Wednesday, August 17, 2011

pinwheels


so I don't forget.....


press seam allowance to print

sew both sets with dark on top & left on bottom and right side & bottom on top

press seams toward white this time

match center seams, top and bottom and sew

oh! say hello to my little friend (Josiah's bear pattern)

press seam allowance either way....

ta-da!!

why it matters.....


ah.... better

Saturday, July 16, 2011

quilted


I finished the quilting on my taking-forever paintbox on Thursday;
the binding is going to have to wait until it gets cooler.
much cooler!

simple diagonal straight-line quilting with a curlicue border

I added a word, because I just have to...

the back does have some puckers,
but not nearly as many as this picture would have you believe.

I'm thinking this may be my Gramma's Christmas present;
she used to paint, so the 'paintbox' is appropriate.
She loves bright colors,
and she gets awful chilly in the winter.
I think she'd like snuggling under this and watching her tele.
And she loves me enough
that she won't mind my puckers and mistakes.
Yeah, 
I think this one's Gramma's.

Monday, July 11, 2011

getting there

hmm - I should have ironed before snapping a picture,
ya think?!

Not surprisingly,
given how the rest of this quilt has gone,
the back doesn't look
anything
like what I had intended
when I first set out to make it.
But I'm happy with it all the same.
I used the same dark gray sheet
for my border on the front, too.

Wonder how long it'll take me to get it quilted??

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

50 cent swimsuits



+
2 1/2 hours and some elastic
=







Thursday, April 28, 2011

quick and easy table-topper



Wow!
It's been a whole month since I've been on here.
Not much making going on these days
unless it's graduation or LEM related.
I hand sewed a little spot that had come undone in a pant's seam
and longed for some time to just stitch.
ah well.


Tony made me promise to not do any prep work
for his little graduation party.
And I'm honoring that - mostly.
I'm good with informal
(really informal, even)
but you can't just have NO centerpiece on the tables whatsoever,
so I came up with these quick and easy tri-table-toppers.
~
First, I picked three photos
(really you could use anything!)


turned them over 
and spread rubber cement
on the outer 2  inches of each side of each picture.


While I was doing that,
Lexi was hard at work unfolding binder clips.





ignore her jammies and her lunch remnants on them...
and instead - clap with her ~ those little suckers are hard to open!

I used the clips to hold the photos in place while the glue dried


then took them off 
when I was sure the photos were good and stuck.


Viola!
Quick and Easy Centerpieces


They're not as fancy as I'd usually make,
but then,
Ton's not really a fancy kind of guy....

Monday, March 28, 2011

what's up


My knitting went from bad to worse.
When I very first started,
I planned to keep 
(maybe even frame!)
 my very first little square.
Except
it's not a square.
I had anywhere from 24 to 28 stitches on my needle
at any given time.
Apparently I have a knack for 
miraculously adding stitches.
So I would decrease
- at least I think that's what I'd do -
next thing I'd know,
I'd have an extra stitch or three.
And holes.
A couple of big holes, scattered here and there.
 ~sigh~

But I'm not giving up, I casted on (cast on? cast on-ed?) again last night.
I started with 26 stitches
and, after 14 rows, I still have 26.
So far, so good.

In addition to learning to knit,
this weekend I added another skill to my 
jack-of-many-trades master-of-none repertoire.

I like learning how to do new things,
or rather - I like being able to do many different things,
but I really want to find time to sit at my sewing machine
sometime soon.
I miss creating with good ole fabric.
And the speed of creating with fabric!


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

finally yarning along


Every Wednesday,
I read Ginny's post,
then I spend the next several days visiting
all the fabulous knitters and crocheters around the world
and drool.

You see, up until yesterday,
I wasn't really a 'yarner'.
Pretty much the only thing I could do with yarn
But thanks to Make it - Love it's new mini series,
I
am now
a knitter.
Oh yes, I knit.


well, I cast-on....
and yes, I know - they are much to big to actually use
but before running to town to purchase some,
I figured they'd be good for practicing...

Perhaps, someday, I will learn enough to be able to knit 
the booties I've been wanting to make for months.
A girl can dream, right?!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

sewing sticks

Inspired by Aunt Leila's post,
I made knitting needles!!


Best I can tell
- what with my complete ignorance of the subject -
these are a US size 10,
meaning I used a 1/4 inch dowel rod.

I din't go to all the trouble of using a nail file; 
fine sandpaper seemed to work great.
Of course 
I have no clue how real knitting needles should feel...
They only took 5 minutes total 
including rubbing them down with baby bottom grease.

When Lily saw me hot gluing the buttons on
she said, "Oh! You're making sewing sticks!
Just like the chicken in Robin Hood!"

I figure
if a chicken can knit,
surely I can learn too??

Saturday, February 26, 2011

when will I learn??

The pattern very clearly said 
to make a sample shoe out of cheap material
without interfacing.
Did I listen?

I also didn't put the sole lining in properly....

I thought I'd handled all sizing issues on the front end
and the sample shoe wouldn't be necessary,
and besides,
I'm no stranger to making shoes
(never mind I still haven't mastered them....)
plus
I'm not exactly a beginning sewer....

