Curse you, real life

For getting in the way of my craft fun (and therefore blogging fun). There is not much forgiveness in a heart that is leaden from missed chances to craft.

Stupid responsibility. Tonight I throw you to the wind.

Vermont Maple Apple Rings - YUM!!!!

Yesterday morning, I made these, as found on Pinterest (of course), and they were absolutely phenomenal!  Though side note: I wouldn't recommend them as leftovers.  Not nearly as good toasted.  I haven't tried them microwaved, but that usually is even one step further removed from the goodness.  I'd stick with trying to get just enough for how many you are serving.  I ate about half the recipe myself, some directly out of the pan.  Hot Potato!

Mmmmmm

I like me some good rice pudding. And I'd like to think I'm fairly crafty with it. Now to enjoy!

Sundays

Growing up, Sundays were a day to stop crafting, to focus on other aspects of life and think a lot more. In my adult life I must admit I've become more lax on that rule, not for any good reason, just because I wanted to keep sewing and Sundays seemed to be a great, wide open day for many hours of fun and creativity. Lately, though... well, I maybe can see some wisdom from my mother. I need to be a more well rounded person, I need some time off to explore other things.

Which isn't to say I can't TALK about crafting. I've got some projects nearing completion so stay tuned! So exciting.

I shall leave you with a quote regarding craftsmanship. Make you think on this Sunday (or whatever day you read it)

"Let a human being throw the energies of his soul into the making of something, and the instinct of workmanship will take care of his honesty." - Walter Lippmann (a mid-century Pulitzer Prize winning journalist)

double take

Hmm, I don't want this to be just a quilt blog, but it's what I've been working on for the vast majority of the past two years.  Do I have any other ideas....?  Uh,...

Hey, I was looking through my photos and found a picture of my advent calendar.  Apparently I DID take one!  So here you go!

I'm partial to it.  :)  I especially like how the wood wasn't particularly straight on top.  There's also a knot in the wood on the far side that you can't see in the picture.  Adds extra personality.

And here's something else for your troubles.  About four or five months ago, I painted my master bedroom.  It went from this (sorry, guess we can't get completely away from quilts!):

to this!

A nice teal color.  More pictures to come when I get the decorating done.  I know, it should be done by now but, well, quilts.

When scraps met me...

They didn't stand a chance!  I do more scrap quilts than any other kind.  It's kinda weird how many scrap quilts I make.  I wonder why I don't have more quilts that have a full pattern.  Ah well, I don't wonder very long.

Here's a quick one I made for the fun of it.  I saw the style in a magazine and made a quick lap quilt out of it.

I shall name it ... uh .... Pinwheels and Diamonds?  Sure, sounds good.  Can't see the pinwheels for the diamonds? Well, they're there.  Can't see the diamonds for the pinwheels?  Well, they're there.  Can't see the forest for the trees?  Can't help you there.

 I then got to quilt it on a long arm quilting machine that I sometimes have access to. Shout out to BR! What what! So here's the back.

I used a pantograph called Cotton Candy that was super fast.  On and off the machine in about three hours.  Now if only all my crafting saw results that quickly!

Gahhhhh!

It has happened. As feared, the minute I join Pinterest, I lose my sleeping hours. Instead of REM cycles and rapid eye movement, it's just click, click, repin, follow, click, like, comment, click, click, repin, repeat. Sigh.

Why have I just now joined Pinterest, you ask? HELLO! Did you not just read the above paragraph?! I knew this was coming, and staved it off for as long as I could. But the call of the community was just too much of a siren to be denied anymore.

On the plus side, apparently I CAN tell the future. I shall use my powers only for good. Sleep is good, right? Ah, yes, I can see the pillow now. It is only a few clicks away!

Second post - Quilt

I've been obsessed with quilts these days.  So much so that I have to put two, count them two, alarms on my phone to tell me it's time to put down the rotary cutter and go to BED!  And even that doesn't work sometimes.  Maybe I need three....

Anyway, that's not important.  What is important is the finished product!

I give you a beautiful quilt I designed and my quilt club was able to help me realize the dream.

This brings up a point.  I was thinking of naming my quilts...  Perhaps I'll name this one Tic Tac 9 Patch.  Has a fun ring to it.

The quilting is basically just stitch in the ditch, except when I missed and wasn't quite in the ditch.  Sometimes my straight lines have a lot of personality.  Let's say drunken personality.

All in all, it was a fun one to make!

First post!!!

O M Goodness, I am so excited to be creating this blog.  It's been a long time in the think tank and I'm READY to GO!

The idea is to show my craft projects or links to other people's that I would covet if it wasn't a bad thing.  But still...  I like them.... a lot!

So let's get to it!  Right off, here's a picture of a craft I've done recently.

This isn't my picture (gosh, I wish I had that cute piano) but I forgot to take a good picture of mine before packing it up for the end of the season.

It's a great advent calendar.  It's made on old barn wood cut to approximately 55 inches long by 8 inches wide and painted an antique white.  The colorful pieces are clothespins with ribbon glued to the front of them.  You can hang anything you want from the clothespins to keep track of the days.  I chose tiny little wrapping bows in Christmas colors.  Other options are small wrapped gifts, tiny toys, ornaments, etc.  Just remember that the clothespin, which is glued on with wood glue, has to be able to hold the weight.  I put some picture hangers on the back on either side and tied on an old-timey looking rope for hanging.

Now, most people take them off with the corresponding day.  (i.e. on December 1st, they remove the number 1 spot, on the 2nd, they take off the number 2 spot, and so on.)  I submit an alternative.  If you take off the 24 spot first, you (and your kids) will know how many days are left until Christmas.  This is what I grew up with, so I'm partial.  But can you see how it would forestall a lot of "Mom, how many days left?" "Mom..."  "Mom..."  "Mom...." "MOM!"  Well, you probably know how that goes.

More posts coming as the crafts roll in!