Toy Society Drops

I'm ashamed to admit it's been nearly a year since I've done a drop for The Toy Society.  When several of the girls in my sewing group decided to participate in a Halloween weekend drop, it was the  perfect opportunity to get back in the swing of it. I managed to drop two handmade toys while Mark and I were at a local flea market. With so many people milling around, it was hard to be covert, but I managed.

The first drop was another of my robots, yes-I'm a tad obsessed.

 Funny, I was so worried about being spotted dropping this guy, but he hung around unnoticed for quite some time! We visited the building where I dropped him first thing and went back to that building(for vintage hankies)about four hours later and he was still there! We checked again after the hanky buying excursion and he was gone. Yay!

The next drop, was this guy. A mini version of Lars. He's OK, but I think I'll go back to making the larger ones the next time.

I don't know how long the mini-monster stuck around. It was probably an hour later when we walked back by the stone bench where I left him. He was gone.

 I hope they found a good home or at the very least, made someone smile!

Want to spread a little hand made love? Head on over to The Toy Society for more information about this fantastic project.

Progress on the Wonky(but not so much) House Quilt

When I decided to start blogging again, I decided to take The Process Pledge and share my quilts in stages of completion.

I am currently in mid-piecing of the Wonky House quilt. I may have mentioned this before, but I chose the least wonky of my Sew Bee Wonky bee blocks and built several more less wonky houses to go along with them. I'm also using a more traditional method by putting the sashing strips in.  I guess you might say it's a Wonky quilt, but not so much!

During my sewing group meeting last week, I was able to get all of the sashing strips made and lay out the quilt. Here's what I came up with.

It took me too long to get them in just the right order and I found myself obsessing over goofy stuff such as getting two of the same colors or fabrics too close together. Clearly, I don't  have a liberated quilting mindset yet.

This afternoon, I'm sewing the sashing strips to the house rows and I must say...I'm in love with this so far and I cannot wait to see how it ends up!

Vintage Thingies Thursday--Cupcake pics and a disturbing doll.

I just stopped by Colorodo Lady's blog and saw that she's still hosting Vintage Thingies Thursday. HoooRaaay...I loves me some vintage thingies!

A few weeks ago the mister and I went up to Grand Rivers KY to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta. On our way to and from, we stopped at some antique shops and flea markets. For my reappearance at VTT, I thought I'd share some things that I bought and a couple I left behind.

I love these little cupcake pics! I've been wanting some forever and don't come across them very often. These are smaller than the ones you normally see. So sweet! I should totally make mini cupcakes, and soon!

I fell in love with this vintage apron(surprise, surprise) with it's 60's calico cat and dog print and adorable green gingham ties/pocket detail! I think I gave a whopping three bucks for it. I would have paid more. Just sayin'.

Apron  Fabric

And what did I pass up?

Weeeellll.....THIS. I don't think an explanation of why I left this behind is really necessary, is it?

And THIS.

I Care. And I'm Creepy.


Can't get  enough vintage thingies? Head on over to Colorodo Lady's blog for more vintagey goodness!

It's Not Technically a UFO if I'm Working On It! ...is it?

So yeah, I was serious when I said I was going to get back to creating!

 A while back, I joined the Sew Bee Wonky Flickr quilting bee hosted by my friend Kandra. When my month rolled around, I asked for wonky houses.

I'm so glad I did! They are wonderfully charming little blocks! If I were more industrious, I'd post photos of them all here, but instead, I'll direct you to our Flickr Group, if you are so inclined to take a peek at more of them, they're near the beginning of the group photostream.

Once I got my blocks back I realized a few of them, though ADORABLE, weren't going to work out in the quilt I had planned.  Mostly because when I trimmed them up to fit, I would lose a good deal of the house design. So, I've made several more on my own to add to the quilt.

My original plan was to make a nice, structured quilt with white sashing where all my little wonky houses are lined up in nice neat rows. And I'm sticking with that plan. I'm thrilled with the blocks that don't fit into this quilt, because it means I will have enough blocks to make two little house quilts! One nice neat one, and one that's crazy-wonky and will call for improvisation when it comes to putting it all together!

For now, I'm working on the one that plays nice and I'm at the point where I'm ready to add the sashing. I'd thought about using a solid white Kona cotton, but I had a white on white print on hand, so I've decided to go with that. No more of this running out and buying more fabric just to finish a quilt when it isn't really necessary! I'm trying to learn to use what I have whenever possible. I think it'll work out just fine.

I'm fairly certain I want to add "Home Sweet Home" to the border.  I've searched high and low for the tutorial showing how to make letters as shown in this quilt. The original tutorial must have been removed due to the soon to be published book on the subject. I am so excited to finish this quilt that I can't wait for the publication date! (Although I plan on getting a copy ASAP!). Anyhow, I've been trying to teach myself how to make the letters for "Home Sweet Home". I think I've got it. My practice piece:

Once I get the S and the T figured out, I'm good to go! Actually, I'd really like the quilt to say "Welcome to My World" but that's a lot of letters...and I'm a lot of lazy.

 Hopefully, I'll have a more of this quilt top to show off soon!

Facebook Kills My Creativity. But at Least I Know What Barbie I Am!

Two months? Really? It's been that long? Man, my three readers have probably moved on to other blogs, blogs where they can get some real crafty/quilting/cooking/random action! Sigh.

Lately though, I've been  feeling the need to blog more. And create more. Create a lot more.

I'm figuring out that other than when I'm with my family, the time that I am truly myself. truly the me who is content, calm, happy, and most satisfied is when I'm creating.

And I'm not picky about what I am creating. The mere act of sitting down in front of my sewing machine with a flat piece of fabric or on the couch with a handful of felt and turning it into something is thrilling to me.

Sometimes my creations are inspired by others, for example: this quilt top that I recently finished inspired by the likes of Gwen Marston and Denyse Schmidt.

Sometimes, I use patterns that other people have made and put my own spin on it with fabric choice or details. The apron is a purchased(Simplicity or McCalls) pattern. The elephant is Simplicity 2613.  I chose to use a vintage pillowcase and added some of my precious Amy Butler scraps for a bow.

Sometimes, things are in my head and just want out, as was the case with Lars, Pete and this mini-quilt.

Lars

Pete

Mr. Robot Goes for a Walk

I think I've mentioned this here before, but Facebook is killing me, creatively. I have little self control when it comes to FB. I can't bear to think of the number of hours that I put in reading status updates, updating statuses, looking at pictures of other people's grandchildren(children I've never met), playing stupid games, and taking idiotic quizzes.  My FB addiction is not the only thing to blame for my lack of crafty time, however. If I spent the time MAKING stuff that I spend looking for patterns, no telling what I could get done!

Now, some might suggest that blogging is waste of creative time, but I'd disagree. As far as the blogging goes, I've looked back over my blog and it appears that the times I've been the most crafty and creative are also the times I've been blogging regularly.  Even when this was merely a girl trying to blog her way through learning to follow a recipe, it was still a creative journey! The mere act of putting down my thoughts, gleaning inspiration by reading blogs of other crafty ypes, and journaling my creative processes is simply one more outlet for creativity. Additionally, the bloggy craft challenges and Flick Quilting Bees that I participate in allow me to use this crazy internet thing to be inspired to do something productive and meaningful. Taking the "Which  Barbie Are You" quiz does not. 

What it comes down to is this: My frivolous online nonsense has been far outweighing my creative time. And that's about to change! If creating lovely, strange, and useful things is what I really want to do, what makes me tick, gets me excited, then it's what I should be doing! And I plan to do it now. Starting today, Kellie Cooks...again!