iPhones, Aprons, and Sewing, Oh My!

How did Ashley Tisdale beat Vanessa Hudgens in the Maxim Hot 100 2008?! Must have been the nose job. I prefer Ashley over Vanessa anyway, she seems much nicer.

I got a bunch of fabric today with the intent of making aprons to sell at a craft sale/online. Maybe? I can't make up my mind about the craft sale, but I think it could be a good thing. It's in September, so I would need to up my stash and get a bunch of stuff made. I can make an apron or two a day, plus other little things like bags, oven mitts, iPod cases, etc really quick. Plus a couple little baby quilts that I can whip up in a few days? I think I'll do it! People overpay so much for things at craft fairs, I hope they like my stuff.

On the docket for today? Making a couple iPhone cases for Curt's new iPhone. Mine hasn't come in yet and that makes me very jealous. But I will make him his cases (he picked out fabric) while he downloads a million Apps and gets his setting all set. Lucky guy.

Someone Else's Giveaway!

Lila Tueller is having a giveaway at her blog for a purse made with a mix of gorgeous fabrics. Leave a comment there to enter, it's well worth the try because there is a runner-up prize too!

A bunch of my fabric came in yesterday and today and I also went to Joann's today and got even more.. so I will be a busy girl. And I have an order for a baby boy quilt for a girl I went to high school with who is pregnant and due in November! I'm so excited to be making things for other people, I get a lot of joy out of spreading the quilting love. Plus those adorable clothe shoes people can't get enough of! 

Back to sewing on the binding of that table runner I've been working on all week. I had just enough thread to quilt it, then I had to switch to sew the binding on. And I went to the library today to exchange some of the videos I've been watching for new ones. I got a Season 2 Beverly Hills 90210 DVD, 30 Rock Season 1 DVD, and Arrested Development Season 3 DVD. Those should keep me busy until Curt gets home in about 24 hours :-) I can't wait to see him!!!

Busy Week

Hardly, but a girl can dream. Wait, why would I dream for a busy week? Possibly because I am bored out of my mind. Luckily Megan came to visit me yesterday and today. We hit Panera yesterday and spent a lot of time chatting there. Today she came through to use my house to charge her phone and eat her Taco Bell. We chatted then of course, too. It was nice to have some outside interaction.. Finnegan is great and all, but he doesn't talk back to me, which gets old and makes me look like a crazy person.

I did stitch together this table runner top using this great pattern:

Oops, there is a stray triangle in the middle there, ignore that. It is a Christmas table runner, if you can't tell by the ornaments and snowflakes. The colors are not obvious Christmas colors, but that's what I like about it. Red + green gets so old so fast. This one was made with the Moda Merry & Bright charm pack I got on eBay. 

Next will be the same thing with the Moda It's Snowing! charm pack. But instead of the navy blue stars, it will be the same fabric in red (they have tiny stars on them).

Last weekend I also finished an apron for my sister-in-law. She went to the store with me and picked out the fabric (she's 12 mind you) and I went as fast as I could to finish it before she left town. She left before it was finished (barely) but still got it that day because Curt brought it to her on his way to the camp. I think it turned out really cute. Oh, and I made her a matching reversible headband to go along with it.

 

So they got finished and turned out super cute, but in the process this happened:

Yup, ironed my ring finger and it instantly blistered up -- really gross, I know, but also kind of cool if you are into gross things (which I sometimes am). And I have not burned myself since working the waffle irons at Cold Stone Creamery, but the very next day, I burned my arm:

I know, right? I don't know what the problem was, but my iron was out to get me. Luckily that one did not blister or anything, it is just a line now. But it sure does remind me of those awful waffle burns of the past.. 

The other day I caught Finn using my computer, he looked so innocent but he knows he's not supposed to touch our computers. What does a dog need a computer for anyway?

Next up on my list? I'm going to either quilt that runner or make a little phone case for my temporary phone. Curt & I are both waiting to get our iPhones, so in the meantime we have crapper Nokia loner phones. I wouldn't really care about it otherwise, but I have to turn it back in in like-new condition, so I figure I better avoid scratching it up and such... Back to the sewing machine for now, more pictures to come!

