(sick) ambition

I've never been a fan of folks who go on and on about how crappy they feel. And, I feel like I've mentioned my ailments too much recently here. So all I'll say now is that I took a rare day off from work this week to try and rest up. And, I decided to get back to my crafting routine despite not being 100%. Too many ideas were clogging up my noggin.

I started by working on the little pleated clutch in the photo above. I had thought about working with pleats in linen for a while now, but couldn't find a good online tutorial for it. I finally just went into it blind. With mixed results. For one thing, the cute leopard is supposed to be all the way over on the very right hand side of the bag. How did I not notice that mistake until I was finished?! Rusty!

Next, I knocked out this fantastic dragon bag, a custom order for Carrie, that I am going to hate to part with! I came up with a new design that really complimented the Alexander Henry fabric. There's an outside pocket to the left of the dragon for her cell phone.


It also has two pockets inside. The bag is reversable, so Carrie can use this side if she wants a little less dragon.


My felting frenzy continued. I knocked out five more bowls, and am now trying to figure out how to embellish them. Beads? Cord? Embroidery? Who knows. I'll try something. I also started thinking about how to execute this idea I've had running around the noggin: knit fire.


We have a fireplace upstairs that we wanted to get operational this winter. But when the chimney guy showed up to inspect it, he called it a 'widow-maker'. Eek. Maybe not then. So, I've been thinking about a knitted/felted fire art installation in the hearth. We'll see. The to-do list is long.

I brought the bowls outside to dry a bit in the sun. I've always been happy that X and Q have an interest in my projects. They like helping me pick colors, sort zippers, fold fabric, whatever. I let them touch everything except for the needles, pins and blades. And they both really like the new felted bowls. So, I assumed when all of the bowls disappeared that they had been comendeared by one of the kiddos.


Yep. They were being used to feed Rody the horse. And the puppies. And the dinosaurs.

Finally, I recently checked out this new fabric shop on High Street called Sew to Speak. It's all goody-goody goodness. I did my best to restrain myself, but ended up walking out with four yards of black and grey canvas, and these two goodies:

:: Giraffes from Alexander Henry ::

:: The most amazing Japanese import linen/cotton blend from Echino ::

Ah. The love. The only down side is that I really can't start on anything new until I knock out some more of these custom orders. It's a nice problem to have.

felt frenzy

It was a nice weekend - all things considered. Kevin had to work a ton of overtime, Mother's Day included, so the kids and I were on our own most of the time. As a bonus, I now have strep throat (what the heck is going on with my immune system?!), so we were pretty much stuck inside too.

The upside is that I had plenty of time to indulge this felting frenzy that I've been on since Thursday night. Thursday night, Lynne showed me how to knit in the round, and I've been knitting up these little bowls almost non stop since. I gave the yellow one to my Mom for Mother's Day.

Other presents included cards from my kids, an upside down tomato plant from my Mom (no place for vegetable planting in my small, small yard), and crafting cash from Kevin. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon and I can head out to the store and spend it.

the curse of threes

It turns out I did come back from Chattanooga with bronchitis. And a sinus infection. And then, late last week, I came down with fifth disease. And, although not being a particularly vain person, I was a bit embarrassed to show up at work with all of those spots.

The upside was that I had the perfect excuse to lay low this weekend and find stuff to do around the house. The weather cooperated with my plan on Saturday by spitting down rain and keeping me indoors. Now that it's finally warm out, we moved our bed back into our bedroom and I started setting up my new sewing/crafting room. The kids have been a big "help" by sorting fabrics and spools of thread into piles based on color. I should have photos to post by this weekend.


Earlier in the week I finished up the quilt in the above photos for the Four Season Quilt Swap. I put a lot of thought and time into it, but I've pretty much been shamed by the other quilters, who all seem to have tons more talent/experience. My partner should have received her quilt today, and I hope she is happy with her newbie creation. I have lots to learn!