Random bits and pieces

I got stuck on the short bus for longer tonight than usual, which left me plenty of time to browse my People and People Stylewatch magazines, look out the windows and wince over too many potholes to count.

While looking at People magazine, I was thrilled to see a little feature about Tim Gunn from Project Runway, one of my all-time favorite shows. It was a look into his closet, and it was so surprising. Lots of wire hangers, a really ugly Hawaiian shirt and not much room at all. Since he was without a dresser, he even had to keep his socks in a cardboard box! Even though I am often wistful about moving to the NYC area, I guess I should be realistic about the chances I'd be able to afford a place that would hold all my clothes, not to mention the rest of my crap!

I got my hair colored last week - to red. And it turned out really red. Since then, I've been called Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone and Red at work. haha ... It is bright - I hope it fades a bit so I don't look so cartoon-y.

I'm hoping to get a lot of quilting and other miscellaneous crafting done this weekend. I don't have any concrete plans. I hope to watch lots of movies (I just got "Nadia" from NetFlix ... I can't wait to watch that. It's probably been at least 20 years since I've seen it) and I have some others around to watch. I also got some cool scrapbooking supplies, so ideally I'll actually use them for a project for myself. I recently finished a Craftster swap that involved scrapbooking, and I enjoyed working on it so much! But seriously, another craft? So much for "saving" all that money by embarking on a stashbusting year!

Here are some pictures of some of my projects in progress:

This is a dog quilt I am working on. So loud! I have added a couple of borders and am trying to piece the back (which is turning out harder than I thought!


Here's a closer shot to see some of the cute fabrics.


Love, love, love this! I know exactly how I want this to look when I am done and already have a quilting pattern in mind. Also trying to piece this back, but was deterred from the project a bit after running into issues with the dog quilt.

Gone, but not forgotten

I am a horrible blogger. I write (well, supposedly) all day long, and seriously, by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is write more, although I have to admit that blogging is much more relaxing than assembling news releases.

My lack of blogging does not indicate my level of productivity craft-wise though. I've been working on a few different quilts, been involved in two craft swaps on Craftster (ah Craftster, how I love thee) and done other little projects here and there.

I recently went away to quilt camp and got so much done! It was my most productive time away yet; I think having that extra day really made a difference. It's funny because I have tons of "free" time, but I think being home alone really feeds into my imaginary ADD (notice there is no mention of the hyperactivity portion). I am a multi-tasker to the supreme. Sewing, crafting, on the computer, watching TV, all in various combinations.

A while back my friend Amy tagged me to do a list of six random things about me. I hadn't forgotten, just been a lazy poster. So, without further ado, here they are:

1. I am a notorious collector. There are so many things that I gather and save, like a squirrel with nuts. There's the Snoopy collection, Muffy Vanderbears, Pez dispensers, stickers, etc. Oh, and that little hoard of fabric too.

2. I was originally inspired to go into journalism thanks to Sassy magazine. Other than an awesome internship, I haven't gone the magazine route, but I still have a special place in my heart for Sassy. Needless to say, I still have all my old Sassy magazines.

3. I love the Olympics! I am SO looking forward to the summer games. I like sports in general - yay for the Packers - and I'll watch some sports whenever they're on TV, like gymnastics, swimming, diving, etc., but there's something about the Olympics that just fascinates me. I'll spend hours watching sports I may never have watched before. I guess all that NBC marketing is doing its job!

4. I used to be scared of Mexican food. When I was younger and Chi Chi's restaurants were the norm, I would go with my sisters and I'd order a hamburger and fries. I'm embarrassed to admit that now - I love Mexican food! That is one thing I really miss about living in Texas.

5. I love movies that involve some sort of music and/or dancing. Love Fame, Camp, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Center Stage, Sound of Music and even High School Musical. I could watch those movies a dozen times and not tire of them. Of course this is kind of unusual, since I have no talent singing or dancing, especially these days!

6. I love to swim, but I am a horrible breather! If only I could get my coordination to kick in. Watching people that really can swim really kicks my jealous tendencies into gear.


Here are a few photos of some of my recent projects.

This is a quilt my mom and I are making for my nephew, who just graduated (OK, who am I kidding, he graduated last May). Anyway, my mom and I did the blocks and then I hand quilted the whole thing. All it needs now is the binding, and lucky for me, she's handling that part. :)



This is a cute Keroppi cross stitch I finished a while back. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I've got patterns for other Hello Kitty characters too.

A weekend state of mind

Ahh, glorious weekend! It's funny how much my state o' mind changes when the weekend rolls around. I love to sleep (surprise), but sometimes I don't want to waste my weekend time sleeping when there are so many other things I'd rather be doing!

Tomorrow I'm heading downtown with my mum ... we're doing the farmers market thing and checking out the sights with my Little Visitor. I hope the weather stays nice so I can get lots of pictures.

Sunday is the quilting day, so I am psyched about that. I still am undecided about what to work on, but I'm leaning toward my dog quilt. I've gotten a few blocks done, but still have lots to do. Either that or my postage stamp quilt, but I'm not sure my patience is up for that!

