life+running » fabric

that’s it?

chimes — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Three things.

Originally I had two things, but I got an e-mail this morning about something fun and I had to share.

ONE: I finished this little sampler that I’ve been working on. I think I figured out how to do most of the stitches I wanted to figure out. So I’m moving on from this piece and onto something more fun.

I’m sure it will become part of a zip bag. Or a wallet. Maybe a pillow. It was too cute not to share.

TWO: I had an awesome run last week. And I say last week because Nike+ and I are not getting along and it’s not syncing runs like it should. Regardless. It was the first run I’ve had in a while that was somewhat what my average pace USED to be before I broke up with running in November of 2011.

However, my tweeps still are under the impression that I run miles and miles and miles. Not only my tweeps, I guess, but pretty much everybody ever that I’ve known since 2002 when I started running. Now I kind of get what my dad [ who had knee replacement surgery almost 10 years ago and can't run anymore ] feels like — except he was ACTUALLY quite awesome at running — we have a lot of trophies in our basement back home.

Anywho, I got razzed on twitter.

I shouldn’t be surprised. The entire reason I’m friends with @porkrind is because of the amount of crap he gives me. And because he married one of my beautiful and talented crafty lady friends.

Regardless, it KIND of bothered me. But as usual, he redeemed himself. I think he gives me crap just to get my reaction because he’s the master at that.

For the record, I didn’t run anywhere NEAR 5 miles on Sunday. I biked around all day and it was almost 90° in Iowa. I attempted to run after my long day of biking and made it about 3 miles.

I giggled a bit later when I got a rebuttle from his wife.

^truth. But he’s still my favorite friend that I’ve not met IRL but talk to daily via the twitters.

Three: I got an e-mail this morning from Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean with my match for this month’s foodie pen pals. Basically it’s a box of awesome foodie stuffs that I send to somebody and I’ll get a box of other awesome foodie stuffs in return from another person. How cool is that? I’m pretty excited about this venture.

Anybody else get burnt out on something they used to love? And is anybody else doing foodie pen pals?

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Patchwork + Hot wings

chimes — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The patchwork class I taught Saturday and Sunday was a success. I even learned something. Two of the ladies in the class were hardcore quilters, but needed help figuring out how to pick fabrics and wanted a fresh look at things, which is why they took my class. I kept getting guff for not pressing my seams correctly, so finally one of the ladies showed me how to press and set my seams. You press to the dark side. Tee. Hee.

We made a hugetastic mess.

I brought my improv piece to use as an example for class and ended up finishing it. WELL, not completely finishing it. I want to do some embroidery on it. Then it will be finished. Mini quilt? Pillow? Wall hanging? Who knows.

We had a giant table and an ironing board area set up and we needed every inch of that space. The Workspace had two huge tubs of fabric, and everybody brought some of their own. There were some really interesting finds in the bins. I picked out some spiffy 80sesque fabrics for my first project. And went a little crazy with the quilting.

Seriously? I’m pretty sure this was somebody’s screenprinting project. But I cut it up and used it for the back of my potholder.

On Saturday I taught everybody how to make a wonky log cabin block. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take the class to complete a block and turn it into a potholder, but it ended up taking up about one 3-hour class period. So on Sunday I had everybody throw caution to the wind and make an improv block — no planning, just creativity flowing. I gave everybody a piece of my fabric that they had to use in their improv block — just to spice things up and make it harder for those who were already well out of their comfort zones.

Letitia, The Workspace coordinator, took my class. Which kind of made me nervous because this class could have gone horribly wrong if super-hardcore quilters showed up and weren’t wanting to learn new ways to do things or break the rules. But it didn’t go badly [ other than the crazy amount of people working in the woodshop behind us being really loud ], and she had a good time too. Here she is stitching away.

I was really proud of her improv block potholder. The fabrics she chose were really great. And just look at that stitching! She should probably get a long-arm sewing machine and have people pay her to quilt.

And thanks to my new knowledge I learned from a master quilter, my seams are so much better in my second block that I made in class [ on the left ] than in my first block [ which I turned into a potholder ]. I’m so glad somebody finally showed me that pressing my seams properly makes a difference. I pressed the seam together to set it, then pressed to the dark side [ to the darker fabric ] so the seam doesn’t show through. I didn’t press to the dark side on seams that had a bunch of different seams within them — got too bulky and the newest seam wouldn’t stay put. But seriously? This little tidbit of knowledge is going to make all my pieces so much nicer.

Look how straight the seams on the left block are. Then look at how crooked and frankensteiny the seams on the right one are. I’m somewhat amazed at the difference that a little extra ironing made. And it really didn’t take any extra time.

Beautiful.

Gross.

In addition, I learned little tidbits about canning, sewing circles, and how NOT to pack your carryon when traveling — and to always put the things you actually can’t live without in your carryon. There’s so much we can learn from our elders!

Here’s one of the blocks done by one of the other ladies in the class.

