Not Quite Vintage

cup half full apron for Renee

Today I celebrated Christmas with one of my dearest girlfriends. We have been friends for almost 12 years now and it is one of those rare friendships where you feel safe and confident at all times, where you can not see each other for a while and feel like no time has passed when you get together. Life has been crazy for us lately and it was so nice to make time for each other and just have a girls day. We had lunch, shopped for makeup at Ulta and sat in Starbucks enjoying coffee and hot chocolate. It was perfect.

Earlier this week I finished up her Christmas present - a cup half full apron from Anna Maria Horner's book Seams To Me. I purchased this fabric (Morning Call from Hoodie's Collection for Quilting) last winter because I knew Renee would love it - love the roosters. I really like how it turned out - roostery, but not over the top. She loved it.

Can I tell you a story about this apron. I finished it Thursday and needed to get the marks I traced onto the fabric so I would place the pockets in the right place. I grabbed the stain remover from the counter by the washing machine and sprayed... until I realized it was it was bleach clean up spray. Seriously. I threw it into the washer right away and washed it on cold. It looked okay but the darn chalk marks were still there, so this time I made sure I had the stain remover and sprayed away and washed again. They came out and the apron looked pretty good. After it dried I could tell very faintly on the pockets that some of the yellow was a bit lighter than the rest, but it really looked a bit more vintage than wrong. So I ironed it and wrapped it for Renee. Whew, present saved!

I did tell her the story and we laughed about it together. Stuff like this seems to happen to me all the time.

holiday mantel

It is beginning to look a little like Christmas around here! Just a little - actually just the mantel, but that is a step in the right direction. Last night I was able to finish my crochet star garland and I am in love with it! 

Tonight when I got home from work I pulled out my favorite pencil Santas and some thumb tacks and went right to work. Now that I look at the pictures I realize that the garland is uneven, but oh well :) Most everything else typically lives on the mantel and to make things a bit more festive, I added some red and green ornaments to my green McCoy planters. The fireplace screen and tools were my grandparent's. I cherish them (actually I cherish everything of theirs that was passed down to me). They never get used, my fireplace is gas and I really don't like using it and wish the previous owners hadn't converted it.

 

This weekend I hope to do more holiday decorating - two trees actually, one at my house and one at Pop's. Lots of decorating to do... and lots of crafting to finish too.

Thanks to The Royal Sisters for the wonderful Grandma Twinkle tutorial. If you haven't checked out the tutorial yet, you should and there is a Flickr group too. The instructions are incredibly simple and addictive. I have actually memorized the pattern and hope I get a chance to make some more - I am thinking of making ornaments out of them and use them when wrapping presents.

warm bread for a cold and busy weekend

What is a girl to do on a cold Saturday morning when she has extra ripe banana's sitting on the counter and there is a waffle shortage going on? Make banana bread of course. I pulled out Momma's old fashioned recipe - it isn't at all healthy, but extra yummy. It is one of those tastes you always remember and other renditions just don't hit quite the spot even though they are just as good and surely more healthy.

I had enough ingredients for three batches and it made eight nice sized mini loaves. Enough for Pops and I to enjoy and even have a few loaves to share and a couple to freeze. Mmmm.

After the banana bread making I spent a few hours at work. Yes, I just said I spent time at work on Saturday. Crazy. I am not used to being this busy (a big implementation happening over the next two months), but I am and on top of it all I have jury duty this coming week. Not perfect timing for work, but I am actually looking forward to the change of pace and a little time to read my book. Is that wrong? Saturday also included some shopping and a few hours spent with my Pop's. He even grilled for me in the below freezing chill. 

Today I have been crafting up a Christmas gift storm. By the time I shut off the sewing machine for the evening, it was too dark to take pics. None are finished yet, but I am making progress - yay! I will share pictures as I complete them.

I also started crocheting together my stars. I thought ten would be enough for my mantel, but I guess I attached them too close together and need to make four more. If I succeed at completing a couple tonight, maybe I will have garland to decorate my mantel with by Wednesday.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Have you been Christmas crafting too?

three tree block

My November block for the Pieced Together Quilting Bee is complete and in the mail just one day late... that is pretty good considering the month of November went by like a crazy, busy blur.

