Year of Making Stuff: Week 4

Thanks to a snow day, I finished my week 4 project early! During TYoMS, I am trying to use materials and supplies that I already own and not running out every week to buy new.  Reduce, reuse, recycle, right?  So using fabric I had on hand, paint from a  previous project and a stencil image from the web, I made my very own Punk Rock Apron.  The apron pattern is from Amy Butler’s In Stitches.  Since I am not an experienced sewer, it took me a little longer, but think I could do one now in 1/2 the time.  Then I made a stencil using freezer paper and a stencil image from the web and added the London Calling image.

Buried in Snow

Yay!  The forecasters were finally right, and we got our first big snow of the year (and probably last).  IU is closed, my library is closed and we are so not going anywhere.  But that didn’t stop us from walking around the Rose Hill Cemetery and downtown this morning.  It was so beautiful and peaceful. I was thankful to not have to be out driving!

Rest of the day will be devoted to reading and maybe some Making Stuff.

Cardamom Meringues

Swedish Cookies and Cakes showed up at the library, so I thought I would take a stab at something I haven’t ever done before.  Baking doesn’t give me near the pleasure that cooking does, but I am often happy with the result.  Who doesn’t like home baked goods?  I love meringue cookies, and the cookbook has recipes for plain, almond and cardamom flavored.  I couldn’t resist making the cardamom.  They are quite tasty!  I don’t really like the piping part, but next time I would use the biggest pastry bag tip, which I think would be easier. There are a few other recipes in there I would try, and maybe Tim will be so inspired to make some homemade pretzels.

And?  We actually have SNOW!  I love it.

Year of Making Stuff: Week 3

I started this months ago, and finally sat down to finish this morning.  My first attempt at a landscape quilt, and while I don’t love it, I am glad that I finished it.  I usually expect my quilts to be used, cuddled with, thrown over a back of a chair and slept on by cats.  While I enjoy looking at art quilts, it doesn’t always appeal to me as something I would enjoy making.  This was done primarily using a pattern out of a magazine, and I’d like to try one more with my own design.

Also, Slumdog Millionaire is as good as everyone says.

The Daily Green

My draft snake made it to a slide show of other draft snakes on The Daily Green as part of easy cheap ways to winterize your home!  Mine is #18.  There are a lot of other draft snakes on the slide show that are really snakey…I never thought to add eyes and a tongue, but I will next time!

Year of Making Stuff: Week 2

Abby is due in April with her third girl, and some how her 2 year old (an my good friend, Sofie) snuck by without receiving one.  So for this spring, the Nool family will be receiving two girly quilts.  I think the second one will be in purple and white (with a little green) and I’ll let Mama decide who gets what.

Year of Making Stuff: Week 1

Having a broken sewing machine isn’t going to stop my Year of Making Stuff.  Even though many things that are on my mind to make are sewn items, I had to regroup and ended up making a quick request, two book marks.  My coworker and I share a distaste for romances and westerns, but read them from time to time as part of our jobs.  We read the same inspirational book, Winterbirds, about a year ago and both found it, well, sort of gaggy.  And strange.  We laugh about it pretty much weekly.  Elizabeth recently read a romance book, A Perfect Match, with the ridiculously named protagonist Cash Lawless.  And while Elizabeth makes fun of Cash Lawless, I think she secretly pines for him.

Elizabeth’s 18 year old daughter will be the recipient of the second bookmark I made this week.  Rachel does live the Thug Life in a pretty-Barbie-Bloomington kind of way.  I hope then she finds this fitting.  And funny.

Unmaking

Sometimes in the process of Making Stuff, you also have to unmake stuff.  I am a really good seam ripper, but it still takes considerable time to rip out 80 inches of stitches after accidentally sewing fabric in the wrong place. In other setbacks, my sewing machine is in the shop after sewing over a pin and somehow damaging the shuttle hook.  Yeah, I had to look up what it was called because I had to send the machine into the shop with Tim and a note explaining my stupidity and what wasn’t working.

So I had to rethink my Thing to Make for week one, and it is almost done!

Perspective

Sometimes it just takes a new perspective.

I have given myself until next Sunday to finish the first week of the Year of Making Stuff.  I am full of ideas and inspiration but continue to work on long term, labor intensive projects.  Oh well, I guess those things will get finished this year and count somewhere down the road.  In the mean time I’ve gotta come up with something small to start with.  I wonder if there are any Boba Fett embroidery patterns out there.

The Year of Making Stuff

2009 is going to be my Year of Making Stuff.  I know, I should have probably come up with a catchier name or a logo or something, but that basically sums it up.  This is a fairly simple project, every week, I will make something.  Every week I will finish something either by sewing, knitting, embroidering, cross stitching, baking, painting, whatever.  And at the end of the year, I will have finished 52 things.

Thanks to Ashley, I have a picture of the bookmark that I made her for Christmas from Subversive Cross Stitch.