Sunday Up-D's

Christmas is fast approaching and the end of our hiatus is coming even faster. I have much that I hope to accomplish in the next week or so.
As of right now, our tree is up and looking fabulous, even more so than last year with the addition of some sweet little Martha Stewart ornaments bought at Macy's, including this tree topper. (Sorry for the teeny image...I guess you can no longer buy it online.)
I also have for the first time, my own little craft room tree.

Fake trees go against every little bit of Christmas spirit that resides in my soul, but a little baby bonus tree is a clear exception to that rule. I also don't have the heart to leave certain ornaments in a box in favor of stylish themed ornaments. But again, baby trees give a little creative outlet without forcing me to abandon Harv's extensive collection of Donald Ducks and Packer hat wearing mice (although we do prune those down, just a bit). Of course the only craft room tree theme that I have going on this inaugural year is "Box of ornaments I bought at Target four years ago." But they're so tiny and sweet! And if it weren't for them, this baby would probably be naked.

In addition to Christmas gifts, I'm nearing completion on this brand new quilt, made for a certain brand new baby.

And to go with the quilt, a trio of bibs, made from the pattern in Bend-the-Rules Sewing.

I did nothing to jazz these up at all. I was looking for some sort of mindless crafting that I could complete relatively quickly, thus making me feel better about myself one night, and these fit the bill. If you know a baby and you need a crafty pick-me-up, make one.

Stuff.

Lots of non-crafty things have been holding my attention lately.
Taking care of this guy.

Visiting the LA county fair.

Just a little bit of sewing.

This is just a little sneaky peek. I'll share more soon!

No time to talk

Hello friends. Harv and I had quite a busy and tiring yet fun weekend, going to Minnesota and Wisconsin for the annual Harvatine Rendezvous. More on that later though. I am tired and busy planning for somebody's 30th birthday this Friday. I just wanted to say hello and give you another peek at my progress on the quilt I started last week.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

That's better.

The molds are poured. There is no work to be done on Harv's maquette but wait for the silicone to cure. I think you know what that means!
Despite having a couple of quilts in the works and several other projects I could be working on, I was too excited about a new idea I had to not dive right into yet another quilt.
I'm not very familiar with many piecing tricks or techniques. I came up with a fun and simple way to execute this new design but for all I know it could already be out there in the universe. I don't know. I do know that I snuck a half hour this morning before work and made a little more progress on this puppy. I sewed for 30 minutes then got ready to leave and Harv said "I need two more minutes" so I thought "Perfect! I can make a couple more cuts!" Silly. Trying to cut a 21 in wide piece into three parts, I lined the edge up at the one inch mark. "Cut at 8 inches!" I thought. Done. "Okay, two times eight is 16! Cut there!" Done. "Why are my pieces all different sizes?" Wah-wah. So, I messed up. But that's okay! I will adjust and adapt and forge ahead. And then I'll make another quilt with this new pattern because, I'll be honest, I was planning on doing that anyway! Practice makes perfect. Despite this set back, it feels oh so good to put the clay and other messy stuff away and restore my sewing machine to it's place of honor. Ah.

Quilts, quilts, quilts

I am very happy to have several new quilts in the works.
First is a queen sized(my biggest yet!) Denyse Schmidt-ish quilt for my sister Lauren. As it is a belated birthday gift and she has given me a lot of input on the design and colors I feel free to post progress pictures here. I want to be sure that I am making something that she will like and use. There is nothing sadder than an unappreciated handmade gift, yet they are given all of the time! I hope that we can avoid that happening here with some early consultations.
The second new quilt is a miniature quilt I am making for a friend's upcoming birthday. This one will not be belated! Here's a little sneak peek:Once it is given I will share all of the details. I am having so much fun with this one that I am almost done with it, even though the birthday is not for a while!
And of course, we can't forget "Doll Quilt Swap II"! I have not yet started my quilt for the swap but I have an idea that I am very very very excited about. I can't wait to share! I am also excited that so many people signed up for the swap and glad that I signed up early. I am so sorry for all of you who wanted to participate but didn't make it before the early cut off. I am sure that there will be many more opportunities in the future.

