my craft nook

I'm very proud of my recent addition to our home. We have a strange little inset in our dining room that we weren't quite sure what to do with. For months it's sat there with no purpose but to collect stuff that hasn't found a home yet.

Over the last few weeks I've slowly moved all of those orphaned things into another room to be dealt with later, and have built shelving, put together Ikea boxes, and transformed this lowly corner into the most delightful Craft Nook I could ever have imagined.

Have you ever known what it was to have organized creativity at your fingertips? Nor I! This is a whole new world for me. And it's proved rather effective. Do you know what you can make when your sewing machine is out and ready for you at a moment's notice? Or what cards can be whipped up when your stamps, ink and paper aren't piled under other boxes?

I think I'd still like to spiff it up a bit - maybe some fabric or paper along the back wall so it's not so white. I may actually label all of those boxes so I remember what's in them. That lovely paper bag that's acting as a trash can may turn into something as attractive as it is utilitarian. And I have one of those accordion room dividers coming so that I can hide it all away when it's not in use.

And it's location is perfect. Because it's adjacent to the dining room, there's a large table that I can sprawl all of my materials on and craft away. I love to pass by it during the day, and imagine what's waiting for me as it beckons from it's corner of new life. I may never do housework again!

sewing and more sewing

A few Tuesdays ago I hosted my first Crafternoon. What is a Crafternoon, you ask? Well, it's a delightful little phrase coined by my friend Jen. And it's just what it sounds like. An afternoon of friends crafting the day away.

This time it was quilt-centric with 4 lovely ladies, and 4 different sewing machines. Lots of cutting tools and fabric, too.

So I would like to introduce you to my friends Sarah, Christie, and new-quilter Lindsey. You can always tell a new quilter because they say things like "Ugh!", "I hate quilting!", and "This is dumb." And every time Lindsey did, we told her a quilt-fairy died. Luckily Sarah was there to save us all from too many mistakes.

So, what are we working on, you ask? This is the pattern: And this is the fabric:
Now, I'll be honest. This isn't my favorite quilt for two reasons. One, I'm not really into the quilting styles of stars and pinwheels and all the things that make quilting traditional looking. Secondly, in an effort to modernize it, I found some newer Moda fabric I really liked. But somehow it isn't coming together they way I'd hoped. It's a little too busy and a little too pinwheelish. But, I have had fun making it and have enjoyed learning a new technique.

In a few hours the four of us rendezvous again for a Craftermorning to finish up our projects. Hopefully I'll have pictures next week!

what did you do this weekend?

I made a quilt. I call in my marathon quilt. I bought the fabric on Friday and finished it last night. At 2am.

On Friday, two of my quilting buddies and I piled into my Honda and drove to the closest quilt store 45 minutes away in Las Cruces, NM. It was a delightful trip with lots of gabbing and getting to know each other. This is a picture of me being somewhat overwhelmed by options at Oregon Mountain Quilt Shop:

(and yes, I do stand like that alot.)

Why make a quilt in a weekend? Well, the Ginders were the lovely couple willing to let us house-sit for them when we first got to El Paso. And Kelly came home today. (Which is significant since I thought she'd be home Sunday, but gratefully I had until Tuesday.) And I wasn't sure what would be an appropriate gift for a couple who let us live in their space for so long.

So I went for personal and decided to make something. And in classic Karen-style, I waited until the last minute.

So this fabric was bought on Friday, conveniently pre-cut in what's called a fabric jelly-roll:
And this is what popped out on Tuesday:

front

back

I chose the Chinese Coins pattern and ran with it. I'm not usually one to follow quilt patterns since I prefer the scrappy, randomly pieced-together look. But I didn't have time to experiment, so $5 later I had a pattern and a plan.

It took many hours, and two movies: Gigi and Pride and Prejudice. (And not just any Pride and Prejudice, but the A&E 5 hour version. The very best one, in my opinion. It's my "quilting movie"; I watch it at least once per quilt I make. It's that darn good.)

And I think having a deadline and only a few days is the way to go. Otherwise quilts are like any other project that I start and never finish. For once, procrastination paid off this time.

As proof, I got a call from Kelly this evening saying she loves it. Absolutely loves it.

in my spare time

So, a long time ago when I started this blog I had every intention of filling it with creative inspiration and craftiness. But lately all you'll find is life stories about moving and other shallow things like clothes.

Shame on me.

Although, in hindsight, maybe it's better this way. A simple question about what to wear with a certain dress created quite a blogsphere stir. And this observation from my husband: "I can't believe we went to Germany and you get this many comments on a silly dress!"

Anywho...

Remember that afghan I couldn't get enough of so long ago? Well, I've been working on it and this is what I have so far.


When I started out, I thought I'd need 200 or so hexes. Well, this is about 100 and once sewn together, I think it'll cover my two feet. That's all. So I'm crossing my fingers that 600 will be enough.

I'm very happy with the colors overall. Early on my husband requested less pink. So I undid some and just left little bits of pink here and there. When it's all finished it's going to be fabulous. And my first child will be in college.

Because my husband insists that any blanket I make, whether afghan or quilt, MUST cover both of us easily. No such thing as a throw blanket in our house - they're all the size of queen bedspreads.

So I crochet on.