Look what I made

I never had a desire to knit. I liked things that other people knitted but it was not something that I wanted to do. I didn't have time to knit. I had plenty of craft things with my sewing machine and paper crafts. I have fabric to keep me busy for years to come. I have a list of quilts that I plan to make. I have enough paper to last until my children are 25 years old. Crafting is my creative outlet. It helps me to relax. I enjoy putting things together and seeing the end result.

Now my sewing machine is packed in a box. My fabric is stuffed into boxes. Yes, there is more than one box of fabric. My sewing supplies are in another box. My scrapbook paper is in a box. My stamps and paper cutter are in a box. My Silhouette is in a box. My washi tape is in a box (though I have bought a few rolls here). My creative outlet is all packed in boxes that are in storage on the other side of the US.

I need my creative outlet. I can't wait until we unpack the boxes (partly because I don't know when we will unpack the boxes, it could be up to a year). I needed something that would not be expensive to buy some supplies. I didn't want to buy supplies of things I have in storage. I needed something that would be easy to travel with because at this point everything needs to go into suitcases and go on the plane with us.

The winning craft was knitting. Once again I could create. I could make something and enjoy the end result. Okay, well I am not quite at the point of enjoying the end result but I am learning. So here is my starting project.

Don't look to closely. I know there are mistakes. It is just the beginning. It was fun to sit and create something.

I will admit that years and years ago a babysitter taught me how to knit. Just the fact that it was my babysitter would tell you that it was years ago. I think I made a 3 inch square knitting piece -- it wasn't big enough to be a dish cloth or even a pot holder. I think we called it a plant mat.  

To learn I bought a Kids Knitting book and The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting by Nici McNally.

Maybe this year I will make scarves instead of quilts. Don't worry I am sure I will be ready to sew when I get my sewing machine but until then I will knit.

Do you have a creative outlet? What do you enjoy creating?

Beth

Quilt Show

My mom won two tickets to the quilt show. This was my first time to attend a quilt show. I have enjoyed wandering through some of the quilt shops locally and looking at the quilts. This was a new experience for me.

I didn't take a quilted bag to put my purchases in. Lots of people there had a quilted tote that they were carrying. Even without my quilt tote I had a good morning.

This was one of my favorite quilts. I tend to like the pieced quilts more than the art quilts.



I liked the bold colors and look on this quilt. I like the look of applique. I did one heart for a quilt and that was the last hand applique item I have done.

This was an amazing use of color. I like the color but the swirls is not something I really like. It makes my eyes start to swirl.

This quilt has a bit of piecing and also some applique.

Then my camera batteries died. I tried to get some pictures with my iTouch.

There were a number of vendors there. I bought a little gadget that is supposed to help make neat, crisp mitered corners. I learned a bit last year with all the quilts that I made. I would like to improve my corners. There were some fabric vendors but I didn't buy any fabric. I know that is hard to believe.

You are a-mazing

I saw this cute and easy tutorial and thought I would try it. It took me longer to dig through my fabric and decide what fabric I wanted to use.



I think it will be a good fine motor activity for Miss K. I am not sure it is something that J will like but he will get one.

It is hard to see but there is a marble in there.

 I love when I find a project that is easy and uses things that I have around the house. I am going to give them to kids for Valentine's Day.

My Christmas Stack

Piecing fabrics together is a creative outlet for me. I love finding fabrics and then finding a pattern that works for that fabric and then sewing it together and seeing how it comes out. I have learned to machine quilt and am working on improving that. I don't mind the machine part in fact that is a bit relaxing. I don't like pinning and working to keep it so the back does not get wrinkled. I don't mind sewing the binding on. I usually do it by hand and it is something I do in the car.

So one of my Christmas gifts this year to my mom and sisters-in-law was a quilt from my stack. Here is what was on that stack.

This was made from some Christmas Charm pack I had bought years ago. I used the Disappearing Nine patch pattern. I love the look of that pattern. It is very easy but looks complicated.



I was shopping in The Country Store one day and found this bundle of fabric. I loved the colors and kept the fabric waiting for the perfect pattern. That is a typical problem for me. I have to find the perfect pattern or I am afraid to cut the fabric.





