The Things I Do To Make A Buck...

I am a huge sports fan... I love all things Tennessee and Auburn...and Duke basketball. Why I bought crimson fabric with Elephants all over it I have no idea. But I know many Alabama fans and met a lot at the craft shows. So I decided to put that fabric to use.

I didn't go blind and I don't think my machine broke. I've had several hits on it on my eCRATER site. No buyer yet though. I have made 2 so far. I guess I'll make a few more. I have Auburn and Tennessee fabric too.... don't worry!

NOTICE!!! I have a link to my eCrater Store to the right!!! Check it out!

Well I made it through the craft fairs with dismal sales but I did sell things at all of them. I got lots of, "That's so cute!" and "You do great work!" That doesn't buy me more fabric and notions though now does it?! I have also decided to make mostly boy items for next year since that is what I mostly did sell. Thankfully there were four of us at the last two or I wouldn't have made back my booth fee! Thank you Dad, Lorraine, and Cathy! I sold more at the hospital's craft fair taking orders for embroidering burp cloths.

I did get my sewing machine back finally. I got a call on the day it was supposed to be ready and they said there was a part broken and it would be another week. I had no choice! The part that was broken is what was making my bobbin go wacky. It has been great since I got it back.... EXCEPT for when I do smaller lettering, the bobbin still comes to the top a little. Here is one of my post fixin' embroideries...

I have done a few more too. I am currently working on some University of Alabama burp cloths. It hurts my feelings to do them but I'm muddling through it! I may be so brave as to do some Florida and LSU ones too. Of course Auburn and Tennessee ones are coming!

I want to get to some quilt designing but that will have to wait till the new year I guess. I have Christmas presents to think about the next few weeks!

So it's been a while....

I really should blog more often. I know this but for some reason I can't seem to find the time. And when I do have the time I can't seem to remember.

Well, first I need to thank Lorraine Schaur for letting me put a few things in her booth at Oktoberfest in exchange for watching it a couple of hours. I made $44. I'm happy with that.

Now to get ready for the SRMC Craft Fair, Wilson County Handmade Parade, and the Elzie Patton Elementary School Craft Fair. Then if I can get enough stuff made there is another craft fair on Nov. 12.

All of this is great except for one teeny weenie problem. The embroidery part of my sewing machine has decided to be hostile. The tension is all messed up and the bobbin is showing on the topside. It'll take at least a week to get it in and fixed I think. I don't have a week to be without! Sigh. I have such great ideas waiting to go from my brain to the fabric.
I could use my mom's but I've never used it before. It looks like I'm going to have to though.
So much to do, so little time.

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Just Keep Sewing

I finally finished a quilt since my mom passed away. It's hard because when I sew I think of her. It's harder because when I run into a problem and have a question I'd always call and ask her. I think she could sew anything. I started this one at the beginning of the summer but mom only ever saw pictures of it in the beginning stages.

The idea is from Quick Quilts (Aug/Sept 2010). Here's a picture of the original.



And here I go....





I used a jelly roll of Love You by Deb Strain for Moda, a solid pink and a white on white polka dot.

I tried a couple of new techniques out in this quilt. The weaving, attaching and quilting at the same time, and raw edge binding. I still need to wash it so all the raw edges will fray.




I'm so thankful my mom taught me to sew. Her memory is in every stitch.

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3 Days Makes A Big Difference

My last post was on June 15th. Three days later my world was turned upside-down. My mom was recovering from surgery when her body said, "No more, I'm done." She passed away on the 18th. I am sure I'll post about my emotions about that someday, but not right now. I'm in the library and without a box of Kleenex.

