By Bryn

Travel Wallet

2012-02-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Before my trip to WDW I needed to make at least one more thing! I wanted a little travel wallet for my Mickey Mouse bag while visiting the parks.

I started by making a template with the seam allowance accounted for. Template was 9" by 4 1/2." I'd say that it worked out perfectly! I use whatever paper is in my recycle pile. A much better use of paper than what's printed on it more than half of the time.

Like many of my projects lately I ventured into my scrap box and found some beautiful fabrics. I cut them all 1 1/4 by 4 1/2. I cut too many for each to have a 1/4 seam on each side so I varied the sizes to create a slightly uneven pattern. I seem to be drawn to using all the colors of the rainbow these days.

After all the pieces were sewn together I had a bright idea. What about an outside pocket for the card I will use the most! Brilliant! I had some extra fabric because of all the extra seams so I could create a pocket. I took the seam out between the two pieces and turned each side to create the pocket. And like always I used teal as my inside.

I sewed the pieces together and turned them. After adding a stitch around the entire piece I folded over the pocket and sewed them again.

It worked out perfectly! I'm not quite sure how that happened but it did!

I'm super happy with the results. This little wallet will be perfect for my travels. After my trip I plan to use it for my frequent buyer cards. Now off to Florida for an adventure!

- Bryn

Kindle case version 3.0

2012-02-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

3rd time's a charm! Version 1.0 - too big. Version 2.0 - too small. Version 3.0 - just right!

This time I went with a bookcase look for my digital bookcase.

And all the pictures are sideways again. I tried multiple times to get them straight to no avail.

This time I started with a paper layout of my bookcase. I wanted 3/8 inch border around the kindle when it was finished.

I went through my scrap collection and found some great fabric to use.

I cut the "books to size and placed the "wood around the edges to get an idea for what it will look like.

Made two sides, one light and one dark. for the covers of the case.

I used the light side for the front cover and the dark side for the back cover. Looks good!

The inside covers were made from another Disney text print. This time I used Peter Pan.

To make the covers more stable I used a thick fusible interfacing. On the inside cover I also used some batting to cushion the screen.

I'm finally happy with version 3.0. I love the cover on the first one. The inside of the second one is fantastic. The third one is the right size and the cover is unique and the inside looks great. I think I'm finally done making Kindle covers for myself. Maybe I'll start making them for Etsy.

-Bryn

Kindle version 2.0

2012-02-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

So far two kindles and two covers. I replaced my first kindle within the week because I lost a couple pixels on it. Took it back to Target and they replaced it no problem! So now I have Kindle Fire 2.0 and now I need case 2.0!

I found some fantastic Lorax fabric and knew that I needed to use it for my case. My last case I made too large. I needed to bring down the size.

Another issue with my last case was the elastic. It was a bit too thin and it didn't hold the case very well. The elastic worked much better this time and I only make one little mistake installing it.

The other fabric I knew I needed to use was some Disney text print. The text I used was from Pinocchio. It says "Star Light, Star Bright, the first star I see tonight.

Well well... The case is now a little too small!

With my excitement in finding some cute fabrics I found out that they really don't work well together.

Kindle case version 3.0 here I come!

- Bryn

How I spent my Valentine's day

2012-02-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

I'll have to say that my motivation has been low lately. My life has had many changes of late and it has been tough dealing with all of them. Most of my days have been spend online all day, watching TV or reading. Not much action on the craft front I'm afraid.

Did I make anything on Valentine's day? No! I went to Disneyland instead. Only one day a year they bring out all the Princes and Valentine's day is that day. Off to Disneyland I went to play before work and took photos with the Princesses and Princes.

Prince Ali and Jasmine

The Giant Beast and Belle

Prince Naveen and Tiana

Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip

Prince Charming and Cinderella

Snow White and the Prince

Three of those poor princes don't even have a real name, The Beast, Prince Charming and The Prince from Snow White. It was great to see all of them. The only couple I didn't get a picture with was Ariel and Eric. But I did grab a picture of them from a friend in line.

I suppose I didn't go the whole day without at least planning a craft. I brought a piece of fabric to make a pillow out of.

I had the characters autograph the fabric. I showed some of my friends from work and a couple of them suggested embroidering them. What a great idea! It would take forever but it would be awesome when it is done.

Next week I'm off to collect more autographs in Florida at Walt Disney World with my mom. We are also going to visit Universal Studios for Harry Potter. I'm ready for a total geek out!

I'm going to make a new case for my Kindle before my vacation. The first one I made ended up being too big and the elastic was not strong enough. Another project for another day.

- Bryn

Winnie the Pooh Ornament

2012-02-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

I loved making the felt ornaments so I needed to continue and make more! Winnie the Pooh's Hunny pot. A friend of mine made one for our work Christmas tree and I just had to make one of my own! And just in time for Valentine's day.

And it's sideways! Oh well. I found a drawing one of many of Winnie the Pooh's Hunny pots and cut it out. I went through my collection of felt and found some colors that worked out very nicely.

I wanted the added dimension for the lid so I created two pieces to make the jar. Later I added the white Hunny banner.

It wouldn't be right if it didn't have some honey in the pot. Poor Pooh is always low on honey, but not at my house.

It turned out great. I'll admit that my patience is a little bit short at the moment and I got a little too frustrated at silly things. But I know the more I do the more everything will get back to normal.

Sideways is about right.

- Bryn

Blog redo

2012-02-02T12:27:00.001-08:00

I have a lot of things I want to rework on my blog. I'm going to take a couple days off to work on a new look. I'll be back with many more projects soon.

- Bryn

Kindle cover

2012-01-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

I recently bought a Kindle. I always wanted one. I had been waiting for them to drop under $100 which they did. I decided to upgrade to the Fire version. I didn't want non-buyers remorse by buying the black and white version when there was a color one available!

I looked at the store for some cover and didn't really like any of them and they were about $30 for the cheapest. They didn't have a screen cover at all so off to my fabric stash I went.

I took almost all of my fabric home to KC so I could focus on the stuff I already made. I knew it wouldn't work but I gave it a try. I kept all of my solids because I was still working on the all solids quilt.

I kept up with the all solids idea after finding that most of my scraps were going to be a little short. I cut a piece of paper to the size I wanted and folded it to create the pattern. I suppose it was bit a paper piecing without the sewing on the paper.

The front and back cover looks pretty good!

After some mistakes with the size of the elastic I will have to redo part of the interior which means ripping apart almost all of it to fit the elastic that I messed up the first time!

It's a learning process but I'm getting better at all these crafting things. Keeps me busy and out of trouble.

- Bryn

T-shirt quilt

2012-01-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

Another project I started while at home was a t shirt quilt. I've had quite a few shirts in the basement just waiting to be chopped into bits.

I brought them all out and started though one stack of the four. I separated them into elementary through high school, diving, college and Disney.

I had already started a long time ago with some high school diving shirts. I didn't cut them with a rotary cutter so I had to re-cut them all. Kept me busy for sure!

