Dec
23
Rolling for Pencils
Filed Under Quilting, Sewing | 5 Comments
I was going to get all sappy and tell you how six years ago today was the worst day of my life, but it’s just too close to Christmas to get all gloomy. So instead, I’ll show you the one handmade gift for Alexis this year.
I’ve been thinking about this project ever since I saw the one over at Pink Chalk Studio. And I decided it would be a great inexpensive stocking stuffer for the oh-so-spoiled Alexis. Besides, that kid loves her art supplies. I didn’t even have to go shopping for any of the stuff. The fabric all came from my scrap bin – which seems to grow exponentially every month, I should really find some more stash/scrap busting projects. And I confiscated the pencils from Alexis herself. When I spent SIX hours last week cleaning out her room, I found more markers and pens and pencils than anyone person should be allowed to have.
I’ve seen these things all over the net, and they’re all beautiful, but I really love the ones that have the graduated rainbow pattern for the pockets. I’m a sucker for rainbows. I also really liked the look of the linen for the background fabric. It’s the perfect compliment to all the busy colors, and it’s classy. I adore linen. Unfortunately the scraps of linen I had left were not wide enough to cut the backing fabric from one piece, so I used a small strip of the pieced fabric to connect two pieces of linen for the back. I love how it turned out. There is just a hit of what you’ll find inside when it’s all rolled up.
I had a couple of false starts when I was making this. I actually had to piece the stripes twice because the first time around I made them too narrow for the pencils to actually fit in the pockets. THAT was annoying. I thought I might actually have to go fabric shopping because the orange and that yellow-green (what’s up with yellow-green/green-yellow and blue-green/green-blue anyway? Who can really tell the diff?) were tiny little scraps to start with. Somehow I managed to squeak out just enough for the two stripes, though, and so my stash was busted. Yay!
Now. Seriously. Pass on the list of scrap stash busters, my room is a huge mess.
Aug
11
Life gets in the way…
Filed Under Knitting, Quilting, Sewing | 2 Comments
It’s been too long. As busy as we’ve been, I’ve barely found time to breathe, much less write. But I missed it. So, imagine my surprise when I tried to post two weeks ago and found out that my software was busted. My poor friend Bryan, I bugged him for at least a week straight. In the end, I figured it out myself, and here we are… albeit with a few glitches. I’m still not sure my spam filter plug-in is working correctly. But enough geek stuff… I’m not a geek, remember?
So instead, onto the dork stuff. I’m still plugging away at the butterfly dress. I really need to take new pictures of it, I’m actually almost done with the decreases, which means I’m getting closer to the bust, but it’s looking pretty damn short. I’m sure it will stretch lengthwise when blocked, right? Don’t answer that. I don’t really want to know. Tell you what though, that pattern is horribly written. They fail to mention about how to keep the correct number of stitches on the needles. With all the increasing a decreasing, you’d think they’d mention something like that… but no, there’s a chart, and it doesn’t even start in the right place. Anyway, it’s going better now, and I hope to finish it in the next 48 days. Before our cruise. Ahhhhh.
In other news, I threw these blocks together this weekend. I love them. And I love my linen board thingy, too. Quilt blocks just stick to it like magic. No more worrying about the dog stepping on carefully arranged blocks. Hopefully it’ll be a full fledged quilt top by bedtime tonight. I really need to start quilting it.
I’m having trouble getting anything done. The Olympics are taking waaaay too much attention. And the gymnastics coach/karate instructor in me is being overly critical. But that’s another post.
For now, it’s just good to be back.
Jun
4
My cow-orker* and friend always says “Twice nothing is still nothing.” And that’s what I’ve got for you still. No new FOs.
So in lieu of pretty finished projects, I give you the tulips my mother gave me as a “hostess” gift on memorial day. Aren’t they pretty? Tulips are my favorite flower. I’ve loved them since college, when there used to be great big beds packed with tulips in the spring. They’re just fresh and simple and perfect.
