updates

a runner i made for my brother and his fiance. i'm really happy with the way it turned out.
another runner for my brother and sister-in-law. this project was the one that eventually led to my getting a new sewing machine. i'll always remember it for that.
a purse for my sis. i saw one in a store and decided "i can do that." so i did. i also made one for my sis-in-law but forgot to take a picture of it. i love the way you can change the ribbon to match whatever outfit you are wearing.
the patchwork afghan, 2/3rds done. luckily my sister in law is very understanding. i'll try to have it finished before she leaves for school. it's turning out wonderful. very thick and the colors are so vibrant.

while doing a lot of knitting over the holiday season i was able to watch two movies that i really enjoyed. the first one was called 'once' and the second one was the more popular "reign over me", with adam sandler giving a really stellar performance. he has come a long way from snl.

fyi, starting on sunday, january 13th, pbs will be playing 'the complete jane austen'. all 6 novels with 4 new adaptations. i'm very excited. check it out on pbs.org/janeausten. if you can't watch all of them let me recommend that you at least watch 'persuasion'. next to pride and prejudice it is my favorite of her novels.

sewing mashanigans

that's it! i've officially had it! my stupid sewing machine decided to call it quits. can you believe it's timing? 10 days to christmas. humbug! we ordered a new machine from amazon.com, it should be here on tuesday. we'll see. in the mean time, i guess i'll concentrate on weaving.

christmas presents

this project is totally fun and if i had a better attention span i'd be done with it by now. it's a "crazy" quilted runner done in reds, black, and gold. it's so much fun that i'm planning on making about two more after this one. a purple and gold one and a blue and gold one.

sold! (the scarf, not the family)

i finished this scarf last week but still need to tuck the ends. it's a new pattern that i never attempted but was really fun and easy. i don't have anyone in mind to give this to but i'm sure someone will come up. greenleaf had to get into the picture and i guess honey wanted in as well.
this is a patch work afghan that i'm working on. i need to finish two more panels and then sew them together. it will end up being the size of a throw. very colorful and warm. i'm looking forward to giving this gift. i need to hurry up though because i have a purse and a rug that i want to knit. i really shouldn't have more than three or four projects going at one time.
my loom is warped with enough material for at least 5 or 6 rugs. i'm working on a christmas rug right now. when i'm done with that i have a beautiful blue material to make a "river" pattern rug and then a bright, primary colored one. after that, who knows?

buttonhole scarf

you can see the hole in the middle picture. one end of the scarf slips through the hole and holds it into place. can be worn up or down, as greenleaf very nicely models.

little bird in the cinnamon tree

some christmas bird decorations i whipped up after seeing something similar at a craft show my mother-in-law and i attended. the flying frog was a gift from dan about 5 christmas's ago. he's held that place of honor since i received him but this year he's wearing a festive holiday ribbon. i LOVE christmas.

Oh Joy, Oh Bliss!

thanks to my wonderful husband and even more wonderful brother-in-law Ben, my loom is now upstairs in the living room. the move was a tough one but thankfully, no bones or beams were broken in the process. unfortunately, i did have to give up my computer. there was just no room for the computer desk and computer once the loom was put into place. oh well, i'll survive. i'll be able to use dan's laptop once in a while to update. if you need to reach me you'll have to do it through this site or my face book account. no more e mail for me. now, hi-ho, it's off to weave i go.

honey love.

currently there are about 4 unfinished projects sitting on my kitchen table. a purse, a quilt, a tote bag, and an apron. i should be working on these, but all i really want to do is cuddle with my puppy on the couch. i mean, look at her! wouldn't you?

blue bird on my shoulder

i can't believe i finally finished it. now i just can't decide if i want to give it away, sell it, or keep it as a diaper bag for myself. i'm too close to the patient. i have emotional ties. maybe i'll let someone else decide.

fly free little birdie. fly free.