One stack of new quilting fabric and one huge stack of left over cut of shirts. Wow, those stacks look a little different.

I left all my shirts at home in KC. That will be a good project when I come back home. It will be nice to get rid of that giant bag of shirts!

- Bryn

Valentine's pillow finished

2012-01-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

From the base work of the one fabric I was able to fill in the other colors as well. At first I wasn't sure about the lightness of the pillow, usually it is not a enough contrast for my taste, but I went with it to see how it would end up.

After starting to sew together the squares I realized that I was missing a row. I planned it to be 8 rows by 8 rows and I only had 7. Oh no! Just a little bit more time with my rotary blade and a couple fabrics and I was back on track.

And the finished product, at least the front. I looked much better after it was all put together.

After another trip to the fabric store for some fabric for the back and borders and the pillow was complete!

I loved the pillow once it was done. Again sorry about the lousy pictures, crafting at night will do that to ya.

And this time I remembered my craft tag! Score one for Bryn.

Crafting has been a good distraction of late. Although time usually passes by quickly when I am working on my computer or crafts but lately it seems to trickle by. Hopefully this is a temporary thing. I know things will get better soon.

- Bryn

Valentines day pillow

2012-01-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

The day after breaking off the relationship I couldn't just sit around. I had to do something. And something that comes naturally to me is working on crafts.

Valentine's day is around the corner so it would be the easiest crafts to make. After breaking up hearts are not quite the items you want to be working with but I did it anyways.

I found a piece in my parents house that inspired me to make a patchwork pillow for Valentine's day.

Blogger decided to change all my pictures sideways, oh well. I went to my fabric stash after buying some fabric from my favorite fabric shop in Lawrence, KS, Sarah's and starting cutting the ever popular 2 1/2 in squares.

I started to draw out some different patterns. I originally planned to use diamonds as a pattern for the pillow but the different angles of the heart precluded that idea. I decided to go pretty simple and go from there.

I took a good amount of time laying out the initial shape of the heart with one fabric of the four that I had chosen.

To continue tomorrow. Crafting make the heart grow stronger!

- Bryn

2012 already interesting...

2012-01-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm currently home in KC visiting and things in my life have changed again.
After almost 6 years of togetherness, my fiance Sean and I decided to call things off. It was a very tough decision, and it was mostly my doing, but we came to a consensus that we need to take a step back. When people say that distance relationships are hard, believe them. We were together for three years in Kansas and almost three years of distance. Those last three years saw many changes and some of them we didn't necessary share together. It seemed that we were going through the paces of a relationship but didn't always fell them.
We shall see what the future brings and whatever it is I welcome it.
Also I suppose I could officially break the news to those who don't already know. I will be moving back to Kansas City at the beginning of April. Originally it was to move to be together with Sean, which it still might be. But now it is a total refresh from what my life is currently with a new job, new place to live but with friends already in toe.
New adventures are in my future. Now I truly have no idea what the future brings but it will be a good challenge and I'm looking forward to it.

- Bryn

Alice Ornament

2012-01-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Another day, another ornament. This time it's Alice, the animated Disney version of course.

I used this image as inspiration. I didn't have a the same color for the tag so I interpreted. It worked out pretty well if I don't say so myself.

I free handed the letters onto the felt with a marker and stitched over it. I'm happy with the result. I used two threads of embroidery floss in brown.

Two ornaments down, many more to go. I think that I need to make 14-16 total. It depends on how many tables we will have for the wedding

Alice and Rapunzel together. More will join them soon!

- Bryn

Over Half way done

2012-01-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, this quilt is so different than most that I have made lately. So dark! But I love it, graphic colors and patterns are what I love the most.

Two halves about about to become one! Just like Sean and I later this year (haha... barf!)

The end result. Awesome.

The easy part for me is now done. I always make the tops of quilts very quickly but finishing one is a different story.

This quilt is going to have a home at the home I'm living at now. I've been living with my grandfather in California for two and a half years and he has always been easygoing with my crafts taking over the house. He seemed to like this quilt far more than the others, so it will stay here with him as a thank you gift for everything that he has done for me. It's probably not even enough for all that he has done but at least it is a start.

Love you G-pa!

- Bryn

Needing a little bit of Disney

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

As always I counldn't finish one project without starting another. I had an idea for my wedding that I can re-purpose later to ornaments.

I couldn't have my wedding, and Sean's too I guess, without a little Disney in it. I thought it would be cute at each table to have a little ornament hanging off a mason jar. And if I decide that I don't want to do Disney at the wedding, not all my time is lost.

I started with the Kingdom flag from Tangled. I had the colors of felt already. There were two shapes seven time and arrange them around a circle. I glued the pieces down onto the felt and stitched them from behind, as to not see the stitches too much.

I stuffed it with some leftover quilt batting and did a blanket stitch around the edges. For good measure I added my crafting signature and the year. All that is left is a ornament hanger.

The first ornament turned out great. Only 12-15 more to go! The plan is about half Disney and Disneyland and half Sean's interests. Plus a lot of crossover of things we both like. I suppose we have to like some of the same things!

-Bryn

Ending the year 2011

2012-01-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

This post might be a couple days late but better late than never! 2011 was a great year at work and in life for me. It's amazing to me to think of all the things that happened in 2011.

I started off my year on a trip with my mom to Hawaii. We spent ten days on the Big Island, drank Kona coffee, ate lots of fish, bought Hawaiian fabric, watched the Packers win the Superbowl and explored the land and the sea.

Hawaiian Quilt

Our view

A wall of Kona Coffee Bags

My next adventure was down to Florida to visit Walt Disney World. I took my parents and boyfriend there with my Disney Discounts(!). We had a great time seeing parks we had never been to before. Sean and I are planning another visit soon.

Ms. Bunny

Lotso

Space Ranger?

Ariel and Eric

Rapunzel and Flynn

On a trip to KC my mom and I decided to venture into Missouri to visit Walt's home town of Marceline. One check off my Disney bucket list.

Walt's original barn

Another check off my Disney bucket list happened at D23, the Disney fan expo. I got a chance to see Dick Van Dyke live! He was amazing. Disney also brought out some great items from the past and gave us some looks into the future films and park projects.

Sean and I had an adventure into California. We visited San Francisco and drove down the CA 1 with a stop at Monterrey. Sean said it was that trip that made him know I was the one. Not that the other five years of our relationship had much to do with it!

Another trip to KC included a wedding! My brother finally got married to Sara. I love both of them so much and was pleased to be a part of their special day. And I caught the bridal bouquet!

No more than two months later my boy finally popped the question. He flew out to California and gave me the surprise of my life! Now I am an engaged lady and planning our wedding on September 8, 2012.

And finally the year ended with more time at Disneyland. I'm there so often, it's like I work there!

Next year looks good. Not only good, but great. I will be making my move back to Kansas City, finding a big girl job, living in the same state as my fiance, getting married and generally having a great time. To a great 2012!

