This Past Week

Yep, my job kicked my butt all week long. You see, I usually get done between 10 and 11 at night. It's a little late for my taste, but I have to earn money too and do like my job. Because of some technology issues, I've had to stay there until 1, sometimes 2 in the morning. That means I slept in most days, waking up with enough time to get ready to either go to class or work again. I did miss class a couple days. Not really a biggie, as it's the end of the semester. I just feel like crap and hope that next week the issues have been fixed so I can go back to normal.

My point? Making anything has really suffered. I did get my ornament out in time, and really can't wait to share it with you. First I want to make sure my partner receives it. I love what I came up with and have plans to make more!

Other than that, I only had time to work on small, portable projects during my waiting time at work. That meant some sketching and a little embroidery. One embroidery project is a gift, so that will have to wait until I finish it. It's not a Christmas gift though (actually, it was supposed to be a wedding gift that was due a few months ago, oops), so who knows when it will be done.

Oh, and I did some brainstorming at work about what I could do with some stash items. I'm not really adding these to my Out with the Old list, except if that happen to be finished as an extra project. Just mentally assigning them to a project. Anyone else do this?

The first item I (finally) finished is this puzzle ball from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I pieced it together at least a month ago, pinned it together, and then just let it sit by my machine. I knew if I worked on it at home I would have to keep pushing two dogs away from me. It was pretty easy to put together and I would make others in the future to give as baby gifts or something. This one is just for me though.

These kits from Alicia Paulson are a long term project. I know there's no way I could finish them for this Christmas, so I'm going to set my goal for next year. I did just buy them recently, so it's not like they have been lingering in my stash for years. ;)

My progress so far. The mitten is by far my favorite one and I could see making more of them in different colors. I also would love to knit mittens in this style too.

This yarn was acquired from my local yarn shop on Black Friday. I bought it without really knowing what I wanted to do with it. I think I have settled on this cowl.

Another acquisition from Black Friday. My Joann's had a sample necklace made from it on the display, which is what I bought it for.

My ceramics class finished up and we had a little show and tell party on the last day. I took some photos of some pieces that I like the most, except for Cheeto, who needed his legs glued back on. I'm the one that broke them off though. I will share what he looks like glazed sometime next week.

What are you working on this weekend?

Pay It Forward

I know I'm late to this party, but I always miss out on jumping in. Until now that is. Pam at Threading My Way is the latest to join in and I am super excited to see what she makes for me.

In return, I will make a gift for the first three people to comment here. There are some rules to this, of course.

1. I will make a little something for the first 3 people that comment on this post. It will be a surprise and may arrive at any time in the next 365 days. (Yes, a year. Good things come to those who wait!)

2. To sign up to receive a gift from me, you must play along too. Pay it forward on your blog by promising to send a handmade goodie to the first three people that comment on your blog post.

3. You must have a blog.

4. After commenting on my post, you will need to post this (or similar) on your blog. If you haven't posted in 48 hours, then the next commenter will be chosen

Interested? Leave a comment below. I will send internationally.

(I promise I will be back next time with some photographs to break up all the text.)

Out with the Old, In with the New: Week 3

This is my weekly kick in the butt to get pending projects done by the end of the year. To see previous links, click here.

I'm going to make this quick. My computer is acting up and instead of fighting it by trying to add photos, all I'm giving you is some text today. Plus, work is kicking my butt because of some technology problems. I've been working really late and I am not a night owl, so that has been dragging me down.

Original List:

1. Ornament swap. Still working on this and still can't share details. Deadline to mail is Friday, so this is number one priority right now.

2. Stocking for Stockings for Kids.

3. Monthly Challenge block. Block is done! Next up, a tutorial.

4. Kaleidoscope quilt. Same as last week.

5. Drunkard's Path quilt. See update on this here.

6. Zig Zag quilt. Same as last week.

7. Market Tote. Same as last week.

8. Halloween mini. Same as last week.

9. Surprise mini. Done!

10. Cowl to match hat and mitts. Done!

11. Pattern for hat. Same as last week.

12. Business logo/details. I have been doing some rough sketches and colorings of a logo.

Added Projects:

1. Mini X quilt.

Well, how are you doing on your projects? And if you have left a comment or sent me an e-mail in the past week, I will be responding still! It seems like I either have time to deal with all of my e-mail accounts (two personal, one school and one work) or check out your posts. After the ornament swap, this is at the top of my to do list.

Happy Wednesday to you!

DPQAL Deadline Missed and Happy Mail Day

I completely underestimated how long it would take to finish my DP quilt top. I thought the trimming would go quickly, but it didn't. It wasn't a step I was going to skip either, so I will just stick with finishing this top by the end of the month.

