Recently in Quilting Etc. Category
A few weeks ago I posted some links to quilts I've been admiring. Yes, I am cleaning out my delicious account, how could you tell? But seriously, if I think something is neat or gorgeous or fun, why should I hide it away in my bookmarks instead of sharing it with you.
Button wreath ornament at MarthaStewart.com. Mainstream? Yes. Cute? Yes.
The mini felt scrap wreaths by Betz White. Second image in the post, and even better with jingle bells.
The men's shirt turned girl's dress that Gezellig Girl made based on a tutorial she links to in her post.
5-minute skirt at angry chicken. This bit of the instructions is priceless: "The 5 minutes only apply if you have a serger, all the supplies at the ready, and are sober. Please allow for extra time if your personal situation deviates from this."
(Yes, I know, I posted about my lust over the skirt book and have yet to make a skirt, so this is perhaps superfluous. But it's a great post and this is my blog.)
The scrap scarf at Javajem's. I love scarves, and I need MANY of them. For February in Austin.
The dish towel and ties sewing machine cover on WhipUp.net, originally on MarthaStewart.com. Now if you follow the link from WhipUp, it goes to a gallery of cooked chicken photos. Which is different.
It hasn't been quilting time around here for a while, but that doesn't mean I don't have dreams of returning to piecing. So for my future use, and possibly for your enjoyment, here are some quilts I've been admiring.
Fat Quarter Quilt on New Green Mama. These aren't fabrics that I would pick for my personal taste, but I love the idea of using entire fat quarters and I like how she staggered them.
Simply Denim {Ashlee's version} highlighted on Piece N Quilt. Natalia's quilting really adds a whole extra level of lovely to a great design. (But since I will probably quilt mine myself, for my reference tips on quilting denim quilts.)
D9P at Love Laugh Quilt. I love how a scrap quilt can come together out of so many varied elements.
quilt Quilt QUILT!!! at Confessions of a Napper. I so completely want this.
Rocket Scientist at Brown Paper Packages. Mmmm, stripes.
Brent Myers' menswear fabric quilt on Decor8. It makes me want to thrift men's pants or something to do a recycled version.
Brie's Baby Quilt on Pink Chalk Studio. So! Sweet!
quilt block for courtney by sarah + h on Flickr. I so admire people who mix things up within blocks.
I am somewhat intrigued by this book, Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous Fabrics. There's a sew-along group on Flickr and some of the skirts people are making are so cute. I could figure out how to make some of these myself even without a pattern, but why not do it the easy way if someone's already laid out good instructions?
We did not have a girl baby because I quilt.
Okay, I used to quilt. But hey, I got my sewing machine set back up again this weekend so there is hope.
The fact that my chosen sewing-related hobby is quilting tells you two things about me:
I can sew.
I like sewing flat things.
If we had a girl baby, because of the bit above that says "I can sew," people who know I can sew would expect me to make her dresses and rompers and whatever. However, did you read that bit up above that says "I like sewing flat things"? Last I checked, children's clothing is not flat.
So people would ask me when I was going to sew something for her, and when I said "never" they wouldn't believe me in the same way that no one believes me when I said I didn't want to have another baby, and I'm all "no really" and they're like "you'll forget how much you hated being pregnant" and I'm all "maybe if I get a head injury." It is my least favorite thing to be told how I feel, by the way. It's even worse than chocolate. (If you're new here, I hate chocolate. Hate. I hate being told I don't really hate it, too, so don't go there.)
While attempting to maintain my disguise as a civil, non-misanthropic member of society when in the presence of my offspring, I would then be burdened with:
1. My desperate boredom at having to hear the 1,032nd stranger say "Well I can see where that child gets the red hair from!" or "You must be Irish!" or whatever stunningly insightful comment they can come up with about the fact that C-Man, Boy Detective, and I are all redheads. OMG, yes, sometimes people with red hair meet, get married, and have children. But we're GERMAN and SCOTTISH and no, no one has ever mentioned it before that we all have red hair so you are providing me with extremely valuable information.
2. My complete lack of desire to respond to the question "How old is he?" from other parents of young children given that right now, the second most popular topic after his hair color is his extremely articulate speech, and it makes other parents act like their two year old is somehow defective - because you know, Boy Detective was walking independently at nine months and now all the other two year olds are still not as good at walking as he is. Oh, except hang on, they're all walking the same now and have been for quite some time. And my kid barks out the window when he sees a dog walking down the street, so you might want to factor that in.
