Small Project Sew-along

I'm going to take part in my first sew along since in the first time in my life practically I now do not have the burden of school work. I wish I could replace school with an actual job but until then I will keep myself busy with the sew-along that is being hosted over at Crazy Mom Quilts. I think this will be the perfect first sew along for me as it is focusing on small projects and there is no set time table. I've had to think about what I would want to accomplish as most of my project goals are lap size or larger quilts but I think I've come up with a few ideas that have been percolating for awhile. Here is what I've come up with:

1. Finish the Eclipse wall hanging quilt
This has been an ongoing process (here and here) and it is really stretching my thoughts on quilting and allowing me to learn a few things as well.

2. A pincushion
I know that most people cut their teeth with pincushions when they first start sewing. I on the other hand jumped right in for a lap size quilt. I think it is now time to maybe retire the tomato pincushion I bought years ago and have something a little more stylish and me. I'm thinking about making it something like this (here) or maybe if I am really ambitious this (here)

3. A summer table runner
I found this really awesome fabric at my LQS and I think that the few fat quarters I bought are screaming to be made into a really fun table runner and possibly some mug rugs as well. See tomorrow's post for the fabric.

4. "Hemming" a skirt
I found this really awesome skirt at goodwill a few years ago but it really needs to be "hemmed". I put hemmed in quotation marks because really what it needs is about a foot off the length to be anything that can be worn by me (I'm 4'11'' so long dresses and skirts are a big problem). I have never officially hemmed anything in my life so we will see how this goes.

5. Making a skirt
Since I have never hemmed anything I have also never made anything that can be worn as clothing. I would really like to make this skirt and then work my way forward with making simple and stylish clothes.

6. A throw pillow to match my quilt
The quilt I finished last fall which I have started calling "cat magnet" since whenever it is out the cat has to be on top of it is begging for a matching pillow.

I have enough leftover fabric from it to a ticker tape style pillow cover. It shouldn't be that difficult and really won't take that long but is something I have been putting off now for awhile.

7. A Entryway Wall Hanging
I left this one till last because in a few months I don't know where or if we will be moving so it may or may not be needed. This is something I have been thinking about for months but have never really come up with a good idea on what I want to make except that it would be a quilted wall hanging for next to our door. This one deserves more thought and might not happen this summer.

There are a few other ideas that have come into my head since writing this but I think I will stick with this list for now. Be prepared though that if I don't get a job by the end of the month that the list might grow because I will likely be extremely bored and going crazy in the house. We won't go into the fact that if given enough time away from school/work I might just apply to go for my PhD.

A Major Finish

While it is not a quilt or in any way remotely related to crafting, I couldn't not post about finishing my thesis.







The experiments that are the meat of this thesis took me over a year to complete and the writing took just under a month. In all, the last year of my life is in those 103pgs.

Buried Under

There is so much going on right now that I just don't have the time or energy to really get into sewing right now. I have so many ideas and projects started that it is a shame. Once things settle down I should be better, but that won't likely be until June unfortunately.

I am currently messing around with english paper piecing because it is something I can do with my hands while watching tv in the evenings when I am relaxing. No pictures unfortunately but it is not really a fully thought out project and may or may not result in anything.

Until I have actual progress on something to show you, how about a picture of some kitties....

Vintage Quilt

This is one of the quilts I acquired/inherited from my fiance's grandmother's house when we were cleaning it out. This is also the only quilt I got that is still in one piece.



There is a story to this quilt too, like there is with every quilt. This one was made by a family member but no one is quiet sure who. It was remade I guess due to it falling apart due to age and general neglect. This is piece from the original quilt that was framed.



I wasn't totally into it in the beginning I am afraid to say. However having it sit in our bedroom and examining up close on a few occasions it has grown on me. In fact I am absolutely in love with it now and hope that one day I can make something this intricate and beautiful.

Fabric Find

I found this in the remnant section at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and I am finally getting around to sharing!
I don't know if they know what a remnant is because there is a lot of fabric folded up there. By my estimates (didn't measure) there is about 2yds of fabric there. And guess what, less than $4! Hells yeah.

It's pretty, now just have to figure out what I am going to use it in.

V-day Table Runner

Its done. Took me about a month when it really shouldn't have. I started quilting it with red thread on the back and white on the front but my machine was having fits with the tension so it looked horrible. So I went and ripped out all of the stitches.
I finally settled on this for the quilting....



It worked out kinda perfect actually.


Here is the back.



And in full disclosure my "Little Goofs" that I made on this quilt
1. The quilting like stated above
2. The binding, I somehow forgot to fold over the fabric before sewing it onto the quilt. It didn't end up being such a big deal because I just folded it over and ironed before sewing it onto the back.
3. I finished the morning after V-day...oops.

But #2 brings me to why I have a really difficult time finishing quilts...the binding. I ALWAYS have some sort of issue with it. This time it ended up looking fine in the end but I held myself up finishing it because I really had a hard time getting over my fear of binding. Something I'm sure I will get over with more practice.

