I've been bad.

Hopefully I'm not on Santa's naughty list this year. I've been doing a bunch of crafting for Christmas time, but haven't gotten around to posting a thing! Shame on me! I blame part of this on my lack of camera usage due to a lack of camera battery...... *goes and plugs in camera battery*

Okay so now that the battery is charging, I have no excuse to NOT post some pictures tomorrow. (Unless I get distracted with my new quilt!)

A taste of what is to come tomorrow:
-A venture into 3D sewing (not clothing)
-Progress shot of my new quilt
-Other Finished Projects

Now I said I was going to post this 3 months ago.... but here it is.

Eeekk! This picture makes me fall in love with it again!

I've been using it almost every night since I finished it, and don't foresee it getting much of a break.

I like how the flag decided it wanted to be in the picture too. It matches my quilt!

This.... is what I'm looking at...

a huge brick wall!

Classes started yesterday and I am enrolled in 17.5 science/math credits. So I may be a little vacant from the blog for the next few months. 

I've finished quite a few awesome projects that I am proud of, but haven't posted anything. Shame on me! I am going to try and take some time this weekend before I get too busy to make a huge post with all my updates!

I got the cartoon from http://www.kent.ac.uk/safety/student%20safety%20handbook/welfare.html. No copyright infringement is intended.

Ow....

My finger hurts quite a bit from tying off half of a queen sized quilt.

My mom helped me get it laid out, pinned, and did some tying.

It tied from the right side of the stripe all the way to the left (i.e. the stripes and left blue patch is all tied).

I'm glad to finally be finishing up this quilt. Its way over due.

 It was suppose to be a Christmas present for Andrew. (Last years Christmas)

We've both since gone our own ways, but I promised I would finish the quilt/blanket regardless.

Hopefully he will still appreciate it.

Facebook Cleansing

I just went from 145+ friends to 66, and something about it feels good. I realized there were so many people who were just acquaintance on my friend list. People who I went to high school with and haven't spoken to since, people I added just because I could, or people I just haven't spoken to in years. I noticed Facebook makes it hard to remove people from your friends list easily. (Yes that sounds like an oxymoron). I couldn't find an easy option and after I got fed up of going to page after page removing people a Google search provided the answer I was looking for. I don't think Facebook wants you to easily be able to remove people.
Facebook, Myspace, and the rest of the internet all try to make you feel more connected with others, when in most cases it just separates us more. Technology has become more of a wedge between people than a way of bringing people together. I know in my family we are all on our computers all the time and don't spend much time together just as a family.
People struggle to go a few days with out their cell phones. Most people don't realize that not long ago cell phones didn't exist, yet somehow we all survived. Computers even haven't been around too long either, but yet my generation could not imagine a world without them.
I'm not trying to say that all technology is bad, or that computers and cell phones are bad things. Technology has done a great many things. It allows us to communicate easily and more freely with people around the world, for the sharing of information that anyone can access, and sharing photos with people on the other side of the country in mere seconds.
(Woah this totally turned into a completely different conversation then I expected.... back on topic)
I know it sounds harsh that I slashed over half my "friends" list, but I think its good to realize the people in your life who you really value. Its not about the number of 'friends' you have on Facebook or Myspace, but the people that you truly value in your life, and who value you in theirs.

Ever wonder why they call them t-shirt bags?

You know the plastic bags you get from the grocery store? Ever wonder why they are called T-shirt bags? Its because you can make them out of T-shirts!

I whipped this one up in about 15 minutes using my basic/intermediate sewing skills!

I bought this shirt at target for $5 at St. Patrick's Day a few years ago meaning to turn it into a bag. I never got around to it and wore it a few times. This one probably is not good for much weight as the shirt is pretty thin, but normal weight cotton crew shirts would probably work fine. I am going to try and attempt my first tutorial on this soon, but its finals week and work has me working every day too!

In other news, I got crafty while I was away for the weekend at the Pacific Northwest Highland Games. There is a vendor that sells leather hair wraps that give the illusion of french braided hair with out all the hastle.

Mine (the dark hair) looks a little funky because there are two short ones.

  

They wanted $15 for a short one. They were simple to reverse engeneer. I picked up some leather cord at another vendor and some beads from the dollar store on the way back to the hotel and made my own. I am going to pick up some nice beads from the store when I get the chance to make them look nicer. When I do so, I hope to also make/post a tutorial on these as well!

