!

How to make a T-shirt quilt

2009-08-05T23:39:00.001-04:00

It all starts with a giant bag of thrifted T-shirts. Actually a couple giant bags. The number of shirts you need for this is somewhat up in the air, and depends on how efficiently you use them. I only used the screened sections for my blocks, but I tried to vary it – some with a single letter some with entire image/text. I used the backs and leftover sections for the quilt back, trying to reduce waste!

What you need!

A couple big bags of old T-shirts

Sewing machine

Walking foot for quilting

Batting of your choice

Quilters square ruler (I used 4" square)

Self healing cutting matt

Rotary cutter

Scissors

Thread

(i think thats it!)

1. Clean out your closet and grab old T-shirts that have interesting logos, type, images on them. I decided to only use screened shirts, but you could use embroidered etc. Then supplement your stash with thrift store t-shirts. You can get them for like $.35 or at least I can around here. I didn’t stick with just adult shirts, I grabbed kids t-shirts too. Those actually turned out to be the best ones! I wish I could give you a total # of shirts, but honestly I didn’t count. And while at the thrift store, I sort of went wild! I recommend washing it all before you start!

2. Before you start cutting decide what size you want your quilt to be. Originally I wanted it to be 4’ x 6’ which would have been about 300-ish 4” blocks. As time progressed and ran out, I went a little smaller. My blocks were 4” and I used a ¼” seam allowance on each side so I ended up with 3.5” blocks. Assuming I want a 4’x4’ quilt, here is my unscientific and unremarkable math;

a. 14 Blocks wide (each block after my seam allowance is 3.5”) so 14 X 3.5” = 49”

b. 49”/12”= 4.08’ (Just in case 12”=1’!!)

c. I’m not a picky person, that’s close enough to 4’ for me.

d. To get total number blocks needed take 14 blocks (wide) X 14 blocks (high) =196 total blocks!

e. You can use this little equation and change the numbers as you see fit to make it any size you want! And use any size blocks you want. For this I thought it would look fantastic with smaller blocks (and I think it does!)

3. I used a handy dandy square ruler (you can find them in any sewing/craft/quilting store – usually in quilting section and in many different sizes!) This one is a 4” square! So I started cutting! I used good scissors to cut down the side seams and take the sleeves and collar off. So you now have the front and back of the shirts, put the blank section aside and only cut the screened sections (regardless if it is front or back or both)

a. I decided to stick with only solid color shirts, and mostly primary colors with a few random purple orange pinks in there for the heck of it! And of course, white gray and black!

b. I tried not only to use as much of the screened section as I could, but also to ‘compose’ the block before cutting, so it would be interesting. Some I plopped the square right in the middle and cut a hunk out, others I positioned it so that only a tiny bit of the lettering would be in the block.

c. Keep cutting, day and night until you have your total! In my case 196!

d. Ok, so you have giant stacks eh? I decided to tie bundles of 50 blocks so I could keep them organized and keep track of my total. I did this as I went and was much easier!

4. When you have them all cut I untied my bundles and dumped them on the floor, making a huge mess! This step isn’t 100% necessary but it makes laying them out and piecing it all together in a pretty and even and lovely fashion much easier. If you aren’t doing exactly what I did you can skip this step or change it to match up with your needs. Maybe yours is a black and green and pink quilt? Then take this time to separate them! So I then went about sorting them;

a. neutrals (black white gray)

b. warm colors (yellows reds etc)

c. cool colors (greens blues etc).

5. Arrange your blocks however you see fit.

a. This is a lot of blocks, so I made up my rows. I laid out 14 blocks that looked well together, then under them laid out another row.

b. Once I had about 4 or 5 rows, I stacked them up first block on top then wrote a little note with the number (1^st row, 2^nd row …) on it to keep them straight and pinned it to the top. That way I could go back and work on it and keep it fairly organized and neat.

c. Keep that up until you get all your blocks/rows worked out and organized!

6. Now its time to sew! Yay! I didn’t waste time by pinning each and every block! Egh!!! These are tiny blocks, no need. So I just slapped them together and off I went! Yay! Right sides together of course, and with a 1/4" seam allowance!

