I stayed in last night in an attempt to get a Christmas gift for my nephew done. The back story is here, but the abridged version is the boy has enough toy trains to fill a tub.
or swimming pool.
or any other arbitrary 'large' object.
He brings them with him everywhere, and they inevetably end up under someone's feet.
Bad news for the trains, and bad news for the feet.
Since we are gifitng on a budget this year - I pulled out my stash of train fabric and went to work.
I got about 1/2 way done (hopefully that was the hard half since it involved a zipper, some swear words and a seem ripper.)
My brain fizzled out around 10:00pm .
I had to walk away and complete some flickr/blog therapy at about 10:30pm.
Today is a new day, however.
I've had my coffee and ready for the final face off with Thomas and Friends...
I knew I wanted them to look like a set, but to each be unique. I also knew I had fabric leftover from my table runner project. Hubby requested squares and even humored me when I asked him to "pick 6" from a
pile of fabric (he has this weird aversion to making fabric choices).
My vision and my ability do not always quite match though, so I was a bit worried that I was going to fudge seam allowances or misjudge curves and end up with an amorphous blob, but I think I did all right, for making it up as I went along!
His and Hers Stockings :)
Once I got the front and back pieced I used a tutorial here from Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew to do the lining.
Look ma! No raw edges! I did have a moment of sewer's regret when I realized I had sewn the hanging loop on the first one backwards and upside down. D'oh!!
I was so annoyed at the error that I forgot to take a "keeping it real" photo. Trust me, it was pitiful. But I got it (sort of) fixed and made sure to pin more carefully on the second time around.
I am really quite pleased with how they turned out. I hope I made them well enough, and chose a neutral enough design that they will last us a long time. But, once I do have to make more, I know I'll be up for the task, and that is a really great feeling.
I am going to try to rally some energy up tonight to get a gift sewn for my nephew.
Are you doing any last minute holiday sewing or crafting?
First off, I want to say a big hello ya'all to anyone visiting from Small Blog Meet being hosted (once again) by the wonderful Lynne from Lily's Quilts! If you'd like the "who I am, how I got here, and what's with the nut story" check out my about me page.
The abridged version is I ....
... am a scientist by trade
... am a part-time nanny whille I pursue said scientific career
...live in a small apartment with my husband in beautiful central Pennsylvania
...am easily distracted by shiny things
... always have more projects on queue than I have more time for
...blog when I can, about whatever is relevant to my life at the time
...and I hope you enjoy your visit here and come back to visit again soon!
To all ya'll old timers, hey there friends, did you miss me?
I missed you! I have been very absent from blogland, but I promise to make it up to you with some fun progress pictures and 'real' life anecdotes.
Hope you don't mind an excessive amount of photos for my first update -
I still have that slighty euphoric feeling that comes over me when I have a finished project to share with you!
I am soooo happy with how my Christmas tablerunner turned out!
It seems like FOREVER ago that I did this digital mock up of a design I had floating around my little brain.
I got this far...
... and life happened (aka all creative progress seized).
A few job interviews, roadtrips, and other rather dull misadventures later..
I got my little pretty layered and basted. When I was closing up the binding, I had a little, erm, brainfart.
This is the first time I used spray basting. I am happy with it and will definitely be using it on other small scale projects that will be smushed, twisted, folded and generally abused in the quilting process.
The seamripper and I had some quality time to get that binding snafu sorted out
and..... drum roll pease!
DONE!!
ahhhhh.. so satisfying!
I even gave it a wash and dry so that it has that crinkly goodness to it.
That was the longest 12 minute cycle of my life (I was nervous about reds bleeding, but it was just fine!)
It's winging it's way to distant lands (or is it??) right now with an ornament.
I do hope my secret partner is happy with it. I'm a bit sad to see it go.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the nicest thing I've made. Ever.
Now don't think I'm bragging - it is so not perfect. But it is 100% my design and my first go at hand quilting with Perle 8 cotton.
Yummy.
Now. I promised a few real life ancedotes to give you a peek into what my time away from blogland involved. If you are one of those people who are not into the non-crafty stories, avert your eyes.
If you like those stories, then keep going!
- I let the fridge get empty in the week before Thanksgiving, so that food wouldn't spoil during our time away. Once we got back, my subconcious wouldn't let me forget that grocery shopping was necessary.
I had a dream that I was trying to find gluten-free rice puffs in a huge food store.
Now it gets weird because
1- I am not alergic to gluten nor do I regularly seek out gluten free anything and
2- I was trying to get around the store on roller skates. Yup. Strange, I know.
- I found out that dogs can get 'reverse sneezes'. and when they do, the sound like the are dying.
It's freaky, funny and all together nervewrecking when pet sitting for a good friend.
Ask me how I know.
The dog got excited, drank his water too quickly, and just about gave me a heart attack! I was way too disturbed by the sound to take video of it myself, but this video is fairly close to what it sounded like.
So, there you are. A finish, a dream, and a dog with reverse sneezes. Welcome to my weird little world :)
