You Go Girl!

Too 'Girlish' for My Jeans...

I am on a mission... A mission to find a better way to put the blanket stitch around the edge of the Posh Pillowcase. Right now, the On the Edge tutorials (See them in my sidebar?) rate the Firm Foundation as a three-chocolate job on the difficulty scale. Yeah, right. I need a king-size Snickers every time I put the foundation around the edge. All that yarn twisting and tangling tempts me to blurt out expletives. I don't, by the way, I just WANT to.

I have TEN new pillowcases just about ready to go in the shop. This pillowcase binge has not been good for my waistline, people. I am a little too 'girlish' for my jeans right now, if you know what I mean. Spanx are looking like they might become a reality of my wardrobe. Nooooooooo. I LOATHE tight. I must stop the madness. I will.

The good news? I think I've had a break through on how to make the ol' blanket stitch more manageable. Will share more soon...

I *HEART* Felt...

I love me some wool felt. Such a versatile medium. Good for ipod covers, ornaments, pincushions, coin wallets, and so much more. 

My stash has grown over time. Yesterday it was a frightful pile lacking order. It was chaotic and irksome. So I organized it...

Then I used it...

to make new clothes for my measuring tape.

Ahhh...order from chaos...it's inspiring. Maybe I should ride this wave of inspiration and tackle the triplets' bedroom. It looks chaotic and irksome. Hang tight while I think about it. Okay. Done. Ummmm, no. Not going to happen. I'd rather just focus on this bit o' organized felty goodness. Lovely. 

Captured by the Hook

I've been spending a lot of time with my crochet hook. She is my friend. My sewing machine is feeling quite put out. When I walk by my sewing space, I can hear her sigh and say, "Here we go again. This happened once before. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? What am I? Chopped Liver?" I've been pretending I don't hear her, but I will have to give her some attention soon. She is so very good to me. I don't want to lose her allegiance. But that darn hook has captured my attention. 

So far I have completed two hats, two headbands, and have a third headband part way done.

I only have photographic evidence of this headband. The other bits of hooky goodness disappeared before I could get a picture. They are currently residing in backpacks and lockers, ready for action when the winter wind whips up. I like to see handmade goodness happily worn on the noggins of my girls. It does a mama good.

That's all for now.

XOXO~
Cassie 

 

Shoveling and Shoveling and Shoveling...

I would like to be 'making', but it seems all I have time for is shoveling, 

and shoveling,

and shoveling. It snowed without ceasing for TWO days.

By the morning after this picture, Hailey's car had snow up over the tires and the snow plow had created a hard crusty wall of snow on the other side of the car. LOTS of DIGGING OUT this morning.

 

A few people in my house were very happy about all this snow. School was canceled two days in a row. That is an unheard of event here in Montana. We are winter warriors! Some of us reluctantly. Shhhh.

I think I want to live here instead. I'm pretty sure paper snowflakes are the only ones that fall on this house. You know how I feel about paper snowflakes...

Still digging out~

Cassie

PS~I may or may not have watched a little Downton Abbey yesterday. I'm not saying.

CSI: You Go Girl

There has been some mischief afoot in the land of You Go Girl. A full investigation was conducted.

Follow-up: Victim of aforementioned crime spree has mitigated the damages caused by the vandal(s). She is very thankful that she put a stitch marker in her project to keep her stitches from unraveling. If she had failed to take such a precaution, she fears she would be filing a Missing Hat report in addition to the other charges.

Suspect is still holding tight to the Miranda rule.

Snowflake War

Good golly. I finally did it. I cut some snowflakes that rock. Historically, my snowflakes looked like a monkey made them with one hand tied behind his back. I'm not kidding. When I was a teacher, I did not cut snowflakes with my students. Shame, shame, I know. But I avoided the art of making snowflakes because I could not do it. How can you teach someone to do something when you can't do it yourself? Well, guess what? The art isn't in the cutting. It's in the folding!! Who knew?

I have Kevin to thank for this whole revelation. He bought some bargain scissors at Staples and wondered if they were any good. I said I would I would take them for a test drive. I couldn't think of a better way to test a pair of scissors than on a paper snowflake. A visit to this website and a pile of snow flakes later, I gave the scissors a passing grade. My family was a wee bit taken aback by my enthusiasm for cutting snowflakes. I think I cut about twenty of them, but it was a euphoric moment for me. I was winning the snowflake war! Buddy the Elf would be very proud of me.

