The Stitch Up

Mom Day Crafting

Every year I try to get my mom flowers - usually a corsage for Mothers Day.  This year I decided that I'd like to make a corsage that wouldn't wilt - a fabric corsage.  I found several really cute tutorials around the web, but the one that I thought would work best for me was at Cool Mummy.  Of course, I couldn't do any project without some embroidery, so I used the basic idea of Cool Mummy's flower and added some stitching with a couple of free hand patterns.

I started off with 4 inch circles.  I transferred the patterns I drew using transfer paper.  The pattern is only drawn on the top half of the circle as each circle is basically a front and back of each petal.

I actually did a few with just the top half of the circle as my plan was to use a different fabric for the backing.  

As this corsage is for my mom, I stitched the pattern onto some light lavender fabric which is my mom's favorite color.  I found some coordinating fabric for the backing and drew a few 4" circles on that as well.

I cut these circles in half and cut out the half circles I'd embroidered.

This left me with 5 half circles to be stitched together. 

 I put the right sides together, stitched them and then flipped them right side out.

I then used a running stitch on the bottom of each "petal" to close the bottom and string all of the petals together.

When all the petals are pulled together it looks like this:

A simple slip stitch brings the two sides together.  This is a great time to take out your button collection to put a little "bling" in the middle of the flower.

I picked a sparkly lavender button for my Mom's corsage:

Cool Mummy does a very nicely finished backing on her corsage and I would recommend going and checking out her tutorial because it looks great.  I was in a little bit of a rush to get this in the mail so I just stitched the safety pin on the back.

And that's my first tutorial!  If you'd like to try this yourself, feel free to use the patterns to make something all your own!

I've started another corsage using some fun print fabric and another of the patterns.  

I love the colors and I'll post the finished corsage when I'm done!   Hope you've like this project.  It's been fun to share it and I will do more in the future.

Mayo Magnifico

We've had a rough April but May has started off a little more relaxed, with some happy moments and some good food.

We started getting our yard and gardens into shape.  We're a little late on getting some of our herbs and vegetables planted, but we're hoping that they'll still have time to grow and give up some fruit before the end of summer.

We built a raised garden box that we'll fill with vegetables.  I can already taste the heirloom tomatoes.

As a reward for all our hard work in the garden we made a delicioso Cinco de Mayo meal.  The husband made an AWESOME carne asada:

I whipped up some guacamole that was pretty much gone as soon as it was finished.

I made a pan of enchiladas but we attcked them so fast I didn't think to take a picture until we were going back for left overs the next day.  Behold the aftermath:

It was a food massacre.

I've got my first craft tutorial planned for my next post and I'm excited aobut it.  I've had a great time planning it out and I hope everyone will enjoy it.

Spring is Blossoming

It's Cherry Blossom time again in DC.  The trees are beautiful and it makes the walk to the office feel like a special event.

The metro stalls even get into the act this time of year.

And I've pilfered some blossoms from the neighborhood trees to enjoy at home.

There are a host of other trees around town, blossoming with color but I have no idea what kind of trees they are.

All of this blossoming put me in the mood for Spring planting so I ran out and bought some seeds this weekend.  

I'm going to start my seedlings soon and hopefully be able to put together a whole salad from my backyard by June!

Some stitching is getting done despite all the wandering around outdoors enjoying the trees.  I transferred my Velasquez girl pattern and started some outlining.

I'm going to try some embroidery techniques to mimic the fabrics in the painting.  We'll see how it comes out.  I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely Spring and getting out doors.  More stitching and planting is on it's way!

Another February Project Down

I'm thinking that instead of a monthly project list I should make in an "ongoing" project list.  But I have managed to finish another project from my February list.  I have been meaning to make a sewing machine cover since I bought my machine about 10 years ago.  The poor thing gets covered in dust and my solution of tossing a towel or scrap of fabric over it is just not dignified.

I looked at a few on-line options and chose this project.  It's adorable with the pom pom trim, although since I'm using these projects as stash busters I ended up using trim I already had around.

