Ravelry

The other day I was searching around the world wide web for some knitting patterns and happened to stumble across the coolest site! It's called Ravelry and it's basically a facebook-esque site for knitter and crocheters to share projects, patterns, and all things fiberous! Needless to say I was in heaven. I had taken a bit of a vacation from knitting so finding this site only fueled my fire to get back into it regularly. That day I started a hat and had it finished 2 days later (pretty good for working 70 some hours a week).
So if knitting and/or crocheting is your thing, then check out this site! It's pretty exciting to know that there are tons of people out there in the community who want to share ideas and projects.
{plus on of the questions in your profile is "what's your favorite cuss word?". my answer was "shit". :)

a valance

Again I find myself being ashamed at my lack of posting with this blog. At the same time though, working 3 jobs has kept me from really being able to get much sewing done.

BUT I recently met a woman who needed a valance made and I was able to learn a thing or two. First off, if you want your valance to be wavy and bunchy, BUY 2X the fabric as the length of the window. I made this mistake on the first valance I made. Secondly, put your loop for the rod at the TOP of the valance, instead of attaching it to the back of it. Again, a mistake I made on the first one. With the loop attached to the back it the front of the valance will hang away from the back, making it lay strangely. And finally, if your valance has more than one fabric on the front of it, it's a safe choice to stitch in the ditch and secure the front to the back. Again, this keeps your sides together so they don't poof out, away from one another. I was sooooo pleased with the way the second valance came out, as opposed to the first one. So was the woman that I made it for. It matched her bathroom perfectly!

hung up in my parents bathroom.

new skirt!

A many of you know, or may not know (who knows!), I work part-time at Joann Fabrics. This is truly dangerous as all my paychecks just end up returning to Joann Fabrics! It's a great way to support my craft habit and a terrible way to keep my bills paid. I digress.
So a few months ago I spotted a bolt of fabric in the clearance section that was a thick striped navy and white. INSTANT LOVE. (FYI, I LOVE all things navy....and pumpkin flavored for that matter...anywho). At the time that I found said lovely fabric I didn't really need it nor did I have a plan for it, so I hid it among the other fabrics hoping it would still be there when finance and inspiration crossed paths. About a month later the fates aligned! I decided a skirt would be the best plan of action for my beloved fabric. And boy was I right!

note to self: mirrors make for crappy pictures!

i still love it though

Originally I wanted to have the stripes going sideways but with the pattern I used it was pretty impossible to get the panels to line up. Regardless though, I LOVE the way it turned out. It's a bit piratey but I don't mind, and paired with the right top it looks less piratous.
I have some other clothing projects rolling around in my noggin so hopefully I'll be able to start getting the gears running on them. The beautifully weather is inspiring for some reason so here's hoping.

back on track

photo courtesy of Patty Illingworth

My frequency in posting has been shameful and I apologize. I've been pretty busy lately but luckily that hasn't totally killed my crafting progress. SO to catch things up I'll tell yous about the Spring quilt retreat! What a success! I didn't get to spend as much time at this retreat as I did in the Fall but I felt like I was able to accomplish so much more! I was able to make HUGE progress on the Double Irish Chain for my mom and step-dad; even after messing up an entire row. It felt so good to really see my progress and have it start looking like an actual quilt, instead of a few rows sewn together. And what's even more exciting was that the momentum from the retreat allowed me go home and finish the entire top the week afterwards. My mom adores it! Now I just need to make the back and have it quilted. yay!

finally some REAL progress!

At each retreat one of the ladies will teach anyone who's interested, a quilt pattern. The Spring quilt just happened to be a T SHIRT QUILT!!!! Now, some history: Throughout high school I ran in track and attended an invitational every weekend. At each invitational the school sponsoring it usually sold t-shirts. Of course I had to have one from all the meets! {duh} SO needless to say, between the meets I went to and the team shirts we got each year, Sarah had quite to collection! Towards my sophomore year in college I decided that it was time to start packing these tees away to save for a quilt someday. Over the years I kept my eyes open, in search of a t-shirt quilt pattern that I liked, with little luck. So between not having a pattern and not really having the time, my shirts sat in boxes, awaiting their time to shine. Fast Forward to the Spring retreat and you can only imagine my excitement when I saw the pattern for the quilt being taught this year! It was perfect! Mix and Match sized shirts surrounded by 2 inch squares of whatever fabrics I chose. I dug out all my tees and chose the ones that would be put into the quilt. (What a walk down memory lane) My high school's colors are blue and gold so before the retreat I bought a bunch of fun blue and yellow fat quarters to surround the shirts with. After being taught the process to make the quilt it was all I could do to NOT work on only it for the rest of the weekend. Luckily I didn't take ALL my shirts with me. But I'm super excited about the fabrics I chose and I can't wait to work on it more regularly.

my strips of fabric and some t-shirts

It felt so good to have the time and space to get some real work done for once. And of course seeing the ladies that attend. They are all so sweet and supportive and I can't help but feel good after being with them. I'm so looking forward to the fall retreat and my sister and I have been considering doing the early bird so we can get up there sooner and have more time to work.

