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Easter Bunny Visits

The Easter Bunny visited my kids this morning. It appears that he chose to boycott all the junk. There was some candy (though it seems a bag went missing when we came to my parents' house!), my son got a new baseball glove and my daughter some new t-shirts. I appreciate not having a bunch of cheap little things which would just clutter my floors and end up in the garbage, plus they got things they like. When we get back home, I will get back to work on my sewing machine wall hanging and Alye's quilt!
Happy Easter!!!

Always Something There to Remind Me

My back is killing me, which can only mean one thing...I've been pinning a quilt! Yup, finally getting some stuff done around here. I'm tired of there being partially done quilts everywhere I look in my sewing room to remind me that I have tons to finish! So, I put together the backing and so far I am about 2/3 of the way done with pinning on Alye's (my niece) quilt.

I'm also branching out and drinking the koolaid on this one! I decided to try some nicer thread. I have used some Mettler and Gutterman I picked up at a yard sale but that's the nicest I've gone so far. I decided to go with Aurifil since it seems to be one of the biggies and my LQS carries it.

While I was at my LQS, I picked up some more fabric to enlarge my red/black and white quilt. Not exactly sure how I'm going to use it yet but I really like that chevron looking fabric!

And last but not least I've been playing around with my Skill Builder blocks on my design wall. Just another lap quilt, probably for another niece, but I'm hopefully getting some done and out of my sewing room soon!

Simply Out There Bloglovin!

Yup, Google Reader is going away. I have no idea why, but that leaves those of us who READ blogs in a quite a quandary: where do we get our blog fix on all of our favorite blogs now? And how do people who read our blogs continue to follow us? Well, I have jumped on the Bloglovin wagon! One of the things I like the best about it so far was the ease with which it allowed me to just transfer over the blogs I follow into its memory. Just the click a button! Okay, so it was really more like a link but button sounds so much better! Make sure you find some other way to follow your favorite blogs out there and if you're interested, check out Bloglovin!
Now, back to our regularly scheduled crafting...

A Little Birthday Fun

My daughter has a birthday party to go to tomorrow night and it just so happens that the girl is my friend's daughter, our neighbor, and also one of my theater buddies! I was trying to come up with something cool for her and decided it would be fun to have a memory box for her theater goodies (programs, pictures, pieces of costumes, etc.). I made a little visit to the local craft store and came home with some goodies.

I picked up a 12"x 12" storage box made of paper (it's sturdy cardboard and it's like those boxes you get to store pictures), some pink and orange scrapbooking paper, ModPodge, and some foam brushes. My original plan was for a wooden box but the size I wanted had ridges across the top and I needed it all to be flat. I also had wanted to paint the whole thing but I wasn't sure that would work so I decided to decoupage the top. Little did I know that painting would have been the easy out, but it still turned out pretty cool.

I tore the paper and decoupaged it in overlapping colors all over the top. When I finished I wasn't so sure I liked the effect, so I decided to paint over it which would still result in a cool textured effect.

Cool, huh? She's very into orange and pink. I only had light pink at home but I had some red and mixed it to come up with more of a hot pink effect. I simply painted the bottom. Then I started the fun part. I went online and made copies of each of the shows she's been in so far and printed them out. Then I decoupaged them onto the top of the box. As she is in various shows, she can add pictures of those to the top as well.

I think she's done pretty well so far as she's only turning 10! I am including the extra foam brushes and a new bottle of Mod Podge in the gift so she's ready for future shows. I may go back and add some orange stripes or polka dots on the bottom so she has her other color included as well. Here's the finished project so far!

I also made up a bunch of shower puffs for a friend who has 4 girls. She color codes all their stuff (toothbrushes, etc.) so I did them in each of their colors.

She loved them and I had several other people ask for some so I've got to get a few more done!

I Won!

So I entered everything I could for the Quilting Gallery's Blog Hop Party the other week and it paid off. I won a sweet little LOVE quilty from Carla . Something tells me it will get confiscated by my daughter but hopefully I will get to ogle it for a few minutes before that happens.

Baseball Season Has Begun!

My son's team had their first game of the season this morning and they won! He is playing on the 7-8 year old teams now and this year is the first year where they actually call a winner of the game. Totally coach pitch, 5 chances to hit or you're out (as opposed to 5 until you can hit it off the T), and this is the first year they go by the three outs rule. It was really fun to watch because you can tell they're really getting how it works now and everyone is trying to come together as a team. Fun Saturday morning at the ball field; now off to my LQS for thread!!!
I fixed my niece's quilt top and I have the backing done. Now I just need to pick up some batting and thread to start quilting!!!

Are You Ready for Le Challenge?

Lucy over at Charm About You and Nat at Made in Home have come up with  a great little monthly challenge idea. On the 15th of each month they will announce a theme for that month's challenge. Your project is "due" by the 15th of the next month. You can use any crafting supplies you would like (crochet, knitting, quilting, decoupage, etc.) to meet the requirements of the theme; this is not relegated just to quilters. The idea is to get out there and try something new, plus we all get a load of inspiration from others! Oh yeah, and there will be giveaways! That's always a plus for these little adventures!

The first challenge will be announced this Friday, March 15th (the Ides of March, ooh!!!) on both of their blogs as well as the site they have set up especially for the challenge, Le Challenge. Come one, come all and check it out this Friday!

Just One More Thing...

