project 52: week 35

What is Project 52? It's a little like Project 365, but instead of the goal of posting a photo each day, I'll post a photo or two each week along with a short update. Really I just need a little push to post something every week. Since I like to keep this space positive, posting every week forces me to look back and find something shiny to talk about (ten points if you get that reference). Some weeks that's a piece of cake. Other weeks it's more of a challenge, and those weeks give this task true meaning.

What's New?
I've been sorting sediment at the university with the DIG team. The photo above is from last week's sort. Basically the team collects bags of sediment from sites out in Montana and brings them back to be sifted and sorted during the year when fieldwork is not possible. Usually undergrads work on it as part of their laboratory experience. Former DIG School participants have also been recruited to help with the task. When I first heard about the opportunity, I was a bit skeptical. Spend 3 hours staring into a microscope, painstakingly sorting rocks from fossils? In truth those 3 hours go by in a flash, and looking under the scope at fossils is very interesting.

The other interesting thing in my life lately involves sewing. I've been admiring many blogger's Wiksten Tanks lately, and two weeks ago I decided to take the plunge. I bought the pattern PDF, printed it out, and tried it out using some quilting cotton I had in my stash. I had to tweak the pattern a bit to get the perfect fit for my body, but once I'd done that I headed to the fabric store to buy some chambray and linen. I'm proud to say that I completed my first "real" Wiksten Tank in a blue linen/cotton fabric and I love it! I have a magenta chambray fabric waiting for another tank as soon as I have time. I think these tanks will make a great layering piece in my wardrobe, and I might even do some embroidery on them.

Currently Reading
I'm on Part 2 of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and so far I love this book!

On the Needles
I've worked on my current Honey Cowl a bit here and there, but most of my crafting time has been spent sewing.

Looking Forward To

1. my weekly walk with Kristi
2. going out to the movies!

project 52: week 12

What is Project 52? It's a little like Project 365, but instead of the goal of posting a photo each day, I'll post a photo or two each week along with a short update. Really I just need a little push to post something every week. Since I like to keep this space positive, posting every week forces me to look back and find something shiny to talk about (ten points if you get that reference). Some weeks that's a piece of cake. Other weeks it's more of a challenge, and those weeks give this task true meaning.

Flannel fabric and library movies.

Friday was filled with ironing, pinning and cutting.

I tried to make my pie look pretty with tiny leaf cookie cutters. I'll try again next year.

What's New?
After a low-key Thanksgiving dinner with my husband and in-laws, I started on my sewing projects for this year's holiday gifting. I set out to make pajama pants for all four kiddos this year. So while Joe was at work Friday I put on Lee Daniel's The Butler (excellent movie!) and starting ironing, measuring, pinning, and cutting. By the time I went to bed I was probably only halfway finished. I decided to use some coordinating solid flannel for the cuffs, so Saturday morning I headed back to the fabric store. I hope to finish sewing this weekend before heading back to work.

Currently Reading
I'm almost three-quarters of the way through Anne Rice's The Witching Hour.

On the Needles
I finished the second of four holiday hats for the kids. Now I need to decide on colors for the next one so I can cast on and get started. I think I'm going to continue the trend and knit all four hats from the same pattern.

Looking Forward To

1. Urban Craft Uprising

a new quilt

Now that my nephew has seen his quilt in person (ok, he's 14 months old, so I'm really talking about his mom), I feel that it's okay to post more pictures and talk about the process. I bought fabric last summer and started cutting. The top and bottom started coming together last October, and the final stitches were sewn this February. I had originally intended this quilt to be a Christmas present, but it ended up being two months late.



  



It all started with this Alexander Henry zoo print fabric I found at Joann's. I adored the print and the colors. I decided to use it as the basis for Mason's quilt.

With that in mind, I went on a search for fabrics that matched the colors in the zoo print. After looking at my options, I decided that I would make one side of the quilt look more like a little kid's quilt using the zoo fabric. I tried to make the other side look like it could be a big-kid's quilt. That way the quilt could 'grow' as Mason grows up.

I admit that I am a total beginner when it comes to making quilts, and there were definitely some problems along the way. For example, my quilt top didn't quite fit the batting size, so the quilt is shorter than it should be (which ends up just making it look longer than it should be).

I didn't buy enough of the zoo print to do the entire back of the quilt, so I bought some coordinating solid fabric and pieced the back side as well as the front side.

Two things I really like about this quilt are also the two things that tie it to Mason's older brother Daniel's quilt (which I can't seem to find any pictures of): the variegated blue thread I used to quilt the layers together comes from the same spool I used for Daniel's quilt, and they both have a square signature label. Although with Daniel's quilt I used fabric marker and actually wrote the label. With Mason's quilt I wrote on the fabric with pencil and embroidered the letters (since I just learned how to embroider).

