Make a Blanket Day

Saturday I spent the whole day at our Project Linus Make a Blanket Day. I could not BELIEVE how many people were there! Nearly 200 ladies, with their sewing machines, irons, ironing boards, rotary cutters and mats, cutting, ironing and sewing away at quilts! We were set up in a very nice mall, we had a vacant store to set up our potluck lunch, which was HUGE and delish! There was an area for the quilt contest (called Boo-Boo Kids), an area for labeling of finished quilts, a quilt shop set up an area where you could win prizes for finishing a Lotsa Pops (PDF) block to be assembled with others' blocks into finished quilts, just so MUCH going on! There were knitters and crocheters working away and people cutting and tying fleece blankets too. I was very interested in the fleece blankets that had a crochet edge so I think that will be my next Linus Blanket goal. I got 20 blocks done for my string quilt. Now it's time to assemble!

My Project Linus in-progress quilts are:

Purple string quilt

Batman and Robin panel quilt

Puppies toddler-sized quilt

and now I need to find some fun fleece to add a crocheted edge to. :)

Fabric Binge

A few months ago (well, when the after Christmas sale emails started flooding in) I went on a bit of a fabric binge. I just couldn't resist the great prices!! I bought quite a bit at eQuilter and some oilcloth from Mendels. My apologies that some of them are wrinkly, I didn't feel like ironing until later. Yes, I pre-wash and iron all my fabric. I know that's kind of a sticky subject for some people (especially quilters) but it's years of home ec lessons I can't shake.These two are destined to become skirts for next fall. I just LOVE the veggie print, won't it make a fun skirt?!
Next we have some halloween fabric (Halloween apron, I'm thinking), some Katy Jump Rope prints I will work into my scrappy log cabin quilt and really cute Schol Day Fun which I think will make an adorable centers for quilt blocks, such lovely muted colors.
These are Christmas fabrics I bought to restore my holiday stash. I made a lot of reusable gift bags this year and nearly ran out of red and green! The ornament print is also going to be the back of my wall hanging made with the blocks from a swap I was in for ornament pieced blocks.
And here is my bargain of all bargains. I got this Pampered Pooch quilt kit on ebay for a song! It has everything you need to make the 64" x 64" quilt top, including two jelly rolls, fabric for all the borders and extra for placemats. I have always loved this fabric line, it combines two things I love: dogs and retro prints! And here is what I have completed so far. I know, not much but I'm working on it at my leisure!

And while I was taking pictures around the craft room, I thought I'd take a picture of the bulletin board with all of Sully's ribbons. Now that we are in more advanced classes in our shows, we don't get quite as many blue ribbons as we used to in the easier classes that we aced frequently, but Sully still manages once in a while to win himself a ribbon and a toy

Lovely knitting paraphernalia

This post is LONG overdue. Quite a while ago, I won an online giveaway at Darcy's Knotty Knitter. I won the most gorgeous Leslie Wind shawl pin which I use on my shawl at work when it gets unbearably cold in the library and the most amazing thing, a cable needle necklace! During our trip to Ohio, I was working on a cable item for the county fair. I was using whatever I had handy (the handle of a crochet hook) as a cable needle and as we were driving, it kept falling under my car seat! This was SO frustrating! I cannot tell you how many times I sighed and flailed my hand around searching for it under there. Even a regular cable needle could get lost easily but the cable needle necklace is amazing! If only I had known about them before our trip!
This is a picture of a recent project, a cable hat. I love that the with the cable needle around my neck, it's is always right where I need it. I don't have to carry around a bag of knitting accessories or sit in one place where my tools are. And when you work the stitches off of it, you can just let it fall where it wants, it will be ready and waiting the next time you need it! It is awesome! This would make a very sophisticated and useful gift for a knitter. She will even engrave a message on the back for you.

Ornament quilt blocks

I joined a quilt block swap over at Quilting Fiesta for these adorable Christmas ornament blocks. The top two are mine (I had to make myself 2 since I was getting 7 in the mail and I want to do a 3x3 wall hanging). The others are from the other participants. Aren't they awesome? I'm just waiting for one more but I couldn't wait to show them off!

Craft ideas 2008!

