So There's That

Today, I called my mom, got in my car, and drove to Joann's. There, I picked up a pattern (Simplicity 2274), a half yard of DS Quilts cotton (the name escapes me... Kitschy is involved, I think), and I bought a new sewing machine.

My old Kenmore was just that: old. My step-aunt bought it at a yard sale for 20 bucks. It was kept in her (Hoarders-esqe) house for x amount of time, then she gave it to me. It was a lovely, lovely thought. But it was not good. The tension was always off, it wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread any longer. I'd abandoned it a few months ago to go back to hand sewing.

But the influx of nieces coming my way has made me despair at the thought of two quilts to hand-sew, two receiving blankets to bind by hand, two of everything. And I'm sick of looking at all my quilt-y blogs and being unable to keep up. And so. My new sewing machine is here. Hooray 3 paycheck month.

For those interested (if any): she's a Singer Talent. Not the cheapest model, but very, very basic. I don't need much fluff, just something that can keep up. So far she's bound Baby H's receiving blanket, sewn 5 more rows onto Bean's quilt, and made a burp cloth for Bean.

Here's hoping there are LOTS more projects in my near future :)

Updates. Life Happens.

I know I post these "I'm around" posts every few months. But that's because I am.

It's really hard to motivate myself to craft with no sewing machine. It's such a production to get all of my hand sewing things out, and it's such a mess.

So, here are my updates:

• Nannying is over. I'm now a cubicle jockey. I'm so thankful for a job, but it's definitely not what I was planning on when I got my education degree.
• Moved into my parents house after nannying. A few months later, and I moved into my own apartment. Which is awesome. And soooooo small.
  
• Moving into my own apartment has shed some new light on things for me. First things first, closets. are. AMAZING. I've never really had a closet before. Oh man. One side is for my clothes, and one side is for my never worn clothes/ WIPs.
• Two rooms and a bathroom = no room for a desk or a sewing machine.
• Sewing machine doesn't even work. Need a new one. SO BADLY.
  
• P&K are having a baby girl, named O (I call her the Bean). I'm making her a quilt, and a receiving blanket made from AMH flannel and voile. That is, I will be once I find the motivation/4 hours to hand-stitch the binding on. Le sigh.
  
• D&J are also having a baby girl, named H. L's going to be a big brother! Of course this Baby H is also going to be getting a receiving blanket and quilt. Just need to figure out the logistics.
  

Crafty Christmas

Student teaching, while great in some ways, is not so great on the money front. As in, it doesn't pay anything.

As such, this Christmas is going to be a crafty Christmas! Luckily, I already had my brother and sister-in-law's presents bought (they're hard to make things for). And while my mom would be super happy to get something homemade, I really wanted to get her something specific. I'm not going to mention it here in case she reads, but it's great and she's going to love it.

L, my 1.5 year old nephew, loves cars. His third word, after Mama and Dada, was car. And so, I made him a Matchbox Roll from an old pair of jeans, a fat quarter of Patty Young's Flora & Fauna Dandelion in Lime, and some scraps. The road is black duck cloth from G's curtains, and yellow scraps are from my scrap bag. The tie is a sweatshirt hood string from an old sweatshirt that I don't wear anymore.

My step-sister K is extraordinarily hard to buy for. Her lifestyle is that if there's anything she wants, she'll just buy for herself. She loves entertaining and cooking; she's very modern, though, so most handmade items don't really fit her style. I've been thinking for a long time, and I decided that she'd really enjoy cloth napkins for when she entertains. I had a spare yard of Tula Pink's Hushabye Dragonfly in Aqua lying around, so I cut it into four squares that measured 18" x 18". The finished napkins are about 17" squared with the seam allowance, and it's quite time consuming doing it by hand, but I'm really quite happy with how they're turning out!


You can't really see the hems that well, but I swear they look good.

Student Teaching...

... is plodding on. I come home every day exhausted and stressed out. Every single day I plan on coming home and doing some sewing to wind down. Every day I get my small sewing bag from my upstairs room and bring it into the living room in preparation. And every day I get sidetracked with the internet, or with baking.

I'm a stress-baker; needless to say, my high school classes are reaping the benefits. One class has had baked goods every class for the last 3 classes (homemade cinnamon buns, leftover cake, and giant lemon-blackberry scones)! It's a small class (4 kids!), which is why baking for them is kind of perfect. I don't need to make a big batch or use a lot of energy and resources to make sure everyone gets some.

Anywho. When I do get around to sewing, it always is such a relaxing thing. I'm really glad I decided to do the piecing of this quilt by hand instead of waiting until I can afford to have my machine fixed. I don't have a sewing area, so when my machine was working, I had to constantly be bringing it up and down stairs to be able to use it on a table. Sitting in front of the TV with my sewing in hand literally melts the stress off. I wish I did it more.

Silly lesson plans. Don't they know I have a WIP?

Hexagon Love

Hexagons are a trend that seem to be flooding the online quilting community. As a lover of hand-sewing, this seemed like the perfect project for me! I had some leftover Little Folks 2.5" squares, so I traced the hexagons from my computer screen onto paper, cut them out, basted the hexes, and sewed to my little heart's content.


I'm pretty happy with how it came out :)

I'm Still Here...

... but I'm currently student teaching.

For those people who don't know what that is: Student teaching is a form of an internship that is required in order to get a teaching certification in college. You basically are a teacher that's paying to be one. I'm exhausted, but getting through it.

I am sewing, but I'm sewing a big project. That will take a long time to finish. Because I'll be damned if I didn't decide that I'm now a hand-sewer when it comes to quilts.

I'll update with pictures again, soon. Promise.