Winning Bids

My hubby was out of town last week playing at a camp in Wyoming. So I was home alone and lonely and I found love from ebay. Our conversation went something like this:

ebay: "Come on over, check out some of this great fabric I found for you."

me: "Well, alright, but just to look. Oh, that is pretty!"

ebay: "Bid, Brittney, bid, you'll never find a deal like this anywhere else."

me: "Oh, I guess a couple bids wouldn't hurt, I do love this fabric."

30 bids later....

me: "Crap, Curt is going to kill me. I'll tell him when I talk to him tomorrow. Wait.. does ebay send emails about all the bids you make? Because I'm using Curt's account..."

The next day: 

Curt: "So you were on ebay, huh? I have about 40 emails telling me every time I was outbid, and then telling me when I won."

me: "Ummm, yeah, I was going to tell you about that. I was lonely and I didn't expect to win everything I bid on, but then I did win quite a few. But they were all really great deals and I am going to get a deal on the shipping."

So here's what I got (so far... I still have about 24ish hours left on 9 items)

Moda It's Snowing Charm Pack

Moda Merry & Bright Charm Pack

Those will be used to make table runners for my mom and mom-in-law for Christmas. 

Heather Bailey Freshcut Assortment (5 Yards!)

I might make myself a quilt out of that gorgeous fabric, I can't wait to see it in person.

Jennifer Paganelli Bell Bottoms 

Don't know what I'll do with that, but it was so pretty and cheap, I couldn't resist.

And, last, but not least, in fact, the one I'm most excited to get: Anna Maria Horner Garden Party!

I also got some pink, teal, pink, and blue fabric strips in jelly roll form to bulk up my stash. 

I'm still waiting to win some Midwest Modern squares, which would make a cute bag or quilt or anything really. Also, a Moda Smores charm pack.. the cutest Christmas fabric ever! Little snowmen marshmallows in the brightest colors. I don't know what I'd do with it, but I know it would turn out adorable! 22 hours left on those. I have 1 day and 17 hours until I am officially done bidding on ebay for awhile. While I did get really great deals on all of these fabrics, I do not need to do anymore fabric shopping for a very long time. 

I can't wait to get it all, hopefully the Christmas fabrics will come this week so I can get started on the table runners while Curt is away AGAIN. He's in Michigan at another camp with the band for the whole week. I've started out my lonely week with an applique quilt project my mom-in-law gave me last Christmas. It's Christmasy, so I haven't been in the mood to work on it yet, but I guess Christmas in July hit me and I was inspired. Pictures to come.... 

Finn is brushing up against me to make me take him out.. what a cat-like thing to do! How strange. I will take him out, write a concert review for the paper, and then go to bed. 

The Nominations Are In

I was so pleased to hear that my favorite show 30 Rock got the most Emmy nominations, they deserve it! I love love love Tina Fey and majority of the rest of the cast. The show is so funny and smart and right up my alley. And along the same lines, rumor has it that Amy Poehler will be a part of the new Office spin-off, which would mean a combination of two of my other favorite things. Now if only we can get Tina & Amy together on a show... I guess I can settle for back-to-back in the Thursday night lineup. 

In other nomination news: I nominate myself as the worst house keeper ever. I've been spending my week sewing and painting and making a bigger mess rather than cleaning the one that already existed. So after spending the day enjoying myself, I will now be up all night cleaning. Anyone know how to effectively de-clog a bathroom sink? I've tried just about everything and the problem is that I can't actually get into the drain because the plug-thing doesn't come out the whole way. I am a plumber's worst nightmare...

Is it really only Tuesday?

Yesterday I went to a local gift shop and snuck a peak at their Vera Bradley merchandise. My sister wants a little zip pouch to old her ID like this so of course I can make that, right? I figured out most of it, but I just couldn't get my head around how the ID would go in there with the lining, etc etc.. my brain was in pain. So I went to the store to look at it and figured it out, then came home and made it. It was difficult to work at some points, but I think it turned out very cute: 

Yes, I blurred out my dorky student ID. It will be replaced by my sister's dorky student ID. I love that fabric, I got it from the scrap pile at Joann's and haven't been able to find anymore of it. All I have left is a little teensy bit and I will have to use it wisely. Luckily this little pouch doesn't use much at all-- maybe I will make one for myself. 

