Friday, December 6, 2013

Gifts from the heart

We are coming up on christmas which means it is time to start crafting for loved ones. This year, since my parents are going on a cruise and not inviting me, momma is getting homemade napkins and placemats that will coordinate with her kitchen. I am following a sew along on sewmamasew.com http://www.sewmamasew.com/category/sew-alongs/colorblockplacemats/

Being the bargain shopper I am I took myself to Joanns to revel in their midnight madness sale. I got these adorable fabrics for a steal!


Step one was washing, drying, and ironing the fabric before cutting the pieces. I prefer to cut everything that will be pieced ahead of time so I can spend the rest of my time sewing. Personally I love to pop on a movie (or watch an entire season of desperate housewives on netflix) when I sew so I don't want to take a break to cut more pieces.


I did make a mistake when cutting my fabric though and now have to go back to get more to make one of the blocks. Measure twice cut once right? Well maybe next time I'll remember.


I decided to knock out the napkins first. Hopefully I can have that done this week. then we'll be taking out the placemats.


Keep an eye out and watch as these pieces come together!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A closet full of UFOs

Every crafter hides a secret, maybe its under the bed or tucked away in the basement, mine hides in the closet.

If you were to walk into my home  (don't mind the dog hair) and open the door to my obsessively organized craft room and look into the closet you would find a bin. This bin sits on the highest shelf, its lid covered with dust, and it contains all of the sad unfinished fabric objects (UFOs) that are waiting to be made whole, a crafters lost children.

I came across this bin yesterday when looking for my crochet hook. I pulled out my first quilt, a patchwork of large yellow squares I decided to hand quilt. I've been working on this thing for about 6 years. With any luck it will be done before we re-enter the roaring 20's.

I had to turn a blind eye to the other 2 pieced quilt tops, half of a knit sweater, two partially started emroidery projects, and various other objects. It may seem weird but I swear the quilt looked sad, I half expected it to sing "here on the island of misfit toys". I had to close the bin and place it back on its shelf and pretend I wasn't abandoning them again repeating the promise that I would come back for them for the umpteenth time.

Slowly but surely I am making my way through my bin of shame turning halfling crafts into the sources of joy made with love that they were initially meant to be. In honor of these "lost boys" I am hereby instituting UFO Friday. Choose a project that has been abandoned and every Friday document your progress. With my "sunshine quilt" I am taking it one block at a time, however you keep track of it is up to you but for this project this has seemed to work pretty well.

Look back for photos of my sunshine quilt and its progress to being able to embrace a bed and comfort a person (without risking waking up with needles and safety pins in your skin).

Acknowledge the UFOs and make them whole. Don't ignore them!

Friday, October 18, 2013

The woman, the myth, the occasional hot mess

Welcome lovelies,

As much as I would love to say that I'm an amazingly successful, do-it-all, young business woman, the truth is that I'm a recent college graduate with a useless degree. My day job, which I am fortunate to have, isn't exactly fulfilling leading to a million questions along the lines of "what am I doing with my life". Quick raise your hands if you've been here, to the woman in the back with your hand still down please teach me your ways.

I tried to spend my time figuring out how to be the kind of woman that wears suits to work and climbs stair in stilettos, but I'm just not that modern of a woman. According to multiple sources (including my incredibly wise mother) I have an old soul. I love almost all things lace and vintage. I like doing things old school, writing letters by hand, baking treats from scratch, and even hand quilting.

This blog is about my attempt to meld my vintage tastes in a modern world, about putting soul and love back into everyday life, and a LOT of crafting.

I look forward to growing with all of you!

Elizabeth