Another Woohoo!

I've been making so much stuff with denim, I totally forgot how much fun it is to play with color.   I also forgot how light and easy linen is!  Denim can be a bit of a struggle.

I really have the sensation of play when working on this one.  Here's the beginning.

I grew the squares until they were about the same size.  I think I will need nine all together.

Usually, when I get to the piecing the squares together part, I cut them down till they match in size but I'm a little too attached to these. I think I will add strips between the squares to help them fit together better.

This is the last side of the last of four squares I made yesterday.  It's impractical and time consuming to use lots of little scraps to make a strip.

It's also very satisfying.

The closest square is with the one with the scrappy edge.  Do you see it?

Here's the pile of collars and button plackets and left over bits from cutting the clothes up.  I threw them in my compost pile. I made sure to take out any facings and zippers.  My big compost confession:  I don't use my compost in my gardens since I don't really garden (I have a very shady yard). I compost to lessen our garbage can output and to pretend I'm a scientist mixing gross potions...hee hee

Gleaned buttons.  Some are nice shell buttons.  Woohoo.

I kept this picture in because you can see the laundry is still back there.  I neglected it for the whole day.  Another Woohoo!

Surprise Baby Quilt

Not that the baby is a surprise (Not that there's anything wrong with surprise babies, I'm not one to judge) but that I have a quilt to make is the surprise. 

My husband just told me that a co-worker of his is expecting.  

For him it was a piece of news.  For me: a call to action!

 She is a she, I hear.  She is due in April.  So I have time. 

And I have lots of pink-ish fabric.

I decided against denim this time.  I hope I don't regret it.  Variety is the spice of life, ya know. 

Linen.  I love linen.  

Ignore the laundry back there, I fully intend to.

I see a log cabin blanket happening here.  I spent the morning cutting and ironing and after a little break, I'll start sewing.  I hope the colors clash well.

Too Weird

It is too weird. I tried to make a scarf out of denim. I have this idea in my head of a scarf with a simple running stitch design.

.

I had fun putting it together. You can tell because I took a million and one pictures of the stitching.

I spared you most of them.

I did play around with my camera's panoramic view.  Little blurry, sorry.

I loved it at this point.

No one wants to wear denim scarf, though. It's too stiff.

It does look cool in the picture but it feels wrong.  It just isn't soft and cushy like a scarf should be. 

Worth a try, though.  Most experiments are. 

A Monkey On Uranus

 I've just made some postcards to send to a friend who needs some cheering up.

I have a mail art blog but I think I'll delete it since I don't make as much mail art as I used to.  You don't mind if I post mail art here sometimes, do you?

Front

back

 

I took this picture after I stapled the hidden treasure inside.  

You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it's a monkey on Uranus. 

This is my favorite.  Like Virginia Woolf counted calories. 

I'm off to play with a GIANT pair of jeans I found at the thrift shop.  I'm envisioning a scarf made of denim.  "Hope that's not too weird" said the woman who put a monkey on Uranus.

Moving On, People!

I spent most of the week in Phoenix visiting my amazing family!  Phoenix, of course, had crazy cold weather including both frost and snow (well, the snow was in Sedona but it was still bizarre).  It was like we brought Wisconsin along with us.

The boobs on this are gone, right?  Now it's just got some cool circles. 

Now that this project doesn't know what it's going to become anymore, I've been in and out of love with it.  It's fun to work on and I enjoy watching it become something, even if I'm not sure what that something is.

On the other hand and still a plus, it's giving me great ideas for other things I want to make.  

Downside:  I feel like I can't start them until I finish this.  

Oh.  

Putting that into writing makes me realize how nonsensical that is.  This project isn't going to get rotten or anything and I can put it aside.  I have, like, 20 unfinished knitting projects that aren't bothering me at all, why not add this to the pile. I don't even know what it's going to become.

Funny how that works.  So, next in line:  Full Catastrophe Quilt, a scarf that I have just a general idea for, more embroidery on linen 'cuz that's awesome fun and I want to play in Alabama Chanin land.  

Moving on, people! 

Super Secret Surprise Revealed

I got the OK to share the book I made for my friend.  

More than an OK, I got a "PLEASE post this on your blog".  Because she's so nice.

She also said I could use her name but I hadn't considered that possibility so I didn't take a picture with her name showing. 

It's an ode to a woman who knows her mind.

Every rule here is one of her actual rules for life.

They are all wise and wonderful.

They are all Rule # 1 because they are all the most important rule.

Her kid said that I could have made it much longer and he's right.

 

 

This is my favorite one.  Following this rule has made my life so much better; so has knowing Jenina!

Fearless Crafting

On Wednesday night, I am running another Fearless Crafters program at the library.  It's kitchen art.  It's not a craft I think I would have chosen but after my friend and partner in crime, Jennifer (that's right, yet another Jennifer) came over and we spent some time playing with wooden spoons and doodads, I'm warming up to the idea. 

We ran out of time but here are a couple of items we came up with:

This side, I painted the design on.  I'm not used to painting so it was a stretch but that's what Fearless Craters is all about.

This side is Sharpie.  Better, right?  Then I painted the whole thing red for no reason

There are only 12 people signed up but that's enough to go!

 

Jennifer's is really cool.  She ran out of time and didn't get to finish but what she did is awesome. 

Pot Lid/UFO.

There's room for more people if you're local!

Full Catastrophe

Look what I found!  

I've been in the mood to play with denim. When I went to my massive pile o' pants, these were close to the top.  And though it may seem like a non sequitur, I just want to mention that I love dolphins and am always excited to see one.

 

These are the leftovers from a baby quilt that I got overly enthused by.  

It grew and grew until the size became absurd.  I was madly in love with the way the squares mellowly get along.  

I hope it isn't tacky to use the same picture twice in the same post.

I even made seven large panels that didn't even make it into the baby quilt and it was still way too huge.  I ended up cutting the quilt in half to make it more baby quilt sized and the scale became all thrown off.  

The half of the quilt that didn't get gifted is in the middle of there with a darker boarder a round three sides.  

Remember the border?  I fell in love with that, too.

I think I feel in love with the pieces but the whole didn't win my heart.  Having found these panels again, I feel like I have a second chance to fall in love.  Do I need to commit to the full on crazy?  That is what I need to decide.  I have to urge to make this quilt so giant that no bed could contain it.  It's probably just a reaction to my hurt feelings from the last experience.

Do I need to have a future bed in mind when I start a quilt?  Does it make sense to just sew it up without a home for it?  It's not like I could sell it.  I've already put too many hours into it and it doesn't even actually exist yet.  I could never really charge enough.  

I don't know why I'm asking.  I'm already in up to my eyeballs. 

 Committed to the full catastrophe.