Lulu needs some craft ideas! And she's willing to pay for them. (Well, she'll give you a chance to win some Michael's money, anyway.) So I thought I'd share all the crafts that are on my To-Do list! Each of these projects has a tutorial or instructions, just follow the link.

Felted Mushrooms-adorable and so many different varieties! These would look great sprinkled along my sideboard. (What do you call you sideboard? A buffet? A credenza?)

Some super-cute Cupcake Washcloths-Can't you just see all the different color combos? Pink and brown, blue and yellow, white and brown with sprinkles!

More crochet, Hearts-If I start now, I'll have enough to make a super-sweet banner for Valentine's day!

I've seen so many great slipper patterns out there (like this or this)but I could not get these super-cute ones out of my head so I bought the pattern.

And while I was buying patterns, I also bought this hat pattern. It's a turkey. You know, for Thanksgiving. Which I will totally be wearing to Thanksgiving if I get it completed. My husband is crossing his fingers that somehow I do NOT find the time to make this, I'm sure.

So, so far these have all been yarn crafts. I also have a sewing project or two in the works.

I'm planning a Bricks and Cobblestones quilt to keep for my very own!

And for Project Linus, I have the bugs and flower-themed string quilt that has been in neglected for too long.

I love Martha's fleece hat patterns (more here) and have plans (and fleece) to make several for our local school district's hat and coat drive. I love the jester hat with pompoms and I think kids will too!

And gifts that aren't in jars will most likely be getting wrapped up in these adorable, reusable ribbon-tied bags. And they're so easy, just two fat quarters!

I will NOT be making my holiday cards this year because last year I totally burned my fingers to a deep char with the iron and glue gun making a bajillion cards for a cards swap! But I probably will be wrapping a few jars of homemade mixes for gifts and I love this cute look!

I make a cross-stitch ornament every year (the picture is of last year's) and Pip Stitch clued me in to a great resource for patterns for free! The Christmas Ornament Stitch-A-Long blog has tons of great patterns and pictures from those participating. I really like this tree but I also like this sheep (PDF). Maybe if I start early, I can do both!

And I have two lovely cats to make silhouettes for as a wedding present for my friend. I learned silhouette cutting from my mom who used to do it at our school fairs. Here's a really nifty tutorial for making silhouettes from photos, which is what I am doing with the cats.

And finally, I've been wanting some new earrings and when I have beads and wire sitting in my studio, I can't imagine paying for them at a store! I really like these hammered wire ones (PDF), I bet they're very swingy!

Scrap Challenge completed!

I participated in the Scrap Challenge hosted by JCasa Handmade. We each sent in a scarp of fabric and got 10 smaller scraps back with which to create something and post to the flickr group. Here is what I made:

Just kidding! Those would be some crazy big earrings! They are two brooches made using this tutorial. (Except I hot glued mine into the backing instead of sewing it. I hate hand sewing!!)

You can see all the other participants' challenge pieces that have bee posted so far here at the flickr group.

Free motion quilting

Here it is, my very first attempt at machine quilting. No, it's certainly not even throughout but I kind of like it, it's very childlike, like crayon scribbles on a piece of paper. Hopefully the recipient will like it and it was great to get my feet wet and experiment! The next one will be one for me. Or maybe the one after the next one, I do still have one more Linus quilt to finish.

Too early?

Ok, so I had the Halloween boxes out of the garage on September 15! Is that too early?

What can I say, I get excited! We do up Halloween big at work, decorating the library and hosting a trick-or-treating party for employees and their kids with hot cider, apples and caramel dip and apple cider doughnuts! And I get to help decorate since my office is IN the library! This year I started gathering ideas early for quick, simple things that would also have a big impact. I've learned that small, cutesy things get lost in a public space. You need to make a statement if you want your decorations to really say "Halloween!" And I've tried to adopt this rule to my home as well, though I do still break out some smaller cutesy things.

One of my first decorations up this year is a new wreath! Inspired by the Hallo-Wreath Challenge, I whipped this one up yesterday. In the past, my wreaths were usually a grapevine wreath with cutesy ghosts, candy corn and some spider webs. I am going for a more spooky/decrepit/haunted look this year so this one is made with branches from our Hawthorne tree (VERY thorny), a dollar store plastic skeleton and a string of orange lights.

