angry chicken

fall tunic and small pants

I finished the tunic I cut out last week when I was being a freak. It's a Built By Wendy pattern, (but not from the new book) and I really like it. I altered the original pattern, 4111, quite a bit. Some of it was planned, some of it I just changed as I was working on it. I didn't use a casing for the elastic on the bodice or around the arms, like it instructed, I just used narrow elastic and stretched as I stitched it on.

I shortened the sleeves quit a bit and added about 4 inches to the overall length, making it tunic-y rather than blouse-y. I also left the side seams open below my hips, leaving room for my bootie. I used lace as a trim, which I had intended for dolly clothes, but it seemed just right for this. In the super soft corduroy, it turned out really comfortable and I am quite pleased. I have had this dark raisin colored mini-corduroy forever. I bought about 6 yards of it 3 years ago and have used it for 3 pairs of Sadie's pants, plus the new ones here, many hats, a toddler dress, etc. I have loved having it on hand and knowing I have enough to actually make clothes. The only thing is that I use it every year, so the clothes don't seems as "new" because it's that same old corduroy, but still, I think I will do this again, buy 5-6 yards of a great versatile fabric, It's nice knowing I can just use it for whatever.

Sadie, Delia and I just got back from a lovely time in the park with Eireann. She is here visiting a friend and it was so great to meet her in person. Sweet, thoughtful, easy going, and wonderful with the girls-- once again, I am amazed by the whole internet connection. As it lightly rained on us she handled her share of dirty cheese-sticks, empty snack bags, and swing duty like a total trooper. . and thank you for my lovely fabrics, Eireann! I will photograph them as soon as I get done eating the cookies I had extra from your treat bag. And yes, they actually were my lunch. A bit of orange rind is good in chocolate chip cookies, huh?

quilt monday-back on track

I am getting it together after a week of spinning my wheels. Princess Mononoke got me out of my funk in the middle of the week. I finally let myself watch a movie in the evening, not just work or pass-out. I think it was this (and cleaning out a huge backlog of fabric from my stash) that gave me the energy to finish a lot of projects that were just hanging out there. My tunic top just needs buttons and the mailorder recipe cards have been sent to the printers. A minor craftroom setback; Sadie accidentally give me a black eye with the top of her head when she was jumping in a fabric pile as I was bending over to pick it up. The discoloration is minor. It's almost funny now. But not really.

I finished the new small quilt shown here "I'm very good at flying." This will be the other card in a 2-notecard set which I hope to have as soon as I can get the right file uploaded. Jeez Louise, computers make me crazy.

We picked a paint color for the house. The power-washing starts tomorrow. Brown with off-white trim. Simple and classic. Right now our shutters are purple from the previous homeowners,so anything will be a step up from that. The purple shutters were one of the things I knew we would have to paint immediately after we bought the house. That was four years ago-oh what you can get used to . . .ha!

baby gifts and stuff

This red and white package was sent down under to the lovely Alison and her newest addition that will be arriving soon. She just received the box, so I feel like I can show the goods now. . .

Here's a close up of the cards I made for her. A close friend of mine made custom cards for me after throwing me a baby shower for Delia (as if that weren't enough) and it was the nicest gift, so handy to have on hand and so thoughtful. So, these are for Alison (they are actually her daughter's, because every newborn needs custom notecards) In a stroke of genius, I let my off the hook and made nothing else in the package but the cards--that way it actually got to her before the lovely babe has come.

I am in a crafting whirlpool. I have about 5 projects going right now, which I really dislike. Mailorder, small quilt cards, a fabric banner garland for outside (this one really has me stretching my head) and a couple doll kits I've started--good lord. Oh, and in a fit of nervous energy last night I cut out a new tunic top for myself to sew. It is still in pieces. In that vein, I have extended the Tie One On August theme, the pinafore, through September, so we all have an extra month.

I hope to cross something off my list this weekend. Next week we are getting the house painted and I have yet to pick any colors. That kind of stuff. Okay,off to the park. for a play date, then lunch. I know I can finish that.

craft book season!!

The new Built by Wendy book, Sew U is out. I have been waiting for it anxiously since trying out her patterns earlier this summer. . .

Here are some pages from inside the book. I am a total book junkie, and a craft junkie, so that equals a craftbook junkie-- and this one here pleases me on many levels. It's got the cutest endpapers and illos ever, and Wendy's writing voice is down-to-earth and pleasant without being randomly sassy which seems so prevalent in many crafting books right now. . .

There are 3 tissue patterns in the back (a skirt, dress shirt and pants)

and the spiral binding is very handy.

Sorry for the lame-o photos. I was too excited to scan this and make it all pretty. Also, it seems slightly less illegal when I take bad photos of a book versus clear ones. Moving on. .