7. When I finished a row, I took the original little place marker and pinned it to the row so I would keep them in order and know which way was up.

8. Once you have a few rows done, sew them together! Yes I did pin these!

a. Right sides together sew them with a ¼” seam.

b. Do this until you have your entire quilt top!

c. A lot of people thought I would have trouble working with cotton (t-shirts) because it curls, but I really didn’t have any trouble, hope you don’t either – some people recommended using interfacing, I didn’t but of course feel free!)

9. By now you should have a lovely quilt top! Yay for you! It’s now time for the back!

a. I used NO patter, no logic, nothing.

b. Honestly I started cutting and piecing random (blank!) sections from the shirts with no rhyme or reason. I did this until I had the same size as my top.

c. Very simple! Very freeing to just cut and sew with no restrictions!

d. You could of course, use the same pattern as the front, or do anything you want! Use a few large pieces of flannel or any other cozy fabric!

10. Now this part has some serious cheating, or so I think, but its quick and easy. And I needed quick! Plus I have not mastered traditional and correct quilt binding….

a. So, now that you are cheating too – get a lovely hunk of whatever batting you’re using measure it so its all nice and even and fits your quilt.

b. Lay the quilt backing face up (right sides together, yes we are going to turn this!) with the quilt top ontop – (right sides together!!) then the batting ontop of that. Pin the hell out of it! I used big quilters safety pins for the center to keep my sandwich pieces together, and regular pins for my sides. Like I said this isn’t traditional …. So if you want to bind it traditionally please feel free!

c. Sew all sides, leaving a generous section for turning on one side.

i. As a little side note– yes it is a bit of a pain in the ass to sew with the batting all fluffy and fluffing on you and your walking foot, but you will survive! Just be sure you are sewing straight lines and go SLOW!

ii. I’m sorry I didn’t take photos of this process….seems like it would have been a good idea…

11. Now turn it! Isn’t it pretty?

a. Lay it out and de-fluff it, smooth it out really well, and pin it for top stitching and quilting. Pin the insides again, like you did before to make sure your sandwich is even.

b. Pin around the edges to do a nice top stitch and to sew up your opening!

12. Once its all top stitched and beautiful, you’ll quilt it! Again I used the large quilters safety pins to pin it all, and then I used (almost) stitch in the ditch quilting, again use any sort of quilting method you feel comfortable with!

13. When its all done, take lots of photos, wrap it up (if it’s a gift) in some great handmade wrapping paper, drink some homemade Mead, eat dinner and enjoy your work!

Excellent Weekend brings Excellent things.

2009-08-02T22:41:00.008-04:00

Really really was an excellent weekend. It should have zipped past as we had a lot going on, but it was one of those calm slow moving busy weekends. Very nice. Even with the kerfuffels - (Exploding and smoking cakes, burnt bread, etc.)

Friday night Andy had a few prints in a show that opened at KraftHaus, was a great time! Afterwards we ran over to Campbell County Library’s “Art After Hours” dealeo, which turned out to be fantastic! Tons of people were there with work and it was great to drink really gross sparkling apple juice and catch up with friends we hadn’t seen in a while.

Saturday was smoking (literally, bellows of smoke like a volcano in our oven) pineapple upside down cake…. The ‘topping’ which = sugar and butter, was too thick on the bottom of the pan and it seeped out and over flowed, dripping on the bottom of our oven and then burning off. This wasn’t just a few drips, it was several large pools, which as we scraped it up became huge blackened caramel sludge piles. We tried to save it, running around putting fans in windows and trying to scrape the goo and let the cake bake, but it didn’t work. Our entire place was filled with smoke. So alas we will try again this week. Actually it is the best fucking pineapple upside down cake in the universe. Andy made it a couple years ago (for his own bday) and it is amazing. From scratch, none of that cake mix crap! It was meant for Mr. B’s bday but it will be delayed a few days. Sorry Mr. B. But as you can see it was pretty before we baked it and also yummy...

And had some super duper homemade mead after a yummy dinner, Thanks Mr. B. Sr. ! I had a huge case of sewing machine envy.I wanted to tuck this under my shirt and make a run for it, but don't think that would have went over well...

