Christmas Ornament Contest

I quilted a bunch today and am close to getting ready to bind, but I had to stop to finish my ornament. At work, we are having a Christmas Ornament decorating contest we've had about a week and a half and they are due tomorrow. You have to use supplies from the store. I had one sphere and one flat circle.

It is hard to see, but it says "Let it snow!" Written with paint pen and sharpie. It's easier to see in person. I sprayed the inside with hair spray and shook some white glitter in there. Then I modge-podged snowflakes, punched from silver, blue, and white paper. I used ribbon scraps. I like it! :) The next on has paper wedges cut and glued on and silver paint pen. Then I put some red reject ribbon inside. The edge says "May your dreams be filled with sugarplums" in silver paint pen, but I need to make it darker... Then for some remnant ribbon and a jingle bell! It's beginning to look a lot like christmas! Have you started getting ready?

Pina

Pina (like Pina Colada) means pineapple. Oh how the Kinder kids loved the cafeteria pineapple. I loved it too. :) I bought the green for the topper yesterday (on sale) 1/4 yard at Hancock. I think I will probably modify it for the next ones, but I am not sure how. It looked nice. Mamaw will love it and it is off on its way.

I also finally started quilting my first (slightly askew) doll quilt too. Here's a preview...

It's starting to get chilly here. I wish I could find the sweatshirt/coat box! How's your fall?
I have my first sub job here on Monday in a Kinder class. Hallelujah!

Lampshades-Finally.

I painted these lamps like 2 weeks ago. They were really tacky brass and not in good condition. I sanded them down a little with steel wool, cleaned them up, and painted them black. I have been planning to make the lampshades since my blog about my dream bedroom.

So these lampshades- which I love have been harder than I thought. First I thought I didn't buy enough fabric- so I used what I had to make Kimmi's apron. (I want a picture of you with your birthday apron) :) I went and got more fabric today but I was wrong. The way the print runs on the fabric is what made me short, not my stupidity.... I don't think that made me feel better, I should have figured it out. Oh well. So I made a pattern out of newspaper and cut the fabric the best I could. There is an inch gap at the bottom of the back, but I figure since these are bedside tables and going against the wall It doesn't really matter.... right??
I couldn't get the picture to take with a flash. I need to glue the inside 1 more time. I wish I had some clothespins. I have fabrictac all over my hands. Have you had any projects that didn't turn out quite like you planned?

Halloween Costume

Here are the carnival decorations in their glory at the party. They looked really great.

The big top tent :)

Britton and I were trying to figure out what pair we could be for halloween that was affordable and easy. The Halloween party we went to was Friday so I was working on our costumes late Thursday night :) We got white sweatpants for $5 each at Walmart and long sleeved T's for $8 at Meijer. We ended up choosing to be a Nintendo Wiimote and Nunchuck. :) I used photoshop and freezer paper (tutorial) to make my stencils and used acrilic paint and textile meduim to paint them. Spent less than $15 each. Not bad. I even included a wrist strap with the wiimote and a little plug with cord for the nunchuck.

The nunchuck has a analog stick on the top- so that is my hat.

I had white eyeliner and eyeshadow and painted my nails white- Britton said I looked weird, but whatever... How do you look like a nunchuck?
Here is our friend Jason (two-face) pretending to play wii.




Aren't we cute? It was fun. Today, I re-used the stencils again to make a t-shirt for a certain little friend who loves wii. I cannot wait to get picutres! :) What are your creative Halloween plans?

late night, lots of progress.

My sister commented that my Monday blog was posted Tuesday. I usually blog late... oh well. Today I did a bunch of things! :) I love getting lots done.
I am working on refinishing these chairs and "watched" Walker while I sanded them with steel wool. They are coming along. I am still quite puzzled as to what color to cover the seats in. Any suggestions? I am thinking I am keeping the chrome and brown....


