Soggy, soggy, soggy ...

Why must we endure all of this rain? Yes, it's good for my plants, but terrible for my soul!

Oh my ... Long Time Gone

So here I am, back to the blog! It's been a little while (only about seven months, but who's counting?) since my last post, but I figured it's time. I've completed quite a few projects since my last post, including the following: a quilt for my new nephew Andrew; a mini pinwheel quilt using a Moda Turnover and Charm Pack (would this be a Charming Turnover?), a "Sizzlin' Sixties" table topper from Anka's Treasures, and a quilt made as a wedding present for my brother-in-law and his new wife!

I'm also about to finish the following: a 60th birthday quilt for my mom (surprise party is next Saturday) and another small table topper called "Holiday Break," but I made it with jungle-ish fabric instead of Christmas - not ready for the holidays yet!

Oh, and I've been working on my garden as well. Here's an early stage photo of one of my container gardens. We've had so much rain here in New England, the plants have grown about half a foot already!

All the World's a Craft

I like to think of most things I do as a craft, then I don't mind them so much. For example, in my holiday job at Macy's, I fold a lot of things, such as sweaters. I also straighten racks of clothing and fold jeans. I do this in the junior's department, or as one customer referred to it tonight, "The High School Section." This is my craft for the holiday season, and I get paid for it!

The "craft" I'm currently doing is transferring books on tape to my new MP3 player. I figured if my 21-month-old nephew has an MP3, then 34-year-old auntie should have one as well! It's my Christmas present to myself.

Crafting with a C(a-k-e)

Some crafts are edible. My edible craft was a very pink, very girly birthday cake for my sweet little 3-year-old.

I used Denise's chocolate cake recipe (really from Hershey's) and a new frosting recipe from King Arthur Flour. (Except I only used 2 sticks of butter, not 4!) Yum! I was pleased with the frosting. It tasted lighter and less sickeningly sweet than a typical sugar-and-butter recipe, yet didn't involve beating eggwhites over a double boiler.

Here's the birthday girl and her cousin, waiting patiently for their cake. Caroline had so much fun playing with her cousins. I love to watch them play.

I just have to add another photo of the three of them. I got lots of good pictures today! I guess that's what happens when I hand the camera over to my brother, who loves photography. Thanks Andres!

Back to the Blog

I've been sewing (some), but I've been severely unmotivated to blog. Sometimes I have all these ideas in my head but I don't know what to talk about. Plus I just don't feel like getting out the camera and taking pictures of my progress. So I think I'll talk about other people's blogs.

Like the posting for easy fabric wreaths I saw in an e-mail newsletter from CraftStylish. They look incredibly fast, and the variations are endless! I might just have to make one.

OK, this one's not a blog, but...see what Martha Stewart can do with pipe cleaners!

I saw another fun blog the other day, but now I can't find it. Oh well.

My turn finally came up to take Amy Butler's book In Stitches out of the library. There are a few projects that look interesting, although a lot of it doesn't appeal to me. I might try making the CD holder for a Christmas gift (or two or three). I thought it would be good for those hard-to-buy-for guys who like computers. I could make them in masculine fabric and fill them with blank CDs. I recently bought a copy of Valori Wells' book Oh Sew Easy Lifestyle because there are quite a few projects that interest me.

Oh, I did finally finish Caroline's big-girl bed quilt--yay! And I even finished it before the bed came in. We ordered a bed a few weeks ago, only to find out this week that the manufacturer went belly-up. So we had to start over and pick something from another manufacturer, but I really liked the first one a lot. It was from the same company that made her bureau, and it was such an elegant design. Bummer. The alternative will be nice, though. It won't be in for about 8 weeks, which gives me plenty of time to make a coordinating pillow. I already cut it out during a quilting session with Jill last weekend.

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! When am I going to find time to make all the holiday gifts I have in my head?? (This is when Miss Perfection needs a good talking-to from Miss Reality, but that doesn't usually happen until I'm good and stressed out, first.)

zzzz ....

Getting very very sleepy, but hadn't posted in a while, so I thought I'd at least say a little something here. I haven't had any time for crafting since Saturday, and I expect to have even less time for it as we get closer to Christmas, but I still have all of my Christmas-gift-making ambitions to contend with. Actually, I'm not giving many gifts at all this year. My nephew Colin and in-utero nephew Andrew will receive gifts, some handmade, some store bought. The parents and grammys will also be gifted, but that's pretty much it.

I just like the idea of Christmas crafting. I used to love to make gingerbread houses when I was in high school and college, but I don't think I'll manage it this year. Maybe Christmas 2009 ...

Aprons, Aprons Everywhere!

Well, there aren't any aprons, actually. But there will be! I've been interested in vintage aprons lately, so I thought I'd try making one of my own. (Obviously, it won't actually be vintage, it will be vintage-inspired, but whatever.) I'm using a McCall's pattern (#3979) but haven't decided on the fabric yet.

I think I'm going to make the view in the upper right corner of the photo. I'll have a better idea once I go through my fabric and read the instructions.

By the way, I finished another quilt last night. It's a circus theme, and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll post a photo soon.