My Evening

A quick word on what I did tonight.  First is I fully finished 3 out of the 12 napkins that will be a birthday gift for my father-in-law.  I love the way they are turning out.  I'm using a pattern posted by Molly on the Purl Bee and made them with Shades of Grey by Daisy Janie fabric I picked up on Stitch Steals.  This is my first time using a bias tape maker - so intimidating at first but so so easy.  Thank goodness for internet videos.

The napkins went up pretty quick, but there was a fair amount of pinning involved.  I'm not a huge fan of pinning, most to my detriment.  But I was a good girl and pinned the binding to the main fabric within an inch of its like and I'm pleased to say that I think it really made a difference.

The last 9 are so close to being finished.  I would have had them done tonight, but a certain little man decided to wake up and have a melt down in his crib that took some tending to. 

Next up my first t-shirt quilt block!  It's all happening. I enjoyed the memories provided by my old t-shirts while I was cutting them up.  This was from John's fraternity's philanthropy event from our senior year in college.  Each frat boy was in charge of coaching a team of sorority girls for a flag football tournament.  I wasn't in a sorority, but my Roommate For Life was and so I joined her team.  When we got together for the first practice, it was obvious I was the only one who had ever touched a football before and I was made star running back.  Which was thrilling as I have never exactly been celebrated for my athletic prowess.  Long, long, long story short - there *may* have been some partaking of some delicious adult beverages (Sprite and Bicardi Limon) in preparation for our first game and within 15 minutes I had broken my arm.  Ah, college.

I have no real plan for how this quilt is going to take shape, which is a big deal for me.  I've never been one to just make stuff up.  I'm perfectly creative, but I like guidelines.  But block #1 is done, it is 15 inches square and is ready for more to join it!

Sadly this weekend won't see me doing a lot of sewing but it will find me flying to Boston for my friend Soda's bachelorette party!  First night away from the Rupper... I know I'm going to have fun but will miss waking up in the morning and walking down the hall to see his sweet face.

Other Work in Action

The last photo got me thinking about the other pics of my work in action.

From the top (left->right): quilt for my nephew William (born 02/09/11), quilt for MJ (born 07/15/09), a dress for MJ, quilt for friend Luke (born 08/24/11), and quilt for my cousin's baby Julia (born 11/09/12). 

Quilt in Action

There aren't many more satisfying things as a quilter than seeing a Facebook photo featuring one of your creations being enjoyed by the tiny recipient!!  I have not met this little guy yet... mostly because I'm afraid I will steal him.  His cuteness is out of control.  And I have my own baby. 

Couple of WIPs (or WsIP)

I finally manned up and started cutting up my t-shirts.  It took a while, but at last I have realized that they will be much better off being cut up and sewn into a quilt rather than languishing in a tub in my already overcrowded closet.  I have a feeling this is going to take a while to get together.  But it's a start.

I am too lazy to crop this properly.  Apologies.  But a cute start to a group of 6 Christmas ornaments.  The come from Mumma's tub of goodies.  Side note:  Christmas ornaments were a HUGE part of my mother's legend.  Every year she made ornaments for our family (including extended family - cousins, aunts, uncles, etc), neighbors, her co-workers at both the cleaners and Acorn School, and various others.  All told, we tallied that she must have made over a thousand ornaments in her time.  At her memorial service, person after person mentioned her ornaments and some even said they would have an entire extra tree just for her ornaments.  It such an incredible thing to think about, all those little works out in the world, making people think extra special thoughts of my mom during the holiday season.

I've always wanted to get into the ornament game, but could never settle my scattered mind onto one certain design.  So when I came upon this little felt snowman family it seemed like a perfect place to start.  I just hope all of their little noses stay stuck.

Here are a few to tide us all over until December.

MJ's Quilt

This is another old project, because I don't have anything new to report.  This quilt was finished in June of 2009 for the baby shower of a friend of mine.  This was my first foray into applique and it turned out to be quite easy.  The sashing, however, was maddening.  I kept thinking I had the rows lined up perfectly, only to realize after sewing and pressing that they would sometimes be as much as a half inch off.  I never have quite figured out what my problem was there, inexperience I guess?

