Bookworms Unite

I've barely darkened the door of my sewing room the past two weeks, because I have a new addiction. After arguing with Ray that I didn't want a Kindle for the better part of a year because I "prefer the feel of a book in my hands", I finally caved. He was right *sigh*...I don't know when I'll finally accept that he knows me better than I know myself.

So yes, I got a Kindle. And because I have mutant reading powers + a propensity toward tunnell vision, I've read 7 books in the past two weeks. Which is why my sewing room has cobwebs it in...and I haven't even felt tempted to blog...and I don't feel guilty about it at all...

Sewing and books are tied for 1st place as my most loved hobby, and frankly, I owed books some backlogged quality time. I've burned through Insurgent, Bitterblue, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Lost Souls,  Princess of Mars, and Last of the Mohicans (did you know ebooks of Classics are free? FREE I TELL YOU!? God bless public domain books...now I can download and read all the Classics I've been meaning to get to for years...because they're FREE!!!!!)

The only thing I've made recently is this cover for my Kindle....and I'll warn you the photos are kinda crappy because I was in the middle of a particularly riveting plotline and couldn't be bothered to worry about the lighting outside or taking extra time for decent photos.

I scoped out dozens of online Kindle cover tutorials before settling on this tutorial from Clover & Violet, because I liked how clean & neat & professional it looked. They makes the cutest things, and the binding looks so much better than birthed edges! I know I'll sound like a jerkface saying this, but I think most (but not all!) handmade iPad/Kindle covers look handmade - lumpy and kinda sloppy - but it sure beats being ripped off and paying $30-$40 (!!!) for a manufactured cover.

 

I made a few minor modifications because my Kindle was a different size than hers, plus I wanted something a little sturdier since I planned to keep it in my purse at all times (where it was bound to be jostled around quite a bit...I'm rather violent with my purses).

I eliminated the pocket on the right and instead cut two panel pieces for the lining (so I could hide the ends of the two lefthand elastic strips in a seam). I also added a very thick and sturdy piece of interfacing (Pellon Peltex II Ultra Firm) under the right lining piece so my Kindle would rest on a stiffer surface. And then I quilted the front & lining together (stretching the elastic pieces out of the way) before adding the pocket on the left. I love that they included that pocket for cords and whatnot so I can keep everything in one place :)

And in case you're wondering about the fabrics, the exterior is one of the Viewfinder prints from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising, the interior is Essex Linen in Sand, the pocket is a navy dot print from Joann's, and the binding is a Houndstooth print from Denyse Schmidt's Aunt Edna line for Joann's (it looks AWESOME paired with Melody Miller's collections!)

(P.S. If you have the basic Kindle like me and don't feel like doing the math, shoot me an email and I'll send you the dimensions I used for all the cutting!)

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Lookit! I cross-stitched!

 

I'd like to say a big thank you to the talented ladies at the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, because they have single-handedly made me interested in cross-stitching.  Before I stumbled across their adorable designs last year, my interest in cross-stitching was zero. zilch. nada. But since I first laid eyes upon their illegally cute PB&J pattern (which never fails to make me sing the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song), I've been toying with the idea of picking up a new hobby. The final nail in the coffin was when I read Kelly's post about these adorable macaroons and their new Dessert of the Month club. Ten bucks for a year's worth of precious wee dessert patterns that smile back at me? Sold.

I had my fingers crossed they would email the new pattern before my lunch break today, and sure enough, the crafting gods were smiling upon me because it appeared in my inbox right before noon, so I was able to run to Joann's and pick up the necessary supplies. I was crazy excited to find my store had the metallic embroidery floss they mentioned on their site, because I love the sparkle it added to my little champagne truffle! It was a lot harder to work with than the regular floss, but well worth the effort. The only thing I was disappointed about is that I couldn't find dark aida, which the ladies at FPS recommended because many of the patterns will contain white. This Oatmeal one was the darkest I could find, and I was too lazy (with a splash of impatience mixed in) to attempt tea-dying, so I'll have to come to grips with the fact that my patterns might be a little muted.

