Woops.... FAIL me.

I was trying to be so secretive about my Heather Ross VW van quilt that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. So here are the only two that I have....

The first picture if just my basic over all layout. The second is the finished squares, the strips for the top, bottom and back, and a more "decided" layout. If you have a decent imagination just fill in the blanks with white Kona cotton fabric (hard, I know). The binding is also a blue fabric, so no stretch of the imagination there either.

The real struggle came with trying to layer all the pieces. For some reason my sewing machine was rebelling against me (jealousy I'm sure), so when I tried to stipple the quilt I ended up with a bunch of birds nests and had to painstakingly take out all the stitches. Adam was actually a HUGE help with this too, and it kinda became our project while watching TV in the evenings.

Once I got the stippling stitches out I decided to try using the ribbon technique. Basically I threaded yellow embroidery ribbon through the quilt, and then tied each piece in the back. It's a technique I'd been wanting to try anyway, and I was pleased with the result... it makes the quilt much more "old fashioned" and let's it breath a little easier.

The second major struggle was when I took it to Miami and washed it (to try to even out the holes from the stippling attempt, and to get the cat hair off since Emma liked to lay on it despite my protests). When I removed it from the washing machine more than a few stitches had come out, and I had to rush to figure out a solution to the fraying. I ended up just using my mom's old sewing machine (which was a whole other set of problems) and rejoined the fabric with a zigzag stitch. Fortunately because I used white as my background color it wasn't all that noticeable.

All in all I had much higher hopes for this quilt than the end product provided. I did learn a lot in the process though, and I guess that's half the battle. My mom was also very excited about it (maybe a little too excited), but I guess mom's are happy with just about anything you make for them. I appreciated it though:)

Snow Day 2009

NYC received its Christmas present from nature last weekend in the form of a 1 foot accumulated snowfall, and I probably sat by the window watching at least the first 6 inches fall while screaming out updates every 5 minutes!!

Even though I've seen snow enough times to have experienced every level of it (watching it fall, tasting it, playing in the new piles of powder, building things from it, hurling it at other people, sliding around in and on it, etc) I still get 7 year old level of excited every single time!!!!! Honestly, its what makes winter worth it (well, that and scarves and ice skating and soup...). And while Adam was quickly over it all, I at least had Malcolm to act somewhat as amazed by the cold stuff falling from the sky as I was (at least as much as a cat can be amazed by snow).

I didn't get to build any snowmen (too powdery) nor did I get to go sledding (no hill) but I did get to jump around in it for a while:) And it makes me very excited that we're supposed to get more snow this week, on New Years nonetheless, and is part of the reason the 4 degree temperature outside today isn't as bad as it could be!!...

JoAnn Fabrics FAIL

Santa's Sweet Shop = Sweat Shop!

So I decided to alternate between sewing and baking this weekend, as part of my attempt to finish my Christmas presents before Christmas. Turns out that's more of a prison work camp assignment than a fun thing to do, but in the end I accomplished what I set out to (or at least came close enough). I tried the cake in a jar project I've been wanting to attempt for a while, and honestly it was a lot harder than the directions let on. I managed to over fill almost every jar, and then managed to drop almost everything I touched on the floor.... it was not a very happy, easy work environment to say the least. But in the end I think things worked out okay. And I was able to bring in the tasty treats to work today, so check those gifts off the list.

Now to just finish my shopping, sewing, packing and cleaning in less than 24 hours.

Filling the jars:

Baked spillage:

Looking better with sugar on top:

The finished product is much prettier:

Holiday Macaroons:

My excellent "leftover's soup":

Time Well Spent

I'm falling behind in my Christmas present making schedule, but for good reason... I've been busy making Christmas decorations to help get me in the holiday spirit, which I'm positive will motivate me to burn through all the present making projects I have lined up!!

Last night I made two banners: one that says "Noel" and another that says "Joy". I had completely forgotten about the Christmas fabric I bought almost a year ago from Crate & Barrel, and upon rediscovering it I decided it needed to be put to use right away. And since I've been wanting some sort of banner type thing to drape over the couch and TV in the living room, that's exactly what I made.

I also got my first Christmas tree yesterday, and while its only about 2 feet tall, its made me immensely happy:) I started to put a few decorations on it (the only ones I had) and this weekend I plan on getting a string of lights and some new ornaments to complete the tree! And perhaps most surprising is that the cats don't like it! Malcolm tried to take a few bites but quickly found out how much that hurts (it's a very sharp tree... even I got a few painful pokes). And I draped some red holiday fabric around the bottom to cover up the planter (its a live tree, not a cut one, and I'm hoping I can keep it alive for many years of holiday happiness) so hopefully that will deter any dirt digging.