- Bryn

1/8 of the project done, if that

2011-12-31T11:23:00.000-08:00

Making progress right? Slowly but surely the quilt is coming along.

It starts in stack, goes to rows, rows to sections, sections to a whole quilt. So many more rows to sew

This is week is the busiest week at work and I'm sick to boot. I won't get a chance to do much more today but hopefully in the next couple of days the quilt will come along.

- Bryn

Fall is coming - in about 9 months

2011-12-28T18:24:00.000-08:00

Winter is officially here about a week ago, time to continue work on a fall project.

Lots of colors and many hours later I came up with all my blocks completed. Its always good to know how many of each color you have so I label mine

Next step way laying them all out! I didn't want to turn my computer back on to see what size to make so I used the quilt from my bed as a template.

And a couple of hours later this is what you get! Looks pretty good. It looks random but it is not. It takes a lot of planning.

I put everything together and decided there were a couple colors that didn't quite match everything else. I left one or two of each colors in the quilt. I plan on re-purposing the grey to use on the second quilt.

Now that the major work is out of the way I should really finish my brother and wife's wedding quilt. It was in September which may be considered fall so it is only apt that it be finished now, or by their first anniversary!

- Bryn

Fall quilt continued

2011-12-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

After my initial buying and cutting spree I found out that 8 different fabrics were not enough. As I wrote in my last post I ended up with about 25 colors. More shopping was the key! I went to JoAnns with a gift card from my aunt and bought a couple more colors.

I spent an afternoon cutting all my fabrics apart to sew them back together. Each block ended up being a little smaller than 4 1/2 inches square.

Wedding colors?

My goal is to make a throw quilt that could also be used as a quilt for a twin size bed. After adding more colors from M&L I probably made too many blocks. My back pain for another person gain. Someone might be getting a cool fall quilt in probably 2-3 years at the rate I finish things!

Do these colors say fall? I think so. Maybe not the teal but I can't make a quilt without using at least a little bit of teal.

-Bryn

It's been too long!

2011-12-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been over a month since my last post. Needless to say, the holidays have been crazy! My mom visited from KC, my aunt and uncle visited from Idaho and Colorado and it is the busiest time at work of the entire year. And now I'm sick!
My projects got a little mixed up for the holiday season. The quilt I wanted to make in the fall is my project now and my Christmas presents I did in the fall. But I suppose, better late than never! A while ago I found a picture online of a quilt made of solids and triangles.

I thought it was beautiful so I decided to give it a try. I bought a whole bunch of solid colors from this crazy store in Anaheim. I have never seen so many fabrics in one place in my entire life! But I digress.

Opposite all colored pieces I bought a charcoal solid. I really wanted to challenge myself to make something different than I usually do. Most of my projects lately have had a light muslin or white as the background color but for fall charcoal seemed to suit the season better.

I made five inch squares and cut them diagonally. I used four yards I found a little trick earlier this year of not separating the pieces until I had sewn thirty to fifty together and then cutting them apart. Seems to work well and saves me a lot of thread.

I ended up with about 25 different colors. Some of the colors ended up a bit too bright so I didn't use them. More cutting, ironing, and sewing to come. Feels good to start another project. More to come soon!
- Bryn

More Christmas Presents

2011-11-20T20:35:00.001-08:00

I've made most of my Christmas presents already but I needed something fun and... cheap for many of my special work friends. Our connections is working at Disneyland so why not make something from there! I found an ornament on Pinterest and thought it would be cute to make from the park map.

Holiday time has already started in Disneyland on November 11. That's right, November 11! What happened to Thanksgiving? Oh well, but it means I can get to making presents super early!

I took the cover page and part of an inside page and cut them into 1/4 inch strips. I curled them on a pair of scissors. The pages were thin enough to curl! I put them in a glass ornament that I bought from the craft store and done!

Each one is getting a fancy handmade tag. I think they turned out really cute and different then anything you can buy. 6 down, 24 to go!

- Bryn

Organizing my mess

2011-11-15T11:13:00.001-08:00

I can't throw away even the smallest pieces of fabric. If it is a long skinny piece that is about an inch wide, kept. A one inch square, kept. I keep almost every scrap. It's a problem I have. But I can make amazing things from those tiny pieces of fabric!

Needless to say, when you make a million different projects you get a lot of scraps. My box was a mess! I had a little time before work and that seemed like a perfect project.

I put all the similar colors together in separate piles. Once I had all the pieces together I rolled the colors with a rubber band. Awesome! All my scraps fit in the box again!

Finally being able to find all my scraps will make putting together projects much easier. After the holidays I plan on doing a scrap project to get rid of my stash.

Today is the day I go back to working on the black and white quilt.

- Bryn

Little bunting bag

2011-11-14T21:15:00.001-08:00

I found another tutorial online that I could not pass up. I found it at Just Another hang up probably from Pinterest. This little bag, I love bags, didn't seem too difficult and it would force me to organize my scrap pile. One of my favorite fabrics to use is muslin and that is what the tutorial called for, perfect!

Using my scrap pile I cut tiny triangles in the same color family. I love making fabric crafts with the ombre color patterns, which up until recently I called a color progression. I had been doing the ombre style before it was cool. I'm such a hipster!

Even the backside of the fabric looked cool. Too bad it will never be seen again.

Once both side of the bag was done it was sewing time. On went the zipper and the lining.

I think it's kinda cute. I'm thinking I might shorten it a little bit so there is less non decorated fabric at the bottom.

I wanted the bag to be square when I cut it but now it seems a little odd. That might solve to extra fabric at the bottom too.

I'll figure that out tomorrow!

Well the scarp orginizing didn't go that far but the end product is pretty cute. Tomorrow I probably won't get too much crafting done but the Wednesday and Thursday I have off! More wedding and Christmas presents here I come!

- Bryn

10 pillows done!

2011-11-10T13:53:00.001-08:00

Wow, I already have 10 Christmas presents done and it is only early November! Woot!

A couple days ago I finished 4 pillows and today I finished 6 more!

To make these pillows it take a lot of steps and lot and lots of small pieces of fabric. It is all worth it when they are finished.

I finally remembered to make some tags. ByBryn is offically my craft name and now it's on the my items, but only if I remember!

I'm going to post 2 of them on Etsy. Hopefully I will sell something on there. It's gotta happen eventually right?

-Bryn

Christmas pillows

2011-11-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

I finished the tops of some Christmas Pillows recently and really needed to finish them off. Work has kept me busy and out of my crafting mode. I had an evening shift tonight which gave me a lot of time to finish them off.

All Done. I made one without the red trim around the edges and tore it apart to add the red. It adds a wonderful finishing detail. I will have to work on all of them again. I keep meaning to make a ByBryn tag but I keep forgetting. Only I would remember to add something after it is completely done. Oh well, for another day.

