You Go Girl!

Who's Cryin' Now?

Ummmmmm...NO ONE!  That's who.

So I was walking by the craft studio and I heard some muffled sobs.  It wasn't my sewing machine like last time.  It was the scrap bags.  Seems that they were feeling a little like Cinderella before the ball. They watched as the fancy-pants sisters (boxes of fabric ) flew out of the studio destined for adventure and places unknown. The scrap bags, laying haphazardly on my crafty table, were feeling blue; even if that wasn't their true color. It was time to act. Time for an intervention.  Time to step up and give those scrappy girls a destiny. Look at all the pretty that was in those bags.  

The cries have abated. There is excitement in the air.  Redemption and destiny is a reality.  I love it. It reminds me of the life journey set before us.  Heavenly Father takes the bits and pieces that we have to offer and redeems them into something beautiful and with purpose. I love the way He rolls. Nothing is wasted. 

Gotta go now.  There are more scraps to be had!

Bits and Pieces Sale...

It's happening again.  Remember this...

Time to move some fabric before the producer of Hoarders comes knocking on my door. Sometimes I think I might have a small problem be ridiculous.  

This time I am letting go of my heaping pile beautiful collection of 'bits and pieces'.  

Here is a pile that is ready for a new home...

Interested?? Get the low down here:

1. I've packed 4+ pounds of fabric into a medium size priority mailer box.  Last time I did this, I discovered that 1 pound= 3+yards. So four pounds = A LOT! 
2. Fabric is almost exclusively quilt weight 100% cotton fabric.  No clunkers or cheapies allowed! There are a few Japanese linens, voiles, and home dec pieces included, but not in every box.
3. Fabric was packed randomly. It's fun to be surprised. Really. It is.
4. Fabric ranges in size from charm square to half-yard+ cuts. Not all cuts are perfectly squared up. I wanted to give you as much of a single piece as possible so I did not cut up the irregular shapes.
5. Each box will sell for $20. TWENTY dollars for four pounds of fabric. CrAZy GoOd.

 

 

Things are all boxed up and ready to go. Head on over to my YOU GO GIRL SHOP and snag one now.  You'll be glad you did!

I also have four scrap bags (gallon size) full of random smaller pieces. Five dollars each. HaPpY ScrApPy quilting!

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. :-)

Something Fishy...

I had request for a beach bag with tropical fish on it. Sure. I can do that. I envisioned a stripe or a polka dot paired with some fabulous fabric with fanciful fish frolicking in the surf. Apparently, though, if you want to see tropical fish you need to go to the reef. Fabric with tropical fish does not seem to be the rage. Try as I might, I could not find a piece that suited my design aesthetic. I ended up rethinking the project. I hope it pleases.

On a different note, the sun has FINALLY decided to shine in Montana. Yay! I am enjoying a weekend full of family, fun, and fireworks. Wishing you the same. Except if you are a friend from distant shores, that fireworks thing might be kinda weird. So I'll just be wishing you a lovely weekend. :-) 

On Fire...

Somebody throw some water on me because I am on fire. This past week I...

...Crafted five shabby flower hair clips for my Valentine girls. As usual, I crafted them ON Valentine's day. Why do I always do this to myself? Deep down I must like the pressure.

...Made three receiving blankets for Konbit Sante delivery kits (Craft Hope Project 11). This Craft Hope project was very timely for me. Since Kevin and Hailey returned from Haiti, I somehow feel connected to the people in Haiti in a way I didn't before. It's kind of weird.

...Put the finishing touches on this Birdie Sling. I wish the snow and sleet and slush and mud would go away so I could use it. We seem to be caught in an endless cycle of snowing and melting, snowing and melting. We've had at least 60 " of snow this year. More snow is in our future this week. So very dirty. I am going through wiper fluid by the gallon. It is very hard to keep your coat, your bag, and your person from brushing upside the slush mobile that used to be a sparkly clean car. I miss you, summer.

...Replaced the zipper in this little black number. Paige (daughter #2) went to Snowball, a semi-formal school dance. She looked ooh-la-la divine.

...Patched two pairs of holey jeans. I think I like them better with these cute little patches than I did when they were new.