I learned the valuable lesson of walking away from this quilt.  When you think you've ruined something, you think it's never going to come out right, just walk away.  Even for just 10 minutes.  Your mind needs to get a little space from the project and guaranteed (unless you've really f*ed something up) when you come back, you'll have forgotten what had you so stressed out in the first place. 

Guitar pants

 

Well they are just as amazing on him as I imagined they would be.  I should have made them 2 weeks ago, because now that he's crawling it was near impossible to get a decent shot.  Going have to have another go when John comes home.

Update:  much better.

It would be wrong

to wake up The Rupper to put him in the pants I just finished sewing.  But it's taking nearly all of my self control not to do so.

Off They Go

I packaged these little guys up last week and sent them off to Ohio.  They'd been sitting around my house, not really doing a lot of good for anyone.  So I found a blog called Bridge and Beyond, an organization that collects hand made items for men, women and children in need.  And while I'm sure July is not a time when people need to stay snuggly and warm, fall and winter will be here soon enough and these scarves can start earning their keep.

Quick Shred Update

Day 3 is complete.  I'm a little sluggish today - possibly (but hopefully not) due to the two margaritas I drank before seeing Safety Not Guaranteed last night - so I kicked it down a notch and revisited Level 1.  My shoulders still burned like hell, but the cardio sections were much much easier.  Good to know.  I was feeling good upon completion so I thought I'd do a mile on the tread mill to put a little icing on my workout cake.  Not a minute in, my right foot started hurting and I couldn't shake it.  Nuts to that.  But I still say I can put this workout in the W column.

My 3rd Quilt - from way back in the day

Pulled out a blast from the past this weekend and grabbed a few pics of it.  This lil guy doesn't really have a home.  Between being made with not the most beautiful fabric in the world and being too small to be a lap quilt but too big to be a wall hanging, it has been doomed to spend it's days folded up on my bookshelf.  But for a first time out with the flying geese pattern, it's really not so bad at all.

Today was Day 2 of my attempt to complete Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred (cue buzz marketing).  I am making the somewhat small concession that this will have to be mostly a weekday activity since weekend go by in a bit of a blur and even carving out 20 minutes for a fitness routine can be an impossible dream.  Day 1 was Friday - I took a chance and started with the Level 2 workout.  Lo and behold I was able to complete it and even felt great afterwards.  Apparently my daily encounters with the Rupper have built up some decent strength.  So 2 down, 28 to go.  We are a far cry from marathon training... but it's something.

MouseRat no more

Given that I've been doing a lot of thinking about my darling mumma this week, I came up with a blog name that I'm very happy with.  It works on so many levels.  First of all, who doesn't like candy?  Besides being a wonderful teacher, she was always very popular with the three year olds at Acorn School because of her sweet name.  And the pieces refers to the pieces that she left in all of us who loved and knew her.  The memories and the craft work that live on in her absence.  My hope is to incorporate some amount of fabric from her (quite impressive) stash into each project I make in the future.  I've started with the Bad Idea Quilts... which, as of last night, are done done done!  Well, I need to sign/put labels on them.  And photograph them so I can stop teasing them here and actually show the goods.

One Year

There's something so weird about days that have meanings.  It seems like those are the days where you are constantly being confronted with the date, without even meaning to.  Usually, they are nice little reminders - Oh, it's my brother's birthday today - Oh, it's my friend's wedding anniversary - and you feel warm and fuzzy about the people in your life who are so lovely.  And then there are days like today.  How every time I remind myself it's June 19th, my stomach twists and my eyes sting because I remember where I was a year ago.

I was sitting with my family eating lunch in the conference room we had taken over several times as a cafeteria.  The hospice nurse silently got my attention, took me aside and said, "Honey, she's gone."  I went back in, collected everyone and we made the wordless trek back to her room.  One last trek.

