Another great thing that came from our trip to Texas -- a kick in the pants from Courtney. When I started listing my WIPS and mentioned one that only needed the binding hand sewn she looked at me with disbelief. "But that's one night of work!"
This quilt has been in the making for almost a year. I sewed the binding on and took it to the beach last July with the intention of doing the hand sewing while I basked in the sand. Didn't happen.
And then we got home and summer ended, school started, and more exciting projects reared their heads. And a boy needed to be played with.
Apparently Courtney is faster at binding than I am. This took me more like three nights.
But it's done and crossed off my WIPs list. And it's spring!
3.31.2010
One Down....
3.29.2010
Too much work, too little craft
Today was our first day of spring quarter, and tomorrow is my first day teaching for the quarter. I needed a break from prepping my classes and realized I hadn't shared these with you.
March is my month in my quilting bee, and I selected this paper pieced circular geese block. I really enjoyed making it (more paper piecing coming soon), but I realized after I took the picture that the bottom arm of the star is a bit off. I'll rip it apart one more time!
And I took part in the Feeling Stitchy embroidered button swap. This was too fun! My partner mentioned liking science, so I stitched up these science-themed buttons.
After spending Friday night at a double feature of Back to the Future and Hot Tub Time Machine, everything in my life is 80s themed.
In return, I got this super sweet package (*ahem* the chocolate is nearly gone!!) with these adorable buttons.
Thanks, Charity!
I'm teaching my usual two classes this quarter -- one I love (although I've had to change it drastically to accommodate a doubling of enrollment) and one I dread. Guess which one I still have to prep this evening?
3.25.2010
Souvenirs
Do most people bring home fabric as souvenirs of a vacation??
I do!
Courtney and I hit up a few Austin quilt shops, with some excellent clearance sections...
....and we came up with an AWESOME idea for a simultaneous challenge using these fabrics as a jumping off point.
And when one fabric-aholic visits another, the stash infects them both. Courtney sent me home with some of hers.
I did come home with some "finished" souvenirs. My favorites:
3.23.2010
Warning: Loads of photos ahead
We had a great time on our trip to Texas!
We hit all the tourist haunts in San Antonio, including the Riverwalk, the Alamo...
....the Witte Museum...
...and Hemisfair Park...
...which includes the Tower of the Americas.
Then on to Austin where we had the best time hanging with Jay, Courtney, Maya, and Benjamin!
And we left the house to get Cupcakes....
...and then walked the cupcakes off at Zilker Botanical Gardens....
...where we had a beautiful view of the skyline.
And next I'll share a couple of things that came home with me! More photos at Flickr.
3.17.2010
New San Antonio Rose
We've made it to Texas, and the weather is pretty awesome! We headed down to the Riverwalk for dinner. I'm sure it's beautiful -- but what a mess of people! Our hotel is on the North Riverwalk and it is much quieter and less populated.
Here's Jaxon at the entrance to our hotel....
The rental car place was short on cars (San Antonio?? Spring Break?? Really??) so we are now toolin' around Texas in a Grand Marquis. Big state? Check! Big car? Check! Alamo, here we come!
3.14.2010
Skirt No More
Thanks so much for your nice words about the skirt. I thought the length was barely okay with tights, but I was hoping for a year-round skirt -- and in humid Ohio weather leggings are not a year-round garment!
I wore the skirt to work on Thursday and I had a couple of problems. It would ride up slightly, making it more than a little too short, and I chose to use home dec weight fabric for the contrast so the pleats would NOT stay closed. By the end of the day I looked like a crazy cheerleader.
So before I could change my mind I ripped apart the skirt and reassembled the main parts into a bag (Thanks to Michelle for the idea!!). I wanted to grab a couple of pictures before I carried it to work tomorrow, I'll try to get a shot later while wearing it for scale.
I kept the invisible zipper on the back so I could open the narrow top of the bag, slide in my laptop, and close it back up.
Just in time to take on the airplane this week! We leave Wednesday for a spring break trip to San Antonio and Austin. That is, of course, if I have my students' final projects graded by Tuesday. It's hard to concentrate around here, Jaxon desires constant attention. In fact, he is lounging in my lap as I type this.
