I was at the store this morning buying groceries and "buy M.D. card" was on the list. As I perused the scattered remains in the card section (which is what happens when you leave it waaaaaay too late) I was reminded of a segment I'd just heard on the radio asking women what their best and worst Mother's Day gifts were...
The worst? A ride on lawn mower (yes - you have read that correctly). The best? The homemade/handmade gifts. Now I've made and received my fair share of sea shell macaroni vases and Popsicle stick jewelery boxes in the life. I can confirm that yes, any gift I ever got that was made with love was always the best.
And so - Mom this one's for you. Happy Mom Day to the woman who made all my clothes when I was young, taught me the value of a good pair of scissors, and never, ever pass up an opportunity to just make it!
I found this free pincushion pattern over here on paper.string.cloth. I upped the square size to 3" and lined the cushion with muslin. I like to fill my pincushions with crushed walnuts to give them a nice weight as well.
I was at the store this morning buying groceries and "buy M.D. card" was on the list. As I perused the scattered remains in the card section (which is what happens when you leave it waaaaaay too late) I was reminded of a segment I'd just heard on the radio asking women what their best and worst Mother's Day gifts were...
The worst? A ride on lawn mower (yes - you have read that correctly).
The best? The homemade/handmade gifts. Now I've made and received my fair share of sea shell macaroni vases and Popsicle stick jewelery boxes in the life. I can confirm that yes, any gift I ever got that was made with love was always the best.
And so - Mom this one's for you. Happy Mom Day to the woman who made all my clothes when I was young, taught me the value of a good pair of scissors, and never, ever pass up an opportunity to just make it!
I found this free pincushion pattern over here on paper.string.cloth. I upped the square size to 3" and lined the cushion with muslin. I like to fill my pincushions with crushed walnuts to give them a nice weight as well.
I think they say it's a woman's prerogative. Probably a sexist historical catch phrase - but since I am a woman - and it conveniently fits - I'm playing it. (I could play the "It's Mother's Day" card - but that might be a minefield).
Old Guy on a bike - Vancouver Stanley Park
I was going to just stop blogging on here altogether, but after acouple months of exclusive blogging away on my crafty blog (yes I am still over there too) I realized this is where I've always talked about the other stuff. The road trips, the Old Guy stuff. The what's in the garden and on the grill stuff? The adventures of Youngman I and II. Not to mention all the heady philosophical stuff like: Can shabby chic shams and pillowcases coexist with primitive steampunk dolls in the same guest room? The how crappy can my punctuation really get before I start getting blog complaints??
Don't get me wrong - I love my craft blog. It makes me feel like I'm being productive and documents my projects. "Whaddya mean I haven't been doing anything all day??? Did ya check my blog? I'm workin' my fingers to stumps!"
Anyways - so there you go folks. I am always sheepless at heart. And I'm baaaaaaaaa-ck!
(I started this post back in April - hence the title).
So. I am up to my eyeballs in projects right now. (Have I written about this before?) I have picked up yet another couple of projects along my way (yes indee-dee it's true) and I find I've had to buy more project boxes to stash them all in an orderly fashion. (I'm now resorting to baggies).
I joined the "Pretty in Patchwork - Holidays Sew Along" on Threadbias a while ago just to follow along (ya right) and the next thing I knew I had bought the book and was scrambling to get the March project done. I started on the 29th. No pressure there. This was to be a "not one red penny" project - aka "stash buster" and aside from the fusible backing that I required- I managed to hold firm.
The March Sew Along was the "Harvest Vine Table Runner". I wasn't really feeling the love for an autumn theme (it was March after all) but someone else posted a bright happy version... and needless to say I was off to my stash.
I am a sucker for bright fabrics. I also love the flowery stuff. I seem to purchase it by the metric ton - and then it sits forever while I try to figure out what the heck to do with it. (I do paw it alot however).
So here (left) is my final selection using 6 Kaffe Fassett fabrics from a fat quarter bundle I purchased around Christmas.
I spent a goodly amount of time learning how to piece curves. Turns out it's really pretty easy once you have a handy little video tutorial to show you how!
It took a leap of faith to just "let it happen" because it just looked too easy to be true. But it worked like a charm and before I knew it all 24 curved petal bits were done.