The baby quilt is ALMOST done. 4.5 more 4 inch squares and I’m done with the quilting! I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I really regret the quilting pattern I picked as it was EXTREMELY boring to implement. I do actually LIKE doing quilt binding. (I may be the only one in the world who does.) There is just something about stitching the binding to the front and watching the quilt edges becoming encapsulated by fabric; seeing it come to completion one stitch at a time. It’s a bit like watching a flower unfold.
Or maybe it’s just the light at the end of the tunnel.
In other news, I actually started writing about a particular episode of my life. I’ve only got the middle of the story so far, with no idea how I’m going to write the ending, and only an inkling of how to start the whole mess. All in all, I like what I have so far, even though I know it’ll have to have a few tweaks on names, etc. I’m also debating whether it should be written in first person, or third. Of course, I haven’t touched it in a week. I have got to get past this block. I don’t understand how I can have so many ideas, but procrastinate and procrastinate and procrastinate.
I’m also putting off working on the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. I’ve only got one pattern repeat left, but I keep coming up short on stitches, and it’s irritating me. It doesn’t matter that when the whole thing is stretched out, that there is no visible mistake, coming up short is just frustrating. So every time I pick the dumb thing up, I only get two rows done, because at the end of the next right side row, I want to throw it across the room and scream. Frogging is not an option. I tried doing that way back at the begining, and I couldn’t find the stitches and ended up ripping it all back and starting over.
I’ve got at least 3 more knitting projects on my plate. I ordered the yarn and pattern for the Rowan butterfly dress from KnitPicks and because I’m boring (and because it’s my favorite color lately) I got the same turquoise yarn their sample is made from. Then there is the silver merino/lace shawl/stole thing that I haven’t picked a pattern for yet. And finally, that stuffed toy that Susan said I should do. I found the perfect pattern, but that’s a see-crud (did anyone else read Trixie Belden? Her brother always said “see-crud”).
So, yeah, all that stuff, and nothing to share. Whatever!
*Yes, I meant to put the hyphen there…
Mar
21
To edge, or not to edge
Filed Under Crafting, Quilting, Sewing | 4 Comments
This weekend I finished this blanket – which has been sitting, cut up in a storage container for nearly a year, I think. This thing is SOFT. I mean really squishibly, snuggly soft. (Do you remember those Snuggle commercials? “It’s snoogly saawft.”)
When I started collecting sweaters for this blanket, I was envisioning it as more white with tan and sage accents. And even when I had all the pieces stacked up in front of me, I still expected it to come out mostly white despite the pathetically small stack of white squares. It’s beautiful though, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I love all the different textures and that I wasn’t completely anal about making all the cables run in the same direction.
This is the first blanket that I sewed entirely with my serger. I think I’ve got some tension adjustments to work out, but it sure made the job easier. That machine sews through felt like it is warm butter. And I love how it trims up the edges as you go. All those squares… were not so square when I started.
So the big question is, do I edge it, or not? I was thinking a satin binding in a pale brown or cream, but now I’m not so sure. I’ve only ever edged two of my throw blankets, and those were both done with strips of leftover felt. I have used satin binding on baby blankets, but they also have a knit backing. I wonder if the satin would make it look like a big baby blanket. NOT the look I’m going for.
Mar
17
What the hell is ‘Plarn’?
Filed Under Crafting, Knitting, Quilting, Sewing | 3 Comments
Susan asked me that last night, which disolved us both into giggles.
Somewhere I got this weird wild hair and decided to make this. Yes… I have lost my mind – again. So here you are… 56 grocery sacks worth of plastic yarn. Roughly the size of a basketball. And it only took me 2 hours to cut them up and string them together. ONLY.
Someone please tell me why can never get rid of all my works in progress… oh! yeah! because I keep starting new shit! I never used to do that, I was strictly a one project gal. Somewhere along the lines, I became corrupted. Right now I have the plarn bag, two quilts partially quilted, a baby hat, 3 shirts, 2 chickens, 3 elefelts, and 2 giraffes started. Oh, and 2 bunnies, which I’m not even sure will work out…
On the other hand, I did finish two projects this weekend. And the floor in the sewing room is once again cleared. I don’t say clean, because it is still covered in little bits of wool fuzz from the last batch of sweaters I felted. I should really learn how that vacuum cleaner works.