Up next...a new ironing board cover. The girls, all of them, were busy melting crayons between wax paper this weekend. They were doing it for no other reason but the pure joy that comes from such waxy, melty, smelly, wicked colorful goodness. Evidently each one of them was sick on the day they melted crayons between wax paper in grade school because they all claimed they had NEVER done this before. Are you kidding me? I can't believe I didn't do this with the girls when they were younger. Shame. Humiliation. Abomination. Tsk. Tsk.I think this is probably another black mark against me in my bid for Mother of the Year. Harrumph. (I'm only kidding. I was forever banned from the MOTY competion a few years back when I accidentally cut off the eyebrow of a certain 7th-grader during a bang trim. Not cool. But very funny. Shhh.) 

 

Hip to be Square...

Hello. Did you all get your fill of turkey and pie? I did. In fact, I had pie twice on Thanksgiving. Once at grandma's and once at my sister's. Don't tell any one. I don't want people to think I'm a pig. But any day that you have pie twice is a good day, no?

On the crafty front, I have been feeling kind of square lately. I am working on my first true patchwork project. The rules are simple:

1) All the fabric for the project has to come from my stash.

2) The fabric has to be cut into squares.

I used this doodle as the inspiration for my fabrics. Once I picked the fabrics, I cut them in to two-and-one-half-inch squares, arranged the squares in a pleasing-to-me fashion, stitched and quilted. I think I would have a love/hate relationship with patchwork and quilting if I decided to jump in with both feet. I love picking the fabrics, arranging them, and stitching them together. I hate do not love cutting all the squares or the straight-line quilting. I was wishing someone would poke me in the eye when I quilted this little piece. I was THAT bored. I tip my hat to those of you who quilt gigantar patchwork masterpieces. Did I mention that my little patchwork project is only 16 inches square? I didn't, did I? I guess the cat is out of the bag. Now you all know that I have the attention span of a flea and the persistence of a circus monkey. 

Well, I'm off to find something shiny that will capture my attention and amuse me for a moment. :-)

Take care,

Cassie

PS-- I would never put a cat in a bag for real. I used to dress my cat in doll clothes when I was a girl, but I never put her in a bag. That is soooo wrong.

Food. How I Love You...

Edit: I am rewriting and moving this post that I wrote a few days ago to see if it will show up in reader. How I wish I was a computer genius, or married to one! :-)

I haven't had the words to blog lately because all the words that flow from my grey matter to my mouth are about food. A diet will do that to you! Since this isn't a blog about food that whispers your name, tempts your palate, wafts through your olfactory system in your imagination during your waking hours, and dances through your dreams while you sleep, I've had nothing to write about. This preoccupation with food hasn't kept me from crafty endeavors, though.  I've been in the studio stitching up felt cupcakes and wistfully making purses out of candy wrappers from days gone by. Just kidding. Actually, I've been busy drafting the perfect clutch pattern, assembling and painting a shelf to contain my ever-growing collection of odds and ends in my sewing space, stitching up a few Posh Pillowcases, and making this little honey pie out of some Little Red fabric designed by Tasha at A Little Sweetness.

 

I was going to make a little polka-dottie diaper cover to go with the dress. Since autumn is knocking on the door, I opted for some snazzy jeans instead. I hope sweet little Amy Lynn likes her new clothes. Congratulations to her mom and dad, Erin and Corbin.

Well, I better go run a lap around the neighborhood, or something. Only five pounds to go. Would it be wrong to celebrate by gorging myself at the The Pearl once I reach my goal? Probably.

Pile of Posh

First things first...Before I tell you about this Pile of Posh, I want to thank you for the Pretty in Pink love notes.  I'm not proud to report this, but I didn't respond to a single comment. We were on a little road trip to Newport, Oregon. Internet access and my time were a lot more limited than I'd anticipated. Plus it is really hard to type when your fingers feel like frozen fish sticks. The weather did not cooperate with us. It was unseasonably cold and foggy. Cold as in 56* for the high. Foggy as in I can't see you unless you are holding my hand. Oh, I forgot to mention the whipping wind ocean breezes that stirred that cold moist air into a whirlwind of nastiness invigoration that made the temperature feel at least ten degrees cooler than it really was. I've been to the Oregon coast at least a dozen times. Never, never, never has it been this cold, even when we used to go in October! Fear not, though, we bundled up in all the clothes we brought and had fun anyway. My girls will never again question me when I tell them to pack some long pants "just in case". Their "just in case" pants got a 4-day workout. Gross, huh?

I took this pile of posh pillowcases with me to work on in the car. It's a long drive so they are all done now. I've also worked up a crochet edging pattern that I will share with you soon. I know I said I would share this pattern with you, but I spoke typed out of turn. After I opened my big mouth, I remembered that this pattern is not mine to share. It can be found in the book Crochet Adorned by Linda Permann. It's called Looped X's on page 120. I hope that helps those of you that were interested.

