Catching up on projects

Iphone Bags.  I needed a little pocket for my iphone and essentials for quick jaunts.  I finally found a great tutorial on YouTube, by CollenCherry.  I used some shibori pieces from a class I took a while back at Kuni's Island Fabric.  What a lot of fun that was!
Mods:  I added pellon, non-fusible interfacing.  I also placed the strap at 4 inches and left off the closure.  I hate not having closure, but then I digress.  I may add a grommet to one of them since the big blue space seems bare, and add some dangles.

Marietta as Rey
Pattern Galactic Girl, by Pixie Faire.  Staff from American Girl Ideas on YouTube video .  Purchased boots from Karen's Kreations Etsy Store.
I used scrap fabric for everything.  She looks a bit "clean".  The scarf was gauze that I tea dyed.  Her belt, bag and bracelet are ultrasuede.  Found out that the my machine needs a jeans needle to sew the ultrasuede.   Her staff strap is folded grosgrain ribbon and the attachments are fused jump rings and clasps.  I used the hot glue gun and duck tape to attach the rings.    I made good use of my Wonder Tape to hold stuff together so I could sew those tiny things.

The Great Quilt Refurbishing Projects

I had the interior of my house painted over the holidays and it still has not recovered.  I did find some quilts that needed a bit of TLC.

Baby's basket needed sewing back on.  This quilt was made by my aunt for the boys when they were little.  It has otherwise held up very well.

I made these two Irish Chain pattern quilts when the boys were small too.  It was tied and I used a sheet for the backing.  There were some spots and the sheet had shredded.  I removed the backing, used up my stash of Strawberry Shortcake flannel. and machine quilted it.  The roses are free-motion quilted.  I'm getting better at it as long as ya don't look too closely, lol.

I tried some 20-mule team Borax with my regular washing soap to see if the stains would lighten. It helped a bit.  I used fray check on the holes where the quilt ties were removed.

The impulse buy of the holidays, was the Janome CoverPro 900cpx.  It is the older model that only has two needles.  I have tried out a few projects.  There is definitely a learning curve.

The political scene has been troublesome and difficult to avoid.  I find myself listening to the blues.  Always a bad sign.  At least the weather has been great so this too shall pass.

A New Year

The holidays were put on hold due to house painting and a family member canceling a trip due to cataract surgery.  Yes it sucks to get old. The interior of the house was painted so a lot of stuff had to be moved and it's still not all put away.  I added on a floor and the blinds will have to wait as it takes awhile for stuff to be shipped here.  It's amazing how shabby things like rugs and cabinets can look after the walls become all sparkly white.  Not surprisingly I found I have too much stuff.  The sewing machine room table is still not done, so my huge fabric stash is filling up more then it's usual space.  The table will happen in two days, the same day I have a house guest.  (one of those crazies who actually enjoys running 100 miles at time)  After discovering that the boy bathroom upstairs which is shared with the guest room still looks a bit awful after multiple scrubs, I will have to offer the little used one in the sewing room.

I've been without my TV, DVR and Roku and watching TV on the 'putor is not as much fun.

I found a couple treasures including a 1944 penny which is lost already and the giant rubber cockroach that may be doomed for the donate box.  

So of course there is little crafting.  I finished a very simple baby blanket for the new baby next door.  I found the cutest giraffe fabric and flannel on Maui so I went with that.  I had two pieces of batting in stash, but alas they both pinned out too small.  So I just went with fabric and flannel for a light weight blanket.


I finished the Peace Cowl since I used bulky yarn and then missed several days while I was on Maui.  I had yarn for the Peace Hat, top-down.  I adapted the stitch pattern from the cowl.  The cowl and hat have gone off to Denver to live. 

Then there was the Koigu Peace socks.

Pattern:  Vanilla is the New Black by Anneh Fletcher
Yarn:   Koigu KPPPM colorway P529
Mods:  none
This heel construction was not one I'd tried before.  There are no stitches to pick up! 

The heel stitches look cool.  There is more room in the ankle area, but this was not a problem for me.  The Koigu is so nice and squishy.  I loves me some Koigu!

The last project is a Gator-pus for my Florida Gator, cephalopod-loving  (and blogless) friend the Dive Doctor.

Pattern:  Octopus by Hansi Singh from hansigurumi: Knitting the Peculiar
Yarn:  Cascade Superwash and Plymouth Encore.
This is such a clever pattern.  It is a bit fiddly but comes out so cute.    I stuffed mine with wool and used buttons for eyes since there are no children around.

I returned to Senior Fit to find the class is one hour later and has a new teacher.  This one drives us all a bit too hard and talks a lot, so I'm not sure how long I'll last.  Hopefully long enough to work of the holiday cookies.

Update 1/12/2017:  I decided to go with a hat for the gator logo.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2017!