Crafty Corner: After

This past weekend was gorgeous. The sun was out and the sky was clear. It honestly felt like summer had come early. My son and I even got a little sun kissed from being outside while he rode his bike.

While my son rode his bike back and forth along the hot pavement, I took some me-time to work on my crafty corner. Yeah, that old thing was still a mess even though I had made some small improvements by moving out the wire shelves. But that was it. I had actually done very little.

But the day was warm and the neighbors were working on the clutter in their garage. Their energy must have been contagious because I quickly began to work on my room and soon I had all my stamping and papercraft buckets lined along the wall and my sewing table had been mostly cleared. With this little change the room opened up and seemed a little more manageable.

Then I went to work on the sewing table and the corner where I hold all my material. I cleared away the things that didn’t belong on my machine table and picked up some scraps and trash. Soon it was starting to look more usable and not just a storage corner for all things crafty.

While I was working, I found some small strips of material cut for a project I had long forgotten. They were from a Moda pack I had pulled apart for a disaster of a project for my son’s teachers last year.

Well now, aren’t these colors great together? I thought so too. After the table was de-cluttered, I sat down with some blue thread and quickly stitched the strips together. Once I was done, I put them to the side and wondered what else I could sew together while I sat here.

That’s when I saw the remaining Lollipop Moda stack sitting there unused. These were meant to be mug rugs but that project went nowhere and I officially stopped sewing because of the frustration over those guys not coming together.

So I grabbed two and sewed them together.

Just like that, I was quietly grabbing two squares at a time without much thought to the combinations or any pattern and I was sewing little pairs of fabric.

What will I do with this? No clue. But I felt like I was taking back a little of what I had lost. A sense of forward motion, some creativity, and that feeling of togetherness. Maybe of completion? Not sure yet but there is something positive about taking things that are just sitting around and putting them together and working toward a final destination.

I did a few pairs and then was called outside to witness a “Bike Parade”. My son and his friends were all set up with chairs for the audience and players were chosen to ride for the crowd in a procession fit for a king. They were giggling and being silly, wearing cookie costumes and wildly yelling as they rode by.

It was a good weekend.

Side Stitches: Kids Apron

Ok, let’s be honest here, I have an extremely wild case of sewing ADD. I start things and never finish them. I have a list a mile long of projects I’ve started but haven’t completed or projects I’d like to start. Most of them are in a corner, collecting dust as we speak.

Maybe I just need to create a wish list! A list of things I wish to do when I get around to having the time.

I’m currently in the process of re-purposing my crafty corner. My son was taken down by a flu bug for a weekend and I took advantage of that time off to clean and weed out unnecessary items in my house. I’m not done yet but it was a good start.

So to add to my never ending list of things I’d wish to start, finish or consider doing in my future clean crafty corner, I’m adding an apron project.

My son loves to pretend. He’s been a dragon, a pirate, a firefighter, and a karate kid. You name it, he’s dressed up as it just to go grocery shopping. Recently, he informed me he would like to grow up and be a chef.

Now his past dream jobs have been (in no particular order) Bob The Builder, a zoologist, a veterinarian, a paleontologist,  and a dragon. While these are all still options in his opinion, chef has taken the top spot and he’s determined to learn to cook.

Tonight he’ll help me make Meatball and Spaghetti Soup from our favorite recipe site, Skinny Taste. We love this site and have a number of successful meals thanks to the simple and healthy recipes shared here.

And I figured why not re-purpose some of my material and make him a little apron? I was originally going to use this dragon material for a DIY lunch baggie project since he loved dragons and it seemed like a fun project. But that never was actualized and is still on my wish list of projects to-do.

So I went on the hunt today and found a simple apron pattern so I can consider using his dragon material for an apron if I actually turn on my machine and finish a damn project. And this Classic Apron pattern I found makes it seem like a piece of cake.

Some material I found for my little dragon

Will I end up doing this? Not sure but it’s another project on my To-Do Wish List. I’d like to think that I will one day accomplish one of my many side projects or even one of my larger quilting projects.

Either way I like to dream.

Add another one to my wish list and cross your fingers I get around to starting something crafty soon!

Crafty Corner: Before

It’s been a while since I’ve made good use of my crafting space. For months it’s waited for me to enter again and use it for sewing. As of late it’s been the catch-all corner for the clean laundry waiting to be folded and put away. It’s also become my stamping storage space. Yes storage because I’ve not been making cards or stamping lately. My son’s electronic piano sits unused and pillows rest beneath it.

It’s a mess…

The general splendor of the Crafty Corner

But since I’ve decided to buy a new machine with some of my tax refund, I’ve decided that cleaning up my corner is necessary. And sooner rather than later. The first to go will be this weird metal cubby holder. With the build in bookshelf currently holding my fabric stash in the corner, I’ll move my stamping equipment there and repurpose this metal shelf to the garage where we’ll store our shoes and rollerblades.

Stamping gear waiting for a place of their own

I plan to also repurpose a shoe cubby in my closet for my fabric stash. It’s the perfect size to fit under my cutting table and it’ll be a cheap fix. No need to buy anything new when I have storage options around the house. With the metal shelves in the garage and my stamping things on the shelves, using the shoe cubby as my fabric storage makes sense.

Or at least it does in my mind’s eye.

The hidden machine under a pile of bits and pieces

For now, this small sewing table will do just fine. Someday I’d very much like to have a proper set up for all my sewing needs. So far this is the plan for now and I’ll work on cleaning up and reorganizing the room this weekk. Crossing my fingers I can find the energy to get it done.

Time For A New Machine

Ladies and gents, it is time.

Kenmore-Sears 6 stitch.

I never thought the time would come but it has. It’s time to get a new machine.