It hangs above the mailbox by the front door and is my first outdoor decoration for ANY holiday at the new house! (Well, besides the American flag on flag holidays.) It will be joined by some super-spooky large-scale decorations on the front porch including a giant plastic-bag spider, lots of pumpkins (grown in the backyard) and more of those thorny branches! Pictures later this month.

Craft Contest

Voting has started at the Instructables Craft Skills Contest. I would really appreciate your vote if you are a member or don't mind signing up (free and fun!). Make your own yo-yo table runner!

Here is my entry:
Quilt with yo-yos

Simply click the vote button if you like it. And for any other entries you like, because there are lots of prizes!

What a pigsty!

This is the messy state I have left my work table in tonight. I'm not done and it would just be a pain to clean it all up and then drag it all out again. Plus, what good is having my own studio/crafting space if I don't just let things sit once in a while? I do tend to like to clean up after myself but I'm just too busy and I have TOO MUCH stuff out! I've been working on these:

I'm calling them yo-settes. They're genuine rosette ribbons from my 4-H days, embellished with a yo-yo, all sorts of new and vintage trims and made into wearable brooch, albeit a little ostentatious. I will be adding them to the shop along with Christmas-themed and customizable monogrammed ones.

You might see some polymer clay on that table too. That's for a big secret and not one I'm sharing right now. It's for my project for Club Little House. I am attempting to create something to win one of the 12 jurried slots. I'm a little nervous but I am so, SO excited about finally realizing my idea! I've had this idea since the last round of Club Little House, but couldn't decide between this one and the chairs I showed you a couple weeks ago. I chose chairs because it was summer and the chairs are just so beachy and fun! But this time, I'm letting loose on this idea that has been in my head for over a YEAR! And I already had the supplies stored away!

Dot-to-Dot Stitch Cards

In honor of National Sewing Month, I have a project for you! Is it a sewing project? Of course! But it's also a paper crafts project! When I think fall, I think grade school and what's more grade school than a good old dot-to-dot?

There are two sets of two cards each to print out and stitch with your sewing machine. One set includes two popular designs, a cupcake and mushroom, the other is just right for fall and includes a pumpkin and a leaf.

Download card template here.

Fall cards PDF

Trendy cards PDF

Print the PDF on your choice of colored cardstock. Cut the cardstock in half so that you have two cards. (It's much easier to sew if you cut the cards first, then sew.) Don't print this following diagram, it's only for your reference.

Using your sewing machine and thread in your choice of color, sew from dot to dot following the numbers! The numbers are placed so that each is right side up when you are sewing towards it. Stitch with an average stitch length (too long and the detail will be lost, too short and you'll tear the paper) and if your machine has the "needle down" option, turn it on so that you can stop stitching on each dot and rotate the paper to find the next number.

Using a pin, pull your thread ends to the back and tie them loosely to secure.

If you don't like seeing the stitches on the back, cut a piece of matching paper to 5.5" x 4.25" and adhere inside to cover up back of the stitches.

For variety, I've made one card from each set a little more elaborate by sewing the motif, cutting it out and adding other paper and embellishments. Try it out, have fun! And I'd love to see your cards when they're finished!

Quilting

Here is a Project Linus quilt top I am just finishing up. Thanks to the awesome free-motion quilting tutorial on Anyone Can Quilt, I hope this will be my first squiggly-quilted quilt with the help of my new sewing machine!

Don't anyone look too closely at the piecing. I am not a precise quilter and none of my quilts would win any prizes but I hope they are loved by the children that receive them.

Usually we don't know who gets our quilts, they are donated to various hospitals and programs in the area and given out as the need arises. But this one is for a specific little boy who's mom is incarcerated and has signed up for our Here's a Hug program. We are making quilts for the mothers to give to their children for Christmas, a hug through the mail. This quilt is for a 7 year old boy who likes the color blue and vehicles of ANY kind especially cars, motorcycles, and trains.

And now for a VERY big, long overdue public thank you to Kate from Kate's Quilting. I won these blocks in her giveaway and that was a BIG help in getting this top done! I unstitched a few to insert cars and trains but the green and blue main fabric were just perfect for this project and she had done so much of the work already! Thank you, Kate!

