waiting for the fall

The smell, the crisp air, the leaves, the first frost...yep I'm waiting for it all.

one good turn...

How about three. I'm working on karma this weekend in the form of charitable auctions, care packages and warm quilts. I had hoped to get a bit more done outside and in the sewing room, but unfortunately I just got done doing some real work, so that will all have to wait. But I did get the blocks for the group project done yesterday. This is my favorite:
We all added our own color and I chose purple (I usually choose purple). So off in the mail tomorrow - hope they go with the others!

skirts and other business

What have I been doing for this past month? I think I got some crafting in, but can't be sure, because it flew by so fast. I did see the light at the end of the tunnel, but then it dimmed slightly...so still busy, but DETERMINED to get some projects started/finished. (Don't worry mom and carol ann - I'll finish the group project in time. That is first on my list.) I did get one project started during April - a SKIRT!! I've never sewn anything wearable before, and still need to learn all about zippers, but I'm well on my way to developing a fling-y, swing-y summer wardrobe.
The fabric was a 50 cent thrift store find!!!

I did some embellishing tonight - it doesn't photograph well, but I needed to differentiate between the cheap washcloths that I use to wash my face and rags of the same type, so I sewed some simple ribbon loops onto the washcloths. Gross-grain ribbon is great! I will try to get a picture of it in the sunlight.

And speaking of sunlight - growies are poking through in the garden. I'm including gardening as craft, so get ready for some outside fun!

purple + orange

This is our guest room - part one of a total decorating project. We moved in almost two years ago and since then, things have been placed, but not necessarily where I want them to live forever. So I'm going through room by room and freshening the place. Making lists of furniture to find, projects to make, etc. Since my sewing room is in the guest bedroom, I decided to start here - you know, for more productivity. I'm trying to spend little dollars on this "refresh", just find things we already have if possible - so, here is the break-down.

-Duvet cover: I've had since forever. Its a great color.
-Quilt: my aunt gave this to me a few years ago. She didn't know at the time that it looked really nice with aforementioned duvet cover.
-I made the pillow cases over the weekend.
-Right before taking this picture, I found the piece of PURPLE COW PRINT fabric to place on a very tattered side table...PERFECT! (I always knew I could use that somewhere...)

Finally, the wall hanging. For those of you who read my other blog, you've seen this before. I've been working on it for years, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of applique and there was a lot on this project.

This was the inspiration:


A framed Ikea print. I found the pattern for the wall hanging on the HGTV website (its been removed, or I would link to it) - at the time I thought these would be perfect hanging together, but now...the first one seems a bit stiff.