My ol’ girl is going to be shelved but never given away. Too much sentimental value to her. But I’ve realized a few things.

First, I received this machine when I was 9 years old. I’m now into my thirties and I’ve never learned how to properly use it. Because of that and 22 years of on-and-off sewing, I know I’m not using the machine to its full potential and I no longer have the guide to it. I think it would take some research to find out how to properly use this machine now that over 20 years have gone by.

Secondly, six stitches people. She has six stitches only and no walking foot. I can buy a walking foot for a model close to this one but I think it’s time to upgrade and get a machine with a little more room to grow. I mean, I’m looking at machines by Brother and Janome that have some 60, 90, over 100 stitches! And they come with the walking foot and have an additional extension board at an extra cost. I like the idea of having something with a little more space to spread my wings.

And thirdly, I’m getting a nice tax return and I’d like to buy something for myself. Why not a new sewing machine? I think a lot of my frustrations came from the lack of options with my good ol’ girl Kenmore and having the availability to do more than just 6 stitches will give me a wider range for my creativity.

So yeah, not that I need to justify my purchase but I like to see my reasons all laid out before. Funny thing is about a year or so ago I had this same thought. I wanted a new machine back in May 2011 and I just never got around to it. And about 2 months later I put away all my sewing projects and quilts for a small break. But now, almost a year later, I’m ready to pick back up again. Ready to put the needle to the fabric and sew.

Now if I could just settle on a machine. I’m leaning towards a Brother PC-420. Main reason: The ratings I’ve read on both blogs and Amazon have been good. Better than good, 5 out of 5 stars good. And while it may have more than I need, it’s within my price range and it gives me that room I’m looking for. You know, to grow and all that jazz.

Now to clean up my craft corner and get myself organized. Once that’s done and I’ve received my tax return, I hope to make the big leap from my good ol’ girl to a new machine.

A Place To Hang Your Hat

In life, I wear many hats.

I’m a mother first and foremost. I take care of my son and I do everything in my power to make sure he is fed, washed, clothed and has a roof over his head.

After that a variety of roles vie for the next spot. I’m a daughter, an employee and a sister. I’m a friend, a best friend and even a little bit of a more-than-friends friend.

I guess I’ll add to that a runner though I’m more specifically a racer since the only time I put on my running shoes is when I’m wearing a number and standing at the starting line of a race.

All these hats can be daunting to juggle and at times I have to pick and choose which to wear and which to hang up.

I have many creative hats. I’m a writer, a poet, a cook and a quilter. As I’ve grown and learned more about myself, my creative hats are not ones I can wear at the same time as another.

If I’m wearing my dashing writers hat, that’s the only one that fits at the time. So I hang up my kitchen hat, my dancing hat and my quilter hat. They hang neatly, waiting their turn to be worn.

The length of time I spend in one capacity over the others isn’t set in stone. It depends on how long the feeling lasts. If my creative juices for cooking continue to flow, then in the kitchen you will find me.

It’s been six months since I’ve picked up my quilters hat. The layers of dust have collected and I’m not sure if I’m ready to put it back on.

While I miss the creative aspect of color matching, piecing and finishing a quilt, I don’t miss the mess, the cutting and the frustration when a blanket is riddled with mistakes.

Perfectionist hat? Yeah, that one never comes off.

But the pull to look at bundles of material all arranged in beautiful mixtures of patterns and hues is getting stronger. The need to slice through some cloth as it lays on my cutting board pressing into my shaggy carpet calls to me. I can feel the tug of putting my hands to work on a long overdue quilt yanking at my idle hands.

I’ve dusted off the hat but I have yet to put it on. I’m not ready yet. But I can feel it. I am almost ready to start quilting again…

Maybe next week…

Friday Night Sew-In: What Have I Done!?

So, I decided to play along last Friday night and be apart of the monthly sew-in. I picked up an unfinished project and sat down with some old Friends episodes with the plan to sew the night away and get a lot of ground covered.

I cut and trimmed and sectioned together smaller strips to be made into a four strip half of a row. In the end, I would put two rows together to create a picket fence. It’s a small project, for beginners and newbies like me to get some experience with picket fences and a little applique.

Everything seemed to be going as planned. For a little while…

Then I went ahead and put together my first complete square and got this. Sigh…

From this angle it doesn’t seem so bad but from the side you’ll see what I’m sighing at.

See how it knots up in the center? Sigh…

As it would seem, I’m still very much a beginner. In sewing together so many swatches with pressed seams laying in opposition to each other, it would appear that I have sewn a large lump along my middle seam.

Luckily it’s an easy fix. I just tear the seams out and start over. And because I’m so anxious to move along and see some progress that looks remotely like the end result, I haven’t even sewn together all the individual squares to make up the larger picket fences. Double sigh…

The lesson for today: SLOW DOWN!

Take it step at a time and done’t get ahead of yourself.

Or you’ll end up with this…

A project with un-cut squares waiting patiently to be minced into long strips.

Strips cut but waiting to be sewn together.

Strips sewn together into a smaller aquare that are now waiting to be trimmed and added to another smaller square.

And squares sewn together to create rows.

Oh and one attempt at rows sewn together to create one large “finished” square.

I need to clean this mess up, organize what I’ve begun and start over.

 From scratch.

 

Friday Night Sew-In!

It’s been awhile (I missed May) but it’s another Friday Night Sew-In.

It’s the chance to join in with other crafty types around the web and get some sewing done.

Going to be sitting at my machine a bit tonight in the hopes of getting some much needed work done on my Fresh Pears table runner.

But first, a night time swim! The pool is heated and the nights are warmer plus I had an exercise class tonight and I could use the nice cool water.