BUT I did get to unveil my T-shirt quilt!!! Yay! It’s the secret project I’ve been working on! It was Mr. B’s bday gift. I’m working on a how-to for it, as I documented the process pretty well-ish. So I will get that up soon. Here it is! Yay!

Sunday brought ducks and geese and baby woodchucks.

Streetcar!!!! (or so I hope.)

2009-07-31T08:25:00.004-04:00

Streetcar?

How am I ever going to stage my own version of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' if Cincinnati doesn't get a Streetcar? RIGHT! I wont be able to. So if you live in Ohio I urge you to vote NO on the Anti-Rail Amendment! Voting yes would not just stop streetcars from being built, but also a passenger rail to Chicago, Columbus, and Cleveland.

Cincinnati could stop the entire project from moving forward. Funding transportation in our city is an amazing and logical way to produce jobs, stimulate our dwindling economy get people back down town! The construction and project alone would do this, let alone when the streetcars (or rail) is in operation!

If you'd like this handy dandy button click it to get the code! Or go to the various links in this post to learn more!

The Quilt Project!

2009-07-31T06:03:00.001-04:00

Just signed up for this project, very excited about it and can't wait to get my block!

I'm very excited about it, some amazing and lovely ladies in Australia are pitching in too! Will be fantastic! Wish us luck and watch for updates!

Also there is a flickr group set up for us, so you can see the progress!

Quilting, Stitches and Crafts Expo in Cincinnati Ohio!

2009-07-29T09:27:00.003-04:00

So I couldn't grab a larger image from the site or the actual coupon, here is the tiny one!

Regardless, here is the link for the show!

I can't wait! Yay!

Tiny clip - secret project!

2009-07-18T20:38:00.001-04:00

This is what I'm working on. Its a secret.

In this bag

2009-07-12T18:13:00.001-04:00

There is a really fucking fun project waiting for me. It's a secret. But I started on it today, so wish me luck, am pretty excited about it!

Sum

2009-07-11T20:18:00.006-04:00

This is what I did to our camera. Crushed the display. It still takes photos, unfortunately I can't see them, until I dump them into iphoto. So its tricky. Good job Miya!

Also, my hair has turned into a sort of strawberry shortcake orangesicle nightmare. Am helping it tonight. But this flower is really cute. Picked it at the post office. (was wild I promise)

My basil is absolutely beautiful and absolutely delicious, I used it in sauce and Andy put some in the salad dressing he made! mmmmm!
So. Today I was reading Popular Mechanics, and the cover story was/is 100 things every man should know. I didn't go into this with a feminist mindset, I assure you, I went into it with a "Those idiots, don't they realize every human should know these things?" mindset. Especially as I came across a few of the items on the list.

#66, escape a sinking car. Only men need know this? What if there simply isn't one handy after I've driven my car into a river and must escape? Right, so that means I need to know this too.
What to do in certain weather situations, tornado, flood, cold etc. Honestly now, who is more likely to be facing the elements men or women? Exactly, both! I highly doubt I'm going to be in a flood situation any time soon, but dare it happen I'd rather know that I should "get to high ground" instead of wading out into the dangerously high water...
Regardless, all is forgiven because of # 84. Stupidity and exclusion is forgiven, because, and I quote, "One of the most elegant mechanical devices in the home, the sewing machine..." Yes he called sewing machines elegant mechanical devices. And its true.

Also, I can't swim well, and this is always sound advice for those who vacation the graveyard of the Atlantic.

I know as well as the next person that poplar mechanics audience is not lovely ladies like myself, but it had some terribly useful information in this issue, things men and women alike need to know, not just our handsome male companions. So I encourage everyone of all ages, sex, color, size, etc to learn what to do when zombies attack, aliens invade, you catch your microwave on fire, your cat has rabies, someone puts a hex on your family, you bite off your tongue, you are stranded on a raft in shark infested waters or you are going to be outside in the cold for a very long time (I suggest knitting yourself a nice long scarf and mittens - I can teach you if you'd like.)