I've been working on the handquilting on Josh's quilt some more and only have like 1.5 sides of the border more to do. So close! I need to get some photos of it ... in all the time my mom and I have been working on it, I don't think we've taken any photos.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my tax stimulus check. That is the only way I may be able to swing quilt camp this month. Gotta keep my fingers crossed.

Some finished stuff

I haven't been terribly productive in the last week or so. I've been super tired with work stuff and, in more exciting things, a visit from the boy! My apartment is now jam-packed with stuff from the old house in Texas now that it has finally sold. So in good news I now have grown up furniture ... in not so good news, my apartment is so full of boxes and plastic tubs that it's almost ridiculous!

So craft-wise I haven't been doing much. I have finally gotten through my entire stash of 1.5" squares, sorting them out by color, trying to eliminate doubles and seeing how many I have. I think I have more than 2,000 -- my count was 2,100 but I'm allowing wiggle room for some of the doubles I pulled out. Then I stuck them all in two gallon-size Ziploc bags and mixed them all up. That was rather satisfying. I've drafted a pattern that I plan to use in my quilt, but haven't started sewing yet. I think I'll have to break down and buy some background fabric, just because I used to buy so many small pieces.

Anyway, here are a few projects that I've finished semi-recently, but pre-blog.

I made this wallhanging for my mom. She's been quilting for decades, but still doesn't have a single quilt that she made for herself! I am definitely not that selfless! I really liked this pattern ... I kind of saw something similar in a magazine then drafted my own pattern. I think the swirly pattern is called Indiana Puzzle. Kind of appropriate, no?

Speaking of seeing patterns in the backs of magazines then drafting my own version, this dog wallhanging was another one I had inspirational help on.

I also drafted these fire hydrant blocks, which were just insane ... like 18 separate pieces within a three-inch or so square. Sometimes I wonder about my ideas. 

I also quilted bones in the border, which I liked the effect of. 

This is a wallhanging I made for one of my friends for Christmas. I love this pattern, but it's really complicated. I have about five other of these blocks made (and of course plenty more black, white, purple and green material) but I haven't made any more progress on another project with them. Someday, I hope!

Typical me

Ha! I should have known that the goal to do something new everyday would be a stretch. I may have to scale that back to once a week or something.

I have been productive though, believe it or not. I finally(!!!) got through book 6 and 7 of Harry Potter. They've been on my to-read list forever and a day, but I never got to them. So bummed that I didn't read them sooner; they were rather awesome.

I've also joined a swap on craftster.com, which seriously is rather addictive. I've been saving 1.5" fabric squares for years and years, planning to make a postage stamp quilt. My goal is to have every block be different, but that is really hard! I have the pieces separated into baggies of each color, and that works fine, but after you collect so many it's hard to keep the baggies without having doubles.

Anyway, the swap I joined was to exchange 1.5" squares. I swapped with nine other people -- we each sent each other 60 pieces. It is so nice to check the mail and get something besides bills! I've gotten a ton of cool fabrics, but of course now I have the daunting task of sorting through all the pieces and compare them with what I have. I have no idea how many I need to make the quilt. I've never even counted what I have ... I may already have too many, who knows? I should make an effort to count though. I doubt I want to make multiple postage stamp quilts.

I have a ton of scraps, so I've been cutting my pieces for everyone else from those. Not only do I have scraps from my own projects, but other quilters I know know that I will save just about any little piece. I often get scrap hand-me-downs, which thrills me beyond measure. I just love to sort through all the pieces and see all the different fabrics.

I've been busy with projects as well. I've made a few things out of felt.

I made this cupcake to use as a pincushion:

And this felt doughnut just for fun:

I also have this quilt top completed and I've started working on the quilting. I've been lazy about taking new photos, but since I took this I added a black polka dot border around the outside and the quilting so far is really cool. I'm doing it in various circles of different sizes, with no specific pattern. I'm doing a ton of thread colors. So far I'm really happy with it.

Here's a few pictures of the top:

A fresh year

So yesterday was my birthday. I turned, well, old. Then I started thinking and wondering about the idea of New Year's resolutions ... why on Jan. 1 and not your birthday, when each person really is starting a fresh year? No good reason, other than the whole merchandising angle, I guess.

Well anyway, my resolution for my, ahem, next year is to try something new every day. Not saying that I'm going to be going all nuts and crazy, but I hope this will be a good opportunity and reason to branch out a little.

To be perfectly honest, I'm starting terribly slow.

Yesterday: I tried an Arby's fish sandwich. Which lead me to believe there was a reason why I hadn't been moved to try them before. Not the best.

Today: I'm starting this new blog, which I hope will give me a place to show off some of the miscellaneous oddities and creations I make. I am a sewing and crafting fool and love to spend my time doing just about anything that involves craft or art supplies. My main outlet is quilting, but I certainly like to keep my options open!

I'm taking a few days off work this week so I hope to get a lot accomplished. Lots of movies, napping and making stuff. I hope to have photos to post soon!