So, here it was less than 24 hours after my somewhat disappointing (in myself), experience with a swap and I was off signing up for another. This one is an I-Spy fabric swap hosted by Care at her blog, Obsessively Stitching. I am a sucker for punishment, I guess!
Not really, this one is fun and non-stressful and involves no sewing until after the fact, so me and my poor nearly healed back should make it through this one with no problemos.
Now I just have to track down 10 cool I-Spy-able fabrics that i am willing to part with and cut out the 200 squares and send them off ASAP.
I'm really excited! I joined my first-ever swap, an I-Spy swap as well, some time ago and made a quilt top that I have yet to finish. All 3 of my kiddos have laid claim to it. I realized I would need to make one for each of them. I think this first one will go to my 5 year old princess. Now to pick out a fabric for the sashing and the backing and quilt it.
I have some fun ideas for my other 2 kiddos quilts as well so I am very excited to get started!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
An I-Spy Quilt and Swap
So, here it was less than 24 hours after my somewhat disappointing (in myself), experience with a swap and I was off signing up for another. This one is an I-Spy fabric swap hosted by Care at her blog, Obsessively Stitching. I am a sucker for punishment, I guess!
Not really, this one is fun and non-stressful and involves no sewing until after the fact, so me and my poor nearly healed back should make it through this one with no problemos.
Now I just have to track down 10 cool I-Spy-able fabrics that i am willing to part with and cut out the 200 squares and send them off ASAP.
I'm really excited! I joined my first-ever swap, an I-Spy swap as well, some time ago and made a quilt top that I have yet to finish. All 3 of my kiddos have laid claim to it. I realized I would need to make one for each of them. I think this first one will go to my 5 year old princess. Now to pick out a fabric for the sashing and the backing and quilt it.
I have some fun ideas for my other 2 kiddos quilts as well so I am very excited to get started!
Not really, this one is fun and non-stressful and involves no sewing until after the fact, so me and my poor nearly healed back should make it through this one with no problemos.
Now I just have to track down 10 cool I-Spy-able fabrics that i am willing to part with and cut out the 200 squares and send them off ASAP.
I'm really excited! I joined my first-ever swap, an I-Spy swap as well, some time ago and made a quilt top that I have yet to finish. All 3 of my kiddos have laid claim to it. I realized I would need to make one for each of them. I think this first one will go to my 5 year old princess. Now to pick out a fabric for the sashing and the backing and quilt it.
I have some fun ideas for my other 2 kiddos quilts as well so I am very excited to get started!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Purse
So I was forced by my pain in the neck (shoulder, back) to pick a new purse that I could put together quickly. It certainly did not turn out the way I had expected. I was just unable to concentrate and sew a straight line. I feel so awful and guilty for not putting out something better, but I just didn't want to quit. So, here are the pictures of the finished purse (just don't look too closely, please!).
I used the "Buttercup Bag" pattern from Made By Rae, but added additional pockets to the inside of the bag. I also left off the decorative flap and buttons from the exterior.
(ok, flickr is acting weird, I'll have to post more pics later!)
I used the "Buttercup Bag" pattern from Made By Rae, but added additional pockets to the inside of the bag. I also left off the decorative flap and buttons from the exterior.
(ok, flickr is acting weird, I'll have to post more pics later!)
The Purse
So I was forced by my pain in the neck (shoulder, back) to pick a new purse that I could put together quickly. It certainly did not turn out the way I had expected. I was just unable to concentrate and sew a straight line. I feel so awful and guilty for not putting out something better, but I just didn't want to quit. So, here are the pictures of the finished purse (just don't look too closely, please!).
I used the "Buttercup Bag" pattern from Made By Rae, but added additional pockets to the inside of the bag. I also left off the decorative flap and buttons from the exterior.
(ok, flickr is acting weird, I'll have to post more pics later!)
I used the "Buttercup Bag" pattern from Made By Rae, but added additional pockets to the inside of the bag. I also left off the decorative flap and buttons from the exterior.
(ok, flickr is acting weird, I'll have to post more pics later!)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
So much to do,so little time...
I joined the Sew, Mama, Sew Super Style Bag Swap late last month with no idea how crazy my month would turn out. Now I am 2 days from the deadline and far from being finished!!! My daughter was the female lead in her high school's production of "The Crucible" and I was tapped a day before opening to whip up some costumes. I spent most of the next 24 hours at my sewing machine to get the costumes finished for the show. I even enlisted my mom, who was a life-saver once I woke up in pain like I had never felt before. My back and shoulders had spasmed into an excruciating ball of pain that made every movement painful. I sewed together the last few collars through tears and hoped things would be better the next day. Unfortunately they weren't better. Nor the next day. Or for the next several days.
On Monday my dear hubby had foot surgery and I was still in pain but now I had much less help.
