Precise Curves Take 2

Two nights of mindless garter stitch and I am back on the sewing bandwagon. Today I finished my drunkard's path blocks and a super cape for my super nephew.

After making the DP blocks, I decided that a pot holder wouldn't get much use around here, so I added some sashing , drafted myself a pattern based on the measurements of my french press and got to sewing. The finished product isn't perfect; next time I would definitely leave more ease in the pattern (it is a tight fit) and have a wider/gentler curve on the top (I think it looks a little Pope hatish).

It fits sort of wonky

Blue, sticking his nose in, as usual

Heck, maybe, if I can get the pattern just right, I'll do my first ever tutorial! Onwards with the Scallop Quilt and maybe, just maybe I'll get some capes in my store sometime next month.

Sewing Burnout

Last night, after the boys went to bed I attempted my first project from Curves Camp week 3. It was going along smoothly and the blocks looked great, until , I trimmed them wrong and they were all so very wrong. I can likely save the squares to make cards or to put in a scrappy quilt but the drunkard's path block will have to be redone.

Frustrated with my mistake I decided I needed to watch some Criminal Minds and chill out. For me chilling out means knitting or hand sewing (because I am a fidgeter and I can't stop moving or I will die!), so I hauled out the easiest project I have going. Sixty six stitches of straight garter stitch (doesn't get much easier than this).

I am making an original Dr. Who scarf; not the 20 foot one from the pilot but the 10 foot version that replaced the unwieldy 20 footer when the show got the go ahead. I am not Dr. Who geek enough to know all this, I got the info from http://www.doctorwhoscarf.com/ (yes a website dedicated to the Dr Who scarf). I am using the pattern for the original scarf but I am doing it all in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (because I am cheap like that).

Tonight, after a bedtime struggle with G, I fully intended to get going on the drunkard's path block but instead I plopped down in my chair, ordered some fabric (unbelievable I know ) and reached for the glorious simplicity that is 66 stitches of straight garter stitch. I think a night or so of this may be just what the doctor ordered.

Christmas Tree Mini

When I signed up for the Curves Camp, I thought I was doing it to pass the time before The Man returned, I figured that I had skillz and the course projects would be more occupation than a challenge. I was incredibly wrong. I have been deeply challenged by almost all of these projects and there are still quite a few more to go and I am about a week behind.

This week's accomplishment is the Christmas Tree Mini Quilt. I feel pretty accomplished getting the improv curves right and doing my first ever wonky star. I was hoping it would have been good enough to donate to a silent auction but I messed up on the binding and for some reason the zigzags skipped some stitches in random places. I hope I can find the cause of it and that it isn't my machine because Mr P and I have gotten along so well up to this point.

First time I have ever laid out a design

The sky is sparkly!

Wonky Star

What is up with this? Ely?

Can anyone give me an idea of what is going on in the last photo. I used a walking foot and a fresh needle. Tension maybe?

Saving the Rainbow

I decided I could not throw away all the work I did on the Rainbow Fail. I got many suggestions on what to do with it, hang it as art, quilt it anyway, starch the heck out of it, but I chose to chop it up into 4.5 'charm squares. I found the flattest parts and hacked away with my 4.5" ruler (so glad I own that). I got about 30 squares and a few 1.5" strips and I assembled about 5 more scrappy blocks with the left over angle cut fabric.

This is my first ever truly scrappy project and if I ignore the Rainbow Fail that led to it, I think it is shaping up pretty nicely.

Right now it is a bit narrow but I have an idea that will make it into a throw size quilt. I am going to abandon it for the week so I can do the week 3 class projects.

I now know where I went wrong in Rainbow Road, I made the angles at the beginning far too steep and it made the strips excessively wavy. I may have wasted a bit of fabric but I think this whole Rainbow Fail was a great learning experience.

Epic Fail :Rainbow Road

The struggle with the improv curved cards had me convinced that I was ready to tackle Rainbow Road. I was so excited for this particular project and after the class chat on Thursday night I dove in, full of inspiration to make my Rainbow Road, full of colour and patterns and maybe make it big enough to be a quilt for Mr. Apollo.

Stitched in Color

I put the kids to bed, hauled out my 12 scrap bins and set out choosing patterned scraps that matched my coloured scraps; I had visions of entering the quilt into Scrap Attack .

I thought it was going to be amazing!

I knew something was wrong when I was trying to arrange the waves of colour to cut the curves, they were far to wavy and had difficulty laying flat. I spent a lot of time (between cuddling a cranky Apollo and wrangling G) sewing the cut curves together and to my horror the project does not lay flat! It is totally unquiltable and feels like time and fabric murder.

Disaster!

Damn this is Hard

Curves Camp week 2 is improv curves. I wasn't going to do the first project (notecards) because it looked to easy. I am so glad I sat down and practiced improv curves before getting into a big project. Improv curves are hard, I messed up a bunch of times, threw out a couple of atrocities and I have two cards that I am ok with but not totally in love with. I hope my learning curve isn't too steep, I really want to make The Rainbow Road!

Curves Camp Project 2

 I want to love this pillow but it is a bit wonky. I suck at making pillows.

Curves Class: Project 1

 Tuesday is a daycare day for the kids and I usually use it to sew and clean. Who am I kidding? I just sew and chat with The Man.

So far, I am keeping up with the curves class (one project in haha) ;here are today's results.

I took the pictures after I hung it on the wall and couldn't get a good angle in the boy's tiny room. I think they will like it!

Countdown Time!

 The Man has been gone for almost ten months and really most of the year, but he is coming home soon. How soon? Well I can't tell you that, that would be bad for OPSec. It is soon but really at this point, not soon enough.

The boys, especially G, are anxiously waiting for spring because they know that is when Daddy will come home. G has been asking everyday if it is spring yet and he scrutinizes the level of snow melt everyday, insisting that spring must be soon.

Yesterday was the first Saturday in a long time that we have not had plans, not even a trip to the grocery store! So we got busy with our crafty selves and made our version of this countdown calendar from maya made.

Springtastic Countdown Calendar!

Apollo was in more of a sculpture sort of mood. He may have decorated one or two tubes but he was far more interested in creating the googly eye and glitter glue sculpture in a bowl.

Gaius suggested that three little chocolates should go in each tube, one for each of us but by the end of the day he decided there should be four chocolates so "Daddy can have them when he gets home". I think I will also include little messages with crafting, baking, and general Daddy Homecoming ideas printed on them.

Whoops!

 On Monday, I got stuck in traffic and didn't make it home in time for my "weekly mortification", aka Zumba. I was going to cancel my sitter but figured he was likely looking forward to a bit of money so, I went out to buy batting for The Wedding Quilt and D's Colourbrick.

Fabricland was the only option for a Monday evening fabric  batting hunt and I already knew that the batting would be pricier than the local quilt store but sometimes a girl just needs an excuse to get out of the house.

I intended to be a good girl and just walk to the batting, check the price and leave if I wasn't going to buy any. The batting proved , as expected, to be $4 more a metre than I could get it elsewhere and I fully intended to leave, right after I bought some thread. On my way over to check out the thread something red on the top shelf of the bargain section caught my eye and since I wasn't really pressed for time, I wandered over. I discovered the red to be two different prints from Micheal Miller for $3 per metre and tucked in below those were two other beautiful quilting weight cottons, also $3 per metre. I bought 14 m; I had just a teeny tiny fabric accident, right?

With this being The Year of the Quilt and my intenention to sell my capes, I am sure this fabric accident was a good thing.