I'm off to fold another load of vacation laundry. There isn't quite as much of it as usual since the girls wore the same clothes four days in a row.  There's always a silver lining, isn't there?

Posh Pillowcase

Welcome to Week Two of On the Edge...  

This weeks task: Construct a Posh Pillowcase

Difficulty Level: 2 1/2 chocolates

 

This week we will make our pillowcase. In previous posts, I referred to this pillowcase as a "pillowcase with a flap".  What?  What the heck is a pillowcase with a flap? Well, let me clarify. It's not really a flap. It's more like a pocket for the pillow to fit in once you put it in the case.  It keeps the unsightly end of your pillow and the wrong side of the fabric from showing.  I know...In the big picture, unsightly ends and wrong sides of fabric are not a big deal, but the pillowcase (singular) I have from Pottery Barn is constructed like this.  It must be the way bed linens are meant to be, at least the ones that cost too much to drool on while napping. You know, the posh ones. And since we are going to beautify this case with some lovely handwork doesn't it seem fitting that we make a posh pillowcase? Yes, I thought so too. Let's get started.

Instructions for construction of the Posh Pillowcase:

Prewash fabric.

Eat a chocolate.  I'm serious.  A girl needs to have sustenance to focus her brain efficiently. Save the other chocolate and a half for later on.

 

Match the selvedges (or selvages, whichever you prefer) of your fabric. Snip the fold. Rip down the center of fabric. I love this part. Tah-wan-duh! You now have two pieces of fabric that are roughly 21" x 40". If you are using two different fabrics, do this step to both pieces of your fabric.  Put one piece of each fabric aside to make a second pillowcase later.

 

Cut one of your fabric pieces 20" x 30". This is the floral piece in my photos. It is my focus fabric. I will refer to this piece as the TOP of the pillowcase.

Cut the other piece 20" x 38.5". This is the polka dot piece in my photos. I will refer to this piece as the BOTTOM of the pillowcase.

 

Turn under a 3/8" hem on the TOP of your pillowcase. Pin in place, but do not stitch yet.

 

Turn under a 3/8" hem on the BOTTOM of your pillowcase. Stitch in place.

Put the TOP and BOTTOM of the pillowcase right sides together matching raw edges.  Pin. The hemmed edge of the BOTTOM will extend past the pinned edge of the top. I will call this the "flap".

Eat another chocolate and then carry on.

Take the "flap" of the BOTTOM that extends beyond the TOP and fold back over the TOP.  You will have a little pillowcase sandwich.  The TOP of the pillowcase will be sandwiched between two "slices" of the BOTTOM fabric.

Stitch the seams on each side of the pillowcase beginning at the folded-over end.  Backstitch at the beginning of the seam, at the spot where the "flap" ends, and at the end of the seam.  USE A 1/2" SEAM ALLOWANCE.

 

When you are done with both side seams, measure the distance between your two seams.  It should measure 19". If it is not, make the necessary adjustments.  This measurement will be IMPORTANT later on.

Stitch across the end of the pillowcase using a 1/2" seam.

Finish the raw edges so they don't fray.  You can serge them, use a zig-zag stitch, or use pinking shears.

Turn the pillowcase right side out and press.

 

Stitch the hem on the TOP of the pillowcase. Continue stitching all the way around the pillowcase so that you have a stitch line that is approximately 1/4" from the edge all the way around.

The posh pillowcase is done! Pop that last half of a chocolate in your mouth. Give your pillowcase a final press.  Slip a pillow in the case making sure to put the end of the pillow down into the pocket you created. Check it out...unsightly pillow ends are hidden...only the right side of the fabric is in view. Pottery Barn has nothing on you! You go girl!

See you next Monday.  Have fun creating a Posh Pillowcase or two. Email me if you have questions.

Until then,

Cassie

Nicey Jane--I love that girl!

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah. Someone's in the kitchen I know-o-o. Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah...But she's NOT strumming on the old banjo.  "Who is it?" you ask. It's Nicey Jane (I love that girl!) and she's ready to stir up something nummie.  She's got herself some spanky potholders, a sassy dish towel, and a new file to store her stash of top secret Christmas recipes. See...

Is this a Christmas gift for someone I know and love?  Perhaps. I'm not saying.

Merry!  Merry!

Cassie