I have read reviews of this book but couldn't really figure out what is was until I saw it myself and it is very very cool. It truely is a learn how to sew clothes book. It's got the basics covered (supplies and fabric organization and all that) and then 3 chapters that use the 3 basic patterns included in that nifty back flap. There is a basic A-line skirt, a dress shirt, and a pair of pants. (sizes 2-12) Each chapter shows 3-4 variations on the basic pattern and a ton of ideas on top of that. I mean it when I say a ton of ideas, not just "add trim" but actual alterations to the basic form of the garment. It's a great starting point if you have never sewn clothes before or if you have and they have gone wrong. Or if you just dig Wendy's look, which I do a whole lot.

I need to admit here that I, along with being a craft book junkie, get really into directions (mailorder) and I also really enjoy designing patterns and writing directions myself and hope to do this a lot more in the future, so I look at these craft books from that perspective. I will use this book, but mostly it's a pleasure for me to read and I love the style. Such a fun modern contrast to my standby favorite sewing book.

Wendy really covers sewing well here, the real way. Not a "make it up as you go and only use existing thrifted clothes" way. Not that I'm against reusing thrifted clothes- I'm all for felting a sweater and making it into god knows what, but there are not many (any?) books right now that actually teach how to sew cool clothes from start to finish. There's no crappy crafty stuff here, you know? It's the real deal. Like she discusses hems quite a bit and the placement of pants pockets and how they important they are to percieved bootie size-who knew?

A few things I would say to friends who would be buying this book who had never sewn clothes before:

If you don't dig her style (how can that be?) it will be hard to move past this when looking at the book, it's very cool, very modern, and very now. There is a slight vintage feel, and of course you can do your own thing, but you aren't going to find a 1950s frock pattern in this book. Also, standard pattern sizes are smaller than most women out there. Measure carefully, because a sewing pattern size 10 is not the same as Gap pants in a size 10. The other issue that is huge in garmet sewing is altering. Not for design but for fit. Wendy covers this a bit and warns that a muslin should be made first, but if you have anything other than a pretty "normal" body type, garment sewing can really be hard at first. There are entire books devoted to altering the fit of standard sewing patterns, so that would be good to have on hand if you get into sewing clothes a lot.

Okay-if I get my hands on some other cool craft books coming out this fall, I will write about them. Kelly has a great review of the new Amy Butler sewing book--and oh my god!! please check out Kelly and Mariko's new shop!! She and the eggplant have been up to no good! Woo-hoo!

quilt monday-small quilts

We made it home from an amazing vacation at the coast (Manzanita) and the re-entry today has been hard. Lots of weird mail, car issues that involved no AC on the drive home and an emergency trip to get engine coolant, 100's of spam e-mails (literally) to deal with, and lots of screaming kids--ugh.

The girls were so happy at the beach, just laying around either in sand or in bed all day with us.It's amazing how happy they are when we (the parental units) do nothing. It made us pretty happy too. I managed to finished one small quilt and get a good start on 3 others. My hope is to make these into note-cards soon. That's the plan anyway. . . I brought books (thanks again for the amazing tips in the comments. I can't believe all the suggestions, a gold mine, I tell you!) I ended up bringing trashy magazines. I left the book thing until the last minute, and ran out of time. The magazines were depressing, actually. Thank god I picked up the new Martha while I was there.

This small quilt here is called "You're not going to get far in that thing." and it's a sad cat paddling a clog, which obviously, is not a boat. He is confused about all this.

Okay, now laundry, water the fall veggie starts that I planted too early and got fried, and we are out of food. Sadie's new obsession is to wear a suit like Thing 1 and Thing 2 in Cat in the Hat. Which means it not only has to have built in feet, but also gloves. . .this should be interesting. And I can't say I blame her. Delia will be Thing 2, of course, willing or not. And if I do get said suit for Sadie - she will not take it off. For days. This has been a new thing with her pj's. She wears them in the house at all times. We are on week 3 of this. She wants to wear "normal clothes" when we go out because she says that "other kids might want to wear my jammies." True that.

quilt monday-folk art love

Sometimes during the week I head over to my mom's house (Grammie ) with the girls while she is at work. She has a ton of toys over there and they girls just play and mellow out and listen to music. It's a great way to break up the long week at home. I usually snoop around, and look at all her quilting books and magazines, most of which I have seen around for years, but in the last few years, am now seeing with fresh new eyes. . .

This book has been on her shelf forever, American Folk Art, Expressions of a New Spirit by Robert Bishop. It's a catalog from the museum of the same name in New York. It's from the 1980s and I can't find it online, but it lovely and full of amazing images, like all these here. This quilt kills me, obviously, talking animals on quilts is a very dear thing to me. And the images on newspaper are cut outs for applique. I love how modern and sparse they look.

And here's a patriotic quilt, which I love, in part because it's a crib sized quilt and it has "Baby" stitched in the middle of the star. I will one day make a red, white, and blue quilt. It's on my list of big things I need to make in the next 10 years. Also on that list is to knit a sweater (nope, I actually never have done this, only started them. . ) and start and finish a rug hooking project.