Here are a couple of the blocks though. And I just noticed that I screwed up the top left and bottem left corners on the black one. Sigh.

I was bummed about not finishing in time for the linky party, but that was chased away once I got my mail. I bought a few things online on Black Friday and they finally got here. So did my charms from the Color Wheel Swap. Apparently mail from Salt Lake City takes a layover in eastern Wisconsin before coming to me in western Minnesota.

My pretty charms! I didn't sort them by color before taking this photo, but that is the next step so I can assess what I am going to do with them. After musing here about it, I still haven't decided on anything.

I picked up some more patterns from Colette.

And some things from Sunni's shop, A Fashionable Stitch. (Petersham ribbon, a belt kit, and a Sewaholic pattern.) Tasia is having a sew-a-long for the jacket in January and I may do it with her, or else use her posts as a guide in the spring. This jacket just won't cut it for winter.

I hope you're having a great Monday!

Mini Wrenches

I finished another stash project! And another mini quilt. I am becoming addicted to these.

This one is from a pattern from Miniature Quilts magazine. I mentioned before that I bought some lots on eBay of them, and I am sure glad I did. They are full of patterns for both pieced and foundation quilts (sometimes having both ways for each quilt), as well as tons of tips and inspiration for designing. I do have doubles of some issues and am planning on doing a giveaway, along with some fabric. Look for that during Sew Mama Sew's giveaway week.

I found this one to be a bit of a challenge due to the small pieces. The instructions are very clear though, which made the experience a bit easier. Of course, my machine started acting up, but after some TLC and time away, I haven't had any issues since.

I did a little FMQ on this piece. Not too much though because I wanted to the pieced blocks to shine on their own. I stitched in little flowers on the check print areas and called it good. I didn't think to take a close up photo of it, but I love the mitered borders on this one too. It's a design element I will use in the future. The backing is a flannel remnant.

One thing I learned from this one is to pick prints that are tiny. Some of the charm squares I used had large images that were completely lost in the cutting and stitching. Next time.

I've been working on my Drunkard's Path quilt most of the day. My goal is to have the top done by tomorrow so I can actually make the linky deadline. It will be a first for me as I have yet to even finish the quilts for other QALs I have done. Wish me luck!

Some Setbacks and the 1912 Project

The past couple of days have been about setbacks in my free time. I'm wrapping up my classes this semester and really only have two finals to take the week of December 12th. It's nice not having homework to worry about, but I still didn't get much sewing time.

First, I discovered that someone in my town had stolen my debit card number. Yep, just the number (and expiration date) but not the card. They charged up a bit on it and I did catch it right away, so my account is fine now. However, I'm without a debit card for that account until I get another one, which also happens to be where my pay checks are deposited. I do have a second checking account that is tied to my savings, so that will get me through. Filling out paperwork and tracking down copies of the receipts for the purchases did eat up an entire days worth of free time.

Then my sewing machine started acting up today. I did figure out and fix the problem, but my frustration made me walk away from my project. I just need to finish the quilting and binding and I will be done. Hopefully tomorrow.

Here's a sneak peek to tide you over. This block measures just 3".

Now for a different sort of sewing project, not of the quilting variety. I have always been interested in vintage fashion. In high school, I dresses exclusively in vintage and secondhand clothing much to the dismay of my parents. But it was my money I was using, so they had no choice but to make rude comments. It delights me that vintage fashion is becoming something that more people are openly interested in. I don't wear so much right now, mostly because it is hard to find already made pieces in my size. My height alone has always made it a challenge. At 5'10", it was hard to find pants even in modern day fashions.

Now that I am sewing, I want to explore making my own clothing from vintage patterns. I was excited to find out about the 1912 Project at the Vintage Fashion Library's blog, which is celebrating the fashions of 1912, which also happens to be the year the Titanic sunk. There are lots of events planned for the 100 year anniversay next year as well.

They are looking for test sewers to make up vintage patterns and blog about the experience. This is right up my alley so I am jumping on board. If this interests you, all you have to do is post about the project and they will send you patterns in return. For an information package about the project – you can email direct to vpll.librarian@gmail.com.

Here are the first two patterns for testing:

What are you working on this weekend?

Introducing the Migration Block

I really am loving the monthly challenges over at Raccoon Creek Quilts. For November, we were to create an original 12.5" block. I really enjoyed the design process and rejected many designs.

The one I decided on is a variation on the Pineapple block. I am calling it Migration because with the colors I used, it reminds me of the Canadian geese that briefly stop over here before flying south. I made up my test block in scraps and want to make the final design in solids. Lucky for all of you, the challenge for December is to create a tutorial for the block we created. So look for that sometime this month!

I am also linking up with Lynne at Lily's Quilts for both Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet. If you are visiting from her blog, please feel free to peek around a bit and say hello!