Edible craft

2009-07-01T12:19:00.003-04:00

So. I'm thinking about doing this.
Yup Craftster's Craft Challenge #41.

Make an edible craft - I just thought about it less than 5 mins ago, and my initial ideas are;

well, I don't have any yet.

I keep thinking that screen print/process cake would be really neat. Though that is art and not craft, not sure if I could pull it off regardless.

I am a huge fan of knitting, so maybe some sort of knitted concoction? Woven twizzlers?
I really like the idea of baked goods though, as I love to bake. Maybe I could bake a sweater shaped cake and decorate it so it looks knit?

Any ideas? You going to join in?

Would be fun.

Need to think..... hrmmmmmm

Elo!

2009-06-22T20:12:00.004-04:00

Remember me?
Hope so.
Lets see, growing basil? Yes, and doing well. Tomatoes, ehhhhh not so great. Cowhorn (hot) peppers? Excellent, doing wonderful!

Now that we're caught up on the state of affairs of my fire escape garden; Saturday I was very pleased to get to go to the Key in to Art party/opening on Saturday! It was a blast. Great art, yummy wine and food, lovely friends, black light face painting, pole/cage dancers. It was bliss.

Also started a little knitting project, haven't knitted in what seems like ages. Missed it.

But, before the party, before the food and art and half naked women and glowing faces and feathers, I went somewhere I never go. Somewhere I haven't been for years, 7? 8? 9? Who knows. Aside from the quick dash in to grab my darling nieces, I haven't been in my fathers house in several years. I took this very odd, calm, peaceful, and unlikely time to really look around. It isn't the house I grew up in, (that was lost to the airport a few years back, which was the house of my entire childhood) this one is newer, different unfamiliar to me. But all the 'things' are the same. So much is the same. New house, same stuff. Stuff from my childhood, things I wish I had, I wish I could see daily, glad I hadn't forgotten them, glad I had these moments to touch them, photograph them, really remember them.
These little bears for example. Aren't they funny little things? Covered in a thick layer of neglect and dust, they sit exactly the same as they did when I made them for my mother over 20 years ago. I was 8-ish. Amazing. They were the first real crafty type project I did, those and pinecone wreaths. I loved making those. I might make one or two this year at Xmas. I loved the smell.
Anyway, I had forgotten about them! These little bears! So old, so forgotten, but still sitting out, as if someone did remember them. When I exclaimed, and grabbed them up, chanting, "I made these! Oh god, I remember them! How could I forget? I made these for my mother!" My nieces were shocked, they didn't know I had made them, no one really did. I pointed out suddenly several things I had made, broom decorated in very country-ish dried flowers and bow, funny little hat with hot glued dried flowers, (things I now would never want or hang in my home! hahaha, but beautiful and special to me, because I made them as a child for my mother armed with a hot glue gun.)
It all flooded back to me, it was the neatest thing. When my sister got home, she showed me an old doll that was mine when I was a toddler, I remembered it instantly and snatched it up clutching it to my face and chest. I wanted to take it then, but she promised I could have it, just not yet. Of course I understood. And I placed her delicately back alone in the closet.
I wish I had been able to take more photos, but the batteries died. I was pleased that someone there was growing tomatoes, and their attempt was much better than mine.
The girls and I made homemade pesto for pizza (from scratch!) and I whirled around the little house unsure what to think of all the memories that were hiding. For the first time since I was a young girl, I think....I can't wait to go back.

2009-06-06T11:33:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted about anything I'm making or working on in a while. Mostly because I haven't really been working on much. But here is a skirt and a mini garden that is keeping my interest at the moment. Very excited about tomatoes, hot peppers, basil, and parsley growing in my apartment!

Sew, Mama, Sew!'s Sewing Machine Meme

2009-06-03T08:24:00.002-04:00

As part of Sew, Mama, Sew!'s Sewing Machine Meme, (for Sewing Machine Month!) Here is my addition; Yay!

