Friday, March 6, 2009

News, News, News........

Recently I have suffered from writer's block. I've done tons of projects but have not been able to put pen to paper. Let's see if I can get past it!

Home: Things have been plugging along at home. Max has had a great week with two after school playdates and a visit with MoMo (grandma, my mom). My sister is an accomplished rower with Marin Rowing Club (next year she'll be a rower at Stanford), she has a race this weekend in Oakland that I think we'll go to. The weather will be beautiful, it should be a great day. No matter what we have to go, my sister is Max''s most favourite person on the planet and he'd hate to miss it. During a playdate I showed Max and his friend how to make people using pipecleaners, now he is figuring out how to dress them. It has been a great project for him and a good lesson in trial/error and patience.

My creative space aka "Treehouse" is moving along nicely - I still have to re-home my husbands sport stuff. With the new set up I have been able to move my sewing machine in. It's been great to not have the machine in the kitchen and have to run up and down the stairs to sew. Now I can just turn from my cutting table to the sewing machine!

Crafts: After the sewing machine move, I did a big run of machine sewing. I ended up making about eight stuffies, some of which are pictured below. I really enjoyed making the skirts for the bunnies, cats and monkeys. I found the pattern for the monkey here and then adapted it for a cat and bunny. When we visited friends last weekend I took one as a gift :)

I borrowed a copy of Wee Felt Folk from a friend. I made this woman but she looks mad. I have tried several faces but they all look ticked off! Considering the amount of wooden beads that I have already put mad faces on, it looks like I'll have a lot of witches to make. I need to work on drawing more gentle expressions :) PS. I can't find an acorn cap big enough for her yet, so I just placed her hair on her head, I didn't want her to be bald in the pic - how embarrassing!


I also made this horse...........


and this kitty


There are a few new projects in the works. Once the schedule is set, I plan on signing up for a beginners quilting class at Sunflower Fine Fabrics. My hope is that a friend or two will do the class with me. My other project is getting some baby stuff made for friends. I found some great bib and burp cloth tutorials here and here. If I feel very brave, I may even tackle a blanket or some shoes. I highly recommend that you take a look a The Long Thread, she has a ton of great tutorials listed for all skill levels - a great resource.

Swaps: Check out the Easter Bunny Swap that we just signed up for. Max is excited to find out who our partner is and get crafting for this swap.

Fun Finds: This week I did take a trip to a few of my usual haunts. In addition to a stash of double sided binding (my new must have) I found:

This amazing large vintage heavy cotton tablecloth. Yes, it is covered in mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. I really love it and can't imagine cutting it up - if I found the right project though ....................

Four yards of this great vintage cotton ribbon/tape embroidered with "dutch" people and a heart/bird/flower motif. I am always looking for trims like this and finally found a stash. They had a lot more in other styles, hopefully the next time I return they'll still have some left.

6 comments:

  1. Wow... you have been busy, no wonder you've had writers block... the 'treehouse' is obviously working! I love all your things! K especially loves your horse...

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  2. Adrienne, I love all of your softies, you busy mama you! I really need to get out my machine....... That mushroom cotton tablecloth is a killer find!

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  3. You've been a busy mama! How big of an acorn cap do you need? If you wouldn't mind measuring how wide across and let me know, I bet I have one that would fit. I've got a HUGE box of them. Let me know, ok? If I have one, I'd be happy to pop it in the mail to you. :)

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  4. I completely love that embroidered tape you found. I have actually never seen anything like it before! I'll have to keep my eyes out for it. Where are the best places to find it? Thrift stores and such?

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  5. I found the embroidered tape at my local secret consignment shop. It's a tiny shop but they always have great stuff at affordable prices. This is the first time that I have found affordable trim like this, usually when I find it, it is way overpriced.

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  6. My goodness, you are one busy lady! What a sweet group of new friends you've created. Don't you just love the Wee Felt Folk book?!

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