By Wednesday of this week I was still feeling the pinch in my shoulder, I was closer to functioning, but my Sister-In -Law was in town all the way from Spokane and we had the chance to get together with her and her kids at the zoo for a rare day of cousin-bonding. Thursday I made a little progress on the sewing, then my brother called to see if I could watch his 4 kiddos all day Friday since he was remodeling his kitchen and needed to get the floor in before the appliances were delivered that afternoon. Of course that meant no sewing was done on Friday... Oh, and Saturday is Trunk-or-Treat at my daughter's school so I will probably waste the day finishing Halloween costumes.
So here I sit with a dilemma. I have cut and fused and started a beautiful bag, but I am not entirely sure I can finish it this weekend. Maybe I can, but I'm not sure. Or, I can do a simpler bag for the swap and make this bag for a Christmas gift.
So much to do,so little time...
I joined the Sew, Mama, Sew Super Style Bag Swap late last month with no idea how crazy my month would turn out. Now I am 2 days from the deadline and far from being finished!!! My daughter was the female lead in her high school's production of "The Crucible" and I was tapped a day before opening to whip up some costumes. I spent most of the next 24 hours at my sewing machine to get the costumes finished for the show. I even enlisted my mom, who was a life-saver once I woke up in pain like I had never felt before. My back and shoulders had spasmed into an excruciating ball of pain that made every movement painful. I sewed together the last few collars through tears and hoped things would be better the next day. Unfortunately they weren't better. Nor the next day. Or for the next several days.
On Monday my dear hubby had foot surgery and I was still in pain but now I had much less help.
By Wednesday of this week I was still feeling the pinch in my shoulder, I was closer to functioning, but my Sister-In -Law was in town all the way from Spokane and we had the chance to get together with her and her kids at the zoo for a rare day of cousin-bonding. Thursday I made a little progress on the sewing, then my brother called to see if I could watch his 4 kiddos all day Friday since he was remodeling his kitchen and needed to get the floor in before the appliances were delivered that afternoon. Of course that meant no sewing was done on Friday... Oh, and Saturday is Trunk-or-Treat at my daughter's school so I will probably waste the day finishing Halloween costumes.
So here I sit with a dilemma. I have cut and fused and started a beautiful bag, but I am not entirely sure I can finish it this weekend. Maybe I can, but I'm not sure. Or, I can do a simpler bag for the swap and make this bag for a Christmas gift.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Passing On My Value System
I recently started following a very funny an interesting blog, Scary Mommy (love the name since all too often it is so true!) and she had a guest poster, Texas Momma, who wrote a post about her discomfort with her 4th grader's gay teacher because she was worried that the teacher's homosexuality might somehow infiltrate the classroom in an inappropriate way.
Now it probably goes without saying that Texas Momma is a conservative Christian and she sends her son to a public school. Scary Mommy, on the other hand, has much more liberal leanings. It was not too surprising that poor Texas Momma was descended upon like the villagers descended on Frankenstein. I hope her computer is fire-proofed, but more than that I hope she is.
So many of the comments were angry and hateful and demeaning and dismissive.
It got me thinking. Is it really effective to share our differences in viewpoint with such anger? Right now we are being inundated by horrible, hateful political campaign ads. Many of these ads make me angry. (just ask my husband, he laughs when I talk back to the tv) All of them cause me to lose respect for the politician or political action group sponsoring them. The net result, I am not happy with whomever wins, even if it was the side I voted for.
So, perhaps we can turn the tables. Be respectful. Give information and solutions that acknowledge and even respect differences of opinion. You can't advance a cause or idea by shoving an agenda down people's throats. When we do that, we just reinforce their negative viewpoint of our side of the argument and they dig in their heels. Respectful education and an attempt to understand where they are coming from, so the solutions we offer are at least slightly palatable to them, is much more effective.
Now it probably goes without saying that Texas Momma is a conservative Christian and she sends her son to a public school. Scary Mommy, on the other hand, has much more liberal leanings. It was not too surprising that poor Texas Momma was descended upon like the villagers descended on Frankenstein. I hope her computer is fire-proofed, but more than that I hope she is.
So many of the comments were angry and hateful and demeaning and dismissive.
It got me thinking. Is it really effective to share our differences in viewpoint with such anger? Right now we are being inundated by horrible, hateful political campaign ads. Many of these ads make me angry. (just ask my husband, he laughs when I talk back to the tv) All of them cause me to lose respect for the politician or political action group sponsoring them. The net result, I am not happy with whomever wins, even if it was the side I voted for.
So, perhaps we can turn the tables. Be respectful. Give information and solutions that acknowledge and even respect differences of opinion. You can't advance a cause or idea by shoving an agenda down people's throats. When we do that, we just reinforce their negative viewpoint of our side of the argument and they dig in their heels. Respectful education and an attempt to understand where they are coming from, so the solutions we offer are at least slightly palatable to them, is much more effective.
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