I should have made the sample!
grrr
My only consolation is
the second shoe isn't entirely made,
only mostly made....

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

this week's stitches


I have the hardest time laying out my blocks.
I knew I was going to be moving these blocks all around
wasn't really going to work for this quilt.


I calculated
and re-calculated (twice)
how much I would need, then I carefully cut my batting
and tossed it up over a curtain rod in the living room,
 stuck in a few pins so it wouldn't slip off
and ended up with a nice little temporary design wall.
I left it up several days and moved blocks around occasionally.
I got it to where I was satisfied.
Not thrilled, mind you, 
but satisfied.
And then 
Josiah
 knocked over half of my blocks off!!
and I was back to square one.

I ended up completely changing my plan
(again ~  this quilt has had a mind of its own)
and went with 6 x 9 rows
instead of 7 x 8.


Once I got them rearranged
I stuck a pin through each one;
they weren't going anywhere this time.

I got a little sidetracked in my sewing on Saturday
but then Saturday night, 
I sat down to put the white thread back in the machine.
I had to get those blocks sewn together!

As soon as I had my machine threaded though,
my stack of to-do's stuck behind the serger 
caught my eye.
That cheery sunshine started calling my name.
And before I knew it - I'd made this little number,
inspired by a little girl's dress I'd seen at church 6 days earlier.


When I showed it to Lex' in the morning,
she was so tickled!
"A tutu dress? Thank-you, Mommy!"
I love that she says thank-you without being prompted to.
Of course, Lily wondered where her dress was...

Taking some time here and there throughout the week,
I finally did get around to sewing those blocks together.
Then I added the horizontal sashing
and I'm getting close to getting the whole top sewn up.


I'm stuck on what to use as a border, though.
I don't typically do borders,
 but I think it'd add to the 'paintbox' feel if it had one.
Plus, it could stand a few extra inches;
I like my throws nice & big.
The back will be gray 
with one 3" block of each fabric.
Should I use gray?
Two narrowish borders ~ gray, then white??
Something different entirely???
Whatdya think??


Saturday, February 19, 2011

it just sorta happened


It isn't as though I don't already have 
plenty of projects in the works.
This one just sorta happened though.


I have a book I've been supposed to bring to a friend 
for over 2 weeks.
It's waited patiently right by more door.
Since I've been so slow in getting it to her,
I thought I ought to make a little gift to go with it.

Months ago
she posted on FB that she needed a business card holder
Last time I checked, she hadn't ordered one.


I'm not sure that this fabric is 'her'
but I thought it was better than anything else in my stash.
Problem is, I don't really know her well enough
to know for sure.

It was fun to make 
and went together pretty quickly
even though I was figuring it out as I went along.
I'm a bit irritated with myself for having the curve on the flap
going the wrong direction.
Silly thing is - I had my fabrics cut for the other way
but somehow convinced myself I had it backwards.
So I changed it and guess what?
I got it backwards.
Oh well ~ it'll still work just fine.

in retrospect - I should not have used black thread!

It always amazes me how much mess I can make 
working on one little project.


You'll be happy to know, though
that my sewing desk is still clean :-)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

the sewin' lane



When we first set it up,
Jeremiah called it 'the sewin' lane'
and the name sorta stuck.

My sewing space is pretty small - just a 20" x 56" piece
of the dining room,
but let me tell you - I am happy to have it!
To have a machine out 
and ready to sew at any moment
 is a real blessing.


My sewin' lane has gotten a bit messy lately.

Okay.
You got me.

It's a disaster area.
It's gotten so bad - I barely have any room to sew!


So today,
I got to work!
Actually, I started yesterday evening
but I didn't get any farther than dumping everything 
onto my dining room table
when my daughter called to tell me
that the baby's heart-rate was too high.
The rest of the day is a blur,
but thankfully, Baby is fine now
and it looks like s/he's decided to 
peacefully stay put for another day or so.


I found all sorts of things buried in the mess:
A t-shirt & fabric that should have been made into a dress
last month for Lexi's birthday.
Some pants I'd forgotten I told Tyler I would alter.
(sorry, Hon!)
One of Tony's work aprons that needs a 2 minute repair job.


Lexi's blanket.
About 3 inches of the crocheted fringe had come undone
and I wasn't entirely sure how to fix it.
I had inkling, but wasn't sure, so I just put it off.
For almost TWO years!!
The ridiculous thing is
- in the middle of my sorting and putting away -
I fixed it.
It worked just like I thought it might,
and it only took 7 minutes.
Why didn't I do that sooner??

yards and yards of FOE :-)

I also unearthed fabric I'd purchased ages ago
 to make a wrench roll for Tyler.
I guess that's what you'd call it,
like a crayon roll - or a case for crochet hooks,
only for wrenches.



As usual
the job took longer than I anticipated
but it's soo nice to see the table-top again.


Now I can get back to work on my current project
so I can hurry up and get goin' 
on my
next one.



I'm joining Adirondack Momma's Sewing Bee today.
 next week? perhaps actual sewing