Snow Days = Craft Days

Well the holidays are over and things were just starting to get back to normal, when we were hit with a big snow storm.  Pre-school was closed for the week, and so was pretty much everything else.  This meant the 3 kiddos and I were stuck inside for several days with no escaping out into the bitter cold and snow.  But don't think I'm complaining.... Our lives are normally filled with activity after activity and it seems like we are constantly on the go.  This doesn't bode well as my kids aren't even old enough for their own activities yet.  I foresee only more chaos in my future.  ;)


No, I'm not complaining about being snowed in at all.  In fact, snow days = craft days for me!  Happy days!


I've been wanting to try my hand at making quilts for many years now, but have never taken the leap.  Therefore, one of my New Years' Resolutions was to make a quilt this year.  So when the snow started, I ran up to my craft room and pulled out a quilt kit that I bought several years ago and had never opened.  I was amazed at how quickly and easily the quilt top went together.  I liked it, but it just wasn't intricate enough for me.  It was the same rectangle sewn together over and over again and just didn't strike my fancy.  So luckily, a few days before the snowstorm, I had ordered the new Wishes Quilt Along Quilt Kit from the Fat Quarter Shop in preparation for my resolution.  It arrived on my doorstep mid-storm, so I worked up my first "block" ever and I loved it!!  I think it turned out great, especially since I'm a beginner.


It's a Quilt Along, so you only make one block a month.  It's killing me to wait until February 1st for the next block pattern.  So I started ANOTHER quilt.  I purchased the pattern from Lella Boutique and it's called Lickety Split.  I'm not exactly sure why it's called that, because it's not going to be a fast quilt top, but you do split the blocks.  haha.  So I've got all the fabric cut and the original blocks made, and I'm in the process of "splitting" and re-sewing all the blocks back together.  There are something like 122 blocks, and I've only got 2 split and completely back together.  It's going to take awhile, but it's going to look awesome when I'm done.  I'm using Bonnie and Camille's Scrumptious line, which is gorgeous.  I'll post some pictures soon.


As for now, it's off to the grocery store to pick up some fixin's for dinner.

Trailing Hearts Double-Knitted Scarf

Christmas is quickly approaching, which means lots of travelling, (for our family anyways), and busyness, so I wanted to be sure to get this post in before all the adventure begins.  I just finished my trailing hearts scarf for my niece and I love how it turned out.  It was incredibly easy and I just can't get over having two right-sides when you are done.  I think she will really like it.

I used the pattern found here.  The pattern seemed to short, even for an 8-year old, so I repeated a portion of the scarf on each end, making it the length I wanted.  We'll see how she likes it when she opens it on Christmas!  :)

Double-Knitted Potholders

So I finished my potholders!  (Why does it always feel SO good when you finish a project??)  I think they turned out awesome.  Once again, I got the pattern here.  I ended up making my own patterns (stripes and hearts) since the pattern doesn't instruct on when to change colors, etc. for the stripes.  Double knitting is so much fun!  I think it's so cool.  So cool, in fact, that I've already started my next project.  Here's a sneak peek:

 

Check back soon for more projects!

 

Stacey

Knitting Away

So I've been busy crafting a lot lately.  I have several projects to share... mostly ideas from Pinterest.  I'm not sure if anyone else has this problem, but I find so many cool ideas for projects and pin them on Pinterest, but I never tend to find the time to actually DO them.  I guess lately I've had a little more ambition than normal.  :)

So today I'm working on a double-knit potholder.  I found the original pattern here.  I changed it up and added my own twist.  This is what I have so far.

I'm hoping to write up my pattern for my ravelry page once it is finished.  This is my first try at double knitting and I'm loving it so far.

Check back soon for those other projects I was talking about!

Stacey

Valentine's Day Card

I made a quick and easy card for my husband for Valentine's Day.  I wanted to have this video posted the night I made it, but I encountered several editing issues.  (I'm still new to this youtube video posting thing.)  Therefore, I didn't get it posted until today and Valentine's Day is over.  :(  After all my editing work, I almost decided not to even post it since the holiday is over.  But some of you may be a lot better about being proactive than I am, so I figured maybe you'd want to get a jump on next year's Valentine's Day or even an anniversary or something.  So here it is in all it's glory (or lack there of).

 



 

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Stacey

My PaperTrey Ink Die Storage Solution

I know... I know... It's been forever.  I tell ya... once you get out of the groove, it can take a long time to start up again.  I've had ideas for videos and I just haven't gotten around to filming them.  I guess sometimes life just takes over, right?

So today I decided it was time to post how I have decided to store my PaperTrey Ink dies.  I had done some research on the internet trying to find the best solution for me and found a couple systems that I thought might work, but when it got down to it, I realized it was going to be quite an investment.  So luckily, I found an option that I think ends up being quite a bit cheaper than my original plans, so I thought I would share that with you all.  Hopefully it will help someone else out there, too.

Happy organizing!

Stacey

No Sew Fabric Wreath

I'm always ready for Spring and with the weather feeling like Spring weather so early this year, I'm really anticipating "real" Spring. Therefore, I wanted to make something Spring related and saw a video on Sarah Hamer's Youtube channel, (her channel name is "mypinkcricut"), for a no-sew fabric wreath. It looked simple enough, so I decided to give it a shot with some pretty Spring colored fabrics. Here's how it turned out...