This is my everyone Christmas present this year. I have about 6 more to make after finishing 4 already. I just couldn't throw away all these cut pieces. Another day off tomorrow, another day of crafting ahead.

Or wedding planning...

- Bryn

Something old and something new

2011-11-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

Wedding planning is taking much of my time these days but there is something else wedding related that I need to get finished. My brother and his wife just got married two months ago and I promised them a quilt.

Horizontal stripes

I was practically done with the quilt top when I stopped. It didn't take very long for me to the majority of the top. I'm going to put a black border around it as both the length and width are too short. Now it is the newly married couple's choice on which way the waves go.

Vertical stripes

And now the something new. I have been wandering the internet and found this cute idea for coasters. I would love to have a homemade wedding favor that somebody will actually use. These are a contender, depending on how long they take.

Cheers coasters

If this was the gift I would have to make about 200 of them! Yikes!

Back to work tomorrow but that will not stop me from working on projects anyways.

- Bryn

Christmas presents with scraps

2011-10-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

My Christmas stockings left me with a ton of left over fabric that was already sewn together. I've had a Chrismtas pillow on my project list for a while. It dawned on me that my scraps would be perfect for those pillows. There is no time like the present to make presents!
For each 16" pillow I cut a 8 inch square white piece of fabric. I needed more white fabric on the outside to create a diamond shape. Two - 8 1/2 squares for the sides of the pillows and cut them once diagonally to create two large triangles.

I cut 2 inch wide pieces from my last project and framed in 8 inch piece.

I pressed out the seems and added my other pieces of white fabric on each side. I had 4 square pieces of fabric with a colorful border along each edge.

I sewed on the large triangles on each side of the square to reorient the fabric square in the center to create a diamond instead.

All that hard work left me with a beautiful diamond pillow top.

That is all I can get done today. It's time to head to work. Tomorrow I plan on using even more scraps for more pillows and other projects.

- Bryn

An almost year in crafts

2011-10-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Kaleidoscopic Quilt

Citrus Coasters

I want to rework the blog again. At the moment most people who look at my blog are family and friends. I feel it might not be necessary to do the tutorial style posts, yet. I'm working on getting notice in the craft community by using Pinterest and visiting other blogs. As always, simplicity is key.

Easter Basket

Here is a look at some of my past projects.

Diamond Pillow

Button Bouquet

Princess Clock

Just one princess

Chevron Pillow

I've done quite a few different projects over time. Working on a variety of things keeps it interesting.

Americana Quilt top

Irish Plaid quilt - my first real quilt

Halloween Cross Stitch

All 3 Thumbtack Pumpkin

Look for another redesign of my blog. I can't quite decide what works the best for me and this blog.

My Modern Log Cabin Quilt

Lattice Hawaiian quilt top

4th of July Purse

Hawaiian Wristlet

My next project will use the majority of the scraps from my Christmas stockings. As always, thanks for looking and inspiring me to keep making more. Please leave me a comment on your favorite project.

- Bryn

Making Christmas

2011-10-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

Halloween has not even happened yet and everywhere you look there is Christmas stuff. I have not quite the Christmas bug yet but I need to start on all my present projects

I bought a couple new Christmas fabrics while they were on sale and added them to all my stash of green and reds.

I had the fabric laid out in different patterns.

Mixed up

My usual color organization is color progression. Dark to light of each color

Colors together

I went with the second option. It looks much more like me.

How many other projects do I need to finish, many. So why start something new. Because that is what I do!
I assembled enough fabric to make 4 fronts of Christmas Stockings. I took some brown wrapping paper and cut a general pattern for the stocking. Not too bad for a first try.

4 Christmas stockings for two couples. They look nice, but they are not even close to being done!

Cutting the lining was next. The problem about getting better at the stuff you make is having to do all the steps to make it look like it should.

Stockings with-in Stockings - so meta!

Now to add a detail. Not sure add the toe and heel detail. I think it might be busy enough already, so no red on the bottom.

Add red or not - that is the question

I put together the outside and the inside lining.

My final addition was a felt top. It's not a Christmas stocking without the white trip on top.

After turning the felt and putting the finishing touches they are done! Three Christmas presents and one for me!

Tomorrow is another Christmas project with many of the scraps from this project. I have to get up at 5:30am for work so I expect not a ton of progress. To another day!

-Bryn

Pinterest By Bryn

2011-10-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have found my new favorite social networking tool. Pinterest!

Anyone can look at your feed of items that you "pin." You can even follow the things that I like here.

I can even post the things I made and have new people find me online.

I am looking forward to sharing my stuff with the bigger online world.

Hopefully it turns into something!

-Bryn

Halloween Cross Stitch

2011-10-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

I bought a couple more cross stitch patterns recently. I tend to do one type of project for a while and get in a rut. Then I move onto another type for a while and get in another rut. Cross stitch rut here I come!

I started on a Halloween Cross Stitch a couple nights ago. I really love Halloween and at the moment I don't have a ton of homemade items for the holiday.

Do I tend to go overboard with my pattern buying, of course. Do I get to them, yes eventually, well, probably.

Halfway there

While I was visiting home I finished another cross stitch. I had a lot of issues on this one. I was not fully paying attention while I was making it.

So Crooked!

It's finished, even before Halloween! Have to head to the craft store tomorrow to get a frame, add a fabric frame and it is done!

Not only did I finish one project, but I finished 3! I made two of these for gifts and I working on a third for myself.

Wish me luck in finishing before Halloween!

Some good news

2011-10-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Things have been kinda crazy over the last couple of days. After going to the Halloween Party I had a couple more days off to spend with my mom while she was in town.

On Friday my mom kept asking me what my shift was. I was working in the afternoon and wasn't too worried about when I was working.

She and my grandpa left for the "store" for a little while, came back and started to work in the gardens. She called me to the back of the house to check on a flower to either take out or keep.

Flowers in the garden was not her intent. My boyfriend stepped out from behind the chimney in the backyard and got down on one knee and proposed! Needless to say I said YES!

It was the biggest surprise of my life! I had no idea he was coming. I feel so spoiled to have such a wonderful fiance.

Sean was going to try and propose to me in Disneyland which was why my mom kept asking when I was I working. I was happier to have it a personal affair at the house then out on Main Street USA.

Sean and I have been together for 5 1/2 years. We met in middle school at the age of 13. Our relationship has been tough a times with the distance but everything has been worth it!

Sean said that he knew that we were meant for each other when we visited San Francisco in July. I don't know if the other 5 years made much of a difference =)

The diamond was my grandmothers original engagement stone. It is so nice to finally say I will be married to the boy that I love!

Halloweentime in Disneyland

2011-10-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

The whole rush to finish the costume before actual Halloween was for the Halloween Party at Disneyland. It is the only time when adults can come into the park dressed in costumes! I finished my costume the morning of the event with only about 2 hours to spare!
My mom and I headed into the park at 3 when the party guests were allowed in and I made a B-line for Rapunzel. She asked me if I made my costume and I said that I did. She said she made her dress too!

