Sunday, November 18, 2007

Weekend projects

I had a big weekend of crafting. I have a whole pile of things I've been meaning to try, I finished two of them this weekend, and I finished the monster Christmas quilt I've been working on forever. We decided to stop the quilt a little early, to try to tame the hugeness a bit, and I bound it from the front instead of the back to help with that a little too. It fits nicely on the bed now. Matthew says I can't put it on for real until after Thanksgiving, but here's a picture.
I also made a crochet snowflake. I've wondered about thread crochet, and if it would be fun or terrible, and I would say, after completing this, that it's neither. Once I got the hang of it, (which took quite a while) it wasn't terrible, but I never really enjoyed it either. I was always looking ahead and counting down, hoping to be finished. I do think it looks pretty cute though, and it'll be nice to have something I made on the tree. I did the glue and pins thing tonight, so here's a picture of it all spread out and drying.

I started and finished another project yesterday which I am very very very excited about, but I'm not showing pictures because of gifty conflicts. :)

And I started the practice version of Anna's Christmas Dress, the one I'm going to make out of my bridesmaid's shawl. I'm making this one out of a pretty denim fabric that Megan gave me, and using a pattern for the first time in 20 years. I made the (lined!) bodice tonight, after 2 phone calls home. Mom helped me cut it out yesterday. For some reason, this kind of sewing makes me very nervous. Something about having a pattern maybe? There is a right and a wrong way to do this, and if I mess it up, it won't fit. The other times I'm just making it up as I go, I figure there's a good chance it won't work anyway, so there's no pressure. Maybe that's it. It's strange to feel so nervous about it. And Mom's so calm about it, and gets nervous about her quilting. It's funny how we're different. Here's a picture of the bodice.

Oh, and I wanted to mention a failure too, just so you know it's not all glory. Last weekend I tried to make Anna a pair of leggings out of the sleeves of an old sweater, and it didn't work at all. I couldn't get the pieces to come together right or stay stitched, one leg was longer than the other, it was a mess. But if anyone has a sweater they don't want anymore, I'd love to try again, so bring it or send it, and I'll cut it up! I eventually gave up on the pants and stitched what was left of the sleeves into little gift bags, so if you get a funny looking Christmas present, that's why. Desperate lemonade.

9 comments:

Susan said...

ooooh, that's a pretty quilt. Does Matthew know that eventually, you'll be the crazy lady that celebrates Christmas 365 days of the year? Because all the signs are there.

Unknown said...

I officially began Christmas today after eating a thanksgiving meal at Boone Pickens Stadium watching Drew play in his flag football Championship.. Afterward I went to Braum's for Pumpkin Ice Cream.. the best.
Then it started.. I felt it in my soul, so I began my repeated cds of Sufjan.
Christmas is here.. Put that quilt on the bed.

betsyann said...

No, no, girls, Matthew is right. The danger is, if you start Christmas too soon, that you'll be tired of it before the actual day. And there's the lovely delayed gratification, and the anticipation! And time to prepare. I don't think working on crafts ahead of time is bad, just sensible. It took me years to convince Matthew that Christmas could start the day after Thanksgiving, I'm not going to push my luck.

Shauna said...

Beautiful work! You could open an Etsy shop. Maybe even the Betsy Etsy Shop!

I have some snowflakes that my great-grandma made that look similar to that, only I think they were tatted. Whatever that means.

In the Mix said...

Love the quilt. I'm with Jo on this one. Let the Christmas season begin, sans the crazy consumption of stuff the stores shove into our faces, of course.

betsyann said...

Ah, Thanks Shauna. Those etsy people are amazing. Tatting is lace-making, it uses some sort of fancy shuttle thing. I have NO idea how to do it.

I'm glad you like the quilt. I feel like it's kind of silly because it's so simple, but I really wanted Christmas bedding, and it seemed less crazy if I made it myself.

malh said...

I'm with Matthew on this one.

Jenny said...

I am very impressed! These are beautiful. I look forward to a day when I am organized enough again to sew or make things - although I don't know if I'll ever be as adventurous with it as you! :-)

dbilberry said...

Wow, your quilt looks awesome. If you ever want to earn some extra money, I'll bet Jeff would love to hire you to make a quilt of all his old band t-shirts. He's been looking for someone to do that for years now.