Okay, so just one more crochet thing before I hit the sewing room to work on the quilt. I came across this pattern on a Swedish blog (how cool is it that we can pick up tips and tutorials from our neighbors all over the world?) called Welcome to Virkpia. She came up with an idea to crochet a shower ball, or duschboll, as she calls it. Hers were so cute I couldn't wait to try one so I whipped one up last night. My daughter has already claimed it as hers so I had to make another for me. Aren't they cute?

Hers were done in bamboo which I didn't have so I used cotton. Actually I did have a little bamboo left over from a scarf, but mine said not to get it wet so it didn't sound like something I wanted to turn into a shower ball. She did hers in a variegated yarn which is very cute so I'm also going to check that out as well. I may have to add one of these to my dishcloth giveaway!

I'm Gonna Wash That Weekend Right Outta My Hair...

Well, I figure if you can wash a man out of your hair, you can do the same with a weekend! I started getting sick Friday with ear issues and by Saturday I woke up with a full fledged case of vertigo. Not fun. See, my left eardrum has ruptured twice over the years and is weak in a spot. When I get fluid in my ear, I run the chance of it pushing on that spot and causing me to have problems with my equilibrium. Well, it hit hard this time! I had to crawl to the bathroom because I couldn't stand up. Luckily it started backing off by the afternoon and I made it to an urgent care clinic. I am now fully drugged up on a Z-pack, prednisone, and have gone so far as to take some phenergan I had leftover from a surgery about 5 years ago to help with the nausea. It's been a rough weekend. Even when I feel better I mess up by trying to go on the computer, or trying to crochet which both call for quick movement of the eyes. Yes, just moving the eyes back and forth or watching a tv program can be really bad. Driving the car proved a very stupid thing to try. I was almost crying by the time I got home from the clinic because I was so scared I was going to cause a wreck. I didn't realize how much you move your head when you're driving.
Even with all of this going on, I did manage to get a little bit done. I have been loving these crochet dishcloths I see online but I've never tried one. So I decided to try out several different patterns to see which one I liked best. I had a bunch of different colors of cotton yarn I bought a while back to make a bag, but I didn't like how it turned out so I pulled it all out. It was perfect for these dishcloths though. I have 3 completed and two in progress so far.

I love the circular one that has a swirl! I have more purple and taupe, plus bits of all that I can make a multi-color one from . I like these so much I may have to make up some for a giveaway so stay tuned!

I Think I Can, I Think I Can, I Think I.....oops!

Why is it you never see mistakes until you take a picture of something? When I'm able to stand back and really take a look at something it always jumps out at me. Why couldn't it jump out while I'm working on it? I hate the seam ripper!

Let's just see if you notice it...

I finished the top for my "Sweet 18" quilt (that's what I'm calling my modified Double Slice quilt since it's for my niece). 

It ended up about 62x72 which is pretty big for a lap but she's going off to college so I figured she might be able to throw it on her bed. Do you see the boo boo yet? I'm trying to decide whether I care enough  to fix it if it's not really obvious. But of course, I'm obsessive so I'll probably have to take it apart and fix it. I'll let you stew on it a minute while I report some more progress.

I made myself a lovely charcoal wrap for those chilly evenings when we go out. It's made from Caron yarn and it hangs very nicely.

I also made a new rug for my kitchen using a new stitch I've never done before called a single crochet thermal stitch. It's like a double layer and makes the rug cushy under your feet.

I also have been on a hat fest lately and my absolute favorite is this one. It's a newsboy cap from this pattern at Ravelry.

This one is gray and I'm already making another in a tan with specks like a tweed. Love it! 

Okay, so what's wrong with the quilt top? If you look at the second row from the bottom, it starts with the block going the wrong direction, which means the last row is wrong too. I can either remove the two bottom rows together and just attach them to the top, but I will have to remove the black strip on the bottom and reattach it to the new bottom of the quilt. Or I could remove both bottom rows separately and switch them around. Either way I have to rip two whole strips. Arrrrghhhhhh!!!!!

Progress: It Does a Body Good!

The mock stain glass looking Double Slice quilt (whew! gotta come up with a shorter name for it) is coming along nicely. I've already gotten four rows completely done. Three more to do and the top is done. I've got an idea for the back. We'll see how it works out.

I've pretty much decided to go with a variegated thread for the quilting. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to  quilt it but it will come to me. It usually does.

Jack the “seam” Ripper!

Wouldn't that be a cool name for a seam ripper? I think I'm just going to start saying that. "Yeah, I'm going to be taking up with old Jack for a couple of hours!" Okay, maybe that doesn't sound quite like I thought it would... but take up with Jack is what I did tonight. I was working on the mock-ish stained glass version of the double slice quilt this evening. I had to spend some quality time with "the ripper" taking apart the blocks I'd already sewn together before figuring out that I didn't like them that way. After ripping, I finally got back to sewing them with the black sashing. I got almost 3 rows done before hearing hubby arrive home from a late meeting.

Sorry the sides are flopping down. It's a bit wider than my design board. I think it's funny how different it looks without the black horizontal stripes. Those will make a huge difference. I've got to pick up some more black Kona for that. I've also got to figure out quilting. Not so much how to quilt it, but what color thread. Not sure I want black going across the colors, but I don't want white going across the black. Maybe a variegated one would look cool. Oooh! I think I'm liking that idea. I'll have to hit the quilt shop tomorrow and see what's available! What do you think?