The Rapunzels together

It wouldn't be Halloween in Disneyland without a couple of Villains.

Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog

Cruella

Off to another part of the park. We had to see pooh dressed up as a honey bee!

Tigger

Pooh - his antenna were honey pots!

And more Princesses!

We met Rapunzel again. She was so sweet. She said I was the only full size Rapunzel she saw. There was tons of little Rapunzels running around the park that night. They watched me and a tried to figure out if I was the real Rapunzel

And the candy! By the end of the evening the candy lines were non existent. We ended up with literally pounds of candy.

It was a wonderful evening. We had so much fun. I received a lot of compliments on my costume and the fact that I made it my self. I am going to try and wear it two more times in the next couple of weeks for some other events at Disney.

Now that it's done it is time to go back to quilting and cross stitching. It's been fun challenging myself to do something completely different!

Finishing Rapunzel

2011-10-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to the Disneyland Trick or Treat party tomorrow with my mom and I absolutely need to finish my costume for the party. Only a few steps left now. But I did start completely over on the skirt last night at 11pm.

It felt too dark and the opening for the under layer of the skirt was too big. So back to JoAnns I went looking for some more purple fabric

New underskirt fabric

New fabric, new skirt. I did much better cutting and shaping the skirt than last time. Much less frustration involved.

Looks good with the lace trim

The whole day was not spent on this costume. I always have a lot of things to do. Not only did I have to work today but I also was in Disneyland with a good friend of mine. So why not visit Rapunzel while we were there!

Rapunzel with Rachel and I

I wanted to look at what Rapunzel wore in the park and glance that the costume dresses for little girls for the pattern that goes around the skirt.

Mine ended up not to bad. I got paint is some other places along the skirt. Hopefully nobody else will notice but me!

The top is practically done, just the sleeves are left. Finally all the hems are done and the lace has been added. I'm so close!

Almost there

One o'clock in the morning it's time to go to bed!

Creating Rapunzel

2011-10-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to make my own Halloween costume for the last couple of years. This year my craftiness gene has kicked in at the right time. This year is the year for Rapunzel.
I have been buying fabric for a couple of months. I still wish I had other choices of purple with pattern in them but beggars can't be choosers.

I have not made clothes in a very long time. I first made the bodice from muslin to see if the shape was right. The muslin bodice looked pretty good so I made the real one. I reenforced it with some interfacing but it was a little too stiff. I ended up keeping the interfacing on the back but took it out of the front.

The basic look

Quite a few steps later - putting in the zipper, finishing the top seam with lace, measuring eyelet holes and placing them, and weaving the pink string. Lots of stuff!

I moved onto the skirt. I decided to try and make it without a pattern. I used a skirt that I already had that fit me really well and had the shape that I wanted for Rapunzel. I had to use two different purples to create the top and bottom layers of the skirt.

I call it - The Art of Cutting

All the pieces together. The skirt on the left, bodice in the middle and my last little project on the right.

The almost finished product! Looks pretty good for not making clothes in a really, really, really long time!

I do have quite a few things lift to actually finish it.

The bottom seam on the bodice
The top and bottom seam on the skirt
A redo on the opening on the skirt - it's too big for my taste
Adding sleeves to the bodice
Painting flowers on the skirt
And my final project - Flynn's satchel for my Trick or Treat bag!

Working on Rapunzel

2011-10-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my Halloween costume a lot lately. I don't always have a ton of time because of work and work events but today was the day! i will be Rapunzel for Halloween!

So many purples!

Adding the lace

Creating the sleeve

The practically finished sleeve

This project has been difficult but I have learned a lot about sewing again. I am very proud of myself that I finally tackled a new and different project. Tomorrow is the day to finish most of the major construction. Details to follow

Coin change purse gone bad

2011-09-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make another little bag to use for various things. I found this tutorial here and gave it a try

Red scraps

Around the edges it required a double bias tape. Basically that means you iron a piece of fabric twice. Once to turn in the bad outside edges and another to have good edges on both sides of the fabric.

Double bias tape

Double bias tape all

around

Pinned on - looks kinda artsy

Frankly I am a little disappointed that it didn't turn out better. If I still don't like it in a couple of days say goodbye to the zipper and it will go to another project!

The finished product

The inside zipper is too long. I could cut it off but I don't think it will.

Well it's another project done and another project for tomorrow.

Fabric Bag

2011-09-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

I found another cute tutorial online for a fabric bag. Gathering fabric... I haven't done it for a while. I suppose it is now or never! Another project that needs interfacing. I'm glad I bought it all on sale!

Candy corn and Halloween green. Ahh Halloween, you are so much fun!

The gathering didn't go all to great but you gotta start somewhere. I used a scrap of fabric from my last cross stitch project to finish off the top.

Gotta love making a useful item out of stuff you already have. Currently I'm using it for cross stitch floss storage. I will probably make more of these little puppies for each season.

Hopefully that gathering thing will be better on the next try to make a taller, less shallow bowl. To another day...

Bag redo

2011-09-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have this little bag that I made for my trip to Walt Disney World.

The old bag

It served it's purpose but I think it's kinda ugly. I'm starting from scratch.

Yeah, it's kinda ugly

I ripped out the zipper and that is all that will be left from the original bag.

A re purposed zipper

I plan on ripping the pieces apart an putting them into another project in the future.

I looked through my scrap box. I really need to organize that box. What a mess!

Mess-o-rama

I really love greens, blues and teals. I chose those colors and went from there.

What I had in scraps

My two side pieces, looks much better. I added some interfacing to make it less flimsy.

Looking much better

The finished product

The green side

And it's even lined!

The blue side

Another little project done. I love the outcome on this one. This one might be my new coupon bag for the car or really anything else. I love little bags and I love the ones I make even more!

Another cross stitch done!

2011-09-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Another project where I wonder why I didn't finish it right away. Winter Row with Snowmen and snow. Look almost done! Only A-E left plus a snowman.

What I had done

What took forever was the snowman. That fat snowman was a lot of trouble.

About 30 stitches across

Its finally done! I think I started this project about 2 or even 4 years ago. Now to make 2 more!

Yeah!

Just need to iron it out and frame it. Now to wait until another frame sale. I refuse to pay full price. As it is really only the beginning of fall I've got time!

Thumbtack Pumpkins and other things

2011-09-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

I posted on my blog a week or so ago about these amazing looking thumbtack pumpkins. I found them exploring craft blogs. I found them here on Madigan Made.

My journey began at the 99 cent store where they had no thumbtacks. JoAnns, no thumbtacks. Micheal's, fancy scrapbook thumbtacks, but no brass thumbtacks. The Dollar Tree, no thumbtacks. Home Depot, no thumbtacks. Staples, nickel but no brass thumbtacks. Another Dollar Tree - SCORE - 30 boxes of thumbtacks. I bought 8 packs that had 300 each.
While I was at Michaels I bought 3 pumpkins. One large and two smaller ones.

