You Like Me...You Really Like Me!

We went back to my SO's hometown this past weekend to see his sister as we had to work the day after Christmas and she wasn't coming to town till later in the week. I, of course, wanted to be there to see her open the quilt I made for her daughter. All during last week I built myself up for the worst case scenario. Not everyone likes, wants, or appreciates handmade stuff quite like the many talented people on the craft blog scene. I tried to prepare myself prior to the weekend that they may just open the box and say, "Hey, it's a blanket. Thanks." (note there's not exclamation in that quote). I did keep hope that they would love it...especially since my SO's sister is such a sweet & caring person overall. All my worries disappeared the moment they opened the quilt. As you can tell from this photo, she liked it! Phew!


See how it's all laid out on the ground like that? She did it all by her wee-little self. She opened the box with her mom, took the quilt, and carefully spread it out on the ground, bit by bit. Then, she sat right in the middle of the quilt and touched the various fabric pieces. So cute!



Then, she laid down on it and rolled around. Thank goodness she liked it! I usually like to keep the "first" of things I make (first quilt, first crocheted scarf, etc), but sometimes the better event is when you can give something so special of yours to someone else special and hope they can appreciate it as much as you would. I think we're good to go here, folks!

I'm Loving This Quilt

Well, here it is...the day I thought would never get here. Mommy fiiiinally finished the pretty baby quilt and I have to say, I've thoroughly been enjoying it.


Wait...WHAT!? What do you mean I have to give it up?



Can't I keep it, mommy...pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? You wouldn't say no to a face like this, would you?



Oh fine! Just take it! You better have some good treats for me leftover in that stocking, though! I'm just sayin...

Christmas Tunes & Binding

So, tonight was another step towards completing the baby quilt - my first try at binding. I've been avoiding blankets and quilting for awhile now because...well, I've been afraid. Afraid of the quilting...and especially afraid of the binding. I'm one of those people who visualize everything in my head and I couldn't quite wrap my thoughts around how the binding was supposed to work. I. just. couldn't. imagine. how. it. worked. I've been putting off binding projects like a 10 page research paper for school, but tonight, I said, "No more excuses" and dove right in.

I have to admit, while sometimes tedious, and definitely hard work, I'm very much enjoying this project...even though it's starting to get kinda fugly. Not overally fugly, but if you look at it closely and pick out all my mistakes...or if you're a quilt connoisseur, you'd probably deem my quilt unworthy. I made loops in my stipling (which I read you aren't supposed to do b/c the stiches aren't supposed to cross), my squares don't line up right, and when I squared my quilt off, I realized it was lop-sided and had to trim longer pieces of some sides making the border uneven. But, hey, it's the imperfections that make it handmade and therefore special...right?

Anywho, tonight, I turned on the Christmas radio stations, googled some binding tutorials online and pinned and sewed and pinned and sewed till the binding was all the way around on one side. Tomorrow night, I plan to finish the quilt...yay! I can't wait! Now, I just need to get some good hot cocoa so I can really get in the spirit!

If You Can Read This...

I'm not sure if everyone out there is as random as me (probably not, as that would be pretty hard to do), but I was driving to work, half-asleep, without any caffeine in my system, and the most random memory popped into my head, seemingly from nowhere. I'm sure I must have heard something on the radio that triggered my memory, but who ever knows? Alls I know is I suddenly remembered being 8-ish. My friend Dee-Dee (such an 80's name, no?) snuck into her big sister's room to snoop around. I don't remember much, but I remember posters (probably New Kids on the Block and Cindy Lauper), perfume bottles, lip glosses, nail polishes, cassettes, pastels...and a collection of buttons. I remember reading one...the text was so small, it was hard to make out. I squinted to read it, but the words made out eventually but sloooowwwwwly. "Iffffff you can read thisssss....you're stannnnnnnding too damn close." Oh my goodness! I thought. That button is mean...yet strangely funny. I think I loved it instantly, even though I knew it was wrong. At 8-ish, you think "bad words" are so terrible, no? I wonder what that says about me, finding that button so fascinating at what seems like such a young age? I wonder why that memory popped out of the blue to give me a quick giggle on my way to work? Perhaps my brain was pissed off at me for staying up so late working on that silly baby quilt. Why, oh why, did I decide to do stipling for my first quilt?

