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.

If only I could knit...

then maybe you would all receive these for Christmas....

"Knitted masks make great gifts! Skiers love their sporty look..."

"Misses' ski mask starts with a warm dickey, ends with a gay pom pon on top"

--McCall's Christmas Make-it Ideas 1967