long time no see

it's been a while.  i got really busy with a gallery show and then a couple craft shows and other life related stuff.  here's a project that i just finished tonight for greenleaf's violin teacher, ms. megan.  have i mentioned how much i love embroidery? unfortunately the light in our house is very yellow and the sun has gone to bed (and so must i), thus the pictures are not that great.  this was fun and i'm pleased with how it turned out.

another rug

i'm still trying to use up all the left over purple and green scraps from the quilt and quilted bag.  here's one more use. 

sold!

week in review 1

i've had a pretty productive week and it's not even over yet!  

my sister gave me this hat for my birthday and i decided to add some flair.

and

 the obligatory bird.

a green winter headband/ earcover with purple flowers.
SOLD!

grey (gray?) with red flowers.
SOLD!

button closure in back.  they have multiple button holes for different sized heads.  they are made for adults and not children which is why it looks big on gl.  i also have one in a dark teal with some burnt orange flowers.

latest rag rug.  i have another one on the loom that i hope to get done before going to bed this evening. 

handsome dansome

he picked out the colors. same pattern as usual.

Tease #3

miles to go before i sleep.

photo shoot of new winter hats

Soren's winter hat.  i have done this pattern at least a dozen times and i'll probably do it a dozen more.   it's so easy that i don't have to keep track of anything.  i can watch a movie or have a discussion while i knit.  i added the bobble this morning.  LOVE. a matching scarf will be forthcoming.

 

gl's hat done in the yarn she picked out last month.  i have a tiny bit left over so i'll probably make her some matching mitts.  i think she looks so much like her nana b. in this picture. 

he's always trying to escape.  it's a problem.

Tease #2

about 6 days left before i start working on backing it.  this week i've had to up my average hours from 2 a day to 4.  2 after the kids go to sleep and then 2 more spaced out during the day.  today for example, the kids were playing nicely outside and i was able to sit at the picnic table and work for a good solid hour.  now i'm going to put the boy down for a nap, do a little housework and then work for another hour.  is my housework suffering?  yes, of course it is.  when isn't it?  i'm not big on housework.  it's that thing that i do when i don't have any other choice.  like when my husband doesn't have any clean underwear or the stack of dishes by the sink is starting to stink.  or i have guests coming over.

my so called woven life

finally finished the woven runner i had on the demonstration loom.  it's over 80 inches long, multi-colored warp and grey weft, bird's eye pattern with appliqued birds.

i will eventually put a back on it but for now i'm concentrating on finishing an art piece.  let me repeat that... AN ART PIECE!  i don't make art.  not usually.  i make practical, useful things to beautify my everyday workaday world.   however, the WPCA's member show is in a couple months and i've decided to enter something this year.  i've got 3 weeks to complete it. so far i've been averaging about 2 hours a night work time.  if i can keep that up i might actually finish it.  here's a tease:

 this is about 3 inches of the 22 x 22 finished project.  a very small part.  it's not even close to being done or looking like the final product.  i'll keep posting on it as i go. 

my pot holders are cuter than yours

i just spent an unspeakable amount of time sewing quilted pot holders.  if there were any lingering questions about my sanity, they have been answered. 

greenleaf: why did you sew pot holders? 
me: because i can. 
 

in actuality, this was a great way to use up some scraps.  i have lots of scraps.  bins and bins of scraps.

gots to get my folk on

lovely Dawn brought me a large box of fabric at church Sunday.  the first material i saw when i opened the box was this amazing blue cotton with a printed folk scene.  it was begging to be made into a skirt.  today i started cutting and stitching.  this is what it became. 

the image is on the front and back. i have enough fabric to make one more skirt if anyone has a little girl who would like it.  it has a unicorn on it.

gl was in a pensive mood today.

summer time and the living is lazy

i seriously had big plans for this summer.  i was going to get so much done.  i was going to be superwoman.  i feel like such a loser. 

i did end up buying this $4 suitcase from goodwill and painting it up for gl to take to camp.  it was such fun.  the lady on it looks like oprah, don't ya think?  it's not.  it was a stencil i had lying about.  the braided strand on top of the suitcase is one that greenleaf made at weaving camp (more later).  i added some beads to the bottom of it and hooked it on.  

two of gl's favorite things: "Avatar, the Last Airbender", and "Dr. Who".   i knew that the paint wouldn't last the week unless i put something over it but i didn't get around to it.  it's scratched up but remarkably intact.  she had an awesome week at camp by the way. 

a tunic i just finished.  it's based on a simplicity pattern and was supposed to be a dress but turns out i didn't have enough fabric.  that's what i get for being a cheapo.  the brown fabric was a remnant that i got for 75% off and the bottom is a sheet from Goodwill.  i'm thinking of this as a practice run.  i'm going to try to make the dress again with some pink fabric that i got from Rethreads. i'm pretty sure i have enough this time.  

it spins nice enough to delight any little girl. 

sold! (the hat, not the child)

i started this spiral hat on a train to chicago.  it's the perfect project for when you don't want to have to count or keep track of anything.  it's sized for an adult but looks cute on gl.  i think i might make her winter hat this size.  

