for so long now! Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow...
Labels: sewing, wip
Pictures!
Finally, I had a chance to take some pictures! This post will have a lot, so bear with me!!
First, here is some new yarn I got...
This is for Karen's scarf. The pattern is
here. It's really more of a celery in real life, but it doesn't photograph very well.
This is for Kristen's scarf. The pattern is
here. I think it will be really pretty.
Now some works in progress...
This pink scarf was supposed to be for Jenn, but it's much brighter pink than I thought. So I might make this for Lauren and give the turquoise scarf to Jenn. It is going so fast! The pattern is a ladder pattern, which you can kind of see in this close up shot:
Now for something Mom can't see. Don't click if you want your Christmas present to be a surprise, Mom!!
For more pictures, click here.
Finally, some pictures of our house... I finally got the wreath I wanted for above the mantel! I added some fall colored candles, but I will replace them with more red candles after Christmas. I have better pillar holders coming, but they're on backorder from Target and should be here the first week of December.
The mantel:
The wreath closer:
And even closer:
I have big plans for this weekend, so hopefully I'll have even more pictures to post!!
Labels: homework, knit/crochet, wip
The Purple Scarf - Progress
Well, I started my scarf, because I was frustrated with the progress on the boucle one I was working on. Here's what I have done so far:
I love how it feels so far. It is so soft! My only concern is that I won't have enough yarn. Oh well, I guess it could be a short scarf. We'll see. Here's a closeup of what the yarn combination looks like. I'm knitting it up in garter stitch on US15's.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