A wrap around variation

Finally I made the red necklace from some nice silver beads I picked up at another vendor at the games. There are two barrel beads that hang on the two ends that are just out of the photo. One of the moms from my sisters band loved it and wanted me to make one for her. Looks like I may need to start my own business!

.

Imaginary Cupcakes

Can't you taste them already?

Yum! Don't they look so delicious!

I put my piping skills to the test and made up some imaginary frosting. I took them to Game Night a month back and they were gobbled all up!

(The square root of a negative number results in an imaginary number.)

Busy Busy

and no time for photos.

I've been so busy between school, work, having Grandpa visiting and trying to spend time with Andrew that I haven't had much time to pull my sewing machine out. I did a little bit of sewing last night though making some cool-ties for a co-workers daughter who is serving in Iraq.
My Mom also picked up a sweet deal on a Husqvarna Sewing Machine and Serger for $125 from Craigslist. The sewing machine had a bunch of feet and a walking foot that I might be able to use on my Husqvarna. (We are a Husqvarna family)
I still haven't gotten around to finishing up Andrew's Christmas present. I'm going to have to find some floor space to tie it off so I can finish it up. I also need to find a backing fabric for the quilt I was making for myself. Also want to make one of these:

The Purl Bee has a great tutorial on how to make one!

I was invited by co-worker to take part in a project for another co-worker whose daughter sadly passed away recently. We are going to be making two memory quilts out of her clothes both for her mother and a close friend.

I'm still alive my computer just died!

... and school just started.

I've gotten carried away the last 2 weeks between work, school, and my computer having died that I've forgoten to write anything. Fortunatly I finally settled on a computer to buy and it will be comming Monday! I'm so excited to be back on my own computer that isn't out of date!

In other news summer quarter just started, so I've been having fun readjusting to school again after having a quarter off. I'll probobally post more on that later.

My favorite blog to follow is having a giveaway this week! Deb at Works in Progress is giving away a quilt for her 600th post!

She has been posting alot recently about beautiful quilts that she has made from vintage sheets! The colours and patterns are wonderful! My fingers are crossed for this one! I have been keeping my eye out at the thrift stores for some so I can try my had at one, but of course once they finally have some, I have no money to buy them!

Adventure Day

Andrew and I went on a small adventure today. We visited St. Edwards State Park and went on a mini hike down to Lake Washington.

The old Seminary building

It wasn't what most would consider a nice day, but in Washington, when its not raining and above 50 degrees its not so bad.

I took a second to snap this photo and found Andrew sitting out on a rock.

To end our adventure we stoped by a little family run bakery that has been around for ages, but yet neither of us have stoped into. Stocked up on delicious baked goods and Dutch imported Nasi mix.

Today is a good day, and its not finished.

Computer Issues

When your hard drive sounds like your redicilously loud cd drive you have an issue....

I started up my computer the other day to that dreded noise! Luckly it went away, allowed me to boot, and back up my important files. I continued to use it untill it started making the noise again, and now it won't stop and everytime it boots it goes to a disk check. :( I cant decide wether its time for a new laptop (mine is 3 years old and my possibly have a connection issues with the screen) or just a new hard drive. HD is much cheeper but laptop is sooo much cooler!

Awesome News!

I just picked up a camera! I'm pretty excited about it cause its pretty sweet.

This means I can finally start updating more often with awesome looking photos! Keep an eye out for new posts!

I don't mean to let this blog die so early in its life, but I feel at a stand still because I don't have a camera. Mine still hasn't turned up and I am trying to decided whether I want to spend money on a new one, or save it. (And decided if I were going to buy one, if it would be the nearly $1000 DSLR, or just a nice point and shoot like my last) Maybe I should create a camera fund! I've had a few projects in the works, but life has gotten itself in the way. Hopefully I will be posting more often shortly.

Unfortunately weekends must come to an end.

I had a 50/50 weekend. Saturday was fun. I spent the day with my boyfriends family and watched him partake in a Fire Explorers Muster. He even made it into the online photo album of the local news paper.

See! Thats him lifting tons of hose!

Unfortunately we missed out on seeing that event ourselves, but it involves hauling all that hose up a few flights of stairs. The down side is that that for the 3 hours we were there to watch, we only saw them do 2 of their 6 events. The company he was in charge of (B Company) placed 5th overall! (A Company got 3rd overall) His company also won 1st for the spirit award. They also got awards as a team for individual events(Mass Causality Incident), and also as individuals for fastest times. Andrew had 4th in Hydrants, and a few other awards for time. The only down side is that they were disqualified from one of the 6 events (and still placed 5th overall!). During the search and rescue event he forgot to go on air. If they hadn't been disqualified they would have placed second in the event, and it probably would have moved them up overall. But regardless they did great and I am uber proud of him for doing so well and leading his team to 5th place!