another "bird on a wire" bag. what can i say? i love birds. i've been trying to get dan to let me have one for years now. a real one. one that will sit in a cage and sing pretty for me. oh my gosh, that sounds terrible. i sound like a terrible person. what kind of person wants to keep something wild and free in a cage just so she can look at it? maybe i'll just stick to putting the birds on bags. free to rest on other people's shoulders.

soft blue bag

sold!

i might have bitten off more than i could chew with this floral design but it was fun to see what would happen. i love the colors together and the bag is really soft.

meet you at the soda fountain.

sold!

i'm so happy with how this turned out. i was inspired by this 50's style material and the felt corsage was really fun to make. the corsage is removable, so you can even wear it on a jacket or sweater.

made this from an old work shirt of dan's. took about 45 minutes. i have two more work shirts to modify. this was a good trial. i found out what works and what doesn't. it's more form fitting than i would like so i'll keep that in mind for the next one.

back on the craft train

i made this shirt and one other, slightly different (more maternity looking), from an old dress of my mothers. i woke up the other morning feeling hot, sticky and lamenting my lack of non-clothes. non-clothes (n.) harmonism. cloth sewn in such a way that it covers the body while allowing plenty of air flow. so i went into my basement and dug up some old clothes to modify.
i had two old worn tank tops and decided to make one new, exciting shirt. wohoo! exciting isn't it? i added the little bird for a touch of whimsy. don't laugh at my farmer's tan. please.
knitting these mitts is how i kept myself busy between scenes during my 'sound of music' performances. the play was fantastic and a lot of fun but i have to say that these mitts helped me maintain my sanity. i think a lot of people got a kick out of taking my picture while i was knitting in my nun outfit. wish i had one of those to show you. don't.

so.... these are my recent projects. i'm hoping to spend the remainder of the month focusing on finishing all my old projects. we'll see how far i get. i have a lot of half finished stuff lying around. shameful.

other than that i'm working on a production of 'joseph and the amazing technicolor dream coat' ,trying to lose weight, growing vegetables, and contemplating taking some contemporary dance lessons. so far, so good. on all counts.

101 things to do with old t-shirts

size 35 needles. i'm not sure how many t-shirts it will take to finish but i'll let ya'll know after it's done. oh, it's a scarf. just in case you were wondering.

weekend project iii

finished. it was a birthday gift for my mom-in-law and we framed it but then the frame broke sunday morning. now i'm having second thoughts about framing it at all. what if i turned it into a pillow? it wouldn't take much. i don't know. anywho, dan's friend from work said the stuff i make is very "commercial". i'm not exactly sure what he meant by that but i do know he was being derisive and that bugs me. he's had it out for me ever since i said " the pirates of the caribbean 2, pirates take manhattan" was a stupid movie. how was i to know that he bought the darned thing? how was i supposed to know that it's his favorite movie EVER and that he thinks orlando bloom is the best (and hottest) living actor? and if we're going to be throwing around the word commercial, let's call a spade a spade shall we? anywho....commercial, shommercial.
doesn't bug me in the least.

blue birds

here's my latest bag. i'm calling it "bluebird on my shoulder". too cutesy? i know. the material is this great 1950's looking stuff that i found while scavenging at st. mary's thrift store (thanks camille). i think i got around 3 yards of it for under 3 bucks. i'll probably make another bag with it but using different silhouettes. maybe elephants? monkeys? rabbits? i don't know. i'll have to think about that. i'm putting this bag aside for now because i can't figure out how i want to finish it. i have a quilting project that i'll be starting tomorrow. hopefully i'll post that within a day or two.

art?

here's the piece i did for the eisner. it's not what i was originally planning but that's ok. i didn't have enough time or know-how to do what i really wanted to do. i'm semi-happy with it. i'm calling it "thoughts of you". it looked better after i mounted it but i forgot to take a picture of that. there were a couple more things i wanted to do to it but, honestly, i got bored. the mediums used are fiber and paper. the green is quilted and the images are sewn on. then i made the origami butterflies and umbrella so that they are 3 dimensional, sewn into place with invisible thread. that's that and i'm glad it's over with.