I am so glad I decided to take the time to work on this today. You know how after a really hectic day it is just so easy to sit on the sofa a veg for the evening? That is what I really wanted to do today, but there was this little twinge inside that said "do something creative tonight, it will make you feel better." That little twinge was right - I feel relaxed and accomplished... and now I am going to sit on the sofa and veg after I finish this post.

November's block is for Darci. She requested a Tree block for an unofficial Christmas Tree quilt. She supplied lots of lovely green and red fabrics - none of which were actually Christmas themed fabrics, but all together you definitely get the holiday feel from them. I had so much fun making this block. I love sewing tiny pieces/strips of fabric together so I I pieces two string trees, one tall and skinny and one short and stocky. In between I had fun with a few triangles. I think this is one of my fabric blocks I have made for the bee. I hope Darci likes it.

Check out some of the other cool trees in the Pieced Together Quilting Bee - they are all lots of fun.

This block has me wanting to find time to make lots of fun Christmas crafts and decorations. I am not sure if I will get to lots, but hopefully I will fit in a few in the next couple weeks. Up first is the crochet start garland I started a week or so ago. I have 8 stars done, just a few to go before I can string them together and decorate the mantel.

twinkle twinkle granny chic

I am taking a page from Attic24 today - she posted some amazing inspiration today and I just have to share. If you haven't checked out Lucy's blog yet, you really should - tons of lovely crochet and color inspiration!!

Today she posted some lovely granny chic photos she found in a Flickr group called aptly Granny Chic. I am so in love with this collection of photos. Loads of crocheted potholders, pillows, throws and more mixed with lifestyle photos that mix the old and new together. This style reminds me so much of my friend Renee and I inspire to add more vintage to my home. Actually, I have a lot of vintage pieces from my Gram and that I have collected over the years, I just need to display more of them (adding to my to do list... for after the Holidays).

In her post, Lucy also linked to a fun crochet star tutorial on The Royal Sisters blog. I was so inspired that I grabbed some cotton yarn and my crochet hook moments after I got home from work. The stars are so quick and easy to crochet and I have visions of crocheted star garland hanging from the mantel or a tree full of crochet stars at Christmas. I chose a white, red and robins egg blue color scheme. I thought it might look slightly Christmas-y without being red and green Christmas-y. After the fact I looked through my mail and saw that it matched the December issue of Living. Guess I have good taste - hehe :)

a new friend and a sewing project

I recently made a new friend and I am so glad I met her. Take a look:

I have been saving for quite a while for her. Too long. It seemed like every time I thought I was close to getting her I need to fix something in the house or on the car. Then of course there were all the stupid things I bought that probably added up to way more than she cost because I thought I needed them - you know, like a new pair of shoes, that things on sale at Target that I can't even remember anymore (seriously, Target is so bad for me - I can't leave without spending $50+), the lunches I bought out because I was too lazy to take less than five minutes to pack it. Anyway, I finally got it together and I am so happy.

And unlike when I bought my first generation iPhone, I didn't buy her two months before the new model came out. I waited and now I have a super shiny white MacBook that is super fast and has close to twice as much story as her slightly older model sister. She may be the least expensive model in the lineup, but she is everything I wanted.

And what does this crafter do right after getting a new toy? She searches the net for a great tutorial so they can make her a cover to keep her safe. I found a great tutorial on Sew Mama Sew by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson. I pretty much followed the tutorial exactly - it was super easy. I used some light pink fleece instead of flannel simply since I didn't have any coordinating flannel in my stash and I set out to complete the project without purchasing anything. One thing I would mention to anyone who works with velcro - be careful with the iron. Luckily I only got it a little bit, but I did slightly melt some of the velcro, oops.

 

I love how the case turned out. It fits snuggly and allows me to tote my MacBook in any bag instead of having to lug around a big laptop bag.

Oh, I forgot to introduce my MacBook's friend Magic. She is just as tiny and shiny but she doesn't have her own cover... yet. 