Mom and I had big plans for when she recovered. We had toyed around with opening a sewing lounge. She said when she was back on her feet we would do something to get us closer to that goal. I have wanted to have a career in something I love. It is scary though. What if no one comes? It's a lot of work and risk to do something different. But if you're right... if you discover a way to meet a need...you hit the jackpot. There is no way of knowing though. That's why it is a risk. Besides that, where do you start? The laws governing a business are enough to make most people run and scream....that's not even talking about the tax laws. I just want to make a living, being my own boss, doing something I love. Is that too much to ask? It seems it might be for right now. So how about just doing something I love? I have some resume's and cover letters out and about. I need a bite!

Next post will hopefully be of a new finished quilt! I am still sewing of course. :)

To frog or not to frog....

Notice the tope white and blue are wide at the same spot?

That is the question! I have found a mistake in my current crochet project. I hate mistakes. I can probably work through it and no one would notice.... or I can frog it.... that would be frog almost 3 complete rows... of a blanket. Sigh....I am so mad!

The more I look at it the more I come to the conclusion that it must be frogged. Grrrrr..... I hate frogging. All that work, GONE.... so quick. The whole time I rip I am reminded of the time I wasted doing it wrong. Here it goes... RIPPIT>>> RIPPIT>>>>>>

One Week

Not much sewing going on this past week. Instead I have been spending the night in the 5th floor waiting room at Baptist Hospital. My mom had a pretty major surgery last Wednesday and there were lots of unexpected complications. This time last week the doctors and nurses were using phrases like, "I'm just going to be honest with you," and "I don't mean to sound all doom and gloom." Mom was intubated 3 times in 3 days and just got it out yesterday. She was unresponsive and having major issues with her heart rate, blood pressure, and swelling (3rd spacing.) It has been an emotional week. Walking back to the waiting room, down long empty halls after seeing your mom hooked up to tubes and wires and not responding gives you plenty of time to cry out to God. Thankfully our walks back to the waiting room the past couple of days have had a lighter step and they are full of praise. Mom is alert and mostly coherent, well, as you can be on drugs. She is eating ice chips and physical therapy walked her about 10 steps today.

My mom is my inspiration for sewing. She is the reason I sew. We are very different in our styles of creativity. I quilt and make home items, mom does French Heirloom Sewing and clothes mostly, but she can sew ANYTHING! If I have a problem with a pattern or a seam she is the one I go to. She says I have taught her stuff... I highly doubt that. :) I pray that I get to learn a lot more from her too!

Introducing "Crossroads"

It's finished! Pieced, quilted, and bound. I really need a real camera to show the true colors of this quilt. One day...
This looks like it may be my only entry in the fair this year unless I can get some major inspiration along with some free time. There is another in the works but I'm at a loss for design. It'll hit me....I hope.

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Transformed!

Okay, so this project was just plain fun. Thursday I had to get out of the house so I went to Goodwill. I had been wanting to "redo" something. So I went to the picture frames and found 3 that I thought had some potential. Here they are again in their original state.


I got them home and cleaned them up then sat them out and stared at them waiting for inspiration. Aha! I got up and started gathering all my painting supplies, scrapbook supplies and well, just supplies. Then I just created, one of my favorite things to "just" do. The hardest thing was to wait for the paint to dry!
The first one I took was the square one. I painted it a cherry brown and then cut a piece of thick scrapbook paper that matched and framed it without the glass and the matte. Actually, I started with the paper and then picked out the paint.


I think it looks very classic and modern at the same time.

Next was the most fun. The matte had 4 cutouts the same size but alternating landscapes. I sifted through my supplies and found some 3-D beach stickers. Some were too big for the space but I found 4 that would fit perfectly. Next I found two coordinating papers to break it up a little. I painted it white and while each coat dried, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the frame and adhered the paper and the stickers to the cardboard using the matte as my reference. When I put it together it was cute but the white frame with the white matte was too.....well white. So I painted it a kinda beachy blue. Perfect!.....no not quite. I took sandpaper to the edges randomly and exposed some of the white paint to give it a slightly weathered look. I love it. Again I ditched the glass.


The weathered look doesn't show up well here in the lighting of my dining room with my iPhone. But it looks cool.

