crap closet

This is what I lovingly refer to as my "crap closet". If you say it really fast five times in a row it sounds like "craft closet". In other words it's were I keep the goods. It is a coat closet, and yes it is smack in the middle of the hallway.

It is what it is.
I keep all my fabric folded and stored in the clear totes. Batting that is left over from another project is piled next to the fabric. All that loose Marine Corp stuff you see ? That's stuff for a project that my mother-in-law dropped on me.
I keep my quilts folded on the hangers. I also keep my tops to be quilted in here, basically anything that is done or going to be done at some point. The boys like this system, they know when they get cold they can open the closet and grab a quilt. The only one not in here right now is the military quilt I just finished for Ryan. That one is up in the bonus room, and of course Gavin's birthday quilt which is halfway on his bed and the floor.
Then there are my two sewing machines. I decided to keep my Brother machine. It still works fine. I piece my tops and backs using it, and I actually use it to wind my bobbins while I am working with my quilting machine. I have an emotional attachment to my Brother, without it there would be no blog. The rest of this junk falls under the scrap booking category. Or since I don't really scrapbook anymore, I like to say "paper crafting". Whatever that means.

My super huge cutting mat is hidden behind that rolling cart of "paper crafting" items. Everything fits just so and it works as far as being able to have quick access to things when I have a minute, hour, day to spend quilting.

My dream is to one day have a dedicated space. With a long desk where I can keep everything I am working on right where I left it. Trash can's that are built into the underside of the table, scissors that don't disappear and a nice display for all my thread. Also a fully functional coffee pot would be an added bonus.

I can hang a "NO BOYS ALLOWED SIGN" (but make exceptions when no-one is looking).

Crap room doesn't sound nearly as fun as a crap closet though.

[snow day]

We were stuck inside with a snow day today. I had this idea scribbled down in my idea book for awhile now.

I do other things beside just quilt. Once and awhile. Like dig out all the broken crayons from the pile, diligently peel the wrappers off and then anal retentively separate them all into colors.
I really did not feel like firing up the ole' oven for such a short project, so to start with I soften the crayons up with my hair dryer. Then my hand got tired of holding it and I moved over to the microwave.
I was a wee bit terrified of burning the wax and have my house smell like the refuse of the Crayola factory, so I probably did not melt them long enough ( the lumps might have been a pretty good clue...)

Also I couldn't think of a feasible excuse to come up with if I ruined the microwave.

Once they were melted down I stuck them in the freezer and forgot about them.

When I remembered I had to run the mold under some warm water in order to pop them out.
My favorite one is the blue sparkly one. Kegan likes them all and Gavin could care less.

[ for Grandma ]

Grandma's quilt is completely finished !
The binding and backing match. Really cool green paisley fabric. It was a perfect match for the fabrics on the front.
The finished size is an even 50" by 50". I hope my Grandma loves it as much as I loved making it for her !

[ pulled a muscle ]

My Grandma's quilt has been patiently waiting in the to-do pile for awhile now. Since the end of summer anyway. It was going to be sent out to the long arm quilter to be done with a fancy pattern, until I received a new sewing / quilting machine for Christmas.

Thanks Mom !
So I practiced my free motion quilting on some scraps until I got the hang of it, then I decided to go all out and quilt my Grandma's blanket. Ambitious, I am.

This is called stippling. Basically it's just a free hand squiggly motion all over the quilt. No rhyme or reason, just go with it. Pretty easy to do although I went through about 5 bobbins and I pulled a muscle in my shoulder moving the quilt underneath the machine.
It took me around 3 hours, give or take. I took a few coffee breaks, changed some diapers, let the dog out etc etc. I still need to attach the binding, which matches the back of the fabric (somehow I forgot to take a picture of that....)

I am hoping to finish it up and get it into the mail for my Grandma by next week.

creative 2010

Last year I made a resolution to make and then donate some quilts to the Project Linus Organization.

The mission of Project Linus is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers” and to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

What better organization don't you think ? Anyway last year I got side-tracked, but this year I am all about making and donating. In fact this top, which is my very first one of 2010 is going to be a donation.
It got the seal of approval from Kegan. I like it due to the fact that it's blue and it's boyish, two things that strangely don't happen that often in my quilting. The back will be the same star pattern and it will be bound in a red dot fabric. Just wait until you see my new quilting machine.

Instead of sending my quilts out to be quilted, now I am the proud owner of a new sewing machine that allows me, YES ME ! To do the quilting.

SHUT UP !

I am excited, can you tell ?

Here is to an exciting and creative 2010.

silhouettes

A great deal of my Christmas presents this year have been handmade. One because I loathe shopping in the month of December and two because we are watching our budget. Budget has become somewhat of a dreaded word around these parts.

So yes, handmade. I am always unsure of how my gifts will be accepted.

These are no exception.

I made doggie silhouettes for Grandma and Grandpa. Drake is on the left and Godiva on the right. Godiva was harder than Drake, she is a yorkie pup - can you tell ?

Grandma and Grandpa love their dogs and I wanted something special to show that.

This project did not cost too much. I got the frames at Michael's, buy one and get one free. Then I found some profile photos of the dogs that I enlarged to 5x7 and the cardstock and paper was already in my stash.

It's my hope that these gifts will make Grandma and Grandpa smile when they open them.

BDU Christmas

SSSSssshhhhh ! Don't tell. but I finished this quilt and it's going under the Christmas tree for Ryan. I think this one might very well be one of my favorites from this year.
I made it using some of Ryan's old BDU's and K-9 t-shirts.
It's not a ginormous quilt. I think I made it more for display than anything else, although any of the boys are free to use it if they want. Using the stretchy fabric from the t-shirts was a little challenge, but I managed.
The hardest part was the binding. Once you double over the BDU material it becomes very thick. I should have taken that into account (but of course I didn't....) I just went slow on my machine and it came out okay.
One more project done. Right now there is only one quilt left and I am hoping to get to it soon.