This was a half yard bundle. I loved the bold and bright look. Again, it took me some time to figure out the perfect thing to do. I knew I didn't want to cut this fabric into small pieces the prints were a bit big and I didn't want to lose the brightness. This was so easy just sewing strips together. I did add some rick rack to just give it a bit more design.

This quilt is from a collection of fabric called California Dreaming. I made it when we were thinking that we would be moving to California. It is the same pattern as the fabric from the Old Country Store. I do love the colors (the picture is a bit washed out). We are not moving to California.



This was made from a charm pack or two of Nature's Notebook fabric. A great blue and white fabric.

This was made using some scraps that were left from the other quilt. This would look great in a blue and white room.



This is from a Fresh Squeezed Charm pack and a solid fabric used as the sashing. I love the bold look of this quilt. My husband loves orange so I was thinking he might want to keep this quilt but he is waiting for me to sew the binding on the Java quilt that I have.

I have two other quilts that I finished. I need to find pictures of those.

California Dreaming, both Nature's Notebook, Christmas Charm Pack, and Fresh Squeezed are still in a stack here at my house. If you would like to purchase them, just let me know.

Puzzle Blocks

Years ago I made a small one set of puzzle blocks of Miss K and gave it to grandparents for Christmas gifts. I still had some blocks remaining. My friend posted a tutorial a few months ago and reminded me of those blocks. I searched for a fun book. I had one called the Jolly Farmer. It took me a few evenings of gluing and Modge Podge to get it done.



I did have a short lived panic that I had missed a block but the farmer isn't on the upper right block and so it took me a bit of time to figure out that it was for with the farmer. 

It was a fun project and went with the farm theme gift.

Celebration Banner

Remember the banner I made the other when I should have been working on Christmas sewing. I decided to make one and make it with a backing so I could put it up and take it down. I had found a fat quarter bundle at Tuesday Morning and so most of the fabric was from that. I was able to get 4 or 5 flags out of a fat quarter. I made a banner for myself and one for a friend and another person and still have fabric.

Now I need to finish one of my Christmas quilts and the backing for another one and a list of sewing projects.

Pumpkin Pie

For a fun Thanksgiving treat I decided to make Pumpkin Pie play dough. I found this recipe. Miss K has enjoyed playing with it and it really does have a nice pumpkin pie smell.

• 1 cup flour


• 1/2 cup salt


• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar


• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice


• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil


• 1 cup water


• Food coloring (6 drops of red and 15 drops of yellow)

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a nonstick saucepan. Add the oil, water, and food coloring and whisk until smooth. Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, cook the mixture over medium heat until it forms a ball, about 3 to 4 minutes.


2. Turn the dough onto a counter, let it cool slightly, then knead the dough until it has a smooth texture, about 1 minute. The dough will keep up to a week in a ziplock bag.
   
    
   
    

Birthday Gift

Miss K was invited to a birthday party for a little girl at school. I decided I would just make something. I decided on a bag of breakfast food. Don't worry it won't go bad before the party.

Three pancakes with syrup and of course a bit of butter and two fried eggs. Usually I had sew it but to save time I did it on the machine. I do like the hand sewn food better. I then made a little bag to put it in and use as the gift bag. I don't like buying wrapping paper.

My new crockpot

I was trying to remember what year I got the crockpot. I know it was a Christmas gift could have been 1989 or maybe 1993. It was a gift from my parents. Maybe I should go look through old Christmas pictures and see what year. Either way it is old maybe 21 years old or just 17 years. Doesn't it have the 80's look.

I have heard people talk about chalkboard paint. The idea to paint my crockpot with chalkboard paint comes from someone else on the internet who had the exact same crockpot. I bought primer because that is what the chalkboard paint said to do and also the engineer in the house told me to do that. Primer and two coats of chalkboard paint gave me this new crockpot.

We can write the daily special like "soup of the day chicken" or messages like "I like soup." which J wrote. I wonder if it would help spelling if we did spelling practice here.

I like it. It is fun. I still have quite a bit of chalkboard paint so I am thinking of my next project -- a big picture frame with glass.