I forgot to link to my new blog location! www.lemonwoodclock.wordpress.com

Go there. It’s way better than here.

As I sorted through my old stash recently, I found some old jeans I was converting to skirts. It occurred to me that I’m never actually going to make those skirts (they’ve been sitting, pinned together, for around 4 years) so I decided to use the denim for a picnic quilt.

I used a seam ripper to take apart pretty much every stitch in 3 pairs of jeans and a mini skirt I’d been saving for a purse. It was worth it. Every fold yielded surprising tonal variations. This is what I have so far, roughly a 12”x18” block. I’m considering adding other fabric to make it bigger without having to tear apart more clothes, but I really don’t want to take away from the patterns and tones that are emerging. We’ll see!

I just completed my blue scrap quilt. Ignore the fact that the quilting is pretty awful and that no threads have been clipped! In the future I want to focus on becoming better at quilting, but it was nice being able to just zip through a quilt.

Creating this quilt was such a soothing experience. There was virtually no planning involved. I chose blues and greens as my palette. I then went through my scraps, selecting pieces that were big enough to cut blocks that were 4 inches wide with varying lengths. The fabrics are from leftover projects, hand-me-downs from my Grandma Ona’s stash, and recycled clothes. I just cut pieces until I was certain I had enough. Then I started sewing the blocks into strips.

In the middle of sewing, my husband claimed the quilt :) He’s 6’9, so I ended up making the it about the size of the top of our king size bed. It’s the largest quilt I’ve ever made. Sewing the top was no problem, it was very relaxing. However, quilting the mammoth was not. I definitely want a long arm sewing machine now :). The quilting is ugly, but I think the pattern hides it well. All that matters is that Alex loves it :)

I’ve recently come across some great sewing blogs. This week I stumbled upon a post about cleaning your machine… which made me realize I’d never cleaned the inside of my current machine. Which I’ve owned for roughly 3 years. Oops. When I opened it up there was a good quarter inch of lint. It’s now clean and sporting a shiny new needle.

I’d gotten used to my machine thrashing and bouncing when I sewed. Now I know it’s not because it was aging. It was just super dirty! It runs like nearly new after its cleaning.

If you can’t remember the last time you cleaned your machine, do yourself and your machine a favor… JUST GO DO IT!

Normally I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. However, 2010 seems like a year to start fresh. I will not call them resolutions… I will call them goals.

Goal 1: Read 52 books this year.

I’ve amassed quite a collection of books, at last count I had over 60 on my to-read shelf. And then for Christmas and my birthday I was given 10 more AND a Kindle. (B to the dizzub, I LOVE my Kindle!) So, in an effort to clear out that list, I will attempt to read 1 book per week. I’ve already finished 1!

Goal 2: Lose 20 lbs.

Yikes. Should I really put that up here? I think this is the area where I’m most afraid of failing. I hope that adding it to my public goals will make me more willing to stick to it. I’ve already lost 3!

Goal 3: Make a dress or a shirt for each woman in my family.

This is my let-slide goal. By that I mean I’m going to strive to achieve this, but if things are too busy, this will be the thing I don’t do. The reason I want to do this is to become better at garment construction and reading patterns. When I make things for myself I have too much trouble with measuring and I give up too easily. Making them to give away to people I love should (hopefully) encourage me to finish. I have 2 great books I’ll be referencing (Sew U and Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified), along with tons of patterns from my collection. There are 5 women in my family. I have not started making anything, but I have started gathering ideas from the girls about what they’d like.

So, I’ll check back in from time to time to let you all know how things are going! Other non-pressing things on my agenda for the year include restoring an old quilt, putting up a tutorial for a stuffed dog toy, and making a 1st year quilt for Dexter. Amongst other things. It’s going to be a crazy year!

Today I had to get fillings and Dexter got a flu shot. So the Robson household pretty much came to a standstill. The only thing I accomplished was tripping on nitrous oxide. I did also did some comparison shopping for Spanish language software.

I’ve been working on surprises for my twin nephews. I’m hoping to have them finished by this weekend, and afterwards I will post a tutorial. It’s been a fun and easy project. I’m sure there’s no need for the mystery, as it’s unlikely that my dear sister reads my blog :)… but just in case.

Ah, I’m back from a long blog-abandonment. I just needed a break from all the blogging and twittering and posting. And a break from trying to make a profit on my crafting. In the meantime I’ve had the opportunity to create for the fun of it, and it’s been wonderful :)

Oh, and today is my birthday. I have 5 more minutes of birthday! Better make the most of it :)

One great gift I received was a tutorial about making my own patterns. I’ll have to post more on that later! Something to look forward to as I attempt to get back into the blogging game :)

What an ingenious idea! I could not tell you how many times Dexter has made it all the way to the end of the meal… not a drop on his clothes… only to get itchy and rub his pudgy arms all over his dirty face. “Sanity Saver” indeed!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34705222

These bibs can be found in a pack of 5 for $25 in Meeshspieces's shop. They are an especially great idea for special days, when your baby is wearing his or her adorable dress clothes: Sunday mornings, holidays, picture days, etc…

(Above photo from Meeshspieces)

What a great idea for an easy-to-make bag! The project says it takes about 30 minutes to complete! Worth trying sometime :) http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/quilting-for-peace-stitch-your-own-shopping-bag-5948/