I've never done any cross stitching in my life, so this was quite the adventure - full of google searches for tutorials and the making up of my own rules like, "and being ignorant, ye shall marketh a grid on the aida using a blue water soluble quilting pen. and it shall be done. and it was good. amen." I was going to take it slow and use it to pass the time in the break room at lunch tomorrow, but once I got started, I quickly became obsessed and finished it in one sitting while watching reruns of Once Upon a Time (LOVE that show!)

So yeah. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. It probably looks like crap in a handbasket to you seasoned pros, but I'm more than a little giddy about it. I have it draped over the sofa arm next to me, and I keep pausing while I type to reach over and pet it. My precious. *nuzzles against face*

I love how the crafting revolution that's going on amongst our generation is reaching all aspects of handmade items. People like Amanda & Ashleigh are out there breathing new life into other oft-neglected arts besides sewing and quilting, and I think that's pretty freaking cool. 

...and speaking of cool, there's a lady at my office with a globetrotting daughter in college, and she's always bringing me fabric from all over the world to turn into things for her dorm room. Last time it was a printed panel of a scene from the Sahara, which I turned into a wall hanging. This time it was some absolutely stunning fabric from Tanzania. It's typically used as garment fabric, but she wanted me to make it into pillows for her bed. I fussy cut the blue and black print to showcase that fab medallion, and I may have snaked a few of the smaller scraps for myself *wink*  (I warned her I might the day before, just to make sure it was okay)

I forgot to take pictures at home, so they've been lovingly staged in my cubicle chair (ooh! ahh!). My friend Sherie snapped the photos with her iPhone and emailed them to me. She even knew to take one all-inclusive picture + close-ups of each pillow, without me having to say a word. That's true friendship, right there ;)

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A Griswold Family Christmas

The holiday weekend got off to a rough start for me. After experiencing a situation eerily similar to this, the Griswold Christmas Vacation continued when I was up in the attic and accidentally put my foot through the bathroom ceiling. The whole family was over for Christmas Eve and we were short a stocking, so I went up in the attic to grab one. I didn't bother to turn on the light because I knew the location of the box I needed, and while stumbling around in the dark, my idiot self thought there was a board over one section (where there obviously wasn't, lol!) and I stomped right through the ceiling. I let out a yell, and when Ray and his brother came running, my size 11 foot and part of my calf were dangling through the bathroom ceiling. Aside from a small bruise on my knee (and ego), I was completely fine, and we all got a pretty good laugh out of it! ;)

The good news is, it's not as big a deal for us as it would be for most, because my father-in-law and brother-in-law both work at the family roofing & drywall business, so fixing it should be quick & painless :)

The hubs and I are currently laying on the sofa watching mindless reality TV (Ice Road Truckers - woot woot!), so here's a quick Telschow 2011 Christmas in review...

These are the handmade gifts I mailed to my family in Kentucky. The Echino bag & Strawberry clutch were for my sister, the houndstooth bag for my mom, the box pouch sets for my aunts, and the coffee coozies for my mom and dad.

This is a plaid yoga mat carrier I designed for my dad. It wraps around and velcros in place. I didn't know the circumference of his mat, so I made the velcro strips pretty long to allow for adjustment. The inside is flannel to keep the mat from sliding around.

Another Sidewalk Satchel for my future sister-in-law. The purple Keyka Lou clutch was also for her, and the Amy Butler one was for my cousin.

Puppy Adventures...

Human Adventures...

 Zoolander.

 Blue Steel.

 I made homemade cinnamon buns - yum!

My mother-in-law drinking eggnog out of a gravy boat. Long story, but my husband's usual shenanigans are to blame ;)

My new cutting mat wouldn't lay flat, so naturally the logical solution was to lay on it (rather than re-rolling it in the opposite direction)

We're a crazy & colorful bunch, but we always manage to have a good time ;) 

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas with your loved ones (and Santa brought you all the quilting supplies on your list!)

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Savvy Seasons Swap 2011

I've been working on this for quite a while, but it kept slipping my mind to take photos...so I'm just gonna jump right in with both feet and show you the finished product!