Pondering the Life of a Quilting Blogger

This post is not meant to offend by any means, I am mearly curious and, well, realistic.

I have been following numerous quilting and craft blogs now for over 2 years. The women that write these blogs are amazingly inspirational and creative. However I find it really difficult to believe that these women are able to create and still have a life.

I don't mean that in a bad way but I have been reflecting strongly on my own life in the past few weeks. I would love to do what these women do, creating multiple quilts a month and seemingly have a perfect home, family and social life. But there are a few things that don't add up to me and something has to be falling through the cracks that is not immediately clear to the people on the other side of the screen. I've made a list, if this has already offended you or made you bored you don't have to continue reading but I encourage you to do this.

1. Finances
This is a big one for me. I don't know how these women do it. They all seem to be at home mothers with only one income and their hobby doesn't necessarily bring in anything. Some blogs I have come across do have their own small shops or have advertising on their blogs but that cannot possibly cover the expense. This seems even more baffling when you account for the fact that a lot of the time expensive fabric lines are being used to create quilts that are just for home use. I have no problem admitting that as a graduate student I have like next to nothing extra and my fabrics a lot of the time are Wal-mart or JoAnns on sale.

Am I just missing something? If you add up the expense of the quilt I am currently making out of lower quality materials it is about $50. That is just a small wall hanging. How in the world is it possible to live in a one income house, with small children and do multiple quilts that cost upwards of $100 a pop? To me this is where a large portion of my hobby is confined. I have a small stash of fabrics, mostly stuff I got on sale when the JoAnns near me moved. But that is it, takes up no more than a small set of plastic drawers. I wonder how much some of these women's fabric closets are worth if you were to add it all up for insurance reasons.

2. Relationships
This one is also really tough for me to figure out. I am childless for the moment, although Peter and I have been thinking long and hard recently about starting a family and when the right time would be. However, I would say 90% of the blogs I read are written by women with children under the age of 12. How do they devote so much time to crafting without letting some of that get in the way of raising a child. I'm not saying that they are not raising their children or that that they are raising them poorly by any means but I just can't fathom spending that much time behind the machine and raising a small child. Maybe this just comes from inexperience and never having had a child before but it doesn't add up.

Then there is the marriage. While not officially married yet, for all intents and purposes I am married to Peter. I hardly see him at all during the day because of our schedules with classes and such despite living together. When he is home I want to hang out with him and spend time with him as much as possible. I am sure this is not much different for some of these women but for some reason it seems like every free moment is spent behind the machine or at the iron.

Finally there is the social relationships. I know in my life these have been lacking and fall through the cracks. I can't fathom, unless you are sitting there quilting with your friend, assuming your friend has the same affinity for the hobby you do, you cannot be physically capable of sewing, maintaining your family relationships and you other friendships as well. There is not enough time in the day to nurture all these relationships along with a hobby that swallows all of your time, there just isn't.

3. Constant Creativity
How do these women be constantly creative without getting burnt out? I have seen this on some blogs but within a few weeks (or less) they are right back at being perfect and creative. This is something I struggle with a lot personally because while I might have the intent of going and sewing I cannot muster the amount of creative power this takes sometimes. This usually results in months and months without ever touching the sewing machine. It is not for lack of ideas a lot of the time, it is for lack of creating will.

4. House and Home
I admit it, my apartment is a mess and has never been and will likely never be perfect. For me it is a unrealistic goal to keep it perfectly tidy all the time. I live here, therefore it will not be picture perfect all the time, I don't think I would be happy if it was. With that said I am no slob either, you will not see me on the next episode of horders. A lot of blogs do give sneak peeks at the craft rooms after a particularly creative episode stuck it. But that is it. There are other blogs I follow that are Martha Stewart perfect all the time. It is just not realistic and you cannot tell me these women with children under the age of 5 have picture perfect homes 100% of the time. They why are they afraid to show it? Do they think that people would think any less of them if there was a pile of toys in the corner of a hamper full of clothes in plain view. I know I wouldn't and would be completely refreshed by someone actually showing the truth of the situation for once.

I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. I am not Super Woman or Martha Stewart. I have days where I where I sit in front of the t.v. and do nothing including cleaning, creating, being in a relationship. So that brings me to my final and probably most important question...

While this is a hobby that is fulfilling, what else are these women missing in their lives. Dreams never chased after? Places never visited? People never met? Things left unaccomplished?

Are we slaves to this because the blog universe says we have to create all the time and be 100% perfect while doing it? What are we willing to sacrifice to let others think that we are everything and then some?

These are all just questions and this is a long drawn out blog to get to the point I just made. I will continue blogging not for the benefit of others, because I am sure no one actually reads this, but for myself so I can track my progress and moments where I too am creative. I wish everyone could make a pledge similar to this, blog for you, blog because it helps, blog because it chronicles, blog because there is more to life than what others want you to believe there is.