Footprints on the Moon

I set it aside for quite awhile because I didn’t want to drag out my folding table and sewing machine again, but I finally got back to it and finished up what I can.

Here’s as much as the pieced top as I could manage to get into one picture. The good thing about being this far away is that if you don’t zoom in, it’s not as obvious just how much my squares don’t line up. I decided to just go ahead and embrace it, and pretend like they’re not supposed to line up!

And here’s the back that I put together. It’s not what I had in mind, but since I’ve never done this before, the fabric I had didn’t work out quite the way I thought it would. It works though. Like I said… embrace it! It’s a learning experience, right?

Anyways, I’m kind of stuck at this point. I have the front, the back, and the fabric for binding. I can’t really do anything else until I get batting, which I can’t justify buying right now. Even then, I’m not sure how to go about quilting it… I don’t think my machine is really designed for that… but I might be able to do some straight lines. I need some diet pills for my fabric appetite as it is, so I’ve got some fat quarters that I bought on sale after Christmas that I’ll be trying a couple of small projects with soon. Hopefully. And hopefully those will line up a little better than the first set of squares did.

A sneaky peek at what’s had me behind the sewing machine for the last 5 days or so (I’m taking a break tonight). Go ahead and pretend like those blocks all line up as perfectly as I wish they would.

So as the title promised, things I’ve discovered at my sewing machine this week:

– I may be better at sewing straight lines (most of the time), but I apparently haven’t mastered the skill of consistent seam allowances.
– There is not enough lighting in my living room for crafting after the sun goes down. I have another lamp that I should be able to turn on, but for some reason it trips the breaker every time I try to plug it in.
– Sitting on a folding chair from my card table set for long enough to do some sewing really makes my butt hurt.
– It’s funny to wait until the cats are sitting on the card table getting comfy, and then start sewing again. The whole table shakes and they get scared. HAHA!
– I’m finding sewing a bit harder than I thought I would. Or maybe I’m too much of a perfectionist. Or maybe I’m just not giving myself enough time to learn.
– I have no idea how to proceed with this project once I get done sewing my rows of squares together.

I wasn’t making any progress on the basket weave blanket, and I wasn’t wanting to work on it… so I started a new project! That will help, won’t it? Hehe. Anyways, this is a blanket I’ve started for myself. I think it’s going to be really pretty!
I really should be cleaning today, but I think I’m going to sit down with my Tivo remote and my crochet hook instead. Sounds like a lovely way to spend a snowy Saturday afternoon! Maybe I’ll clean up enough stuff to run the Roomba first so I feel less guilty lounging about on the couch.

Look! It’s finally growing! When I got home from Vegas, I knew I had to get moving on this blanket. Both because I hadn’t touched it in awhile, and also because the baby it is intended for is due in just a few weeks. But also because Miss Cass yelled at me. See, I took it to Vegas with me, intending to work on it on the plane, or in the airport. When Cass saw it, the first words out of her mouth were “Jenn. That doesn’t look like it’s getting any bigger.” Oh yeah. Oops?
Well here you are, Cass… it’s gotten quite a bit bigger. Aren’t you proud? And to remind all of you where I was before– the previous two progress pictures.

Why am I ashamed?

I got this in the mail today, and I haven’t even touched any of my digital scrapbooking in ages. I’m not even sure why… I was so excited about it. I think it’s the same thing as usual… I feel inadequate when so many people are better than I am, and I get a complex, and I do nothing at all.
I think it’s time to play with again, though, don’t you? Like I don’t waste time better spent on enough other things! But I have a couple projects in mind, and they’ll never get done if I don’t get started, right? Right.

This is what it looked like the last time you saw it:

Not as much progress as I would’ve liked, but there has been movement on this blanket, so I’ll take it. As you can see, I’ve now started the second block of the basket weave. Only about a bazillion more to go. I need to work at a much faster pace or this blanket won’t be ready by the baby’s Christmas Day due date!

I know I’m a couple days late, but I hope that’s okay. Especially since I forgot the last two entirely. It doesn’t help that I hadn’t hardly been crafting at all over the last couple weeks. Not only did I start something last week, I finished it. What you see there is a crochet hook holder that I made for my mom. I have one of my own, and my mom’s been wanting one ever since I made mine…. about 3 years ago probably! So she asked me for one, and I finally made it.
Below you can see what it looks like rolled up. I couldn’t find the hook I wanted, so I had to use a different one, so this project gave me fits. I started with the pattern, and eventually had to just make it up to get it to be big enough to fit the hooks. Worked out in the end though, and mom likes it!! I want to (find my hook and) make a few more of them.

Okay, I’m off to see what everyone else has been crafting this week!

Last week for the Online Craft Club, I showed you the beginnings of a basket weave baby blanket. Unfortunately, that blanket looks exactly the same today as it did last week.
So I snapped a picture of another work in progress.

Can you guess what it’s supposed to be?
Confession: I started this when I was in high school, and I haven’t touched it in at least two years. It’s migrated to my desk now, however, and my other cross stitch supplies were recently sighted, so there is hope I will make progress on this soon!
I start a lot of projects, so I can show you lots of unfinished crafts before I have to follow through and actually finish one. Go visit Cass Knits and see the others who *are* making progress with their projects!