so that's about it.  i have something on the loom right now but i hate it.  i tried to work on it yesterday.  i couldn't go for more than 20 minutes.  i hate it so much.  but if i take it off, that's such a waste.  right?  i can't waste...  can i?  please, someone give me permission. 

babies are nice

babies are nice. especially big fat ones.  i made some gifts for a baby shower.  the recipient will probably see this post.  just act surprised ok?

a tote because you can't have too many fun totes when you are "toting" around diapers, wipes, sippy cups, toys, blankie, butt cream, hand sanitizer, nursing pads, bottles, spit rags, bibs, etc...., etc...., etc......

i borrowed the embroidered design from somewhere else.  don't ask me where, i don't know.  i'm getting more and more into embroidery so it was a lot of fun.

a simple baby blanket.  by hand, as promised.  well, i did use the machine on the bird.

bird.  old pants and some fun fluffy stuff. 

back of quilt.  i love putting two or more pieces together for the back.  so much more interesting. 

wrapped trees on Burleigh

i spent the morning wrapping trees on E. Burleigh  in Riverwest.  i'm burnt and tired.  thanks  to all the ladies, and Charlie for helping out.  your names are attached to your knittings.

i know that this one was knitted by Judie Wille. 

i don't remember who did this but GREAT JOB! 

by the wonderful JoAnn Norris. 

again, i don't remember who knitted this one but it is enormous and bright.  it's the first one you see when you turn onto the street. 

the purple pain and more march madness

the purple baby quilt is done.  yes.  it is.  don't believe me? 

ok, well, maybe there are a few pins left in it.  it's 99.5% done in any case.  i decided that this will be my last machine sewn quilt.  until i can afford one of those fancy 3000 dollar sewing machines with the movable arm i will be hand sewing the rest of my quilts.  i realized just how huge this is while working on a quilt last night.  i had been sewing for about 45 minutes and i got (no joking) 12 inches?  i'll have to up the price on my quilts because of this.  i was thinking of asking $100 for this one.  is that too much?  should i go down to $85?  what do you think? 

here are a couple more pictures of items i worked on during my "march madness". 

sold (left)!  still hanging around and annoying me (right)!

tote bags.  i don't like either of them.  the one on the left i call the "floridian" because it reminds me of something tacky that you would get in Florida.  AND the stencil smeared which doesn't have anything to do with the name but just made me mad.  the one on the right is called "a very brady tote"  because of the 70's style material and colors.  i was really excited about it and then i put this record player stencil on it.  nobody who has seen it can tell what it is.  IT'S A RECORD PLAYER!  i put a price of 10 dollars on them and i think i would even go lower just to get rid of them.

 

yo-yo runner.  i'm in LOVE with this.  you can see in the pictures that there is a pin still in the side but i did finish sewing it.  i think i put a price of $50 on it because it's so cute.  this piece was made exclusively out of repurposed materials.  a shower curtain and some old pants were two of the main fabrics.   

sold!

the gnome runner.  to make up for the yo-yo runner this one was made mostly of new material.  what happened is that i found the middle material, which is this delightful mushroom and snail fabric, and the rest just grew from that.   large mushrooms and gnomes were the obvious choice.  

this is one of my little gnomes.  she's sleepy.  shhhhhhhhh....

 

gl's wardrobe

i finally finished this knitted skirt (pattern by 'barefoot knits') that i started last summer.  i'm lucky it still fits her.  who knew that i would be a little sick of this color by the time i was done?  luckily, when i took her shopping for summer material she didn't pick anything purple.  phew!

summer fabric that gl picked out. 

she surprised me by picking out this one.  i really like it.  it's going to make a beautiful breezy dress.

this was my choice.  i have a design in my head for it.  we'll see if i can translate it to fabric.

this one was also my choice.  i'm thinking a double layer skirt with a lace border.  the rest of it i plan on using in another quilt. 

purple pain

i'm easily distracted.  i've come to accept it and stop beating myself up over it.  this time it was those extra quilt squares.  i only needed 63 for the quilt and it turns out i ended up with about 120.  i needed to do something with them. i couldn't let them go to waste could i?  surely not.  i layed them out and pieced them together with the thought that i might make a bag or a skirt from the material.  sure, it's not what i was supposed to be working on but OH MY GOODNESS!  i'm so glad that i did it.  while working on sewing the blocks together i was reminded of one very important piece of information :  VELVET IS EVIL!

i had forgotten that.  i had forgotten just what it feels like to chase a scrap of velvet across a sewing table.  to watch it shift out of position and defy every pin that you poke into it, then turn it's head and stick out it's tongue at you.  i remember now!  it sucks.  i did an online search to see if i could get some tips for working with velvet and i didn't find anything different from what i was already doing.  i also found an expert quilter from Romania named Geta Grama whom i saw had made some quilted velvet bags.   i wrote her a note asking for advice and this is what she wrote back.... "if I would have a few options, I would never choose to piece velvet."  good to know.

i finished a bag using the scraps but now i need to go back and redesign the quilt.  luckily i don't have too many velvet blocks in it but enough to make me uneasy.  i need to replace them all with some nice, safe cotton.  looks like i'm already dropping behind in my april challenge.

 quilted purple patchwork bag (12 x 14) with ....

pocket.
sold!