I also did a much better job with the fabric binding along the edges. I still didn't quite do it as you are supposed to, but it is much, much better than what I did with Daniel's quilt (since I didn't know at the time what I was supposed to do). I still want to rip out the binding on Daniel's quilt and re-do it, but that might be a bit dramatic.
 

 

I wasn't sure about the best way to package it for mailing. I decided to wrap it in brown paper and use a flat-rate box, which ended up being the perfect size.

fires and fabric

What's New?
Thanks to this post, I've found myself filling my extra time (what little I have) with meaningful endeavors. Last weekend, when Joe and I realized we had no specific evening plans, we decided to invite some friends to join us at the nearby beach for a bonfire with s'mores. It was cold, but clear (no rain in Seattle during fall is something to celebrate). Next time we'll bring more wood so we can have a bigger fire. I only bought one bundle, not knowing how much we'd need.

Last weekend also included a trip to the big fabric store so I could work on my nephew Mason's quilt. I already had one fabric for the back (Alexander Henry's adorable zoo print, which I used as inspiration for the colors on the front), but I had initially bought not enough to cover the whole quilt back. So, I found a complimentary solid and got to work putting together the quilt layers.

I want the quilt to be ready in time for Christmas, and I think that will be possible. I'm still not sure what I'll use for binding, but I have some time to figure that out. Right now I'm quilting the layers together. After that I'll trim it so that each edge is straight, and then comes binding. I think I might take the almost-finished quilt to my local fabric store and ask the owner for her recommendation on binding. She has a good eye.

Currently Reading (I'm up to 40 books read this year - just might make my goal of 50)

• Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - Finished this week. I love this series and I can't wait for the next one. The characters are well-developed, the female protagonist holds her own, and the supernatural elements are fascinating.
• If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother by Julia Sweeney - Finished this weekend. This was a funny read about family. I appreciated the author's candor and humor.
• The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (book three in the YA zombie series) - Just started this last night. Looking forward to a good read.

On the Needles
I've been slowly working on finishing my striped Idlewood sweater. I got to the end of the first sleeve, and I've ripped it back a couple inches and started again about three times. I just couldn't decide how to end the sleeve, but I think I'll stick with my current approach. I went down one needle size, started a 3x3 ribbing and decreased on the second row to 3x2 ribbing. The leftover yarn looks like just enough for the second sleeve, but there's a real possibility that I'll run out. Cross your fingers.

Looking Forward To

1. meeting an old friend, and some new ones, at a local coffee shop for a proper stitch and bitch

October

I (almost) finished Joe's birthday present in time. I still need to add the words 'Avengers Assemble' to the bottom, and Captain America's 'A' and then it'll be finished.

The beginning of October was very sunny and dry, and the cats enjoyed watching squirrels out the window.

The trees around the corner showed magnificent color. Unfortunately all those leaves have come off in the recent storm.

I started a square for a quilt project to honor the memory of a college friend. It's the most complicated quilt square I've ever attempted, but I'm determined to give it one hundred percent.

Our haul from a small family farm. All but three of these are intended as food. In fact, we've already eaten one of them. I love the colors of carnival squash.

Even though I have no photographic proof, I've been knitting up a storm. Soon I'll be able to wear five hand-knit sweaters. Five! I almost can't believe it.

One other thing I have to mention: my five-year-old nephew called me on the phone the other day. Just because. It's by far my favorite thing that's happened this autumn.

where have I been?

It seems I've taken a very long break from this space. My last post was in January, and it's already the latter-half of July! So what have I been up to (besides spending time with these adorable sisters?)?

I experimented with natural dyes for my spring eggs. Red cabbage is still my favorite (it makes blue).

Joe and I sometimes eat hard-boiled eggs as part of our breakfast. Since I love the look of dyed eggs, I decided to start dying my hard-boiled eggs all the time. Now I know when I reach into the fridge that the blue eggs are hard-boiled, while the white ones are not. It's especially helpful when I'm still half-asleep.

I went strawberry-picking with these three dear friends of mine. Along the way we found this old giant at a rest-stop along Interstate 5.

After many years of sewing, I finally organized my fabrics!

Now that my sewing space is more organized, I find myself sewing more often. This skirt, for example, used to be pants that had seen better days.

My local public library has seen quite a bit of me lately. I love the old brick building and its half-mile proximity to my apartment.

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Virginia where I visited with family. I love the first glimpse of the Cascade Mountains on the flight back. Seeing those snow-capped peaks reminds me how much I love living in the Pacific Northwest.

And while I love my whole family, this little man melts my heart.

pretty dish mat

Using this idea from Amanda Soule's book, I re-purposed one of our old bath towels into a dish drying mat.



