Some Recent Work

A half dozen newborn diapers:


Gnomes:


Steampunk wedding cake topper:


And the first pencil portrait in several years:

A Shrinking To-Do List

First several piles of dipes...

A teething giraffe...

And a very special little monster...

A Rainbow of Fabric

Finishing a quilt, even a small one, is a magical thing.



My daughter enjoyed the work in progress as well.



And nothing sets off color better than sunlight!



The little gnome fellow soaked up some sun too.

I think I've had a very productive week. I finished a quilt! Something that at one time would take months or even years....yet in a matter of days I managed to start and finish a 36"x36" quilt for a baby. As much as I hate to admit it, machine piecing and quilting can be a wonderful thing!



I was also able to send a homemade gift to a friend and her newborn son.



And also make a playmat for my own child!

Fabric Goodness

I am extremely excited by these fabrics and the baby quilt they will produce.

More Gifts

My mother is a difficult person to buy for. She rarely takes time for herself so her hobbies have all but been abandoned. She does sew occasionally and I knew finding her supplies is always a chore, so the cat-proof sewing organizer tutorial was perfect for her. She does have a cat that drives her batty, by the way. I actually followed the whole tutorial bit by bit instead of going off on my own tangent! I did, however, add a zippered pocket to the back so she could store a quilt block while she's working on in it. She only pieces by hand and only rarely so things like that tend to get lost before she can finish them. The inside...



And a closeup of the outside fabric...


Next I made a stuffed rocket ship for a friend's 1-year-old. I think his almost 4-year-old brother will probably get more use out of it for now



You can find the tutorial for the rocket ship on The Long Thread's Make It Monday. I didn't have an egg so I imprvised a little cloth astronaut with a felt jetpack.

Beneath Paper Stars

I love stars. I also have a lot of origami paper leftover from my youth. Obviously, this tutorial appealed to me.


A gift for my niece for her 13th birthday. She was quite thrilled with it, I'm told.

I very rarely purchase gifts for anyone. Honestly, I usually can't. We don't have the money to. And while crafting isn't free, it's possible to take inexpensive materials and turn them into something impressive. This particular project cost me $1.40 for the large hoop, $0.89 for the small ring at the top, and $1.40 for a hank of pearl floss. That's a total of $3.87 including tax. You could break it down further because I didn't use anywhere near all the floss...so that will live on to be included in another project. The paper was all stuff I already had from years ago. It was most likely given to me anyway. I also used some clear tape and hot glue...again stuff I already had. What can $3.87 buy you already made? Not a whole hell of a lot. Nothing worth buying, honestly.

Anyway, my whole point is crafting can save you a lot of money when it comes to gifts....HOWEVER...and this is important: if you're going to do a handmade holiday, you have to do it well.

Far too often people go handmade and fail at it in an epic way. Case in point: the too-short Fun-Fur scarf made by someone who just learned to knit and figured it would be a good way to save some cash. Fun-Fur is one of the most horrific yarns known to man...and I do use the term "yarn" very lightly in this case. I think the term "abomination" would be more fitting. Have you felt this stuff? Ugh! It's like the textile version of nails-on-a-chalkboard to me. Sure, it has uses...but use with caution and sparingly if you can. And if you still wish to subject your poor relatives and friends to this scarf-nightmare....AT LEAST MAKE SURE IT IS LONG ENOUGH.

Ahem...

Another handmade fail: the inedible cookie. IF you are going to bake for a holiday or gift-giving event...don't be a lazy ass and purchase a roll of cookie dough at the store. IF you're going to make cookies, actually MAKE cookies! And please make sure whatever you're baking actually tastes good. Also, it would be nice if you made whatever foodstuff it is close enough to the event so that they aren't hard as brick-bats by the time they are received.

Seriously people, you wouldn't want to get this junk as a gift...so why are you subjecting other people to it? If you honestly don't care enough about the person to make sure you do this handmade thing right, perhaps you shouldn't be gifting them anything in the first place....

...Or perhaps you really are just delusional.

Actually...that's probably it. Haha

Massive Post Christmas Craft Dump

The holidays are OVER! Rejoice! Sadly I've let the crafting photos pile up...so I figure it's about time I just post them all and get it over with.


Before the holiday I had a commission to make some knitted dolls for a friend's daughter. Two mermaids, two girls, a dog, and a cat. I was particularly happy with the mermaids!


