My first Etsy Listings!

This is scary and exciting all at once!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6459539

My very first quilt block

Oh boy.  That will teach me to be overconfident!  Hats off to all of you quilters out there.  

I found a quilt shop that is actually pretty close to my house, and lo and behold, they have classes.  Just what a budding fabric junkie needs, right?  Classes to learn to make things with all that yummy fabric that I can't seem to stop buying.  They have a Saturday Sampler class (this is Close to Home in Unionville, CT) where you learn a new technique, or try a new gadget each month, and at the end of the year, you have enough blocks for a quilt.  GREAT!  A block a month.  I can handle that, right???

I started this with two very erroneous assumptions...one, that I can sew a straight line.  HA!  It's much harder than I thought.  And two, that because I like math, and puzzles, I can cut squares neatly with a ruler.  HA  HA!  I may use a fancy shmancy calculator at work and I may be good at fuzzy math, but cutting out perfectly square squares...not so much.

So after much cursing, and sweating...VOILA

 And for those of you quilters out there, you know this was EASY!  The instructions were to make 8 rectangles.  Dear lord...

I'm actually very pleased with the result, given that it's my first attempt.  I'll take more pics once I have the border on my square.  Can't WAIT to see what they have us building next month!

Some of the things that have kept me busy

Whew!  I had no idea so much time had passed. I've made all kinds of cool things, and never posted any of them.  I've also been making a bunch of things to open my shop on Etsy, but never posted any of them either.  So...before I post about the Etsy shop, here are some of the things that have been keeping me so busy...

First, there is the handsome Charles, with his cashmere sweater...he poses like a pro!  Charlie is our sitter Nikole's dog, who both of the kids adore (I mean the dog, but they adore Nikole, too!)

Then, there is the apron I made for my mother in law Kris for Mother's Day...



I love this because it was made from a yellow Mary Englebreit fabric and FREE pattern I got from Fabritopia (which is an amazing website by the way), and the poppy fabric is vintage purchased on Etsy. The whole apron took me maybe an hour and a half. It was only supposed to take an hour, but with kids, interruptions...you know, and hour was kind of wishful thinking. And Kris loved the apron. I will most definately be making more of these.

Last but not least was my very first special order baby blanket. It's made from upcycled felted sweaters, both wool and cashmere. The person who ordered it wanted the baby's name appliqued on the front, and simple, classic colors. The back of the blanket is new flannel, with an owl pattern. These glorious photos are courtesy of my husband.






So for today...I am going to sew up my very first quilt square, from a class I had last Saturday. It's a block a month class, so I want to make sure I'm done early in case I have to redo it.

Looking forward to posting that the first items have gone into the Etsy shop...

I'd love feedback on any of these things.  It's hard to make constructive changes when you're in the middle of making things.  

The Art Smock

Maybe it's because I grew up during the '80s, but I just LOVE  those old reversible raincoats.  In my constant search to find materials to salvage and make into something else, raincoats are one of my favorite finds.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what I can make out of which materials.  I had this brainstorm about making an art smock for my daughter, because she's forever painting with those so-called "washable" paints, that always seem to leave color in her clothes.  But if you know Ally, any smock would have to be pretty special to go over whatever her outfit-du-jour is.  Old raincoat...washable...perfect art smock!

Lucky for me, I found this amazing opalescent purple girls XXX raincoat at the Salvation Army.  It had a few stains on the INSIDE...how perfect is THAT?  So I paid a whopping $3 for it, and brought it home.  The result was the new "FAB" art smock.

Now, leave it to Ally to wear it over a chicken costume...but the good thing is that you an see what it looks like. It was a simple kids apron pattern, Simplicity pattern 3802 (Which I got on sale at Joann for $1!!).

Just three pieces and some double fold trim. I must admit, I used new trim, not reclaimed. I was too excited to finish it to wait to find just the right one. I also stole the pockets from the front of the raincoat and put them on the front, which was a bit different than the original pattern.

 

I'll have to have Rob take some better pictures, but if you look closely, it's been used already, and has been christened with some blue paint near the collar.  And Ally loves it.  Mission Accomplished!

Rrrrrribbit!

Well it's finally finished!  This is what I've been working on for the last 2 weeks.  It's a baby blanket for a co-worker (and neighbor!) who is having her second baby very soon!  She had mentioned to me that she and her husband bought a frog stuffed animal for the baby, and I remembered this great flannel that I had for the back...

 

I'm actually at the point where I've made enough blankets that I'm ready to move on to something new!  I've got some ideas all ready and the fabric all purchased.  Now all I need is for my new Pfaff to get here!

Come on Baby Light my Fire

I've been busy doing a whole bunch of things other than my usual sewing projects for the last few weeks.  I did make a second doggie sweater, but then I was on to a baby hat, and these...some flame pajama pants for my step-son Schuyler.  We had been in JoAnn and he saw the flame fabric and his eyes just lit up "what could we make with THIS?" he said.  So pajama pants it was.

When I went back to buy the fabric, the woman at the cutting counter said "you must have a son, that's the only people who like this!" Pretty funny, but he loves them, so I guess that means they're perfect!

Sid Vicious or Sid-Licious? UPDATED

Now THIS I am really excited about.   I was at Joann Fabrics yesterday, decompressing from a week spent sick myself, and home with flu-laden Ben.  I was flipping through the pattern books, and came across this.  It's by Simplicity, and it's from their "Go Green" line.  It's specifically designed to use an "upcycled" material.  They suggest using sweats or even a...sweater!  

So my mind flashed to a great argyle sweater I had just recently felted.  PERFECT.  Then I had to think of a doggie I knew, small enough to need a sweater, but big enough to show off this fab pattern.  Who do I know?  Who do I know?  Ah-HA! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have ....ready....nine dogs.  They are wonderful dog-rescuers and have the most adorable pug named Sid.  PERFECT.

The result of my brainstorm is this:

So, now the fun starts. Here are some pictures of Sid taken at Christmastime:


Of all of the nine dogs that Dave and Lisa have, my kids LOVE Sid the best. We're home this week for February vacation, so we're hoping to give him his new sweater this week. As soon as we do I'll be sure to add it, so you can see Sid as his alter-ego Sid-licious.

So we have an update.  We went to see Sid and his family yesterday to deliver the sweater.  He loved it!  But we have some alterations to do.  As you can see from the photo, his sleeves are too long, and the back needs to b shortened, too.  Unfortunately, his weight and his length don't fit the pattern perfectly, but that's what's so great about making things.  You can FIX it!

Once the alterations are done, we'll take a few more pics. But overall, I'm THRILLED with the result.