She initially had some traditional pink floral instead of my bright pink and another brown / khaki instead of the teal. I pulled out the bright pink and she loved it, so I gave it to her, and we decided to add the teal to complement the teal in the bright pink fabric. I think she learned a little bit more about pairing fabrics and picking colors.

On a different note, about 2 hours into class I got a text from Mark that said: “Just butchered about 10 hot wings. I’m awesome.”

Huh?

I leave him home alone and he makes incredible food from scratch — usually not using a recipe. Bread on Saturday. Hot wings Sunday. Once I left for 3 days to go to my cousin’s wedding in Fairfield, and he perfected Chicago-style pizza.

About an hour later I got this photo. He’s been wanting to try to make hot wings from scratch for a long time. Now he’s succeeded.

He didn’t make about half of the wings he bought so I could do a run-through with photos for the blog [ see, he's getting better! ]. I will have step by step instructions because these are multitudes better for you than the flash-fried version. If they weren’t so salty and if there wasn’t butter in them, I’d give them a green light. I might have to see what I can do to lighten them up after the first go-round.

This was a pretty eventful Sunday for me. I usually try to sit around and do as much nothing as possible on the weekends. What about you? Do you try to cram a bunch of fun stuff in on the weekend? Or do you sit at home and relax?

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Giveaway Haul

chimes — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

A while back I mentioned that I won a giveaway from Kukoshop in Japan.

I got this awesome package in the mail before the new year. So many cool things inside!

Everything was in this adorable plastic bag with some interesting English translation from Japanese.

I was excited to receive this “Cotton Time” magazine, with tons of projects and templates for projects, but alas, it’s ALL in Japanese.

Adorable notecard set that I’ll put to good use.

Stickers from the 100 yen store

A cute illustrated postcard

Travel kleenexes — ohirune time is “nap time” in Japanese apparently. There was a picture of a cat sleeping on the top pack of kleenexes. I just thought the word “ohirune” was cute.

Washi tape, with what looks to be a toilet on it

a button with a weird-looking dude on it

grape gum or candy — I am afraid to try this. Grape flavor makes me gag.

And the most exciting part? 8 fat quarters of Japanese fabric.

Thanks so much, Karen!

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FQS Giveaway!

chimes — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I love giveways, especially ones that involve fabulous fabric.

Quokka Quilts is hosting a blogger’s choice giveaway for 12 print fat quarters and 3 solids (holy cow!) of your choice from Fat Quarter Shop.

Since I mostly make bags, I picked a bunch of patterns conducive to bag-making. I also mocked up a couple of bag patterns.

First, these are the fabrics I chose. I went through and picked my favorite fabrics without thinking about putting them together. I didn’t read the rules all the way through … they are PICKING the best ones. I doubt I will get picked, but putting random fabric patterns together and making them look pretty is kind of what I do, so …

And now? How about a couple of ideas for what I might do with them. Stack them (wonkily and not straight of course):

Wow that’s a lot of fabrics. Okay, now for the bags I could create using a bit of ALL of these fabrics.

Probably with an orange zipper on that one.

And a turquoise zipper on this one. Obviously the patterns would translate into bigger than what they’re shown here, but you get the picture.

Anyway, here is the part where I say … pick me! Please.

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FO Friday: New Wallets!

chimes — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

A while back I talked a bit ’bout making new wallets. The first one was cute, but not what I wanted.

Well, I sketched and sketched and put together another few before I finally got these down. And I had two days this week between jobs (I’m unemployed for 2 whole days! whoopeee!) so I got to sewing.

Introducing my new and improved wallets!

PS the one in the middle is MINE.

How are they improved from the old version of my wallets? Well, for starters, they are sewn better — all thanks to my NEW sewing machine that I got on Wednesday. This Janome DC1050 solved all my problems of skipped stitches and weird tension happening with my old machine. AND there is a stop/start button, so I can use that instead of the foot pedal. This feature comes in handy when sewing a lot of the same thing in a row. Hit start, feed everything through the machine, then hit stop.

Also, there is one additional feature that my old wallets didn’t have — a divider with card organizing slots. And the closure? It’s not a button anymore. It’s a magnetic purse snap. It’s like my wallets went and got all grownup on me!

[one of my old wallets for reference]

I’m thrilled to have all these wallets ready for Craft Saturday next weekend. I also made a bunch of revamped teeny-tiny wallets. They’re a bit bigger to accommodate cards (which was the ORIGINAL idea … but my math skills got in the way) and they’re more nicely put together. Again, thanks to Ms. Janome. All of my old inventory will be on MAJOR SALE next weekend to make way for the new stuff.

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twenty-seven.

chimes — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

27 is still close enough to 25 to be considered mid-twenties, right?

What will this year bring? Who knows. I already have ONE big change in store, but I’m not sharing just yet (oh the suspense is killing all of my 5 readers). Cat will be out of the bag by the end of the week most likely (those of you with the inside scoop, keep it to yourself please).