I also stopped at the library and picked up a bunch of knitting books hoping to be inspired. My selection included a few Debbie Bliss books, Sexy Little Knits, a sock book, and most inspiring, Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. I love this book, it has so many different kinds of projects in it and the pictures are beautiful. 

Oh, and Simple Sewing with a French Twist. This one, I don't like so much - I can't put my finger on what exactly I didn't like, because the pictures are nice, the layout is interesting. I think it was the lack of proper instructions or something. I don't know, but I do know I won't be making any projects out of that one. 

As for the Sexy Little Knits, it struck my interest because it's by Ashley Paige, who is so terrible I love her. She just got a new show on TLC and it cracked me up last week. The projects in this book are literally both sexy and little... very little! I wouldn't be caught dead wearing those in public. I'd be embarrassed to wear them around my husband. People on Ravelry said the patterns have lots of mistakes and requires specialty yarns that aren't readily available. The only good thing I got out of the book was a cute hairstyle from one of the models. I'm considering bands.. not side swept like I have now, but straight-up bangs. I let my hair go wavy in the summer, so cute hippy bangs add to the look. At least I think so.

While I have yet to knit anything out of those books, I do have 2 simultaneous WIPs that need a little TLC. First, socks from my new Imagination yarn from Knit Picks. I love this yarn! The colors are fabulous and it knits up quite soft. I have one sock done and one to go. 

I also have my first colorwork project halfway done. I used the Herringbone Mitts pattern with Knit Picks Palette, new colors that came along with the Imagination yarn. I am using size 2 needles and the yarn is fingering weight, which is smaller than the pattern calls for. To make up for the difference I am knitting the Medium size, which fits me like a glove. :-)

Now it's time for dinner, I'm thinking frozen pasta cooked up in the microwave. Does that sound lazy and disgusting or what? But I'm hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised and satisfied. It is always delicious over the stove, the microwave can't be that bad, right? Right?

I need a life

4 in the afternoon and here I still sit on the couch. Not terrible, considering the fact that I only got up a few hours ago. But still, this loneliness makes me the laziest person on earth. 

Why is VH1 airing "Cutest Babies" from November 2006? Brangelina has already adopted one and given birth to two more babies since then. It's so irrelevant. They didn't even have pictures of Jaden James. Besides, I think all those babies are so much cuter now that they are toddlers. We need an updated show, people!

Yesterday I came home with two placemats and one cabinet from Goodwill, but no other fabric, sadly. It's alright though. The placemats are from Target and I got them both for $1. I turned it into a sewing machine caddy/thread catcher/scissor holder thing. It's super cute, pictures to come, I swear. The cabinet I am painting and turning into a new sewing machine table. Because I'm currently using Curt's Peavey speaker and as cute as that may be, it's just not cutting it. 

Now I'm going to the library to get some knitting and sewing book as well as some movies to keep me company for the next four days. As long as I stay busy, I am okay. Oh, I'm also going to stop at a gift shop here in town and look at the Vera Bradley stuff. My sister asked for a replica, but I am stumped as to how to put it together, so I have to go look at their construction. Shh, don't tell Vera. Once I figure that out, I'm sure that's how I'll spend my night. 

And because I hate posting without pictures... At least I have one happy puppy to keep me company!

Scary Sunday

So apparently Lifetime didn't get the message that it's not Halloween anytime soon, because they are playing a day's worth of scary movies. Well, as scary as Lifetime can air on TV I guess. The lineup includes "Blessed" (2004) - 'A woman unknowingly becomes pregnant with satan's spawn after she and her husband visit a fertility clinic.' Seriously?! I only saw the last couple minutes of that, but man, does that sound terrible! Next was "Haunting Sarah" about adult twin sisters who have kids that are BBFs until one dies and possesses the other. Yeah, it was pretty hokey. Now "Carrie" is on, which I have started numerous times but never followed through. And I'm not going to today, either. 

I have big plans for today:

1. Wash the dishes that have been sitting there for too long waiting for me to wash them.

2. Go to Goodwill and see if I can find a sheet with a cute pattern to make this shirt. I really love this one specifically, the print is so cute and I love the extra long belt to go around a few times. 

3. If #2 proves successful, make the shirt. If not, maybe stop at Joann's on the way home and see if they have anything cute I could make it out of. I'm looking for a cute bright floral print or something, vintage inspired perhaps. And lightweight so it makes a nice summer shirt. It's so darn hot here, I just need something loose to lounge around in. Maybe a sun dress should be added to the list as well. 