Finally the biggest frame. I had my paper picked out for it way before starting it while I was looking for one of the others. I had to cover with white first but had originally planned on painting it a citron green and an orange in the original style to match the paper but after painting 2 sides decided it looked better plain white. So after a few more coats of white paint I had finished. Except it was too much space. It needed something. I remembered an idea I had seen in a magazine that had framed a letter. I didn't have a letter in my plethera of eclectic supplies. So I had to wait. Mom and I went to Girl's Night at JoAnn's last night and had a great time, even met Suede (I had no idea who Suede was but supposedly someone from Project Runway. My mom has decided to get some blue for her hair as well)


Sorry random people that made it into my blog.

Where was I? Oh the letter. So I got home after midnight and painted the letter white. I haven't attatched it because, well all of these frames are for sale and someone may want a different letter or color. But you get the idea...



So here they are




Would you have recognized them? Now to figure out what to do with the glass!

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Not my planned blog

Well, I am almost finished with a project I started yesterday that I am super excited about. Unfortunately I need one more item to finish. Here's a teaser though. The before picture.....



Okay, and maybe an in progress picture...



But, I do have another thing to show you. It's my special place recipes go when they are loved.


Some I rewrite, others are just cut out, but here are a few pages from inside.










Well, you get the idea. I've almost filled this book up and I've got dozens waiting for their special place!

Happy....recipe keeping!

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Organized!

Okay, so the tittle of this blog may be a wee bit misleading. I'm far from being completely organized...BUT I have found a good way to keep one area organized. If your a quilter, designer, crafter, baker, cooking show host wanna be...anyone....anyone....anyway, I'm sure you tear ideas and recipes out of magazines. For the longest time these ripped out pages of future projects and delicacies were stuffed into drawers, folders, or just laying around with no way of knowing what I actually had. Plus, I found some from what had to be a late 80's early 90's magazine that made me wonder why I ever wanted to make that!
I finally have something to help me. A divided 3-ring binder. Sounds simple. Why didn't I think of this before? I have these as my current sections..."Want" "Ideas" "Recipes" "Buisness Ideas" and "Holiday Ideas". Beside my binder I keep a 3-hole punch and a paper cutter, for those times my tearing technique provides a less than straight edge.



I understand (I'll never get all of these things done) I just don't care!

So they're in the binder, and the magazine is in the recycle bin. Now what? Well my recipe section seems to get the most out of control. So while planning my grocery trip I go to my recipe section and pick out a couple to make. If I like it, it goes to the keeper folder (this is another monster that I'm getting under contol...see an upcoming blog). If I don't, well into the garbage it goes.

Just a little idea that I thought I'd share. You may say, "Well duh! I've done this for years. You're just now figuring this out?". Yes....I'm just now figuring this out.

Well I have 2 Country Living magazines to go through.

Oh, and my sewing, quilting, and painting magazines do not get torn up in general. Maybe if there's a gadget I want but I keep these as whole as possible. :)

Happy Tearing!


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Delivery!

Well my two little lap/reading quilts have been delivered! My dear friend Shayna's two girls,
Sophie and Phoebe, finally got the shower gifts that were slightly delayed.



You have to just love that little pig Olivia! I hope to have a picture of them with the quilts soon....hint hint Shayna!

Sadly, I've been dealing with strep throat the past few days so I haven't been feeling like doing much of anything. But today I finally got to my sewing machine and trudged along on getting the cross quilt quilted. I gave up and just did stitch in the ditch. I hate doing it. It's so boring! I tried to stipple....it was a disaster! And it takes forever to pull out, which I know first hand after I did just that when I decided it looked like crap. Now I have to bind it. It'll have a feature post when it's done.

Happy crafting!

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Yay! More Time to Procrastinate!

