Put Away and Give-Away

Remember the picture from last week of (one of) my crafty area(s)?

I actually took that mid-December but it hasn't looked any better since then. Til today.

Check. It. Out. Did it in bits and pieces over the last three days.

I'm so proud. Because for a change, I didn't just shove things from one pile into a nicer-looking pile--or into a box somewhere else. There's actually a plan. Not that said plan won't easily be buried beneath layers of future projects. But hopefully, I can cycle back to this plan--and its calm-inducing orderliness--on a regular basis. Ask me in a month or two. But here's the plan...

Other fun news. Recently, I won my first ever "bloggy giveaway" and my winnings arrived in the mail yesterday. In honor of the approaching Chinese New Year, a pair of scrumptious desserts (of the truly no-calorie variety), from a hugely talented crafter, Lorraine! (Yes, I took the picture with my laptop screen showing my winning number that was picked. Yes, I'm a dork.)
The delicacy on the left is a "pineapple tart," a traditional Asian dessert around CNY. I can't believe how perfectly Lorraine replicated them in felt and fleece. Here's what they look like in edible form (image found at KitchenSnippets blog, full of scrumptious-sounding recipes!).

And I assume the delicacy above on the right needs no introduction, though I do love that she called it a "Prosperity Donut", again in honor of CNY. Here's some more of the donuts she made last year. (If you want to feel amazingly inferior be amazingly impressed, check out the Donut-Shop-On-The-Go she made for her girls, complete with hats, bags, tongs, trays and more. And she makes cardboard... stuff. My kinda' gal!)

Hmm, I think I'm hungry...

P.S. Maybe I should have a give-away one of these days. Just have to find/pick/make something to give away...

Quilt-y, WILTI, Naming Fun

OK, I think this is going to be the last post about Al's Quilt til it's done. I started some of the quilting on it and, oh, it's amazing what that step does. But before we go to pictures of that -- or find out what WILTI is -- first wanted to also show what Al got for me:

So cute! Have to show some pictures from inside...

Here's the author/designer, clearly enjoying his little critters...

It tickles me, the way he posed them all and made up little stories...

Am going to love digging into this book...

But will try to wait til The Quilt is done...

Speaking of which, here it is with one almost-completely-quilted row, done in concentric squares. Finally settled on using red thread on this side -- to emphasize the red centers of each block...

...and orange thread on the other side, for some fun pep. And 'cause Al likes orange. And 'cause it's close enough to red that if (er, when) my tension is a little off (meaning thread from one side peeks through to the other) it won't be as noticeable. I'm SOOOO glad I was able to borrow my friend's machine for this part. Came with a walking foot (no ugly puckers yet -- joy!!!) plus there's a setting so when I stop sewing, the machine automatically stops with the needle in the down position. Which helps out a lot when pivoting at a corner. And considering I have ... 10 x 10 blocks x 6 squares per block x 4 corners per square... 100... carry the 2... TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED CORNERS at which I must pivot, I'm happy for any help I can get.

So then, what's WILTI? Stands for Why I Love The Internet. I probably should call it HWOTTISPAAAC (Huge Waste Of Time That I Should Probably Avoid At All Costs) but WILTI is shorter and easier to type. See, I loved your name suggestions (great list, Jenny) and was all set to use "Mary Bobbins" (of course I get it, J! That's my kind o' humor! And it didn't help that I'd been singing "Supercalifragilistic" all day long -- thanks a lot, Delilah!).

But Al's girlfriend's name is Mary so don't think I want to do that after all. Had also thrown out Bob because it was a boys name, but I've always loved the name Bob, sounds so friendly to me. And who's to say a sewing machine has to be a girl anyway?!?

But then saw Dee's note. Bertha was more in line with Edna (the first name that I thought of but don't quite like). Almost perfect, except its "bigness" seems too big for my little friend.

Sooooo off to the Internet, to a site that almost convinces me to have more babies, just so I can browse all the possible names. There are a ton of "baby name" websites out there, but this one, this one is one-of-a-kind. You can type in some names you like,

e.g. Mary, Bob, Bertha & Edna,

and it'll give you similar ones, based on style, popularity, and a host of other characteristics. Try it yourself at nymbler.com; see what "matches" your family members (or be a responsible time manager and just email the link to a pregnant friend...).

Really, I didn't spend too long there before finding my winner:

Beatrice Bobbins.
Or Aunt Bea, to me.

And since my friend's machine is a "Brother" brand, I figure this one can be

Bea's "brother," Bob.

