New Aprons

Here are a few new aprons that I've made this week. I guess insomnia is good for something after all.

Kitty in the Patch - update

All the pieces have been arranged and heat set to the backing fabric. I started doing some of the edging this morning. I have to admit I was a little scared to start edging the individual applique pieces. It's not something I have done before and I was sure I was going to totally mess up my project. But it turns out to be not so bad. So far I have all the kitties done and have started on the pumpkins. Then I had to go to work. Stupid work.

Kitty in the Patch

Here is what my first quilting project is supposed to look like when I am done:



And this is what I have done so far:


You will, perhaps, notice that I put the kitty on backwards. 'Cause I am awesome that way. The lesson to learn here is, of course: Don't attempt new crafts at 5:00 am.

Trying something new

I started my very first quilting project this morning. I have wanted to try quilting for a while now, and I finally worked up the courage to start. The project is a pretty simple applique wall hanging, with four squares featuring a black cat and pumpkin design with a block border. I got all the border pieces cut out this morning and one black cat cut out and attached to the background.
Whee!

This is Sid: 

He's a dragon, and I made him for the Little Stuffies swap. Part of the swap was to make an introduction card, and include some other small present, so of course, I had to make the dragon some loot to hoard. And I also bought him some chocolate coins to guard for his new owner. His intro card was a wanted poster.

So, in addition to my adventures in spinning, I am also working on other crafty things. Finished up everything for partner #1 of the Miyazaki swap: There was the stenciled tote bag seen earlier, though I did clean up a couple of the sploochy parts with cream colored paint to match the background fabric. 

A Nausicaa themed journal, which I am missing a picture for.

 And a little Jiji stuffie: 

 There was also a Jiji magnet. There were supposed to be more magnets, but they met with an accident, and only the one came out okay. Oh well. That stuff is all on its way to its new owner. I also have been working on this fall themed bag:

 The back is still plain, but I think I am going to consider this baby done, and get it out the door. I have other things to do.

I made this bunny last week and forgot to post pics. He's keeping Jack company on my keyboard now.

When I wasn't sleeping this weekend, I was working on this: 

It's a knitting needle case. Here's the inside: 

 I wanted to use some black pleather I had, but it kept breaking my sewing machine needles, so I went for the skullfinity print instead. I am mostly pleased with how this came out, but I think my sewing would be much improved if I had a nice big table where I could spread the fabric and stuff out to work on it. It's difficult to work in such a small space.

Mmmm....Brains 

Bub is done! He has his own copy of Salem's Lot, a gun, and, of course, a bucket o' guts.  Yay! Guts!

Me and Bub. Cute, huh?

Finished up a bunch of stuff this weekend. Wanna see? You know you do. First, I volunteered to be an "angel" for someone who didn't receive a swap package. This was for the August 2006 Birthday Swap. The person listed pinup girls as one of their interests, and indicated she would like some stationary. So I put together this gift box full of 5 x 6 stationary: 

I wanted to make up some printed envelopes to go with the stationary, but the envelopes kept jamming in my printer. Oh well. And then, I finished the stuff for the Skull/Bones/Skeleton swap that I've been working on:

  

 The finished tote bag (I added satin ribbon to the top, and lined it with a black and white skull print; a bunch of hair things, scrunchies, headbands, etc., and a journal. 

Also, some kitty toys.

 I am especially happy with the way the tote turned out. I hope both of my partners like their presents.

So, I didn't get even close to finishing my to do list of crafting for this weekend, but I did at least finish the Buffy things which need to be mailed out today. First we have a book box reminscent of the giant Vampyr tome Giles tries to give Buffy in Welcome to the Hellmouth. I am not entirely pleased with the way this turned out...mostly because after I had finished it, I actually watched the episode (I had been working from a picture) and I don't think it looks enough like it. Haven't decided yet if I will actually send this. Then we have the Spike t-shirt. My first stenciling job, and I think it came out pretty well. Mmmm...Spike. Finger puppets! Giles, Xander, Willow, Buffy and Spike. Aren't they cute? I friggin' love them (especially the Spike, which is holding a pack of cards and a kitten). Finally, a Vamp Willow tote bag. I had intended to stitch a Willow quote on the top. I had planned on using "Bored now", but am now faced with the fact that it doesn't fit the picture. =( It still needs something, I'm just not sure what. I have time to run out at lunch and pick up supplies to finish this puppy, so if anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Okay, so if you've looked at my vacation pictures, you have already seen Annabelle, but she is a crafting project, and therefore deserves her own post here. She is soft and squishy and likes to cuddle. I hope she enjoys her new home. Also, I made this photo album yesterday, using the instructions for a bookbinding kit I bought the last time I visited geekpixie. I printed all of Annabelle's pictures from my trip, plus a couple of "work in progress" shots, and put them in this album, to send to her new owner. There are about 20 blank pages left in the album, so Annabelle can continue to document any adventures she may have.