I got a bit carried away with the knitting and decided to try my hand at designing a pattern for knitted ponies. Still a work in progress...but they didn't turn out bad by any means.


Next I came up with some knitted cars with wooden wheels. They do actually roll, which I was very happy about...I made 3 for Bear for Christmas and 2 more for her friend.



Not a great photo, but I knitted a cabled tam for my aunt. Bear is modeling it here.



Two Black Apple Dolls for Bear and E.



One for my niece.





A purse, sweats, and necklace set for my niece, Ash.




An art-roll and a memory game for my nephews.



And finally, I recovered a foam chair for Bear. :)

Craft Sloth - Not So Much

My lack of posting, thankfully, is no indication of my lack of crafting. I have done quite a bit, actually.
I had originally planned to make The Bear a bear costume for Halloween...however, I really didn't have the time or materials for it. Instead, I put together a quick witch's cloak and wand for her. I had a small witch hat from a previous Halloween that was just the right size for a little one and completed the costume nicely.

At the same time I was trying to finish some knitted Fairies for a friend before Samhain.

My knitted toys have been a big hit. I've have several requests for them.


Finally, I knitted up a couple gnome hats. I only have a photo of one of them, however.

Birthday Gifts

Bear's friend E. had her first birthday this past weekend so Mommy did some sewing.


First I finished off a UFO that I'd had stuffed in a cabinet for 5 or 6 years. I had 5 rainbow Drunkards Path blocks ready to go, added 4 squares of super soft furry stuff I picked up at Joann's, sandwiched the top with a layer of flannel and woven cotton backing fabric, tied it, and then bound it with silky blanket binding on two sides. I'm digging the tying method over quilting right now...hand quilting is impossible for me with a toddler around. Machine sewing doesn't always happen either...but I can easily tie a quilt like this in under an hour.


Next I put together a quick dress, shirt, and set of DIY Babylegs. The shirt was made from a tee of my own. I didn't have to hem it because I used the bottom edge of the shirt as is. I did something similar to the Peasant Blouse tutorial over on Blueprints. The dress was just something I came up with on the fly. I will try to put together a tutorial for it soon. I embellished it with some Yo Yo's, but otherwise it was just a very basic rectangle dress. I again used the same Babylegs tutorial from my previous post.


Then I made some cute knitted little people/animals which I altered quite a bit by the time I was finished. By the way, the loopy skirt thing was the same stitch as the one used in this lion washcloth. From left to right - Suki the dog, Bear, E., and Cerra the horse.


And another split-pea filled monster. This time with horns and a cute little smirk.

SO now I need to try my hand at play-food. E. got an awesome up-cycled play-kitchen from her parents and needs some food to go with it. Bear also LOVED it...so hopefully we'll be making her a kitchen of her own in the near future.

A Surprisingly Quick Project

I managed to start AND finish this tote in 2 days.

I've had the pattern for months and Tuesday afternoon my aunt (who actually bought the pattern so that I could make this bag) and I went to Quilting Adventures and she picked out a charm pack of 5" squares in various purple/green/teal/blue batiks. Bon adores purple. As you can imagine she was quite taken with it.

And while I did manage to finish it amazingly fast for me (it's a miracle that it was finished at all with the way I tend to work...)...it damn near killed me to do it! The first day was fun...the second day...not so much. Although it wasn't entirely the bag's doing, but that's another long story.

ANYWAY, I used some of the leftovers to make a little babywearer pouch to attach to my sling/wrap so I won't have to drag a purse with me. I'll post pics of that later, though.


By the way my daughter also enjoyed this tote.

Non-Productive Productivity

I was highly productive this afternoon. I made 20+ pairs of earrings and tailored a pair of pants.

Sadly, none of this was for me or anyone in this household. My aunt put me to work. I don't mind...I just wish I had a chance to work on my own stuff occasionally.

Although I did move the sewing cabinet (it looks like a table, but a sewing machine fits in it...but I don't have the one that goes in there) and it's now a home for my laptop. I had big plans to move the rest of the stuff into the sewing area, but then I fell asleep when my husband got home and it killed the rest of the evening. ~_~'' I was very frustrated.

BUT...there is always tomorrow (and the rest of the week). So, a list:

THINGS TO DO/SEW/ACCOMPLISH
-Move the 2 white cabinets
-Finish planning Bear's birthday party
-Move the printer and install drivers on my laptop
-Try out new diaper pattern and cover pattern
-Make a pair of bloomers

I'm keeping the list short. Perhaps then it won't be so daunting.