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law asked if there was anything special I wanted to do to remember my mom.  I thought for a few minutes.  What else could I possibly do.  I will do the thing that was her passion, the thing that she passed down to me (seemingly through her DNA), the thing that I wish we could do together still.  I will sew. 

Weekend Tidbits

I managed to not give two thoughts to my blog name over the weekend.  I did, however, go to a crab fest!  And Father's Day Brunch, and a Bayside Tigers softball (playoffs!).

The Rupper was a superstar.  We try to make having a baby look like the easiest thing in the world - hoping maybe our friends will have some kids themselves.  The Rupper gonna need some playmates once he understands how to play with other kids without just lunging at their eyeballs.

Crafting was kept to a  minimum - despite the fact that I had both Friday and Saturday nights to myself.  I finished the binding on 2 of my 3 Bad Idea Quilts.  So close.  So freaking close.  I'll explain more about these quilts later.  I have dreams of finishing BIQ #3 this evening.  Maybe just writing about it will make it so...

Identity Crisis

I need a new name for this blog.  "Ali Does Stuff" leaves me a little flat.  So for now I'm just going to leave it as MouseRat and try and come up with something better this weekend.

Quilt Received!

Here is my Uncle Jim modeling the quilt.  Waiting for him to receive this was like reverse Christmas - I was so impatient!  He and my Aunt Paulie gave me a call to thank me and Paulie said that when she opened the box and saw the quilt, her first thought was about my mom, how much she liked batiks.

While my first instinct is to hoard any and everything that ever came into contact with my mom, I am so happy that this quilt could be with people who loved her - hell, they knew her longer than I did.  It was hard to let go but I know that this is the best place for it to be.

Paulie posted this photo to Facebook and a lot of people I don't know made some very nice comments about the quilt.  But my father left a note that sums it up perfectly:

"Even almost a year after her passing, the beautiful, loving spirit of Candice continues to shine through her handwork and through the thoughtful qualities she instilled in our children."

My dad is awesome.

Ali finally finishes something

2 things, actually.  Here's the first:

 

This here pacifier clip is going to go with the blue and yellow quilt currently in progress for the yet to be born Swets Thing 1.  Progress on that quilt and the pink and green quilt for Swets Thing 2 has been laughably slow.  They were starting in April.  They are not complicated. Ah well.  I'd been wanting to make a paci clip for a while, since it is one of the most useful inventions of all time.  It took some doing to figure out what I could find to make the loop.  Since I don't get out to brick and mortar stores all that much anymore, I relied on internet descriptions and ordered a few products that weren't quite what the doctor ordered.  Finally I happened upon some silk rat tail cord which seems to be doing the trick.  Unfortunate name for a nice product.

Before I share the 2nd thing I finished, above a few happy pics of cute guitar fabric that I Amazon'd while working last Saturday (Treat Yo Self), a few scraps thrown in by the good folk at ShuShu Style, and Angry Cat making use of The Rupper's playmat.

This item can be filed under the good new/bad news category.  Good news:  I finished this beautiful quilt.  Bad news: The top to this quilt was created by my mom and left unfinished.  It's just one of so many projects that I found in her craft room after her memorial service.  Half a dozen were in progress, and she had bought fabric for at least another dozen projects of various sorts.  I remember one day hanging out with her in that room (which used to be my bedroom, before that my brother's room, before that my parents' bedroom) and she said half joking, this will all be yours when I'm dead.  And so it is.  I've committed myself to finishing each and every project she set out to make.  An honor, a legacy.  This is the second thing I've finished - for Christmas I made a little cupcake mini quilt for my sister-in-law.  There was no indication that she had meant it for Kim, but there was no doubt in my mind.  So back to the good news: I had an epiphany today that I would send this quilt to my Uncle Jim (my dad's brother).  Bad news:  I thought of sending this to Jim because he's stuck in the hospital with hepatitis.  Dragsville.  But hopefully the quilt will cheer him a bit, and it makes me feel good that it will go to a good home.

