Craft-A-Little

I signed up for the Doll Quilt Swap # 7 last week.  I am quite excited about it.  Today I got my swap partner’s info.  It is funny, because I have been on his/her blog before.  I remember coming across it during one of the recent giveaways.  Unfortunately, that is all the information I can really give you about him/her.   

For this swap, I did spend some time going through some flickr stuff and putting together a little mosaic thing so that my swap partner could see what kinds of things I like. 

Now-  I am having some trouble with the crediting of these pictures.  So head on over to my flickr account- The credits will all be listed there. 

So- a message to my doll quilt swap partner- I like the quilts that I have listed in my mosaic (obviously   ) but I do not want you to feel limited!  I am sure that you see a theme in the colors that I like, but really- be creative and have fun!  If it helps, you can think of it like it is for my daughter- Little Helper- because she is going to take it and use it for her babies.  And she is not picky at all- she is 1.5.  :)  She loves babies and she loves to play pretend.  She takes care of her babies and covers them with blankets and tells them “nite nite.”  And she recently got a new pair of pajamas and they are her favorites.  She gets so excited to put on the fairy princess shirt.  Sometimes she doesn’t want to put on the shirt- she just wants to hug the fairy princess and talk to her and read stories to her.  She is so cute.  And seriously- I am not biased at all.    So please please please have fun and don’t stress! 

Now…to go stalk my swap partner and stress about what I am going to do…

I am starting to find myself stressed out here and there about my lack of organization for my projects and what I want to do.  Since I am relatively new to the crafting world, I find myself constantly adding things to what I want to do, but I don’t keep a running list anywhere.  And then when it comes time to pick what I am going to start next, I can’t always remember all of the things that I want to make.  So I am working on putting together a list and prioritizing it.  Here is what I have (in no particular order) so far…

1. Lap quilt for husband (in more “manly” colors than I typically like to work with and using wonky log cabin blocks)
2. Christmas quilt for my Mom and my Grandma (to be done with my sister).
3. Puppet Show tunic and shorts for Little Helper
4. Bubble Dress for Little Helper
5. Sweater- for me!!
6. Um…another sweater for me
7. Hooded sweater for A.  In either this pattern or one from a Debbie Bliss book.  Or maybe both??
8. Socks for me- and maybe for Will?
9. A quilt using a pattern similar to this one.
10. A bag for Little Helper and me to take to the park.
11. Grocery bags…still looking for a pattern
12. A quilt for my best friend’s housewarming gift.
13. Cute bag for me
14. Another one
15. Fall/winter Oliver and S clothes for Little Helper
16. Quilt I am working on with my cousin Lorrin
17. Any other gifts that spring up between now and Christmas
18. Some sort of advent calendar.  I like this one and this one.  (I am leaning toward the mittens- then we can have candy.)
19. Baby quilt out of my “scraps” for my friend’s sister who just had a baby girl.

Seriously, how do I prioritize this??  Well, that is a project for tomorrow.  Goodnight!

It seems like I have taken a brief hiatus from crafting.  Well, things are not always what they seem… I have started knitting a pair of socks.  I really like knitting, but the bad thing about it is that things that WAY more time to complete.  Here is where I am on the socks…

I really wanted to knit 2 socks at the same time on 2 circular needles.  So I did some looking in my local yarn store for patterns and didn’t really find anything that I liked (and felt was worth the money!) so I followed that shopping with some internet searching.  I found Silver’s Sock Class through a little google searching.  Then I looked on Ravelry and found it again.  So- Silver Sock class it is!  She does not have instructions for 2 socks at a  time on 2 circular needles.  I just took a peek at 2 socks on 1 circular needle and used that as a guide for how to add the second sock.  It really isn’t that hard!  It just takes a long time…

Oh- and as you can see from the picture, these are toe up socks.  I am making them out of a merino wool yarn.  So if they take until November that is fine- I wouldn’t wear them before then anyway!

Next I am working on some Oliver and S outfits for Little Helper.  And I have this jumble of projects in my mind of what I want to do.  I think that I need to put together a list and prioritize!  My Mom is visiting again next weekend.  So I could probably get another quilt top done if I wanted to.    But I told my mom about Lumberjack Days so we might be going there instead of getting lots of crafting done!

I did it!  I made my first quilt ever!  Thanks to the tutorial put together by Dana at Old Red Barn Co.  Now hopefully I can be thanking Dana for a new sewing machine on Tuesday…  Come on- a girl can hope! 

Anyway- here is my quilt!

And the back…

And a nice drapey picture of the back and the front…

And what it looks like when I am trying to sew the binding while Little Helper is awake…

(Don’t you love the boots?  She insists on wearing them some days.  Even if they are sunny.  And we are playing inside.)

( I was playing with camera settings today- please forgive the blurry photo.)

Now I am washing it- lets cross our fingers that it doesn’t fall apart in the washing machine!

And then I will REALLY go bind my quilt. 

I did a little more reading on Just for me and you and found out that they are doing another giveaway- for Wee Squeak shoes which are super cute.  So check out the giveaway!  And the shoes…

A couple of weeks ago I found a quilt store near my new house.  It is called Quilted Treasuresand it is in Rogers, MN.   The first time I went there, it was for the fat quarters that I needed to get for the exchange that I am doing (and I am  the LAST one in my group to mail them).  Anyway, I kind of looked around a little, but wasn’t in there for long.  Today I went back.  I needed some fabric for clothes that I want to make for Little Helper.  I have so much trouble visualizing what things are going to look like, so I have a hard time choosing fabric.   One of the women who was working came over and offered to help me and the next thing you know, I had fabric for 2 Oliver & S patters for Little Helper.  As I was paying, I learned that the owner was who helped me.  She was so sweet and so helpful- I will DEFINITELY be back to her store. 

While I was there, Mary told me about her daughter in law’s blog which in turn led me to Just for me and you which is giving away an awesome blanket from Polka dot Mama.  So…check out Polka dot Mama and check out the giveaway!

(I will post pictures of my fabric purchases later.  right now I am off to bind my quilt!  I have the binding all ready to sew on!  yay!)