3. The pressure of continually defending to friends and family my complete lack of desire to make floral bloomers or bonnets or whatever and cover them with ruffles and gathers and smocking.
Thank you, universe, for not sending me a girl baby. I can only handle so much.
Almost $100 for basic service? It bloody well better work perfectly, especially since the girl who checked it in had such an attitude problem.
I'd like to think that if I concentrate, I could finish one of the partly done quilts for our bed in time for the holidays. I'd like to think that, but I don't, because I'm 98% sure it isn't true.
Luckily J and G gave us a comforter that one of their dogs ate a couple of holes in, so we don't freeze.
Come to think about it, it's been over a decade since I wasn't routinely sleeping under a blanket that a dog ate a hole in.
Hmm.
Perhaps I will not put a quilt on our bed for a few more years.
My mom can't find an armchair chair small enough to replace an old one in one particular corner of her house. Everything she can find is "overstuffed" or somesuch. Cars have turned into SUVs, which have turned into mega-SUVs, which caused me no end of giggling when one of my former co-workers lamented that they'd just bought a house but couldn't park in their new garage. Serves them right.
More distressing to me, though, is that older quilts don't fit on today's beds. By older, I don't mean antique. I mean 10 years old. Deeper mattresses mean that quilts sized for mattresses common when I was 20 years old are now too short.
Ah, progress. I had managed to memorize the suggested dimensions for a queen size quilt, but my knowledge is already obsolete.
I do apologize. I've been a bit distractified.
You see, I'm writing elsewhere too. Yes, I know, you are the most important readers. However, unless you're going to start sending me checks, I feel I must see other people as well. After six months of all-baby-all-the-time, it's time for some Real Work around here.
(All of you who have children are now laughing, yes?)
In case you are behind on what I've been up to, I am blogging about environmental issues in crafting at Crafting A Green World, part of the Green Options network which is totally for great justice. They have a food blog and a fashion and style blog as well, and then a good number of other blogs that are much more serious and also quite good.
Hey look, a commercial on my blog!
Seriously, though, y'all know I'm all about shaming you for using plastic bags saving the world, and I feel good about working with these folks. So stop by and check us out. Or if you just want to see what I've been doing, visit my own personal corner of the GO empire.
I just caught the baby staring at the Bernina with a huge grin on his face.
Our good friend SBW has been working to ensure that baby's first word is "quilt," with "craft" as a backup. Perhaps it's working?
Those of you who know me are aware that I shy away from 3-d sewing, preferring the flat world of quilts. It's a bit odd, since I started my sewing habit by making clothes, both for myself and my Barbies. (Yes, I admit it.) However, Victoria Everman posted a list of Top 5 Must-Have DIY Sewing Tomes at new blog Crafting a Green World - and despite my aversion to 3-d, I found myself strangely tempted. 99 Ways to Cut, Sew & Deck Out Your Denim? Hmm, there's a whole rack of denim at Goodwill just waiting to be explored...
The book I would add to Victoria's list is Second Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater by by Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis, and Katarina Evans. Though I live in warm and friendly Austin, there are a couple of weeks out of the year when it's on the chilly side. February, basically. And I hate being cold. So I wanted to check out what I could do with great wool sweaters that have fallen victim to holes. I have a few here, and I regularly see them at thrift stores. Second Time Cool delivered. Even for someone who doesn't want to do a lot of hand sewing and embellishment, mittens and scarves are easy. If you want to do something funkier, there are wrist cuffs, necklaces, and even skirts. So now I'm trying to decide whether I'd rather wear the blue sweater in my drawer or felt it and chop it up.
After all, I have several more weeks until it gets cold here. Surely I can take on a new craft during the baby's naps and bust out some winter accessories?
- Gee's Bend - Ties and Christmas Ornaments, blogged by Kyra E. Hicks at her blog Black Threads. (Ms. Hicks is the author of several books on quilting. If you're into quilts and you're not reading her blog yet, why not?) Yummy ornaments, ties, and other Gee's Bend designs.
- Crafting a Green World, a new blog at GreenOptions.com, covers eco-friendly crafting books, events, companies, and more. It's just started, so head over and give them some love.
- This 404 page is overwhelming, but amusing.
- Wallpapers and screensavers from National Geographic, via this post on etc.. Lovely.
- Where cats go when they die.
Me Elsewhere
