It's a Crafty New Year!

Happy 2013!

So far it's been awesome. Captain Hubby went out for McDonald's breakfast, I've got Twilight Zone on SyFy, and I'm cooking up ideas for my next couple of projects. Other than basic household chores and such, I am spending the next few days lost in the glorious-ness of my newly organized sewing area. But first! What I got myself into the other day.

I went downstairs for some much needed alone time and to make a blanket I was giving as a gift. I put West Wing on Netflix and then took stock of my area. And I went into an almost immediate ADHD/OCD fit because NOTHING IS WHERE I WANT IT! And so, I spent 2.5 hours rearranging and reorganizing. It looks a lot better, but not exactly how I want. The walls of the basement are cinder block, so some of my ideas are going to take a masonry bit and Captain Hubby to make them come to fruition. Primarily what I want for paint and wood craft storage. I also realized that if I got some comic book backers, I could store my fabric in a more efficient way - kind of like mini-bolts - on shelves. I currently have 4 sets of these plastic storage drawers:

Which, are OK, I guess, but they are pretty cumbersome and don't work as well when they are full and heavy. As mine all are.

But!! I have been shown by Pinterest that there are many other, more awesome solutions and ways to store my fabric. If I do the mini-bolt thing, I can get rid of most of the drawers, put in shelves, and that would, theoretically, give me more room own there. Then I can use some of the drawers for pattern storage, Girl Scout craft storage and then give Em a couple of them for toy storage. See? I have A Plan.

However, I had no shelves or the like, so I cleaned up my scraps, rearranged some of the drawers, and go down to business. My plans were for sure to finish the blanket and then I was going to start on an awesome pillow I saw on Pinterest to use up some of my Wonder-Under. I got the blanket done, but then other things demanded to be made.

My friend A plays pool competitively. I saw this fabric at Joann one day and I stopped in my tracks, pointed, and went into a Horshack-like trance yelling, "OOOH! OOOH! OOOH!" Captain Hubby was with me and was seemed confuzzled as to my erratic behavior (You'd think he'd be used to it by now. I am at least half magpie, half toddler and anything what catches my interest results in my bouncing around, doing a pee-pee dance, and tugging on the closest pant leg until I get what I want.). So, I bought it and a coordinating fabric and added another Christmas project to my list. And so, that was the first thing I got done on Sunday. A came over last night and I gave it to her. I think it's easy to see how much she loves it.

But where are the stripes?

My other friend, Abi, gave me a challenge to get rid of my fleece stash - or at the very least not buy anymore. She isn't wrong. I am hopelessly addicted to fleece remnants which are the perfect size for making kids blankets. However. After sorting and matching up my prints with the coordinating solids, I discovered that I have enough fleece to make about 10 kids blankets. I set them all aside to spend a couple of days on over my Winter Break so that I can donate them to the St. Joseph's Hospital pedes wing. I was left with a couple of larger pieces of scraps that weren't large enough to make a lot with. One of them was this awesome paisley and floral in shades of golds and reds that I made a blanket out of a few years ago. I don't like hats in the winter. I don't like how I look in them, but I walk across campus almost every day and my ears will freeze up and break off if I don't have something to cover them up. My primary winter coat is red, so I decided to make myself an ear warmer. And then I decided it needed an obnoxious flower on it. And so, this was project #2:

Pardon the horrible picture of me. I showered and had clothes on. That was about the limit of my self-grooming abilities on Sunday morning.I'm not totally pleased with it. It's too wide and ended up looking like a dang hat. But, it'll do, I guess. I have some more fabric and could easily take the flower off and put it on a different one.

I then decided that Em needed a new hat. Now, Em has a TINY head. And I have yet to be able to make a hat (or ear warmer, now) that fits the person I make it for. So I got a pattern and cut out my pieces and set about to making her hat.

And the damn thing was too big and I didn't like it so I didn't take any pictures of it. Of course, having a totally contrary girl like I do, she loves it - despite it being hunormous on her teeny, tiny noggin - and she wore it to her Aunt J's last night.

Like most sewers/quilters/crafters I know, I have a Works In Progress table. This is the place where projects go to wait. For me, they are usually pattern pieces all cut out, but for whatever reason my magpie/toddle personality got the better of me and I abandoned the project. The projects that were on there after my cleaning and rearranging Sunday were a pair of purple tie-dye flannel pajamas for Em, the quilt squares and backing for my youngest nephew, and the pieces for a duffel bag I cut out last February.

I love Vera Bradley bags. I love the quilting, the fabric choices, the saturated colors, the ridiculous florals. However their price tag is way out of my reach. Even used. But, in preparation for my Girl's Weekend last winter, I decided to see if I could make one. Found a pattern I liked. Simplicity 2274.


Now, the pattern calls for batting and front and back fabric and all of this stuff that I was just too lazy to deal with. But because the gods of fabric love me, I found an awesome double sided quilted material that was very reminiscent of a Vera Bradley print. And so, I took my new stuff home to make my bag.

Well, that night, Captain Hubby and I got into a really horrible, awful, fight. And as a result, I haven't been able to touch it for almost a year. But, things are good now (better than before, even) and I wanted it off my table. And so I pinned it up and got it made.

I love this bag more than my luggage.

 I love this bag. I couldn't love it anymore if it was a Gerard Butler print. I accidentally bought a coat zipper for the top, so the zipper end slips out. Turns out, I actually like that. It gives me more room to cram more crap in there. As anyone who has witnessed my packing can attest- be it a bag, suitcase, or moving box - I hate unpacked space. I will cram and take whatever nonsense I will never use in order for ALL OF THE ROOM to be taken up by STUFF. I might have a problem. Or rather, one more to add to the ever growing list of problems.

After I was done with the bag, I looked at my leftovers and because I over buy fabric I had enough left over to make a coordinating toiletry/make up bag.

Now the question becomes can I travel wit this little make-up?

 There wasn't a pattern for the make-up bag. I just kind of winged it. Wung it? I don't know - I made it up based on how I saw other make-up bags I have were constructed. It's fabulous. And so, I have my Crafty Empress as inspired by Vera Bradley duffel bag and make-up case.

I still have more fabric left. Maybe I'll make something else out of it. I haven't decided what yet.

And when I was done there, it was 2:30 in the morning and Captain Hubby had gotten as far as he could in Black Ops and so we both decided we needed to go to bed.

And with that, I am going downstairs to grab the metric ton of fabrics scraps and do some sorting. Maybe I'll get down to my sewing area at some point today and have even more awesomeness to post to you tomorrow.

Here's wishing you an awesome New Year's day and a fabulous 2013. May you live a little better, learn a little more, and love with an overflowing heart.

The Empress