I guess I like a good challenge...and "challenge" it was, indeed. I must have started and stopped a dozen times...breaking string, sewing over the extra edges of my backing, pinched fabric...you know...all the newbie mistakes. Can you tell from the photo that I didn't really know what I was doing? Either way, I really wanted to finish the stipling for this quilt and made myself stay up until it was done. Phew...done it is...but now I have to do quilt binding for the first time...yikes! Luckily, there are some good tutorials out there! Tonight was dedicated to Christmas shopping for the SO...maybe tomorrow night I'll finish the quilt? Wish me luck...I think I'm going to need it!

Quilt Kit - An Update

As you can imagine, I've been pretty swamped with potty training and house-breaking the puppy...uh...and I may have spent just an hour or so on play time...yea, there may have been an hour-ish spent on play time *hee hee*

But, I did manage to make some progress on the quilt kit.



I laid out all the pieces and figured out how I wanted them to look and I got all the squares sewed into rows.



Of course, by some sort of not-so-much-stroke-of-genius, I managed to sew the first two rows together upside down, which threw off my entire layout, so I had to re-arrange a bit...oopsie!

I'm also not sure on how to machine quilt this bad boy yet, either...I was thinking stich-in-the-ditch would be easy, but now I'm hearing I should just stitch some loose waves...I'm leaning towards the waves...especially since these squares aren't lining up the way I want them to. Not bad for my first try, though...I mean, so far, so good. Now, I just need to finish it up. Too bad I'm starting to get addicted to this.

Handmade Doggie Bed

I thought it would be a good idea to make Bailey a dog bed...even though we got one w/ the puppy kit we bought when we picked him up from the pet store. I figured it'd be a cinch...I could do a big square and stuff it with poly fill. No, even better, I could use a foam padding I have and do a poly-filled tube to sew on the padding. Well, my "simple" project kept me up past midnight sometime mid last week and then we decided not to use it that night. What?! Why did I work so hard to complete the project that night? Oh well. He seems to like it pretty well either way.



I started by sewing a rectangle a couple inches larger than the width/height. Then, I stuffed it with a foam piece I had in my stash.



I finished the rectangle part by sewing up the edge.



Next, I made a big tube and stuffed it with polyfill.



Then, I just had to sew the tube part onto the rectangle. I'm sure it looks nice from this not-too-up-close photo, but it's actually a bit of a mess. It was really hard to get the tube part under the sewing foot to be able to sew them together, and I'm sure I could have done something better to get the corners down, but I just kind folded and scrunched it and sewed over it. Hey, it works. lol.



Someone sure seems to be enjoying it and that's all that matters. :)

Tomorrow I'm Taking a "Me Day"

I'm such a workaholic...most people are, really, I think. If they're not working too-long-days or too-long-weeks at work, they are full time mommies, or passionately putting in hours towards their own business(es) (or a combination of those...like me...except for that mommy thing). For me, there's always something on my to-do list...just always sometime to do. I don't get as much fun time as I like. In fact, I like to think of myself as a crafty person, but while browsing through my blog posts lately, I've realized that I don't make much craft stuff. Not nearly as much as I'd like to...or think I do, really. Even my extra holidays (bank holidays) are spent running errands and what not. Well, not tomorrow! Tomorrow I'm taking a "Me Day." Tomorrow, I'm not going to worry about what I should do...I'm going to do whatever I feel like doing. I'm planning to make my first quilt. And what better way to make my first quilt than to start with this lovely quilt kit:

I got this from Kelly McCaleb on Etsy - click here

Wish me luck!

Sew Pretty Tote

After seeing some cute sewing craftiness over at Thrifty Goodness, I was inspired to purchase the book she said she used for her creations, called Sew Pretty Homestyle. I've been really inspired by sewing books lately that have simple ideas for projects - especially the ones that don't require patterns. If they start out with squares, that just makes my life easier...I'm sure patterns aren't hard, but cutting out squares is just less complicated and intimidating for me, the beginner sewer. Btw...am I the only one who thinks that the word "sewer" (as in one who sews) is too easily confused with the other word "sewer," which refers to something entirely different? Turns out that they're spelled the same, but I'm a person who sews...not something that carries off sewage...ick. But, I digress...back to the project! I've finally made something cute that I can actually use!