I need to get the green fabric for the top, but I am mostly finished with my PINEAPPLE! :) (Flying geese are those triangle type squares Kelly, and they made a pineapple (something fruity). This one is for mammaw. It's her late b-day present. I have enough triangles cut to make at least 2 more (one for me and one for mom). And enough of the pineapple bias tape to make 100. Oh well. The pattern was in a BHG quilt magazine and I love pineapples so I'd had my eye on it for awhile. I have been collecting the fabric since before we moved. My lines are not per

Amidst my super productive day (I stayed up REALLY late) I attended my SIL's band concert. She had a picalo solo and did awesome... Anyways I was wearing my new fall sweater and looked cute :) So here's a glance at that.

I finally finished a birthday present early!! :) Now if I can mail it on time.... I used this pattern... kinda. I love blog tutorials so much more than magazines etc. It didn't have a pattern for the pocket and I felt like it rushed or didn't describe some details, but I do think it turned out cute. I adore the fabric, so watch for the fabric again soon. If I did it again I would go more with my gut than following the pattern... which I am slowing learning is usually the way to go anyways... the bias tape was too thin and it would have been easy to hem a few lines on the back so it was less ragged. I did make ruffles on this one using a long stich- thats new for me. And that part looks awesome. I only had to take like 10 pictures with the timer at various heights to get one of just the apron :)

Happy Monday.

So, Thursday was even better than Wednesday! Britton woke me up with a "Grande, non-fat, no-water Chai" from Starbucks. My very favorite! Then when the mail came I had an amazing package from my wonderful sister. She rocks. She has been incredably supportive and amazing and is such a great friend. She sent me 2!!! great mix-cd's (my sisters are both amazing mixed cd experts) , cute socks, a starbucks card!, a sweet and cute card, and an totally cute fall sweater!!!! :) I had been whining that I am tired of living out of my suitcase and I don't have many fall clothes in storage anyways since vegas doesn't have much of a fall. So she decided to help my wardrobe (and morale). I wouldn't survive without her! (she is also my loyal blog stalker!!!) Thanks for being wonderful Kelly! Love you.
I was not nearly as productive as I'd like but I have had fun making progress. My favorite place to sew right now is in the backyard. Here is my setup. :) I "watch" TV on my laptop (I really just listen). I own the first 3 seasons of Macgyver which is what I have been watching lately. Or catch up on my Brothers and Sisters at ABC.com. But today Britton bought me Walker Texas Ranger season 1, so that will be the new fun!!!
I finished my bias tape and used some to finish this lovely bunting. :) I had already cut all the triangles out at derby time and never finished and my friend Matt requested more for his halloween decor. He is hosting a "Joker's carnival" party and I had given him the derby bunting and some sheets that look like circus fun that my friend Kat and I painted one summer in college for me to use as curtains in front of the dorm closets. They were supposed to resemble my striped bedding and we taped them off to create various sized stripes of rainbow. They ended up looking circus like and they are perfect for this party... maybe I'll get a pic of them there.

When we were house-sitting I made these cute logcabin squares with the intention to make a "message board". Isn't her's so cute?! I think I might pin some black and white pictures up on it in our bedroom. So we were cleaning out the closet in Britton's bedroom so we can have a little more room in there and I found a sad bulletin board with an ugly frame. I took off the frame and bought a little black fabric at work tonight and stitched it/stapled it together. I really like it and I think I have enough black fabric to make Kristy (my other lovely sister) a present! :)
This is a preview of an ongoing project.... I'll give you a clue, it's kinda fruity! :) Flying geese are harder than I thought. Can you guess?

Bias

I haven't got much done this week, especially compared to my very productive Sunday. I have been reading Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini. I am not usually a fantasy fan, but I love a good book... and once I am hooked on the characters I am good to go in a book. My dad LOVED them and was excited for the third, so I borrowed them from a girl from work. I have enjoyed them and I am looking forward to book 3 but I found out their is 1 more and I am annoyed because now I have to wait again.... God has decided to teach me patience through all possible angles :) Oh well. I will probably have to check out the movie, but I haven't heard good things.... The book does set the standard high it reminds me a lot of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

Today wasn't totally productive, but I made some progress. I have had a bunch of WIP (works in progress) that I couldn't finish until I bought some stuff. So today I went shopping with a specific list of what I needed for the works in progress and some gifts (that are already late) :)
So I bought what I needed, but I also got most of my bias tape finished. (It's not sewed together, just folded) So here is today's progress:
both have ready made purposes, so watch for them again in the next few days... And I have another plan for the gold when I get around to it.

