Back to Sewing

I actually have done some sewing in the past year but haven't blogged about it. That will hopefully change soon. I am on the lookout for some nice, funny fabric to make window treatments with for the kitchen.

I am liking the Rhapsody collection by Rosemarie Lavin (particularly this one) and the cool eccentric palette of Anna Marie Horner's Drawing Room.

Purging

I have been working on and off in the kitchen. Trying to declutter/purge (you will find this to be a theme right now with me... I will be posting things here that are up for grabs. I only ask that you kick in for postage.)

So I am going to start a new section on this site that will house a list of things I am getting rid of. It isn't that I no longer love this stuff, it is just a matter of having too much stuff and needing to weed out things. I imagine we all have stuff around our houses that we have read, enjoyed, etc but no longer use. I don't read books more than twice (except books to the boys) so why is it that I hang on to them? Wouldn't it make more sense to pass them along for someone else to enjoy? Seriously, I feel as if I am neglecting these books by just having them hanging out on my bookshelves. (I really should have purged before we moved. It would have reduced our moving bill. But that is not something to think about now.) So here is the first round... I'll start with books. (Now if you see a book on here that you gave me, please do not take offense... I read it, enjoyed it and am now passing it along. I am only keeping a handful of books... those signed by the authors or that have something written in them from the giver to me.)

:: What to Expect When You're Expecting - Eisenber, Murkoff, and Hathaway - ISBN: 0-89480-829-x
:: Your Pregnancy Week by Week - Glade B. Curtis - ISBN: 1-55561-260-1
:: My Ishmael - Daniel Quinn - ISBN: 0-553-37965-8
:: The Story of B - Daniel Quinn - ISBN: 0-553-10053-x
:: The Alchemist - Ben Johnson - ISBN: 0-521-48583-5
:: The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan - ISBN: 0-8041-0630-4&
:: Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende - ISBN: 0-06-112025-1
:: The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides - ISBN: 0-446-67025-1
:: The Delivery Man - Joe McGinniss Jr. - ISBN: 0-8021-7042-0
:: True Happiness - Herve Desbois - ISBN: 2-89523-021-8
:: Let's Always - Susan Newman - ISBN: 0-399-51901-7
:: Managing to be Green - Marian K Prokop - ISBN: 0-89384-203-6
:: Yanomamo - Napolean A Chagnon - ISBN: 0-03-032819-5
:: Wise Women of the Dreamtime - K. Langloh Parker - ISBN: 0-89281-477-2
:: Flowerdew Hundred - James Deetz - ISBN: 0-8139-1639-9
:: Generation at the Crossroads - Paul Rogat Loeb - ISBN: 0-8135-2256-0

I'll make a button to put on the right side of the blog that will link to a full list of everything. You never know what I might put up there. I will eventually be going through patterns and pattern books (Ottobre primarily). So if you see something you like, email me or post it to comments. Like I mentioned, this stuff is up for grabs (free) but I only ask that you kick in for postage. So don't be shy. :)

I will be looking in this to recycle some of the larger items or items that just need to be recycled.

Hello Again

I am finally surfacing from our big move and am beginning to "craft" again. While I have been working on many projects over the last 9 months, none of them made it to this site. Now in a new house and new city, things are getting back to normal... craft/art in my life. However, I have been trying to figure out how I am going to have "my" space intertwined with all of the chaos and dirt that goes along with living with boys. I had started piling up my "stuff" in our bedroom closet all neat on the shelves and then one night T and I were discussing the extra space we had in our bedroom (it is probably standard size but for us, it is huge). He suggested that I set up my sewing/painting stuff there. I almost cried.

So we set to reorganizing the furniture in the room the next day. And I've been slowly moving stuff from the closet to the bookcases (they were extra ones we were going to put in the attic but until we can get back to IKEA for some new ones with doors... they are working in this corner just fine!). They are still a little messy and not everything has been placed on them but that will happen in time.


And yesterday, I actually started and FINISHED a project. It was small but baby, I needed the momentum! You know? Thank you Amy for inspiring me to pull out my freezer paper again! K and I had picked up two solid shirts at Target this last week because he is inbetween sizes right now and I thought a new shirt for the first day of school would be nice. I found the owl on Ottobre Designs. I subscribe to their pattern magazine and am slowly building up confidence to tackle their patterns and some Japanese patterns. But all in due time. K is loving owls right now. So this one was perfect. I wasn't originally going to include the moonish circle and word "OWL" but the guy insisted. So here you go, K... all for your first day of Kindergarten!

Coasters

I've put some coasters up on flickr. I'll try to add pictures here later.

Here they are...


I used my Lensbaby and macros for the Lensbaby on a couple of these. My new tripod has made a world of difference in shooting macro. wow!

Preview...

