Just One July Finish

I have a second cross stitch finish for this month! I have completed Library Kittens.

"Curiosity" a kit by Janlynn

I have washed it and conspired with my niece on how to finish the project. She has chosen to have it displayed using bell pull hardware instead of a frame, so I ordered this set from Nordic Needle.

I did wash the project and am having a little trouble with bleeding dyes from the reds around the border. I've soaked it again and I'm hoping that most of it came out. I'm not surprised, because the kit was older. 

My table runner is also completed and is brightening up my dining room table.

I suppose now that the dining room table is cleared off, I have an excuse to keep it clean? 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Aside from racing to get my seasonal Diablo III character through all five Acts before the end of the season, I have been working furiously on a couple projects this week. The first is a table runner made from leftover blocks of my rainbow Dresden Plate quilt. 

I am doing matchstick quilting on this, a dense time consuming pattern that is actually quite easy. The bonus is that the lines don't have to be straight or a set distance apart. I'm stitching them in colors that match the block fabric at an angle. My sewing machine was fighting me on this and I eventually figured out how to adjust the bobbin tension. Its not perfect but its good enough.

I stayed home from practice yesterday and attempted to get some garb and laundry done. I did succeed in taking the awful white trim off the green hood that Jack picked up at Ragnarok, but that is as far as it went because I was really interested in finishing the Library Kittens cross stitch project. I'm estimating this at about 94% complete. Wheeeeeee!!!

I was attempting to finish it yesterday but I lost about four hours when I took a nap and woke up disoriented and confused. It took a few hours and a meal for my brain to reengage. I guess long naps on Saturdays are a bad idea. So in addition to the laundry and things, this will be my Sunday post church project.

Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Crochet Lessons

I had plans to spend yesterday with my younger cousin and give her a crochet lesson, so I picked up a set of ergonomic crochet hooks for her.

The hooks were nice but the case that they came in was lacking, starting with the Engrish on the cover.

 "Takes a walk in the zoo is the proper matter." I haven't figured out what they were trying to say yet, but I'm sure it was translated using a website.

When I put the hooks in the case, they didn't fit very well in the elastic bands and it was very hard to get the case closed and snapped. I finally decided just to make her a new case.

Not too bad for working without a pattern. Next time I make one, I think I'll put interfacing in to keep it from shifting and make it look nicer. However, this one did exactly what I needed it to, and my cousin was thrilled with it. 

I had invited my niece along also and she came over and even participated in the crochet lesson, which I wasn't expecting because she normally has little interest in crafty pursuits. I taught them to chain and single crochet. They both went home with yarn and hooks and I promised my niece her own set of hooks and carrying case. Heck, I think I'll make one for myself while I'm at it. Next time, we'll cover double and triple crochet stitches and once they have those down we can talk about gauge, reading patterns, and stitch combinations. 

Today will be church in the morning and some Slow Sunday Stitching in the afternoon. I hope you have a relaxing Sunday.

Linking up to Keep Calm Craft On

A Dresden Plate Week

Over the last week or so I've been chain piecing Dresden Plates.

And attaching them to the colored squares.

Now, voila!

It will be a small quilt, about 4 ft by 3 ft without borders. I still have a few of the plates to stitch on before I can connect them all together.

One of these days I really need to start quilting all the flimsies that I have ready. I think I have three or four that could be quilted. Maybe soon I'll set aside some time to get rolling on it.

Tribal Otter

All done!

Woot!

Still Obsessed With This

I spent a decent amount of time yesterday trying to track down where this image came from in the hopes of finding some tutorials or suggestions for recreating it. As best as I can tell, it is inventory at  a costume rental location. Oh the agony! Blogiverse, you have failed me.

The rest of the evening was spent staring at the screen, trying to determine how best to recreate this masterpiece. Finally at about 8:30 I grabbed a notebook and made some concept sketches, establishing at least some semblance of a plan and digging some unused scrap fabric and muslin out of the fabric closet to make at mock up.