Chairs

Chairs
Originally uploaded by Corgipants

Thanks to Mary Ellen for alerting me to another one of my pictures featured on the Craftzine blog! You can see the chairs all painted and finished here. I made these for last year's Club Little House and I am so excited to see that Amy is planning for the next one! I already know what I'm making since last year I couldn't decide between two projects and bought the materials to make both but choose the popsicle stick and toothpick chairs over the.....secret project!!


P.S. This picture here shows the distressing/crackle finish on the chair better.

New project

Have a mentioned here that I am drafting a pattern which I hope will eventually be available for purchase on Etsy? It's my very first pattern that I have perfected to a point where I would allow others to use it. :) I am at the testing and tweaking stage and I am almost getting tired of the resulting garment. I say almost because if it weren't so cute and darn fun to wear, I would be tired of it but I love each one I make more than the last! I can't wait till I can show you all! I know, kind of a tease but I just had to blog about it because I'm that excited! Now, back to sewing!

Big sewing news!

I have big sewing news, but first here are the County Fair results!

Crochet doily-1st place! I was so excited to see this as this was my goal!
Doll outfit-2nd place, but out of only two dolls.
Beaded bow brooch-3rd place out of a nice class of 7 entries
Yo-yo table runner-4th place out of a large class that included both table runners and placemats
Knit snowflake washcloth-nothing, I didn't expect anything but I blocked it and took it anyway

All in all, a very good outcome! I didn't take any food this year. I was going to do Challah bread and cinnamon rolls but I ran out of time. Next year I will budget my time more wisely.

My big news is....

I bought a new sewing machine! Actually, I should say, my husband bought me a new sewing machine. :) It is a Janome DC2007LE and it basically thinks for me! 30 different stitches! One step button holes! A thread cutter that actually cuts thread! It has it all!

I was a little scared of the computerized machine. I'm so used to taking my machines apart, putting them back together, tinkering and fixing and rejiggering, that I worried I would be losing control to the computer and wouldn't have the options that I had! Ha! This thing is amazing! And the nice man at the sewing machine store explained to me that machine only wants to help me, not take away my control and flexibility. I finished one project on it already:

It's a pillowcase with a quilted square in a square border and this fun tooth fabric. I'm calling it my "There is no tooth fairy" pillow since some of the teeth are decayed and unhappy.

I won a giveaway at Darcy's Knotty Knitter and was supposed to receive a Leslie Wind Shawl Pin. Not only did I get a gorgeous shawl pin in the mail, but since it was a little late in arriving, she also sent one of the absolutely amazing cable needle necklaces! Those things are the best idea yet and not only are they so handy, they're beautiful! I spent most of the car ride to and from Ohio doing cables and I can't tell you how many times I dropped my stupid cable needle (which was really just a tiny crochet hook I had with me since I don't actually own a cable needle, I just use whatever rod-like apparatus happens to be within reach)! Thank you so much to both of them for the great surprise in the mailbox!

Lastly, but not leastly, Wednesday is my dear, sweet husband's birthday but we celebrated this past weekend. If you have a spare minute, give him a birthday shout over at his rarely-updated blog. :)

Some requests

In a comment, Mary Ellen requested pictures of my works in progress. Well, I'll admit I don't like to post WIP pics because they look so....unfinished. :) But here are the fair projects I've got in various stages of completeness.

This is a snowflake dishcloth from this pattern. Although, as this knitter found out as well, the pattern has a boo-boo and mine has an ugly ring of purl stitches in the middle. I think this one will remain at home and not go to the fair since it is not perfect.

A yo-yo quilt table runner. You can see the space in the middle, I have connected the yo-yos to the right of the space, I still have the ones on the left to go. My goal is two rows each day to get it done with time to spare.

This is an outfit for my Jenny doll. She will also get a pair of brown felt mary janes and a head kerchief in matching fall colors. I would show you this on the doll but only the shirt is 100% done, the jumper needs snaps hand sewn on.

This is the picture I cringe at showing because doilies look like terrible blobs of string until you starch and block them. But you can see above the mess a picture of what it will look like when finished. I am on row 13 and it is 20 rows. It is very pretty and quite different, I think, from many doilies which usually have the same motifs, pineapples or picots and such. This one is called Oriental Fantasy and it is done in size 30 thread. I think I said that before. I have in the past used size 10 so this is a challenge for me.