Rainy day blues

As you may have guessed, most of my interests and activities take place indoors. I love to be outside but there is just so much sewing and crocheting and internetting to be done indoors. Living in Southern California we don't get many days that force us to stay inside. I don't like that! I need a little balance in my weather. I need days that tell me it's ok to sit inside watching a movie in my pajamas. Too much sunshine makes me feel like a bum, like I should be outside ALL day and I just don't do that!
I grew up in Connecticut where we have four very distinct seasons. I miss it so much! The seasons help you to measure time passing. They refresh and renew your spirit as well as nature. Spring can really only be fully appreciated after suffering through a cold and blustery winter. Rainy days give you the perfect excuse to snuggle up with someone soft and not feel like you're wasting your time. Too much sun makes me feel like a bad person for holing up in my craft room and watching Arrested Development.
I don't want you to think that I'm complaining. The weather here is great. I miss the snow and seasons of New England but I always say that if we're going to give all that up at least we're giving it up for beautiful year round sunshine.
The point is, I've been waiting for a rainy day. Today it is raining. There is nothing I want to do more than sit on the couch, watch DVDs and work on this all day.
But I have to go out! Outside! In the rain! Hiatus is slipping through my fingers like drops of rain on my bone dry lawn. Oh well, perhaps the rain will continue tomorrow. Sad.

Effervescing All Over the Place

I must type this real quick like because I am going to do some actual work today! At an actual workplace that is not my home! Yeeps! But don't worry, it is just for one day and I will be back in the craft room tomorrow.
Soooo...
My very bubbly quilt top is complete! I am so happy with it. All of the circles are appliqued and I made them using this handy trick as I mentioned before. I am going to hand quilt this baby with lots of little circles to add to the bubbliness. I am not sure what to use to draw the quilting circles on the top. I have had some bum luck in the past with certain pencils and chalk. Any tips?

Goings On

Remember this? I have just been plugging away at it over here, taking full advantage of the full days I can spend sewing right now.
Also, listening to a little of this and having MAJOR high school English flashbacks. I'm pretty sure I never actually finished reading it back then. So maybe the ending will be a surprise.
And last, we let the cats out in the backyard for a little bit on Easter and they have not gotten over it yet. We have been dealing with a lot of whiny Stabone and a lot of this:
You can just see in her face, she really thinks I'm going to open that door.

Three Weeks and Counting

Well the weekend is over and it's time to face facts: summer vacation is coming to an end. Yes internet, three weeks from today Harv and I will be back to work. No more long lazy days of crafting and cooking and eating and Wii-ing. It's all coming to an end.
Of course a lot can be accomplished in three weeks. I'm not trying to set any real, definitive deadlines on myself here because I know how I am and when I have to do something I want to do it a lot less. There are some things, though, that will get done simply because I want to do them. First, Harv and I will be making and animating some puppets for a stop-motion film that a friend is making. It is a collaborative sort of thing and I know that most of you are probably not too interested in animation I think that the puppet building might make for some good craft blog fodder. We shall see.
Second (although I will probably work on this first) is...my very first ever swap! Yes, I have done it. I am participating in the Doll Quilt Swap organized by Lisa K. I have my swap partner and after a little reconnaissance work at her blog and flickr page I have settled on an idea of sorts. I will be using the following fabrics,

and I think that I may utilize the old paper piecing technique since I would like to have some fairly small pieces. I don't have a real pattern in mind. I am just going to wing it and see what happens. I will keep you posted.

Home again, home again.

Hello internet!
We have returned from the great white Europe. We had a great time with Harv's parents. We started off in Munich, then went to Slovenia (where John I, Harv's great grandpa came from), met some Hrvatins (the original spelling of Harvatine), then spent a couple of days in Salzburg. A good time was had by all. Of course we have many many pictures to share, including fun things that only a crafter could love, but those will take some doing to sort through and get on Flickr. Don't worry though...soon, very soon.
In the meantime, I had two wonderful treats waiting for me when I returned home the other night! First was this,
the purchase I finally made using the ReproDepot gift certificate my parents gave me for Christmas. I was waiting for the right fabric to come around and boy was it worth it! The second treat was my Wee Wonderfuls Big-Footed Bunny pattern book! Hooray.
I was just now sitting here perusing the BFB photo group on Flickr and decided that enough's enough, I've been home a day and a half, it's about time I made a bunny. After all, my sister Leigh is coming to visit next weekend...we've got to Easter up the joint!
This is the perfect project for this fun fabric:
I don't really like holiday themed fabrics and I am pretty sure that this is not supposed to be an Easter print but the little ovals look so much like eggs that it prevents me from using it for anything non-Easter related. As I was writing that I remembered that I also purchased this little gem:
Definitely Easter themed yet still acceptable to me. Two bunnies it is, then!
Well, we've still got another month before we go back to work and I plan to craft/blog it up until then. Happy spring everyone, I am glad to be back and see you all again!