I used a Moda Central Park charm pack that I picked up from The Quilting Loft awhile back. I used the quilt-as-you-go method and added some simple bias tape around the edge.



I have a few more old bath towels that need a new life, so I think I'll make some more of these.

drawstring bags for camping gear

Inspired by this post, I decided to make some simple drawstring bags to hold our camping dishes.



Using leftover fabric from an earlier project, I made five bags.



After the bags were complete, I experimented with fabric pens and fancy stitches to make labels for the bags.



I finished them today with double drawstrings for easy opening and closing.



I hope they help make packing go smoothly and help keep the campsite more organized.

quilt-as-you-go placemats

Inspired by this Moda Bake Shop post, I decided to try two new sewing techniques: quilt-as-you-go, and making and sewing bias tape.

Hot Rice Bags

Awhile back I came across this post by Lyanda Lynn Haupt on her blog, The Tangled Nest. In her post, she shares instructions for making a simple sewn rice bag.

I have two rice bags, although they aren't as cute as the one in her post. Mine are made from re-purposed hand towels. They don't have covers, yet. One of my next sewing projects is going to be making fleece or flannel (I haven't decided yet) slip on covers using her tutorial.

I'm posting about this because every night I find myself saying to my husband, "I need to heat up my rice." Each time I say that I smile at how ridiculous it must sound. While we've had a very mild winter here in the Pacific Northwest, it's still nice to be able to turn the heat down, saving money and feeling more environmentally conscious. With an extra blanket or two, and a hot rice bag (mine takes exactly 4 minutes in the microwave to reach optimal temperature) I can sleep cozily without having the heat on all night.

Does anyone else use a rice bag to stay cozy in the winter?

flame retardant fabric?

I decided to make my nephew some flannel pajama pants. When I mentioned this to my mother, she asked me to make sure the flannel was flame retardant. I thought that was strange, since I couldn't imagine why his pajamas, as opposed to his daytime clothes, would need special chemicals to make them less likely to burst into flames. I didn't think much of it as I headed to the fabric store. I figured, if it was so important, then I might as well abide by her wishes (and the law, apparently).

I shop at that big box fabric store. It's close to my house, has good prices and sales, and an amazing variety of fabrics and notions. I started browsing the huge aisle of "snuggle flannel" looking at all the cute patterns. I looked up and noticed that it was all on sale. Then I noticed the disclaimer on the sale sign: "not intended for children's sleepwear." Hmm... interesting. What else would you use such child-appropriate flannel fabric for if not for sleepwear? So I started looking for the aisle of sleepwear appropriate flannel fabric. I found all of five bolts of the special flame retardant fabrics. And they were about $10 more per yard. Huh? Something seemed wrong. So, I figured I'd get some flame retardant fabric and some of that "snuggle flannel" and figure it out at home. I found a cute pattern in the small selection of flame retardant flannel and bought a yard.

From sewing projects

Once at home I did some online research and found out that certain chemicals previously used to treat flame retardant fabric have been outlawed due to their harmful effects - mainly reproductive, neurological and liver-related. Yikes! The purpose behind the flame retardant fabric is to prevent children's bedtime clothing from catching fire. Apparently children are more likely to encounter fire sources in the early morning and in the evening (from stoves and the like). This made much more sense than worrying that your child's bed will catch on fire. Still, "better" fabric is no substitute for good parenting.

After finishing two pairs of pajama pants in the "snuggle" flannel, I decided to do something a little different with the third pair. I bought some ribbon to coordinate with each flannel print. On the first two pairs I added the ribbon to the pant legs. That was cute, but like I said I wanted to try something different this time. So I decided to make a small pocket to add to the pants. I'm not sure if my method is the best method, but here's what I did. First, I cut a 4" x 4" piece of fabric, centered on one of the jungle animals. I chose the hippo because it's just gosh darn cute.

From sewing projects

From sewing projects

Then I used a little bit of stitch witchery to hold the ribbon in place while I sewed (I used this same technique with the other two pairs of pants).

From sewing projects

I folded the fabric down so that the ribbon would be the top of the pocket, and sewed it in place.

From sewing projects

From sewing projects

I also sewed the bottom, framing the hippo print.

From sewing projects

Then I sewed the sides in place and trimmed all the extra fabric.

From sewing projects

That's it for now. I'll post pictures of the finished pants later.

I would like to add that I noticed a strange and unpleasant smell when I ironed the flame retardant fabric. I also noticed that the fabric feels different, and I had a few problems sewing the fabric with my machine (which in all fairness could have been my machine -- it's very old, and I'm still figuring out how to best use it). I will definitely not buy any more in the future, but I feel it would be wasteful to not use the fabric that I already bought.