In the Sewing Room

This weekend I spent a lot of time sewing, I finished up some little projects and worked on some larger ones. It actually snowed yesterday so I didn't feel bad spending the day indoors. This pencil pouch is for my niece who asked for eraseable colored pencils for her birthday, I had to give her a little more than that. This is the first time I've sewn a zipper into anything and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...it's even lined!

And I figured Casey needed a new Halloween collar so I whipped this one up. The bats glow in the dark too!

September

Remember my goals from earlier in the summer? I do. And unfortunately I only finished one of the 7 knitting projects pictured. I can't really say I've been too busy to work on anything, I just haven't had the motivation to do so. My nieces came for a long visit at the end of June, I've worked more hours this summer than I have in summers past, I got a new mountain bike, attended the MN State Fair 4 times and in general I've just been out and about.
I'm going to give myself a mulligan and extend my deadline to the official end of summer, September 22. Stay tuned.

Today I finally managed to recover my little ironing board. It was in desperate need of a makeover. Before on the left, dingy dirty green. And after on the right, bright and fresh teal and orange flowers.

The socks I entered at the fair were not winners. I pick them up on Wednesday and I'll let you know what the judges had to say about them.

OK, so what am I looking forward to in September?
* Cooler weather
* My brother's 40th birthday!
* My birthday!
* Apples
* A weekend away at a friends cabin
* Some new TV shows - yes, I love TV
* Leaves changing colors
* My turn in the dish rag tag

UFO's & FO's

I decided to gather up all my knitting ufo's and really get a good look at everything. I have quite a few but I decided my goal is to make a good dent in all of these projects by Labor Day, I think this is achievable.
Clockwise from 1:00
My oldest ufo, a lace scarf knit with Cherry Tree Hill - began in January 2005
A reverse-bloom flower washcloth - began May 6, 2008
Wobbly tote - side 2 - began January 2007
Casey's jersey - for Knit my Dog a Sweater KAL - began January 2007
Pink Sheldon - began February 2, 2008
A purple stow away shopping bag - began last Thursday June 12th
and in the very middle a single sock -began March 20, 2008

On the other hand, remember I said I had been sewing quite a bit lately? This is what I did on Saturday. I pieced, quilted and almost finished binding a wall hanging / table quilt which I started way back in the year 2000 or maybe 2001, but who's counting?
I also made the cutest pillow case I've made to date, imo...the cherry print with rick-rack.
I added a bee motif to a Moleskine journal and I also made a block for the And Still Counting project.
So, I don't feel too bad about not knitting lately.

National PJ Day

I stumbled upon this tutorial a while back and ever since I've been wanting to make one of these bags, basically a fabric bag using the pattern of a plastic store bag. Mine isn't perfect but it'll serve the purpose it is intended for. I can't help but think my Grandma would have loved one of these, she always toted things around in those nasty plastic bags. Kyle & I have been making a conscious effort not to use plastic bags from stores if we don't need to. The other day I had a cashier look at me like I was an alien when I told her I wouldn't need a bag.

I finally managed to finish the first bootee. I changed yarn to the squishier lighter green and then last night I got stumped at one point in the pattern. Kyle came home from Target with Guitar Hero for our Wii and knitting was all over for the night.

Isn't it interesting, when you have something you really should be working on you manage to do everything but? Maybe it's just me...

I Can't Stop Sewing

I have so many sewing projects staring me in the face that I just can't keep myself away from the sewing machine. So forgive me if I bore you in the coming weeks with sewing projects since I want to blog about them here in order to remember the details for myself. I have done a little knitting and I will show it to you tomorrow.

Project: Ducky blanket
Made for: Makena Rae (my friend's 4 month old)
Started: October 22, 2007
Finished: October 28, 2007

Casey and I spent a nice relaxing day together. I did a little sewing and beading, and Casey munched on a bone. See my new etsy listings here.
Isn't it funny how he spreads his legs way out when he's gnawing away? Gotta love the dogs.
Tonight I plan to knit, I'll show progress soon. Thanks for hanging in there with little to no knitting content on my knitting blog!

