Archive for December, 2009

From my cold, sticky hands…

December 30, 2009 at 2:16 pm · Filed under Dollies Online, Everyday Things, Fabric, Quilts

Did you have a great Christmas? Are you ready for 2010???

Someone, please take my Mod Podge away for a minute.

I selfishly kept one of the Moleskine three-pack notebooks for myself. The other two were “personalized” for hubby for Christmas. And then I got out my selvage collection. And my Mod Podge.

I sewed the selvages first and then applied Mod Podge and trimmed up the edges when the Mod Podge was dry.

I left some extra fabric on the selvage at the spine so I could just wrap it around before sewing the next selvage (I also did this on the very last selvage and folded the fabric to the inside):

All Kaffe fabrics, no repeats (I did allow same print, different colorway).

I tried to use the selvages with the most information closest together. Some were spread out too far; some didn’t have the color dots. It was very informative. Well, and fun.

The selvage notebook was a little diversion. I’ve been appliqueing and such. A trained monkey could have learned to buttonhole stitch in the time it took me to re-acquaint myself with it.

Lacy edge effect. I meant to do that.

Happy New Year’s Eve eve!

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’twas the night before Christmas…

December 24, 2009 at 10:00 am · Filed under Everyday Things

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Merry, merry!

December 22, 2009 at 6:29 pm · Filed under Everyday Things, Field Trips

May you stay warm and cozy!

Keep the mummers at bay!

Take a whirl around the rink!

And have a blast!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

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One for the road

December 18, 2009 at 1:07 pm · Filed under Dollies Online, Fabric, Quilts

Last day of school! Eeek! One week before Christmas! EEEEK! Deep breath. I should be wrapping someone’s presents while someone is still at school today. Of course, I’m not. Instead I worked on readying something for the upcoming time when I can’t get to the sewing machine. A little something to work on on the road:

Hmmm, what is this little dolly sized quilt for anyway? Too much red? Too much pink? Oh well, it is very festive. I’ve already learned some things while getting this ready.

To wit, having too much coffee can keep one from cutting little curves accurately. I will also predict that any amount of wine (or perhaps one of these) will prohibit one from stitching little curves accurately. Hmm, a bumpy car ride might not help either… Maybe best to get those little bumpies stitched down BEFORE hitting the road.

Here is a little something from the horn-tooting department. Have you seen the Jan/Feb 2010 Quiltmaker?

Did you see Edyta Sitar’s Michigan Crossroads quilt?

I quilted that quilt. There, I’ve tooted my own horn.

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Not so secret Santa

December 16, 2009 at 3:31 pm · Filed under Everyday Things, Fabric

Dear daughter thought it would be fun if she and I shared a (not so) secret Santa swap this year. She put a mailbox outside her room. When the flag is up, someone has a secret Santa message or gift. I have gotten some delightful treasures and some Christmas poems that will be cherished. My gifts to her have been fun — the Five Crowns card game (inspired by Bumblebeans), some fun new erasers and a Shinzi Katoh pen, etc. These are all things I was planning to give her for Christmas anyway but it has been even more fun to dole them out slowly kind of like an uplanned advent calendar. Had she gotten them on Christmas, they would have been mixed up in the jumble of the day’s gifts. This way, we can take the time to enjoy each one individually.

One thing that arrived in the secret Santa mailbox last week was a single cloth napkin (inspired by Lily). I’ve been meaning to do this. I even bought a rolled hem foot (apparently I need a class to use this thing).  But I saw this great narrow rolled hem tutorial last week and said, bah, I don’t need no stinkin’ rolled hem foot! Zip, zip, zip, narrow hems on napkins. I made some more today:

The cloth napkin made dear daughter SO happy — not just the cute fabric but that I was trying to be “greener.”  I also picked up some more re-usable snack and lunch box containers today so I can stop using so many loathsome plastic bags. I’m getting there.

Did you see Jan’s post about Keiko Goke? And, yes, the rumors of her fabric availability are true! GORGEOUS!

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Scrap-tastic ornaments!

December 15, 2009 at 4:55 pm · Filed under Everyday Things, Fabric

Get out your Mod Podge and your scraps. Right now!

We had the best time after seeing this idea over on Syko’s blog:

I got a little carried away with it and didn’t want to stop.

Cut out a shape, cut out a scrap of fabric and let the Mod Podge work its magic! I haven’t put away the ornament supply bins just yet. I don’t see time in the schedule to make more of these anytime soon, but we live in hope. Forget eating, I’m taking over the dining room table with fabric and empty cereal boxes and Mod Podge!

