Crafting update! So I made a few handmade gifts for Christmas this year. Next year I'd like to ramp it up, maybe make some ornaments for everyone. I need to start this summer though if I truly have a shot in hell of doing it.

For my sister, I finished up some pot holders. Hopefully she's getting real use out of them. That's my second (or my eighth if you count them all individually) completed quilting project. Here's a front shot and a back shot for your viewing pleasure.

And now, no more potholders. I have all the supplies to make my first full size quilt. It's intimidating and exciting. And I hope to start cutting some time in March. You may see some posts of me just showing cutting/laying progress along the way. A full quilt is going to be a huge project.

It's funny, looking at that pic it seems really gold heavy, but it really won't be. The main color of the quilt is a cream color. The gold swirly one will be the backer fabric (so you could argue it's gold friendly but on the underside). There are actually far more options of other colors than there are gold on the actual front of the quilt. But we'll all have to see as it gets closer.

I also made a dog scarf and dog leg warmers as a Christmas gift. It's kind of a joke? My sister got a dog and the dog has a coat (since it gets so cold here). And now the dog has accessories as well.

I am definitely not going to be winning any photography awards any time soon. But that's how I wrapped up 2012 - crafting a few gifts and preparing for my next adventure. I'm also busy embroidering this. Weird truth: I use way more embroidery floss than this seller thinks I will need. I made one of these last year and also ran out. I'm on par to run out again this year. Shrug?

Quick post. I made Mothers Day cards this year. Since I sort of have a mother-in-law (mother-in-law-to-be?), I thought this was the year to start giving her cards. I hope neither mom will be insulted, but I made the same card with very slight variations (different colors/different embossing on the inside). For the moms:

front

inside - with microsoft paint half-assed
photoshopping...so you can't see my
personal note. :)

When I said I've been mostly doing nothing...that was a lie. A nice little white lie, but a lie. I've been busy wedding planning (pretty much done) and sewing. Knitting has stalled. I broke a needle on the project I was working on -like an idiot, i tried to put on the sock while I was still knitting it (it looked way small) and crack went the needle. So this is a sewing update for you!

First, I finished my set of potholders. I got much better at piecing and quilting lines. I'm pretty much at the same skill level with the binding (not terrible but not smooth and perfect). And I wound up with a potholder I'd call my favorite! I actually love one of them. This one:

i think the chevron lining worked fantastically with the squares

 And here's the full set. Remember, I screwed up my measuring/seams on the first one I did...which is why it is small in comparison.

I spent a chunk of hours cutting out all of the squares for a second set of potholders, to be made for my sister and her husband:

In other sewing news, I spent one full day butchering a set of curtains my mom had made for my old apartment. You can see them in said apartment (sort of) in a picture here. Those windows were huge: tall and wide...and those curtains didn't really fit anywhere in the house. We were/are using them on basement windows to "hide" all of loml's music gear from would-be robbers (his paranoia, not mine). But they were huge for the windows. So I cut up one curtain to make three for basement windows and then sewed an insanely basic hem on any cut sides. Basic because eventually I think loml would like to pick his own fabric for those windows. It surprisingly took a long time - for something that sounds so simple.

I also went on two shopping expeditions with a friend to pick out fabric for her housewarming gift: curtains. We bought it last weekend and I'm in the process of deciding on a curtain type..and then I'll begin the insanely scary task of cutting. You can rip out seams...but you can't undo a poor cut. Here's a picture of that fabric in its raw state:

Lots more fun with my sewing machine to come. I'll try to update in parts, rather than in a huge chunk.

Potholder update - I've completed two. I'm definitely falling in to a groove and I'm pretty sure I know where I have to be more careful on the next batch. When I sew all my squares together, perfect 90 degree seams are a must. And when I measure out/draw on my quilting lines, I have to choose a pattern that works for the particular problems that I may have created with my piecing. All very satisfying. I'm going on vacation at the end of next week for about a week, so no crafting updates for a bit here...

The first (slightly small as I screwed up my seam allowances):

The second:

And a side by side:

Journal swap round 6: me!

I'm clearly into fabric...and my quilting scraps were screaming to be made into bunting.

Journal swap round 6: librarian!

So, I feel I should say that I had both journals for quite some time. And I accidentally flip flopped the rounds. I should have made something in the white journal and instead, I went with black. So we're a bit off now...but in the end, it'll even out.

Update time! I haven't finished anything, but I thought I'd let you know how the quilting is going. And as an aside, I've officially hit the 1st quartile of my weight loss goal. 28% done!

Quilting is...part awesome, part satisfying and a whole lot of exact cutting and sewing. I definitely have not hit exactness. In fact, I think it will be a miracle if I ever get near perfection. However, I am determined to make a series of potholders until I am pleased with the results enough that I would give them away to someone other than a family member. I'm going to become a potholder factory.

I took some pictures of my in-progress potholders. Tonight I finished making the binding tape (a weird process that required a tool I didn't have, which slowed me down), so hopefully in a few days I will have one finished, accidentally too small potholder (I didn't understand the seam allowance, so lost about a half inch on each side).