A Day Late & A Dollar Short

I am a little late with my March / April pincushion challenge but I just couldn't stand not to have made a pincushion for every theme so far, so I figured better late than never. I made this one using the pattern from Heather Bailey in Quilts and More. And since the theme was Eats, I used fabric covered in radishes! I probably could have stuffed the cushion a bit more but I ran out of poly-fill and wanted it done now so I did what I could. The giant button is from my Grandma's button box.

Blanket Made With Love

Since Casey loves to be covered up and I found this super cool fabric while shopping with Splatgirl (check out what she did with it), I decided to whip up a blanket for my special boy. I basically sandwiched the cotton & polar fleece together, topstitched it and tied with some embroidery thread to hold the layers together. Super easy and super useful. Yee haw.

Batter Up

Splatgirl and I met up yesterday for a little lunch and shopping, which included about a half hour at the cutting table in the fabric store. I absolutley had to have this baseball fabric to make myself a pillowcase to celebrate the start of the baseball season. Here is the finished product posing with my mini Torii Hunter bobblehead and a baseball which I caught at a Saints game a few years back. Go Twins!!
I'll have more sewing to share later on in the week...
Meanwhile, do I only have 12 readers of this blog??? That's all the guesses I have so far in the contest. I want everyone who reads to guess, c'mon it's easy and you could win stuff.

Crazy Week

So it's been a little crazy around here this week for various reasons and none that are too exciting or even relevant to anything...just busy.
I have been re-addicted to knitting the Mason-Dixon warshrags however. I knit a set of pink ones for a co-worker who is getting married in a month. She absolutely adores the color pink so all the gifts I got her are pink. Tomorrow is her bridal shower and as soon as I'm finished with this blog update, I'll be making a batch of deviled eggs for the said shower.

This morning I snapped a couple of photos of Casey giving me kisses before I left for work. Yes, I allow him to kiss my face and I know there's many more out there like me. Dog love, there's nothing else like it!

Earlier this week my favorite sister-in-law turned the big 4-oh and I sent her a special little gift wrapped up in my home made gift bag. Happy Birthday Paula!!

Over the weekend I made a small quilt for pins (my sister-in-law introduced me to these), fashioned after a quilt I saw online somewhere but I can't remember where. Hopefully this coming weekend I'll get to pinning a larger quilt that I've been meaning to finish for years. Yes that's right, YEARS.

Hot Off the Presses

I was inspired to make this craft bucket from Caro of Splityarn...soon to be a local MN blogger! She was recently featured on Uncommon Threads and made this handy bucket from old jeans and heavy cotton fabric. You may recognize the fabric from a previous project of mine. The project was a little tricky for me since I ended up running across thick areas of denim here and there, I'm not sure any machine really deals well with that (not to mention mine is in need of a maintenance visit). I ended up cutting the inner cardboard circle a tad small but it will work. It also looks obviously taller than the one Caro made but I like it just the same. Go find some old jeans and make yourself a crafty bucket!
Every time Kyle wants to throw out a pair of jeans I hoard them into my craft closet 'just in case' I need denim for something.
Do you see what I have to put up with when I sit down to the sewing machine? Casey is always wanting to cuddle up underneath and there's just not enough room for him under there, not to mention when I see him coming I have to unplug the foot pedal because on more than one occasion he's plopped down right onto it.

Warm Corn

Casey would like to thank each and every one of you who sent birthday wishes his way! Thank you!!

This week I've been busy at the sewing machine. First I made this warming pillow which I filled with seed corn, you pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and it's toasty warm for about a half an hour. I like to tuck it in my blanket over my feet. Perfect for the subzero weather I've been subjected to for the last week.
Then I made a pillowcase for my niece's birthday, I even used French seams so there will be no unraveling of raw edges.
I have a couple of other things in store for the weekend, I'll let you know when they're finished!
Have a good one.