Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My New Obsession

Has anyone been to pinterest.com?

It's addictive. And wonderful.

I've been pinning about books...projects I want to try...decorating ideas for the house I want to buy...

I have a few friends getting married in the next year or so, so I'm thinking about some gifts...how cute is this?

~love birds~
http://pinterest.com/edieselman/

Saturday, May 28, 2011

:(

So last weekend I was sewing along...and...CRUNCH!

My machine is busted. Or jammed. Or something. I took it to the nice repair man down the street and he thinks he can fix it, but in the process of trying to fix it myself, I lost the tiny screw that holds the needle in.

That wouldn't be a problem, except that my machine is a billion years old and not in production anymore. Nice repair man thinks he might have a similar model in his sewing machine graveyard to pillage for parts. I hope he's right.

However, before the crunch, I managed to piece together this top!
~quilted advent calendar~
I tried some "fusible" batting on it, which I have never done before. Thought it might be quicker because you can cut out the pinning step, but I'm not sold. It didn't fuse all that well...maybe I didn't set the iron high enough? Has anyone used this before? Have any tips?

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Basket Progress!

A sweet little basket...
With a tinier basket inside!
~sorry this one is a little blurry...~


I think I'm getting the hang of this!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wow, check this out! Looks like a great tool for crafting - I know I'd love to win!

There are lots of ways to enter this giveaway - check it out by clicking!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Inspiration

I'm often inspired by my friend Carole Ann at Connect the Dots Crafts. She is creative, talented, and generally awesome.
Last year, while I was visiting, I saw some super cool things she had made, which she blogged about here. See those trees? AMAZING, right? So I asked her to teach me how to piece hexagons, which she did. And then, I completely copied her idea. Check it out!

It looks lopsided in the picture, but I promise it's not actually like that :) I bound it up like a little quilt, and as soon as I can get the hubby to break out a hammer and nails, I'll hang it on the wall.
Thanks, Carole Ann!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

May Charity

Since my April charity focused on people who are far away, for May I'd like to focus a little closer to home. I will be donating to a local homeless shelter...I'll have to make some calls and make sure they want what I have to give! This month's project will be socks. Why socks?
1. I really like knitting socks. It makes me feel really smart. People who know how to knit socks will know why.
2. Everyone needs socks!
3. I have lots of sock yarn in my stash.
4. Socks are cute and fun. For example:
Adorable, right?
After stumbling around a bit (I think I frogged three sock attempts before settling on a pattern that would work for me and the yarn I wanted to use...and then I contemplated how funny the word "frog" is) I found this pattern on ravelry.Happy Knitting!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My mom, all fancied up for my wedding!

 In honor of Mother's Day, of course I had to do some crafting. I made a few of these... (tutorial here) So cute, and so easy!
Tiny covered notebooks
 One of these... (tutorial  here) because my mom has a pocketbook full of cards...
Loyalty card holder
 And some of these! (tutorial here) My mom has a blackberry, but she is notoriously bad about leaving it places. I thought maybe if she could attach it to her keys, she might be able to keep track of it :)
Cute little pouch
 Finally, for my mom and grandmas, some sugar scrub. I have to admit, I was skeptical about this concept at first, but this stuff is AWESOME. Even my hubby loves it, because he comes home with gross rough hands and likes to smooth it all away! Tutorial here.
Sugar Scrub
To all the moms out there - Happy Mother's Day! Hope you have been having a relaxing day!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

T-Shirt Quilt: Part 2

I actually finished this ages ago, but didn't get around to taking photos because it was on our bed!





I made this using Maiden Jane's T-Shirt Quilt Pattern, which I highly recommend. I tried figuring it out on my own the first time I made one, but her way was much easier :) This one showcases some of my hubby's old t-shirts - mostly from high school.This one is my favorite...

Isn't she cute? And on the back...
smaller squares from old PJ pants with cute patterns.

In other news, my dear friend Carole Ann at Connect the Dots Crafts featured little old ME today as her "Creative Friend". I'm flattered! Check it out here.  Thanks Carole Ann!