I'm going to make it in two pieces, 1) the skirt and 2) the leatherlook bodice with the overlap skirt. I've decided to close the sides on both, as I'd rather not wear another layer underneath. I am open to the idea of making a second one with open sides but I would have to dig up a cami and some bike shorts to wear underneath.

I'm hoping to get some time to work on the mock up this weekend, but before I do I want to finish my otter. It's almost complete.

Other things on my want to do list? A carry bag for my diffuser and oils. A new toiletries bag. Stitching all the things. You know, just the usual ;)

Slow Sunday Stitching

I am happy to let you know that one of my problems has been resolved. Last night about 12:30 am we managed to fix my computer. It was overheating within about a minute of turning it on. The problem turned out to be the liquid cooling system, which had apparently developed a slow leak at some point and so was no longer cooling the CPU.

This is what the back of the cooling thing looked like. The green discoloration and the brown liquidy gunk are the symptoms of the cooling fluid leak. The white stuff is an overzealous application of thermal paste from when the computer was built.

A quick trip out to the computer store for a replacement and a hour or two for the repair and its up and running again. We lucked out, because the CPU could have been damaged during the overheating and that would have been a significantly more expensive repair. Many thanks to the people who offered advice on how to get it fixed.

After reading my last post, one of my readers sent me this charming meme, which is infinitely suitable. This will be me tomorrow, which will be the first day in a long time that I can stay home and not have people over. Forecast for tomorrow? Quiet and relaxing with 0% chance of people-ing.

I have decided to join in on Just One July to see how far I can get. Therefore, for July, I will be working on my otter during my cross-stitch time. I got a good start
in yesterday morning while Jack was sleeping.

This will also be my project this afternoon when I get back from church and lunch. Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching@Kathy's Quilts

Happy Stitching All!

Overwhelmed

Being back from vacation is no fun at all. I have  (a) a broken computer, (b) a car that needs repairs, (c) an oven that I can't use because it doesn't want to turn off after I turn it on, (d) the camping things still need to be cleaned up, (e) I think I'm on my last pair of clean underwear, (f) I cannot locate my rotary cutter to save my life, (g) a yard with two weeks worth of weeds that are managing to grow even though everything else is dead due to drought, (h) this list could go on forever but I won't bore you with more reasons why I'm stressed out.

I stumbled across this rather accurate comic strip the other day and it is particularly relevant now.

By AnemoneLost. Shared under the following Creative Commons License per the author. 

Only instead of Netflix, I'm throwing myself into a variety of craft projects in a sad attempt to bring some order and sanity into my life. Or at least a little bit of fun. I think part of the problem is that I naturally relax by being alone and doing my own little things but living with 30 other people while camping for a week is like social time in overdrive and I haven't had two minutes to sit down and recover yet.

(I apologize in advance for the lousy photos - my photo editing software is on the computer that is no longer working.)

I managed to hide in my sewing room on Wednesday while Jack was catching a movie with a Dagorhir buddy who was in town. Last night I had to go to an after work appointment and didn't get home until almost 8 pm. So today I took a nap, drank a coffee brought to me by my wonderful husband, and have been diligently avoiding human interaction ever since I got home by way of chain piecing a quilt coupled with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on audiobook. Headphones for the win.

Dresden Plates In Progress

I did finally receive my hand dyed fabrics that I ordered in mid May and was more than a little disappointed to see that the colors were no where near as vivid as they were pictured on the website. A little homework and advice seeking turned up the fact that aida cloth dyes much lighter than an evenweave, which is lighter than a linen, so if I want vibrant colors I will have to purchase a different type of fabric.

Regardless, its still prettier than plain white aida, so I started one of the kits. This is the beginning of Frog Pile by Design Works.

I've yet to decide whether to join Justine in Just One July for this month, but I suppose I'm out of time to make up my mind. I think that I could probably finish either my otter or the Library Kitten project if I did. I'll make the decision tomorrow. The idea of finishing a project is quite appealing.

May you have a happy and blessed Fourth of July.