November 17, 2009
My model is so sweet, don’t ya think? Fresh out of the bath with her ‘jamas. Sorry for the poor lighting.. I put off taking this picture all day only to discover it had gotten dark outside.
A couple of weekends ago my 17 yr old niece asked if I could make her a hat for Christmas.. She had a couple with her and told me a little bit about each and why she liked them best from her collection. So I gave it some thought, then went to this flickr group.. and that’s when I came across CoffeeCupcakes pattern. I love the look of this hat.. all sloppy and relaxed…just like my niece 
. This pattern was so simple and it only took me a few hours to complete. In fact, it was so quick I decided to throw in a matching scarf.
Have you ever used the yarn called “I Love This Yarn”? I’ll tell you, it’s wonderful!! It’s a velvety kind of soft with just a bit of give.. and yet it’s still pliable enough that your hook won’t gouge through it. I Love it, love it, love it… thus the name I suppose.
Anywho, if you’re looking for free knit or crochet patterns take a look in the above flickr group.. there are all kinds of interest things in there.. from clothes, to squares, to hats!
November 13, 2009
Evidently the cooler weather has turned me into a crochet junky. Even when I’m working on something else, I’m longing for my hooks. So, it looks as though my IceCream quilt is going to have to wait even longer. My heart’s just not in it. I have the next pattern ready..I just can’t make myself cut the fabric. Maybe I’ll feel like tackling it once I have this crochet project is finished.
November 11, 2009
That’s the outcome. I can’t believe how much faster I am now that I’ve completed 11 blocks. Block one took me the whole weekend..and that was working pretty consistently on both Saturday and Sunday. This block only took a few hours.
I also can’t believe we’ve only one more block. I’m sad. I’ll miss the anticipation, the rush to the computer on the “5th” of every month, and the gushing over how cute each and every block is. This project has been so much fun and I’ve learned a lot about applique because of it. (more about that later)
I’ve finally started to think about my sashing.. do I want it as a wall-hanging or do I want it as a quilt?? I’m leaning toward a quilt..a wall-hanging wouldn’t match my decor too well. My only issue with a quilt is with my fabric. Besides the background block squares, all the fabric I used was scraps. I chose to do this because I wasn’t sure if I’d even enjoy applique..so I didn’t want to buy fabric I didn’t need. But now, I worry about having enough scraps to pull off a quilt. Should I add in some solid borders around each block?? Maybe add in some nine patch sqaures with some new prints?? Hmmm.. My thought process continues…
November 6, 2009
Look at this…
It’s a whole roll of quilt batting. A whole roll!! A sweet lady that works with my hubby actually had this just laying around in her basement. Can you believe it? Not giving it a second thought? And guess what else?? She’s not even a quilter. What? Quilt batting in the home of a non-quilter?? I know!!
I can’t believe my luck!
Thank you Destiny!!! I heart you!
♥
November 4, 2009
A while back I told the story about a very poor kitty who’d lost his home and was found by a very happy little girl.. Well, Poor Kitty has now been renamed “Pepper” and has gone from pauper to prince virtually over night. In other words, he lives with us now. It turns out that Pepper is the very best of hunters. He’s killed countless moles, several mice, every bird insight, and a flying squirrel. Here’s the morbid picture to prove it…
Well, as I was telling Goose for the 14th time this morning to sit down, drink her orange juice, eat her banana, and don’t forget your vitamins (we’ve had a cold for a week), Pepper comes prancing through the kitchen with his latest catch..a mouse..which is still alive…… Hmmm, I think to myself, I can handle this..I open the back door and try to coach him and his prey out.. Not working. Pepper then begins to swat the mouse around..showin’ him who’s boss, I guess. Just as I open my mouth to tell Goose to sit down that mouse takes off running..Goose’s eyes get as big around as eggs and the mouse heads straight up her pant leg. AHHHH!!!! We’re both yelling and jumping up and down frantic stricken. Luckily he came right back out and Pepper grabbed him up. Poor ol’ Goose burst into tears and I’m yelling, “Did it bite you? Did it bite you?” Again, we were lucky..it only scared her. It was then I started to laugh…how funny we must have looked..jumping up and down and screaming at the top of our lungs.. and how funny this story will be years from now when Goose retells it to her kids. Of course Goose found no humor whatsoever in this event. Actually, She went off to school mad. I’m sure at this very moment, she’s telling all her little friends how mean her mama is…But I’m still giggling. It was a crazy morning.
