Bustin' some stash

I'm feeling pretty accomplished this week.  Probably wont be able to keep that up but for now it's good :)

Here is an actual finished project.  I had been given a huge stack of decorator fabric samples because I sew/quilt.  But what to do with them?   They're all different weights and fiber contents.  I was about to donate them to Value Village in the hopes that someone would be able to do something with them when I had a brillient idea.  A curtain for our kitchen!  We usually just have a valance up there but in the summer is gets so hot in our west facing apartment with the sun beating in all evening.  The bedsheet I had pinned up there last year is apparently gone.  And something had to be done.  This was perfect. 

Here's a daylight shot.  Pretty funky.  But great - lets in some light without raising the temperature too much.  I liked the samples because a bunch of them were edged so I didn't have to do any hemming.  Hey, any work I can save myself is the way to go ;-)  My plan for leaving space for the air conditioner almost worked - we just use a large clip and hook it up on the window latch when we run it.  And they weren't all square so that made some challenges lining edges up.  But no one will be examining my curtains that closely.  I think it looks pretty good. 

I've also managed to finish the patchwork for the baby sleep sack.  Of course, then the book was due back to the library and since I had already renewed it three times I returned it.  The fact that I hadn't gotten to it yet and that we wont be able to put this poor babe into in until fall and cooler temperatures anyway made it the best plan.  I'll just check it out again when I find a little more time.  As if that will be anytime soon.  :)

As for reading (and some adorableness in the way of baby knits) I posted those yesterday. 
Now I'm off to link up with Elizabeth's needle 'n' thREAD and the Stash Bash at Crunchy Catholic Momma.  And check out all the eye candy there ;-)

{pretty, happy, funny, real} - needle & thREAD

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

I have gotten some time to sew this week and it's coming along very nicely I think.  I have 7 out of 10 strips sewen and those remaining 3 are laid out and just need sewing. 

{happy}

I'm happy to have gotten this time to myself and to work.  And Littler was happy to help a bit too. 

{funny}

Project ADD much?  There's the pattern and you can see a little of the fabric for making some shorts for Bigger.  Handmade Beginnings and the pieces for the top of the baby sleep sack.  (Note to self: renew that one online.  With fingers crossed that no one has a hold on it!)  Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks is waiting there for me to be brave enough to cast on a trial pair.  If I don't start my cardi for me first.  Or maybe even if I do.  And on top the most important and the one that certainly sees the most actual use - my sewing machine manual.

{real}

How Mama really gets some time to sew with Littler's help.   

And then letting him have a turn with the camera.  He has an interesting eye, I think.  Of course I also had to delete about 7 useless photos too but we don't really need to talk about that.  That's just how it works.  ;-)



Linking up with Elizabeth today too.  I love seeing what all people can create!  As if I needed more ideas.  





Needle & thREAD

While I didn't do any *actual* sewing this week I did still work on a project.  :)  And finally got some tracing paper so I can trace the patterns so I can cut the fabric so I can start sewing so Bigger can have some more shorts before it snows.  Sounds a bit like If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, doesn't it?  Just like the Mouse I could use a nap before too long into the process  ;-)  Anyway, these wee squares are not for the shorts but for a patchwork baby sleep sack (it's in Handmade Beginnings.)  Bigger helped me pick the fabrics. 

Playing with layout.  I always get a little anxious about laying out - how to make it all look good together but random.  In dance we used to call it "organized chaos" (those big crowd scenes where everyone seems to just be milling around yet everyone actually knew where they had to end up and who to pass along the way.) 

We read a cute book this week and I thought I'd share here since a number of other bloggers are working on ballet costumes at the moment.  T-Rex at Swan Lake by Lisa Carrier and Lenore Hart.  T-Rex is tired of standing around, being the star of the Natural History Museum and over hears a couple ladies talking about the ballet.  She decides this is just what she needs so heads off down the street to the Opera House.  She quite literally crashes the performance and is a huge hit.  Both boys, who love both dinos and dance, are enjoying this one so much.  I've read it at least once a day since we brought it home from the library on Saturday. 

Linking up with Elizabeth for more sewing and reading :)  



Needle & thREAD

Lookee here!  I finished something else this week :)  Ok, not the most impressive of projects but still it's done, it's useful, it kept me from throwing something in the trash, and I wont be totally embarrassed if they become his favorites and he has to wear them out every day. 

I decided to take up the Kids Clothes Week Challenge and work for an hour a day making wearable stuff for my kids.  And yes, I will admit that this wee project took nearly an entire hour.  First was looking it up on the Internet - I have a tendency to jump in with both feet (and scissors) and then try to figure out what I'm doing.  Then cutting off the bottoms of the pants took less time than taking out the mat and rotary cutter.  I probably could have spent more time pinning and making sure they were straight and even.  But who's really gonna be looking that closely at the 2 year old's shorts?  The real challenge was changing the foot on my sewing machine because I was pretty sure that the walking foot was not going to work well for hemming. 

All in all it was a good learning project.  Before jumping in and trying to make a garment from the pattern up.  Today's plan is to get some tracing paper so I can trace the pattern I have for shorts.  Bigger actually needs some more shorts.  And I found a tutorial for making jammies from a men's polo shirt.  He needs some summer weight jammies too.  Might need a trip to the thrift shop to get some cheap polos too - I don't think the WeatherMan wants to part with any of his ;-) 

Now, for the reading portion of the post...  Our trip to the library on Saturday yielded some awesome books for the boys.  I think their favorite of the bunch was Fly High, Fly Low by Don Freeman.  It's a cute story of a pigeon who lives in the lower loop of the letter B in a sign in San Francisco.  That, coupled with our field trip for the birds program at the botanical gardens, inspired a game of "mama bird" where the boys built themselves nests on the couch and sat on their "eggs" till they were ready to hatch.  Then they ran around the apartment looking for bugs for their babies.  They're imaginative play has really taken off in the last couple weeks, it's just amazing to watch :) 

Linking up with at In the Heart of my Home :)  And enjoying all the projects and books over there.

Something accomplished!

I actually accomplished something yesterday.  I finished the quilt top I've been working on!  Sorry I can't share more than a tease but I'm so excited to have gotten something done I had to mention it.  Of course I'm still a long way off from being truly finished.  And part of me is incredibly sad about how much work I still have to do on my cutting and piecing techniques.  I suppose I just need practice. And some patience. Mostly practice. So of course my brain is jumping ahead of the work still to do on *this* quilt and starting to plan the next project. (Simple 4 patches with larger squares made in blues and greens from my stash, in case you're curious.)   But back to the present, with any luck I will be able to get it pressed and basted in the next week or so. That's my plan anyway. We'll see how it goes. I have a lot of plans and not lots of time to accomplish them.

To celebrate getting something done I put a hold on Treasures from the Attic so I could finish it.  Of course I could only place a hold and not download it so I'm still not being distracted by a good book ;-) 

I'll be linking up Thursday with Elizabeth's new sharing spot for sewing projects and reading.  Not that I'll get to join in often, given my super slow progress with such things.  But I do love looking at all the beautiful things other bloggers are creating.  I always need some more distractions.  Maybe it will be more inspiration than distraction.  And anyway, it's way better than doing dishes.