Before the madness

I left the underside of the pumpkin as it was. I like the peaking through of the orange.

Three quarters of the way done!

900 Thumbtacks down, only 300 to go!

A finished amazing pumpkin

Now I have two more little pumpkins to do but I need to give my fingers a rest! Totally worth killing my thumb, it looks amazing! But there is still time in the night. Onto another project!
Halloween is coming up fast and it is already in Disneyland.
My mom is coming next month and we are going to attend Mickey's Halloween Party.

I love Rapunzel so I have decided to tackle making my own costume. The last time I made clothes, that was about 15 years ago. I was in elementary school!

I started with a problem. I bought the wrong size of pattern! I trimmed it down to about the size that I am. I actually did a really good job, amazing.

To make sure that I didn't mess up I made it in muslin first. Looks pretty good actually

I cut out the actual fabric and ironed on some interfacing to stiffen up the fabric. Might be a bit too stiff but I can work on the that. Now to add a zipper, cording, grommets, lace, trim and details. I've got a way to go! Not to mention a skirt too! To another crafting day.

Another silly thing!

2011-09-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

I liked the idea for the Pencil case I decided to make a colored pencil case! I went with a light green. I already had the fabric and it matched pretty well with my colored pencil.

Pencil and lining

Amazing what cutting the ends will do!

Yellow - green in gold. Just like the pencil

The Colored Pencil done

All the pencils done!

I made an extra pencil for my kindergarden teacher. Mrs. Albers is amazing and she is still at the same school that I went to. I try to see her once a semester. Next month I will be visiting home, Kansas City, for a wedding and I will try to see her then.

My next big project is my Halloween costume. Lots of purple fabric here I come! Rapunzel it is!

Silly things I make

2011-09-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

I found this super cute pattern and tutorial online and thought I have to make that!

Check out the tutorial here

I had all the fabrics around. All I needed to buy was a zipper. In the tutorial they used a tan zipper but I found a yellow zipper that matched my fabric almost perfectly.
Time to go the cutting board. My mat is so dilapidated. It has seen a lot of usage over the years.

All the pieces cut

My lining - yes, it's Disney

Assembled and cut

Hand embroidered - #2 of course

Complete!

Now my colored pencils have a real home. I might actually make one specifically for them with a color on the outside. But that is for another day as it is 11pm.

I always finish all my projects at night. It is still the college student in me. I can take better pictures but the lack of sunlight makes that a little difficult.

Another night, another project

Changing my look

2011-09-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

Or at least the look of my blog. As my last entry noted I love fall. I spend my days checking out other blog and thinking their blog looks so much better than mine!
I'm making progress but I'm not quite there yet.
As always, thanks to everyone who comes on by to check on my projects for the day.

Another project finished. Almost...

2011-09-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Projects, projects, projects. I finally finished some projects today. The first project, frame a piece that I finished probably 3 years ago! Why does it take me so long to finish these things!

September - but no more school for me!

Halloween Finished

From the bottom up

The frame I bought was a collage frame. Almost the perfect size for my finished project. As always I was a little short on the sides for my frame so a border was needed. I looked though my fabric stash and found a super fun fabric. It's busy but it is perfect for Halloween.

Fun fabric for the border

After some quick math and pulling out the sewing machine the piece was finished! I had to order a couple more buttons. I used up all the other buttons making one of these for my mom last year. Sans some buttons... But I am so happy it is done, almost...

Done and on the wall

Tomorrow is all day work day. Halloween event meeting, the Jungle Cruise and the craziest Disneyland Cast Member scavenger hunt Minnie's Moonlit Madness. Be back soon with quilts, Rapunzel and probably a bit more cross stitching.

For all those who visit and comment I truly appreciate it.

I love fall

2011-09-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

After moving to California I discoveed that my favorite season is fall. Not only is it the heat of summer being over but the smell in the air, the colors of the leaves, and pumpkin everything.

Thumbtack pumpkin

Apple Coasters

It doesn't hurt that Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. Halloween equals fun plus there are never particular expectations. Halloween transports everyone to a different place.

Fun little frames

Rich Orange Table

Halloween time in Disneyland means more villains and characters!

The evil step sisters did not want any competition

It's Ko-da, Koda!

I suppose it is time to start working on my Rapunzel costume. But gotta finish that cross stitch first. Only one and a half words to go!

Back to crafts

2011-09-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

I decided to mix things up a bit and work on some cross stitch. I get easily distracted while working on projects, oh well. I will be back to quilting soon but for now cross stitch it is!

A couple years ago I went organizing crazy and threaded my floss onto paper bobbins. It makes life so much easier!

I restarted a project that I was working on last year. I completed one of these Halloween word rows for my mom last year and never finished the one for myself. There are 12 words total and I completed the 8th this morning.

I love Halloween. The holiday is so much fun and is so whimsical!

This is what I have done so far. Why do I stop in the middle of projects again. But hey, when I get back to them there is not much for me to do to finish them.

This is part of my desk when I'm working. Its gets really messy when I am working on stuff. My goal is to finish two more words today. Tomorrow maybe the last two words will be done.

Soon that important quilt will be worked on and finished, but that might take longer than two days.

A Visit Home

2011-09-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I am a Kansas Girl living in California. I love the California weather, lack of bugs and allergens but Kansas City is really my home. I took about two weeks off to go home for my brother's wedding. The wedding was many years in the making. Matthew and Sara have been together for at least 6 if not 8 years, depending on how they want to count it. I loved seeing my brother finally getting married.

Sara asked me to be a bridesmaid the wedding and of course I said yes! We had the rehearsal the night before and went to the Grand Street Cafe on the Plaza for dinner. The Bride and Groom thanked us for being a part of their special day.

Matthew was already beaming at Sara and he did the next day too.

Sara's dress was gorgeous. It fit her style and personality. She was checking in out for the first time on her wedding day veil and all.

The bridesmaids. There were 5 of us. Her two college colleagues, two cousins and myself.

That smile never left my brother's face. Their first dance was to Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes. Perfect for them. Matthew's dance with our mom to Somewhere over the Rainbow by Iz.

The boyfriend and I, not too bad looking of a couple.

Ok, so my brother's face might have changed a bit during the night. But that is the Matthew I know.

The last dance of the night. It's Business Time by Flight of the Concords. Yep, it was a great night.

Now that I'm back for about a month with out a ton of people in town or things to do back to crafting!

No time!

2011-08-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Lately I have not had a ton of time to work on my craft projects. Life sometimes takes over all my fun! I've had a lot of shifts that have pretty much taken over my whole day. Disneyland, why must you take all my time away.

Even on my days off. Yesterday I was back in the park for fun for a whole 16 hours!

My good friend Amber came into town with her two girlfriends from college to play with me in Disneyland.

We visited both Disneyland and California Adventure parks. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Roger Rabbit, California Screaming, Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin' over California, The Little Mermaid, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, The Disneyland Railroad, we did it all!

