Crafty Updates

Well, I admit, I got my hubby to bring by a USB to mini-USB. I have no excuses.  There are several hundred pictures that should probably have made their way onto this blog by now (or at the *very* least somewhere in my photo storage on my laptop). And since I'm up late, with a cold, having fallen asleep even before my kiddos tonight (which, wow fellow moms, how rare is *that*), and now can't fall back asleep, I may actually get to putting on here now that I think of it.  Backtracking.... Anywho, I thought I'd share some of my favorite blogs with you of late.  I was going to do another fabulous round-up (or at least *I* think they're pretty fabulous, or I wouldn't have shared them with you, lol), only to realize that I'm well past Valentine's Day, and that's almost entirely what the crafty and kitchen-y goodness of the blogosphere have been focused on for the past month, I think it would be a little passe for me to post links now.  Hmmm. I must work on my timing.  Or my remembering.  Or my something.

As a segue into our list of crafty blogs, I can now safely divulge that I am in the middle of a project.  Actually, I'm in the middle of about four or five projects, none of which is anywhere near ready to be cataloged, thank you very much, and some of which are very sadly in need of some desperate attention.  I'm also in the market for a new sewing machine, and ironically, happen to be looking at an older, mechanical Bernina.  Wow.  Bet you never saw that coming. I also have plans to go check out the local Pfaff dealership, but there's a fundamental part of me that resists paying full price for something when I can wait, and search out that same something at a significant discount to buy it used.  Strange?  Yes, yes, it is.  But all the same, I'm not entirely sure that a sewing machine, even a really incredible one, should actually cost anywhere near $1000.  But maybe that's just because I'm cheap and slightly delusional (we'll blame the last on the fever, kosher everybody?). 

So, backtracking yet again, I'm in the middle of what I'm calling "The Nesting Quilt."  Which has been strongly influenced by the wonders of Oh, Fransson!, which if you aren't familiar with her work, is pretty darn right inspiring as far as modern quilting goes.  The project I'm working on is about halfway in between her Crazy Nine Patchwork Quilt and her Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow (except in blankety, non-pillow form).  Elizabeth is also the author of an amazing looking book, which I have to admit has been sitting on my wish list for quite some time now.  You can scroll through her other tutorials on her website though, and I guarantee that you'll come away, if not wanting to actually make a quilt, at least wanting someone to make one for you. 

I also have a second quilt I'm working on, which is an attempt at this quilt-a-long run by Stitched in Color.  I have to admit however, that I'm not quite sure how it's going to turn out.  I ordered some fabric bundles from Fabricworm, which has been an interesting process.  I've never worked with fat quarters before, and I've got to say that there's a pretty steep learning curve.  This is the bundle I used on The Nesting Quilt, and it looks like the bundle I found for the Colorbrick quilt is no longer available, but it was largely from the Echino Fall and Winter 2010 lines (which was also really interesting).  I have to say, where I had been avoiding Echino before, mostly because of the price factor, and I wasn't honestly sure how much I liked the big, busy designs, I have completely fallen in love with this fabric line.  The cotton/linen mixes are a *dream* to cut and sew, and the fabric is like a precious jewel for piece work (assuming you ever actually get the guts to cut it, which yes, actually took a couple pep talks on my side).  I think that Hawthorne Threads is definitely my new favorite web haunt for fabric though.  They have an amazing selection, incredible shipping rates, and their store is a breeze to navigate through, which I can't honestly say about either Fabricworm or Fabric.com.  Fabric.com occasionally has some really good sales though, so if you know exactly which fabric you're looking for, and have more than $35 of fabric needs (which qualifies your order for free shipping), then you're in the right place.  However, fabric goes fast here (I've had fabric disappear from my cart while finishing ordering, because it ran out of stock), so be careful.  On the up side, Fabric.com has a *huge* apparel line of fabric available as well, along with a pretty great selection of patterns. This is actually where I ended up spending my birthday money, getting Oliver + S patterns for Ande.  I am so wildly in love with these patterns that I can't bear to cut the pattern pieces to start her School Photo Dress, and am now in search of a copying store with a big enough machine to be able to copy the pattern  (ummm, which, gosh, I really, really, really hope is legal, now that I think about it... it's for private use though, so that makes it okay, right?).  