And my roses again :) They smell amazing and they look even more pretty today. Hope you have a fabulous Friday! Do you feel like you've made progress this week?

Happy Wednesday to me!

I worked a food show for my MIL's company from 7:30-4:30 and then worked at the craft store from 5-8 it was amazingly wonderful to have a full day and not sit around, but my feet and lower back aren't as happy. But... when my husband picked me up from work at 8 there were roses and a wonderful card waiting on my seat. Aren't I lucky! They are beautiful and smell amazing. (And I got the vase for free from some neighbors who didn't sell it in their garage sale. I have had lots of garage sale reject luck, but that's another post. So... Thanks to my amazing and wonderful husband and best friend for making me feel loved.

Fall Leaves Swag

I saw various fall garlands and decided to create my own. I was pretty proud that I didn't buy a single thing! I used my brown, orange, maroon, gold, drk. green, and lt green felt and cut out 8 different leaf silhouettes. 30 some odd leaves. I thought the orange and lt. green were too neon and so I soaked it all in coffee. It didn't totally fix it, but I do like it better and with the colors spread out I think they look pretty good. I used contrasting fall colors of embroidery thread and added veins? and lines to all of them and then I used fabric glue to glue them to green ribbon I had.


I have 4 garlands and I used 2 of them to decorate at my inlaws. (one on the mantle and one on the seasonal side table). I am not sure what I am going to do with the others. I hope to keep 1 or 2 and maybe give one to my mom and one to my MIL... We'll see. I am trying to get up the guts to sell things on etsy but I am not sure exactly where to start.

Fall Walk

I am going to blog a little more about life amidst the crafting :) Hopefully It will help me post more often. :) I finally talked Britton into going on a walk with me on this lovely little path that the "Papa John" built near his parent's house. It is almost exactly 2 miles around (we only had time to do 1 mile) but it was beautiful and hopefully he'll go again soon... (or I'll go anyways :) )

Chi home

Today, I made a pouch using left over insulator for my chi (hair straightener). I used some of my firework fabric that I bought in Vegas on sale as a fat quarter. ( I love it even though its random) It has fireworks (which I love) and bold colors (which I love).
I quilted the fabric with the insulator, added the ric-rac and ribbon and then added the infamous bias tape. I wanted it to kinda match my chi which is royal blue and I think it looks good. Now he has a home. :) I am almost done with another fall project which I will hopefully post tomorrow :)

vote for me! :)

I have been considering making potholders after seeing some lovely tutorials (here and here). I was procrastinating as I don’t really know what colors I want in my kitchen. But my local quilt shop was having a contest so I went for it. I made them patchwork and that added a while and I love the bias tape I picked but I cut it pretty narrow trying to be conservative with my fabric and that was a mistake! I ended up having to attach it by hand because I couldn’t get it straight through all the layers. ( top, batting, insulating layer, bottom fabric) ARG! It was so not worth “conserving fabric”.
Oh well. So I finished two in time to enter them in the contest (to win a tote full of quilting fun worth $75)! There are 10 other entrants and I am #10 so if you go by Among Friends quilt shop on Taylorsville Rd. (next to Kingpin bowling) make sure and vote for me! ☺ I like how they turned out but I was so over them because they took a lot more work than I thought. My mom would really like them so they might get sent to her…

So exciting!

I love blogland! ☺ I won a yard of fabric from Chaletgirl in Australia! It has brought great excitement. (when I found out and when it arrived) I am not sure what I am going to use it for- It is beautiful. I love the colors!! I am saving it for something good. She also sent me a adorable tissue cover. I am thrilled to have a present and a new friend. Thank you!!!