lil hexies

This weekend I didn't do anything besides clean and do tons of these paper pieced hexagons. I like hand sewing because I can lay on the couch with Artoo on my lap and watch TV while I do it, as opposed to being on the noisy machine in the uncomfortable chair facing the wall. I have 10 completed flowers so far, as well as all the pieces for 4 more. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with all of them yet. I may just keep making them and save them for some day when I feel like making a grandmother's garden quilt, or get impatient and sew them together and use it as a wall hanging. I'm leaning towards saving them, though. I love the idea of these going into a good heirloom piece, with my old reports and homework used as the paper inside. It was nice cutting up all of the stuff that I despised and caused me stress in the past week and crafting it into something I love.

Happy Halloween!

                  I spent my Halloween doing homework, watching football, and making my cat hate me.

He's probably going to pee on my bed tonight.

Friday Fabric Favorites- Halloween edition

 

Hancock Fabrics had all Halloween fabric 75% off this week. I got the email Sunday night and went out on Monday between my classes to check it out. I'm glad I didn't put it off until the weekend because by the time I got there it was already slim pickings. I had to wait behind two older women to scout out the bolts they had hoarded up and hope that there would be enough left over for me. Above are just a few of the fabrics that I bought to do a coin quilt. Everything together, including backing, cost a grand total of $12. That's an insanely good bargain. I've been piecing the top bit by bit in between homework and studying and am anticipating finishing it up either tonight or sometime over the weekend. I love the combination of orange, purple, bright green, and black. I also made some Halloween bunting out of felt I had laying around. It's a different method than the one shown in the link, so I will be putting up a tutorial in the next few days. It's so cute that I'm thinking about leaving it up year round.  Also on my weekend to do list: carve pumpkins and think about putting together something like this. It's a shame I didn't start decorating for Halloween earlier and only have a week or so left to enjoy all the things, but I think I could get away with leaving a pumpkin table runner out past Halloween.

Bow Tutorial

These bows are simple to make, they just take a little bit of patience and tweaking to get the perfect shape. Follow the jump to find a printable pattern and step by step instructions with on how to make these

What I've been up to

The pink/green pin and mushroom tote were for two separate swaps, and all the hair clips and barrettes are currently waiting to be listed on etsy. I'm really excited about these.. they're cute, and quick enough where it doesn't feel like a huge chore making them. Right now I'm looking to sell the barrettes for $7 each, $8 for a pair of hair clips, $9 for a pin, and $3.50 for a set of two fabric covered button hair elastics.

Fabulous Fabric Friday!

I have been good and not buying any new fabric lately, so I've been spending a lot of time drooling over fabric online. I have an insane stash that I need to use up before I even think about purchasing anything new, but it's so hard to resist when there are so many fabulous fabrics out there. Below are a few of my favorites that I've compiled together. I love the combination of aqua and tangerine, with some purples and pink thrown in to soften it.

all fabrics can be found here

Left to right, top row: Metro Café by Louise Cunningham/Next Day Art for Kaufman Fabrics, Farmdale Blossom by Alexander Henry Fabrics, Faux Diamond Weave by Iota for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Filigree by Art Gallery Fabrics.
            bottom row: Wallpaper by Melissa Averinos for Free Spirit (I follow Mellissa's blog over at Yummy Goods), Cute Deer & Shrooms by Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit, Mod Herringbone by Iota for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, The Owl & the Pussycat by Heather Ross for Kokka (I just found Heather's blog and saw this post and I think my heart exploded. I want to own every piece of fabric that Heather Ross has ever created)

Pure awesomeness

I'm very fortunate that the interwebs have brought me together with some fantastic people. Among them is my craft swap partner from a knitting/crocheting and sewing swap. I had such a great time with the first round of swapping that I contacted them and arranged for a private swap along the same lines (she would crochet me stuff, and I would sew her stuff). I originally just wanted a pair of these, but we ended up doing a larger swap, so not only did she make me an awesome pair of slippers, but a giant Kirby amigurumi, a baby adipose (from an episode of Doctor Who) amigurumi, and a cupcake pin cushion.

I love the chubby little fingers and toes!

It's HUGE! And so perfect!

I'm so blown away by the awesomeness and quality of everything I've received. Everything besides the slippers are patterns that she made up herself. I am so impressed. I mailed out half of the stuff I made for her, but kept running into difficulties with the second package (sewing machine tension problems have been plaguing me for the past month, being sick all last week, and then forgetting my sewing machine cord when I brought everything else I needed to finishing hemming a skirt and mail it out while visiting in Houston), so I hope once she FINALLY gets the package next week that it will be worth all the effort she put into my package and the extra wait.

Things I Love

Hey look... I actually posted this on a day that starts with T! Today there was a shooting on campus, but thankfully nobody besides the perpetrator was injured. I got a text message at about 8:45 this morning from the UT Alert system saying there was an armed subject in the library, so I didn't go to class today and spent the morning watching everything unfold on the news safe in my apartment. It was pretty crazy. Classes will resume tomorrow.

Lazy Sunday

etsThe weekends never last long enough. Most of the time I have no idea what I did with all of the time I had available to me. Did I really watch 4 hours of Better Off Ted last night or spend two hours debating what I wanted to eat for dinner? It's 6pm Sunday night and I'm finally starting to be (semi) productive for the first time since Thursday night. I still have loads of studying to do for my Genetics exam tomorrow but I've cleaned my room and made my bed so I feel ready to concentrate on it. I also listed a few items in my etsy store after taking forever and a day to get around to it.






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I just got Photoshop and it's my first time using it so I'm still figuring everything out. I probably should have learned this stuff a long time ago, but I was too lazy to do anything more than resize my pictures in MS Paint. If I take pictures in natural light and edit them, it makes almost makes my point and shoot camera tolerable. Now instead of saving for a ridiculously expensive camera I can save for a glittery bass guitar so I can finally live out my long time fantasy of being in an all girl 90s cover band. Hey, it could happen!

Even lazy jellyfish do it.

I've had this stuck in my head all day. I fell asleep listening to Billie Holiday and woke up with this version of Let's Do It stuck in my head.

I've also been using this bag I made a few months ago lately. I was really excited about it, until I realized that I didn't have all the right components for an adjustable strap, and that I had made it a little bit too big so it doesn't sit right. I totally wrote it off and just hung it on my dressform. It's not that bad, though! I don't mind it being so slouchy. I have all the supplies to make other bags like this once I find the time, but I'll be sure to make it the right size. I also have fancy snaps and closures I will be using that I'm pretty excited about.

I am missing 30 Rock this evening because I have to get tutoring for my calculus class. Just another way this class is  clearly trying to ruin my life.