Crafting on hold - Or what happened this summer

I know it's been a while. We've had quite a summer I must say and the craziness is not over just yet. After working hard for a few weeks to get our house ready for sale, and selling it in 4 days, we went into a packing frenzy right upon returning from a short vacation week in Canada and moved temporarily in a tiny apartment the first week of August.

We then went house shopping and thought we were all set, having found a great house, in a great neighborhood, and a great school district. The contract was signed and we had started to make plans... and then the appraisal came back lower than the sellers had hoped. Much lower. And they would not budge. Well there we are, back to house shopping, and still camping in the same tiny apartment. Not fun. 

I did manage to set up a small crafting area in a corner of our bedroom. A desk large enough for my sewing machine and large drawers to store some fabrics. But all that extra stress really put me in a craft funk. I've had a hard time starting anything new, or even finishing anything at all. Some how I did get some sewing done still. Mostly baby quilts :). And finally I will be able to post about that. Finally ?? Yes during the big shuffle, my camera accessories  got misplaced, probably in our storage unit so I had no way to get photos out of my camera. Major bummer. Finally this week my hubby got me a new connector and YAY I was able to load some 800 pictures on my laptop - Not just craft stuff, a bunch of family photos and house shopping photos too :)

I will have a few new things to share in the next couple of days. Until we have found a new place and moved in, the posting will be scarce I'm afraid but I hope you will bear with me.

Striped chiffon scarf

Ideas come often at the least expected moment. While reorganizing the top shelf of one of the cabinets in my studio, I bumped into a box of chiffon scraps left over from my scarf sewing marathon last year. And I found the perfect match to a couple of them almost immediately. I whipped 2 scarves and a wrap in two sittings: Tuesday night and Saturday morning. Here is the first one I finished. 

Pink and cream tiny floral stripes, married with a light grey and shabby pink turned into a very feminine kimono scarf. 

I took advantage of the fantastic fall weather for some outdoor photos. Probably one of the last chances I get to do this before it gets too cold.

 

It will go to Cheryl, one of my fantastic readers and a quilter, who send me a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" quilting panel she wasn't using so I could make a second quilt with it - Thank you Cheryl!!

Oops, I shopped - The loot

As promised here are pictures of the loot I brought back from my shopping expeditions in Pennsylvania:

A few zippers ($2)

Lace appliqués  $2 for 6 pieces - I got 3 sets of 6

Beaded appliques ($1 a piece)

Ruffled trim ca. $4 for 18 yards spools

 

Eyelet lace - $4 for a 18 yards spool

Large ribbon spools ca. $5 for 100 yards

Smaller spools 4 for $1

Elastic - $0.30 per bundle 

And buttons fished out of a huge caldron ... $6 for a pound - I got 12 ounces

 I also got a few yards of fabric for $1 a yard and some lace for Amie - Kitty Cats and Airplanes (she shopped with us by proxy via texting and photos...

From the back seat

Good morning my dears,

I know I have been scarce lately and I'm going to be scarce a little bit longer. So many things are going on right now in our lives that I'm having a hard time keeping up. Despite my efforts to keep up blogging has been taking the back seat.  I have a whole line up of projects to show you but no time to make it happen. I've decided it would be best to just regroup and be back in few days.

To keep you entertained I may just repost a couple of older projects that deserve a second look. If any of you is interested in guest posting in the mean time, just email me. 

Thank you for your patience!! I'll be back soon.

Ultimate Blog Party

Welcome to my little slice of the blogiverse,

My name is Caroline, I'm mom to a sweet little girl and wife to my best friend. 

7 years ago we put  down our bags in  Maryland and bought a fixer upper house that we spent a lot of time renovating. Now that it is pretty much all done, I craft. Crafting is my therapy to stay happy in the whirlwind of life. It takes a bit of organization to  save some "Me" time between family, marriage, household and work. And "Me" time is dedicated to creating and blogging.  You can find out more about me here.