My secret partner requested a table runner that could be used throughout the winter, and not just during Christmas (which is really good, because she'd only have gotten a week's worth of use out of it!), so I went with a winter snowman theme. The snowman block is 12", the two Winter Woolies blocks are 6" x 12", and the whole shebang measures roughly 18" x 38".

I've actually had this project sketched out since the day I got my partner assignment, but I had a devil of a time deciding on fabrics. I wanted to use linen, plus a mixture of traditional Christmas colors and a splash of blue. Coordinating those four things wasn't too difficult, but what really complicated matters was the tiny piecing. I needed to find red, green and blue prints that matched, plus in a small enough scale to show up well with the paper piecing. I finally settled on the three diamond prints from Kate Spain's Flurry line for the binding and sashing, a cute blue & white dot print that resembled snow for the snowman + Winter Woolies background, and another Flurry print called Nordic Winter Stripe for the back (which I love, love, love!). The hat and scarf are from an old Caleb Gray Groove print, and the green glove print is one I picked up a while ago at Joann's from the fat quarter rack.

Don't you just love Kerry's Winter Woolies block pattern? Everything she makes is so stinkin' cute! I added a wee little button on top of each toboggan instead of appliqueing the little ball on.

Here's a closeup of all that tiny paper piecing. Kerry's pattern is very easy to follow, and I promise it's not nearly as hard as it looks...it just takes some time :)

And I'm really loving this little guy because he looks like a stack of puffy marshmallows! I made him using 2", 3", and 4" snowball blocks, then added some free motion stick arms and button eyes.

And here's a shot of that Nordic Stripe print I love so much. I bought just enough to back this, but I'm gonna have to go back and snag some more for myself now. I don't know if you all have used this line or not, but it's SO stinking soft!

 And just for good measure, I threw in some kitchen towels because you can never have enough of them.

Here's my whole package ready to go out....the runner, kitchen towels, two fat quarters, various Flurry scraps, Coffee Crisp candy bar (I blame Kristie for getting me addicted to those!), and a cute notepad of two ladies eating cake that says "it's ok, it's organic!". Because as we all know, even cake is magically transformed into a health food when it's organic *wink*.

Hope you like it partner!

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Strawberry Pocket Clutch

It stinks because I really wanna tell you more about this pouch - like who I made it for and the thought process behind it - but I can't because I'm afraid they'll read this!

So all I can tell you is that it's a Christmas present for someone close to me, and it's not Ray (although he did think it was "cute").

I used Keyka Lou's Pocket Clutch pattern (which was incredibly easy, by the way). The most time-consuming part was cutting out the fabric, because it literally took me about 20 minutes to sew this puppy. And I liked how it turned out so much I made a duplicate for my shop! I'm slowly but surely managing to build up my inventory - a big thanks to those of you that commented / emailed me with tips the other day :)

And in case you're wondering where I got the fabric, the Navy Dot was from Joann's Premium Quilting Cottons section, and the adorable Strawberry print is from Hancock Fabrics (I don't know if they still carry it though, because I picked it up pre-incident and haven't been back since then, lol!) I know a lot of people rag on Hancock's and Joann's...yes, some of their fabric is really cheap, scratchy and/or thin, and 99% of their employees are oblivious to anything sewing related...but I actually find a lot of cute fabric there. You just have to be willing to dig a little bit! Because let's face it, they do have some nice stuff that most people would buy if they saw it sitting in their LQS - but since it's Joann's, they turn up their nose. I put on no such airs because hey, let's be honest, I come from a small town in Eastern Kentucky, plus momma didn't raise no snob. She can bargain hunt with the best of them :)

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What I did this weekend...

Aside from the cookie swap, this is what I spent my weekend doing...

My friends, family and coworkers have been after me for the past 2 years to get the handmade side of my Etsy shop up and running, because they'd like to purchase smaller items like these for gifts and whatnot. It's something I really wanted as well (which is why I swore off swaps earlier this year), but with buying a new house, family craziness, and working full-time, finding the time has been virtually impossible!

It's taken me until now to actually sit down and crank out a batch of items, and my goal is to add a variety of pouches, bags, home goods, and new quilt patterns and over the next few weeks. I'm hoping that now that I have this first wave of items under my belt, things will be a little easier to maintain and I can just replace each item as it sells one at a time (instead of my usual marathon sewing sessions). Wish me luck!...and I readily welcome any and all advice from those of you who have experience selling your handmade goods on Etsy!

