DeathByDenim

Quilters Yard Sale!

2012-02-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Bonnie at Quiltville is starting up a yard sale, and here are my contributions:

Roberta Horton's Scrap Quilts: $9

Crochet Me by Kim Werker $12

Crazy Quilting by J. Marsha Michler $15

Plaids&Stripes by Roberta Horton $9

First comment has 24 hours from the time I email you to complete paypal transaction or it goes to the next commenter. Prices include priority mail shipping with delivery confirmation. I will combine shipping costs for multiple items. Please include your email and which item(s) you want in your comment.

Who needs some fabric? Or, a de-stash in progress.

2012-02-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

I at least 7 gallon size bags full of random fabric in need of a good home. Most pieces are large enough to cut from, and nothing smaller than about a 2 inch square (think fat eighth to fat quarter). There are different prints in each bag, but the sizing is pretty consistent, and all of it is quilters cotton. If you are interested in one or all, email me and I will send it to you for the cost of shipping. These just need a good home.

Color palatte generator

2012-02-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Just found some fun stuff, like this:

Color Palette Generator

	#445533
	#668844
	#aabb66
	#bbccaa
	#778888
dull

	#557722
	#99dd11
	#ccee66
	#eeeedd
	#88aaaa
vibrant

Giveaway Winner!

2012-02-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Coloradolady! You won the MyMemories giveaway. I will be emailing you with details soon.

Giveaway update

2012-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

Since no one has commented on the MyMemories giveaway, the first commenter on that post will win it. And apparently that is not a product worth having on my blog. Which is good to know for me. If you want a digital scrapbooking program, scroll down a bit and be the first to comment.

Nap #1 progress

2012-01-23T13:10:00.000-08:00

Finished This T-shirt, and cut out all but one of these geese. And its nap time again! Lets see what happens after the laundry is done. And hey, check out my giveaway... odds are really good right now.

A rainy day sew in

2012-01-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

Not only did it rain last night but it is continuing to rain during the day here in SoCal. Finally winter, or as close as its going to get around here.

So today during nap time I am going to sew. I'm planning to use made fabric to cut some flying geese today. Not sure how it will all end up, but I'll be sewing.

Did anyone go to Road to California this year? What was your favorite part?

a manly lunch pail

2012-01-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

This is going to be one of those posts were I tell you what I learned along the way... Cause I definitely learned a reason why during this project.

After finding out my favorite fabric shop (Jenny's) has a selection of Batman fabrics, my hubby wanted me to make him some thing. I said OK, and he did not ask what I would be making. Which is so fun, especially when we get to the part of the project where he is wondering what the heck I an ironing over this beloved fabric and what this could possibly end up as. Lucky for me he was excited about a lunch pail.

I bought 3/4 yard of these three prints, although I could have used 1/2 yard of just 2 of them. I only used 2 prints, and some iron on vinyl and velcro to close it with. And some insulated batting. I was going for your classic paper lunch sac, but with fabric, since all the lunch bags I saw online were looking purse-ish once you add a strap. I had planned on the top folding down, then velcro-ing, but then it would have only held an apple. A very small apple...

I cut my fabric 14 inches tall by 12 inches wide, and ironed my iron on vinyl to my interior fabric. Then I cut out the lower corners 2x3 inches. I found out if you are going to box your corners, they need to be exactly the same, 3x3 or 2x2, cause if you don't you'll have to go with the longer side or have holes. So the bottom ended up square instead of rectangle.

The velcro went on last; I waited till the bag was finished to see where the best placement would be since I was planning to roll the top down to close. Rolling the top meant no space for food, so we were going to scrap the whole thing as too small, and try again another day. Luckily Tim asked if we could just put the velcro at the top, and of course I should have thought of that, so we did it, and here it is.

His friends at work were sooo jealous, so this was a success.

I made a button!

2012-01-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

I made this button for my blog! feel free to grab it to yours. If you have a button let me know and we can swap, opportunities for more blog traffic are always great.

digital scrapbooking, take one

2012-01-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

Here is my first page, I used MyMemories version 3.

If you like it use coupon code STMMMS7046 to get $10 dollars off the software.

SO far I like using it, and they have asked me to do a review and host a giveaway, so look for that next week.

fabric giveaway!

2012-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

the plaid scottie is hosting a fabric yum giveaway. I entered to win, and ?I suppose you could too. There's more than this to be won!

Click the photo to go there yourself.

Fabric shopping!

2012-01-10T10:57:00.001-08:00

I bought something pretty, pics and project to come!

Rough day

2012-01-07T21:54:00.001-08:00

Today started out with one hour of sleep, this is the first night my daughter has done that to me. Then we had a garage sale, and did pretty good. Hit my target amount for sure, so I was able to buy the rest pig the cloth diaper covers we need. I love using cloth diapers on my girl, so cute and so much less expense.

I'm also getting set to make a case for my nook simple touch. Just need to pick out some fabrics. This will be a crafty week!

quilting as I go

2012-01-06T21:39:00.001-08:00

Here are my current QAYG blocks. I am not trimming them down until I am ready to start joining the blocks together because I don't want to fray the edges or cut through the stitches without being ready to stabilize them. The blocks in these photos are all 15x15 top layer, and I will trim them down to 14.5 or 14 inches. I am really enjoying this quilting and also playing with the white spaces.

I began this project with an idea in my head, and the first block shown (top) is a good representation of what I was going for. For me this project really is about process rather than product; I have already confirmed that my machine will not do free motion quilting. I do like the look of the quilting with the concentric squares, and I'm already thinking about how to shake that up too.

I've been drawing these past few days, trying to come up with a continuous star quilting, with only straight lines. Its been challenging as I piece things together.

My baby girl!

2011-12-18T17:49:00.001-08:00

She is one month old today, and so much fun.

Shop updates, life updates, possibly everything updates

2011-09-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

So I have a shop over on artfire.com. I originally chose ArtFire over Etsy because I could sell for free or at a low monthly cost, instead of a per item cost, and on ArtFire my listings never expire! I love that feature. I also love that I am starting to consistently get sales. While I am not totally breaking even, it has been paying for itself over the past few months, and this has brought me back here, to the blog where it all began.

I originally began blogging as an escape from a mindless dull job with long hours and limited internet access as I waited for phone calls. I soon realized I could read blogs through Google, and decided to start blogging about my crafty endeavors as well. I blogged a lot back then, I was working a lot and sewing a lot, and sometimes bringing some handwork with me on the job. My first attempt at quilting, and it has yet to be completed, is a denim crazy quilt, which would be foundation pieced onto fat quarters, then hand embroidered, and I had lofty goals of this behemoth covering our king sized bed. Again realization hit me, and I decided this particular quilt just might be the death of me, and the blog name was born. Beautiful quilt, death in the process, it lives in a box now, and sometimes I take it out to look at it again, and remind myself not to be crazy.

Throughout this I discovered I love blogging. I love sharing my work, reading other peoples blogs, seeing the mess, the process, and finally the end result of creativity. Love, love, love all of it. When I quit that job I slowly fell out of the habit of blogging, and I miss it! I still do crafty, sewing wonderful things, but I don't post! And I am super lame at taking pictures lately! I want to blog, and to learn how to promote my business online effectively, so I am here, and I am back for round two, or maybe its round three or four at this point.

So now the life updates........ I'm having a baby! Due this November with baby #1, and I'm so excited about that. I'm working on a baby quilt using Alexander Henry's cute grumpy owl fabric for the feature fabric, and I think I'd be farther along but my Iron is complaining, I think it has hard water deposits inside? I did one round of vinegar and steamed the crap out of it(literally, it was grossness all over the bathroom sink). Yet it still is weird when I try to iron. I think it needs another round of vinegar? Helpful hints are greatly appreciated.

I miss this blog! I shall return!

Disc Golf bag in camo

2010-10-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here is this weekend's finished product, the disc golf bag in camo, with a large pocket. Holds 6 discs. I'm rather pleased with it. please let me know what you think.

This is now available in my artfire shop, check it out here.

Bag is finished

2010-10-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it took me longer than I thought, mainly because I wanted this one to be sell-able. I updated the straps, materials, and hardware, as well as reinforced all of the seams on the straps. Tomorrow will be picture day for the bag, and hopefully it will be listed by the end of the day as well.

Thanks for sticking with me, and still be followers, even tho I've been away from this blog for so long. I really appreciate it.

Shopping day!

2010-10-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it was for the new bags, and it was so fun. We went to my favorite fabric shop, to look at canvas (and very carefully did not look at any cute fabrics, only canvas!) and came out with some manly(or cute) colors to make manly disc golf bags with. Today is a working on sewing day. The goal is to finish 2 new bags today.

And I bought camo!

Disc Golf bag in progress

2010-10-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

My DH loves to frisbee golf, and I have made a few bags for him over the past couple years. He always manages to sell them to his friends, so he recently asked me to make him one for himself. As I started I also began looking for something similar to purchase online, and came up with no handmade options. Here is the latest one, I'm working on perfecting this for my shop. The beads are all his idea, to keep score with. I think the future pockets will be higher with no closure or velcro, its tight enough.

I found a great site to purchase wholesale supplies from, its called strapworks.com. They have all kinds of fasteners, straps, everything, in all kinds of sizes and colors. well worth checking out.

I think I'm back.

Have you heard of the ArtFire Pro Deal?