And while you're in a sewing mood, go check out Sew, Mama, Sew!, which is featuring a whole month of pillows as part of the multiple month pillow contest going between various different blogs.  If you're really motivated (and maybe slightly less overwhelmed than I am), you can enter for some pretty fun looking prizes too.  Of course, Crafiness is not optional, MADE (which is co-hosting a whole month of boy-inspired crafting), Made by Lex (check out the tutorials section for some fun eye-candy), and Made by Rae (the other co-host of boy month), are all some really great options too.  I've also really been enjoying No Big Dill lately.  Katy's designs are just different enough to keep those creative juices flowing even at your most desperate moments. 

Anywho, I have *loads* of blogs that I switch back and forth on, so I'm sure that you can expect more of these lists over time.  After our move (and probably after baby), I might even start posting links to my favorite craft tutorials *ever*.  Unfortunately, the larger part of my crafty, kitchen-y, DIY-goodness is now hiding in a ubiquitous brown cardboard box, and may very well not see the light of day until May, so, who knows.  I think I'm done making promises for this lovely little blog that I can't keep, so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed on that one. ; ) 

Have fun and frolic until next time.

--Fay

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Well, it's a full month later and we're still camped out in my in-laws' basement.  Hopefully we'll get out of here before my poor FIL's hair starts falling out.  On the plus side, I don't think my MIL has ever had such an adoring fan club.  From the moment my kiddos wake up in the morning (right at six) until they go to bed at night, they are completely devoted to spending time with their Grandma (which while sometimes annoying, is also completely sweet).

I did get to spend my birthday in CO though, which was fantastic.  We crossed over the the state line at around 10 pm, so it definitely counted in my book.  I joke that it's the most expensive birthday gift I've ever had.  I'm exaggerating slightly though, because it's also the most expensive (and best, but not because of the expense) Christ-mas gift I've ever had.  We are all so incredibly grateful to be back in the sunshine and under an azure sky.  We were a little disappointed to not have snow for Christmas, but after nine months of nearly constant precipitation, I think we can just deal with it.  We'll just have to console ourselves with 50 degree weather and sunny days at the park.

But I digress, I'm deathly short on original material to share with you guys (my camera cable is hiding in a fully-packed storage unit), so instead I'll share some of the truly amazing things I've run across in Blogland over the past month or so.

Enjoy!

Christmas Lovelies:

Felted Ball Garland from Say YES! to hoboken

Modern Gingerbread Houses

Christ-mas Ornament Mobile from Not Martha

Snowflake Table Runner from V and Co.

Snowflake Pillows from Noodlehead

Christ-centered Advent-ures from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar  and Delia Creates

Christ-Centered Christ-mas from A Lemon Squeezy Home

Baby Jesus in a Manger also by A Lemon Squeezy Home

Felt Ruffle Wreath by design*sponge

Oh! Christmas Tweed Wreath  by Spincushion, which if you haven't checked out before, is definitely worth a visit.  I know I'll be putting the Scrubby Buddies on my to-do list.






--There are several others, but maybe I'll get around to posting them tomorrow.  This should get you excited for next year at the very least.  Can you imagine the tweed wreath in pink and red tweeds for St. Valentine's Day?  Mmmmm. Yummy.  I love fabric.  And decorating just makes my heart sing.  I can't wait to try these ideas out in our own house next year.  This year we've been blessed to have some time to just soak up being with family.