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The Sewing Summit Post

The Sewing Summit was awesome - full of friends, shopping, and most importantly, FUN!

From L to R: Me, Cherie, Angela & Karen

I got to hang out with my NOLA MQG ladies, and we were reunited with Angela for the first time since she moved in May! We roomed together, which was pretty much an awesome 3-day slumber party. And bonus, our hotel bill was really cheap once split 4 ways (read: more money for fabric). The rooms at Little America were huge and posh, so we didn't feel crammed at all. I meant to get a picture of our sweet hotel room, but there were so many fun distractions that I hardly took any pictures all weekend - oops!

Angela made these cute little felt spools with our names and alter egos on them...

  

...and a sweet bunting for decorating our room door/alcove.

P.S. Ray and I were laughing at how I look like an Amazon woman in that first photo, lol! I'm a full head taller than everyone else. And then I showed him the pictures below, and we were cracking up over my huge circus feet (I wear a size 11). I'm excited to have kids one day, but not the actual "squeezing the baby out" part. I'm 5'8" and Ray is 6'2" (plus my dad is 6'5" and I have those genes floating around in my pool somewhere), so I'm pretty much going to give birth to a sack of potatoes.  "Congratulations ma'am! You're the proud mom of a sack of Yukon Golds"

 Cara wears a 5. I wear an 11....

...her shoe fit neatly inside of mine, like Godzilla swallowing Tokyo.

There was much additional tomfoolery...

Shutterbugs Michelle and Angela

We were debating over whether my extreme nostril flare or her "dental exam" smile was worse, lol

Cara gracefully mounting a bike rack

...and attempting to "ride" it - Tour de France, here she comes!

Twins!

This face is the epitome of Cara-ness! Adorable and mischevious ;)

We wandered around like lost puppies Sunday morning looking for an open restaurant. We accidentally slept through breakfast and I was ready to chew my arm off.

Karen made a new friend there, while Cara asked for him to be substituted into her breakfast "I'll have the french toast, except instead of fresh fruit, can I have bacon?" Love it.

None of us anticipated how dry the air would be in SLC and Angela's skin was cracking, so naturally she used a tampon after none of us could find a band-aid or napkin in our purses, LOL!

We're gonna submit this photo of Kristie to Mom's Gone Wild!

(photo swiped from Cara)

And lots of shopping, of course....

Our combined haul, including quilt shop purchases, swag bag goodies, and prize winnings!

My share of the mountain.

...not to mention eating!

We ran out to Material Girls during our 2 1/2 hour lunch break on Saturday, and made a little pit stop at the Rio Grande cafe next door. It was as awesome as everyone said!

Check out those freshly made tortillas! That dude stepped right into my picture. Side note...do you ever wonder what random stranger's vacation photos you're in? Some family in Sheboygan, Wisconsin probably has a photo of me in the background picking my nose in Disneyworld in their coffee table album, lol!

I had a Mexican Coke (yum! my favorite!) and Karen and I split the pork burrito - the sauce on it was mind-blowing!

And what's a shopping trip without dessert? There was a store in the little shopping center that melted candy bar pieces over your cookie of choice - YUM!

Yes please, I'll have one of everything...

But most of all, there were strengthened friendships and new friendships. Do you ever meet people, and instantly feel like you've known them for a lifetime, even though you've just met? I love that sense of immediate comfort and ease that comes with meeting "kindred spirits" like Michelle, Kristie, Cara, Jacey, Elena, Dana, Candice, Ali, and so many others this past weekend! My only regret is that I wasn't able to spend time with more of the people there, but there are only so many hours in a day :(

Our motley crew - Michelle, Me, Karen, Angela, Cherie and Cara - plus Megan, who I met for the first time at the end of the Summit! She seemed really fun and I wish I'd gotten to hang out with her more :(

And here's me headed home :( 

But at least I had an adorable new pouch from Jennifer to store my flight essentials in! It was the perfect fit for my ID, boarding pass and phone.

 

See you all next year!

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