CLEARLY we are related...

And not to worry, this WILL NOT be my only post to catch up! I promise! :)

leg warmers

I made leg warmers!!!!!!!! I have a 70s/80s party that I'm attending this weekend and of course a costume is a must. I chose Flashdance as my inspiration and my outfit wouldn't be complete without leg warmers! Now, can I just tell you all the beauty of free patterns??!! Lion Brand Yarn has a huge library of free patterns and all you have to do is register on their site. SO I did a search for leg warmers and got a few options to choose from! I was pretty excited. Now, me being who I am, I couldn't just pick one to make, of course I had to mix and match patterns and needles to make something I liked even more. This caused a little confusion in the end product but for their purpose the leg warmers will serve nicely!
Yes...I do realize that one of my warmers is multi-colored. I had to buy another skein of yarn halfway through my second warmer and when I got to Joanns to buy the yarn, the color I needed was sold out. Since this was Monday and I didn't have time to wait around I just bought the next closest color. Again, for their purpose the color thing doesn't really concern me terribly.
After realizing how easy there were to make I might have to bring leg warmers into my life! They are so comfy and 80's and wonderful.

It is upon us! The spring quilt retreat is this weekend!! yay! My sewing at home has been thwarted by trying to sell our house so I'm really looking forward to getting some serious quilting done. I've also heard from some of the other ladies and I'm excited about the group that will be there this time around. The weather probably won't be very spring-like but I guess It's a good thing we'll be indoors. When I think back to the end of the Fall retreat I recall thinking to myself that I would have so much done between then and now. Looking at what still needs to be finished, it's safe to say that not much has gotten accomplished, at least not in my quilting world. As much as I wish this weren't the case...it is. I have done much knitting tho so I can't be entirely defeated. I was also able to make another purse (for myself). This is has fabrics that I like much more so I decided I had to make it.   

I had seen the fluer-de-lis fabric in the clearance section at work for weeks so when it went on double sale I knew I had to have it!! It was clearly meant to be. The purple fabric I found in the clearance too so overall it was quite a steal! I can't wait for this winter weather to go away so I can carry this around town! I was also able to finish another project but it's a birthday present so I have to keep it on the dl for a little while longer. 
There are also some future projects that I can't wait to start. I got my hands on some new patterns and fabric a couple weeks ago and I very excited to get back into clothes making. The patterns are a lot more modern that the patterns I inherited from my aunt and grandmother. So much of their stuff was from the 70's and not very attractive haha, sorry ladies.

so many projects!

It's official! I've become someone who has anywhere between 5 and 10 projects going on at one time!! I'm not even sure how it happened! I was working on a Hat/Glove/Scarf Combo one minute and last night I found myself needing to get individual bags for the other 3 projects I had going on! This also explains my lack of posting or pictures. Apparently I've been starting things instead of finishing things! {tisk tisk}But last night was the last straw. I started a cross stitch for my mom, that I'm pretty excited about because I decided to change every thread color in the pattern. So last night I put my mental foot down! I will not start another project until I finish 1...or even 2 at this point! Luckily I'm pretty close to being finished with 1 project so I'm not totally bogged down.
On a more organized note, I had to do some major tidying last night. With all the knitting/crocheting supplies that I inherited came a huge mess. All the needles were in baggies and scattered here and there. Anything small was just floating around and I had a basket of old, rough yarn that filled my closet. Now, my house is currently on the market so keeping it clean is imperative in case someone wants to see it. With half of my knitting supplies buried in this basket in my closet and the other half in a box in our spare bedroom, finding anything I needed was quite the pain! Something had to be done. I bought some stack-able plastic containers went to work. At the end of the evening I had a large bag full of yarn to donate and all of my knitting supplies organized and in one place. Boy does it feel good. The basket went back into my closet but since I was able to make room for the stuff that used to be on top of it, I can actually get to it now. Even this morning when I woke up and glanced in my closet I immediately felt good about seeing just the basket in there. It's amazing what a little organization can do for your soul! It's as though I can breathe easier.
So, that's all I have to report for now. As soon as I get something finished I'll be sure to post about it! :) I'm excited to get back into cross-stitching too. It's been a while and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Have a Happy Monday!!! :)