artsy-crafty babe

dishy

So, when I have 3 days at home thanks to "Frozen Freak-Out 2014", I am able to make things and blog about it.  Three days at home with 4 kids and a husband with the flu.  I am SO READY to go to work tomorrow.  I'm kinda sad that it's only one day, then we'll all be home again for the weekend :(  (sorry, cabin fever!!!)

For a while now our dishwasher has been broken. I'm not sure why we haven't replaced it or gotten it fixed, but we haven't. It's hand washing all the time around here. After washing many, many, many dishes over the last few days I decided to make a little something to make the process more pleasant.

What I usually do is layer 2 dishtowels under my dish rack to catch all the water.  It's ugly and not too effective.  The dishtowels get drenched and I have to use 2 because none of mine are wide enough to cover all the area I need.

My solution - a mini dish quilt!  It fits perfectly under my dish rack.  It's wide enough to catch the dripping water from glasses on both sides ;-)  The batting and quilting make it absorbant.  And best of all, it's pretty!!

One side is an ikat home decor fabric I bought months ago when I was searching for new drapery fabric (that I never bought).  The other side is simple patchwork of a gray quilting cotton, navy twill and ticking.  I could have used 2 solid pieces of fabric, but I love piecing :)

I made it like a pillow with a layer of batting on one side, fliped to the right side, then quilted with straight lines.  It works great! If I'm feeling fancy, I'll use the ikat side, if I'm feeling not so fancy, then stripes it is. The only issue is that now I need another one to use while this one dries out :-) Not a problem!!

 

 

the fox & the cow

This is a long lost post that never got posted back in early December...apparently it slipped through the cracks!  It may be old, but it’s still quite relevant.

I seem to be stuck on appliqué, specifically, appliquéd shirts for Ceci.  These are such fun, satisfying little projects! Never mind all the holiday hustle and bustle (old reference!!), all I want to do it sit and sew on these little shirts.

Let’s just say that silly fox video has been played several times at my house.  Ceci loves it..  Months ago I happened to picked up a fox t-shirt for her. Once she made the connection between that song and what was on her shirt, it became her favorite. Unfortunately, her beloved fox shirt met an early demise this past weekend thanks to her attempt to paint her own fingernails...grrr!  I had to remedy that, pronto.

Thanks to some mini boden inspiration, a cute shirt from old navy, and my appetite for appliqué, Ceci has a new fox shirt.  I’m pretty darned pleased with how it turned out!  I kinda want one for myself.

I love that the fox body was cut from a pair of newborn pants she wore and the white bits are from one of her old onesies.  Love.

  

Since making the fox shirt, I’ve made a cow shirt.  Both are in frequent rotation.  Like the fox, the cow appliqué was made from bits of outgrown clothing.  It was a pleasant surprise to find that the star printed gray fabric was such a close match to the striped shirt.  A pair meant to be, for sure!

 Somewhere near the holidays I lost my applique mojo, so the Ruby shirt never got finished.  She’s been requesting it, so I guess I had better get back to it. We're all home today thanks to a snow (freezing rain) day. As soon as I get a grip on the stir crazy wild kid situation, guess what I’ll be working on?

 

knitting

So yes, I’ve been knitting. You know how it is when the mood strikes. I blame the cold weather. Knitting just feels right in cold weather, doesn’t it? Because I tend to over commit myself, I decided to start off with something small, something easily finishable. I knit a cowl.

I started with the snow cowl. I used Loops & Threads Cozy Wool from Michaels, which isn’t half bad. It took me no time to make that, so I made another cowl, the drop stitch cowl, also from Cozy wool. These were fun! They are the sort of projects I should knit to put away for gifts.

While I was weaving in the ends of the cowls I pulled out two sweaters that I knit ages ago, but never finished weaving in the ends - a Cuff to Cuff sweater  and another Featherweight (my third one). Both of these were knit with Knit Picks City Tweed DK. I would love to give you details about these sweaters, but I knit them so long ago I have no recollection. I still need to block them, especially the cuff to cuff, but that hasn’t happened.

My featherweight is too big for me now, but it’s a soft, squishy cardigan, so it doesn’t really matter. It’s perfect for lounging around the house in on a cold day. I love it.