I  mostly sew: 

     

     

  

Quilt 

  

And craft 

      

But i recently "fell into" jewelry making

     

I hope you will enjoy the visit and come back soon,

How you can help Vanessa and family

Dear readers,
I just found out that sweet Vanessa from V & Co is in a family crisis. You can learn all the details here. So if you want to help, head over to her store. She has lovely patterns like this adorable play food cake and some fabric bundles for sale. Time to shop.

strawberry shortcake with detachable frosting

  

  

  

Thank you - 3 times thank you

Thank you so very much to all that took the time to write a support message. I truly appreciate the kindness and it helps tremendously. Kindness and empathy are such a blessing.

I'm still in a bit of a crafting slump (all I have done lately are fabric flowers) but I used up the time organizing and de-cluttering the house some more. I have a trunkful of various items to be donated to Goodwill and a cleared up guest bedroom to show for it. 

Amie (Kittycats and Airplanes) and I may be going craft shopping together this weekend. I hope we can work it out and hopefully the inspiration will kick back in for both of us.

In the meantime, does anybody fancy guest-posting ? If you do, please email me.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE 

Oh and I just noticed the counter ... 250, I say wow, whoop whoop and thank you for joining my blogging experience. Stay tuned because there will be some very special gifts for you very very soon. 

Networked !

You can now follow 

on

 

  

Facebook

 

Visit of a Kitty Cat

It's oh so very late. 1am and I'm finally heading to bed after a really great day. I had a great visitor today: Amie from Kitty Cats and Airplanes. As it turns out, after her move across the continent a few months ago, Amie is an almost neighbor, less than half an hour away. We have been talking about crafting together for the past couple of weeks and today we met at a mall nearby and headed to my house where we spend a few creative hours. We had decided that we were going to teach each other something new so Amie gave me a crash course in beading/jewelry making and then I showed her how to make a ruffled scarf. 

I had so much fun with the jewelry making that I played some more after Amie left. Way too much fun : I lost track of time completely... 1am !!  OK now I'm really going to bed. Tomorrow I will tell you more about our "skill trade" adventure. 

Good night !!

Tutorial - Satin ornaments

Last friday, this little tutorial was first revealed @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff but in case you missed it there it is again:

Supplies:

- Fabric scraps - I chose satin and organza because I regularly raid the Joann's remnants bins to make dress up clothes and I always have a selection at home.

- If you are using satin or organza some Fray check

- Ribbon or golden string - about 5" per ornament

- Stuffing material - like Fiberfil

- Tissue paper and pencil

- Pins

- Sewing needles and thread

- Pinking scissors

- Sewing machine (optional but preferred)

- PDF pattern - or your own shapes- (I tested a lot of different ones and these worked the best)

First trace the outline of the ornaments on tissue paper - Not only is it faster to trace on tissue paper than on fabric but for lightweight fabrics it helps prevent puckering/bunching while machine stitching.

Download the pdf HERE

Cutout the shapes and place on your fabric - Leave a 1/4 inch sewing allowance when positioning the shapes. The fabrics should be placed right side together.

I used 3 layers for these ornaments : 2 layers of satin and 1 layer of organza with sequins

Cut a piece of golden string or ribbon about 5" long and tie the ends as shown below. The knot will prevent the string from getting pulled out from the seam.

Pin the string in position, making sure you are between the "outside" layers if you are using more than 2 layers and that the knot will be inside once the stitching is done.

Stitch the outline with your sewing machine, leaving a small opening (3/4 inch) preferably on a straight segment.

Pull the tissue paper away

With the pinking scissors, cutout the shapes leaving a 1/4 inch allowance

Dab some FrayCheck on the opening if you are using satin

Carefully clip excess fabric in the "peaks" and make a notch in each "groove" to avoid bulk/puckering once you turn the items right side out. There is a great tutorial here.

Turn the ornaments right side out

Carefully stuff each item and sew the opening. Remember that overstuffing will make it harder to stitch

A few stitches to close the opening (this is actually the step that takes the longest)

and there you are:

It is so fast I made four dozens of those in a weekend to give away and use on my tree and around the house. I even personalized a couple

You can win some by entering my current giveaway until December 11th - see the link in my sidebar

 

Linking up to some of these parties