What brand and model do you have? Singer Traditions

How long have you had it? 1 year

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? $70.00-ish

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? Quilting, clothing, purses, wallets, plushies/dolls, paper, random things.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? If not every day, every other day. It seems to hold up pretty well, I use a can of compressed air to get out some of the fuzzies that build up, but it seems to do well.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? As it is my first real sewing machine ( I piddled around with a hand me down that was broken, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it a long time ago.), I love it to pieces! But would like to know a little more about the inner workings, how to get in there to oil/clean...don't know if it opens??

What features does your machine have that work well for you? It's super basic, so I don't have any bells and whistles. But it works well for me.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? Not really. We're both pretty low key!

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! I'd wanted one for ages, but my husband and I are students and on limited income, so I refused to spend the extra money. One day last year we were at Target, and they were on super sale, it was the last one for $69.99 and he grabbed it put it in the cart and told me to shut up. (He's great, I love him.) He even took photos of me with it when we got home!

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Absolutely, especially for a beginner, or a child who is learning to sew. It really is a basic no frills machine, but it can do everything I need. I invested in a walking foot for my quilting and have picked up other things from garage sales, but it is perfect for me!

Do you have a dream machine? I wouldn't know what its called, but I'd love to have some sort of long arm machine at some point!

New home

2009-06-01T21:24:00.001-04:00

It seems that Vince and Mola Ram, are becoming fast friends.

Zoo day

2009-06-01T19:13:00.005-04:00

Sunday I took my nieces to the zoo. It was the perfect day for it. Absolutely gorgeous weather, very mild, with bright blue skies!

We had a lovely day and were total dorks running around the zoo for hours.

Lexi looks very concerned...i think she was running low on food for the goats...

These birds were serious bastards. This one, stole Ashley's dish of nectar and spilled it everywhere. I love this action shot and the look on her face. heheheheh

And mine kept biting the shit out of my hand. I fought him for the cup too, in the end he won.

She is amazingly stunningly beautiful (ashley not the moth, though its nice too).
She thought it would be cute to fake my epic win, bird in eye gag, mine is so much better!
And to leave you with a little snack.

YAY!!!! 2nd Unbirthday Package arrived today!

2009-06-01T14:11:00.005-04:00

Hip Hip Hurray!

First let me give you some back story about my day. Lovely little day, with its highs and lows. Woke up extra early and went for a brisk little jog (ended up walking most of the way because I am that out of shape, but I'm working on it!) with Andy. Regular little day at work, la la, went to lunch, stepped in giant pile of gooey light brown dog poop, left flip flop in poop, hobbled to car, went home, washed foot (though really it was poop free, just a precaution) put on new pair of flops, came back to work, and found a lovely pile of little packages! Yay! Really needed the pick me up after the poop incident.

I've only opened the one, from darling wonderful Peta Jane, it's my 2nd unbirthday package!

I'm smitten, absolutely smitten! She made me some really great things! And packaged them so lovely!

I love this ribbon, its so rad!

And these, dear lord in heaven, I don't know how to express the insane LOVE I have for these! How completely PERFECT! BAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I am a little slow some times, but I am pretty sure she intended these to be coasters, but I don't have the heart to set a perspiring beverage on these amazing little mini-B movie posters. I LOVE THEM! Think I'm going to pin them on the wall above my sewing machine, so I can admire them often. Love them!

Lovely sweet fabric! Yay!

And last but not least, Vince. My dear dear friend Vince. How I love thee. Not only is he a little vampire, he has a green bow tie! BAH! FREAKING ADORABLE! PJ, you are fucking wonderful!
Thank you so much for such a lovely swap!!!!

I'm a liar. A total liar.

2009-05-29T16:02:00.004-04:00

Ok? I admit it.

I had told myself and some of you, that I was going to take a swapping break, that after this round was finished, I was going to stop for a little while... I'm too busy with school, and work and my own projects, plus I just finished a wild swapping binge of 7 at a time.... And I was fervent about it. FERVENT PEOPLE. I needed a serious swap break.

But then.... well just a mere 4 days into my promise, i see this.

I mean seriously? I couldn't, wouldn't pass this up if I was on my death bed. Fucking 50s B movie swap??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Holy hell! Giant monsters that eat people? Check. Vampires? Check. Gooey aliens? Check. Dogs with giant wigs trying to look menacing? Check. Well then, say no more!

