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 :)

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!

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)

      This is the CUTEST shop! If I had a  little girl I’d be so tempted by all those adorable dresses! She also has great kimono-style pj’s!

I’m very close to finishing the first quilt I’ve made for myself!! Such a nice feeling :) Usually I only make quilts to give away. We have one that I made for a charity auction… my husband bought it because he didn’t want to part with it :)

My Grumpy Quilt is actually a crazy quilt. A few years ago I decided I wanted to make a quilt to snuggle in when I was grumpy (hence the name), made of tons of red, pink, and orange scraps. The quilt includes pieces of clothing I used to love, and bits of fabric  from other projects I’ve done.

It’s taken me a while because projects for myself tend to take a back seat to projects for other people and purposes. But I sewed a bit here and there. It was a great stress reliever because there is no rhyme or reason. The only rule I made for this quilt is that all my scraps fit into the color scheme. Beyond that, the crazy quilt offered a really nice change of pace. I was able to just sew for the fun of sewing and seeing something come together without worrying about “messing up”.

Then last week, I realized I’d finally made enough blocks to complete my quilt! I pieced them together with bright pumpkin orange and backed it with a shade a bit richer than hot pink. Looking at it nearly makes my eyes burn, but I love it!

Right now I’m busy doing freeform quilting all over the orange areas. Hopefully it will be officially done within the next few days!! But for now, I offer a sneak peek phone-pic for your viewing pleasure!

So far, going through The Crafter’s Devotional has been a lot of fun. I’m on day 19 (I did a few days all at once in the beginning to get caught up), and it’s been quite an enlightening experience. Today’s task was to think about imagery that pops up in your work over and over, and then to brainstorm about possible interpretations. What I learned about myself and my artwork was quite surprising! They are things I knew, but didn’t realize I was expressing when I paint.

Overall, I’ve really loved going through the book. It’s making me explore crafts I’d never tried, and helping me loosen up and try new techniques. A lot of collage is involved, so one of the big things for me has been stepping outside my comfort zone and cutting up “cherished” magazine clippings I’ve been hoarding for ages. I’m finally doing something with them rather than just sifting through them occasionally for inspiration.

This horribly-captured phone picture is an example of a combination of a few of the collage assignments. I glued the images to a photo box top, and painted over it with varnish. The paper came out all wrinkly, which is regrettable, so I need to learn a better way to decoupage. I’d saved these clippings forever: the woman because of the amazing colors and textures in her clothes, the eggs (which came with the bird) because of the colors and because the eggs reminded me of some of my dripped grid paintings, and the pumpkins, birdhouse, and money jar because I loved the imagery. But without encouragement, I most likely would have still been staring at those clippings when I’m sixty.

Often sewing makes me feel like I’ve done something great. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, and everything turns out wonderful. But, ugh… sometimes sewing can become a near nightmare. That’s what I experienced today.

I made a mei tai for my sister, because she has her hands full with her newborn twins. In the process I broke three… THREE. needles. Within the space of five minutes. I was sick. After that, I only had three inches left to sew and something with my machine stopped working. I couldn’t find my manual so I had to sew the rest by hand. It was annoying because it doesn’t match and I’m not the best at hand stitching.

But in the end, I must remember that functionality is most important, and that this was a labor of love. I’d do it all over again.

(Photo by GulfCoastCottagePDF)

I nearly died when I saw this shop :) My sister and I LOVED playing house (for far longer than either of us care to admit…) and if we’d had access to this shop then, I’m pretty sure we would have lost our minds :)

GulfCoastCottagePDF sells patterns for adorable felt toys. Each pattern is only $5.99! There is a wide array of imaginative toys for both boys and girls. I want the above tool kit for Dex, and *cough*hint*cough*, Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles, Dexter might enjoy some of the other patterns for Christmas… :)