Last night I made a bunch of headbands, they turned out very cute and they were SO easy to make. I've been wearing my hair up lately just to get it out of the way, so a cute headband makes a boring ponytail more acceptable. 

First dishes, then I can reward myself with fabric... I'll be sure to post whatever I come home with. 

Vacation Photos

We went on vacation to Ohio with Curt's family recently and I just got the pictures onto my computer, so here they are too look at. There are a ton of them, so I've broken them down into mosaics to keep this post reasonable sized. 

First, Marblehead Lighthouse. We drove by it and went about 10 miles out of our way, then we finally turned around and found it. It was terribly windy and hard to enjoy. Plus, I have seen a lot of lighthouses in my life, and I kind of feel like once you've seen one you've seen them all. Especially since most of the ones I have seen are on the Great Lakes shores, so they are all quite similar. The highlight of the lighthouse? Curt trying to get close to the water, even after I warned him about the waves coming up. So guess what happened? He got all wet.

On July 4 we went Putt-Putting for Cali's birthday. Curt was a pro-


We went to the ferry boat launch to watch the fireworks from Put-In-Bay across the water. It was strange because they were a ways out there, so we could see them, but we didn't actually hear them until much later. Which was fine with me, because the BOOMING has always been my least favorite thing about fireworks.


We also went to Put-In-Bay which was interesting. We took a ferry over, then walked our way around the island. It is obviously a party-hearty place to be, which is not really our scene. But it was fun to see and we were all amazed at the overwhelming number of golf carts. That's what pretty much everyone was driving around in, and there were so many. Hundreds, as far as the eye could see. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture!


July 4 was Cali's birthday, so of course there was cake and presents. I took a bunch of photos, but these two really stood out. Can you see the resemblance? Cali is Curt's 12 year old replica in girl-form.


It's scary how much they look alike sometimes. The first time my mom met Cali, she couldn't get over how much they were alike in their facial expressions and tendencies.

We have been back from that vacation for a few days, and now Curt is already gone again to play at a camp in Wyoming. The week will be elementary aged kids, so that will be interesting and hopefully fun for him. He is all alone because getting the band out there was proving to be a hassle. So here I sit, trying to figure out my first attempt at knitting color-work. I started them and thought they were fine until I kept going and realized I had royally screwed up. So I kept going thinking I could resolve it later, then I took a closer look at the disaster and decided the best thing to do was to rip it out and start again with the pattern. So that will be the rest of my night.. what to eat for dinner? Probably the polynesian meatballs leftover from the other night, unfortunately. Or pizza rolls? Nah, I don't want to turn the oven on... too hot... I'm melting... 

Summer in the City

Our summer was off to a beautiful start until the new neighbors moved in.... When I say neighbors, I mean they live on the other side of our house, which is split into three apartments. They are on the main level directly next to us and they are smokers. Not that I have anything against smokers themselves, just the smoke that comes with them. And when I say they are smokers, I mean they are CHAIN smokers. We have the windows and doors open because it is beautiful weather, but I'm seriously considering shutting our house up to avoid the constant stream of smoke coming from their side of the yard. At least they are outside right now... what's really irritating is when the smoke inside (against lease rules) and the smell gets into our bedroom, and most recently, our food pantry! Ugh, the smell makes me sick and no doubt the second hand smoke is slowly building up inside me. While they seem like nice people, I wish they would kick the habit before I have an asthma attack. 

As a result of our house arrest, we have sadly been spending more time indoors. But the other night we did enjoy cherries indoors, much to the dismay of my now stained couch. Not to mention the stained fingers....

Oh, the little metal thing in our cherry pits? That's a cherry pitter. Totally unnecessary and only creates a bigger mess (hence the stained couch). I assume it would be useful for something like pitting cherries to be used in a pie or something where you couldn't just pop and spit... but for just eating cherries, the teeth spin circles around this thing. 

Tonight for dinner? No doubt more cherries. Yeah, I haven't been eating dinner very well lately due to the extreme heat. It just makes me lose my appetite. But tonight, I will make a nice dinner of Polynesian-Glazed Meatballs. We've had this recipe before, and it is really good and easy to make. I love the pineapple mixed in, so delicious!