First, I had to pick my project. This was easy because I instantly fell in love with the tote on the front of the book, so that left me only having to pick out fabric. I didn't actually use all of these fabrics, but maybe I'll use them on my next one?



Using a dinner place to mark the curved corners



Sewing on the curve wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. After slowly going around the first one, I thought, hey...no problem. I learned, however, that I need to work on that curve thing a bit more, because I tried zipping along the second curve and it wasn't quite as on-the-line as the first...lol...oops!



Isn't turning the fabric a funny thing? For a few moments there, it just looks like a gigantic blog of nothing.



Ok, almost there...



One handle hand-sewed on...one to go...



All done...what do you think?



Hanging out on the door...get it? Hanging? Har har har...



The best part of this project is I had a purpose in mind when I made this. I finished my project just in time to use it for my first knitting class! Woohoo! I figured, if I went to the knitting class and I was terrible, I could just hold up my bag and say, hey...I may not be able to knit, but I can make something...see! I made this this weekend! lol

I Can't Get No...(Instant) Satisfaction

I'm all about instant satisfaction - especially when it comes to crafting. Sure, I appreciate the long-lasting craft as good as the next girl, but every once in awhile, you want something you can throw together quickly. Kinda like those pre-formed cookies they have the grocery stores these days. Just break apart and bake...mmm. I suppose it's too late for cookies tonight, huh? Anywho, I think part of my desire for the quick projects stems from my busy life. Most people out there are pretty swamped these days - I don't really know any people who just sit around all day with nothing today (sounds boring to me anywho), but you busy girls know what I mean. Sometimes, you don't have time for a project that takes days and days. Personally, I wouldn't mind having one of those going on in the background (and I guess I kinda do with my embroidery), but it's nice to be able to completely create a couple little things here and there in no time.

I finally had my first "A-ha! This isn't so hard afterall" sewing moment last weekend when I made my first tote - a project from The Crafter's Companion (a truly awesome book) - except for that little seam ripping incident when I sewed the strap in upside down. Oopsie! Anywho, I was so floored by that experience, I turned out a vintage-style apron - a project from Bend the Rules Sewing - as well as this zip pouch - another fab Amy Karol project from BTRS:


Picking out all the fabrics and accessories - I decided to match the apron fabric b/c I adore it and b/c it was already out.



All done and ready for zipping. Unfortunately, I need to redo the lining inside - it seems to be getting slightly caught in the zipper teeth, but no worries. I already know how to use my seam ripper...lol


I guess my only problem now is that since I'm quite the "newbie" at sewing, projects that would take AK 5 minutes take me more like 5...hours. lol. Oh well, it should get faster with time. One day I'll have my instant gratification sewing projects down pat!

My First Handmade Apron!

I have a serious sewing bug! First the tote, now the vintage-style apron! I have something else I cooked up (not literally) last night, but I'll save that for later this week. Anywho, I'm not sure where this came bug came from. One minute, I was hiding the sewing machine (that I was slightly intimidated by) under the side table in my living room, the next, it's taken over the dining room table along with piles of cloth, rick-rack, ribbon, vintage buttons, and other sewing goodies. Now, I finally get to put all the supplies I stocked up on several months ago to good use.

I suppose I can credit the success of my first project this weekend and how much easier it was to do than I thought it would be...or could I could credit the most-awesome craftiness of the authors and contributors of all the crafty books I've been stocking up on...or I could consider that I may have gained some extra craftiness through osmosis by spending all day with the crafters at the Etsy Crafting Patch Market. I like to think it's a combination of all of the above that led to my second project - the Vintage Apron in Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol:


Gathering my materials



Getting ready to put the pieces together



Sewing the last bit - finishing the waist band



The directions said to embellish as I wanted, so I added a simple pocket with some pretty rick-rack



It's far from perfect - the gathering wasn't so hot and I didn't sew the lines quite as straight as I could have, but I'm pretty proud of this for my first apron project. Can't wait to wear it for my next cooking adventure. Thanks Amy for the fun project!