I need to stop calling her MacBook, maybe I should name her. I brainstormed some names (most were different ways to say white) but didn't come up with anything quite right. Do you have any ideas?

tiny log cabins and string blocks

Wow, I completed these quilt blocks close to two weeks ago and I am just now getting around to posting about them. Goodness time flew over the past two weeks... It has been busy, and I don't think it is going to quiet down for a while. Its a bit overwhelming at the moment but I am sure I will figure out how to juggle everything soon. More on all this later - this post is supposed to be about the quilt blocks : )

Up first are tiny log cabin blocks for Valerie. I must confess that every time I open up a Pieced Together Quilting Bee package and see paper piecing inside I cringe. Seriously, 4 inch log cabin blocks - wow. But look how cute they are. And Valerie set us up for success - she cut out all our pieces, supplied us with the pattern and the order of fabrics. After I laid out the fabrics is ready set sew fashion I was able to sew these up in about an hour.

And it was even fun ripping out all the little pieces of paper - weird I know.

 

Second up are four sting quilt blocks for Sandy. These were fun too... although when I neared the fourth block I wasn't quite sure I was going to have enough fabric. I always try to plan, end up running short and then everything ends up okay even after the panic. Am I the only one? 

 

Can't wait to see what blocks come my way for November and December! 

colorful inspiration

I am working on a design project for a close friend of mine. It has been a long while since I worked on a purely design project. My professional life has moved from graphic design into project and production management that is closely tied to technology and online systems. While I am in a 'creative' atmosphere everyday, I don't get to actively design pretty things anymore (at least at work, crafting and blogging helps fill the void a little). I miss it.

And to be even more honest, while I miss it and deep down I know the skill set still exists, this new design project has me nervous. And scared. It has been so long since I had an opportunity like this and the non-confident side of me wonders if I can still do it. In these situations I sometime get paralyzed by the white paper in front of me. You know, the blank paper of possibilities just waiting for ideas to be sketched on it?

Well that paper has been blank for a while now. Long enough that my sweet friend gave me a needed nudge yesterday. The nudge came at the perfect time. On Tuesday while driving home I had a brainstorm. I tend to get the best ideas when I back burner something for a bit and this one light-bulbed in the car while music was blaring out of the radio. Even though I remember the excitement I felt when I got the idea, the fear put it on the back burner once again. If it hadn't been for the nudge, it may have taken me a while to take the next step. Yesterday I did a bit of online research and the brainstorm evolved into an idea I am really excited about. An idea I so hope I can get out of my head and onto paper in a way that meets (exceeds would be even better) my expectations.

Last night I got out the sketchbook of pretty blank white pages and dug the colored pencils out of my old ArtBin caddy and started working. Goodness I forgot how much I loved colored pencils. Their smell and the noise they make clicking together brings me back in the day. Now if I just had a set of
http://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-premier-double-ended-art-markers/ Prismacolor markers like back in college. That would be a shade of heaven.

I am inspired and thinking positively about this project. And after it's complete I may just have to take a drawing class. And you know what that means? New supplies of course!

spiderweb block #3

September of the Pieced Together Quilting Bee brought another spiderweb quilt block request to my mailbox. I remember a few months back when I was soooo nervous to try paper piecing and now I can sew up a spiderweb block without following directions - crazy. Progress, that is progress.

I now love this block. Not sure if I would ever take the time to make an entire quilt myslef, but a pillow might be added to my crafty to do list for the near future. Ok, maybe distant future... I need to be realistic, with only ten weeks till Christmas I have a lot of other things to get moving on, like the project I bought all the fleece for.

pb granola bars

I have noticed that many of the gals out in blogland have been making their own granola bars lately. I have had success in the past making my own granola, so I thought I might try my hand at granola bars this week.

I have many, many recipes bookmarked, so I gave them all a once over to determine which recipe to start with. I settled on a Peanut Butter and Honey Granola Bar recipe from Active Life Cooking. Mostly because I love peanut butter and had most of the ingredients in my pantry.

They were super simple to make and while hard to photograph turned out pretty darn yummy.  If you take a look at the recipe it calls for your favorite “chaser” and “additives.” I chose flax seed as my chaser, sunflower seeds, almonds and dried cranberries as my additives and also included some rice protein powder (I try to stay away from all soy products and vegan rice protein powder was suggested by my niece as a good alternative – it is great in smoothies too).

The only one thing I may change next time is to toast the oatmeal a bit more before mixing all the ingredients together so that my granola bars might be a bit crunchier.

I think I will keep trying granola bar recipes so I can compare and determine which is my favorite. Anyone have any good recipes to share?