Savannah Quilt

I'm learning to quilt, and boy, did I pick a dousy for my first!

My stepmom is getting the first quilt. I love her very much, and she's my only family member who quilts, so it seemed fitting.

You cut strips of fabric 3/4" to 2" wide and sew them together. It's supposed to be from full cuts of fabric, 44", but I'm using fat quarters,about 22" wide. Made a whole bunch more work for myself, doing that, I did. Doubled it, actually. But I found some really nice quarters! I couldn't help myself!

I am finding though that the very narrow strips are wicked time consuming. I'm about out of strips that I've already cut, and I'm planning on cutting mostly wider ones for the next round.

I'm calling it Savanna because one of the fabrics has little safari animals, and I chose a neutral/gold color palette.

Anyway, after you sew all the strips together, you cut 9" diamonds, sew them together to make a star, and fill in the block with fabric. I haven't gotten that far at all yet, but I will. And I'm planning on using a really nice rust-colored batik for the background, which I still need to purchase.

Time to keep on chugging away on my trusty old Necchi!

Turkey Day

I did some Turkey Day gourd ornaments for the family  (and hopeful in-laws).

I took some raw, cured gourds, added wings, eyes, red gobble, wing details, and glued on starched, red, metallic burlap tails.

(raw gourds)

The finished product.

[finished turkeys]

I think the family, of all sorts, liked them, or at least I hope!

Christmas Treats

Remember the Turkey Day gourds? Well, I did a bunch for Christmas, too.

To sell at a local shop.

I did 25 snowmen, 10 penguins, 5 candle wreaths, and 5 snow scapes.

The before and after products. I think they were a success.

Hula Hoopa Hoop!

It's a hula hoop! Just for me. :)

Hooping for adults is super popular right now, partly because it's good exercise, and mostly because it's just that damn awesome. Adult sized hoops can be tricky to find, and expensive, though, so, luckily, they are ridiculously easy to make! This is another post that doesn't really include a pointy object (unless you count the PVC cutters) but it's still creative, so here it is.

Before

Check out PSI Hoops and JasonUnbound for info on how to make your own.

Viola!

I'm super proud of myself for finishing this. It took a long time for me to get around to it. I think I may have made it a bit too large (it's 44" across and really tall) and a bit too heavy (I put a lot of rice in it, I don't remember how much) but I did a really good job wrapping it in black electrical tape, and the purple looks neat, even if it's a bit messy. It is already getting scuffed, though.

Now I just have to get good at using it.... I did okay keeping it up on my waist, and hopefully that will get better with time (and maybe a lighter hoop). And I just joined the local YMCA, which offers a hoop class twice a week...... We'll see, we'll see. Now back to the crafts.

P.S. The Hoopnotica videos seem really helpful, and even offer a troubleshooting section.

Holidays are Forever

Chelsea and colleen

ask colleen for picture of her cowl

ocean dna

If I keep your neck warm, it means I love you.

Holidays are a happy time of year. This post is belated, but it is still full of love. I spend the holidays at my grandparents, where all of the family congregates. 


I showed up to the holidays wearing my Ribbed Tango Scarf. My Nana saw it and fell in love with it, between the colors, the width and length, and decadent squishy-ness of the thing. Feeling the holiday spirit (and knowing it would give me an excuse to make myself another in a different colorway) I graciously gave it to her. She then wore if for the rest of the weekend. It was full of happiness. I like it when my projects find good homes. :)

I had whipped this up ages ago, and finally pulled it out to wear since the weather had finally turned to the colder side. This scarf was super basic.... two skeins, 26 stitches on size US 9 needles with a 2x2 rib. I had just wanted to play with some pretty new yarn and show off the colors. I had also been trying to teach my mum how to pearl so that she could make the same scarf, since she had picked up some of the same yarn when I had gotten mine. The two of us had gone on an adventure to the WEBS warehouse a while ago, and you can imagine how that went. ;)


This post is from last Christmas, and even though it's before Thanksgiving and I normally wouldn't post something Christmassy yet, I'm going to, because I should have posted it last year and I can't remember what else was going to write!