Totally in the knitting mood now, I decided to tackle my stash and get an idea of all the other UFO’s I had lying around. Oh my. It was not pretty. I knew I had to be brutal. I pulled out many needles and did lots of frogging. It’s time for a fresh start. I now know that I have more yarn than I know what to do with and shouldn’t buy any more yarn for a very long time.

One of my discoveries was a sweater I started knitting for Ceci when I was pregnant with her.  Once I finished the body i realized that it would no way fit an infant, so I set it aside. Well, it fits her now. I started knitting the sleeves only to discover that I didn’t have enough yarn. Of course. My local yarn store no longer had any, but I was able to find some online. I have less than 1 sleeve to go!

While I was at the yarn store, some more yarn came home with me. I know!! I said I didn’t need anymore!! Finishing that sweater for Ceci made me want to knit her another one. Little sweaters are so satisfying! So, on my needles right now is the Unisex Cardigan.  It is so adorable! I’m using Berroco Vintage DK  . I can’t wait to get this one done...so that I can move on to another :)

lately

How’s 2014 been treating you?  It seems that I’ve picked up right where I left off.  I’m not one to get into the whole “new beginnings” and whatnot, I just try to keep up!  So far, so good.

The only new thing I committed to this year is a photo 365 - again.  I start every year and always quit. This year I didn’t start until a few days into the new year.  Photos have been taken every day, but the uploading and documenting has fallen by the wayside quickly.  I’m blaming it on my computer, which is painful to use.  It’s beyond time for a new one.  That will happen soon.

Did I tell you that I’m running my first half-marathon this weekend?  I know!  Remember when I told you about my running? I’m still at it!  Back in November I learned that this was taking place , so I started training.  I didn’t officially sign up until I hit 10 miles in my training.  Well, here I am, the race is this weekend.  I’m so nervous!!  As luck would have it, my knee started bothering me exactly a week from the race.  It’s my stupid IT band.  I’m resting and stretching (I love my foam roller).  So far the pain has subsided, thank goodness.  I’m determined to run that damn race!!!

Last weekend was spent away with Lily and her dance team at the Louisiana Dance Team Competition. They did were awesome!!  All their hard work certainly paid off.  In all of Lily’s years of dancing (she’s been at it since she was 2), I don’t think she’s ever worked this hard.  I’m so proud of her and her team!!

During the competition I thought I’d get lots of time to do some hand sewing and knitting.  I did get to do a little bit, but not as much as I thought.  The majority of my work was on some gifts, so I can’t show you those until they’ve been received.  I’m sure the suspense is killing you, ha ha!!

I’ll be back later with some show and tell of the knitting variety.

 

new year

Hello 2014!

Wow, a fresh, brand new year :)  I hope you all had a lovely holiday, I sure did.  The entire month of December was pretty much a blur, though we didn’t do a whole lot or anything out of the ordinary.  I suppose with 6 busy people living in this house most days are a blur.  There was a lot of down time and I spent a good bit of time in the kitchen, which I thoroughly enjoy.  

My tree is still up and there are still toys strewn everywhere.  I’m okay with that because we will be thrown back into all the gazillion activities before we know it.  

I wish I had some fun projects to show you, but there simply hasn’t been time, or rather, I haven’t had the energy.  Oh wait, I did do a few things, so I do have a few things to show!!  (super cute things for Ceci - gosh, early December seems so long ago!!)

With this being a time of reflection, both of the past and looking forward, I can’t help but think about where this blog fits in.  2013 was certainly the year of blog neglect!  I can’t say that 2014 will be any better, but I sure hope for an improvement.  I’d like to share more here, more of the everyday.  Perhaps I’ll share some of my kitchen adventures, as that seems to be my creative spot right now.  I’ll be honest, sewing isn’t it, but that can change.  Right now knitting has a hold on me. (oh yes, more things to share!)

Thanks to all of you who have hung in there with me over years, stopping in to say “hi” and commenting on the various things I’ve blabbered on about.  It goes without saying that you have made a huge impact on my life!

I wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous 2014!

Here’s to another year of living and documenting  and sharing :)