I also wanted to try my hand at designing a "Creative Quilt Back". I'd taken a free Craftsy tutorial (of the same name) and using scraps from my quilt top this is what I ultimately came up with.
Next came the quilting! This is something I really love - the free motion bits. I'm not very disciplined at staying with a plan - so this little project was perfect for exploring techniques, threads etc. I used a transparent Mylar thread on top for two reasons: 1. I had a lot of colour and activity taking place on the top already and 2. if I screwed up I didn't want to see it. A basic off-white machine quilting thread was used in the bobbin. This worked out well because I could see my quilting stitches on the backside. It was a good way to see where things went well and other areas... meh!
(I started this post back in April - hence the title).
So. I am up to my eyeballs in projects right now. (Have I written about this before?) I have picked up yet another couple of projects along my way (yes indee-dee it's true) and I find I've had to buy more project boxes to stash them all in an orderly fashion. (I'm now resorting to baggies).
I joined the "Pretty in Patchwork - Holidays Sew Along" on Threadbias a while ago just to follow along (ya right) and the next thing I knew I had bought the book and was scrambling to get the March project done. I started on the 29th. No pressure there. This was to be a "not one red penny" project - aka "stash buster" and aside from the fusible backing that I required- I managed to hold firm.
The March Sew Along was the "Harvest Vine Table Runner". I wasn't really feeling the love for an autumn theme (it was March after all) but someone else posted a bright happy version... and needless to say I was off to my stash.
I am a sucker for bright fabrics. I also love the flowery stuff. I seem to purchase it by the metric ton - and then it sits forever while I try to figure out what the heck to do with it. (I do paw it alot however).
So here (left) is my final selection using 6 Kaffe Fassett fabrics from a fat quarter bundle I purchased around Christmas.
I spent a goodly amount of time learning how to piece curves. Turns out it's really pretty easy once you have a handy little video tutorial to show you how!
It took a leap of faith to just "let it happen" because it just looked too easy to be true. But it worked like a charm and before I knew it all 24 curved petal bits were done.
I also wanted to try my hand at designing a "Creative Quilt Back". I'd taken a free Craftsy tutorial (of the same name) and using scraps from my quilt top this is what I ultimately came up with.
Next came the quilting! This is something I really love - the free motion bits. I'm not very disciplined at staying with a plan - so this little project was perfect for exploring techniques, threads etc. I used a transparent Mylar thread on top for two reasons: 1. I had a lot of colour and activity taking place on the top already and 2. if I screwed up I didn't want to see it. A basic off-white machine quilting thread was used in the bobbin. This worked out well because I could see my quilting stitches on the backside. It was a good way to see where things went well and other areas... meh!
We've been planning a mini vacation to Vancouver for a while now - just to get away from the last remnants of winter that we just can't seem to shake off. With that in mind I decided to make a sewing kit... And of course it's turned into a much bigger project than I originally intended. I found 3 fat quarters at my LQS and thought they were perfect for practising a bit of free motion quilting on and to use one of the buttons I've been collecting for awhile.
I ended up googling lots of tutorials and found Pinterest to be a great source of inspiration for design ideas. At the end of the day I didn't get the kit completed but got the "bones" of it together, so I've packed it along with some little scraps to make 1" hexagons and I was good to go.
Since I am a big time early riser even on vacation ( anytime between 5 - 7 am is not uncommon) I like to walk to the local beanery, grab a java and come home to stitch. We usually don't really "get going" til later so I can easily get a couple hours of meditative needle in - needle out in if I so desire...
We've been planning a mini vacation to Vancouver for a while now - just to get away from the last remnants of winter that we just can't seem to shake off. With that in mind I decided to make a sewing kit... And of course it's turned into a much bigger project than I originally intended. I found 3 fat quarters at my LQS and thought they were perfect for practising a bit of free motion quilting on and to use one of the buttons I've been collecting for awhile.
I ended up googling lots of tutorials and found Pinterest to be a great source of inspiration for design ideas. At the end of the day I didn't get the kit completed but got the "bones" of it together, so I've packed it along with some little scraps to make 1" hexagons and I was good to go.
Since I am a big time early riser even on vacation ( anytime between 5 - 7 am is not uncommon) I like to walk to the local beanery, grab a java and come home to stitch. We usually don't really "get going" til later so I can easily get a couple hours of meditative needle in - needle out in if I so desire...