I'm new to the quilt labeling game.  Needs improvement.  A well placed little star helps balance out the poorly centered inscription.

Here is my latest finished work.  It is the first thing that I've cross stitched in a while - I really quite enjoyed it.  Adding the fabric border was super easy, and I just put it in a simple frame.  I wish I'd gotten a photo of the back - all sealed up with duct tape.  Worked like a charm.

And here's a shot of me and The Rupper at the beach in New Hampshire.  You haven't lived until you've made your baby cry by dipping his toes in the freezing cold ocean.

Ali Goes out on a Thursday!

Let it be recorded that Ali went out on a school night.  She met Pittsburgh for drinks at Chez Billy, one of the newest restaurants to open in the Eventually Fashionable Petworth Neighborhood.  It is a lovely establishment that I'm sure looks forward to losing money week after week and, if they're lucky, year after year.  I like the gamble of putting a French restaurant across the street from a Safeway that smells like a corpse.  It shows conjones from the good people who brought us Marvin and Gibson. 

Ali Made Some Bags

For your consideration: two bags created in December of 2006. Carefully juxtaposed with First Quilt and Homespun Ball on Ugly Old Couch. The blue bag was given to Mentor Friend. I believe she uses it as a knitting project tote. I don't remember what became of Red. Easy come, easy go I guess.

Fast forward three short years to Doctor Friend's birthday. Angry Cat was her usual helpful self. I wish I'd taken a pic of the inside fabric. It was upside down polar bears! Upside down because I cut the patter incorrectly, but whatevs. It's more whimsical that way. Please note the upgrade to Soft Pretty Couch.

Ali Rehashes Old Projects

Above you see a table runner created in December of 2005 for Grandaddy and Papa Tom (way back when they were just Mike and Tom).  The key to this runner was the cheapness of the fabics.  So very cheap.  But I counted on the thought counting and I think in the end it did.  They trot it out every once in a while and that pleases me.  While I have learned the lesson that it is better to pony up the cash and make things out of nice material, I always have to resist the temptation to just scoop up the crap on sale.  This extends to other portions of my life.  Clothing, house decor.  Luckily, not people.  The people in my life are made of only the finest quality.  So I guess that's something.

These three little balls of yarn were used to make an Italian flag scarf for Eddie Bagels.  It was 6-ish years ago, but I remember them getting all looped around each other and it being a huge pain in the ass.  Much like Mr. Bagels himself.  But so worth it.  Plus you get a good look at the previously mentioned First Quilt, as well as a peak at the top of another quilt that I need to take a proper photo of.  It's on the list...

 

Time for one more past victory.  The quilted hooded duck blanket.  My first go at free hand stitching.  I thought it turned out quite well - I was going to make a million of these!  I made one.  6 years ago.  For a person I am not particularly friends with (except on FB.  So, you know, super close).  I do remember the fabric being cheap.  In this case, though, it worked.  Flannels and solids are so forgiving in that way.

Ali Reads Blogs

I am a video editor, which means that I am best at taking other people's work (soundbites, b-roll) and picking out the best stuff, repackaging it and making it something new. Here I am, diving into a blog called "A Blood Recollection" (http://bloodrecollection.blogspot.com) and in the first post I am finding tidbits that I looooove. So I'm going to lift them, to add them to what I like to think of as the scrapbook of my brain (an extension of pinterest). It's a way to start, anyway.

 "I seem to have inherited something of an almost biological imperative to craft, and now quilt."

I should have started this years ago. Years and years and years. I am by no means a prolific crafter, but I never stop. There's always some project that is in progress, or ideas for projects floating around in my brain. I should have documented all of my work instead of the small and haphazardly organized collection of flickr photos that I have managed to cull together.

Here is my first quilt. Cuteness. This photo was take on January 16, 2005 (thank you, metadata).