All in all I think my Christmas decorating is really coming together, for the first time ever, and I'm really excited about it:)!!!

PS. Please excuse the horrible iphone pictures I took this morning... the decorations really look much better than they're represented here!!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

After being completely let down by Target yesterday evening (a seemingly hard feat, but considering the Brooklyn Target was voted the country's worst it really shouldn't come as a surprise), I decided to take matters into my own hands and whip up some small trees to place around the apartment.

And while I did manage to get a few decorations from said worst-Target-ever, it still isn't enough for the desired effect inspired by How I Met Your Mother. Basically I want it to be like "Christmas slapped you in the face".... and not in a bad way, just in a totally overboard kind of way. I just desperately want to be in the holiday spirit this year, to a sickening degree!!!!

So I'm well on my way to that tiny NYC apartment winter wonderland, but still not close enough. I think I need a real tree too... and more lights:)!!!

UM Quilt updates

I've officially started the blocking on the UM quilt for my brother.

So far I like the way its coming out, and I think it will really look nice once I get the "balancing strips" added to each block (ie. the bottom right square will have a thinner green strip on the outside, and the upper left square will have a thicker green strip...).

I'm also really liking the colors on this quilt (and not just because I bleed orange and green myself)!!! Working with such bright colors on such a large scale (think the entire quilt) is something I haven't done before, and I have to say it makes everything much more cheerful:)

Now to just get this sucker finished in less than three weeks... I'm already horribly behind on my Christmas schedule.

A tote for quilts

Whew, I finished my second tote.

Sadly its not as good as the first one I made (although I'm not exactly sure how I lost skills...), but its good enough for holding a quilt which is more or less what it was intended to do!!

This also makes one entire Christmas present that can now be wrapped and placed under the tree. As soon as I get a tree...

bad days mean good sewing...

It seems that the worse my day is the more productive I am with sewing... I guess in the same way that I love to clean when I'm mad because I get out all my frustration on the dirt, the repetitive nature of sewing stops all the thinking. If that makes sense. And while sucky days suck, I'll definitely take the productiveness!!

Tonight I managed to finish the last of the HR squares and bind the KND quilt (thus making it 100% completely done now... and let me just say that using decorative machine stitches make binding not only easier, but also looks as if I almost know what I'm doing!!).

And at the end of the day its all relative.

Handy Dandy Grocery Bag (or other type of bag depending on your personal preferences)...

I made a tote bag!! After I spent a few hours trying to decipher the tutorial (picture fail) and then cutting out the pieces (sometimes twice, I'll admit), it was pretty fast going. Of course it still took me about 3-4 hours, but now that I know what I'm doing I feel confident I could make another one in an hour (or at least in under two hours).

The sewing itself is pretty minimal, and I love that the bag is reversible (half the time to sew??)! I had originally wanted to make the bag fold up and sew a little pouch for it to go in, but I decided to add a stabilizer in the base so folding isn't really an option anymore. I might make another one just to try the fold-and-store approach (I have some fun ideas for the pouch, based on a design I saw at SF MoMA).

And hooray, one whole item to mark off my CPA!!!! I've officially finished something:)

Time Management

I have no idea how it got to be November 2009. I'm still writing 2007 on everything! Not to mention the part where this officially makes me 30, which officially makes me too "old" to use my age as an excuse for anything. Although I've decided that by the time I turn 33 I'll be comfortable with being 30, so I guess its not too bad.... I still have three years to "be" 30.

But I digress.

The point of all this is that Christmas is a month away and I haven't finished a single thing. I've started a few things... but finished nothing. SO - I'm reverting back to my high school days of serious scheduling and devising a Christmas Plan of Action:

CPA:
November 17-20: finish HR quilt blocks; cut binding strips for KND quilt, cut quilt strips for RY quilt.
November 21-22: sew front and back of HR quilt; bind KND quilt; start stippling on HR quilt
November 23-24: sew RY quilt blocks
November 25-28: Kentucky for Turkey
November 29: finish stippling HR quilt, piece RY quilt
November 30-December 3: layer & start stippling RY quilt
December 4-7: Basel Miami
December 8-18: FT quilt binding!!!!! Also, side projects

Side Projects:
2x Market bag, holder
1x PH
2x knitted WC?
4x Co
Tasty Food Products

Yes. This is going to be great.