2010-09-19T10:16:00.001-07:00

ArtFire is a really great site for buying for selling handmade. They are going to be launching soon, and are offering a great deal on Pro level accounts. Its the lowest I’ve seen them offer, and lower than you can purchase at this time. Best of all, signing up to sell is free with a basic membership, and you can upgrade to Pro easily by signing up for this new low rate.
I love using ArtFire, and I prefer it to etsy for selling my crafty things.

ArtFire is offering a limited number of people the chance to lock in a never-before-seen $5.95/month rate. In order for us to offer you this deal we need at least 20,000 members, including you, to opt-in for the exclusive $5.95 rate. Don’t miss your chance to lock in the best deal in e-commerce. Once this deal is over, it’s not coming back.
To celebrate the beta exit, we are running an exclusive promotion to lock in the best rate ever offered for an ArtFire PRO account. We will be making a group deal offer to everyone who wants an ArtFire PRO account.
If we can get 20,000 people to commit to an ArtFire PRO account, every single person who opts in will lock in a rate of $5.95 per month for as long as they maintain an active subscription with ArtFire. As with everything ArtFire does there are no hidden fees, no long term contracts, and no surprise charges.
We will be publicly announcing this promotion early next week, but we are giving current ArtFire members the opportunity to sign up early. If you have friends or family that might be interested you can let them know they just need to sign up for a basic account to get early access. We are setting a hard cap at 50,000, and if we hit that number of Pros before next Monday, the deal will never be announced outside of the community.

Go check it out, and check out my store too. www.Artfire.com

I'm Sewing Again!!!!

2010-04-10T10:12:00.001-07:00

Its been a while but I'm getting back into my happy place, and i hope the blogging follows. I'm working up a bunch of aprons, purses, and baby stuff, and i will have a table at a vendor fair in 1 week. got to get busy.

calm

2009-10-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

We had a chance to get away and spend some time at a retreat in Minnesota. it was such a great time to relax. I don't know why blogger is being weird and typing this like a link but it won't let me type other wise.

I don't get this crazyness.

My new sewing space!

2009-10-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

It works, and I can sew and sew here. It is a high traffic area, being on the way from the upstairs bedrooms to the kitchen, so the layout is not great, and when I'm done EVERYTHING gets put away. I've been itching to sew and figured out a new way to do a denim quilt, that pile of squares is a part of it. Starting this has reminded me of the denim crazy quilt I have in progress... I started in November 2006, and I only know that cause I embroidered my start date on my first block. I should pull that back out again, since i have more scraps from cutting out all these squares.

I'm also starting to get into upcycling, and I have some jeans aprons in the works as well.

Pics of where I disappeared to for a couple weeks coming tomorrow!

err, later today after I sleep?

upcycling t-shirts

2009-09-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

today I am making these upcycled re-useable grocery bags. yep, trying to be green.

First you get a shirt you aren't going to wear anymore... like this, that one on top there, and sew up the bottom, with it right side out. yes, right side out.

Next, you turn it inside out, and even out the bottom of it. You are going to sew all the way across the bottom, without catching the seam you did on the outside. This way, when you turn it back right side out, you have a finished looking seam showing, and its reinforced for your heavy groceries.

So turn it back so you're looking at the front, and line it up nice like you're going to fold it. Lay it on a flat surface. If you started with a tank top, you are probably done, but perhaps wishing it wasn't a ribbed tank top.

Go ahead and cut off the sleeves. I left the seam there for a little more stability, but do whatever you want here. its easier to go thru one layer at a time if you want to keep the seam intact. And use the scissors, a rotary cutter seems like too much work here.

Chop away at the neckline, but carefully. The neck on this T was too small for groceries really, so I gave it one slice through the center of each layer. I didn't like it for this one, but you might, so I'm showing you.

I went ahead and chopped the whole thing off, through both layers, and down to the lowest part of the front. Much better! This is a huge bag, and will hold a bunch.

Watch out for stretchy t-shirts when you do this, the stretchy ones droop towards the floor pretty good when you put heavy stuff in there, but are awesome for bulky light stuff.

New Sewing Space!!!

2009-09-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've been productive today!

I have found my new sewing space, and have actually had the chance to get back into using my machine again. So nice to finally be doing that again.

I have also re-listed all the items I have to sell in my Artfire account. Hopefully I will be able to be selling things, as the money from that will be going to pay for my crafting, as we have no money for that.

I do have pictures of my new space, but the usb card reader has walked away and I haven't been able to find it yet. So instead I give you me and my hubby in London! Proof that I actually went somewhere this summer!

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be sewing after a 2.5 month hiatus. Sewing is my stress reliever, and I need it!

i'm home!

2009-08-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hello blogland, I'm finally back. I missed you blog, posting and reading everyone's creative geniusness.

Before I left, I had to move out of the sewing room...someone lives there now, and I am auditioning smaller spaces to work in. If you have any tips on working in a smaller space, let me know.

For now I'm trying to catch up on all the blogs I've been missing.

I'ts good to be home.

so long for now... for reals this time

2009-05-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

Well its been too long hasn't it?

too bad, its gonna get longer. (tehe)

I quit my job (WOO HOO!!!!!!) and we're going to Europe. crazy.

I will definitly not be posting here until at least mid august.

Don't cry, it'll be okay, i promise....

we leave in 2 days, i have to pack for the summer and move out of my glorious sewing room, good thing i'll be distracted for a couple months.

have a good summer, and check my other blog to see where i might be.

I love you all, my wonderful bloggy friends, i cannot wait to read up on what all of you have done this summer!

Oh, what a weekend!

2009-05-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

It started before the weekend.

My sewing machine broke around noon...the needle started sewing thru the plastic bobbin case. What was merely a "was that hole already there?" turned into " no no no this is not happening!"

My lovely Brother, ate its own bobbin workings.

Not only that, it chose to do so on the day before the craft fair. When I had 12 Jeans aprons to finish. It should have taken about 3 hours.

So, I rummage thru MIL's closet, grab her trusty Kenmore, and can't get the frakkin bobbin thread to work, because who knows how to adjust the tension on the bobbin? not me. An hour of scrap sewing, and I ditch that for a drive to my mom's house, to pick up her brother machine.

It took 3 hours of my life before I finished adding a binding by machine, to the edge of a very short jeans apron. I fought the whole way, coaxing the thread, encouraging the machine, re threading about 100 times. And I finished the apron. However, what should have taken 30 minutes took me 3 hours, so, I was done. Called the craft show, and said I can't come (I had a very full shoe box worth of inventory, but not nearly enough to pull off a table, let alone a booth!).

So, I am now mopey, I have no working machines... and hubby takes me out to dinner, and we saw wolverine, it was fun, but no first craft show.

Saturday rolls around, and yes, I slept in when I should have been having a booth and selling my stuff! I start looking to see if there is a way to fix my machine, and kind of hopefully looking for a new machine, cause my hubby said to look. I started by looking at janome, cause this time around we are getting something solid, a work horse, something I can sew on for hours and hours and hours.

I must say, I am quite lost when there's no sewing machine to be had. Its what I do with my life. Not having a sewing machine meant I just had a messy room, not various projects in the works. (which is a much better way to describe the piles of crap I have all over the place).

Looked at Janome, Bernina, And Husqvarna Viking; did you know bernina and husqvarna buy their machines from Janome? mmm hmm, I originally loved the threadbanger 12, for its no frills, utility-ness, and metal frame, and the price was great at 300. I then loved a Bernina Activa, but that was too expensive, if I need to make payments or it costs more than my first car, its too much. I also loved the janome 6600, with 2 sets of letters and #'s to embroider, umm, but again, more than my first car.

I drooled, and longed, and we went to guitar center to look at a cajon; its a box, that is a drum. My hubby wants one (he is a drummer) and they are really cool. However, that brings us up to 2 things that will cost about 300, and he would bring the cajon with us on our missions trip, so I am all for the cajon. we didn't get it cause they don't have what he wants, but its cool.

So on Sunday, we get home from church and he says, I want you to have this machine, can we buy it today? umm, yea. yea we can buy it today, give me your phone so I can call the dealers and find one in stock. So, the 10 dealers closest to our house don't even carry the thing because its so basic, the only have the mucho more expensive ones. We had to drive almost an hour to find the one store that carries them and has one in stock. GAH! but we bought it, and they matched the prices I was seeing online too.

oh my gosh, if you ever make it this far in my post, kudos to you. This thing sews like butter. Like Butter! oh its sooo nice. The feet from my brother machine are usable on this one, so walking foot is still good. I can drop the feed dogs for if I ever really do get around to free motion quilting. the throat space is much bigger, but I will need to measure, they don't advertise that fact.

when we got home I got to work on a disc golf bag for my wonderful hubby who bought me a new sewing machine. He designed this bag, and it looks really great. It was canvas, and this machine did not even flinch at 12! layers of canvas!!! it sews so nicely, is quiet, doesn't shake, did some lovely nice top stitching for me, so yes, I think I am in love.

so far so good. I like my new threadbanger 12.

Help!!!! Or a Great opportunity for Crafters

2009-04-30T04:26:00.000-07:00

If anyone is in the Orange County Area of CA, would you like to share a booth at a good sized craft fair with me? It is this Saturday, May 2. I have already paid for a 9'x6' booth, but with all the crazy in my life I'm barely going to pull off a long table of stuff.

Email me, and I'll give you all the info.

Hopefully someone can take advantage of my lack of products!

Oh, its at Piecemakers in Costa Mesa, just down the street from Orange Coast College.

I'll be gone for a while....