I chose a couple of Anna Griffin fabrics I had around as well as a blue cotton for the lining.  This project was pretty straight forward and came together quickly - which is saying something considering that I am a novice sewer and I take a while to get through any pattern.

There are basically three pieces to this pattern as well as fusible web to give it some heft.  The only trouble I had with the directions was that it said to place the outside in the lining and sew them together with the right sides together.  I think it's my total lack of experience with patterns but I couldn't figure out how this would work, so I sewed the two pieces together with wrong sides facing.

The finished project is a little tight at the bottom for my machine.  I think if you're a better sewer you might measure your machine and adjust the pieces accordingly.  Still, my machine does have a nice little blanket to protect it from the dust now.

I was fairly productive today.  After getting up early (despite the daylight savings change) to do some grocery shopping, I got this slow cooker lamb vindaloo going, started on the sewing machine cover and THEN made it to my book club meeting.  I know!  I impressed myself for a Sunday.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and survived the time change.  I'll hopefully have more projects finished soon!

Labeling

I finished ONE of the projects on my February to-do list.  Sigh.  The weekends this month have been a little busier than I expected.  That just means I'll carry over some projects and add one or two.

The project I finished is the Quilted Canister project from Handmade Mommy.  I really like how these turned out.  The directions were very clear and the process turns out a very pretty finished product.

The basics of the labels are like any other quilt project.  You cut strips of coordinating fabric, cut those into squares and then sew those squares into strips.

The strips are then sandwiched with batting and a backing fabric and quilted together.

At the end you use printer fabric to sew labels for the individual spices and dry goods you'll be storing onto the quilted fabric.

My finished product looks very nice stacked on top of my counter.

I really did love this project and I encourage everyone to head over to Handmade Mommy for this project and lots of other cool stuff!

 

February Projects

I've made my list of projects for the month along with my goal date to complete them and I've entered it all into my trusty Weave App.  I thought I'd list them out here so I can track my progress over the next few weeks and I can also use the motivation to get these projects done!

First up, Quilted Canister Sleeves.  This project by Handmade Mommy is so great if you've got jars or canisters on display in your kitchen.  My kitchen seems big to me compared to the kitchens in the condo and town houses we've lived in over the past few years.  But there is no dedicated pantry and I'm having to improvise space for things like flours and sugars.  Right now I have a collection of glass jars ready to be filled, sitting on top of my cabinets.

Since they are going to be out for everyone to see I've been looking for cute labels or something but these quilted labels are going to be perfect.  I sorted through my fabric and found these three fabrics that I think will look good and match my kitchen:

I haven't decided if I'll just use the fabric labels as the pattern suggests or embroider the labels, but I'm anxious to see this complete.

Second up is a variety of projects for my sewing room.  I need a sewing machine cover and I also want to make up a few matching storage and organizing items.  Stitch Magazine has a great idea for a sewing machine cover - it combines a cover with an organizer:

It is really cute!  After I choose fabrics for this project I'm going to decide on fabrics for some embroidery hoop wall organizers that are also from Stitch magazine:

and also patterns for a pencil holder and some baskets from 1 2 3 Sew, a great book with some easy home decorating patterns.

The last project I'd like to get done this month is a set of throw pillows for our basement.  We have a sort of outdoors theme downstairs and my plan is to make denim pillows and embroider a few wildlife patterns onto them.  A couple of the patterns I"m thinking of useing are:

and

We'll see how these turn out.  I don't really have a pattern for the pillows, I'll just be winging it more or less.

In addition to my February projects I have some ongoing items that don't have a deadline. I like to have something to work on in front of the tv at night after work so I'm going to still be poking along on my tea towel,

And I barely started this Soft As Lamb scarf, but even though it's supposed to be easy, I'm thinking to switch to a cowl I saw on Lion Brand which looks like it might be a little simpler.  Either way I haven't made much progress as SOMEONE thinks any yarn movement is an invitation for attack:

The last thing I'll be working on is another Spanish Quilt Square.  This one will be the Infanta by Velazquez:

I'm hoping to have that started by the end of the month.

I've got a lot to keep me busy this month and I"m hoping it will all get done before my Weave app starts sending me notifications that I'm behind!

