Recent Crafty Sewing

Round up of crafty things this year so far
(apparently this is My Year of the Table Runner)


Valentine's Day runner (silly part is it's too long for my table...heh)

Double Wedding Ring Table Runner for my cousin's May wedding (also doesn't fit my table, but it's not for me so that works!)

Really big bag that works really well for..most things! :)


Table Runner for Mother's Day

(apparently no pictures of this are here...i'll update later)

Table Runner for Father's Day - going around those corners was rough!

Table Runner for me (that actually fits on my table)

Computer cover/Coffee pot runner for work

Coaster/spoon rest for work (for me and some friends)

Happy Quilters Quilt along

Quilt-a-long update. I like this version: the 4x5 blocks


so i need 150 inches of color/fun material and 3yards of sashing
And it will make a 68"x85" quilt in the end!

Off to the stash and fabric stores!! :)

re-invention

so...it's been over a year and no one will ever notice. BUT i'm joining a quilt a-long so figured an update was in need. In the last year i've made my first quilt top and finished my first quilt - two different ones. :)

The first is pinned but not quilted (it was a present for my brother last May...).



The second was a quick put together for a friend's baby for Christmas.


But i have big plans. :)

First big plan is that i'm joining the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long!



Ta Ta for now!

First Real Sewing post

Okay, i said i hadn't abandoned this blog and kinda semi-promised to post about sewing! Imagine that a sewing blog about sewing... :)

So i thought i start in order and tell you about the first project i made. The gym i belong to has several different sets of weights, one of which (and of course the one my trainer prefers) has really sharp points on the grip - makes total sense for it to be like that, i mean who wants to hold a weight for very long.... So after using them once i decided that i should make something to fix that (not knowing yet that there were other versions of weights without spikes!)!

I had already found a tutorial for making business accessories, such as lanyards, luggage tags and luggage handle covers and i thought if i enlarged the luggage covers i might have a suitable size! So i made one according to the instructions and seeing the size i englarge it as you can see:

I love these bright flowers and chose them in order to make it hard to lose/forget the weight grips at the gym. The little one works great at IDing luggage - really hard to miss! :)

Tragedy Strikes!

I didn't really abandon this blog (not that one post counts as a 'blog', but roll with me here!), i've just been preoccupied and while i've thought of blog posts i haven't ever gotten them written...

Today, though something happened that i had to tell someone! And i can't tell my friends for hours, cuz i'm playing hooky from work today - i really did feel sick this morning, but i was fine after a nap and could have gone in late, still i thought i'd use the time to catch up on my Christmas present making! sigh.

Anyway, i was sewing along, no problems (well ya know no major problems, i'm following a great pattern), and then my bobbin ran out [has happened before, no biggie], BUT then my needle snapped in two!! It was shocking! And sharp - the little point piece flew and hit my check! I stared at it for awhile thinking what do i do now?!

Luckily i thought about it for awhile and remembered there were random things in the hidey hole behind the bobbin - AND i found the paper packet of extra needles that came with my sewing machine! YEA!! Course then it was a struggle to get the broken needle out and the new one in and i still haven't attempted to sew with it yet - i was too traumatized and had to tell someone!

Okay i'm better now. :) Thanks for listening!!

My Introduction

Hi!

I'm Tina! I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to fabric. Yep, i'm a fabricaholic. I love walking through craft aisles just looking at the fabric, running my hands along the tops/sides of the bolts, pulling out a few and just looking at them. I never bought much, just selvedge that was on sale, cheap, and very small pieces - this was before i discovered fat quarter pieces. My life could have still been normal, except that one of the craft stores in my town had a going-out-of-business sale, and i unwittingly went in. Within 2 hours i had spent way too much money and had about 15 yards of material. And without further ado, my fabric addiction took full hold of my life - i now have dozens of yards of material, most of it quilters weight.

From February 2009 to the end of May 2009 i bought fabric, but had nothing to do with it. I finally bought a sewing machine in late May 2009, figuring that i might as well start. In June i found another craft store going out of business (it's apparently a very dangerous epedimic!) and walked out with so much more fabric and suddenly knitting instructions and yarn too - i figured it was on sale i might as well, right?! Yet i had still not done more than play with my sewing machine, just running stiches back and forth to try to figure out how it works! :)

I'm not completely new to needlecraft - my mom taught me to embroider when i was a little girl, and i've done my fair share of embroidered baby bibs and cutesy decorations, but when i went to college i stopped doing even that much. My mom used to make the occassional outfit for us and is very good at making cute pillowcases, but she didn't do much else, sewing wise, besides mending. My Aunt Cathy, though, is a prolific seamstress and knitter and has made each of her nieces and nephews hand-knitted blankets in our favorite colors. When i moved away from home permanently 3 years ago, my dad gave me a quilt that his grandmother had made for him.

I have been reading all sorts of crafting blogs and have been really impressed and inspired by all of the crafty women online these days! I have to say i'm impressed that almost all of them/you run busy households with (usually multiple) children underfoot and occassionally even farms to run as well! I cannot say that my distractions are as fun, i just have to go to work all day! ;) Still i hope to have those distractions (the kids, not the cows) someday! :)

I should probably admit, i'm much better at sewing stories together than i am at sewing fabric. BUT with all this fabric i have every intention of learning how to sew! :) I mean i can't justify buying more fabric if i don't at least try to use some of it... so in this first blog post i wanted to say thank you to all the women who had inspired me and ask for prayers and wishes to help me continue in this quest.