Wordless Wednesday

And even more...

This is the remainder of my package to the S-I-L. Back in December she had asked me if I knit hats. As the only thing I can do is knit scarves very poorly, I informed her of this. But did offer my somewhat better crocheting services. Her best friend has twin daughters nearing two-years old. One of them has been struggling with cancer. Right now she is cancer free but going through a round of chemo up in Boston over the next two months. S-I-L had requested some fun, colorful hats for her friends' daughter. And I've obliged. One was left in her stocking in TX but these two were done here in Chicago. How cute is that granny square one? I'm afraid it might be too big but it sure looks like a lot of fun. I might need to make one for myself... I'm forever looking for a good hat. It doesn't help that my noggin is huge.


And here is part of my crazyness. When I heard about this little girl I immediately wanted to make her a quilt. But then I thought "well, that's just crazy" so I didn't. But when the S-I-L asked me about the hats I figured I could throw another little something in there - a doll quilt. Of course, I needed to make two, one for each. And, as I don't do anything the right way, things went a little wonky. What I envisioned was a rainbow wave quilt for each girl. What I got was half a rainbow. And enough blocks left over to make two more of these wee doll quilts. Or a rainbow table runner. Anyone? Oh well... I still think they're cute and I like that they aren't exactly the same but share some of the same elements, much like twins do. When I made my binding (using for the first time my bias tape maker which made things so much easier) I wanted to add in snippets of most of the fabrics so you can see that if you look hard.
I can't tell you how much fun it was to shop for fabric for these. I know, I know, I just complained about how I need to purge some fabric. But really, I am pretty lacking in rainbow girly prints. Again, the yellow with trees, super cute. The blueberries and little mice on the green background are also amazingly cute. Every time I would go in the fabric store I would eye the mice but it was never on sale and I just couldn't justify getting any but this time I went in the store it was on the half-off table! Hurrah! I'm second guessing the Dora fabric, especially since only one quilt has it. I'm hoping that doesn't cause problems. But overall, I'm pretty happy with them. The back is a fun farm animal flannel.

And that's what I've got for today. I started my WWJBD? project last night. It's going to be awesome.

Sew...

I finished up some projects this weekend.
My gift for the S-I-L's birthday that was much earlier this month:
She had requested a hoodie with the word "vegan" on it for Christmas. I got her a t-shirt from the Chicago Diner and the cookbook which I think she liked but it wasn't really what I was hoping for. And while this really made me giggle, she doesn't like tofu.

This is my first attempt at freezer paper stenciling. And I think I pretty much rocked it. Just sayin'. Jessica has a great tutorial up here and it was one of the crafts at the last Chicago Craft Social.
I drew up the design for the heart - I don't know why in my head it had to be a heart but it did - and then traced it on to some freezer paper. I cut out the negative spaces with a craft knife, ironed all the pieces on and then used fabric paint. It has to dry and then you can remove the stencil and set it with an iron. I free-handed the flowers. I hope the flowers coming out the pocket aren't too much for her. I'm totally enchanted with the idea of having flowers peek out of my pocket but I realize that not everyone else in the world shares my same aesthetic.

I also made a few tote bags. I made two red ones, one of which will be sent to her: The red fabric was thrifted. It's rather loud. And probably not at all her to her taste (again, I LOVE it) but being green is her thing and this puppy will hold lots of groceries if she decided to use it for her shopping. But how cute is that yellow fabric with the trees that I used for the pocket? I just adore it. And need something made from it post-haste. The other red one I made has chickens on the pocket and straps which is why I'm not sending that one. And I made one with a loud green/turquoise/floral print which was also thrifted material. Really, really, cute. I might have sent that one except that I discovered it has a twisted handle. Boo on me for not checking that twice before I pinned it all and sewed it down. It didn't bother me too much initially but I'm thinking I need to take the seam ripper to it and fix it now.