I stumbled across this a couple of minutes ago. I've been hoping for a sneak peek after Sew Zanne's did the interview with Heather Ross.
Images from EE Schenck.com

It looks like there will be stripes and dots to match. Now to sit and wait for it to be put into an online market place like Cia's Palette.

WIP Friday

It was miserable photographing weather yesterday afternoon when I got home. Grey skies and darker outside than usual. However, I went ahead and took some picts of my works in progress/completed projects. Here they are...

1. An A-Z Book for K. We Live... We Learn... introduced the idea to me. Great one! I did mine a little different. I made an A-Z Book of K, his adventures, sights, etc for 2006. This will be the first photobook/scrapbook he has ever gotten. And he is the first and only child. So sad. Aren't mothers supposed to fizzle out on the second or third child's record books? lol. I used iPhoto's book maker to create it. And yes, I did it without his help because I wanted it to be a surprise for Christmas.

2. Is the third part to a belated birthday gift for a close friend. It was my first attempt at applique in years. It went rather smoothly. yeah! I hope she likes the package. I'll reveal the rest of the contents after I know she has gotten it. I used some of my Heather Ross stash. I just love her stuff and am so looking forward to her VW bus line in the spring. :-)



3. Finally... an actually WIP. lol. This scarf is loosly based on the scarf in Denyse Schmidt Quilts. It is for my sweet friend that is a breast cancer survivor. (I'm hoping she doesn't read this before I finish it.) This year at the Race for the Cure, Ford handed out pink scarves. I chopped it up and used some of it in the scarf here. The rest is from my stash. I never realized how much pink I had. I promise it looks cuter in person and in fact, I like it so much I am going to make a couple more scarves using different colors for Christmas presents. K's is going to be blue and red with an outer space flannel backing. hee hee!



4. And lastly, a big thank you to While She Naps. She gave away some of her stash of material and notions last week and I was lucky enough to get one of the packages. THANK YOU!!! I will try to take pictures of the fun stuff this weekend. There is some great shiney silver material that is just calling to be used in this project.

I'm Alive

Seriously, I am! Between contract work and a sick child, I haven't been able to craft so the blog has been neglected. But I've put a hold on all contract work and the kid is on the mend... so I've been cutting fabric. Things are getting back to normal. However, I don't have any pictures to show of the works in progress but will on Friday. I put up a new banner today. Am not 100% satisfied with it but it is getting closer. I might just rotate it more often with the seasons... we'll see. See you on Friday.

Multi-tasking Monday

About 30 minutes before I left from work on Friday, Peak crashed and I lost 3 hours worth of audio editing. I let out the largest groan and ARGH at my machine. My boss came running in to find me with my head laying on my desk. Well, I just got done with that same work... took me 2.5 hours this time because I had less interruptions. Now I get to listen to all of the individual files that I created and boost/clean them (to make the sound even through out... people don't talk that way but we prefer listening to them when they are even... think about TV and the sound level that varies from program to commercial, etc... very annoying! - I fix that sort of stuff and then take out all of the presenters... uhm, long pauses, coughs, verbal jumbles, etc. I make them sound marvelous!. lol. ). Ok that was a really long ( )... sorry!

So you are asking... "she mentioned multi-tasking"... I'm checking out fabrics for my larger than life (for me that is) project for T's Christmas gift I spoke about earlier that would have to wait to get finished until next Christmas because it is rather ambitious for me with all of the extra stuff I have swimming around me right now... the biggest being a kitchen remodel. T and I have to sit down today and make some appointments for this week. Tile, countertops, cabinets and figure out a reasonable schedule.

So while I listen to hemoglobin, cell mutation, and splenic sequestration, I cruise the web and nibble on leftover Indian food (more on that later!!). I see where Heather Bailey's stuff is already for sale at Hancocks of Paducah. Cute but too feminine for my taste. But I think her Paisley Seed in Cocoa might fit into the mix. I also think some of Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy should be in there since it is a pattern/style of hers that has totally inspired me.
Here are some quick thoughts...

WIP A Day Early

I know that tomorrow will come and go and I won't have time to post... so here is my work in progress a day early.

Halloween costume that I planned for early enough but have waited until the last minute (we have a party on Saturday) to complete. So much for pre-planning months in advance. I guess the only saving grace was that I had all of the materials for when I got in to gear to sew it.

Inspiration Thursday

While I am still in the throws of an overhaul, I really wanted to say hello and post this quilt. No, I didn't make it but am inspired by it and think the pattern would look really nice in our home. I am thinking chocolate, wheat, white, ocean, navy, cranberry, red, gold, terracotta... hum. I am still wanting to get the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book. So maybe after the Halloween and Christmas (& belated birthday) sewing is finished, I can think about sewing a quilt for us. But I'll have to send it off to get it "quilted". I think I can only handle doing the piecing for a king size quilt.