Christmas Things Around Chicago

Mini graham cracker "gingerbread" houses. An annual event with friends at our house.

The girls at our village's Holiday celebration. They hated posing for this! Just a few years ago, you couldn't keep them away from these!

A trip to the Art Institute of Chicago with my sister & friend to see the Victorian "Playing with Paper" exhibit. A very cold but extremely enjoyable day!

In front of the Art Inst, the lions are dressed for the holidays & very politically correct! No red, green, or blue to signify any ethnic celebration. Very Sad! They used to have big green wreaths with red ribbons on them every Christmas.

Another trip downtown with 2 friends to the Kriskindle Market at Daley Plaza. We took an early train & had time to pass thru Macy's (formerly Marshall Fields as it will be forever remembered). This is the tree in the Walnut Room where I have only lunched once in my life. People wait for tables to be sat next to the tree. Its decorated different every year & always beautiful. We viewed it from one floor up.

Without our kids with us, we got to roam the 1st floor aisles at Macy's and look at jewelry, purses & other accessories without anyone asking, "Can we go now?" It was very pleasurable and very beautifully decorated.

Here's Chicago's tree at Daley Plaza. To save $, this is the first year that the tree is just one large one, rather than many smaller ones pieced together to be a huge full tree. I think it looks fine because it actually looks real, like it should!

On to 2010!

Wishes for Health, Happiness & Craftiness to the Max!

Projects completed, Birthdays & Holidays passed!

November & December 2009 done, but not without being packed with good times. I'm happy with completing a few crafty projects, but of course,never as many as I would've liked to. For K's ice skating b-day party, I made monogrammed gloves for the girls, they loved them. Easy w/ pearl dimensional fabric paint w/ the help of foam stamps for placement of the dotted initial for each girl. Posted a pic on Michael's to win a trip to see Martha Stewart if I get enough ratings. It's worth a try!

Finished the Hope Squared quilt in time & shipped it out before Nov 15. I'm so proud that I started & finished something of that magnitude (for me, that is) for such a great cause! Started & finished in a week & a half and made with repurposed fabric from a favorite shirt! For details of my beginner free motion quilting, see link for flickr.http://www.flickr.com/photos/44958656@N02/4132099353/in/photostream/

For Mom's birthday, I wanted to make something for her with an applique silhoette of her lovebird, "Sunny" . I made this zippered pouch based on the one in Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing but a little larger & quilted. Luckily, I had the afternoon free to start & finish in time for meeting her & my sister for dinner & a movie that evening. I love the way it turned out, just wish I could plan ahead a little better & make things before the day I need it!

What Happened To August September & October?!

The coolest summer ever & now we're into fall! Halloween & the day before were very busy but fun! Both girls had plans with their friends, M volunteered to bring cupcakes to a party, K had friends coming over after Trick or Treating. These were the masterpieces! Thanks to Betty Crocker & Martha Stewart! Between the school party & Halloween Day it seemed like one continuous day. We helped to decorate & also undecorate.

This sidetracked me away from 2 other projects going on. The drive to finish my 22 year old quilt & finish a smaller one for http://www.margaretshopechest.com/ project "Hope Squared", also at http://www.margaretshopechest.blogspot.com/ Christmas present quilts for children in shelters in the Grand Rapids, MI public schools. I heard about it from the Craftsanity podcast I listen to & it has a deadline of November 15. Nothing like a deadline to light a fire under me! I surprised myself by putting the top together in less than a week. Made with printed fabric from a shirt of mine & my husbands that was in the give away pile but thought the print was too good to get rid of and black fabric thats been sitting around WAY too long! The project is for quilts made with any kind of squares. The size of my squares (rectangles) were determined by the pieces I got out of the mens short sleeve shirt and I took it from there. Since most people make girly quilts, they asked to keep in mind the recipient when making yours, I'm thinking mine would be appropiate for a teen boy. They even said if all you could afford to make was a quilt top, that was fine, they would finish it up. I'm determined to finish it. I bought batting w/ a JoAnn's 40%off coupon & have some other fabric for the back. So total cost of the project is $6 + tax & shipping to MI. Here it is so far.

My favorite summer place

Yesterday we went to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore=West Beach with 2 other families. The weather was strange, the company was great! It was very overcast & even started raining for a little while. A big black cloud hung over us for most of the day but we still had fun talking & climbing the dunes. I think if it were hot & sunny, we wouldn't have stayed as long. These pics are from when we went a couple weekends ago when the rip currents was so strong, swimming was not allowed. The waves were crashing like an ocean! The sound was so relaxing. It just drowned out the troubles of the world for an afternoon! I always hate leaving.

Suede challenge a SMALL success!

While braiding M's hair with Martha Stewart's Crafts on TV, they were making suedecloth pocket kleenex holders, & I took that as a sign & solution to my last minute chance with the suede pieces challenge. Of course, once you get going, other ideas come to mind. After making the 2 toned pouch, I got to thinking about using a piece of the Elvis fabric & the 2 shades of "blue suede" for a small zippered pouch with his face appliqued on it. One step better was to line it with him too. An unintentional result was him peeking out from the inside, FREAKY! It was fun & easy & I'd like to make more, but, what to do with them then?