Also in a comment, Kitten with a Whiplash requested the Sweet and Sour Faux Meatballs recipe. Tragedy that I ate the last of them and didn't take a picture! But luckily there is a picture on the recipe's page here. I make some small adjustments though. I usually use grape jelly instead of apricot jam because that's what I have on hand. And I vary the nuts depending on what I have on hand too, I have used ground almonds, chopped walnuts, pecans, what ever's handy. I use less eggs (3) and add a little water if it seems like it needs it because 5 eggs is almost 1/2 a carton and I am frugal! This time around, I had panko breadcrumbs instead of seasoned ones so that's what went in. These are so remarkabley meaty thanks to the nuts and cheese! I make them for holiday parties and everyone eats them and there's no "Oh, these are good for vegetarian meatballs", they're just plain good!

And as a bonus, here is one of my favorite hot summer day dessert recipes! Crock pot dessert doesn't heat up the kitchen, gotta love that!

Hot Fudge Cake
1-3/4 cups packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons baking cocoa, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1-3/4 cups boiling water

In a bowl, combine 1 cup brown sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the milk, butter and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until combined. Spread evenly into a 3-qt. slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
In a bowl, combine the remaining brown sugar and cocoa; stir in boiling water. Pour over batter (do not stir). Cover and cook on high for 4 to 4-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center of cake comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream. Yum!

No-swap swap doll

No-swap swap doll
Originally uploaded by Beastbunny

A testament to my last post, this is what I came up with for HopHopJingleBoo's No Swap Paper Doll Swap. Would I have ever decorated this pretty lady if Debra had not used the word Swap? Most definitely not. Call it a swap, even if nothing is swapped, and I feel motivated! I'm going to try this trick and call my closet-cleaning project the Super September Closet Extravaganza Swap! We'll see if it works.

Ribbon wreath

Ribbon wreath
Originally uploaded by Beastbunny

The other dayScrappy Jessi, my partner for the Vintage Kitchen Swap , posted an awesome swap package she got that included some altered vintage ribbons. They are so beautificent and altogether too timely as I had just started working on this wreath for the living room to replace the paper snowflakes that had been up since last winter. I have a few spares left over and I'm thinking maybe of craftlifting the idea from Kimla, the one who made them!

I can't decide if I like this wreath or not. It's cheerful and I do love having my ribbons out instead of on boxes in the basement but it also reminds me a bit of wreaths at funerals. Opinions?


Note-I completey forgot to tell you where I got the idea for this wreath. Danny Seo made one with a grapevine base (mine is wire) and it was in some magazine, possibly Better Homes and Gardens, a while ago. I've carried the idea with me for quite some time and finally when I requested some of my trophies from my parents' house and my mom sort of insisted I take the whole lot, ribbons and plaques and all, I finally had reason to make one.

Ravelry!

I got my Ravelry invite today! I've posted some projects and I still have to fill out all the information on them. How fun! I'm so excited to join some groups and really find out what the site's all about.

Doily improvements

Doily
Originally uploaded by Beastbunny

I LOVE the county fair. Yes, the funnel cakes are nice and the sound of tractor pulls and farm animals in the distance are a comfort to this country girl. But what I really love is the old-fashioned competition! I was in 4-H for years and every summer would round up my projects and take them to our 4-H competition. The county fair lets me continue to do that every summer! I enjoy the the preparation, working hard on a few projects to make them my best work, checking them in at the fair, seeing what the competition looks like. And then the anticipation of waiting for the judging! Fantastic excitement!

This year I took 5 projects:
Craft made with recyclables (wire candle lantern)- 1st place
Doily-2nd place
Quilted wallhanging (of a corgi, of course!)- 4th place
Dog biscuits-nothing
Knit accessory (fingerless gloves)-nothing

The wall hanging will be donated this fall to the Corgi-Aid auction at our corgi show. So I kind of rushed getting it done so I could take it to the fair. I am most proud of the awesome doily because it got second place and the first place doily was very intricate and won Champion. So it was beaten by the best.
Dog biscuits