(I wonder how my friend will like her machine's new name. Ha ha.)

Chugging along on Al's Quilt

Been sewing. And making progress. Thought I wouldn't be at the point I'm at right now til at least May or so. But here it is, still the beginning of January and I've actually gotten a lot accomplished. So I'm pretty excited. And hoping this momentum will keep me going strong these next few days? weeks?

Wanna see? It's a bit of a mess. And the lighting down in my basement family room at 10pm (when I should be in bed) is atrocious. But here goes...

Here are 8 rows of 10 blocks each, waiting to have their seams ironed flat. Just gotta figure out which direction to iron them...

Here are the "triangle squares" waiting to be sewed into rows, then seams ironed flat. Five "sets" in this stack (which will become 5 rows)...

...and another set started, see? Four pairs --- which will become two quartets --- which will become one row of eight. So far, I haven't screwed up the order of any of the pieces. I think. I hope... Anyway, two more sets are already sewed into rows and ironed and then the two rows also sewed together into a wider row. You'll see that in a minute...
Here's a bunch of orange fabric that still needs to be cut into squares and strips for the border, but I'm not sure on the sizes, so I'm just ignoring this pile for a while. But hey, where are the rest of the border pieces?!? The 36 green rectangles that I sewed onto 36 beige rectangles to make 36 squares?!? (If I know my middle kid, they're probably in the playroom now, covering 36 little stuffed animals in 36 miniature "beds." Aaargh. Cute, but still, aaargh!)
And here's the thing that's giving me hope... Doesn't look like much but it's one-fifth of the quilt, already stuffed with batting and pinned together, just waiting to be quilted!!!!! ("Quilting" is when you sandwich the batting between the front and back layers and then sew lines to keep it all together. Before that happens, when you sew all the pieces into blocks, rows, etc, that's called "piecing." I didn't know that for a long time. Perhaps you didn't either? Now you do.)
Just a minute, let me spread it out for you. First, the "triangles" side. The pairs of squares on either end will be covered by those elusive green-beige border squares ... which I still can't find, grrr... so I'll approximate the border with some scraps I can find. See bottom right corner of photo...
And then here's the "squares" side... Wow, this is going to be BIG quilt. I did the math. I checked the internet. King quilts should be around 110"x110". But dude, that looks really big. And this doesn't even include the 5" brown border around the whole thing!

So let's see it with a small section of border. This is NOT a cotton "quilter's" fabric. It's more like a thick upholstery brocade. But I think it'll make a nice border. By the way, this is NOT the way quilts are usually put together. Not any of it -- the "wrong fabric" border, the double-sidedness, the quilt as you go approach. But I'm just following where desire and necessity take me, trying something different, and so far so good. (Or is it "sew far, sew good"? Late-night puns -- folks, I'm really sorry!)
Ooh ooh! Found the green-beige squares! So let's flip it over again and get a better approximation of what the finished border on the "triangles" side will look like. And you may think I'm taking all these pictures/doing all this layout for you, dear readers, but really it's for me. To give me a vision of where I'm going, a vision to cling to when I'm sewing ("piecing" and "quilting") with no end in sight and all hope seems lost. Because, as my dad is always quoting, from Prov. 29:18, "Without vision, quilters perish," er, I mean "people"...

And this, this is my trusty little machine, originally my grandma Marmee's, faithfully chugging along, especially ever since this past August when the sewing bug bit me again in earnest and sunk its teeth in deep this time. I heard some squeaking coming from her innards somewhere today, so figured I better give her a little TLC 'cause she's still has a lot of work ahead of her. "TLC" means randomly oiling stuff in the hopes of fixing the squeak. I think I managed to do that. Now, after all we've already been through, I think the poor girl needs a name...

Adding to the Stash...

Stopped at a local fabric store yesterday to pick up an embroidery hoop (for the tablecloth) and browse for more fabric too. When the overworked cashier rang me up, the total was lower than I'd expected. Didn't realize til I checked over the receipt at home that she didn't charge me for half of the fabrics! When I called back to fix the situation, I think they decided it was too much of a hassle to figure out what I owed them. So here are the newest additions, mostly 100% cottons, half of which were free. Lucky me.
10+ years ago when I worked at JoAnn's, I would sometimes wonder at the women who would come in regularly and buy random lengths of various fabrics. I heard the term stash bandied about, but really didn't understand the concept back then. Buying fabric for no clear purpose seemed frivolous, wasteful, packrat-ish. But I was probably just projecting myself onto them, assuming that they didn't actually use any of the fabric they bought, since I more often than not didn't; just planned and dreamed and bought supplies... and then let them languish. So who was the frivolous packrat really?!? I'm getting better about using and doing...

