Goodbye, Summer Crafting!

I have been doing a lot of much needed cleaning this summer.  Now that the days of summer vacation are swiftly coming to an end, I have to start thinking less about organizing closets and more about organizing lesson plans.
I still have a week or so to straighten things up.  I am now in the process of desperately trying to organize and turn my daughter's old room into a craft/storage room.  She is married and hasn't lived at home since she graduated from college, but I always find it hard to throw away remnants of her life at home.  I have to get rid of things in increments.  The more time that passes, though, the easier it is to throw things away.  She has told me to just throw it all away, but it's not that easy for me.  Everything I find is a memory.  I came across the soda can lamp she made in middle school.  I'm sure everyone has something like that squirreled away in their closet that their child made in shop class with the little brass name plate with their name and date on it.  I took a photo of it and sent it to her asking if she wanted it.  I knew she would immediately text me back telling me to please pitch it!  I snickered, waiting for her response, and, as expected, she said just that. Later when I spoke to her on the phone, she asked if I thought she would want it for her living room table. 
But, someday when she is a mom, she will cherish those crazy little memories that will bring to mind  happy childhood days.

I digress. Back to my cleaning story.  So I replaced her old things with my sewing and painting supplies.  I now have room in the closet for my craft supplies and Artfire shop inventory.
As I was organizing my craft and sewing materials, I came across things that I had forgotten I had socked away.  I discovered fabrics, craft supplies and patterns.  Sometimes I pick things up that strike my fancy at a thrift shop or rummage sale and forget about them.  It's always fun to find things that I had long forgotten about. 
I was on a doll making kick a few years ago and I found a couple of patterns I never used for some rag dolls.  I have to be in the mood to make dolls, and I felt that feeling coming on.
 

After I finished putting my craft room together as best I could (there just is never enough room, though), I sat down at my sewing machine and stitched up a doll from one of the patterns I found.  I am faced with the realization that my summer crafting days are numbered, and soon my creative days will be limited to the weekends once school starts. Looking over the amount of things I made over the summer, I am happy to say that it was a truly productive time.  One more doll for old times' sake.  Goodbye, summer!

Crocheting Comeback

My grandmother was an amazing woman.  She lived with my mom, dad, sister, brother and me, and was my like my second mother while my mom worked.  She was great at everything, it seemed, especially cooking and baking. Her specialties were delicious cakes and strudels.  Gram, as we called her, loved shopping, going out to lunch and spoiling her three grandchildren.  She had quite a sense of humor and loved to watch her soap operas which she fondly called her "stories".

She taught me many things as I was growing up, and one of them was how to crochet.  She used fine crochet thread and created beautiful doilies.  Gram used the doilies on the arms and backs of our chairs to help protect them from daily wear and tear.  She also put the doilies under lamps in the living room and floral centerpieces on the dining room table.  I always had an affinity for these doilies and still do today, using them as table runners, and under vases of flowers.  I love these crocheted masterpieces not only because I love all things Victorian, antique and lacy, but especially because they just make me think of home, and Gram.

I noticed that crocheting with crochet thread has made a comeback and crafters are adding crocheted edging to tea towels and pillowcases among other things.  Although I usually crochet with heavy acrylic yarn, I haven't crocheted with the finer thread since Gram taught me way back when. 

The youngest of my grand nieces will turn a year old in September, and since hand making my gifts is something I love to do, I planned out her gift, that I knew would include crocheted edging.

 

 

 

 

I bought a little lime green t-shirt and added crocheted edging along the bottom of the shirt, then painted a jumping bunny and added some hand made crocheted flowers. I made a glove bunny with a crocheted flower collar.   I bought a little canvas bag and painted my niece's initial on the front of the bag, adding, of course, some more crocheted flowers with button centers.

Although  I like trying new techniques, I love rediscovering old ones. When the old techniques stir up some happy memories in the process, well, that's icing on the cake!

 

 

Midsummer Daydreams



It's July.  Is your glass half full, or half empty (of ice cold lemonade that is)?    To a teacher, that's an interesting question. You might be of the mindset that the summer is still in full swing, another month and a half or so of fun in the sun, and lazy summer days by the pool with a good book (not a text book, of course).  Or, you could look at that question from the opposite viewpoint, that the summer is half over and the new school year looms large in the not too distant future.

 

I, personally, sit on the fence.  I love the summer for its creative freedom, but I also love being a teacher with the promise of a new year coming up, new students, new projects, a whole new beginning.  So either way, I enjoy the place I'm in, whatever month it is.  Yes, and when I was a student, I actually enjoyed doing homework and did it as soon as I got home from school.  Some things never change I guess.

 

Since I am enjoying the glass half full of my creative freedom, I have done lots of projects so far, and finished a few that didn't have time for during the school year. 

 



I like to try a few new things over the summer and combine some old techniques or materials.  Like most crafters, I sometimes find myself wandering aimlessly through the craft store in search of materials that speak to me, often finding, after I have purchased them, either that idea didn't exactly work, or through trial and error, I came up with a better solution.  So, those materials get pushed to the back of the drawer until I rediscover them at a later time.




My puppy, yo yo quilt

 

 

In my latest baby quilt, I wanted to add something special that would give it a little spark, in addition to my hand painted puppy squares.  I always like to include some hand painted squares for a personal touch.  At first I was going to use lace as an accent for  the quilt, but couldn't get enough of the exact type I needed. I thought about using embroidery, but didn't exactly know how I would incorporate that, and then I thought about using yo yos, those lovely little puffs of gathered fabric that I wrote my first blog post about, that I made a vest and purse out of in my high school years, that I taught my sewing club girls how to make into flowers by adding buttons in the center.  How could I have almost overlooked that wonderful technique?  So that was it, my quilt accent.  I searched for ways to attach them to a quilt and found one using a blanket stitch with embroidery floss.   That looked very pretty, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Yo Yos made by my students

 

 

I made lots of yo yos in white and coordinating colors.  I love making yo yos!  They are very therapeutic and I highly recommend making them!  I played around with the placement of the yo yos once they were all done, and decided to stitch them to the corners of each square.

My next venture is to add crocheted edging to the baby quilt I am currently working on.

 

 

Paint Can Baby Shower Centerpiece

 

I also created a baby shower centerpiece for my artfire shop that I had sketched out a couple of years ago when I was creating some baby shower centerpieces for someone having twins.  I kept that idea in the back of my head until I stumbled upon a paper mache paint can last week and just knew I had produce my idea and here is the result!

But, I haven't forgotten about the half empty portion of the glass setting on my work table.  I have already started filling it with lesson plans and lots of project ideas for my students in September.  Being on the fence, sometimes, is a very a good thing! Refills, anyone?