Hurrays and Boos

So since I am leaving for the airport in a couple hours, I decided to keep my promise of making another post before I leave. Hurray! Chris is bringing his laptop, so hopefully I will be able to post while we are on our trip. Instead of packing, this time I had a crazy urge to sew. So here are some things that I was working on in the past couple of days...

Ok, this one is a hurray. I wanted to make a little pouch, and a little pouch I made. I am so not good with these snaps though. Is there a trick to them? I'm just using a hammer...

And this one is the boos. The photos are small because I took them at 2-ish in the morning, and they're blurry. Didn't want to give you a headache. This is a great pattern by Liesl of Disdressed, one of my favorite blogs. I started this this morning, cutting out all the fabrics and sewing it all together. The construction reminded me vaguely of the weekender bag that I made before. Since it was kinda familiar, it was fairly easy. I love it. Still deciding on the fabric (too circus maybe?) but I love the bag. Here's the kicker. The last step of the bag is to use rivets to attach the straps. I have NO idea how to put rivets on. I just tried to use a hammer. Did not work. What's the trick? Sara, you must have some tricks up your sleeve... your rivets AND your snaps look fabulous...

Anyway, enough whining. Time for some last minute packing! Next time I'll be typing will be from Japan! Oooh!!

(So I will be missing In Stitches Sew Along for July and Bag Month because I was a lazy bum this month. Boo. Nothing like packing for a 2.5 week trip to jumpstart your sewing mojo.)

Goodies from Mr. Postman!!

Oh I've been so bad with posting, but I received two super exciting packages! The first is from Sara of Flanthrower. She posted some playlists and offered to make people a copy, and I took her up on her offer. Bet she wasn't expecting that! But she was so nice and sent it along with this beautiful card... Thanks Sara!

Today in the mail I received my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 2! It's from Julie, and I love it. I really really love the pink floral fabric she used. And polka dots!

Here is the back, also super cute.

And she was nice enough to include a keychain! I'll definitely be using this...

My partner also received her quilt, so I guess I'm free to post photos of it... I fell in love with one of the quilts from the current issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, and this is a baby one. I had never done bargello before, so this was an interesting experience.




And since I'm already posting so many photos, might as well post some more, right? I finished my blocks for the SCVQA Habitat for Humanity Quilt with the Space Blanketeers... hurray!!

I am invoking the 10 foot rule, thank you very much!
I've got to say, this was a lot of work. I need to start posting more often. But I'm leaving for a trip to Japan on Saturday, so I will try to squeeze one last post in before I leave!

The last week in photos

So I went on trip to Yosemite for July 4th, and I've been having trouble getting back into the groove of blogging. Plus, I had to rush and finish my doll quilt (I'm in the early group), so I was focusing on that. Here are some photos that I have been up to...

Half Dome at sunset

At Vernal Falls

Sneak Peek at quilt for Doll Quilt Swap II, sent out today (one day late!)

Blocks laid out for SCVQA Back to Our Roots Challenge (more later)

(Don't) Shake it Like a ....

That song is just too darn catchy to forget. So here is a shot I took today with my Polaroid spectra. Doesn't help that the photo I took of it with my digital camera is out of focus. But I am so excited for this camera, minus the cost of the film of course.

I am still experimenting with my photos. I just bought 2 sets of filters from ebay, and for this one I used a Diffusing Surround filter, which is just a fancy way of saying a blurry filter with a hole in the middle. Oh how I love polaroids.

Crafty-wise, nothing has changed from yesterday. Like the true nerd I am, I got distracted by Pokemon Diamond. Oh well, at least I have a friend who understands!

Oh my, it's July already?

I have been waiting for July all year. My family goes to Yosemite every Fourth of July, and I am so excited for 5 days of it this year. I am also going to Japan at the end of the month, so I am so happy that it's July!

I finished a couple projects for July, one on time and one a little late. Lets start with the on time one. Super secret project #1 was for my cousin Kel's graduation present. She came up for college orientation, so that was my deadline. I made her Modern Quilt Workshop's Redwork in Cal colors. I think she liked it... she kept saying she wished it was colder so she could use it! Here are some shots of it... More on my flickr.


My second project was the Placemats and napkins for the In Stitches Sewalong. So I guess I'm not officially done yet, but here's my excuse. Earlier in the month I had told my mom my assignment for the month and asked if she would like me to make the placemats and napkins for her. She said yes, but also added that her dining room sits 10! That's right, 10 instead of 4. So I started off, and on June 30th as it was approaching midnight, realized that I would not be able to get 10 done, and shot for 4. Really, I only got 1 set done. And here is that one photo. But I am probably 80% done with 10!! Does that count for anything?

I think it turned out pretty nicely. The placemats are huge, and the napkins are huge. The napkins are also not square, which kinda threw me for a loop. Oh well. On to July's projects!!