Summer Craftiness

It's well into summer here in Oklahoma; it's so hot Ava said this to me when we went to get Vincent from camp:

"Momma, it's so hot my brain hurts! Pick me up!"

Summer gives a me a chance to MAKE all the fun accessories I think of during the school year AND find on twitter and facebook. Here are some things I've made:

kindle cover out of up-cycled jeans

FAVORITE ballband dishcloths

princess-size purse

handspinning with Dawning Dreams batting

market Bag in dishcloth cotton

zig-zaggy wristlet
Bustle Backpack
Ruffly Tote from up-cycled jeans

Vincent's Americana Quilt

All of this, plus some more coming! Come back Monday for a Crafty Monday post!

Join the Hat Brigade!

I've been knitting hats again. Recently, someone shared with me that a dear family member had been recently diagnosed with cancer. I can only imagine what they are going through. I observed from afar my mother's diagnosis and treatment of stage 3 breast cancer. It is a horrible disease and there is so much suffering from it. I firmly believe that we are here on this earth to help ease pain and suffering in all people.

So join me.

Join the hat brigade. If you sew or knit, make someone a hat. If you are lucky and you don't know someone with cancer, make a hat for someone and take it to the hospital. I'm sure that the volunteer league could find a recipient.

Here is the hat I recently made for a special someone:

It's called Felicity. It's a slouchy, stretchy hat made with Berrocco Comfort. The yarn is an acrylic blend that is super soft.

HeadHuggers is an organization that helps provide hats for women recently diagnosed with cancer. There are groups from all over the U.S. and internationally.

If you know someone who has cancer or has been recently diagnosed, please find out how you can help them. I've found out that some people just need someone to listen. Or help with dinner. Or just be there.

Valentine's Day Card-making 2011

While at home for yet another snow day, Vincent, Ava and I made owl valentines this morning. We found the idea from FamilyFun, a great website for parents and teachers.

First use the template to cut out a teardrop shape and then fold at the top, making a triangle.

Then cut out 2 eyes. Vincent was tired of cutting teardrops, so we opted for the paper punch.

You're ready to glue! Print out your saying, get your eyes ready and glue all of your owl's details.

Finally, use up all of that glitter glue (that you have in the depths of your craft closet) and add colorful eyes to your owl!

When we finally thaw out, we'll cut little holes in the bottom for some twizzlers, lollipops or smarties.

This project was a little labor intensive. It took about 2 hours to make 30 valentines. It gave both kiddos some more experience with making art. I asked Vincent if he gets to cut anymore at school and he said, "only on occasion, in art class." Hmm, I see more art projects in his future....

I enjoyed the time AWAY from the chatter of the television and video games. Seriously, if we don't go to school soon, I'm going to start homeschooling....

Snowpocalypse 2011: What I Sewed

Last week, I taught school for 1 day. Yes, 1 day. Then we had a record-shattering snowfall here Tulsa.

14 inches of snow.

That is enough snow to shut a Tulsa down for a while. So, with the 4 snow days that followed (and there is still question as to IF school will resume Monday) I sewed. And sewed and sewed.

So first, I made 3 baby quilt tops. Using Aimee Ray's pattern, I made 2 blue and 1 pink quilt top.

My plan is to embroider them with the nursery theme. I'm planning presents for 4 babies this spring.

Also, I embroidered the onesies that have been sitting in my craft closet with more art inspired by Aimee Ray.

I have both of her books. I love how she has simple projects and simple motifs that are so pretty when stitched. Also, you can combine several designs to make a picture for a quilt, blanket, etc. Here's the link to her stitch along that just finished up last week.

Next up is a zippered wristlet. Last year, I learned how to sew a simple zippered pouch. The wristlet is just a handle attached - I found several tutorials and then took some of the design elements from them to create my own. Here's the tutorials:

2 little hooligans

Pink Penguin

Skip to My Lou

They have 2 little pockets on the inside for cards, keys or a phone.

I made progress on another baby blanket for one of those spring babies:

The pattern is Open Work Baby Blanket by Trudi Brown. It is an easy, 3 row pattern repeat. Of course, I'll be working on this tonight while watching the Super Bowl.

And guess what? School just called and there's no school tomorrow!

Do you YUDU?

Wow - I have an amazing, 9 year old boy now. Every year, I enjoy planning my kiddos' party. We've done Blues Clues, Shrek, Music/Drumming, Indiana Jones...So, what kind of birthday party does a 9 year old have?

A gaming party, of course!

And, what kind of party favors are appropriate for a bunch of 9 year olds?

Their very own PARTY SHIRT!

For Christmas, I received a YUDU - a home screen-printing machine. I'm thinking that I could use it to screen fabric for embroidery or to print some scroll-y doodles that I make. Auntie Teal created the invitation and the design for the shirt:

Here is the my first try at home screen-printing:

There is a little bit of a learning curve, but once I figured out how the emulsifying sheets worked, this really is a great little machine!

The shirts were a hit with the boys! The party was awesome - five 9 year olds running around, playing video games and then discovering that it was fun to play outside too.

And there was a little surprise bbgun gift from Aunt Jill:

Aunt Jill, you know I had to razz you a little bit. Still hearing "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

Finished Object: Rosey Little Bee Quilt

About a year ago, I signed up for my first online quilting bee: Rosey Little Bee. I've read books about women getting together (long ago) and working on a quilt. Well, quilting has changed a little since then. Now, with internet, women from all over the world can share their quilting hobby by way of a virtual bee. It works like this:

12-ish people agree to create blocks for one another. Each quilter is assigned a month for the year. For example, I was assigned September, so I sent out my fabric and block pattern to the 11 other girls in August.

After much sewing and cutting and thinking and thinking some more, I decided on this block:

The idea is by the end of your month, your fellow bees have made your block for you and when you get everyone's blocks sewn together, you have this:

I got a little excited about the blocks, and so I made one quilt with the blocks that were sent to me so far. I'm going to make another quilt with the other blocks.

What I liked about joining this group is that I learned to use different colors and to sew different blocks. I enjoyed this so much that I've joined another bee through flickr: 3 X 6 Bee. In this bee, you are joined with 6 other people, but this time, you make the same block 6 times, but in different colors. So at the end of the quarter, you receive 6 different blocks, but in coordinating colors. If you participate all year (optional), you will have 24 blocks to make a large quilt.

First Finished Object: A Cowl

I show you the first finished object of 2011: The Ribbed Cowl. I hope I don't sound all "so last year" but cowls are still pretty neat. I really have to dress in layers with my job and cowls are perfect. You can dress them up or down, especially by choosing a fancier yarn.

It's from Knit Simple's Winter 2010/11 issue. I really can't believe that this pattern is so simple. It is increasing ribs from 2 knits, 2 purls all the way up to like 13 knits, 2 purls. Basically, you cast on a bunch of stitches and start an increasing rib pattern. It's not even knitted in the round, just back and forth for 34". I made it in a basic brown, so i could wear it to school with just about anything...

I know that Loops carries the magazine, not to enable anyone or anything....