Anyone who knows me knows I get things done in time normally....just in time. I am a procrastinator! Well I thought my quilt for the quilt show had to be done by May 18th. Turns out my registration form is all that has to be in by then. The quilt itself isn't to be delivered till June 15th! That's almost a month extra to procrastinate! Wooohooo!

So what do I do when I procrastinate? I start new projects, what else? My next quilt, besides the AH picture quilt is this cute little thing...






I hope to mail my 2 special reading/lap quilts on Monday. They are long overdue gifts for a dear friend. Then I'll post pictures.

Happy procrastinating!




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Binding...shortcuts don't always take less time!

Well I thought I'd be smart and bind a little reading/lap quilt by cheating a bit. I made a double fold binding strip, sandwiched, and sewed. First of all the seam isn't the same distance from the edge on each side. Ok, no big deal. The big deal was the last stretch. How not to have a raw edge. My method from my normal way of all machine binding wasn't working out. Well an hour of lots of folding and cutting later I gave up. I did finish it today but I had to add a new piece and it still looks shoddy in my book. I'm not posting a picture of the quilts (I made 2 but only got crazy with the binding on the last one) just yet because they are surprises for a friend. I just hope the friend doesn't look too close!!


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Pinning...blech

I hate pinning almost anything. I usually find ways around it. But it is a necessary evil when preparing a quilt to be quilted. Making the "sandwich" requires lots of pinning. Probably more than I actually do. I have had a quilt top done for a long time now but just never felt like pinning it. Today I just bit the bullet and did it. Whew. I feel accomplished. I still have no idea how I want to quilt it. But that's just my second least favorite part of quilting. :)






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So far so good!!

Well I have dried the printed fabric, ran cold water over them, laid them to dry and finished drying them with the iron as directed. No smudges or smears!! There is only one little spot that has blue ink on it. I'm going to try to save it with a bleach pen. The blue ink is on the edge of all the sheets but on this one it decided to grace the middle of the picture.


You can't really see it on here. It is on the second window pane down. Overall I'm impressed with how they turned out. Now to find fabric to make them into 12x12 squares and add them to my other squares. I hope it all goes well together.

It's about time!

I've had a quilt promised my niece since she graduated last year. She's about to finish up her first year at UT (Go Vols!) and I was no closer to finishing it than I was last May. Till today. I'm not finished by any means but I took a big scary step today. I printed on fabric. I've never done this before so I was nervous. I still am since I've only printed them. I still have to colorset them. But I'm on my way! Here's a sample....



There are 6 different pictures right now. I may do one more that's bigger for the middle.

I hope to have a finished project on here before too long!

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Simplify

I love my mom!! She said she had a couple of books for me. This is nothing new, she often lets me look through sewing and cooking books she wants to get rid of to see if I want them. She said there was one she knew I would want. Ok, let's back up. There is a quilting book I've wanted since it came out last year called Simplify by Camille Roskelly. I hinted for it for Christmas to no avail. If you don't know I love this woman and I've never even met her. Some people aspire to be like Oprah or Martha Stewart, without the legal trouble, but I want to be like Camille. Check out her blog. It's linked at the right, click on Simplify. So.... I take the books and there it is! No more hinting needed...IT IS MINE!!
I've already read half of it even the basic
instructions on how to cut and piece and I already know how to do that!



One day I'll have a book out. One day....

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Testing.... testing

I'm testing out my new blogging app.


Test picture.

Let's see if it works!

In the blogging world there are people that are truly amazing. Camille Roskelley is one of these people. She has inspired me with her blog Simplify in my sewing and has made me dream of bigger things. Dream... that is why I am posting this blog right now. See, Camille's latest blog is about having dreams....goals....BIG goals. And she's having a contest as well, which is why I am posting this here now. I get an extra entry for posting about it on my blog. So head over to Simplify and enter your dream for a chance to win. One of the prizes is her book and if you win it I would like to at least see it! Tell her you heard about her from me.

Camille Roskelley of Simplify

Here's to dreams!