This was what we saw at 5pm from the windows at work as a storm passed through our city.
It was on the water for a solid 20 minutes and traveled from one side of the river to the other. It never touched down on land (thankfully) but was an amazing thing to watch.
The Swell Season - When Your Mind's Made Up from Artists Den on Vimeo.
As you know, if you followed along with our vacation blog, we are back home now and sadly, back to our daily grind. We’ve been suffering a bit from the post vacation blues now that London is a thing of the past and we have a long time to go until we plan our next vacation.
One thing keeping me cheery is getting back to some sewing. I know I haven’t been knitting much, but it’s because I’ve really been having fun with teaching myself how to sew. The most recent project was just completed Friday evening.
It’s my first quilted bag and I had a lot of fun making it. Especially since it was a joint effort with my sister, Anna. She did the cutting and ironing while I did the sewing. Now tell me if THAT isn’t the dream scenario.
The tutorial for this Charming Handbag was made by one of my favorite sewing bloggers, Crazy Mom Quilts.
It was a really easy-to-follow tutorial and I did the quilting myself (as evidenced by the puckers there on the side of the bag). The fabric was from a fat quarter bundle my sister picked up at Joann’s and the lining is made of denim.
I did add a couple of pockets to the inside but I skipped the snap because when it came time to add it, I couldn’t find it! Oh well… The bag is for someone my sister works with though I think if she could, she would keep it herself. We have more fabric all set to go for bag #2.
Aside from that I’m about to start a zigzag quilt from fabric that I got in a kit for Christmas. I’m planning on cutting the strips this evening so I should be piecing it by next weekend.
I hope everyone’s keeping cool in the summer heat. Be back soon!
So of course that’s how it works. I get all excited about 2 posts in a row and then nothing..nada, for over a month. I love it when I can really concentrate on the blog but unfortunately the last month or so has been entirely too overloaded for me to concentrate on much other than school. I did, however, manage to get through the last semester and a crappy research paper. Happily here I am on my first weekend with no homework hanging over my head.
Outside of school, in the last month I have managed to complete the crazy nine patch quilt top (and back). All I have left to do is the quilting and binding, and I’m hoping that will be one thing I get to work on
We finally finished painting the kitchen green, and also hosted the in-laws last weekend and had a wonderful visit. It isn’t very often that the family band gets reunited. We had a great time, enjoyed amazing food cooked by my mother-in-law, and can’t wait until the next visit. We worked hard at convincing them to buy the house next door that’s currently for sale, but so far no dice. We’ll have to keep at it.
In crafty news, I have so many projects in my list of “stuff I wanna sew” that I don’t even know where to begin. I really want to make a birdhouse wall hanging for my mother for Mother’s Day, but being the newbie quilter I am, I’m not quite sure how to start. I’ve also been totally inspired by these mini-quilts at Tallgrass Prairie Studio, as well as this art piece that I think is so amazing. I’m going to try to play around with stitch drawing and see what I can come up with for Mother’s Day. I really don’t want to get my mom yet another Pandora bead, although I don’t think she would mind much.
My knitting has been floundering this year, though I haven’t stopped reading knitting blogs. I’m still plugging away at the same scarf albeit very slowly.
What’s also been keeping me preoccupied is our upcoming trip to London. We’re down to the last week and a half, which is going to fly by considering next weekend will be taken up with my friend’s wedding in which I am a bridesmaid. We’ve finally narrowed our itinerary down and are beginning to pre-book train tickets for our day trips. Our top choices of places to see are the British Museum, Tower of London, Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. Somehow we are hoping to also squeeze about 20 other destinations in our short six day visit. Tomorrow we’re going to do a packing dry run. My husband really wants us to use just carry-ons but I think he’s in dreamland.
Coming soon…pictures of the Crazy Nine Patch quilt and some of my upcoming projects.
Lookie here…two posts in two days…it must be spring break! This weekend was very busy with errands and odds and ends, but I did get some things accomplished. The crazy nine patch squares are completely pieced, all 36 of them. The next step is to get to trimming them and then it’s time for sashing. I can’t wait to see the quilt top come together.
I also did a little fat quarter shopping and used up some gift certificate credit at the local quilt shop, Calico Junction. It was only my second time in the shop and I’m pretty sure based on my browsing that’s it nearly 90% Moda fabric, which was just fine with me. The lady who was working on Sunday was super sweet and cut fat quarters for me right off the bolts. She even did a little hunting with me to choose just the right yellows and oranges. I went in armed with a printed out color wheel and my notes on color schemes and ended up with what I think is a nice palette. I haven’t chosen the sashing or the backing pieces yet but I do have something in mind.
My most exciting news is that Chris and I have finally narrowed down what we want to do for vacation. We’ve booked our plane tickets and tonight reserved our room in London. I’m so excited I can barely stand it. I’m really looking forward to some overseas blogging so stay tuned!
I’m extremely happy to say that my midterms are over and Spring Break has officially started! Of course, for the younger set this means beaches and parties. For the older folk like me it means watching TV with my husband in the evenings and lots of crafting on the weekend.
I have so many plans for this weekend’s free time I’m not even sure where to start. I am hoping to finish the quilt top on the crazy nine patch quilt this weekend. I am 2/3rd’s of the way through the last set of 9 squares and after that it’s just sewing on the sashing. I have scrap fabric from the squares that needs to be pieced as part of the backing, and then I’m in the home stretch.
I am also hoping to hit the fabric store this weekend to pick out some fat quarters for the Quilt-a-long over at one of my favorite blogs, oh, fransson! If you’re a newbie quilter like me, this quilt-a-long is shaping up to be the perfect learning experience. Elizabeth has already done
Speaking of fat quarters, I have to say I made out quite nicely in the Sew Mama Sew quilt swap. Thanks so much to Calico Daisy, Simply Cotton, and Sibling Craftery who sent out such nice fat quarters. Please stop by their blogs and say hello.
Well, I’m off to begin the Spring Break festivities…first stop, quilt shop.