The things we do for family...

So this is the quilt I'm making for my brother, Ryan. I'm 99% sure this is the layout I'm going to use, with the green of the back layer wrapping around the front side to make the binding.
I wanted to make him something to take with him when he moves to California in January so that he'll have a little piece of home all the way on the other side of the country.
The only real debate left is how to sew the layers together... its between using the stippling technique (example below), or using diagonal lines (which I think might be more of a "guys" look). I guess it really comes down to time since I essentially have less than a month to start and finish this.

little bows make a big difference

Enough said.

Kitties love Quilts

Malcolm has officially appropriated my scrap test quilt as his own... he sleeps curled up in it all the time, and if you try to take it back he gives you the "what do you think you're doing, I could kill you in your sleep" stare down. He also sometimes thinks he's a people (please refer to adjacent picture). I think I may have to make a special one for him because I really want my couch quilt back!!

No Soup for You!

I know it's another food post but seriously, I'm pretty proud of this soup!! Its yellow split pea, which is one of my favorites, and it actually came out really well. So well in fact that Adam, who hates pea soup, honestly enjoyed it!

A dress for Luna

I'm not 100% finished with this dress (I want to add a bow around the top, for that little something extra), but I still think it came out very cute for a little play dress! And while this dress has become so easy to make at this point that I can bust one out in about an hour, I think I may step it up a notch for the next dress and try my hand at my new Oliver & S pattern.

I love the fabric used with this dress though, very light (which is perfect for Miami weather) and very girlie and bright! I may have to find some more like it...

Not so secret secret quilt...

Okay, so it is a secret quilt, but obviously not to the one reader of this blog (ie. me).

I started piecing this together last night and actually got 75% of the way through the front panel. Today I've managed to finish the front and back panels, layer the quilt, baste it, and now I'm 50% through sewing all the layers together.

I'm using a technique called "stippling", which basically means I make a bunch of curvy lines that never cross (or at least almost never cross). Once the quilt is washed the curvy lines will help it take on a cozy, wrinkled look.

So all in all I'm really proud of myself and this quilt. I still have the binding to deal with though, which that seems to be my weakest skill, but considering I've done better on this quilt than I thought I would I'm hoping this is the breaking point where I actually sew the binding like I know what I'm doing...!!

Baking is the new sewing...

Yes I'm aware that cakes aren't quilts, but this one took a long time to make... especially because I'm not skilled in the art of cooking/baking/anything involving a kitchen. But I'm learning and since this attempt actually came out right, I thought I'd add it to this blog for all the world to see (i.e. the three people that know about it...)!!

Fungus among us!?!

I've been testing various layouts for the "secret quilt"... I'm not 100% completely convinced with this one, but I think it's the best to date. At least it's sticking with the original theme(s) and color scheme!

Commitment Issues...

So I finally committed to the finishing fabric for the fairy tale quilt!! Of course now begins the daunting task of cutting and binding the edges, which always seems to go poorly...
But at least it looks good so far!:)

I heart Heather Ross

This is the new fabric I just bought (technically pre-ordered months ago). Its from the "Far Far Away" series by Heather Ross (her last series ever) and was only printed in Japan on double gauze cotton. Needless to say it's awesome and expensive so I'm struggling trying to figure out what to do with it.
Of course I'll probably just wait until my skills improve before I attempt to use it...

Quick quilt... Will it ever end??!!

Just when I think I'm done with my alleged "quick quilt" something always seems to go wrong. Like today when I ran out of ribbon for the binding (just one yard short!!), or last week when the cats played judge and the verdict was "we don't like it so we're going to pee on it" (everyone's a critic!!).

Live and learn but you still die dumb!


UPDATE:
I finally found the same ribbon I was using for the binding and was able to sew the last edge of this "not-as-quick-as-I-thought-quilt". Whew. I feel like a weight has been lifted!! And while this isn't the prettiest of quilts, it did help to teach me a few new techniques. And perhaps most important of all its made me feel more comfortable with machine layering.
All in all I think it was a success, and now the couch has one more throw blanket!

Kitties love mistakes...

I was trying to make a little stuffed bird to go along with the dresses for Sofi (the package mails tomorrow...) but I wasn't satisfied with the end result. So instead I added a little catnip and now it's Malcolm's favorite thing ever (next to lettuce, head butts and salt & vinegar potato chips)!!
Emma also wanted in on the action for about 5 seconds, but gave up trying when she realized it wasn't going to be easy to get it away from Malcolm.