Project Organization

In my quest to make organization my middle name, I've found a few tools to keep me on track this year.  

The Project Girl, who is becoming my go-to for organization ideas has a host of print-ables that I've been using.  This one is a Project Master List, which I'm using to jot down project/craft ideas as soon as I come up with them.  I'm then trying to think rationally about how long I'll need to complete each project and giving myself a deadline goal.

For my next step I am using an AWESOME app called Weave.

It lets you break each project down into individual tasks, set a date to complete each task and it then gives you reminders of when your completion date is coming up.  It also keeps track of how much you've spent on a project, which I think makes this a great app for people who are selling things on Etsy or other sites as it keeps you within budget.  It would also probably be a good idea for me to keep track of my budget, but at this point I'm pretty much working out of my fabric and embroidery thread stash, so I think I can postpone concerns about budget for a bit.

My plan is to list the projects I plan to complete each month here on the blog as an added incentive to get those things done.  I'm trying to be realistic about the time it will take to finish everything as I've learned that the reminder every day from the Weave app that I'm up against my own deadline is really guilt-inducing!

So an update here soon on my projects for February and their progress.  Hope everyone is keeping warm and enjoying 2012.

Organize

I expected to move into January and start 2012 with tons of energy and start kicking things off my "to do" list left and right.  It's not quite working out that way.  I did finish my 2012 calendar tea towel.

I was determined to get this done by the end of January and I had to avoid some distractions in order to wrap it up.

Honestly.  

I have a couple of projects in mind, but I wanted something to stitch tonight while watching tv so I started on a tea towel I'd prepared a couple of months ago.  I had enlarged a J.F. Ingalls pattern and transferred it - I'm hoping it will be a cheery kitchen addition.  

I've been thinking about what I want my word for the year to be.  Last year it was Focus.  This year I've picked the word Organize.  I'm thinking in terms of more than clearing out files and drawers, although I have started some of that.  But also, organizing my thoughts, organizing my priorities, organizing my time.  

Part of organization for me is using diaries, calendars and some cool printables I've found on The Project Girl.  The menu planner is already helping me organize some healthier meals for the Hubby and myself.

The other part is sitting down, making some lists, and figuring out how to organize my life to achieve some long term goals.  I'm hoping that devoting this time to planning and plotting out my course for the year will result in some positive changes across a lot of areas of my life.   I also hope that those changes will be reflected in this blog with some fun posts for 2012.  I'm excited about this year and hope everyone else out there is too!

Goodbye 2011

After our quiet Christmas we went out to visit my parents for some fun and some more relaxation.  Mom and Dad live out in the desert.  It's beautiful and serene, and we always have a nice time when we visit.

We played games, walked in the hills and just enjoyed family for a few days.  I brought along a travel project - a cute 2012 tea towel by Curious Doodles and got quite a bit done between the plane rides and time spent around the kitchen table chatting with Mom.

We got home just in time for New Year's Eve which we spent quietly.  We took advantage of the weirdly warm weather by grilling outside.  

After dinner we snuggled on the couch to talk about the past year and what we hope for the new year.

I will of course have resolutions or plans for 2012, but I've enjoyed just feeling the excitement of the start of a new year and all the hope and possibility that it promises.  Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Day

This Christmas weekend has been a perfect blend of fun and relaxation.  The Hubby and I spent a quiet night out at Russia House Christmas Eve.  

The vodka was smooth and the food was delicious.

It was nice to have someone cook and and wait on us considering the holidays usually involve so much of our own cooking and running around.

Christmas day was also quiet.  We opened gifts and then took our time cooking our Christmas meal.

After a delicious meal we took a walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the Christmas lights.  We did a decent job on lights I think:

I especially like our retro Santa:

But the neighbors were pretty impressive:

I also finished my Christmas coaster project:

These were finished so close to Christmas however, that I'm hoping my recipients appreciate having coasters ready to go for next year - since they didn't have any time to enjoy them this year!

My other project was a little enhancement to some handkerchiefs for the husband:

Very manly, totally non-girly embroidery!

I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful.  I'm looking forward to lots of projects and trips in the New Year!