End of a long weekend

The last day of a super long weekend is always the worst. I feel like I haven't gotten anything done that I need to for school tomorrow and I'm totally out of the groove. There's only one week left of classes and then finals week. It will be nice to make it to the long break, but it's gonna mean the semester is finally over and I can't fix anything I mess up on. Oh well, that's life for ya!

Looking Forward

The next letter I need to finish is T, which I'm really excited about because I love love LOVE the background fabric. It's a white Japanese cotton that has little hedgehogs on it. They're so cute!

A Very Full Stomach and a Little Sewing

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good! Mine was very delicious and there are plenty of leftovers to get sick of :p I actually went to some of the basketball games last night for the Alaska Shootout (college b-ball tournament). I got some sewing done too!
I got S all the way done! The S is a nice dark maroon color and the background is a dark blue calico pattern.

R is what I'm working on now. Not done yet, but I'm getting there. I do like the red with the green, complimentary colors but doesn't look like Christmas!

Short Post

I got some different fabric for R, it's BRIGHT red to go with the BRIGHT green gingham. It's a lot better than the light blue canvas-like fabric that I had before. I have also gotten partway through S because I skipped over R while I was waffling about fabrics. I'm super wiped out from working early mornings two days in a row - I'm not a morning person.

Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Randomness

I was sewing R and then I decided I didn't like the fabric I used for the R. It seemed nice at the time, but now it feels scratching and it was falling apart on me. I haven't picked something else to make it out of yet.

Since there is still no sewing let me show you this super crazy carrot that was in my lunch yesterday. I couldn't help but take a (few) picture(s)!

Here come the holidays!

For better or for worse it is holiday season! I only have one day of classes this week, but I have tests in all the classes I have today. So partly I'm saying "Yay I'm getting out earlier!" and partly I'm saying "eeek I need to pass these tests 0.0" I get to work two mornings this week since I don't have classes which means more money for the holidays, but also means I have to get up at 4 or 5am to head in.

Worst news of the day: I haven't gotten ANY sewing done.

Best news of the day: My Permanent Fund Dividend (read: Alaska pay off money) was approved today! It's only 2 months late. But now I can buy myself a new camera for Christmas! :)

So no sewing pictures since I haven't finished anything else yet. Just wait, it'll happen

Q

Here are the pictures of Q. Thanks to thanksgiving on Thursday I only have one day of classes so hopefully I'll be able to get all my schoolwork and some quilt squares done! I'm really hoping to have the Alphabet all the way done by the time winter break rolls around.

The background fabric for Q is white with little dinosaurs on it an the Q is a red and orange fabric that looks like lava to me. I think the Q fabric is from a church camp banner that my mother made for our church in Beaverton, Oregon. I'm not sure where the dinosaur fabric came from, but I would hazard a guess at Aunty Fefe's stash.

I love this little dinosaur peeking out from under the top of Q!

O and P

Here are the pictures for O and P, I also finished Q last night and started on R. Very exciting to move forward every time! I think making each square individually is great because after I finish each one I feel like I've actually gotten someplace :)



O is actually a really dark maroon color, it didn't show up very well in the picture. The background is a pale beige with little maroon polka dots. I love the background fabric, great colors I think.
P is a really nice orange color and the background is pink and purple birds and flowers. The birds look like robins to me, they kind of have that roly-poly feel about their chest.

Corner's

So I'm still working on Q but I can probably finish it today if I don't get loaded down with homework. For now I'll show you some pictures of what I'm putting in the corners of the border.


OWLS! My boyfriend bought this to use in a quilt he's making and I love it, it's got Japanese on it (that doesn't say anything bad) and it's cute. I like to think of the owls like little guardians to look after the baby. There are only three owls because the print only had three different ones. So the fourth is a 'blank' square, just one without any owls on it.

Alphabet Soup

Since you probably couldn't read my handwriting on the picture:

Apple
Bread
Chopsticks
Dog
Elephant
Fish
Grape
Hand
Ice Cream
Jar
Kite
Lion
Mouth
Nest
Ocean
Pear
Queen
Rat
Socks
Tree
Umbrella
Vine
Watch
X-ray
Yarn
Zipper
All the picture squares are this stiff muslin that I used as a lining in a purse a while ago. It's pretty sturdy and a nice neutral color with all the scrap fabric going on around it. I think it will look nice :)


Today I get to take all my completed squares to my art appreciation class for a 'show'. We all did a 'junk to funk' project, where you use recycled or left over materials to create something new and useful. I am using my squares since they are from scrap fabric. When I turned in the assignment I had only finished through H, now I'm all the way past P. It's always very exciting to see the progress you've made on something!

The Bigger Picture

I don't think I ever really went over the general stuff for my quilt. Each square is 5.25 inches x 5.25 inches, this is including the quarter inch seam allowance. I'm doing a 9 square pattern, there will be 2 large squares across and 3 down with a 4 or 5 inch boarder around the whole thing. For each letter there is a picture square that will have the English word and the Japanese word for the object. I was planning on Appliquéing the picture too, but now I thinking about working mostly in embroidery so that this can actually be done and gifted before the baby is born. I do need to check the spelling of my Japanese though, because I was working of romajii (English letters assigned to the Japanese characters) so I got some of them wrong. The soon to be family that I'm giving this to speaks both Japanese and English, but they are both native English speakers, so I thought that giving them a gift that was bilingual as well was perfect for their new baby :)

Here's the drawing of my plan for the quilt. I colored in the letter squares with colors similar to the actual fabrics that are cut and ready to go. You should be able to click on the picture to see it larger. I have to get ready for school, but I can post a list of what I decided to do when I get back today or tomorrow.

K-N

Pictures for K-N in close-up land. I have also finished O and P (both yesterday! it was a very productive day!) but haven't taken pictures yet, I'll work on that tomorrow after my classes. I'm not feeling very well so hopefully all will be hunky-dory with a good nights sleep. Getting up so early for work one day a week is weird, maybe I've just been up too long...
K's background is a bright red gingham which makes me think of picnics and delicious jam in a nice jar. The K is made out of a sort of canvas material in light green, that at some point in time was meant to be a slip cover for an old sectional couch at my old church, which never happened.
The background for L is a soft but stiff striped fabric, the wide stripes are in green, red, and yellow. The little stripes are a darkish blue. The L is made out of a yellow fat quarter that has a kind of tie-dye unevenness to the color. It looks better in person.
M's background has teal, blue and purple polka dots it's an interesting color combo, but I actually really like it. The M is actually a dark purple, the purple doesn't show up so much in the photo.N's background is a light green calico with little pink tulips on it that I distinctly remember being in the fabric stash since I can remember there being a fabric stash, but I can't remember it being used to make anything (which might be why it's still there). The N is a fat quarter that has a kind of sun-dyed effect, where you dye something the color and anything under a stencil lightens and anything in the sun darkens. The pattern on it are swirly hearts, but there are only a few that are whole.

F-J

Here are some close-ups of F-J. I also finished N yesterday. With the long Thanksgiving weekend coming up I'm hoping to get a lot finished, just this week and Monday of classes and then it's the greatest over-eating holiday!

F took Forever! I decided to do a red band around the outside of F and it took a lot longer than expected. I think it looks really good though!
G has a new fabric for the front and some really nice wool (?) weave for the back that was given to me by my Grandmother I believe. It was really nice to sew on.
H has a blue and white polka dot background and a plain purple front. I used the blue polka dots in a purse I made a while ago.
I has a Japanese fabric background and the front is from an old fat quarter that never got used.
J's background is actually brown, but that didn't show up so well and the orange is a little richer than that. The orange fabric is really surprisingly soft!

Now it's time to head off to school and see how I did on my Japanese test X.X

Details

Here are some fabric close-ups of A-E. Almost all the fabrics I used for this have been in the family collection for up to 5 generations. I'm sure they all have stories about why they were bought, for what project and why someone loved them, but I don't know all the stories.
A is made out of a great calico background and a nice dark teal front. Blue and brown is one of my favorite color combos, so I think it looks fab.

B has a background of black and white polka dots and the front is a red print that was in a Christmas fabric pile. I really wanted to have the 'retro' feel of the polka dots and red in the quilt somewhere.
C's background is made from a really nice coffee bean Japanese fabric that I bought to make myself a purse, there was enough left over for a few other things. The top is just a sea foam cotton fabric.
D's background is a nice BRIGHT yellow gingham that was used to make an apron for my Mom ages ago and there's a bunch of it left. I believe it came from Auntie Fefe, she was a big fan of bright colors. The front is made from a fat quarter I bought when I asked my Mom to make me a quilt (mariner's compass).
E is a purple sort of abstract flower print for the background and the front is a very dark purple. If I had to guess where the fabric came from I would definitely guess my Grammie (great grandmother) she loved purple.

First Post in a New Blog!

The first post in a new blog is like a brand new page in a journal - crisp and full of possibilities! This is going to be a blog about my craftiness - with fabrics, beads, wire and just about anything I can get my hands on. Right now I'm working on a crib quilt that will be a gift to a (secret) couple who is going to be having a baby in the spring. It's an alphabet quilt and so far I have A-M done (that's halfway)! Here are some pictures! Here's the letters I have done so far:I also have some close-up pictures of the fabrics in the done squares, but I can save those for another time. Right now I have a date with a lovely little square ;)