We closed California Adventure with World of Color which none of the other girls had seen.

And my favorite part of the night was VIP for Fantasmic. What a View! We finished off the night by flying over London in Peter Pan's flight. Not a bad way to spend a day off!

Late night

2011-08-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

When I have a day off I can work on projects all day long. Even when there is no sunlight out anymore, which explains all the lousy pictures.
Around the 4th of July I made most of a quilt seen below. Just looks like Americana doesn't it!

Last night I finished off the front of the quilt. I figured about 9 inches square for each flag out work. I added a little variety to the fabric for interest. And when I ran out of one red, I substituted another! I love the pinwheel pattern that appears only when I started sewing them together

After finishing the top of one project it led to starting another! I saw these cute citrus coasters on Purl Bee. Not to hard to make and fun at the same time.

How cute are these! An orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit! I glued the pieces together. The website suggested to sew them together but that would have taken forever. If they start coming apart, sewing it is!

Now time to piece together another flag quilt for a gift. My goal to finish the flag quilts is next 4th of July. I think that is reasonable!

Starting new projects when I should be finishing others

2011-08-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Why I do this to myself all the time, I will never know. I have so many projects I could finish but I choose to start others. At least I know it is still me working on these projects. I'm doing something besides wasting my time on the internet all day.
The harlequin pillow is going well. Hey look, a kind-of square corner!

The front of the pillow is all done. I really like the pink and purple, perfect for a little girl. And even with my careful guestimation it is still a little short.

Add a border and it is the perfect size. TaDa! I need to hit up JoAnns for more fabric for the back. I might even make another pillow and put it on Etsy. Now if someone would buy something from me on Etsy it would be awesome!

Now to my pillow. I'm going to try 4 colors and see how it goes. I added the light green for some brightness.

All the pieces cut, now to lay the out. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do it so I made a couple options for myself.

Option 1 - Solids in one row and flowers in another

Option 2 - I used purple as a base color

Option 3- Solids on the diagonal and flowers on the diagonal

After spreading them out and looking at them again I liked option 1 the best. Here it is before it was sewn together.

Half way there!

And all sewn together. I think I'm going to try sewing a back pocket so I don't have to use a zipper this time. There is a first time for trying anything in the quilting world.

And here is the finished product.

Looks good, a little busy but after completely assembling it I like it even more.

And the back even has a little detail. The pocket makes the form fit it even easier than the zipper.

Now what to work on... projects I should finish or those who suit me at the moment. Only tomorrow will tell.

Back to work

2011-08-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

Not only did I work 8 days a row, but now it is time to get back to my fun work.
I had a late start on the crafting day. I went to the beach instead of starting the crafts early.

So 7pm rolls around and its finally time to start! Tonight its all about the harlequin pillow. To make my life easier and to not kill my wrist by cutting too many squares I always like to plan out my sizes.

Time to pick out the colors. 2 or 4 colors - 4 for me, 2 for another. This one is for me. Might make a change or two in the colors but another pillow calls first.

The pillow I'm starting on is for my cousin who just visited California and loves pink. I mean, LOVES pink. I thought it would be nice to make her a little pillow for her bed for Christmas. And she like purple too, but shiny pink is the best!

Cutting out the diamonds. According to my math it will take about 21 diamonds for each side of the pillow.

Will this actually end up square? I hope so!

Well that is enough for one night. Don't want to over exert myself on the start back after two weeks off!

Everyone comes to Disneyland!

2011-08-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

Working at Disneyland has it's perks. I have the good fortune to be able to bring in friends and family into the park. About a month ago my mom came into town and we spent two fun filled days in the park! We were successful on not getting to we on Splash Mountain.

Met Tinker Bell and Slivermist in pixie hollow. Of course to get down to Pixie size we had to shrink a lot!

After a good day in Disneyland one must take a picture at the Mickey Floral before leaving!

Not too long after my Mom leaving my boyfriend came into town. Of course before our trip to San Fransico, we had to stop at Disneyland! We even met his favorite Princess Ariel.

The new gates for California Adventure were open and we had to go over there for the Lobster Nachos at the Cove bar. Nothing says amazing like Lobster and nachos in the same meal.

And there is nothing like meeting an old friend like Winnie the Pooh.

After dropping Sean off at the airport there was one more set of visitors coming in the next day. My aunt Lissa and her son and granddaughter came into town.

The little one had never been to Disneyland and could barely sleep the night before due to all the excitement. Can't say that I wasn't excited too.

Mary Poppins and Bert were amazing. They were talking about how they did not get invited to the Royal Wedding but they did have a pretty decent view of all the people from the rooftops.

She met all of her favorite princesses and got to dance with her favorite, Princess Aurora.

She even met Minnie and Mickey Mouse and so many more too! We did a lot of things in one day.

We even went of on the new Little Mermaid ride too, it was one of her favorites.

At 6 year old she was able to spend almost 14 hours in Disneyland. It was a great couple of weeks. Now it is time to get back to working on projects. That Rapunzel dress is calling me for the D23 Expo later this month.

Getting back to work

2011-08-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind! My boyfriend came into town for a week and we both went up to San Francisco for the first time. About a 7 hour drive from Orange County, at least there were some things to look at along the way.

We drove over the Bay Bridge to get into San Francisco proper.

We drove up and spent 3 days and 3 nights in a hotel on Lombard Street.

We got Irish Coffees at the Buena Vista once we checked into our hotel. The Buena Vista is where the Irish Coffee got it's start in the US.

The next morning we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf, not a lot of fishermen but there was a lot of things to do!

There was a WWII battleship docked at one of the pier that we ventured around for a while. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien still works to this day. They were starting her up for a cruise the next day.

We ate lunch at the Boudin Bakery. Fresh sourdough, there is nothing like it!

Pier 39, pure tourist trap! Yuck!

After the wharf we headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge. After walking for about an hour we had made it down and back. What a windy walk! Our hair proves how much wind there was.

The next day proved to be a good one. The sun came out in San Fran. Of course this was the day where we were planning to be outside more! Our first stop of the day was at The Palace of the Arts. What an amazing building.

The off to the Walt Disney family museum. Too bad pictures were not allowed in there, otherwise I would have been in there for 6 hours instead of 3.

After learning more about Walt Disney we drove over to the Golden Gate park. It was the weekend so we had to park in the parking garage. Three hours, $16. Ouch! Our first stop there was the Japanese Tour Garden. The tea house was great, but loud, I bet a winter day when kids are in school would be fantastic there!

Our final stop for the day was the California Academy of Science. A planetarium, rainforest, living roof, and aquarium all in one stop. There was a lot to see and do!

After the park we made one more stop along the ocean and walked all of the Embarcado. Not much but resturants along the way but we did take the historic F-line back to the Warf.

Our final morning the sun was out again and we started our drive. One more stop at the Golden Gate park to try and visit the Conservatory of Flower, which was closed on Mondays (boo!). We also found a Rose Garden and a mini redwood forest.

