The Inevitable

The inevitable happened: I labeled all the scissors in our house.

I walked into Curt's office the other day to find my fabric scissors on his desk. He swore he didn't use them, that he was just "carrying them around" (right....) but I wasn't about to take any chances. I rescued my scissors and proceeded to label all the other ones too, just so there is no question. I know it sounds a little kooky, but I like to keep my scissors separate. The truth is, there are three more pairs of scissors in the house- kitchen scissors, my hair cutting scissors, and a thread snipper. But those are obvious and shouldn't need labels. Yet.

Awhile ago I got a couple autumnal charm packs and I finally turned them into completed table runners for my mom and MIL. I made both of these out of one Moda Gobble Gobble charm pack, and I love the fabrics so much! They are fall colors without ugly fall images, rather, cute pumpkins, flowers, and doodles with plenty of stripes and dots.

These were quick to piece together, just rows set on an angle. I free motion quilted them with brown thread, the backs are just tan muslin or something, and the binding is a different tan color.

In knitting news, I've been wanting to knit a pair of the squirrel mittens since I first saw them and finally got around to it. I don't want to say my grandma is a crazy squirrel lady, but she names her neighborhood squirrels (and can identify them) and feeds them peanuts. They have become so comfortable with her that some will even take peanuts from her hand. We discourage her from this, of course, but she doesn't seem concerned.

I knew these mittens would be perfect for my grandma, an homage to all the squirrels that became roadkill she has lost.

I opted to make two squirrels and ditch the oak leaf motif on the original pattern. The palms are according to the pattern, although I kind of messed one of the thumbs. Grandma will never know.

I hope they fit, because like many people commented, they are very small! I have small hands and they fit me comfortably, I'm assuming my grandma can't have hands much larger than mine. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Snickerdoodle and Fairy Tale. This was my first time knitting with WOTA and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The price is right, it's not too itchy, but it has that wooly smell. I'm working on another pair of mittens with a different color and they are very itchy, I'm planning to line those with fleece. 
Here's my Ravelry link.

I also finished my Recession Hat. This was made out of scraps I had on hand, tiny balls left over from socks and other projects. Most of the yarns are Knit Picks Palette. I just held two colors, knitting every other stitch, for any random number of rows, blending the colors together by switching one color at a time. I love the way this turned out, it's a nice little beanie, perfect for fall weather.

Best of all it didn't cost a dime and used up some of my stash!
Here's my Ravelry link.

With the turn of the season came changing quits out. This is the first quilt I ever made and it has a very fall color scheme. And a new quilt means new pillow cases. I love making pillow cases because they are like mini quilts with a purpose.

I made Finn pose for this picture. I love his face, like- "Okay, do you have the picture? I have bones to chew." He left the couch immediately after I took this picture.

I made the patchwork pillow following this tutorial. Very easy, perfect corners, and a fun way to use up even the tiniest scraps.

I free motion quilted the top with grey thread.

The back is a recycled t-shirt, I just used the bottom hem so there was no extra sewing to do. Envelope pockets are my new best friend, quick, easy, and I love being able to rotate my pillow cases.

This pillow is 16X16.

The reverse side of the crocheted pillow is:

Granny squares! I wanted to give them a try with some stash yarn. When I put them all together I realized it would kind of match the other pillow and quilt. The other side is in the picture up top there, that's just one giant granny square stitched up around a pillow. I like this pillow because it's very kitschy in the so-ugly-it's-cool kind of way. Curt thinks it's just plain ugly, but it will be out by the time Christmas comes around and he will forget about it ... until next fall when I pull it out again.

We had some visitors from Canada the other morning.

This was the first time I saw geese on the golf course (aka backyard). If it was actually a backyard, I might be mad, but they were just so cute wobbling around on a rainy day. You can also see the start of colors changing on some of the trees. All the trees are catching up to that gorgeous red one, I'll be sure to take some more pictures when they get there.

a family affair

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from the wedding we attended in Michigan a couple weeks ago. The bride was my cousin Sara, she'd been dating Brad for a long time and I was so excited we could make it up to Michigan to celebrate with them and the rest of our family. 

Sara & Brad with my Aunt Robin & Uncle Larry

Dad, Mom, Bri, Me, & Curt. We got new dresses for the occasion!

Most of the Wilson clan, minus quite a few grandkids. 

My sister & me .. we took about 20 photos trying to get a good one of both of us, 

this is the best we could manage.

There was plenty of dancing - the Wilsons know how to get down! 

These people are not family - but they were those kind of dancers.. you know the ones- homely man with his pretty date, first on the floor, outrageous moves, boogie the night away. There's a pair at every party and these two were just too good to pass on a sneaky picture. 

I mean, would you look at his form?! 

We all had a great time, ate yummy pie (the bride doesn't like cake), wore ourselves out dancing, and enjoyed spending time with family. 

I've been working on a few small projects and will have to take pictures tomorrow if the weather cooperates. It has been raining for a couple weeks here in Nashville and the temperatures drop every day. I made cheesy broccoli soup the other day because it was just a soup kind of day. Today was a chili kind of day, but I'm not really in the mood for chili.. time to search for recipes. 

What's your favorite fall dinner? 

ArtPrize

This past weekend, Curt and I traveled to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan for my cousin's wedding. More pictures of that later, but first: ArtPrize. 

You can learn more about ArtPrize on their website, but to sum it up, the city of Grand Rapids opened its doors to artists to display their work downtown. Many buildings became venues to display indoor art, and sculptures and other outdoor features are scattered downtown. Visitors can vote for their favorites and the winner will receive a $250,000 prize!

The top 10 were announced over the weekend, and this moose was one of them:

He's made entirely out of nails, life size and cute to boot. 

There was lots of walking, admiring, and wondering just what the heck we were looking at. 

It was cold and drizzling for most of the day, but we still really enjoyed ourselves.

Car in the pavement

Dad excited about something...

Someone was supposed to jump off that a la David Blaine, but the weather was too bad.

Curt modeling a metal dress.

Curt, my sister, and my mom with the moose.

Bri riding a motorcycle made of all household parts, no actual motorcycle parts. 

I couldn't find what this was truly supposed to be, but I assumed a ball of yarn!

Giant table on the bridge.

Down by the river, trying to stay warm.

Nessie on the Grand.

We saw only a fraction of the exhibits, but it was a lot of fun. After making our way down to see Nessie at the river, my mom finally said "Enough of this ArtPrize crap, let's go." Chalk it up to nasty weather and hunger .. we went out to dinner and enjoyed the rest of our night inside. ArtPrize is only going for a few more days, so if you are near West Michigan, definitely check it out, there is something for everyone!