Sigh.

A stronger woman would have passed this up, and I would have laughed at her while I sewed each stitch on my (attack of the) killer shrews plushie. Not saying thats what I'm making for it, but you never know. Man that was a terrible movie. Loved it.

This is the best theme ever! I am so excited to see what I get in return, am sure it will be amazing! Likeeeeeeee werewolf slippers! Or grow my own evil mutant mushroom kit, or MUTANT MUSHROOMS! Or a vampire plushie! bah! Am so excited!

Ok am going to calm down so I can send the email to join in! I hope you join in too!

Have a good weekend (& send me really really really good swapping karma for this one I've never been this excited about a swap!!)

First Unbirthday Swap package has arrived.

2009-05-27T14:30:00.003-04:00

Today I received my first unbirthday swap package. (Uneven # people meant I had 2 partners -yay! - 1 person dropped out meant I had 3 partners! wow!)

This one is from Jenni -
Pirate eye patch
beads
tin with glitter and confetti
wooden blocks and such.

Gibson had a nice time with the eye patch

White & green swap package

2009-05-11T18:14:00.002-04:00

I got my lovely little swap package from the white and green from Stephanie

She made me some lovely little coasters, and included lots of little goodies! Really am pleased with the cards with the letter M.

And once again felt I needed to tell you/show you how amazing this movie is. See it. Find it.
Matango

You should see this, really. Ok?

2009-05-11T07:31:00.000-04:00

Matango is by far the best movie I have seen in a while. Was beyond smitten with it. I encourage you to check it out. Make sure you get the subtitle and not dubbed, am sure something would be lost in dubbing.

Excellent.

Sorry it took so long!

2009-05-09T10:40:00.004-04:00

Ok. I've been derelict in my photographing duties. I still didn't get to catalog everything. But did get a few. As you saw from the earlier post, everything was wrapped individually and adorably . Each package had a unique tag and ribbon, which i very much enjoyed!

It was hard to open one take a photo, far to organized for me. It was melee. So this is a rough account of the giant and wonderful Vintage swap package I received from Shara!

Lovely cigar box filled to the top with TONS of vintage goodies, everything from sewing and knitting notions, an ancient ash tray, wrestling cards, and some AMAZING post cards, one with the postage mark of 1908. Beauiful. Lovely black and white photo of a young lady, and much more!

Of course, you got a sneak peak and this! Its so super! Shara made it for me! We aren't a waste paper basket sort of house, so I'm using it to store all my tissue paper for swaps and trades and packages.
An. Original. Box. Of. Shrinky. Dinks. Unopened. JC Penny tag wearing off with age! I love it! Adorable childerens books, sewing patterns, comic books. It was a huge lot! Loved it!

THIS IS A WARNING POST

2009-05-06T12:48:00.001-04:00

Do you see this stack of packages? Do you? Are you sure they aren't some lovely little mirage?
Thats what I thought. Can you tell how freaking gigantic the bottom box is?

And, well, you know, um, they're all for ME!

This, this right here, this little label/sticker is proof that its for me. The sender could have left off my name and just had this patch from "the brain eaters" and I'm certain it would have gotten to me just fine! Thats how exactly right that damn box was for me!

Then, well I opened it. And a gigantic pile of insanely wonderful packages spilled out!

I decided after opening two, that I must stop, wait until I can take proper photos, and really just enjoy opening this absurdly giant and lovely swap package! Will have a full report later. And trust me, it will be giant. Because I haven't even touched the other two yet! =)

Lovely swap package

2009-05-05T15:25:00.004-04:00

Excellent swap package yesterday, from Jenn! I am smitten with this book. Simply smitten.

I didn't get excellent photos of everything, because Andy and I started digging through the large package! Needless to say it was lovely, lots of sewing notions (vintage at that!!) lovely vintage tin, stuffed with more goodies, this amazing book published in 1924, candy, oh all sorts of things! Was great!

Unbirthday swap closed - Emails going out!