T-Shirt Quilt: Will I ever make one? I've pulled the t-shirts, they sit in my closet. Some day... Some day... That's all for now. Off to pick up the Rupper from daycare, followed by Wednesday Night Dinner at Grandaddy and Papa Tom's house.

Scattered

Things have been slow at work over the past few weeks. When business is slow, it gives me time to peruse the internet for ideas for crafts that I will never actually do once I get home. What I would like to know is how anyone ever manages to focus on one thing at a time. There's so much out there. So many good ides, so many wonderful designs and tutorials. Having the discipline to say, "OK, this is what I'm going to do and accomplish right now" escapes me. To do lists get me no where, they just grow and grow since I never check an of the items off of the list. At some point I am going to have to get something done, or this pile of Pins is going to topple over and stab me to death.

Hello, Old Friend

I'm back! Did you see my last post has 4(!) comments. No matter that they are either dudes trying to get me to check out their own blogs or "News Fr0m The Timber Industry," obviously I've still got it and the people, they want it!

Seven short years have passed since I last checked in. A few small lifestyle changes have occurred in that time. Got married. Got a house. Got knocked up. Life is going by in the blink of an eye. Except for the first 3 months of my son's life, which somehow managed to last for 3 years. Odd how that worked. Sometimes I feel like I've got it all worked out, then other times I feel like I'm being swallowed alive. Much, I'm sure, that same way that most other modern ladies feel.

I don't run all that much anymore, it's on the ever lengthening list of things I'm totally going to make time for. Along with music, sewing, cooking, yoga, reading, writing regular letters to my grandmother and making regular phone calls to my brothers.

Sometimes I wonder that if I can just get the thoughts swirling around in my head to come out, to solidify, then maybe I can get some clarity and I can move on and actually become productive. That's kind of what I'm hoping this blog will do... bring clarity. And also to distract me from my work.

Weeks.....

It's been over a month since I've jotted down my thoughts. Stop judging me.

There have been three runs of note. The first was the 14-miler, which I described in an email to my mom and then cleverly saved: "today's run kicked my ass. i did everything i know to do...ate a good dinner last night, no booze, went to bed at 10;30, ate breakfast this morning, drank a bunch of water. i guess i was just tired from my busy week. also i had a slight cold this week but i thought i had kicked it. i think that's what did me in. the "designated driver" (person who stays with anyone having trouble) of our group was a guy named owen* the ultra conservative guy. we had some interesting conversation. i don't meet a lot of republicans. it was a tough blow when i had to fall behind today, i'm so stubborn. so i'd say i ended up walking 4 of the 14 miles, which i know is still not that bad. after this we slow our pace down for longer runs which will help me out a ton." The second notable run was the 16-miler, of which there is no written record. I could catagorize it as not as bad as 14 but I have had better runs. The only thing I remember was that when I was done I did have a thought that ohmygod maybe I can actually do this. So I have that going for me. The third run was last week in the Outer Banks when it rained and I broke my iPod, further stregthening the case I should never own anything nice.

So there's the abridged version of the last month of my training. I think the pictures are a nice touch. Chances are if anyone ever did tune in to read this they have long gotten discouraged by the lack of updates. I said, stop judging me.


*name has been changed to protect the ultra conservative guy

Weeks 8 & 9

Pretty uneventful. Hot, that's really all that I remember. The humidity was kind on the 12 mile run (the, ahem, *longest* run of my life) but was back with avengence for our first "recovery run" which was harder than the real run. No aches or pains of note. I was originally planning on taking off tomorrow in order to drink my face off in Baltimore while watch the Red Sox with my girl Jana. Sadly, it was not meant to be as she is a much better person than most of us and will be taking call this weekend for her sub-internship ("sub-i" if you're in the industry) in pediatric something or other. So there's not much excuse for missing tomorrow. I am scared, though, mainly due to my lagging behind in my maintainence runs. Not only have I not been planning on running, but I've had a bit of a head/sinus/cold thingy this week that has made it hard to want to run. Tomorrow's gonna be quite the test.