Oh, here is the tutorial for the tote bag. I love this bag and have made it a few times. I did modify the straps some so that they are longer. Did you know that us big girls have purse strap issues too? At least I do. It's so frustrating to "try on" a purse that is supposed to go over the shoulder only to have the straps be too short for comfortable carrying that way. I hate the sliding shoulder strap on a bag. I have made one that is not decorator weight fabric (recommended in the instructions) but a thin, vintage, woven cotton and the fabric has held up well. I do need to make a repair on the stitching though where one of the straps attaches. The thread I used is probably vintage too which might be part of the problem. I'm sure you could add a snap or a hook and eye for a more secure top. My initial plan was to use them for shopping bags but they're so handy for holding in-process projects that I needed a few more.

I also spent a lot of time looking for lost supplies. I lost my craft knife a few times last week which made me soooo frustrated and have no idea where my seam ripper is (see above as to why this is a problem). Ugh. I need to do more organizing. I've done some to sort out fabric but clearly I need to extend the organization to the rest of the supplies so I can stop wasting my time. And I should probably get rid of some things too. The problem is I go through fits and starts and focus on one things for a few days and then hop on over to another craft or project. So I don't ever know if or when I'll go back to the other projects.

I started another "Change or Suffer" cross-stitch last night. I also plan to make a "WWJBD?" cross-stitch as an homage to 24. Maybe it will have a gun and a man-bag as part of the design... Perhaps I'll start that tonight while I'm watching Jack.

Rays of light

Pictures from Iowa.

Hoarfrost or rime frost. I don't quite know the difference. But it was very beautiful. I believe it forms when there is fog and it freezes to create ice crystals around objects. At any rate, the trees and bushes had on a delicate crystal frock. There's so much more detail if you make it bigger.A retired farm truck. Wouldn't it be lovely restored? It's pretty groovy this way too. I've always wanted an old truck. Except for the whole gas mileage and repair issues. It definitely has character. I like cars with character.

This is the interior of the church where the memorial service was held. The rays from the windows were lovely. I don't think I took that first picture.

I didn't get any pictures of snow looking like waves along the road. But that was amazing and beautiful too.

Gorgeous Light

I haven't taken a picture in days. I want to chop all my hair off. Or dye it red again. Those two things correlate. If I get into a creative rut I resort to doing things to my hair. I promised myself that today I would take some pictures because I needed to. My heart and mind were going a bit crazy.
In the lobby of the building where I work there is a set of mailboxes. Each box has a little lock. Once upon a time they gave out the combination to the mailbox when they were assigned. Eventually folks just gave up and walked around the wall to get their mail. This afternoon the light was just right and they were beautiful. There's something in that tale that I haven't quite put all together. Something about the illusion of security/difficulty to get what's in the box when all you have to do is approach the problem or desire from another direction to get at what you want.

Inspiration

Hi! I didn't mean to be gone so long. Really, I didn't. There just doesn't seem to be much going on in my head that would be of much interest to lots of folks. But, I do want to share two websites that I have loved recently.

Habit is a group of friends or friends of friends and a few folks every day for a month post a photo and a brief thought. Some beautiful photos and the sentiments make me smile.

The other site is:

My Parents Were Awesome. It's people sending in pictures of their parents. It's so much fun.

I hope you take some time to visit them and enjoy them like I do.

And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there is an Etsy shop with handmade donations from folks all over the globe. 100% of the profits will go to Doctors without Borders who are doing good work in Haiti.

I just want to collapse for a bit

It's always a bit abrupt, this returning to work after a couple off. Parties and family and relaxation followed by the 400 emails that need to be dealt with plus three late nights in a row.

Add into that mix a shock of sadness with a couple of days to be spent on the road to support a grieving friend.

I'm always so excited to have classes begin because that means that I get the rest a bit. I guess that will change once I start teaching classes.

Yet I got to talk with a friend today about a child that was hoped for but not expected and that was a wonderful thing to smile about.