2009-05-05T11:26:00.002-04:00

You should get your email today or tomorrow. If you do not get an email with partner information in it by Wednesday please email me! If you thought you were doing 2 packages and only got 1 name email me!

I have most of them sent out already!

Enjoy your swapping!

M

Signups for Unbirthday Swap end Monday (May 4th)

2009-05-01T16:31:00.007-04:00

This is another lovely sweet adorable and very pleasant reminder!

Signups end MONDAY!

We've had a great response, lots of people from all over the world have joined in,US, Singapore, New Zealand Australia, Germany and Canada! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So hurry up! Sign up info is HERE!

Busy Bee, is me.

2009-04-30T07:45:00.002-04:00

Last night I was a productive little Miya the Bee. I made this little improv patchy zipper screen pouch (mouth full hu? I just don't know what to call it?!) The intention was to list it on etsy, but when I was finished I really loved it SO MUCH, I couldn't! I had to keep it for me. I usually don't do that, as honestly I don't NEED it. I don't carry makeup, heck, I don't wear it. I just don't carry much that would require an ultra rad pouch. (This isn't a good marketing post for my shop is it?) Ok, I mean I always carry lots of makeup and nail polish and materials in these little pouches, the possibilities are endless! =)

Seriously, we're all adults here, right? We all know zipper pouches have endless carrying power, change, electronics, random art materials, use as a wallet, carry lunch in, rocks, leaf collection, bobbins, I don't need to fake you out. Get organized buy or trade for a zipper pouch! (just not this one!)

Lovely piece of the fabric Andy printed for me, with some great pink!! Yay!

This is what my little "inbox" on my desk is looking like right now.... overflowing with projects and materials...

AND Jenn, got her package so I can post a photo of her little wallety pouchy!

Last but not least, my favorite really, more lovely printed fabric he did, this time two color. This was a little pouch he asked me to make for a friend of his. Super hope she liked it! Was smitten with the lining fabric, only had a sminge of it, just enough. It was from my scrap fabric swap!

Yay!
M

Trade extras and surprise sunshine

2009-04-29T14:26:00.004-04:00

The sun peaked out just in time for me to drive back to work (from lunch) which was such a nice treat, as we have giant thunderstorms in the forecast for the rest of the week. And I got a lovely package! I did a trade with this amazing etsy seller, Wilmoth Farm's - a little pouch from me and some lipbalm for me! How wonderful! Love Etsy trades!

So continuing with her lovelyness, she included lots and lots of surprise extras! ! Yay for me!

Two bars of delicious handmade soap, and a sample of some very intoxicatingly deliciously scented Lemon Basil laundry powder. AMAZING! Can't wait to do laundry (hahahaha!) Seriously, smells amazing. Want to eat it. Ok, I wont. And the yummy lipbalm is super silky! yay!

Food porn.

2009-04-29T12:19:00.003-04:00

Everyone in my house, (there are like 2 of us and a cat...)
Are really lucky that I am not going to make THIS.

Because if I did, we would quickly die from clogged (even more so) arteries, serious obesity (even more so), and rotten teeth and malnutrition. Because I think I would eat this every day. Not just once a day, this would be a new staple in our house hold, I'd be buying and baking cakes and making cheesecakes just so I could do this. I'd make the cat eat it, I'd serve it at parties, bring it for lunch, and snarl at people when they eyed it.

Dear god, I want to make it so fucking bad! I mean its like food porn.

SO BAD!

But you can make it, just don't tell me about it! I don't want to know how extremely delicious it was...

Sign up for Unbirthday swap

2009-04-26T21:01:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to sign up for the unbirthday swap!

Bright spring afternoon

2009-04-25T13:45:00.003-04:00

Lovely, lovely afternoon.

Andy suggested we take some work and go to the park, so we did just that. I grabbed an old blanket and off we went! Turned out we didn't do much else except lay in the sun and talk and talk. Was perfect.

And last night I made a little pouch, (yes more pouches) I was having a bit of an experiment with textutre, I did a pleated panel, and used some 'bumpy' upholstery fabric. Turned out pretty neat.

Hope its sunshine and puppies where ever you are.

M!