Resolutions

I have two:
"Old Year Resolution" - I am determined to organise my rather large bookshelf in the lounge. It hosts the majority of my "library" plus silver frames and vases. When we moved in, the packers simply shoved any and all books they could find onto the shelves as they took them out of the boxes and the books have remained in that disorder ever since.

Usually, I separate cook books from travel guides, biographies, and "coffee table books" and group each lot together. Then I alphabetise the rest. Sounds like a horrendous amount of work but actually isn't all that bad.

And I am planning to have that done by the end of the year, meaning ideally December 29 because we'll have guests from December 30 into the New Year.

"New Year Resolution" - a gratitude journal with minimum one entry per day. A few days ago, I bought Park Avenue, a magazine featuring interviews of celebrities. It came with a neat little black diary, which gave me the idea. My plan is to keep this in the drawer of my nightstand together with a pen and make my entry before I switch off the lights. So much to be grateful for ... I'd like to be able to look back on all those little things to stop them slipping from my consciousness.

Fiddle-dee-dee

Instead of folding laundry last night, I attempted to mark the swirly lines with my aforementioned colour pencils, no dice! Apparently, they only really work on plain FLAT cotton. Oh well, so I wielded my needle and used thread to mark the lines. I'm quite pleased with the result, less so with the photo:

Chemical Solution

Also, I have sort of found a solution to my "attachment" and "bunching" issues with the dragon quilt: spray on glue from Prym. It should arrive on Friday ... yet another reason to dread continuing working on that quilt.

Such a fiddler

I am! I found a few spots on my Turning Twenty quilt where more of the white thread was showing than I would have liked. So I added more beads. And at the rate I am going, I have to un-declare it done, because I just know I will add beading to the center.

Ages ago, I bought cheap-oh coloured pencils at our local Aldi in Didsbury, Manchester. They smell funny but they are just GREAT for marking fabric. I guess it is because they are a bit soft ... but the yellow works really well on dark fabrics. And I will probably add a swirly design picking up on the lines pre-determined by the earlier bits of beading.

So the TT saga continues.

Future Gifts - yet another addition to my list of UFOS

UFO - redefined as unstarted fabric object. Oh well ... I was going through some of the links I added a few weeks back and decided I was going to drop those. But I wanted to hold onto the Rice Heat Therapy Bag Tutorial over on Sew Mama Sew. One day I will turn them into a gift for my god-daugher, for whom I also plan on doing a Chinese Coin quilt from some of that Kaffe Fassett extravaganza I purchased when I was bored time before last.

Can you see a pattern: links or ebay ... I'm bored.

Christmas Preparations

are full and well underway. I also remembered to order gifts for myself ... such as a Daylight Company lamp for my soon to be set-up craft area:

and a new bigger cutting mat.

I'm more than halfway through my Christmas correspondence:

but need to take a photo of the girls to include in the cards.

My Advent wreath is done as well:

Before: the new trend appears to be needles and leaves ...


and I think I'm getting a bit sick of this "design" that I had for about five years. I may try something new next year.


And my little helpers were manufacturing gifts.

Snug as a bug in a rug

Last year I made my hubby lug most of my potted plants into our garage, where he then had to construct a contraption holding a plant light set by a timer. I then constantly forgot watering so that he had to do that too ...

This year I went and bought bubble wrap and red gift wrapping bows et voilà:



I hear it's all the rage amongst plants this year.

Patterns galore

I'm drooling: Robert Kaufman's Quilt Patterns, I especially like Color Theory and Kasuri Gesiki.

Quilt Retreat Bad Herrenalb 2008

I am currently trying to book myself into the Quilt Retreat in Bad Herrenalb, Black Forrest, in October 2008. It has limited places still available. And I have a plan for a quilt based on a San Francisco street map. I spent one semester attending SFSU in 1992 and this would be a nice way of remembering ...

All in a day's work

After doing the math, then cutting too many squares, I set off to iron them into individual prairie points just in time for the UFO sewing evening at my local quilt shop.


Before ...


... and afffer - I was slightly tipsy.

I did the math and something stupid

Calling all Readers for Help!

It would seem that my iron is now full of the gluey gunk from ironing Vlieseline (German version of wonderunder, it appears) ... sigh and I need to find a way to remove it. Any ideas?

Also, I have done measurements and maths and found that I need to do a staggering 158 prairie points for the Dragon Quilt. Man, it'd better be appreciated!

Which leads me pretty directly to my next challenge: the backing will be fleece. And that is prone to wrinkling ... I plan on making a frame of sorts for the fleece in order to stabilise it. Then I remembered reading something about starch to stabilise stretchy fabrics. Has anyone ever tried that? I'm mainly worried about getting it washed out again after ...

And I think I must make something else for my other godchild just to level the playing field.

i LOVE frogs

and simply must do this one one day: The Purl Frog and pattern.

It reminds me of a climbing frog toy I used to have as a child - now I'm wondering where that has gotten too, must ask Mum.

And while I was at it, I found the perfect pattern to make napkins for my best friend. I gave her a table runner and cushions last year and got some extra fabric ... and this is the perfect simple tutorial.

Collecting Avent Ideas

Check out these tutorials:
Advent Calendar with white-and-red felt envelopes.

and this one:

from the MollyChicken blog.

I think if I ever do one it will be the second one, seems less fiddly-repetitive and more fun with all the possibilities for embellishment.

Self-Portrait

A kid at my daughter's kindergarten drew this self portrait and I think it's brilliant.

Last Minute Gifts

When I grew up, my mum always said that hand-made gifts were a lot more valuable than store-bought (my mother-in-law is of the opposite conviction and what does that tell you?). I love making things for other people - obviously! So the



is right up my alley. I have also ordered those two gems:



They will become part of my "advent calendar" that I am making for my husband and myself: we both get a gift per Advent Sunday.

Turning Twenty Done!

Nothing like finishing one quilt only to avoid working on another one ...

I love that it's wrinkly and looking "old and used". And I'mn pleased with my embellishments. I will reshoot the top photo because it is awfully blurry.

Christmas Count-Down

We started on crafting Christmas gifts, among them these window garlands.

May I mention that the list of which gifts to get for whom is complete and that the first batch has been ordered along with a pile of cards? I am even more frighteningly organised than I was last year. Talk about OCD!

Done!

All done, embroidered and bound. Off to the framer on Friday, hopefully, depending on when the washing machine repairman shows up.

Finishing an UFO

I started this little thing (for the lack of a better word) about five years ago.



The binding is raw silk, part of the loot I made on ebay about three years ago ... and I will take this little piece off to the framer to have it framed. Only thing I need to find is a spot to hang it, probably the guest room.