And now I don't mind admitting I've joined the ranks of Fabric Stasher. Case in point: I bought 5 yards of this fun red-flowered gauze and a yard or so of this super slippery red-on-red. And I'm not totally sure what they'll become. Maybe a skirt out of the gauze? (Really, the question is would I have enough moxie to wear it...)

So now I have a Stash of my own, some of which is visible below, small compared to some but adequate for now. (Needs a little more organizination, eh? After the whirlwind Christmas gift sewing, only a few of the fabrics are still nicely folded. This fall, I'd followed this advice of wrapping around my 6"x24" ruler; would love to wrap them around comic book boards, as seen here and here, because could then stand them upright like books instead of stacking them, but would cost $, so we'll see.)
Now that I'm sewing so much more, I do love my Stash. A luxury, I admit, but such a fun and helpful one. I love being able to have an idea and then just get started, without having to pack everyone up and head out to purchase. And, probably best of all, for a person who sometimes has trouble making decisions, having the limited selection of my stash is way better than being overwhelmed by the hundreds of choices in a store. Besides, it works well with my absentmindedness and I'm often surprised at the "gems" I end up with.

Example: One evening, I was thinking ahead to a friend's visit the next day (the one who loves to clean) when I realized we'd be hanging out ON HER BIRTHDAY! And me with nothing to give her! How did I miss that til just then?!? Figured I could whip up an apron. Found the "perfect" fabrics: a heavyweight, sedate, feminine floral for the main part (just like Suz seems when you first meet her. Um, feminine and sedate, not heavyweight!) and then some hot pink and leopard print for the trim (adding the sizzle and spunk that is Suz when you get to know her!). Hooray for Stash fabrics.

Here are two more fabrics I threw in my cart yesterday, then decided to "think on it" a day or two. With sale and coupon, they're "only" $1.35/yard. And they're 54" wide. But they're 97% polyester/3% spandex. Not sure what I would use them for. I mean, I'm not sure yet what any of my stash will become, but at least I'm at home and comfortable with 100% cotton. This heavier, stretchier stuff? Scares me just a little. But I do so love the colors and patterns! And I still have some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket... Hmm, what to do, what to do.

Oh, and nearly forgot about the other addition to The Stash yesterday, from someone on Freecycle. Made me think of your girls, Jenny; did they ever get their tutus? (As is, I think I only have enough tulle to make doll tutus, but if they're still tutu-less and don't mind some white mixed in, I could make it work...)

Guestbook Tablecloth?

I can't remember the last time I really made, much less wrote down, "resolutions" at the turn of the year. But recently I've been thinking about this upcoming year and what I'd love for it to hold. "Themes" for my year, if you will. Like "friends," as in having them over more. Or, of course, "craftiness." Or "getting stuff done" (especially as it relates to the junk in my house).

Last night, I managed to roll all three of those into one. We had some dear friends over (my first "theme") for raclette... (Thanks for the raclette grill, Mom and Dad!)

And after the meal, I asked everyone to sign the tablecloth, which will now act as a "guestbook" of sorts. (Getting people to write on a tablecloth was surprisingly hard, especially after I told them it was originally my grandmother's. I finally had to be the first, show them I meant it!) But after repeated washings, the ink will eventually fade away. So I'm going to embroider them. (enter "theme" number 2)

I got this idea from a Family Fun article which I can't find anymore, but ever since I read it, I wanted to implement it. Last January when I was over with my mom going through some of my Oma and Opa's stuff, I found one of my Oma's tablecloths. Lovely, except it had a large stain... which wouldn't be as noticeable if the cloth were covered in names, dates, and other embroidered doodles, right? So finally a year later, I've implemented the idea. (sorta falls into theme #3, doing it instead of just thinking about it) And the first name was embroidered this afternoon, while I was taking a break from preparing to have more friends over.

The Man maybe still thinks I'm crazy (he utterly "squelched" the idea when I first told him about it yesterday and still wasn't very impressed today when he saw the first "finished" name) but I am in love. Oh, the memories this cloth will hold!!! (Now I just need to make a little bag to hold it and the supplies, so it's easy to grab when I'm going to be sitting at gymnastics practices, waiting at the dentist's, etc.)