When cleaning out the girls drawers of outgrown clothes, I couldn't part with a very colorful pair of patchwork shorts that were calling out to be made into a tote! Instead of the usual front way, I turned them sideways, cut off the waistband for the strap, but unfortunately lined it with some ugly fabric hanginging around from my 80's quilting days. I made the bag while the girls were out, so when I showed them what I made, their reaction was "wow, thats cool", then "eeww, what's that on the inside?!" No regrets, just using what I have to create without the expense! I also started a denim tote with the remains of K's jeans that we cut off into bermudas. Can't decide to make the handle & accents summery or other.

Sidetracked Again!

I dashed & stashed & survived the party, now I need to find it all & put it all away. Yea, right! And now, once again, instead of doing what I should & work on the suede challenge, I decided to create a bracelet & earrings (reworked from jewelry & other beads I already had) for a wedding I'm going to on Friday. I splurged on a new top to go with a black skirt I already had. Very boring, but I feel the new BLING will make me feel like a million bucks! That is a vintage brooch I got a couple years ago at an antique store & is what inspired me to find beads that kinda matched. I attached it to my white gold chain.

It is very, very hot & humid today, 91F, as it was yesterday. I'm going to work on the little pieces of suede soon, I have a little something in mind. Maybe that will get me going on thinking of something bigger. We meet tomorrow, so I must get busy!

Playing Instead of Doing What I should!

My dd's family birthday party is in a couple days, the house is a reck & the frig is empty! But did I have fun last Saturday & the Thurs. before that! I did a solder art class & a Beadgirl Bootcamp at Briolette Beads & More in Forest Park. For the soldered art, we made mini collages inbetween 2- 1"x3" pieces of glass & learned how to copper tape & solder them together & add a decorative wire top and link to the bottom. I want to do more!

The bead bootcamp taught us stringing & wire techniques as well as tips on tools & design. I came home with 3 pairs of earrings , one necklace, & the knowledge to keep going!

I want to keep playing but the 20 guests coming would appreciate a dining room table to dine at & a birthday cake to sing around. Next week is the No Guilt Art Quilt group gathering & I have nothing yet to share with our suede piece challenge. I just need to get thru the next 4 days, then back to SIDETRACKED RANDOMNESS PLAY!
The other side has the same paper & the words "authentic" "fabulous" & "remember who u are"

The blue ones are for my wonderful sister!

A Month Later! One Project Finished, Many More To Go!!!

The last month before school gets out for the kids is the fastest of the whole year. My personal accomplishments have been few & the clock is ticking til summer break with the girls home & many more things I'd like to finish (or at least put a dent in).

I finished the tote bag in time for Mother's Day for Mom. All I had left was the handles which I wasn't sure how I was going to handle (get it?!) I ended up making small fabric tubes, turning them with a large safety pin (quicker than I thought) & running a 3/4" nylon rope thru. She loves it & makes a point to use it as much as possible & show everyone what her daughter made for her. She's very proud of it & the compliments make me want to make one for myself, different colors, of course. I'm so not good at designing for myself.

I haven't touched the sewing machine since that weekend & it sickens me that such a mess is brewing all around it. Which then paralyzes me to work on anything because I have to clean up before I start.

The No-Guilt Art Quilt group has a challenge for this month. At our last get-together, the hostess provided us each with 60 small pieces of 6 different colors of suede to create something out of. Since they are dark colors the motivation to get moving on it isn't there. I am an instant gratification kinda girl & if I make something now, I want to use it now. Dark colors make me think WINTER & our winter was long enough this year! I have a picture of a suede petaled tote that I like, but that is a back up plan if I don't come up with something of my own.

Eggs for Easter, Cake for Birthday!

Easter has come & gone, so has my birthday & I've been patiently waiting for my daffodils to bloom! This is the 2nd year in a row that they did not greet me for my day, but came through later in the week. Easter was a chilly day spent at the cousin's house & the b-day spent with Mom, Dad & my family & dinner at the Grapevine for some Greek treats. Mom brought the cake. Thanks, Mom!

 Finished hand quilting the glue technique batik fabric created last month, but I'm still deciding what to create out of it. I love the colors and am very proud of the hand quilting. This is all stemming from the monthly Art Quilt group that started in Sept. of 2008. As long as we keep meeting, I will be motivated to create for myself and be happy to share it with like minded people.

So Springy!!!

April Fool!!!

I've been wanting to start this blog for a while just to post my random crafting & other life's happenings. No Time Like The Present!

Thanks to an idea at Martha Stewart's site, I fooled the 3 others in my home with "solid milk" & "solid juice"!!! It was so fun to watch each one fall for a different drink, one by one! One tried to pour milk in their cereal, one tried to drink their juice, one tried to pour milk in their coffee, all at different times of course. What can I do for next year to top this one?! I don't care what others say about her, but I think MARTHA ROCKS!!!