My nephew Miles turned 5 on Saturday.  He only asked for one thing: a sock monkey.  I was happy to oblige.

 

I used the instructions found in Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori.  This book is great.  Softies are not my forte, but the directions and simple materials used to make the animals in this book give me a little more confidence every time I make one up.  My friend Jodi helped me - she stuffed, I sewed - and we had this guy complete in about forty-five minutes.  I also had everything I needed on hand - socks, stuffing, buttons, thread, embroidery floss.  Easy peasy and super cute.  I need to remember this book for the random gloves and single socks that accumulate over time.  Sewn up with a little stuffing, they make great and fast gifts.  Just my speed.  There's another book, Happy Gloves, by the same author.  I don't own it, but have seen it at the book store.  It looks like it might have potential, too.  If anyone has used it, I'd be interested to know what you think.

For the record, the sock monkey was not in the unfinished project pile - I made it on Saturday before I decided to finish what I have started.  And on that note, I made 12 more quilt squares yesterday.  That brings the total to 65 with 21 31 left (bad math and wishful thinking).  I can see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm still waiting for TypePad to test my blog.  Just thought I would mention it again in case the comments disappear.

I've been in a little bit of a craft rut recently.  I have lots of ideas swimming around in my head, but I am having a hard time executing them.  Now that this last batch of camera straps is completed and mailed, I have some time on my hands.  I went up to the sewing room to find something and got completely distracted by a pile of unfinished projects.  The amount of WIP around here is staggering.  So with the exception of what I am doing for my local craft swap, I'm declaring September the month in which I will finish (some of) what I have started. 

 

First up:  Kate's Single Girl quilts.  I started working on these in April, 2008 and finished the arcs last October.  Uh, yeah.  Time to finish.  This weekend I pieced about 20 squares.  That makes 53 out of 96 squares - more than half way.  Most likely I will find someone to do their long arm magic on these quilts instead of quilting them myself.  I just need to get the tops finished first.

 

And since I have a hard time keeping track of which piece of the ring goes where, I finally labeled them.  I couldn't do the 1, 2, 3, 4 that the pattern recommends because it's just not logical to me.  I mean, do the numbers go clockwise or left to right then top to bottom?  I keep forgetting which I chose.  This time, I labeled them like a compass - N, S, E, W.  I can't forget that, can I?

In other news, Lisa interviewed me over at Polka Dot Cottage as part of her morning coffee series.  It was fun to be on the on the other side of a Q and A and I am amazed that I didn't make a complete fool of myself.  If your interested in what I have to say about blogging, go have a look-see. 

Also, TypePad is going to be doing some testing on my blog.  Hopefully, it won't be for very long.  If the comments mysteriously disappear, you now know why.

OK - back here tomorrow with some other small tidbits.  See you then.

There hasn't been much happening around these parts except sewing and I like it that way.  Of course, my family would probably love it if I would stop long enough to do the dishes or the laundry, maybe even vacuum.

Shop update will be Thursday, September 3rd at 1:00 p.m. EST (New York time).

Back to the sewing machine.  Maybe back here tomorrow.  Maybe not.

I've been stitching on this skirt slowly.  I pick it up when I have a few minutes - in the carpool line and other times while I am waiting for the girls.  It lives in this bag, with the Alabama Stitch book, thread, scissors and a pin cushion.  It's a project that has a nice pace to it.  Easy to pick up, and equally important, easy to put down.  I'm a little more than half finished with the reverse applique so, fingers crossed, I will be wearing it some time this fall.

And not as slowly, but definitely as surely, I am making camera straps and some other goods to sell in the shop.  As of right now, I plan on re-opening the shop on Thursday, September 3.  I haven't set a time yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you know here.  Sound good?

I am trying to finish up my blocks for the Virtual Quilting Bee.  This one is for Eren, who sent the leafy print on the bottom left and the yellow and white print on the top left, as well as the off white solid.  I took a good look at the our flickr group and picked some other prints that I thought would go well with the other finished blocks.  I didn't have enough of the off white to put it in the center so I chose this aqua out of my stash.

This was my first attempt at paper piecing.  I used the great instructions found here by Christina at The Sometimes Crafter.  It was easier than I had anticipated and now I wonder why I waited so long to try it.  I can totally see this block done in three monochromatic solids - wouldn't that be cool?

Happy Monday!

Our babysitter, Liz, has been watching the girls since she was in 7thgrade.  She has been my number one, go-to sitter for six years and sheis leaving for college next week.  I get a little teary thinking aboutit - I actually did cry at her graduation party.  The four of us aregoing to miss her, but she is headed off on to her newest adventure andwe couldn't be happier for her.

 

I finished Liz's quilt on Tuesday night and washed it yesterday.  I am really happy with how it turned out  - in fact, it may be among my favorites.  Blue is Liz's favorite color and I wanted it to play a strong role in her quilt.  I also wanted the design to be something simple and fresh, young and vibrant just like the girl who is receiving it.  I started with a few sets of Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party fat quarters.  I cut 30 separate fat quarters in to rectangles measuring 13" x 15.5" (my fabric was pre-washed).  I arranged them in a grid and sewed them together.  This took me a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in late May.

 

For the back, I used two pieces of a turquoise solid that I joined using a patchwork strip.  The patchwork rectangles were from the scraps of the original fat quarters.  The back still wasn't long enough so I added another strip.  I told you all what happened with the batting.  Once I had a piece that was big enough, it was time for the quilting.

For the quilting, I chose a blue thread that is slightly darker thanthe aqua that is on the back.  I'd call it a French blue.  It took me avery long time to decide how to quilt this.  I contemplated manydifferent options until I settled on the wavy horizontal lines.  I usedmy walking foot and started sewing the lines free motion - well, asfree motion as you can with a walking foot.  They were very fun to sew and I love how they look.  For the binding I chose ayellow polka dot (not sure who makes it, sorry) because I reallythought the quilt needed a good pop of color.  I think it works well.

After washing and drying, the quilt measures 60" x 88".  Now it's time for us to wrap this quilt up and deliver it to Liz.  And then we have to say good-bye.  Pass the tissues.  I'm going to need them.

I made these coasters out of scraps I bought from Lotta Jansdotter.  The backs are white scraps from my stash.  The batting is from the quilt fiasco.  Because the machine is set up and everything was on hand, it took me about 30 minutes to whip these up.  I wrapped them up with a little ribbon and included a jar of tomatoes from our garden - a small gesture for a friend.

 

 

The rains came.  Crazy rains - 6 inches in one hour.  There is flooding in different neighborhoods of our city.  Lots of damage to homes and cars.  We had some leaking, but it was pretty minor.  I got it all cleaned up and then spent the rest of the day cleaning and puttering.  I worked on the quilt and on my hand sewing project too.  The girls organized the DVD cabinet and then watched a movie.  We cooked dinner and Fatty came home from an overnight trip.  I worked on some camera straps and stayed up too late watching bad reality TV.

Today I slept in.  And feel like having another quiet day at home.  The girls have other ideas in mind.  Roller skating or bowling, they say.  I'll probably give in.  They start school two weeks from today and I really want to savor what's left of their summer break.  There will be plenty of time for quiet days soon enough.

Happy Wednesday.