I am super excited that we are headed to the coast this week! I am taking small quilts to work on and need to find a wonderful fantasy book to read. I miss my book group a ton, but I think they are secretly happy to not have to deal with my magic/fairies/forest/dragons thing. . .I just need books to really be an escape for me right now, not a reflection of real life. Or if it is a refection of real life, it's one with crazy wizards and talking animals. If you all have any suggestions in this genre, let me know. I usually head straight to the young adult section when I am in this mood.

See you all next Monday, hopefully with a small quilt (or 2) to show!

a little bit of x-in'

I had one of those manicy evenings last night--I was working on this until 1:00 AM to get it done. This is when having the blog really pays off. I am insane, but I really have so few unfinished projects because of it. It's great for motivation. What is not so great it that I am not a night person, I am an early bird, so "right sides together" was a concept that was too hard for me to wrap my brain around last night. . .let's just say that this wasn't going to be a needle case in my first plan and leave it at that.

This is my first real cross stitch project-and it reminded me so much of knitting. I don't knit much. Some day I will knit alot. I can feel it. I love yarn but I find I am only a good knitter with small hard projects, otherwise I never finish. And the thing about knitting, is that you can't really design as you go, or, I can't anyway, which is how I do everything. Same with cross stitch. Well, I did design this as I went, and you can tell, but I finally got smart and had a piece of graph paper near by at the end so I could x out the design before I just forged ahead. For me, cross stitch is a bit like picking a scab in the best way (gross, sorry.) it was fun and I couldn't stop, even when I should. My eyes hurt and I need better posture.

I had high hopes for this lovely kit, but started it in a total whack job way and I also was too excited to do my own thing to stick with it. I ended up using the rest of the lovely linen on this little needle case.

There is an ulterior motive with all this, which is that I am planning/designing all the main mailorder projects right now, at least 3 of the 4 anyway (a year is so far out!) I am saving the last one as a wild card. . . the first mailorder (late September/early October) will have a hat pattern, this time for the man/boy in our lives  (although it would be swell on a lass) an Elmer Fudd style hat with ear flaps, then the 2nd one will have an old timey (albeit a modern interpretation of one) cross stitch sampler chart. . .then Raggedy Ann and Andy pattern, then who knows. . .so, I figured, even in my normal delusional state, I should actually start and finish a cross stitch project before I design a pattern. How smart of me!

mini crafter

I had one of those magic mommy moments last week. Like, I called Pete to tell him about this at work it was so good. . .

Most days while Delia is napping (Sadie stopped taking naps right after she turned 2, I'm not exaggerating) Sadie and I work in the "art room." This is my new craft room and I let her play with all my stuff her 20 month old sister would not do so well with. We sit together and I work on projects and so does she, as we listen to the monitor and wait for here sister to wake up.

Sadie has taken a real interest in my Gail Wilson projects, the kits I am working on. . and as I complete them I let her play with them because she is so careful and gentle. Okay, so, she was "ironing" with this kit I just finished and asked for some fabric because she was "making a quilt" and then making a "matching bonnet."

Oh, be still my beating heart.

some happy stuff

I seem to be doing a crafting/decole two step on this blog. Here are some recent goodies I purchased from Velda, she got a buch of Decole a bit back (you can see what she had here, not sure if there is any left) and this stacking cup tower is a single mug and a teapot with it's own strainer. I love it-love it-and the wooden clips back there are amazing and greatly influencing my next box bag-cause there are so dang folksy-cool.

and this little red riding hood stationary box came from the sweet shop colorful cute courtesy of Madeline who knows of my little red riding-hood love. She has some seriously crazy cute Cram Cream items, like the tapes over there-ack. Really, I need all of them. Talk about feeling wanty!

And thank you so much the huge quilt love!! I rushed to get that up on Sunday (thanks again Grammie) because I had a pretty icky weekend. (health stuff. I am fine. Not be all mysterious, but I'd rather talk about cross-stitch and fabric, if you know what I mean.) I was just feeling so down in the dumps and sad. . .so to get all the positive feedback yesterday was really amazing. It's makes me all weepy just typing this-so thank you, very very much.

quilt monday-jumpy

I have been working on this green and white quilt for awhile and couldn't get it quite right-

and then, at the last minute, I drew this this happy girl jumping rope and painted it on using freezer paper and fabric paint and it all came together. I did this when the whole top was done and up on the wall-my back up plan was to just applique over it if it got all screwed up-but the paint behaved. . .

The machine quilting (thanks to grammie's gammill) echos the loopy jump rope motion. . .
The large flowers and small dots are turned under and machine appliqued and I am so very happy. I had green and white in my system and I feel like I got it out. I also have been wanting to try painting on my quilts, literally, so the freezer paper stencil was the perfect way to get my toes wet in the mixed media quilt thing. . .and thanks grammie, for you help with the quiting and binding! More photos here.