Someday I'll finish posting Christmas gifts

Here at long last is the quilt I made for my mother for Christmas!
It is Denyse Schmidt's Flock of Triangles from "Denyse Schmidt Quilts". It has mistakes. A lot of them. I had a really hard time piecing the triangles so that their tips wouldn't get cut off when I sewed the rows together. I also (gulp) didn't use a walking foot when I quilted it. I know I know! You have to use a walking foot! Well, I thought I could get away with it. Well, I was wrong and this quilt proved it.I feel bad because my technique has improved since I made this quilt and if I were to make it today it would be far superior. I realised that my mom is the recipient of these types of handmade gifts more often than anyone else I give gifts to. Gifts I have made when I have just begun a new craft but haven't quite got the hang of it yet. I wish I had a picture of the enormous fuzzy socks I knit her in college. But I think the reason for this is that she is always the first person that I want to share my new craft with. Everyone else has to wait. Besides, at the rate I am going, I foresee many more quilts in my mom's future.
Using what I have learned from the triangle quilt, I am making this zigging and zagging quilt.
The triangles are bigger than the "Flock" triangles and the fabrics are arranged to give these lovely, stripey zig-zags. I had a "duh" moment in which I figured out how to line the triangles up properly so as to remain triangles and not become trapezoids. And yes, I do have a walking foot now. The next time I make a quilt for my mom it is going to seriously kick ass.

Seriously Striking Back

Ta-da! Harv's Valentine's day gift, an Empire Strikes Back quilt, made from a bed sheet we bought at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.You can see more pictures, including some close-ups here.
And of course I can't let you go without a picture of the lucky recipient:
Is this too nerdy? Absolutely. But let's be honest, if you own a light saber, it doesn't really make sense to have an "Empire Strikes Back" quilt photo shoot without it. That's just silly. I will let the internet know that this was my idea, Harv is an innocent victim of my picture taking.
So now what? Another two months of hiatus = let's start another quilt! This next one is going to be really fast and simple. I bought these fabrics today to make a baby quilt for a friend's new little boy. I really really love this quilt which was inspired by this quilt (also love) and both have inspired what I am planning to do here.
I had a lot of fun picking out these fabrics. I got a lot of flannel and the blue is corduroy so it will all be nice and fun for baby to touch.

Progress

We don't have cable. Which means we don't have Tivo and we don't get HBO and we've never seen an episode of "Project Runway". These are all things that I know I would enjoy if I had access to them but I don't. It is my personal belief that, although I love it, tv sucks my life away. I simply cannpt resist things like "30 Minute Meals" and crappy MTV documentaries like "Made" (is that still on?). There is just too much I want to be doing with my time to waste it channel surfing all day. Watching too much tv makes me sick to my stomach and a little depressed.
So we decided a couple of years ago that we weren't going to pay to hae our lives sucked and we went off the cable. We're a rabbit ears family now. Rather than slobbing on the couch flipping through 100 channels for an hour, switching between three different shows that we are only aguely interested in, we have a handful of shows that we make a point to watch each week, things that we really want to see. Other than that there are some throw away shows that are entertaining while I'm crafting but don't take my attention away from the task at hand. The great thing about only having 7 or 8 channels (in English, there are about 12 more in Spanish and I think Japanese) is your done channel surfing in about 30 seconds. Then you're either watching something you like or the tv's off.
Now, all of this being said, I really do like to be entertained while I am crafting. While we're working and I only have the weekends to make stuff I listen to NPR non-stop. But now we're on hiatus and I have a lot of time to be entertained while I'm sewing. So, we've put our pinky toes into the pool of 21st century entertainment and joined Netflix! I spent a wonderful Sunday watching "Anne of Green Gables" (sigh) and working on this:
Harv's very very belated Valentine's gift. It's an Empire Strikes Back quilt, made out of a vintage sheet that we bought at the Rose Bowl flea market a couple of weeks ago.
So along with this discovery I made at this lovely blog, I am going to be up to my eyeballs in craft inducive entertainment. Perhaps this quilt could even be finished before March!

Denyse Schmidt Wannabe

I'm making a quilt for a secret someone using this fabric.I was looking at patterns, hoping for inspiration and I found this quilt on the Denyse Schmidt website. So that's what I'm doing. It's working out pretty well so far. I really hurt my brain trying to plan out how many of which color strips at what width and what length. That sort of thing gets really jumbled up in my head but I'm glad I did it. That way I only cut the fabric that I needed and it was much simpler to lay out the final pattern without having to worry about using too much or too little of any one fabric.
Here is my center panel. I have sewn on the two side panels and spray basted everything together so maybe this weekend I will be able to quilt it up!

In No Particular Order

Strips of fabric for my Christmas tree skirt. I cut a bunch of strips of different widths and whatever length the fabric I was using would allow. I've started to sew them together into 4 foot long strips. I thought that I would be able to arrange them randomly but I think it's going to require more planning than that. So I am going to make enough strips and then rearrange to my heart's content on my little felt wall here. I think I need more solids.