Fall Favorite Things

Okay, so I'm honestly working on two three great things right now.  I've got one tutorial coming, and two re-do's coming.  It'll be a blast.  I have all the pictures.  I have all of the directions.  I'm all excited.  But wait, yeah, I'm still missing my USB to mini-USB cable.  <----- Not a happy camper.    Ah well.  So, while we are enjoying this lovely Fall weather, and getting one step closer to Christmas and Winter (hooray!), I thought I'd take a moment to commemorate Fall with some of my favorite things.  (And yes, I'm singing the "Sound of Music" soundtrack right now.)

Acorns:  Acorns are absolutely all over the place right now.  I crunched several and even, um, appropriated one on the way back to the car from the Temple Saturday.  I'm trying to convince myself that I was helping to clean up the temple grounds.  Yes, yes, that's it. 

There are some gorgeous crafts coming out of MADE right now, and she even has a beautiful acorn craft round-up going on here, including her own beautiful acorn wreath.

And look at this lovely acorn ball coming out of I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.

Then there's this amazing acorn display from delia creates, which if you haven't run into yet, you will absolutely fall in love with.  --Guaranteed. 

Sewing:  There's been all kinds of fun things floating around lately, and many that I have just discovered.  Am I the only person who didn't know about Disney over at ~Ruffles and Stuff?  I feel seriously ridiculous.  I can't believe I just found her.  And she's in my (new) neck of the woods too.  Sheesh.  Oh well.  Her tutorials are *gorgeous* and very well made and directed.  I really love this "She's a Lady" Cardigan Tutorial, but her amazing-ness doesn't stop there.  If you aren't a follower already, I would definitely add her in and go through her past posts.  They're simply too beautiful to look at to not add, even if you aren't big into sewing.  I'm actually in the process of making this "Bouquet" T-Shirt Tutorial for Ande as a dress, although I had a terrible toss-up between that and this "Gardens at Dusk" shirt remodel.  I don't know.  I may actually do both.  She's such an incredible inspiration that I'm not sure I'm going to ever stop sewing again!

Then there's this great tutorial on Made By Lex on how to make a pleater board.  This is beyond fantastic.  I desperately wish that I had found this a week ago before I finished daughter's pillowcase dress; it would have turned out differently.  But that's a different story, and a different tutorial for a different time.  Made By Lex is fantastic though, and another one of those that is absolutely fantastic eye candy even if you aren't in a sewing mood.  She specializes in refashions, and if you follow through to her tutorials, I promise that it will be a fun experience, especially for all of you Anthro-loving fashionistas out there. 

Cooking:  There are several fun things going on here too.  I'm especially in love with Delia's tortilla chip leaves; they just look like so much fun.  And Brooke over at the Cheeky Kitchen has an absolutely to-die-for looking white chicken chili.  Um, yum.  I'm making this for dinner, and if you follow me on Facebook, then you can catch the review tomorrow.  But heck, how can you go wrong with chicken, green chilies, sour cream, and bacon?  I've also fed my kiddos baked decorative pumpkins from Gingerbread Snowflakes in the last couple of weeks, and while I can't honestly say that my kiddos were thrilled, I certainly enjoyed my baked Jack-O'-Lantern (and it's a great idea for getting rid of those extra pumpkins today and tomorrow too!).  And while we're on the subject of pumpkins, I can't go without mentioning these fantastic looking baked pumpkin doughnuts, which I can't help but think are sure to be a crowd-pleaser. 

Anywho, this is all the fun I've gotten put together for this week, but there will be many to come.  Especially if I still can't find my USB cable by the end of the week.  Hmmm, I'll have to keep working on that.  But, rest assured, I have many (not-so-beautiful) photos on the way, a couple of tutorials in mind, and some re-do's that I hope will be helpful *and* informative.  And yes, yes, I promise, I am working on my photography skills.  Am I a blog-her in the making, no, probably not, but it's sure fun to pull together the best of the web for all of you lovely ladies. ; ) 

Have fun and let me know: Do you like the round-ups?  Should they become a weekly feature?

Thanks and feliz dia de los muertos.  ; ) 

Fay