HELLOmynameisHeather

Drag-Around Sue

I'm whipping up a drag-around blanket for Charlotte.  She's getting pretty attached to a thread-bare quilt I made in high school and I can't have that, can I?  Not with a bunch of Freshcut in my shelves.

I'm not doing anything elaborate.  Just a big piece of this fabric, with a couple of borders around the edge.  The goal is soft.  Soft, soft.  So, the fewer seams the better and it must be tied or loosely quilted.  Otherwise, I'll never get her to make the switch.  I'll do a trickier, pieced quilt next, but for now I'm all about replacing that other blanket.  If I can happily toss this one in the washing machine when needed, with no guilt, then it's just right.  It does have a fun bias ruffle for a border though.  You'll see.  It keeps the blanket from looking too much like the cheater quilt that it is.  Oops, did I say that?  Cheater quilts are great.  And crazy-big prints make cheater quilts easy.

So, then Elijah caught on and decided to make Charlotte a doll blanket as his first attempt at the sewing machine.  His design.  His stitching.  No quicky, drag-around blanket like mom's either.  This one would have a tricky, pieced border.  And, wow, he did a pretty amazing job of it.  I only babysat that first row of stitching and all of the cutting.  He kept his seam allowances in check and hung in there until the top was pieced.  It looks like he's ready to expand beyond hand-stitching.  Lego skills come in handy.

Longings & Belongings

I'm finally finding time to flip through these books I ordered ages ago.  It's a treat to browse my copy of Bend-the-Rules and see what Amy's been up to behind the scenes. It's amazing what an undertaking authoring a book is.  Potter Craft has done a beautiful job translating her style onto paper.

Bend the Rules is full of beautiful, often quirky photography and illustrations, and entertaining text as you might expect. It's magical. Congratulations, Amy.

Simple Gifts to Stitch is a fun book to touch.  The paper is more matte and stiff and the photography is peaceful and quiet.  Yes, as a designer, I'm much more of a book browser than a book-project maker, but if I did pick a project from this one, it'd likely be the magic rain poncho which houses a smattering of tissue-paper confetti. 

Oh, and here is the pool I missed out on in Florida.  I always, always pack a swimsuit when I leave town, but had to forget the swimsuit on the this trip of all trips.  Look at that pool!  There were caves and tunnels, waterfalls and rope-bridges.  Ay, ay, ay.  I thumbed through the gift shop swimsuits twice.  I was ready to splurge $150 on a one-swim suit.  Isaac even consented.  My pocketbook was saved by a late night conversation with these guys and one of these guys.  Sleeping in gained priority.  That was the Hyatt Grand Cypress in Orlando.

Then, the next weekend, we were at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for Trash Ties.  They had a wave pool!  (I didn't take any pictures.  That's still The Grand Cypress over there -- about half of it.)  I walked past it to and from the convention center each day.  Yes, I packed my swimsuit, but no, I couldn't stay longer to dip in -- I needed to get back to the kids.  Needless to say, I think we'll be heading to a waterpark before summer's over.  Perhaps with the wave of family coming to town next week?

I don't think I've ever mentioned how much I like to swim.

Free Embroidery Download

I have one of those fancy-schmancy sewing machines that can output original embroidery designs.  When I first received the machine (oh, about a year ago), Isaac took it upon himself to figure out exactly how I might utilize my new Cadillac considering we're a totally-Mac family and these machines are all designed for PC users.  He signed up to write an article on the process for Sew News. All I had to do was design an embroidery and sew up something cute with it -- no problem. 

My design is now a free download.  Follow the "Sew News Rose" link over in my sidebar and you'll download a zipped folder containing several file types of the same design (.ART, .CSD, .HUS, .PCD, .PCQ, .PCS, .PEC, .PES, .SEW, .SHV, .XXX)  If you have a tricky sewing machine too, then one of these should work for you.  If you need some other sort of file type to be able to use the design, I apologize, but the above 11 file types are all we can do.

I wish I could say that digitizing embroideries is now second-nature for me, but I have some work to do before I can hatch an idea out in thread lickity-split.  I'll have to take some classes or hook up with someone who enjoys moving needle positions around.  I've got the flower-doodling part down pat... and plenty of thread.

Check out Isaac's article in the August/September '07 issue of Sew News. 

Enjoy!  (and send me photos!)

I'm Back...

... and am thoroughly enjoying my kids and cleaning.  I've been home for almost two days and the house is almost back together from weeks of mad activity.  I even slipped away to the doctor's today for an x-ray.

Remember the flower arrangement incident at Quilt Market? My foot has developed a knobbily spot near the wound and the area occasionally sports a new bruise with no obvious cause, making me think my foot just might have broken that day.  It doesn't hurt to walk or run, but I am sensitive to shoes that put pressure on the top of my foot.  I had a peek at the x-ray and didn't see anything obviously amiss, but am pleased to have enough breathing room to no longer neglect the mystery.  I should hear back in a few days if there are any problems.  I'll report.

Oh, and my finger is infected.  So strange.  No cause.  It's swollen up and throbbing like a cartoon injury.  I picked up some antibiotics and am planning a few sleep-ins.  My recently over-worked self is ready for some good TLC. Maybe I'll even cash-in the gift certificate for a professional masseuse that I received a couple of Mother's Days ago. 

I have lots to share.  Lots.  So, I'll pop in more frequently the next while and try to catch up a bit.  I took photos here and there over the last couple of weeks, but couldn't eek out the time to post. For instance, here's that fabric, trimmed, folded and ready to kit. That was a job.

I'm happy it's done and am glad to be back.

Breathe

I so need to pop my head in here. Hello. Hello. Hi. I'm still kickin', still alive.

I'm making about 75 kits for my hands-on class in Florida, hence the plump fabric rolls.  I'm putting the finishing touches on the sewing pattern for the kits as well (getting closer to publishing).  Then there's the style guides for Trash Ties and their cute little pink boxes, Trash Ties booth design, brochure, order forms, press release, press kits, etc.  Are you spinning with me yet?

Once those things are taken care of, it's back to outlining my 3 other lecture/classes for Florida and putting together all necessary visuals, handouts and fun surprises for those classes.  All of this by Monday morning when my plane takes off.  I'll be back at the end of next week for one day before heading out to Vegas to introduce Trash Ties to the beauty industry.    

Come July 18th, I can jump off the treadmill for a couple of weeks - squeeze my kids extra, make real food for dinner and paint a room or something -- shake things up.  I have a gaggle of family (including Laura - yay!) coming to town at the beginning of August and I couldn't be more excited to play, play, play!