I'm thinkin' 2012 is shaping up to be a stellar year. It's only the third day and I've already conquered a personal nemesis of mine...the paper snowflake. Resolution is sweet. I think the snowflake and I are friends now.

Happy New Year to you.

~Cassie 

Foxy Felt Ornament

There's a new girls in town and she's feeling foxy! 

I am not feeling foxy. I am feeling buried by all this Christmas goodness. I will be digging out soon. Today was the final Nutcracker production for one of my girls. I love the Nutcracker, but I am ready to say goodbye to it until next year. Hope your holiday happenings are merry.

XOXO~

Cassie

Revelations of Quilt Girl

Tah Dah...

I finished the little purple quilt. It was not my first quilt, but it was the first quilt I've quilted on my sewing machine. In the process of creating this little slice of cuddly goodness, I had some revelations:

1. Picking the right combination of fabrics for a quilt is not as easy as it seems. Wow! My head was spinning.
2. The final quilt is a metamorphosis of the original vision. The fabric that was my inspiration piece didn't make it in to the final quilt. Weird.
3. Piecing a quilt together is the bomb. Love it.
4. Machine quilting is not for wimps. There is a reason people send their quilts out to be quilted on a long-arm machine. Quilting on my little Bernina made me want to throw my scissors, say naughty words, and poke needles in my eyes. I didn't do any of those things, just so you know.
5. Perfection is a cruel mistress. I thought I was out from under her hand. Turns out, I'm not. My quilting stitches are not consistent in length. Two of my quilting lines have a whoopie in them. There is one pucker on the back. Nobody else will notice. But I do. Drives me crazy. Makes me feel insecure. I don't want to be under the spell of perfectionism. I will continue to battle her. Tah-wan-da!!

There you have it. My profound revelations. I will definitely quilt again. Next time, though, I think I will send it out to be quilted. Or maybe I will have a go at hand quilting. Ooooh, I like that idea.

Happy day~

Cassie

PS--This would be my fourth post in November...just in case you were counting. :-)

Felt Ornament Tutorial...Finally!

Remember the tutorial I hinted at here?

Well....

I'd like you to meet the Nuts...

Hazel...(And the crowd goes wild. Okay. Not really. But that would be cool.)

and Filbert...(More raucous cheers...in my own mind, anyway.)

And now for your warm, fuzzy enjoyment...A tutorial.

Collect your supplies:

• Squirrel-colored felt
• White Felt
• A puff of fluff for stuffing
• A pen for tracing
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needle
• Scissors
• 2 black beads or small buttons for eyes
• 10" hanging string (Divine Twine, Ribbon, Emboridery Floss, Yarn, etc.)
• Powder Blush (optional)

Download the pattern here (Squirrel Ornament Pattern). Warning: Pattern is not fancy. If only Heather Bailey was my neighbor (sigh). Pretend my pattern looks like one of her faboo masterpieces. Okay?

Cut pattern pieces out and trace them on to the felt. (Tip: I use a Uniball Roller pen to trace my pieces.)

 

Cut pieces out of felt. (Tip: I like to cut just inside the pen line.)

 

Stitch belly to body. Then stitch on ear piece. Use any kind of stitch you like. (See picture below for placement.)

Embroider nose and mouth. 

Add black bead eyes.

Hazel has a little powder blush on her cheeks. Apply with a q-tip.

Embroider a design on the tummy if you want. Here are some ideas.

I like to embroider a date on the back. (Tip: Make sure you are stitching on the correct side of the back. Not fun to find out you've done it wrong after you've put in all that work. Yes. I am speaking from experience.)

Match body front to body back and blanket stitch around the edges of the ornament. Before you sew the ornament completely shut, you can add a fluff of stuffing if you want your squirrel to be plump.

Add a string for hanging. I used Divine Twine. Other ideas...yarn, ribbon, embroidery floss, etc.

Say hello to your new squirrel friend. Perhaps you will name her Chessie. Get it? Chessie Nut. Chestnut. I think that's funny. Are you feeling warm and fuzzy yet? I hope so.

Happy stitching, friends.

***Ornament pattern not intended for resale. Ornaments made from this pattern are for home use or gift-giving. Please do not sell them. If you share your ornament(s) made from my pattern on your blog or facebook page, I would surely appreciate a link to the tutorial. Thanks much. ~Cassie

Flirting

I am flirting a little bit with this whole quilting process. Not sure I am in love. Definitely not ready to go steady or get married. More later...

xoxo~

Cassie