I actually started my b-day off on Friday with a Jim Gaffigan show at the State Theatre in Minneapolis. I laughed so hard I was crying! Note — don’t go to a comedy show after doing a killer ab workout the day before. Side note — there was mention of a fork made of bacon.

Of course, there was shopping involved this weekend. Since it’s my b-day, I bought myself a couple of gifts.

Found this fabulous Jessica Simpson bag at Gordmans thanks to a tip from my friend Shelly. She bought one in a neat beigey-pink color. I had to go with red to replace my almost 2-year-old purple bag. I bought the purple bag in January of 2010 and busted it out that year in June. I’ve been too lazy to change bags and haven’t found anything in an affordable price range that I love just as much. Also, I combed the internet to find this bag so you could purchase too … but no such luck.

I also found these amazing shoes. They’re G by Guess and they’re boots. And heels. Obviously. But I don’t wear heels typically. These are really comfy with a hidden platform and they have major traction on the bottom so they aren’t completely useless in the snow. Oh, and they are COMFY. And super hot. When paired with these jeans I look kind of tall (and by tall I mean average height) and super skinny. LOVE these.

And I got a LOT of new fabric. A lot of which for my new wallets. The top row will make great insides for my wallets. And I’m beyond in love with the bottom right — “dropcloth” in plum. I might have to make myself a wallet out of that with the dots on the inside.

To celebrate today, Mark and I went to The Café for lunch. YUM. We haven’t been out to eat anywhere “fancy” for a while — just La Fuente and that’s mostly for free chips and salsa + booze. I picked up lunch because I think it’s kind of rude to invite somebody out for lunch, and then expect him to pay for it. He offered to pick up dessert. Mostly because he knew if I picked it up we’d only get ONE dessert and he wanted something other than my first choice of dessert (they are all amazing there!) … so we got two.

[Mark's pick — the fig & goat cheese cheesecake — my 2nd choice]

[and my pick — chocolate cayenne torte — since I've been obsessing over spicy chocolate as of lately]

I also picked up a new album, which really isn’t out until tomorrow, but I snagged it on emusic early. New Wednesday 13 [he's in Des Moines on the 23rd ... ].

All in all it’s been a pretty awesome day. :) Here’s to another year!

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Tu-tu-tu-Tuesday: Clutch Wallets

chimes — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I thought I would share with you the tutorial I used for my clutch wallets. I made a few modifications (obviously), but this is the tutorial I used to make my first wallet (pictured below). It’s from Purl Soho.

Get creative and make as many modifications as you want. I started by changing the angle of the fabric to create more visual interest. Have fun!

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Monday Madness Giveaway

chimes — Mon, 23 May 2011 11:00:00 +0000

It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve done a giveaway. (In case you’re curious, I did one at the beginning of June of 2009, another in the middle of June 2009, one at the beginning of July 2009, one in the middle of July 2009, one in July 2010, one in August of 2010 and one in September 2010).

//EDIT// I posted this giveaway and realized that today is also Giveaway Day on Sew Mama Sew. I’m featured on the handcrafted items page.

Last time I did one, I had a trivia question. But I’m going to make this one really easy.

First — the prize?

A teeny tiny wallet of your choice — one of these two:

What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simple. Just comment on this post with which one of these you prefer if you win. Make sure your e-mail address is correct when you fill out the comment box or I will have no way of contacting you if you win. Want another entry? Tweet or facebook about the contest, and leave a comment on this post with a link to the tweet or post. Want yet ANOTHER entry? Follow me on Networked Blogs (check out the sidebar over here on the right).

Contest ends on Memorial Day (Monday, May 30). I will randomly choose a winner by using random.org’s generator. Good luck!

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Spoonflower Fun

chimes — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:00:00 +0000

There just aren’t enough fabrics with birdies on them, so I decided to try my hand at Spoonflower and see if I could turn my little birdies into some cute fabric.

Check it out. Birdies!

I did a few versions of my birdies. Kind of excited to see them in person.

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FO Friday: Granny’s Quilt blocks Quilt

chimes — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:36:29 +0000

Yay! I finally finished it.

A while back my grandpa had given me a bunch of quilt blocks that my granny (my great grandma) had made some time ago before she died in 2002. She was kind of the queen of WIP, so I’m still collecting some random crafty things she’d started and going through to see what I can do to finish them or turn them into something else.

Mom and I went antiquing in March and found another set of blocks that went well with the ones my Granny had made since there weren’t enough to make an entire quilt. Even with these, it’s a pretty small lap quilt, but it’s really pretty anyway. I ended up tea staining all the blocks since some were more aged-looking than others — they’re all about the same now.

As you can tell by the crappy quilting, I did it myself on my machine. I have a ton of quilt tops waiting to be turned into quilt sandwiches, but I need to send those off to somebody professional to do them. I probably should have done the same with this one, but I was impatient and wanted it to be finished — not to mention, I wanted to be the one to do it since my Granny had hand-pieced the blocks.

I have a couple more blocks she’s done, but I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with them still. This is a really neat quilt, and I’m really glad I have it.

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