November 2, 2009
My Craft Hope quilt is finally finished. I hope to get her in the mail tomorrow. A lot of thought when into this quilt. I knew I was on a time line so I wanted it to be as easy as possible but it didn’t seem as though that was what was going to happen. At first I was going to use one of the free patterns provided by Craft Hope but I kept running in to trouble with my fabric choices. First I had issues with the online checkout process.. then I spent over an hour in my local fabric shop only to come up empty handed. So I scaped that route and focused on the Charlie Brown fabric. From that came the reverse applique idea. After I completed that I felt moved to do the circular quilting idea.
I love the applique.. not so crazy about the circular quilting though. Perhaps if the circles where tighter ??? I don’t know.. sometime my ideas and outcomes don’t match. Goose thinks it looks cool though.. so hopefully the child who receives it will too.
October 30, 2009
I’m not exactly sure how or when Goose came up with the idea of being a Hippie for halloween but this is the outcome to her thoughts…
This was all her idea: Cute little braids with colorful beads.. a ribbon headband.. tie-dyed fleece shawl.. peace purse.. blue jean bell-bottoms with painted graffiti.. and of course, peace necklace and earrings. I find myself asking, when did she become such an expert on 60s fashion? Scary!!
I made the jeans out of an old shower curtain, drew on a few 60s themed icons with chalk, and then let her at the with some paint.
Here she is..the graffiti queen.
All and all I think her ideas came together perfectly… It is definitely the easiest outfit she’s had to date.
I hope ya’ll have a very scary, candy-filled, Happy Halloween!!
October 28, 2009
I had a little time this weekend to work on my Craft Hope quilt. I’ve never done reverse applique before so I’ve been enjoying the process…planning it out in my head..pinning it down and visualizing how it will hold together once it’s sewn. So far so good. It’s really quite easy. If you’ve never attempted it, let me encourage you to go for it. You can totally do this.
This is how I went about it..
First I picked an easy shape..the circle. Duh, cause who can go wrong with a circle. Then I pulled out two plates..one slightly bigger than the other.
I traced the smaller of the two plates with chalk right on to the reverse side of my quilt top. I did this several times to give me the desired look I was going for.
Once I was happy with the layout I traced the larger of the two plates on to the back of my print fabric and cut out.. you don’t have to be exact with your cutting.. the excess fabric will be hidden between the top and the back of your quilt.
Then I pinned the print fabric to the backside on my quilt top using my first set of chalk outlines to line it up.
I flipped it and again traced the smaller of the two plates in the same place on the front of my quilt. (You’ll use your pins as a guide line.) This gives you a sewing line.
Cut your top circle out leaving about a 1/4 inch for turning under. Be sure not to cut your print fabric when doing this.
Cut out full circle.
Then cut small slits in the extra 1/4 inch so that there will be no puckering.
Turn under and pin. Remove underside pins.
Take it to your sewing machine and sew around your circle as close to its edge as possible.
Repeat until you’re happy with the look.
My applique is done.. maybe I’ll have a finished quilt to show you in my next post… hopefully. edit – below..The Quilt
October 21, 2009
If you haven’t stopped by to see what Craft Hope has going on you need to. This time they’re collecting quilts for the homeless. Jade said she was hoping for 200+ volunteers.. when I stopped in she had 199.. I saw it as a sign from above and immediately signed up. It makes me happy to help someone in need. I know I’ve been talking about working on my Ice cream quilt but there will be time for that later. And besides, this Craft Hope quilt shouldn’t take too long to finish. I have the quilt layout in my head and my supplies are bought..now I’ve got to put it all together and get it sent off before Nov 15th. Nov. 15th?? I know! That’s pushing it a bit.. at least it is for me.
