Not Quite Vintage

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!