Already Bungled Up the Next Project

This may not look like much, but I probably spent a few hours just on this little bit.

And then last night I realized that I messed up.  Big time.  Let's see how!

Notice below the lovely horizontal format of what the finished piece will look like.

Now compare that to mine!

Yup, I'm a genius.  I think it took an hour to take all the stitches back out.  Now I'm a little worried about running out of thread.  That's the worst thing about kits, the "specially dyed" colors that you can't just buy more of if you run out.  You have to call the company.  It's nice that they send you more free of charge, but it's still a hassle.

The Finish

And here's the picture I owe.  Pretty, huh?  I'm very happy with it.

Finished!

It's finished!

And I somehow forgot to take a picture of the entire finished piece.  I'll post it soon!

Almost Done

Progress on my cross-stitch.  Just need to do the top bar of the border, and it'll be done!

Progress

I've made some progress on the cross-stitch I've been working on.  Just need to do the black outlines, and then do the top of the border.

The Rules of Quilting

Um...yeah...I had really good intentions of posting something new sooner. I also had good intentions to work on a new project worthy of posting. I kinda sorta totally failed at both.

I've made some progress on my cross-stitch (though not really enough to make an interesting photo), and every day I walk by my quilt scraps and think, "oh yeah! I should finish that soon!"

I admit, the quilt should have been done by now. My goal was to buy a quilting foot for my sewing machine over spring break (which was two weeks ago) so I could finish it (no, I didn't buy the foot. Which sounds funny when said aloud). Seriously, what's the hold up? The blocks are sewn into rows already! All I have to do is sew the rows together! And yet, in three months, I have not done this!? WHY?!?!?!

To give myself a little credit, the rows are terribly not-at-all-straight, so sewing them together will probably be very difficult. And all the blocks have little diamond and triangle points which are all supposed to line up together, so the rows being crooked is a bit of a problem. Which begs the question: why didn't I measure more carefully to start with? For all who are thinking about quilting, here is an important rule that every quilter will tell you: MEASURE VERY VERY VERY VERY CAREFULLY!!!!!

This is the #1 rule of quilting. Well, it's probably the #1 rule. A good quilt is built on precision. Careful measuring, cutting, piecing, so on and so forth. Really, if something is a little off in the early stages and you're doing a tricky pattern, it's probably better to undo it/re-cut the piece/start that bit over/start everything over/if you just can't get it after 20 tries you may want to consider choosing a different pattern.

This is not a 'measure twice, cut once' rule. This is a 'measure a million times, then cut, then measure it again just to double check that it's right' rule. Yes, it's that important.

Writing Contest

If anyone likes to write, there's a great writing contest over at www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog where you can submit the first 150-200 words of your (completed) middle grade or young adult novel. It's the "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest. If you happen to have a completed manuscript lying around, check it out!

In Progress

This is what I'm currently working on. I got this pattern from an exchange.

Birth Announcement

Well, the only problem I ran into stitching this cute birth announcement, is that I have no birth to announce! You can see in the bottom right box that there are lines for the baby's name, birthdate, weight and height. I guess I'll just keep this tucked away, and fill it in if the opportunity arises. I thought the seahorse and crab were so cute.

If I remember, I'll try to take a picture of the back to show. I always forget! I know a lot of people like to see that.

And here are some close ups:

"Home Sweet Home"

This is a cross-stitch that I started a long time ago, when I first started stitching. I never finished it, and I found it again a few months ago. I spent a lot of my recent quality-couch time working on it.


And here are some more detailed views of each section:








Yup, this is one more design that I'll fold and put away. I should really find something useful to do with these. This isn't really one I'd hang in my house. I like the colors, but I'm not really an animal person, so the dog and cat make it an automatic no-thanks. Maybe someday I'll have a large enough collection to get a craft fair booth and sell them.

Completed Table Runner

This is a table runner I had started a long time ago, and I finally got around to finishing. It's similar to the table cloths I've done in the past (the pattern came from the same bargain bin!)

Unfortunately, I don't really own a table that would call for a table runner....or that would even display it well... so you can see it here on my ironing board. You get the general idea.


And the detailed views:

Back On Track

I bet you all thought I wasn't coming back, huh?

It's been a busy Fall. Sorry I haven't updated; starting last July, I had to get a series of shots in my feet, and immediately after I finished those in November, I had to get my gallbladder removed. All the doctor visits put me in no mood to update my blog, but I did get a lot of projects done while I was sitting around! So starting today, I'll be posting what I've been working on.

I never did get to finish that Victorian Tablerunner I started, but it did give me an idea for a quilt. I designed this one myself. So far I have all the blocks sewn and trimmed, now I just have to assemble to quilt top. I had planned for the quilt to be bigger, but I ran out of the light blue fabric...and then the store ran out too. But I still intend to make a border, of course, so this isn't the final size.


Here are the two different blocks I'm using (prior to trimming):



































And here's a detail of the second block:

I also did a lot of cross-stitching while I was couch-bound. Stay tuned!