2009-04-20T09:23:00.001-07:00

Its getting to be crunch time for me. Since we are going to europe this summer, applying for a fulltime ministry position in Kansas City, having a huge garage sale, my first craft show, and my husbands graduation in may, I am now always busy.

I may not have time to post here very much before we leave, May 28. After that i definitly will be gone until mid august, at which time there will be traveling pictures galore for you to see.

I might post updates on my other blog, but thats ify at best.

Want to know what needs to get done in the next 5 weeks while I'm still working fulltime?

Gigantic garage sale april 25, make signs, organise, sell stuff
my first craft show may 2, make way more stuff, figure out how to make my space all cute, make business cards, price things, make way more stuff,
plan husband's graduation party, probably may ?teenth a saturday. i will need to figure that out, invite people, do food(i'm cooking, so however many people come there will be way too much. Its a gift and a curse, like when once in a blue moon i make dinner for me and hubby, and we eat something not so good for a week. I grew up in a large fam, and it never looks like enough food) make sure my mil doesn't freak out about it, i'm sure theres more.
plan road trip and book hotel rooms. our missions trip training is in chicago, were from socal, were need to check out a ministry in kansas city on the way there, and leave our car with a friend in minneapolis. It'll be our one year anniversary too. good times, tons of driving. If you are in the kansas city area and want to meet up, i'll be there for 2 days. just not sure which 2 quite yet. theres sooooo much driving, and i need to nail this down so i can book the cheapest hotels i can find.
get ready to go to europe. crazy. i need to mail in my passport today. i should go do that.

Life is busy!! I know i will keep up on blogs til i leave, but I might not post again.

Look for me in august!!

new listings on artifre

2009-04-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

check out my artfire store, i just uploaded a whole bunch of these button earrings!!
DeathByDenim.Artfire.com

some one elses give away, and its my 100th post

2009-04-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

go check out coffeetimestitches, she is having a cute giveaway for her 400th post.

maybe i should have another give away for my 100th?

what would you like me to give away?

And the winner is...

2009-04-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

first i would like to thank those of you who came to visit and play along with the giveaway.

I had fun seeing the comments, and i think i should have explained what i meant by "follower". I had some comments, saying they followed me, but they did not show up in my "list of followers" widget. I have no way of telling who "subscribes" to my blog via reader or bloglines or whatever, i can only see who "follows" my blog, via google friend connect thingy. If you "follow" and your pic shows up in the widget, you got credit for following me. If you subscribe, and called yourself a follower, I am so glad you read my blog, but you did not get points for following.

ok?

some of you got lots of points. Barb, for example, had the most, so thank you thank you for joining artfire and mentioning me.

You can still join artfire for less than the normal rate, but now its $12 a month instead of $7. which is still less than the "normal" unlimited account rate of $20 per month. Click the link on my side bar to find out more.

I have lots of things to list tomorrow and Friday. I have been playing with earrings after i saw some really cool ones at a wedding and said the winner is lili11, and i could totally make those.

so, things to list and things to mail. Friday will be busy. I also want to get to work on my treadle. I have an old toothbrush for the cast iron nooks and crannies, some wd40 for cleaning properties, and some singer sewing machine oil, umm, for the oiling part. and some scrubbers, and screwdrivers for getting pieces off and back on. And my treadle belt is in the mail! I'm hopping to sew on it this weekend. So fun.

Did you the miss the winner?

It's in there, look again

I had to do something fun today.

last chance giveaway

2009-03-31T19:35:00.001-07:00

there are only a few more hours to enter into the giveaway. All of my followers are counted for 1 entry, but if you posted on your blog about the giveaway, let me know, I'm not checking followers blogs unless theres a comment.

give away here

Don't miss it!

giveaway ends soon!

2009-03-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

dont forget tomorrow is the last day to sign up for my giveaway, don't miss out.

I own a freaking treadle!

2009-03-27T17:08:00.001-07:00

woke up this morning, looked on craigs list, and found this for $60. so i ran out the house, got some cash, and went to find it, and it was still available!!!! it has a bunch of pressure foot attachments, including a ruffler foot. I love it, everything moves so smoothly, and it even had the original manual. which is good cause i have no clue how to use it. its only missing the belt to turn the needle. it has a couple extra bobbins too, and some really old spools. i love it. the date on the manual say 1912.

Found a Great Give away

2009-03-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

if you go over to sew-fantastic you will find a wonderful giveaway from Jane.

you should go.

you should also sign your self up for my give away, a new prize will added to the list tomorrow.

ArtFire Give Away

2009-03-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

So, by now you should all know that I took the plunge, and opened an Artfire store. There's not much there yet, but I'm working on it. I have also mentioned a Give Away in connection to my Artfire store. Sounds good so far right?

What you can win:

A $25 gift card to Pottery Barn
A reversible slouchy purse like this one, same colors, but not used.

I will also be adding more fun things as we go on.

To enter, do any or all of the following, each separate thing gets you another entry.

Leave a comment on this post
Be or Become a follower, if you already follow my blog, you're already entered
Check out my artfire store, and leave a comment here telling me what your favorite item (of mine) is.
Post about this Give away on your blog
Link back to this Post on your blog
Link to my artfire store on your blog. http://deathbydenim.artfire.com/

So, there are 6 entries up for grabs, but...

If you join artfire, and say I sent you, you will earn 10 Super Bonus Entries!!!

Tada!!! 16 entries!! You must be so excited by this point, you probably can't stand it. I know, its so great, I wish I could enter too.

You have 1 week, until midnight Pacific-time, on Tuesday March 31. The winner will be announced some time on Wednesday April 1.

I will be checking, and keeping track of who has which entries, but feel free to comment telling all you have done. Just don't comment anonymously, make sure I can email you to tell you that you've won.

On your mark, get set, GO!

new flimsy, project improv style

2009-03-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

pretend its not sideways, i did this on sunday, it was fun, just a bunch of 2.5 strips all random. i'm not sure if its done or if i will add to it, its a smallish baby blanket size.

next post will be a give away, so stay tuned

m.i.a.

2009-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

umm, hello, my sew craft blogroll went missing.

lame.

so sorry to all my lovely sew craft blog group 2 buddies, I will fix this asap.

i really cannot remember deleting this, or have any idea why i would.... its just gone.

so... look forward to that returning, as well as a general clean up of that side bar.

update: its fixed, and back on my sidebar looking a little nicer than before. yay!

whats new with me

2009-03-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

first, i made a dress, and wore it public, and i like the dress but not my choice of color. when you see it you'll know why. I feel like i look like a frumpy 30's 40's housewife, but not the sexy kind. Like I should be wearing sensible shoes and rationing my food card.

I also made a new purse, but did not manage to follow Lola's mystery, cause i used that fabric for this purse, since i wanted it to use the next day. again, no pics, but i used the fabric i posted in a previous post.

I officially have things listed in my artfire store, all 3 of them, and there is a give away in the works, i'm building up something fantastic for it.

stay tuned

I have a store

2009-03-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

I took the plunge, and opened an artfire store. The only problem is that I have nothing to sell right now. I opted for Artfire instead of etsy because i tried etsy, but they would not let me change my email, and i had some horrible emails from support when i tried to close/rename/new email my account, basically they said get a new email address, and open a new account. And then I heard of ArtFire, which has a promo going to sign up for the premium/unlimited account for $7 a month for life. They have a free basic account, but its limited items/pics, so I went for the unlimited. They have no listing fees, and you can list as much as you like, with up to 10 pics per item (i think 10 is the right #). It looks good, Etsy-like but more of a flat-rate Etsy.

so my artfire is deathbydenim.artfire.com

but there's nothing there yet. once there is, I will have a link on my side bar, and probably a traffic generating give away of some sort.

also, they have a limited number of $ 7 accounts left, its less that 500 out of 5,000, so check it out soon if you're interested,

say you heard from me, first 10 people will be entered into a special drawing from me. go to http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=sevenforlife&afuid=18987

purse fabric

2009-03-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

here it is, purse fabric for Lola's mystery. I'm on pins and needles waiting for my mystery purse instructions. the brown under the blue will also be for a dress I'm starting today. i hope the dress turns out ok, and looks nice on me. i will have pics of that when its finished.

Its been too long

2009-03-12T10:40:00.001-07:00

its been too long since I've posted, and much too long since I've posted something I've made. so sad.

I am so excited to announce I bought a 1/4 foot for my machine for $5. not $25 like the sewing machine store was asking. Joann's had a whole section of $5 or less pressure feet for low shank machines, and i think i will go pick up some more even tho i don't know what i would use it for. There was a ruffler thing, and a Teflon foot, and something with a roller on it. I can't pass up a deal like that. And when I opened it was metal, not plastic; i had been concerned because it was sooo light, but its metal, and i bought a back up. Needless to say, all my seams have been more 1/4 inch before this, that thing is tiny. I also have to make sure my needle is in the middle not the left, or i will break the needle. I can see this happening.

I have my fabric picked out for Lola's mystery purse along, its yummy. And I was brave and got magnetic clasp thingy to close the purse with, so hopefully i don't kill it.

My goal is to post pics tomorrow, of things made, and something i received for a swap.

I can't believe its been more than a week since I've posted.

so...

2009-03-04T18:44:00.001-08:00

so, today at work(btw, i'm still at work) my boss called an impromptu staff meeting about department restructuring(no layoffs) just new start times all around. she also managed to sneak in that my hours would be cut, but no one else's.

mmm hmmm.

i was answering phones during this meeting, so i couldn't look at her like she was talking crazy.

after a private meeting with her i found i would be working later start times(11am or noon instead of 10am), as well as fewer hours(60 instead of 80 per pay period of 2 weeks).

so anyone looking to hire a great preschool teacher/nanny/babysitter/cake-decorator/lesson-planner/amateur-quilter/amateur-photographer/phone-dispatcher in the Orange County CA area, shoot me an email, its on on my profile.

I'm looking for work, people.

a give away, from Japan

2009-03-03T15:56:00.000-08:00

don't go here, to the quilted pig.
and don't enter yourself in her giveaway of yummy japanese fabrics.
dont.
because i want to win.
so don't go.

ok?

a wonky star, and some guts

2009-02-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

so, my first wonky star for bushfire survivors. i used my 3.5 crumb squares in the middle. i quite like how this is looking so i may need to make some for me.

and because i want to show these pics:

i fixed Paige's/my mom's machine to the best of my abilities(and it purrs like a fat lazy kitten), and the inside of a sewing machine is pretty cool. i pretty much just opened it up and lubed up the part that looked like they'd stick or make noise. the only thing i wish i hadn't done was oil the shaft that moves the needle up and down, it took quite alot of sewing thru scraps to get rid of the extra oil.

there are some sewing machine guts below, this is not for the faint of heart.

look away!

its on its side like a beached whale....this is the right side if you were looking at it head on.
all the parts that make the needle go. and i figured out what the tension knob actually moves. and see that light bulb in the middle? i had no idea it ever existed, and whenever i used this machine there was no light....well, the light still works, and know we know its there
another angle on the needle side

top view, looking from behind. the yellowy white cylinder in the middle is the stitches! turn the knobby on the front, and it clicks thru the different templates. they yellow goo is the consistency of petroleum jelly(Vaseline) it doesn't smell either, its goops.

to get the top off i had to put a drop of oil on the screws holding it in...they wouldn't budge at all

we saved $99 buck by me oiling this thing up, i like it.

green quilting

2009-02-26T17:44:00.001-08:00

I've decided to try this out. i should have time...its not til April. i will be using my new Eco friendly batting, and stash fabrics (which i have been good about not adding to, BTW).

for the record, i bought the green batting because it was about 85% off on clearance. not necessarily because of its greenness. frugal is green too right? but i seriously need to stop joining things, i have too much to make for now.

i am really hoping my Flynn frame shows up tomorrow or Saturday. I am going to piece together my crumb blocks into a crib size, to play with my new frame and i want it to come. crumb blocks should be green too. it means I'm not wasting all those bits of fabric.

sewing progress, post 2 today

2009-02-26T09:21:00.001-08:00

on the top we have some crumbs that are getting pretty big by now, with more in progress. i haven't made much of a dent in the scrap/string bins either.

i did trim a bunch down to 6.5 inches wide, and made this scarf on friday. its really simple, 6.5 inch wide crumbs, sewn together to get long enough for one 6.5 inch cut from some fleece. sew right sides together, turn inside out, and topstitch.

tomorrow will be a big sewing day just for me, and on saturday Paige is coming over, and she will finish her robe, and take home her sewing machine. also on saturday, Paige will be filling out an application to go with Royal Servants on the Euroquest team(with me!). i might be more excited about this than she is.

too much batting...or not

2009-02-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

i spent $42 dollars

i came home with

4 crib size battings

4 twin size battings

and 2 queen size battings.

there was no king size or id have that too. i think im set for quite a while, don't you?

if you see me at joanns again today, i might have more batting in my cart.

because i spent my allowance(cash).....not my birthday money(bank)

maybe i can go before work

2009-02-25T17:15:00.001-08:00

Fabric and Notion requirements:
1 yard of the Main fabric
1 yard of Accent fabric (will also be the lining)
2 yards of heavy fusible interfacing
Matching Thread
1 magnetic snap
*optional* 4 D-rings for straps.
Sewing Machine
Rotary Cutter and Mat**

i actually need

2 yards of the fusible

magnetic strap if i am so brave

4 D rings

new cutting mat?

i'm going to Joanns tonight. i have $30. i want to pick up some Eco batting on clearance, and maybe a new cutting mat. mine is getting these threads that are pulling up, despite my flipping and rotating to not keep cutting in the same spot. i will not buy fabric. i will resist.

Lola, i love your alfred pic. it is awesome, i cannot wait for this purse along to start

trying something new

2009-02-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

I'm trying out AdSense. i may not like it tho, because its very spacious. anyways, click on an add, and i may get some spare change from it. I am pretty sure these ads won't stay too long, but a trial run is going to happen, possibly for a few weeks.

i am only trying this in a effort to scrimp and save as much as possible for our missions trip to Europe this summer, for more info on that, go here.

books books books

2009-02-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

Did you know the average American has only read 6 of these books?

Here's the challenge -
Bold the books you have already read
Italicize the books you intend to read
Notes in parentheses next to note-worthy titles.

1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2) The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4) Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6) The Bible
7) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8 ) Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
9) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
10) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
11) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
12) Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
13) Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
14) Complete Works of Shakespeare
15) Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
16) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
17) Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
18 ) Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger(one of my favorites)
19) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
20) Middlemarch by George Eliot
21) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
23) Bleak House by Charles Dickens
24) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
25) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
26) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
27) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 ) Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
29) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
30) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
31) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
32) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
33) Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
34) Emma by Jane Austen
35) Persuasion by Jane Austen
36) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
37) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
38 ) Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
39) Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
40) Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
41) Animal Farm by George Orwell
42) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
43) One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44) A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving
45) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
46) Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
47) Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
48 ) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
49) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
50) Atonement by Ian McEwan
51) Life of Pi by Yann Martel
52) Dune by Frank Herbert
53) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
54) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
55) A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57) A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
58 ) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
59) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
60) Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
62) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
63) The Secret History by Donna Tartt
64) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
65) Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
66) On The Road by Jack Kerouac
67) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
68 ) Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
69) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
70) Moby Dick by Herman Melville
71) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
72) Dracula by Bram Stoker
73) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
74) Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
75) Ulysses by James Joyce
76) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77) Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
78 ) Germinal by Emile Zola
79) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
80) Possession by AS Byatt
81) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
82) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
83) The Color Purple by Alice Walker
84) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
85) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
86) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
87) Charlotte's Web by EB White
88 ) The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
89) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90) The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton
91) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
92) The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
94) Watership Down by Richard Adams
95) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
96) A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
97) The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 ) Hamlet by William Shakespeare
99) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
100) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

some of my favorite books i didn't find on the list
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Night by Elie Weisel

purse sew along

2009-02-24T11:56:00.000-08:00

i joined lola again's mystery purse sew along. starts in mid march. have you seen her purses? they're super cute. i'm excited.

update: i found a flynn frame from allbrands, the same frame i would get if i bought it from John flynn's website, for $69 with free shipping, instead of 130 +15 for shipping. i'm buying it tonight when i get off work. and i will have 30!!!! bucks for fabric, or thread, or a new rotary cutting mat, or some replacement blades for my rotary cutter, or books, or the kaleidoscope ruler i want (or can i borrow yours for a little while?) or, or, or, maybe some clearance clothes shopping, or batting, i probably need some batting. Or i could be patient, and see if i get anything else for my birthday this Saturday with my fam. i don't think i will last. those joanns coupons are burning a hole in my purse, and i know they have some eco friendly batting on clearance i might want to try out... with my new frame!!!!

i want one one

2009-02-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

i know i dont have the space to make anything big, but i want one. i have resolved myself to not owning an actual long/mid/short arm and frame, anytime in the remotely near future, but i have wanted this since i decided hand quilting sucks (for me, i am mucho impatient) way back in, say, august or september 08. (i know, torture)

i thought i would want a grace frame for hand quilting, those are much less costly, but my meager attempts at hand quilting in a hoop were super lame and i wanted to cry. I do not have the patience at this time in my life. Also, i am a great starter, and a horrible finisher, so visions of quilts piled up and never actually finished were springing into my brain. And so i decided i want a long arm, used.

umm, still too much.

so yesterday, when my mother in law gave me a birthday check, she mentioned i might want to get one of the things on my christmas wish list. i believe they were a good iron>$7, a 1/4 inch quilting foot, and the john flynn quilt frame.
i got the iron for xmas, it hasn't died on me yet, so i will be putting that $100 towards the $130ish cost of the flynn frame. and PVC pipes are also fairly cheap, so the larger frame sizes will be a possibility in the future.

I have also been searching for anything flynn frame blog related while at work(and can only read blogspot blogs), since i am now again lusting over this piece of equipment which will dramatically improve the quality of my life. right?

at least until i find that long arm sitting on the curb waiting for me to get it.

My friends new blog

2009-02-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

I found this one on face book, my friends from church are starting a photography business. They have a bunch of cute pics, and I'm on their header!(i'm the one in the wedding dress!) Doug took a bunch of wonderful pics at my wedding, and some of them are on their blog. Including the best pic ever of my hat. i saw those and drooled, then had to go look at my wedding pics again. Go check them out, and if your in the Los Angeles/ orange county ca area use them for your photographers. they really do great pics.
ddphotodesign.blogspot.com

bucket list meme, or i'm bored at work

2009-02-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

Basic instructions - bold what you've done, my notes are in green
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I played flute in 6th grade. Never practiced but ended up with a B)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped oh my no. not ever. scared of heights
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch I'm claiming quilting on this one.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train twice when I was in China, so crowded but so much fun
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice I'm going there this summer, I've wanted to go forever.
29. Seen a total eclipse (sun and moon!)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied I think we're there right now.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (at Caesar's Palace)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant, I'm counting drive thru's when we paid for the car behind us
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris hopefully this summer, they have an elevator right?
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma, not for this girl who cries whenever a needle is coming towards her. God bless all of you who donate, its beyond me.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp I will this summer. The Holocaust is one of my favorite things to study and read about. I've always wanted to go see what it was really like. As horrible as it was, I want to see what people are capable of, both the horror and surviving. I always feel so blessed to live where I do with the freedoms that we have in America. When I was about 10 we went to see a holocaust survivor speak, I want to say it was Corrie ten Boom, but it probably wasn't. I'll have to check.
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar squeaky in my teeth and gross
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone never, but I did burn my arm really bad when I was 4. I couldn't have candles lit on my birthday cake til I was 12. And I told myself I was too old to be scared anymore. I still am scared though, fire scares the crap out of me, and I'm super careful when I cook
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican I might get to this summer!
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper, we heard there was a dead whale being buried at a local beach, so my mom packed us all up to go see it. i guess the dead whales that wash ashore in California are buried all up and down the coast. It smelled so bad.
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous I met one of the girls on charmed, Alisa Milano, and some basket ball guy, both on the same night, out with people from my youth group, I had no idea who they were
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby no but I want one
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day, all the time, its what I do at work when I'm not reading blogs, today its That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis, (I don't work much, just wait for the phone to ring mostly)

A finished quilt, my first one

2009-02-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

i know it doesn't look like it, but its mostly square. i sewed the binding by machine, it just wasn't going to get hand sewn by friday, when i work all week. the label is fabric from the scrap bin, and its machine sewn under the binding, but i hand sewed the other 2 sides. i like it alot, and i'm glad to be done.

i also put it in the wash to get all crinkly and make sure all my stitching stays.

My first machine

2009-02-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

this is the machine i learned to sew on, it may have been more fun if sometime in the last 25 years it had ever been delinted, or oiled, or taken in for a tune up. It is a solid machine, made of metal, and weighs 100lbs. My mom got it for their engagement or wedding, and the last thing she used it for was dresses for my sister and me when i was 3. 1 for each of us. then when i started messing around with it she would have me hem stuff for her once in a while.

Before sewing yesterday, paige and i headed over to the sewing machine repair place to check it out and see how much a tune up is. $100. which doesn't seem too bad, but we could buy a new machine for that much. its tempting. Although the sales man wanted us to buy a $200 machine from him, which was normally 500, on sale for valentines day, and oh ya, without seeing our machine he said its basically a piece of crap. can we say commissioned sales person? good thing we had no money.

I asked about used machines, (he said we didn't want those) but they had a few good one for $100. like a janome(something very basic, it didn't have very many stitches), but it looked like a good one.

i had fun looking at the long arms they had set up, I'm pretty sure i was drooling, so its a good thing we had absolutely no money.
i looked for a 1/4 inch foot, and they wanted to sell me a new machine. Although this saleslady stopped pushing when i said mine is just fine and does what i need it too. no more pushing. it was nice. and she got me on the email list when more big sales happen. i'm pretty sure this store is out of my league, unless they get in a used long arm frame, and i manage to convince them i really do want the old crappy one instead of the newer better one.

i liked it, it was fun. and then we headed over to target to look at their sewing machines. they carry brothers, which always have good reviews even on the lowest priced models, so she knows her options in the same price range as fixing the beast.

that poor machine. i think it cries every time someone attempts to use it. it sounds like it is. basically we decided to leave the machine with me, and will take the case off, and delint and lube where i can, hopefully it improves it, and allows Paige to sew at her house. Cause its basically hers now.

Also, my mom couldn't understand why i would want a new one when i could just have hers. umm, because my husband(then boyfriend) was going to let me pick out the machine of my dreams(within reason) for christmas one year. my own machine and i got to pick and brand new with no problems yet? yep, i got the new one.

Sewing with Paige

2009-02-15T09:03:00.001-08:00

First of all, the girl could not have picked an easier pattern. I am not so good with making the patterns work right(i don't follow directions well or i just cant figure out what its trying to tell me) and Paige picked out a robe pattern(simplicity 3575) that was soooo easy. i was worried about the sleeves but the way they told you to make it was so easy. its a good pattern for those afraid of patterns, or beginners. she's not finished tho, so we will sew some more in a week or two.

success...pictures

2009-02-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

a whole bunch of 3.5 crumbs, and a 12.5 block for project improv. i had fun.
i also successfully went to the bank, without going to the fabric store. i did call to see if they had a kaleidoscope ruler, but no luck, so no trip. if anyone want to loan me their kaleidoscope ruler, that'd be cool. i'll probly buy it on ebay eventually

early am beach pics

2009-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

woke up at 6 and rode my bike to the beach,
these are the beach bootcamp crazy people, who ran 3 mile from the pier to the santa ana river, to lay in the sand and do push ups in the early early morning.

i want to put more, but they wont all fit, so here is a link to my picasa pics for more beachy fun.

Friday's Goals

2009-02-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well, i'm about 2 hours from the start of my weekend, and i want to do so much sewing tomorrow. I considered using tomorrow to re arrange the sewing room, but decided i don't care.
Tomorrow is my "big" sewing day for the weekend, if i'm not stuck at the mechanics.

heres the plan:
7:30 wake up, get up, call towing company to take our truck in to get the starter fixed. Figure out if i need to go with the truck to the mechanic, or follow in my FIL's car, or just not go. hopefully follow or not go. While waiting for this to happen i will hopefully play with some crumb blocks or put the walking foot back on to finish the baby quilt. I also want to make some more blocks for the project improv donation quilt, and some wonky stars for the australian bushfires.

I will not at any time allow myself to go to the fabric store. (pray for me)

After the car thing happens, if i am stuck i will walk to my grandmas for the day, or if not i will drive home(nowhere near the fabric store....i hope) after i get reimbursed from my car insurance for the towing. (for 3 bucks a month you get reimbursed for towing with statefarm, just show your agent the receipt, they cut you a check right there. well worth it, costs less that AAA per year, and pays for itself the first time you get towed, about $100) this is the second time in 6 months that we have needed this, and i am so thankful we have it.

sometime in the evening(think 4 0r 5 ish) its a girls night out with Gma, mom, and 2 sisters. we will see some kind of movie, and possibly have dinner, all because my grandad is in Niger, working with the missionaries our church supports, and helping the Manga people. so she will be lonely. and i get a free movie/dinner, and some fun time out with my fam.

Saturday am i am having coffee with a friend, then Paige(16 sister who can drive now, which officially makes me old, but not old enough to teach her to drive or i'd be really old, like my husband, who's 27:) is coming over to make a robe with some flannel she picked out a few weeks ago. and man, plaid flannel is coming back something fierce. i don't get it. all these skinny socal teens in their frumpy lumberjack shirts being all fashionable. its a sickness. She'd make herself a plaid shirt if either of us had the confidence to pull if off, but we think we can't kill the robe too bad, even if one arms too long, or the collar goes down further on one side, its a robe, it'll still work.

She is also(maybe) considering getting her own sewing machine, instead of spending the money to overhaul our moms. we figure fixing the one will cost as much as buying a new basic one, so we might go to walmart or target to see what they have. or the sewing machine place to see how much they'll charge. i'm a bit concerned, the thing is over 20 years old, has never seen any oil or a lint brush, and sounds like a train when you use it. its what i learned to sew on, and its finicky, tension never goes right, bobbin never goes right, it just gets stuck, it needs the sewing machine dr for some tlc. we need to see which costs more.

Also, avoid the fabric store. i'm not allowed to go. its a sickness(but a fun sickness)

if i don't get pictures posted tomorrow please yell at me. i have crumb blocks to post, as well as a project improv block finished. and probably some pics with my sis.

seriously, remind me to post the pics.

help for the australian bushfires

2009-02-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

You have probably heard of the Australian Bushfires that have devastated Australia these past few days. (you should have, because even i, the non-tv-watcher non-news-reader has heard about this thru blogland) Even if you don't have money to send, you can send quilt blocks. Click the link for more info, but basically this lady had the idea to make 3 quilts, and now has enough volunteers making blocks to make 100's. its crazy, but a great way to help out.
because if your home was destroyed, along with the rest of all your neighbors homes, work places, and schools, you'd need a quilt too.

p.s. when you go to her page, check out the flikr account for this, she has FAQ's with a USA and Australian mailing address, as well as sizing, links to tutorials, and bloggy love for the people generous enough to donate backing, batting and quilting.

Stash Q&A

2009-02-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

Sew Mama Sew is asking about stash habits, (or in my case addiction) and I thought I'd play along.
What do you usually sew? quilt blocks, crumb blocks, aprons, purses
When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? usually 1 yard cuts, sometimes 2 if i love it, or 1/2 yards if i want it but don't have enough money for everything
Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need? umm, always impulse... i started buying more boyish/manly colors and pieces when i saw i had less of those
Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it? i prewash, all of it. which is why i started buying less and less at a time. 20 yards to wash and iron in a day is too much for me (once i washed 42 yards, and it took me 3 weeks to make myself finish the ironing)
Do you iron it? yep, always
How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.) by color. if i have alot of one color family it breaks down into prints/solidish fabrics or lights and darks
Do you have any special folding techniques? i fold in half selvage to selvage, and then the fold to the selvage again. then i take my 6.5 by 24 inch ruler, and fold it like a bolt of fabric, so i can unroll and start cutting strips
How do you store your fabric? the folded fabric is on a book shelf, its open, and the 2 bolts are under the dresser i cut fabric and iron on. fq's are in a drawer, along with less than 1/2 yard cuts to be cut into strips for the scrap bins. I have precut scraps and strips in a 3 drawer thing under my sewing table
What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash? find a store that has a flat fold section for cheap, and spend every last penny of cash you have when you go in 2 or 3 times a week. don't worry when people ask your making, and you have to say, oh its just for my stash, i don't know yet... what are you making thats really cute(quick, run!)
When do you say enough is enough? never? i almost slowed down when i counted up my fabric, and had no money, but i broke down and used my food cash to find a way to get something. don't worry, it wasn't the grocery money, just the fast food cash for when i'm at work,
What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects? umm, i'm fairly new, and the only things ive finished are an apron, a couple purses, a skirt and pieced some small quilt tops. i'm not sure i actually stash bust so much as stash. its so bad
Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? ooh, i have some really cute pink on blacks, and a purple with clocks on it. and i love this orange one with green hearts all over. i went back and bought 2 more yards of that cause i liked it so much
What’s your definition of the perfect stash? (Consider sharing a picture or two of your stash & storage, or direct us to a pic on Flickr!) i would like some more teals, i don't have alot of those, and a good selection of solid colors, but what i have now is pretty wonderful. and the fact that i want those things does not stop me from buying new fabric in any other colorway. and if you need pics of my stash, the new stuff is on the header, and a january post shows the shelving, as wells as my messy sewing room.

New blog

2009-02-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

I've been setting up a new blog lately, to keep everyone informed about our trip to Europe, and our support raising progress. hence the sad long delay between posts here. go check it out, let me know what you think. It is a religious blog, I'm a Christian, and that's what that blog is all about, so if anyone is going to be offended, just don't go. you've been warned.

timandcodi.blogspot.com

baby quilt

2009-02-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

here is the back of the baby quilt, and you can see some of the quilting. I pieced the back, so my husband asked me if it was supposed to be reversible. umm, not really, but i guess it could be. I know i didn't use the yellow Popsicle fabric on the front, but its so cute, i had to include it. and i used up the rest of the blue mermaid fabric, you can't tell what it is on the front.

for the quilting i am using my walking foot with stitch 22, its the wiggly one that Ive been seeing people using on other blogs. I'm quilting it close together, so i just use the previous stitch at the side of the walking foot as my guide line. I have about 6 inches left to go, but not pics of that much finished. i am thinking about binding it in the green dots or the orange scissors fabric, and having it finished by the 20th, so i can give it to the mom and dad together, since its alot for the dad. if the binding goes as planned, it should work. ive never bound a quilt before, this will be the first one I've finished. I've been looking through a bunch of binding tutorials, and will probably use the one from crazymomquilts. its pretty straight forward with a ton of pics.

I don't think i've posted a stash update since the start of this. i busted 2 yards for the top(which was already accounted for), and about 1 for the back, and included in those numbers are the strips and scraps that went in to the drawers for those things. I've also remembered i had 2 bolts hiding under the dresser, muslin and a black, so we will add about 15 yards for those. I also bought 8 yards, so much for not buying any fabric, i lasted about a week. its cute tho, I'll take pics tonight. I also mailed off about 4 yards of Christmas fabric and other fun bits for luv2knits daughter, who also has a blog now. also i haven't taken away 1 yard for the green on the wedding quilt.

totals:
in and forgotten about: 23 yards
out/used: 6 yards
total in for this year: 23.75 yards
total out: 8 yards
so i have 236.25 yards. that's too much. no more shopping.
and i spent about $17

hypotheticaly speaking...

2009-02-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

if i had money id buy myself a decent chair for work. 4 ten hour sessions of my booty pasted to a bad chair equals hobbling home on day 2 this week. oh my aching back...

who am i kidding, if i had money id buy more fabric or just not work. i don't know which would be better tho. if i had more time i could sew, but the working when i don't have to means more money for more fabric.

which would you take, the time or the moola?

project improv

2009-02-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

you may have noticed the lovely new pic/link on my sidebar. i have joined project improv, in an effort to embrace uneven, wonky, mismatched seams, and that more-or-less-than a 1/4 inch seam.

i did take pics of my first wonky crumb blocks. so soothing, you just sit and piece, iron when you feel like it, piece some more, no worries about color, no matter if one side of the seam allowance is bigger than another, just the peaceful rhythm of piecing.

i will not be making 3.5 inch crumb blocks anymore however. its just to small for me. if its bigger, it comes together faster. i think 6.5 is my minimum.

i also secretly bought a new ruler to celebrate. a 12.5 inch omnigrip. i went for the buck more to see how it compares, altho i have never had problems with my omnigrid slipping, or with the cheaper ez rule? from walmart. i like the omni brand better because it has colored lines. i only paid $7 for it, after a 40% coupon and a return on thread. i haven't used it yet, its in a drawer. i swear one of these days my husband will catch on that i am a very sneaky person, or just read my blog to see what i do with my life. anyhooo.

i will soon be making a pink/orange block for project improv, altho probably not tonight, as there is a new jon and kate plus 8 on when i get home. and probably not tomorrow, since i work all day.

did i post enough today? this is round 3

i've gotten an award!

2009-02-02T15:34:00.001-08:00

woo hoo. i'm a kreativ blogger. thanks lory
boost to my ego, check.
bloggy bling for my sidebar, check.
and the award now goes to:
miss anne
kbell
and more to come, but my linky is being lame. so i guess, consider your self tagged
link back to me, post the award on your blog, and nominate 7 other bloggers.
don't worry, i'll get to 7 oficially when blogger stops being annoying

wedding quilt progress

2009-01-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

this was from last weekend, i'm posting now cause i can't work today, i have walking pneumonia. woo. any ways, i added the green last time, and trimmed what i could join together to 15 inches high. i'm not paying attention to the green in the middle lining up. it drives my husband crazy. he likes clean lines and very planned/organised stuff. i could not be more different, i love crazy/wonky stuff, and i'm always a mess. even his messes are organised, in neat piles whereas mine would be a big blob, just look at the pics of the sewing room. this quilt got alot bigger than i thought it would be

baby quilt

2009-01-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

heres the baby quilt, jason and kristin, if your ever come across my blog, pretend you didn't see this. i tried out the mitered corners on this thing, they were a pain for a first try, but i really like how it turned out. i went thru my fq's, and found the shoe fabric, which i was excited for since its girlie but not baby, so i went with it, and i also pulled the teal. you can't tell, but its a mermaid fabric from robert kaufman. i plan on using some for the backing.

i like how this turned out, it looks like a crossword from far away. i think they'll like it. i plan on quilting it in yellow, with a wiggly zigzag. i will probably make the backing tonight or tomorrow.

these are 6.5 inch blocks, imagine a 9 patch with a brick on one side and you've got the block.

what i learned: square up my blocks before i put them together. i think its why so few seams match up. cause i tried to match seams it just wasn't happening.

ps. stash busting
i used 2 yards for the top, but i got 3 fat quarters from freecycle, which brings my total to 219.25 yards, and no money spent. i recommend freecycle. google it.

please vote,

2009-01-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

this is the third post today, and your help is needed
this is going to be a baby quilt. i will pull in some scrappy bits here and there, but what do you think? its for a baby girl of my friends, who are not at all traditional. The main fabric will be the nerds rock yellow, as the daddy is very proud of being a nerd. i need opinions, one side the other, some from each, use them all? leave your comments. even if you would never use these fabric choices.
and the one that looks like black with ugly/weird colorful bats on it is brown with colorful butterflies. none of my picture came out well for that one

sewing update

2009-01-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

ok, i spent 4 and a half hours ironing.
yep.
went like this, run downstairs with fabric to throw in the washer, count as it goes in, 17 yards. btw, thats when i realised i was crazy. debate as to whether white on whites should go in with a few reds, but i threw them in anyway, and they were fine. back upstairs to iron. count the fabrics on the chair.... 21 yards.
see that, thats 38 yards of fabric to iron, so i can use the chair to sew. and i have to iron it because otherwise i cant use it if i want to.
i started this at like 8:30
i cleared the boxes off the chair after 1pm. i'm hoping its one, if it was 2 i should be shot for allowing myself to be tortured for the sake of a beautiful stash.
i notice holes in the stash now, i'm low on turquoise. yep. and i could use some more black on whites.
i'm fully aware that i'm crazy.
I only started sewing and stashing in july/august 08.
i now own 220.5 yards of yummy cottons, plus scraps and strings in a 3 drawer bin(medium) plus a bucket of 5.5 inch squares.

thank you jenny's fabrics, for your wonderful flatfold section. you have allowed me to buy way to much fabric because $20 brings home at least 12 or 13 yards. thank you ladies of Jenny's, for cutting generously when i get flat folds. i know its because you want to get rid of them, but i like it. thats an extra 4 to 6 inches that magically appears in the stash. times however many yards i buy, its wonderful.

Friday sewing day... all day long!

2009-01-23T08:12:00.001-08:00

Well I've the first part, getting up on time(thank you annoying cough) so here are my goals for today.

wash new fabric and iron
iron fabric sitting on the chair
put my sewing machine back in the room
fix dh's jeans
make a mini quilt for a swap i joined
make the apron for Ly that she won
mail as many things finished as possible

i'm hoping i sew til i can't stand it anymore

State of my sewing room, (its a work in progress....)

2009-01-21T21:10:00.000-08:00

believe it or not, this is much better than it was before. yes i am a slob, its why i have a room to be slob in, but now you could easily sit on the couch to visit while i sew. if i move my backpack and work shirt. on the back of the couch you can see the quilt i'm working on, and fabrics piled up on left of the pic are from friday when i washed fabric. those are patiently waiting for me to iron them.
umm, this is my "sewing" table. you may notice there is no sewing machine. its sitting on the floor in the spare bedroom from weeks ago when my sisters came over to sew. i haven't done anything since then, and i am itching to make something. if you have a good imagination or work well with clutter you may be able to see that this is where the "organising" is happening. one of the drawers that should be underneath is sitting on top so i can easily throw strips and strings in there, and a stack of newly ironed and folded fabric is waiting to be sorted into its real home on the shelves. and lets be honest, theres also alot of crap that doesn't need to be there. but its a great i spy pic.
this is the chair. you can tell its a chair right? no? oh well. note the trash bag hiding my snack stash, but its almost empty. that cardboard box has those jeans i need to fix, and again you have a lovely view of my washed but not ironed fabrics. topping it all off is another drawer waiting for 2.5 inch strips. these only have their own drawer cause i cut so many for that quilt. I have been kind of using bonnie's scrap saver system, cause i want to have scraps to use. i am only cutting down things that are less than a fat quarter, into bits, 2.5 inch strips/bricks, and strips and strings. wonky crumb blocks will happening this weekend. when the chair is usable and the sewing machine comes back from vay cay.
thats what i cleaned of the couch. it went far.
and last but not least (especially since its the only pic where i come off looking like an organised person) look how pretty it is. it makes me feel happy, all the piles are their own color, its like a breath of fresh air. by now we all need it. go look at the next post, scroll down, its much nicer than this one.

squishie!!!!

2009-01-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

Came home from work and look what i found! a wonderful present from the lovely Sonja(no blog?) in the netherlands, two red fabrics, one an african print, and one a football print. plus some lovely dutch fabric, which i need to use for something special. its so pretty. and the cute little clog on a keychain. so happy... i love swaps. this was for the imagingermonkey fatquarter swap. stay tuned for pics of what i will send her.

quilters shorthand

2009-01-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

i found these today, on this blog, this seriously made laugh, and wonder where on earth some of these came from.
umm, seriously, SEX, is apparently something i do whenever i have the money for it. hehe. read on, and get your mind out of the gutter

BOM Block Of the Month
DSM Domestic Sewing Machine as in home sewing machine, not longarm
EQ Electric Quilt, marvelous software (also seen as EQ5 or EQ6)
FART Fabric Acquisition Road Trip
FLIMSY Finished top, not quilted
LA LongArmer, professional machine quilter
LQS Local Quilt Shop
PIG Project In a Grocery Sack
SABLE Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy
SEX Stash Enhancing eXperience
STASH Special Treasure, All Secretly Hidden
TGIF Thank Goodness It’s Finished
UFO UnFinished Object
WHIMM Work Hidden In My Mind
WIP Work In Progress
WOMBAT Waste Of Material, Batting, And Time
HST Half-Square Triangle
QST Quarter Square Triangle
DWR Double Wedding Ring (quilt pattern)
GFG--Grandmother's Flower Garden
MAM Mile-A-Minute, modern version of crazy quilt block
SBS--Sunbonnet Sue

i have pictures to show you all soon, progress on the wedding quilt and my newly organised stash, i just cant post pics at work, and im always at work. but i will have pics by friday at the latest, blogs are always better with pictures

Lately I've...

2009-01-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

been reading a lot, The constant princess, the Boleyn inheritance, the hiding place, and I've decided to share what i read, cause id like to have a record for myself.
bought some new fabric. but that should be it for a while. its washed but not all ironed.
organised my stash, refolding and reorganising, also taking inventory of how many yards i have, I'm not finished counting, but its getting close to 150 yards, so i need to stop. i spend all my food money on fabric and make something to eat at home. which is fine, but i have plenty of fabric for now.
realised i need to fix my husbands clothes before he decides to buy more, 3 of his 4 pairs of jeans are waiting to be fixed, it'd take 10 mins to do all of them. but its just not fun. (not when i have fabric to play with)
started breaking down scraps into scraps, strings, and 2.5 inch strips and 3 inch strips. not as crazy nicely organised as bonnie from quiltville, but what i can do with the space i have. basically anything smaller than a fat quarter gets cut into use able pieces, and organised in a drawer with its friends, and when i want to scrap something i pull from the appropriate drawer. it seemed like it would work and so far it is. much better than having a pile of too.big.to.scrap.too.small.to.use.and.what.do.i.do.with.it fabric.
cleaned off the couch in my sewing room. yep, there was a couch in there, you just couldn't see it for all the junk. good thing i did this cause now my chair has all my un-ironed fabric on it, so i can sit on the couch
found the perfect fabric for the apron for the winner of the giveaway, possible sneak peak coming soon

Winner!!!

2009-01-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

and the winner of my whirl into winter giveaway(and 50th post give away cause those were the same thing) is Ly + Alan.
Congratulations!
email me and let me know what your address is, and i will have some questions for you about colors and stuff.

something fun

2009-01-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

While following a rabbit trail through blog land, came across this lovely blog.
Blogspot Templates. they have tons of cute and different templates for your blogspot blog. i will probably play around with that when i get home from work. from what i can tell, this might be free, but i don't have access to photobucket at work so i haven't actually tried. but its cute and worth checking. i'll let you all know how it goes later tonight, or maybe you'll just see my fantastic new blog.

I'm participating-Whirl into Winter give away

2009-01-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

winner is here

You've seen my previous post, Debi is hosting a major give away, and has let me join in the fun, although i'm a bit late. I will be giving away a reversible half apron, kinda similar to the one in the picture, but i haven't made it yet, so the winner will get to choose their colors. i will also be giving away a stack of wintery fat quaters, a couple quilting magazines, and some other secret stuff as we go along.

the rules:
you do not need to have a blog to enter, but i must have your email address in the comment or i can't contact you and you won't be eligible to win.
You can get 1 entry for commenting, 2 entries for posting a link to my blog on your blog, 3 entries for being or becoming a follower of my blog, for a total of six entries. Be sure to let me know if you link to my blog, so i can go check and make sure you get all your entries.
I will announce the winner on Jan16, you have until 11:59 pm on jan 15 to enter. Only comments left on this post will count towards this giveaway.

Good luck,

edit: please don't follow anonymously, if i can't tell who you are you won't get the extra entry, and anyone who is a current follower is already entered just by being a follower.

Whirl into winter give away

2009-01-01T14:44:00.001-08:00

Have you heard of this give away yet? It's going on from now until january 15, on about 60 blogs. its being hosted by Debi at Whirlintowinter, where the links to all of the blogs are.
i have entered a few already, and will update this posts with more links when i can earn more entries.
go check out keepsakemoments and zananinis, and all the rest of these fun give aways
also craftyjanie,
alittleofthisandalittleofpat
hillscreekquilter

Sister Sewing Day

2008-12-29T16:04:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun yesterday, we picked out fabric, thay practiced on extra squares from my skirt while everything was being washed, and there were lots "this is so fun," "i think i have a new hobby" and they did really good. It was there first time at a sewing machine for both of them, poor paige had to use the old brother of my moms that i learned to sew on (cause she lives with it and can use it when she gets home too). oh that brought back the memories. that thing is a pain to use, the tensions rarely right, and the top thread like to break no matter what thread you use or tension level, and it screeches the whoole time. it really just needs a nice little trip to the sewing machine doctor, for its first check up in 25 years of use with no oiling or maintenance whatsoever. poor paige. Blythe was using my machine, cause she doesn't have one anyways so she can use my nice one.

Paige made a cute plaid flannel big bag purse, and blythe made the head of her little big planet sackboy, then had to take off. Blythe also had her first ultrasound today at the hospital i work at, and i got to go with her and see her little 1/2 inch bean with a heartbeat, 7 weeks old. So she has lots of time to finish this doll before the baby is here.

I was really lame and took zero pictures, so i will try to get some, either by email or next week when we meet to sew again!!! yay hanging out with my sisters.

In other news, my husband and I are going to Europe this summer with a group called Royal Servants International to be small group leaders for the euroquest team and get a chance to talk with churches and missionaries in Europe and the UK. we will be gone for 10 or 11 weeks, and I'm super excited because I've gone with this group in highschool to china and scotland, so this feels alot like going home for me, and my husband is coming too, yay. We are hoping to see what God has for us, since we know tim is going to end up working for the church, and we really feel like we need to move away from SoCal. All in all, this seems like a step in the right direction.

I am also working on inventory for an etsy store, and i will hopefully have a few things listed in a week or 2, along with links to my store.

happy monday

all the christmas presents i gave away

2008-12-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

ignore the random out of order-ness. these are the cookie mix we made for everyone, the purses for my sisters and me, and the apron for my mother in law. those are not good pics of the apron but i forgot to have her pose, so thats what i have. and she was soooo excited about it.