Oh, I just came away from a look-see/gander over at Glorious Color. You know, to see what’s new. You might want to wander over and take a look at the “What’s New” section. The new Kaffe/Liberty fabric is there (along with a new color of shot cotton called Galvanized — need it!) and a very intriguing button entitled “Keiko Goke’s New Fabric” (which then led me here and then here). I’m listening…

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Three…

December 14, 2009 at 3:24 pm · Filed under Everyday Things, Fabric

Someone in the house desperately needs a new apron for Christmas.

It’s a little hard to find apron dimensions for a tween sized person. I adapted the wonderful directions from JCaroline Creative.

I also, ahem, had to cannibalize someone’s much smaller apron for its D-rings. I bought D-rings last week AND PUT THEM IN A SAFE PLACE. They are still very safe. Wherever they may be. Sheesh.

Here’s the apron I made dear daughter wear yesterday when we were making some disastrous tri-level brownies (number 45 in the 2009 100 Best Cookies magazine, if anyone wants to avoid the recipe):

As we say around here, that apron is a little squeeze-y. And now it is hidden away because it has no D-rings. I’m sure it is completely safe from me.

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Two…

December 9, 2009 at 1:40 pm · Filed under Everyday Things

OK, not a sewn gift, but handmade nonetheless.

Lily’s Christmas Stars face cloth was fun and easy to knit! Well, easy if you aren’t trying to follow the chart AND watch Alice on the SyFy network AND text The Other Mrs. Schmenkman. Mistakes were made and mostly corrected. Hmm, do face cloths need to be blocked? Might not hurt, I see. I have two more of these planned along with a trip to the corner handmade soap (and candle) purveyor (I’m lucky that way).

We’re trying to do a little bit of something festive every day. Dear daughter made some sheet music into a snowflake. Genius that she is! So, I printed off some more sheet music to make some more snowflakes. I don’t know, it looks extra festive for some reason.

Back to the sewing machine. You know, the one in the room at the back of the house that’s within striking distance of the neighbor’s big old oak tree as it fends off the high winds we’re having. I’ll be back there if you need me.

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One…

December 8, 2009 at 12:50 pm · Filed under Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns

I haven’t committed myself to much holiday gift sewing this year. Just a few items at most. I finished one this morning.

Side one:

Side two (lest you think I made two of these this morning):

Need a QUICK cozy gift? Look no further than Kathy Mack’s Rubblework Scarf. Did you know that Kathy’s Pink Chalk Fabrics has a slew of cute downloadable patterns if you’re in a hurry? A slew! And cute!

I put my first EVER piece of Minkee (Tween) on the back for an extra factor of cozy and, well, because I’m giving it to my tween. Poor kid, we’re trying our best to camouflage her giant pink winter coat with blue and green accessories.  Well, you know, I bought the pink coat a size or two larger when it was on sale two years ago and now we don’t prefer pink. But it fits and it’s warm, so we’re not buying a new one. But a girl can accessorize.

So, that’s one sewn gift done. I cut enough extra pieces that I can make another one for a friend’s upcoming birthday. I think she already has a green coat. Lucky girl.

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The twins

December 4, 2009 at 10:42 am · Filed under Dollies Online, Fabric, Quilts

It’s been a productive week! I really find that the best thing I can do for myself is to remind myself to just keep moving. It’s easy to get bogged down when there is a lot to do, but if I just keep moving on SOMETHING on the to do list, more actually gets done! You can see that these bold, italicized reminders are for me.

I have a set of twins to show you:

Month 1 — Hurry Home — for Dollies Online!

One for Sarah, one for me. That’s part of the Dollies Online program for us — we each make two quilts when it’s our month — one to keep and one to send. Like many of us, I don’t usually enjoy making the same thing twice, but it was fun to re-visit the fabrics and see the differences one fabric cut makes. Can you see the round of green and blue buttons? The button strip on the left got all the small hole-less buttons; the one on the right got the big buttons with holes. The different cuts of the Bones and the English Roses fabrics were fun to uncover as well. See, easily amused over here.

You can still sign up for Dollies Online patterns. You might want to ask Santa to put a subscription under the tree for you! I’ve put a reminder of program details below.

With that, one of these quilts is going to get popped in to the mail. Hopefully it will not get swept away in the flurry of holiday mailing!

Have a lovely weekend! I’m off to keep moving…

doll1

Dollies Online! You do love a good dolly quilt, don’t you? Well, we have a program of 12 months of dolly quilt patterns for you beginning in January 2010 — six patterns from Sarah, six patterns from me! Dolly quilts are a great way to try new methods in a small project, so we’ll be exploring a variety of techniques. We will be sure to share our tips for success in every quilt.

The program will run through the Sew n Sell site. You can sign up for all 12 months at once at a savings of $5 AUS per pattern. With the 12-month sign-up, you will also receive a free pattern for the adorable Dollies Online logo quilt. You can also purchase the patterns individually on a monthly basis for $15 AUS each.

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