Here's the potholder with half of the quilted lines (front and back). My lines are not straight. But, for my first try with quilting and the walking foot on my sewing machine, it's not terrible either:

And here's the potholder with all of the lines in. That excess batting/backing has already been cut off in preparation for binding. This is the part where you can see my in-exactitude glaring at you in the face. My squares were not perfectly sewn together/not straight. And the hatching meanders across the potholder in an uncomfortable way. It's in the center of some squares...and not so much for others. The horror. Note that the edge squares are bigger - this is not a seam allowance error, this is on purpose. The binding will cover up the excess amount of square to make it look exactly correct.

So I just need a ton more practice. For a while, potholders. Then table linens. Pillows. Eventually, a real quilt. They say it takes 1000 hours to become an expert at something...just 100 potholders to go...

Hey! Remember when I wrote a post about my sewing class and how I had sewn a rectangle? Well, since then I made a whole bag. And graduated.

To be fair, there was no graduation. But I think my bag kicks ass. It's reversible too! It was pretty difficult to get a good picture of it, I have 20 pics of me wearing it in the hall mirror. And all of them are big piles of suck.

I really liked the class and have a few follow up projects planned. A couple of them are just straight test projects - I need to learn how my machine works (we used Singer's in class and I have a Brother). I foresee some tension issues. So I'm making fake curtains from old sheets and a bunch of totally random old sheet projects. Anyone need something made out of an old sheet?

The other project is from an awesome book I got for Christmas...a few years ago now: Dare to be Square Quilting. I'm going to start small and try to make some potholders. Loving textile crafts.

I have figured something out about myself - there is a very big difference between being creative and making things. I very much love to make things - but I need patterns. I cannot pick up yarn and suddenly have a hat - I need to be told how to do it. I am a maker, not a creator. I think, 5 years ago, I would have balked at this. But now? It fits, I love the distinction. And I can stop pressuring myself to be a creative type. I'm crafty, not arty.

In my sewing class (First Time Sewing at Lill) we are making a messenger bag/purse thing. So far I've learned a bunch of different seams/hems (rolled, french, straight, blind), learned how a machine works and cut out 16 pieces of bag from fabric of my choosing.

Piles of cut fabric on the right, sewn fabric on the left

The only bit of productive sewing (besides trying out all those seams and hems) I've done so far is to sew the pockets. And really, I just prepared the pockets to be sewn on to the bag (they are just flat pockets, but lined on both sides).

Here are my rectangles! Grey corduroy on one side, green pattern on the other.

At this point, I love this class.  Even though I spent three hours tracing, cutting and then measuring/marking hems on these pieces, it was my kind of three hours. I think I might be a sewer.  Seamstress seems too formal/skilled for what I'm doing, but sewer? No, I am not a place where dirty water/poop collects.

20 done, 12 to go.

From curious doodles, screen printed tea towel do-it-yourself embroidery kit

Journal swap round 5: me

I realize, as I'm doing this, that most of my ideas are neutrals.  What I mean is...the idea behind this page was a winter tree with an owl.  I wanted to start experimenting more with color though, so I forced spring.  And I think, honestly, it was better in my head.  But, that's bound to happen quite a bit.  It's kind of twee, huh?


I also realize that I'm fairly obsessed with texture.  So I'm challenging myself to use a completely flat surface in the future as well as colors.  

Let the experiments begin...

Journal swap round 5: librarian.

When I saw this, I thought of new beginnings and spring...London and Mary Poppins...I don't know if i can explain those last two.  It's also highly possible I felt this way because I received this right around the move.  And yes, I've had this book sitting around for months.  But I'm finally getting back into it...

Journal swap round 4: librarian

I like to think that she was feeling wild, free ranging like a zebra.  

Journal swap round 4: me.

I made this quite a while ago and I believe this was during some crazy times with the house purchasing process.

Journal swap round 3: librarian.

ps. those are her people.

Journal swap round 3: me.

I like the ripping of the paper. Song lyric got stuck in my head and made its way into the journal...

Journal swap round 2: librarian.

I shouldn't even dignify it with words, but I did in fact, just get lady in red stuck in my head....

Journal swap round 2: mine.

I'm not going to editorialize any of these, in this case I ripped up a book and made trees. Apologies about the quality of the pictures. Blurrrry.

Journal swap! Round 1: Librarian.

For some reason I'm giggling at the fact that it sounds a bit like a boxing match. Probably because I'm super tired from a fabulous weekend celebrating my sister's nuptials. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Sister. Ha. Newlyweds.

Rounds two and three will be posted over the next few days...

Journal swap!

A few months back I stated that I wanted to get creative again and was hoping to do a journal swap. One of my friends, whom I shall refer to as the librarian, agreed to the swap. We bought two journals from Paper Source (one black, one white, to be covered/completed at the end of the project) and off we went. We've only managed to hand the journal off twice now. I'm going to document all of our attempts at craftiness. I'm going to go in order from start to finish for each of the journals (it'll be interesting to see if there are any patterns). Since I only have one journal at the moment, I only have one first attempt. I'll photograph the other first during our next swap and share it right away. Since we're already on our third round, I'll be able to share the second and third attempts shortly after.

My round one: