A potential UFO (but hopefully not)

One thing I love to work on in the summer months is embroidery. It is a lightweight craft that travels easily and can really be done almost anywhere. I've been really wanting a sampler embroidery type quilt for a while and have wanted to keep it a simple black and white.

So when I needed a quick project to take with me on a day trip I decided to whip up a block and see what I could do with it. I used my quilting stencils as my design and made the blocks rather large. Pictured is actually the second block that I've been working on. I finished the first one a while back and have been making steady progress on this one.

It is so easy and is a nice relaxing project to work on while sitting in the grass now that the days are getting warm enough for me to be outside. I have yet to decide how large this will end up being, but I'm kinda making it up as I go.

As for it's potential to be a UFO, that will come once the top is finished and I will have to work on actually quilting it. That's where a lot of my quilts go through a UFO phase. But someday it will get done, it's all a matter of when.

A UFO is spotted...

I will admit it - sometimes I jump two feet in to a project without really thinking about how much time it will actually take. Or whether or not I will want to finish it. That is the case with this scrap yarn blanket.

The idea was simple: use up a bunch of my very small balls of yarn by making yo-yos then connect them in to  a decent sized blanket to throw on the couch or scrunch up and let the dogs lay on. FOUR HUNDRED yo-yos later, I've gotten right around a quarter of them connected and I'm just sick of it.

It's not that it's difficult to do, it's just tedious and mind numbing. I'm sure I will get it done at some point, I just need to figure out a better way of attacking it so it won't seem so soul-draining.

Does anyone out there have a craft like this one? Something you are excited about until you get in to the middle of it? If so, let me know!

New Swedish Weave

I may have taken some time off here recently, but that doesn't mean I wasn't doing anything. One thing I've done (that I'm particularly proud of) is complete another swedish weave blanket. This is only the second one I've done and I have to say it's not 100% done. All the stitching is finished, but I want to line the back of it with a lightweight fleece.

The fleece made the first one I finished was so snuggly and warm that my hubby requisitioned it for the winter. The monk's cloth is just not very soft so the fleece adds an inviting and warm feel that makes you just want to cuddle up.

The pattern of this one features an open diamond pattern which made the stitching go that much faster. In fact, this one took me about a month to complete working on it just a few hours a day. It was so much quicker that I'm actually considering making a couple more to give out as Christmas gifts. But I'll have to wait and see. With Spring here, there is a whole new list of things to get done.

I can't believe it's...

...Thursday already. This week has been a blur of cleaning, freezer cooking, more cleaning, working on craft projects, garden planning and even more cleaning. It is definitely Spring. The sun is out most of the day and the afternoons are warm enough to not need a coat.

So it's no surprise to me that I've lost track of the days. I will say I am a little disappointed in myself. I was hoping to be a little more on top of this blog. I guess I need to get back to making my to-do lists on a daily basis.

At any rate, regular posts and projects will be coming very soon. I'm not juggling quite so many things so I will focus.... at least that is my mantra right now!

Took some time off...

No I didn't get abducted by aliens, fall off the earth or just decided to slack. Actually, I've been dealing with some personal issues and felt it was better for me to eliminate a lot of things from my life for a little while. Sadly, this blog was one of those things. I had to take some time for myself, like we all do at some point or another in our lives.

I don't think I have everything figured out quite yet, but I think things are settled down enough for me to refocus on some of the things that I have had to set aside. So, starting next week, I will start posting once again.

Just because I took some time off doesn't mean I wasn't crafting. I have been trying to keep busy and have a few things I would like to share. Starting next week, I will get back to work and regularly update and post and such.

Thank you (to anyone who regularly follows me) for the patience. :)

A Birthday Boo

My little brother's girlfriend celebrated her birthday over the weekend. Being on a budget, I had to think of something I could make in the short amount of time that I had.

I know she loves Mario Bros video games and has told me she thinks Boo is the cutest thing under the sun.

I came across this pattern from WolfDreamer OffTheHook when I was looking for a pattern for a Link hat for my brother. This was the first thing that came to mind when I realized I needed a gift.
The patter is for King Boo, and I ended up tweaking it a little. I opted to skip the crown and the wagging tongue. I stitched the white teeth to the red mouth and then to the crocheted Boo. The eyes and eyebrow are embroidered with black yarn.

The pattern was clear and easy to follow and there is a long list of really cute toys - a lot of Pokemon and Mario Bros characters. This is a great resource for crocheters with little ones!

Sweet Baby Gifts (pt 2)

 To go along with the receiving blanket from yesterday's post, I made this super-duper simple and girly quilt. Again, being short on time, I opted for a really easy, basic quilt design.

The new mommy is a Hello Kitty fanatic! So when I saw this pink, cutesy fabric, I knew I had to get it. I got a yard and a half of the Hello Kitty print, one yard each of pink and white, and matching binding. Naturally, there was plenty of the pink and white left over because it's always nice to have some solid colors around.

I used all the Hello Kitty print though - three strips on the front and then the rest as the back of the quilt. The HK strips were about 5" finished, the pink about 4" and the white stripes are all 2" finished by the width of the fabric. The finished quilt size was about 35"x 43".

The only thing I didn't get a picture of was the back - which is just the HK fabric bordered by the solid pink. In total this quilt took me about three days to finish given the limited time I had. You can see that I used simple straight line quilting. Really, if I had a good day to work on a quilt and needed to have one finished, this is the design I would use.

This is also a great beginner quilt. It is simple and can easy be made in to a more striking design by using more vibrant or contrasting patterns than the ones I've used.

In the end, the new mommy loved the quilt, and I had the honor of giving the new baby her very first Hello Kitty blanket!