On our way back to Orange County we took the Pacific Coast Highway down. Along the way we found a lighthouse and had to stop to take more pictures and to stretch our legs!

Our next stop was Monterey Bay and we visited at the Aquarium there. The best aquarium I have ever been to for sure!

After and amazing couple of days we stopped one more time along the coast to take another windy day picture.

What an amazing trip. We did probably a week full of stuff only in 4 days. I'm still exhausted just thinking about it!

Vacation time

2011-07-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

I finally get to take some time off from work and life. The boyfriend is coming into town and we are going to visit San Francisco! My first time there and his too! And of course Disneyland too.

While I'm out playing I have many projects in mind to make soon.

Halloween Costume - Rapunzel

Diamond Pillow - more colorful of course

Bow Pillow

And my brother's Wedding Quilt

Plus so many more it is difficult to remember them all and find time for them.

I should be back in about a week, not that too many people read this blog anyways besides my mom and boyfriend anyways!

A complete quilt

2011-07-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Another day, another quilt finished. This quilt has been in the works for about 6 years. Probably about 4 years of that being dormant, waiting for me to come back to it.

I love the colors and the pattern. It is a visually strong. Once again this is a queen size pictured full size bed.

I'm thrilled it is finally done. It will have a happy home with my boyfriend in Kansas City. Now to work on my brother's quilt. Only a little over a month until the wedding. I really want to finish it before!

Wedding Clutch

2011-07-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

My brother's wedding is coming up in about 6 weeks. I just got the invitation in the mail yesterday.
I found a clutch on Purl Bee a while ago and always wanted to make it. It is called a wedding clutch. Sounds like perfect timing to me!

I love suit pants. I always wear them and rarely wear jeans so this might be a nice addition to my wardrobe. I love the magnet snap!

The finished size is 11" by 7". I like the idea of this clutch but for me it is too big! Tomorrow I going to alter it and reduce the size. Possibly 9" x 6" or even smaller. I could use it for the wedding and for a wallet inside a large bag. Until tomorrow.
And that new Harry Potter movie, it's excellent!

A project that needed finishing a long time ago

2011-07-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

This quilt is the first big quilt I ever made. I found the pattern at Quilters Cache. It is called Irish Plaid. The pattern is beautiful and complicated. The pieces cross each other and create diamonds within diamonds.

I incorporated my favorite color of teal. I love this teal fabric which has turtles in it. It is a Hoffman Batik that they no longer make. I had to find 3 different retailers for this fabric because I kept needing more and they had retired it by the time I needed more!

I liked black as a base color. These days I lean more towards white. I often use muslin as a color or base. I like the texture in the fabric, it is never just a flat piece of fabric.

I have been fortunate enough to visit Hawaii a couple of times and I am on the lookout for turtles on my visit.

My mom always hand quilted her quilts or tied them off. This was a pattern that seemed to need hand quilting. I had never done hand quilting before and needless to say it has taken about 6 years to finish this poor quilt off!

When I opened it up I was shocked on how little there was left to do. Only about 4 embroidery hoops worth of quilting left on it! Last night I knocked out most the quilting that was left. A bit more left to do today and turning the edges and then it is finally done!

I starting making this quilt in 2005. I was a different person back then and so were my skills. How far I have come in my skills in 6 years.

The seams, not so great! In fact hey are awful! Those mistakes in the quilt that probably only I would notice.
Hopefully I will be finish this quilt today. Off to Joanns to buy more supplies for millions of new projects!

The first quilt done!

2011-07-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

I had to take a couple days off from my flog. My work schedule doesn't always allow for time to work on projects or have time to post them. Only a couple more pieces of this quilt to finish. Well, at the least the top is almost done. This much I finished yesterday

And today it is done!

I laid it on a full size bed but it was made to fit a queen. It looks great!

And only a small injury in the process!

If you know me, I can't just work on one project at a time. Back to work my brother's wedding quilt. Here is a preview of it.

Creating a rainbow

2011-07-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

If I am putting together a quilt that I found online, I always like to have some reference to go to when I am creating my own. A big color picture and a short tutorial always helps the process.

Right now the quilt is in two separate pieces. I need 7 more blocks to complete the row on the side. To make it a queen size quilt I have to add 3 more rows to the width.

All of my Harry Potter watching is complete. Ready for the final movie at the end of this week.

Putting together rainbows

2011-07-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

I was planning on going to the beach today, well needless to say, that didn't happen. I laid out the majority of the rest of the quilt. I had to cut some extra pieces of teal, orange and yellow. I thought I might be able to make my quilt with no fabric repeating but I was wrong. So close! But my stash is probably big enough as it is.

I was able to sew together 3 more rows today. Only 4 more to go from what I set out in the picture above.

Only need to add about 3 or 4 more rows to the width to make a queen size.

My project stack is growing! And this is only part of what I'm working on above. I've got a whole resuable bag full of projects just waiting for their turn.
4 1/2 Harry Potter movies down, 2 1/2 more to go!

Piecing together

2011-07-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

I finished cutting up most of the pieces of the quilt yesterday and starting piecing them together today.

It is hard to tell the complete pattern, the floor that I work on is very distracting. When I add in the white between the colors it will make a huge difference.

I will have to piece together all of these and then add additional rows afterwords. I don't have a lot of crafting space in this house. Have to be creative with not only crafts but construction!

3 rows down, 8 to go. 3 Harry Potter movies down, 4 to go. Off to work, the quilt will wait until tomorrow.

Starting another quilt

2011-07-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this quilt online and wanted to make it.

It's gorgeous. I finally found the website again at Fresh Lemons Quilts and it had a tutorial on how to make it.
I starting cutting up the pieces from my fabric collection.

3 days of cutting will do it, when work gets in the way

Time will fly by while watching a Harry Potter Movie Marathon before the last movie comes out.

Diamond pillow

2011-07-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

I made another pillow for my bed. They don't match but they are tons of fun. I really enjoy the summer colors.

I made this pillow out of a 16 by 16 inches pillow form. The white diamond in the center is 8 1/2 inches square. In retrospect I should have make it 8 by 8 inches. That would leave more space around the edges to sew the two pieces together

The color blocks are 2 by 2 inches. The pieces did not line up perfectly at the end of each row but practice makes perfect. I almost like the scrappy look anyways.

The finishing touch on this pillow is a 1/4 inch teal border. I'd never done one before but I think it ended up working very nicely. But I gotta work on the corners!

I'm thinking about making some more and selling them on Etsy. So far I have not sold any items on Etsy but I will keep trying!

Starting my own blog

2011-07-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start a new chapter in my life by devoting more time to my imagination and talent, or at least my mom says so, when it comes to working on craft projects. I am always truly inspired by what I find online while visiting other blogs so I thought I would start my own. Working on quilts and pillows has taken up a great deal of my time lately and I have been enjoying every minute of it.

As Walt Disney said "If you can dream it, you can do it." and that is what I hope to do!