And now, for your early morning zombie post. I finished these magnets, made mostly with images of Ash from the Evil Dead movies, Bub from Day of the Dead and a couple of Dead Alive pics scoured off the internet, along with a couple text magnets. They fit nicely inside of the zombie tin. I also spent a good part of yesterday making a Bub doll, complete with his very own bucket of guts. Combined with the journal and decorated tin, this was going to be my completed swap package. Only now the deadline has been extended, and even though I have spent hours and hours making this stuff, looking at it, it doesn't seem like that much. I feel like I should make one more thing, maybe something big, so it looks like more stuff. Only I have another swap I wanted to get started on, and I am also fresh out of ideas. So what do you, my loyal readers think? Is this an okay swap package?

So...some of you may know that I am working on a swap on Craftster which is sheep themed. The send out date isn't for 2 weeks, but I feel the need to share the cute sheep things now. First up, we have an assortment of hair thingies: The thing on the left is a headband...it looks kind of silly without a head to put it on, but at least you can see the cute sheep fabric. The hair clips were made with sheep shaped buttons, and I really like them. In fact, I made some for myself. Here I am, modeling one of the sheep clips. I am wearing them today to test how well they hold up. Cause if the sheep fall off halfway through the day, I will not, in fact, be sending them to my swap partner...unless I can figure out a better way to attach them. But I am hopeful that they will be okay. I have already opened and closed the clip several times, trying to get it in my hair, and it seems to be okay so far. And finally, at least for now, here is my sheep shaped pillow: This is my new favorite thing that I have ever made. It's sewn with fleece, so it's very soft, and extra squishy, and damned cute (if I do say so myself). I almost hate to send it to my pal....but I have enough fleece to make a second one for me. =)

I have been doing a lot of crafting lately, but not really getting anything done. However, I finally have some finished objects to share with you, my loyal readers. =) This is my finished bag for the sotm_swap. I got lazy and just attached the design to the front of a finished bag...though it turns out to have taken much longer than it probably would have to have made the bag myself. If I hadn't been lazy, I could have attached the imaged to the front of the bag with a sewing machine, and then used a sewing machine to put the thing together. Instead it seemed like a really good idea to stitch the design to the front of the bag by hand. Duh. Still. I am pleased with it. More stuff I made for the swap: a magnet, a journal, and a little stuffed kitty (which was supposed to have horns and be a devil kitty, but the horns kept tearing or falling off. It was not meant to be, I guess. Actually, I repeatedly tried to make devil kitty things for this swap, because my person has a cat named Satan, but none of them worked. I think I was out of practice, as far as the crafting goes. So maybe I will do better next time. I also included some cat toys for her kitty, a bar of soap with a kitty head in it, and a Hello Kitty keychain thingie When I had a recent visit to geekpixie, she showed me how to start a toe-up sock with a short row toe. I have the foot and heel done now and have started on the cuff...then I just have to make another one. I love this yarn. Love Love Love. That is all.

 This has nothing to do with my crafting, but my co-worker often comes in to work with her nails painted in crazy colors, and she showed up yesterday with this, and kept flipping people off, which I found amusing (though I suppose some might be offended). Also, I did some more work on the mystery shawl 3 (and yes, I know that the 4th one already started). I hope to finish # 3 this week and then, maybe, start on #4 and try to keep up with the group...but we'll see how that goes. I'm not posting a picture of the shawl at this time, because it just looks like a large, grey blob. But I am convinced that once it is done, it will be pretty. And in any case, I have enjoyed making it.

The zombie is done. As is a ninja, and a Jesus. So here, for your viewing pleasure are my little felt people: 

   

Brains....

   

The cutest little ninja ever

   

Happy Jesus

 

The ninja's new home

Crafting Emergency: I'm having some trouble with a project I am working on, and figured I would turn to you for help.

  

I have finished sewing the kitty, but he needs to be on a background. This is probably going to end up being either a pillow or some sort of tote bag. I have these two fabrics, and I'm not sure which ones to use.

  

I started working on this little handbag in July. I've been finished with the knitting part for some time, but actually had to drag out my new sewing machine to sew a lining for it. I was excited to use the sewing machine for the first time (not the least of my excitement had to do with the fact that this bargain purchase actually worked). I sewed the lining in by hand, and then realized that the handles, which I had taken off of another bag which I was throwing out some time ago, needed be to put on before the lining. Ripped the lining out, attached the handles, and sewed the lining back in. Upon further reflection, I should either have gotten smaller handles, or made the bag bigger, but in any case...here's the finished product:

The trade show itself was really interesting. Most of the stuff was scrapbooking, and a lot of it looked the same, but there were some cool things. And there was yarn, Lion brand, Caron, and Coats and Clark all had booths. I scored some free stuff, 6 or so skeins of yarn from the Lion people, a set of crystallite needles from Coats and Clark, and (hopefully) a couple more skeins of yarn from Caron (one of the sales guys was going to send us stuff). Go me and my feminine wiles. I also got to fondle some rosewood needles, and boy were they pretty. Speaking of knitting, I completed the body of a little handbag during my various flights, and now just have to figure out how to use my sewing machine, so I can put the lining in and attach handles or straps of some sort. It's cute, and the variegated yarn did a neat looking spiral-y striping thing, completely by accident.