And just to prove my point, as I was trying to plan our trip to Texas on the phone with Courtney, I let Jaxon "decorate" me.
My student turn in their projects tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!
3.07.2010
34.
I spent the last two days sewing a skirt. A skirt meant to be a birthday gift to myself.
Today is my birthday. And the skirt is too short. *sigh*
I put it on long enough to have a photo shoot (with some very funny outtakes)...
...and then took it off to put on something less dressy for a low-key dinner, and so I could wear one of my gifts.
3.03.2010
The Myth of Fingerprints
If someone asks you to oversee the quarters to semesters transition for a school, just say no. Better yet, kick that someone in the shins, and then just say no.
Equally frustrating has been my attempt at a new camera bag.
I selected some fabric (Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson).
I found a pattern I thought I could adapt into what I want (The Miranda Mailbag by Serendipity Studio).HilarityProfanity ensued.
From the picture, I thought I would be making a patchwork bag. Not so. You sew strips and then weave them, making a change in the dimensions of the bag a little more difficult. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the instructions so I thought I would make a trial version before cutting into my precious half yards of Meadowsweet.
So from my stash, I came up with this...
I decided to use handles rather than make straps -- the straps are topstitched to the bag which I thought concealed the most interesting thing about it -- the weaving.
My bag is supposed to be the large handbag (pattern also includes small handbag, small tote and large tote), but I could not get my sides to be the correct size after weaving. The pattern calls for a separating zipper which I thought meant the top would open like a doctor's bag. Not so -- in fact you are supposed to glue the end of the zipper together so it no longer separates (instead buy a regular zipper, and follow this tutorial for separating).
As for the title of the post -- well, my fingerprints are no longer. To assemble the bag, you bind the ends like a quilt, stitching one side of the binding to the small, circular ends of the bag and then handstitching to the other side. Imagine me JAMMING this heavily-interfaced, stiff bag through my machine, pricking my fingers every three seconds. OUCH!
Thus, I won't be making this pattern again for a Meadowsweet camera bag. I'll be trying something different. But I do think this one is cute, and I'll carry it...
So, I offer up the pattern to one of you, dear friends! The first to comment and promise to make the bag within three months and report back her/his experience gets this pattern!
Also, Jaxon's preschool is participating in the Flat Stanley project. Jaxon and his classmates decorated paper "Stanleys" that we've been asked to send to friends we know in different locations, asking that they send back a photo of Stanley during his visit or a postcard so the kids can plot Stanley's trip on a map.
I volunteered to take a few Stanleys and see if my blog friends are interested in participating. I will send you a Stanley, and you just need to send a photo of Stanley (or a postcard) that the preschoolers will enjoy (you can even email me a digital photo and I will print it for you!!) and then send Stanley on to someone you know who lives somewhere else. Any takers? Look how cute he is. How can you say no?
2.18.2010
Too cold, too cold!
Jaxon keeps saying "Ice ice, baby! Too cold! Too cold!"
Is it child abuse if your child knows Vanilla Ice lyrics? It doesn't help that when we look outside we see this:
The dog thinks it is the Best. Thing. Ever. She throws herself into the snow bank that is our deck and buries her face. Charlie says our old lady is battling doggy hot flashes.
But it is kind of cozy in the house, watching the Olympics and stitching. This one's for Aneela.
2.11.2010
Marking off "to dos"
I shortened my to do list...
1. Completed my February blocks...John, this was a fun tutorial!
2. Selected fabrics for my blocks (I'm March). I'm going with this block, but I need to make a practice version before I send out the fabric -- and make sure how much to include in each package.
3. Made my mom some throw pillows with fabrics from Hawaii and Kona cotton. I love to FMQ throw pillows -- it's so fast!
4. Finally got this poster framed and hung -- I bought it over a year ago during our trip to Copenhagen. To the right are a series of Danish Christmas stamp sheets from the '50s, '60s, and '70s. But before we could hang it...
Jaxon had to point out his favorite kings and queens. His favorite is Harald I Bluetooth. Who's yours?
2.06.2010
Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, SNOW!
That title is my best Rosemary Clooney impression. We are covered in a layer of ice and several inches of snow. A great day to stay in and play with this....
