Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Ode to Spring & Personal Projects

The weather has finally sprung
yes, in PA, spring has finally released her fun
Gone are the dreary of doldrums
now for the outdoor walks & slow runs
Hiding inside like a hermit no more
Fresh air, sunshine, and warm breezes galore 
trying to ignore all the red eyes & sneezes
still yearning for swimming, BBQs & more!

Has spring sprung yet in your neck of the woods? It spurs in me desires to clean out the car, take up running again, pull out my bike, go for a hike, ready the pool, clean out the 3rd floor, reorganize the house...

... really you could just lump them into two categories: head for the hills & clean my brains out. 

In reality, I'll probably work on few of the items floating around in my head until summer kicks in. Not only does springtime bring about half a dozen birthday celebrations for us, as well as Mother's Day, but there's lots to do to close out our school year as well as preparing for the upcoming year. 

 I spend time researching, picking out & buying all the curriculum for next year's homeschooling adventure, so I have it all on hand for planning over the summer. And then there's all the busywork of the paperwork involved with legally homeschooling in PA. (PA has the most laws in any state governing our right to homeschool our children. I don't want to debate with anyone why this is or why this isn't a good thing for my kiddos. It's a pain~ period.)

Anywho, I'm off on a tangent here...

Spring is busy. Should I have just left it at that perhaps? And then isn't EVERYONE busy? All. the. time. Okay, so enough boohooing about busyness & onto some doodads I've made recently...

 Fabric "Catch-all"
The pattern is by Liberty Weaver (www.stores.ebay.com/libertyweaver.com), and it gives instructions to make different sizes. Mine is currently being used to hold threads & small scraps of fabric left over from various crafting endeavors.


Fabric Postcard & Ribbon Work Garden Pincushion
(classes I took at Stitch & Craft)

 This stitchery might be one of my most favorite creations of all time. I can't wait to hang it in my bathroom & wait for the revelations!! (stop laughing at me)

Last but not least are my Winter & Spring blocks for the block swap I did with friends at Stitch & Craft:




Happy Slow Sunday!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Personal Projects

Amazingly, I've had a bit 'o time to eek out a few personal projects in between homeschooling & quilting. 

The first is a stitchery piece I made for my BFF. Technically, it was a Christmas present, but it wasn't truly being finished & pushed into it's frame until after the new year began!

I love stitchery *almost* as much as I love quilting!! 


This heart mat was born out of a "Crazy Patch Pillow" class I took at Stitch & Craft. I decided I'd use a mat more than I'd use a pillow (since we ALL know my Lab, Smokey, would probably just get hold of, put his slobber all over & probably knock the stuffing out of it!!)

And finally, my pride & joy: Folded Fabric Christmas Ornaments. A fabulous client from last year gave one of these to me for Christmas, I fell in love & HAD to learn how to make one. One has turned into a few which I'm certain will turn into several dozen. I find them mesmerizingly mellow to work on, but they look fabulous = win win!! 

One of my daughters suggested doing other holiday colors, and so I'm contemplating Easter colors next! 

Unbelievable to think we've already got January behind us!!

What is everyone working on during these cold months??