My sisters also like the purses so much they want to learn how to sew too. super cool. paige(16 and driving) wants to copy a reversible purse blythe(21 and preggers) has. blythe wants to make sackboy from little big planet. so tomorrow we are off to my favorite fabric store, then back home for a sewing party. if anyone knows how to make a sackboy already(that isn't knitted) let me know so i can check it out and be ready for tomorrow. she want to use sock-monkey fabric, and how convenient that my fabric store sells it. i think its moda, or micheal miller that has the sock monkey line, either way i'll know for sure tomorrow.

i'm super excited about this sewing day with my sisters, my family has never cared about my crafty side til now, when i have the space to make a mess and actually finish a project, instead of never starting anything cause mom makes me clean my stuff off the dining room table. cause who wants to start a project, finally figure what your trying to do, then clean up? not me, i do better in a messy messy room. i'm pretty sure blythe is starting to think of me as her own personal baby gear sweatshop, but it'll be fun.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

Well, tonight was part 1 of 3 Christmas family gatherings, this time with the dysfunctional side of my family. 3 long hours of people who mostly don't like to be together. Well, everyone has at least 2 people from the group they don't want to spend Christmas with, so we dance around playing nice or avoiding each other. Gramma and step Gramma always create the most drama, and there are weeks of detoxing and bitter comments to wade thru afterwards. I try to avoid it as much as possible, not laughing at the mean jokes or things said under the breath.

But the worst is over, and tomorrow we are going to my great grandma's, for the best chili ever, then to my husbands parents for a big Christmas dinner. With good, normal, no drama people.

much love and happy christmas, and pictures tomorrow

blogging is addictive

2008-12-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hi my name is codi, and i am a blogger. it started during the summer, when i set up my sewing room, and started looking for quilting stuff online at work, where i only get google related pages. so most of what i was looking at was blogger pages. which obviously led to me needing to make my own blogger account. while i was at work. I posted about twice, and didn't check it for a month, and got sad cause i had no posts, with so many 100, 300, 500 post give aways happening. so i needed to blog more, especially easy when you are just entering giveaways and posting links, or joining a pay it forward (btw, i still have one more spot on mine, if you can find it).

And so i blogged, which made me want to sew, which led me back to blogging. Most of my posting happens at work, i either upload pics and save it as a draft for later, or just write, like now. And then i joined sewcraftblog, and began to notice people were actually coming to my site, and commenting, and i wasn't blogging in the dark anymore. WOO HOO!!!! and the traffic from having my own fantastic giveaway, plus having it listed on agiveawayaday and sewmamasew was amazing. and addicting. i now want my post to be at the top of my sewcraft blog roll, and i want to have posts with amazing pics (which i am working on, getting to be good with my camera and editing pics). and i love seeing my name on someone's blog, whether you link back to me or i'm on a blog roll. such a confidence booster and ego trip.

sorry guys, but i do love that people that i have never met in person are interested in what i'm saying and making. cause my fam doesn't know about this blog. except for my husband, who thinks i'm funny anyways.

And so we come to the point, if this can be considered the point of it all, what with having nothing to do with the title of this post, that i feel like doing a giveaway for every 50 posts i have on my blog. because i feel like it. and giveaways are fun. That being said, I will announce the prize (be it small or large) before post 50, and post 50(or 51 if i forget:) i will announce the winner.

because i like to blog, and you like to win stuff.

3 days till Christmas?!

2008-12-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

It snuck up on me this year, not gonna lie.
Everything was slowly going forward after thanksgiving, i bought all the stuff to make presents for all the fam, we put them all together last week, and i've gradually pulling out fabric for aprons and purses for 5 or 6 ladies who are receiving more than the cookies in a jar stuff.
So far, all the jars are filled but not decorated, and i have one apron finished. another one needs to be done tomorrow night, to be used for cooking on christmas eve and christmas, and i'd like to finish the purse for my mom, and the stocking, ipod cover, and computer case for my hubby. I also want to make something for my little sister, probably a purse. And i should make an ipod cover for my brother in law, since he's not to jazzed about cookie mix this year. oh, and get my hubby to decorate cookie jars, while i'm away at work tomorrow.
Did i mention i work 10 hour days at the hospital, and cook dinner when i get home? we'll have to eat out tonight for sure, so i can make lots of stuff. then work tomorrow.
At least i am off on wednesday, so i have until 4 ish to finish.
theres no time anymore.
2 more hours till i'm off work, lets hope i get everything done in time

OMG......

2008-12-21T21:12:00.000-08:00

i can't believe how many people come over to my site. seriously.

i thought like 5 people looked at this, and, wow.

i've had like 140 hits today now that i finally have a counter. that's so cool.

thanks a bunch for looking at my blog, to all of you who are coming over. leave a comment or follow me, i promise i'll go see your blogs too.

wow. and thanks for making my day, all of you out there in cyberland

a reversible apron for the new mama to be in my life

2008-12-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

whipped this up today, first attempt at free handing (by measuring and using rulers of course), the only down side is once i had it on my side fat was showing too much, so the next one will be couple inches wider, and not so pointy on the bottom. maybe tomorrow. i plan on making these for my sisters and mom, and mil. the coolest part tho is that this apron fits into a quart jar, so everyone still gets a gift in a jar this year. so fun.

How did i do that?

2008-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

for anyone who wants to know how to make a patchwork circle skirt, head over to Just Tutes, thats where i got my info. She has a great tutorial for a dress with a patchwork skirt, and explains the math behind how it works out. She also has tons of other fun clothing tutorials for kids, its definitely worth looking if you want to make this or something fun for a little girl.

I also reccomend Craftster, do a search there, some other ladies have made some really cool circle skirts, i think one got her idea from justtutes as well. Seeing that another adult had tried this and survived, and that it looks really cool when finished, made it a whole lot easier to start, but a childs size should be alot faster that mine.

finally finished

2008-12-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

i'm in love.

just a little update

2008-12-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

umm, yeah, so if you read the previous post, you saw that i guesstimated 2 or 3 hours for pinning.

it was more like 6.

and that was just the pinning, it was really closer to 8, but i subtracted the time for dinner, and a little helping my hubby with his homework.

i wanted to die.

its still not a real skirt yet.

i now know how it could take someone 5 months to make this. its really weird and time consuming. its a very straightforward project, but tons of work.

back to work

why yes i do speak a little sewing machine

2008-12-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

here's my baby, a brother cs 6000i. My hubby got it for me about 2 years ago for xmas, before we were poor. and yes i had go look and see what it was to tell you. Today i have learned quite a bit more of her language. for instance, if i hear every stitch loudly going into the fabric instead of its normal going fast humming, it means this is going to happen.
that's the bobbin thread. and i left it in and kept on sewing because this is the gathering zigzag, and I'll still be picking it out later, all 55 feet of it. it happens because my top thread jumps off the first spot that holds it when i sew too fast. she doesn't like to go too fast when i'm doing a zigzag. straight stitch is just fine. Anyways, i started noticing the thread jump and fixed it before it made noises, so the rest were more like this if i got too fast. not so bad there, huh.
my darling machine also wants me to delint the bobbin area very thoroughly after each bobbin change, which involves taking off like 3 or 4 pieces to do it right, or she'll start screaming because theres too much lint. she still sews just fine, but yells at me until i clean out the lint. and i seriously thought my machine was dieing the first time this happened. which once also led to me dropping the lint brush down into the machine, being unable to get it out with tweezers, and having to undo a couple little plates on the bottom, which seem to be there so you don't take off the case when you are stupid enough to drop something in. i did have to jiggle it to get it to a place i could catch it from, but i was gentle, i do not have the money to take this girl to the doctors.

This is part of the skirt btw, i have used 4 spools of thread so far, as well as 8 full bobbins, and 4 or 5 partial bobbins i finished off when i was piecing it together. My machine also prefers to have the same exact thread on top and bottom, altho sometimes i get away with different ones if i play with the tension for a while.

i have also learned to always check the tension when i change threads, since i don't want to pick it out of the skirt, i pull out some scraps to make sure all is well.

i am off to gather the last row and pin it to the others, it should take 2 or 3 hours, and i bought a new box of pins since i ran out last row, so i will take a pic so you can see how much pinning is involved. its alot since i was pretty sure i would never need more basic sewing pins. I want to get some of the flowerhead ones, since they're longer and flatter, but i thought i had enough normal ones.

off to pin stuff for a few hours

another giveaway

2008-12-07T01:16:00.001-08:00

check out this giveaway, she i giving away a huge stocking full of fun stuff in time for Christmas. http://mommamcblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/stocking-stuffers-giveaway.html

the skirt

2008-12-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

so here are the stacks of squares i started with, then a couple of the strips put together.

these blues and greens will be the last row. i plan to cut one strip from each, and get however many patches i can. if this isn't enough i will pull in some purples.
and this is the skirt as of now, laid out on a cal king bed, and covering the whole thing. the top row will be gathered into the waistband and lining, i'm not as fat as that hole on the middle :)

its not as heavy as you would think, just bulky

frakkin huge skirt

2008-12-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

this skirt, when folded, takes up my entire backpak. and its heavy. and bulky. it was a joy to push row 5 thru the sewing machine to attach it to the first 4, and i haven't even cut out the squares for row 6.

there will be 120 6in squares for row 6.

thats 55 feet when its all put together.

55 feet of skirt needing to be hemmed.

which has led me to think of cutting row 6 as 6x7in pieces, so when i hem it i don't lose the length. because its pretty close to the floor, and i want to be pretty close to the floor. if i add the inch, and i fold it back up into the hem, i won't lose length?

comments are appreciated, let me know what you think i should do about the hem. pictures tomorrow. i should have taken some sooner, its quite a process.

bonus points if you know the reference for frakkin

Craft addict christmas!!!

2008-12-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

go to confessionsofacraftaddict.com

she is having an amazing amazing giveaway of crafty things.

you want them, because i know i do.

go now!!!!

DeathByDenim

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squishie!!!!