(Edit 4/26: Just changed a few minor details)

Fabric Store Trip!

So I'm not allowed to buy anymore fabric for like the next 6 months! I went on a major splurge at the store! (Warning its a little picture heavy)

Here is all that I bought:

I'm not exactly sure what the total came too. This was from two different stores. I know that most of the fabric (The bottom 6 peices not including the white interfacing at the bottom) came to $35 for 6 yards.

The above fabrics are for a quilt for my bed.

I still need to find one more piece. I'm not sure if I am going to go with a pinwheel or striped blocks. Suggestions?

I bought these to make another wallet for my boyfriend's sisters birthday.

I showed my first wallet to a fellow co-worker/quilter and she said "I want one!" so I believe a second one is in order as well.

These are potentially for another quilt.

I already had the 3 right most pieces. I picked up the one on the left with these in mind. You can't quite see in this picture but the blues and browns are about the same, but it also has green. Keep an eye out to see what happens!

The red one is the first one I made. The pink is a gift.

I let my mom stitch up the second one, and it got a little off but it turned out cool. The brown fabric got pulled a little bit creating almost the effect of pink pipping around the top of the pocket. I think the red one turned out better, but with more practice they will all turn out excellent!

Sorry about the picture quality! I still haven't found my camera so I tried using my phone. Hopefully better pictures are in the near future!

Oh where oh where has my camera gone?!

Oh where oh where can it be?

I went in search of my camera today so I could take a photo of the cute little wallet I made to show everyone... but alias I can't seem to find it. Heres crossing my fingers and hoping it randomly makes itself known in the next few days!

It turned out just like the samples at the store. I used some red fabric I had picked out with the intention of making a binder cover (hopefully I still have enough). I found the pattern card at Ben Franklin. You can get a copy of it for yourself at Stitchin' Post. I used it this weekend so I wouldn't have to leave my purse in the car at a shooting match. Next time I plan on stitching the pockets so you can see the top of the cards.

These would make great gift card holders and make the gift more personalized!

On a random side note. One of my various skills/hobbies is target shooting .22. Our league ended a few weeks ago and we had a banquet last week. I got a cool plaque, to match my one from the year previous, for having the high score in my classification one week. We also shot at a prone match this weekend (prone position is when you are lying on the ground) I shot 773/800! Probably the best I have ever shot and much better than last year (Lets just say last year had much frustration and almost tears). I came in 3rd for the "geezers" team. Because I'm now 21 I no longer can be considered a Junior in shooting, now I'm just old. I ended up placing 6th or 7th over all out of about 15-17 people.

YAY!

My sewing machines back! My sewing machines back! But it was a nice day, so I spent it out and about instead of hobbled up inside sewing away. Hopefully tomorrow I might get a little bit of time to make this pin cushion...

I found the simple tutorial here...

I also found a cool card wallet pattern and a local crafting store, and want to try that out. It would be great for all those "rewards" card you get that seem to crowd your wallet.

I've been reading though Works in Progress... a lot recently and Deb has this really great quilt she made out of vintage sheets that I want to try my hand at. (I don't have a link to her post :( ) I have been looking at all our Thrift Stores and haven't found anything yet! Eventually though..... I should probably finish the stack of ideas/projects I have before I start adding more! Hopefully I can get some sewing done this weekending and shorten the stack!

Sewing Machine!

I'm so excited! I finally bought a sewing machine! I had been considering it for awhile, but they seemed so expensive! With the help of my mom I was able to find an old Husqvarna Viking 150 for $50 on Craigslist. (Oh how I love Craigslist! I got a really good deal on my first car at the beginning of the year) After a good deal of much needed tlc, the machine is up and running smoothly. My Mom says I still need to take it to the shop to get it tuned up. *sad face* That means money....
I just used it to complete the top of quilt/blanket for my boyfriend that is long over due (Cough... Christmas... Cough).


I waited to post this with the intention of putting some pictures in, but the quilt is put away for the time being and my sewing machine is in the shop. :(

Change isn't always a bad thing!

My blog is changing! I'm turning it into a crafting blog, BUT DON'T FEAR!, I'll still be keeping my old blog under a new name. Its life as we know it now! For those of you who are not familiar with my old blog; it is about the trivialities of life growing up as a 20-something (i.e. a blog about life).