I had two gift cards from Christmas burning a hole in my pocket -- one from Fat Quarter Shop and one from Pink Chalk Fabrics. Both are now gone! The stack on the left is for my month in my quilting bee; the two pieces of Amy Butler's Love are for a skirt; and the bottom stack contains some fabrics I've been coveting for awhile! 
And I got three patterns, one is the skirt I mentioned above, and the other two looked interesting. Also, I finally splurged on the Kona color card...but it's much more than a card. It keeps going and going!
I finally finished my January blocks for Cassie. She asked for windmills of any type, and I love this block! Very fun! I also made the smaller block as a bonus because I cut too many triangles.
And I've been playing with the new camera. Jaxon wants to be in every shot. "Mommy, I SAID cheese!!"
Finally, I am trying to save enough money for the tuition for Heather Ross's Fabric Design Class (I'll worry about the flight and hotel later!!). With that goal in mind, I have added some things to my Etsy store -- and there is more to come.
Recent Additions to My Etsy Store
Originally uploaded by modernjax
1.31.2010
Home Run!
LAST YEAR (it sounds dramatic, even though it was only a month ago), Courtney and I did a baseball-themed doll quilt swap. I forgot to share!
I made my first dresden plate and my first round quilt:
And Courtney "hit one out of the park" (wink wink):
The backing is the softest corduroy and has me wanting to back a full size quilt in it. So snuggly!
Also, I've done a little blog update -- now that the auction is over I've removed all the Scrappy Holiday Block Swap stuff (a little sad, as it has been a part of the blog for six months!!), and added a WIPs list. These are all projects that I started last year (or before!!) and have resolved to finish this year!! I've also updated the "Books Read in 2010" list. My grand total for January is four, enjoyable reads all. I've mentioned The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Girl Who Played with Fire was a worthy sequel, even though it was slow to start. I look forward to the last book in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, due out in May. The 7 Professors of the Far North was an impulse borrow from the library, simply because it had "professor" in the title and I liked the cover -- how's that for shallow! It's a kids book with little character development, but the story's rather grand and very interesting. And finally, I read The Bright Side of Disaster in just a few days. It would make a great beach read -- not too deep, a little
predictable, but with interesting, realistic characters.
Next up...I found a kid's book at the library by Carl Hiaasen. I had no idea. And I am trying to decide if I want to read the next book in the Wheel of Time series, or just wait for the last book and read them all together. It has been 14 years since I started the series. I also need to pick up the next in the Outlander series.
To continue this stream-of-consciousness post, I came across this this week. EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!!! Heather Ross is teaching a fabric design class?!?!?!?!!?!? HEATHER ROSS. Deep breaths. Other bloggers immediately signed up. The class itself, while a chunk of change, might be doable -- but getting across the country might be harder. As Amy points out, you can cancel up to a week before and get a refund (minus $25) so it's almost worth it to make sure you have a place in the class. Anybody have some frequent flyer miles going to waste?!?!?!?
But I guess I could stay home and comfort myself with my new toy.
BAM! It's fabulous. That's red camera's grandfather looking on in jealousy.
1.29.2010
Auction's End!
A great big thank you to everyone who bid on a quilt or tree skirt. The high bidders are:
Tree Skirt I: Katie
Tree Skirt II: anonymous ;-)
Lap Quilt: Rita
Quilt: zoelizabeth
For a grand total of $785 raised to aid Doctors without Borders and Partners in Health!!
I have emailed the high bidders with directions -- except Katie. Katie, I don't have your email address. If I haven't heard from you in a week's time I will offer the tree skirt up to the next highest bidder. I hope to hear from you soon!
And, finally, I put all the bidders into a hat and let Jaxon draw a name. The winner of the table runner is....Lara! Congrats, Lara! You should have an email from me soon.
Thanks again to all who were able to participate, and a special "shout out" to those of you who donated your bid amount even if you didn't win! Every bit helps!
I'll be back tomorrow with something I forgot to post LAST YEAR and my super cool new toy. Don't tell Jaxon.
1.24.2010
Auction to Aid Haiti: Tree Skirt II
Auction to Aid Haiti: Quilt
Auction to Aid Haiti: Lap Quilt
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