Where've You Been, Sarie? Excuses Edition

It has been too damn quiet around the Cherryverse lately.  Well, the blog specifically.

And sadly, I can't even lie and say "I've been so busy, too busy to blog about it!" because that's just not true.

I have been busy crafting, but the result post won't come for a few more months.


Hello, Tiny Human!


Yep, this precious little bugger has made me so very sick all day long that I haven't been able to craft.  Hopefully after the 1st trimester I'll be feeling better and able to make shit once again!

I don't plan to bog this blog down with all the baby news so you can follow along over at Strange Baby if you're interested!

Also look for me contributing to the new and fantastic Go Make Shit blog!  A bunch of wonderful and awesome folks are getting together to say down with labels and pressure and the bullshit that sometiems comes with crafting online.  The goal is to just keep making shit and in doing so, we will make Epic Shit.  I'm super excited to be a part of it!

WiP Wednesday: I Will Touch Everything This Week!!

My goal for this week was to get my hands on as many of my "No Progress" items from the last WiP post.

Looking at the list, I realized there are some projects on this list that I don't even know exactly where they are currently living.  But so help me, I will lay my hands on them and make SOME progress!  In doing so I have decided that at least once a month I will have a WORK ON ALL THE THINGS week/frantic couple of days before WiP Wednesdays.

Pastille Dress/Sew the Perfect Fit Craftsy Class
With the help of Virtual Craft Night I made GREAT progress on getting my muslin fit for this dress.  Check out the post about it here!

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt
I made one block successfully and started a second but screwed up cutting the pieces so I scrapped it.  At least I re-printed the template (and a lost template from another block) and I am ready to try again!  But hey!  One block counts as progress!  Especially if that block is a dick.  Yes, I know the points aren't matching.  I did my best.  +Catann  will tell you, "Finished is better than perfect."  And I believe her.

Block 78 AKA Dick Block

Ashton Shawlette by Dee O'Keefe  
I have been working on this one as steadily as possible!  I am SO CLOSE to being ready to bind-off and block I can taste it.  Its even so close that I've been working on it at home.  Granted, it's in bed at night with the TV off and no other distractions, but still!  I've been working on it!

Its getting there!!

The Sophia Cowl
Row by row this is getting there.  Slowly but surely.  I need to stop watching riveting TV with my husband while I try to work on this.  It makes it hard to knit.  I will literally sit for 45 minutes with the knitting in my hands and throw maybe 2 stitches.  The rich purple is so hard to get right with my camera.

If you don't think this is a project go find the first picture I took of this!

Hexy Scrap Vomit Quilt
My goal was to get at least one 4x5 block of hexies stitched together.  And I did!  I was into the groove and started on another block but made myself stop because I had a lot of other projects to work on.  I'd forgotten the joy of tiny hand stitching so I hope to get back to this soon!

Number 2 of 30.  Woo!

Rainbow Granny Tote (crochet)
The first hard part was finding where I stashed this project.  The second hard part was remembering what the crap I was doing! Seriously, I had to start over like 4 times.  Apparently, I wasn't exactly following the pattern before.  So helpful, Past Me.  Present Me hates you now.  Luckily I sussed it out and was able to make 2 more motifs while loudly criticizing Season 2 of The Colony.

Hermoine Hearts Ron Hat (New!)
Demoting the Starlet Jacket for the time being made room for my new knitting project!   HAH!  I wanted a new hat but also wanted to learn a new skill because apparently I can't just knit something that I already know how to do so cables it was!  I haven't officially cast this on yet, but I did get all the supplies for it.

Check out my Ravelry page for this project here!

Craftsy Bombshell Dress
I finished some hand-stitching on the bodice of this dress.  I tried to work on the skirt, but I honestly cannot tell which pieces are skirt and which are huge scraps so I need to lay out the pattern pieces again and go from there, but I just did not have that in me this week.  I also forgot to take a picture before I put it back in its storage bin.


  No Progress:
Slipper Socks (because I can't find them - this is a problem)

So seriously, I feel mighty having made progress on so many things.  I wish I had more finishes, but for the time being I am happy that everything got a little bit of love.  I feel very accomplished and am actually going to spend a little more time on each of these things and see if I can't push them along.  I think the 2nd week of the month is going to be DO ALL THE THINGS week for me.  Maybe I will even be able to get some things finished this way!


I Will Get to It Eventually :
Craftsy Starlet Suit Jacket (demoted because I don't have fabric that I love yet.)
Wonky Stars Mini Quilt ala Janice @ Better Off Thread
Tattoo Mini Quilt
Ice Cream Mini Quilt
HST Notebook Cover
Tiny Travel Sewing Case
Noodlehead Gathered Clutch 
Toe-Up Crochet Clogs for VCN


Completed: 0
WIP: 9
New: 1

Linking up over at Lee's so you can see what awesomesauce the rest of the crazy crafty folks are up to!

  

Sewing Sunday: Pastille Progress Edition

Last night at Virtual Craft Night, I challenged everyone to finish a project.  All of my WiPs are so far from finished I was initially going to start something new and quick just so I could get something done.  But then I got more muslin and decided that I was going to fit my Pastille, dammit.

With the help of my Craftsy class Sew the Perfect Fit and my dress form, Claudia, I got to work!

Claudia was so helpful in this process!  I spent some time earlier tracing off the pattern pieces so all I had to do was cut the muslin and start sewing and fitting.

I have a new found appreciation for grain lines in the fitting process.  This seems to take forever, but I feel like it was worth it to have a garment that really fits well.  The Pastille is a great sheath dress, but that means that fit is King.

Ignore Claudia's Sassy Bra (tm)

The next step was transferring all these changes back to the paper patterns pieces which included a lot of pausing the Craftsy video lessons, doing a thing, and watching it again to see if I did it right.

What madness is this?!

I never could have done it without Claudia or I would have had to get a friend to help me with this process.

The result was great!  I tried it on myself and only found a few things that I needed to change.  The darts were sloping inward because I was so worried about the fit over the bust that I over-looked them.  I hind-sight I would have added the width inside the dart toward the center front rather than outside, but eh, live and learn.

Look!  A result!

I only had to make a few minor changes, but considering it was just the first fitting, I was impressed!!

Almost final pattern.  I need to take some more out of the shoulder seams.

I really wanted to get the skirt fitted too, but at 2 AM I ran out of steam.  I know I wasn't much company at    Virtual Craft Night because I was deeply concentrating on this bull mess.

I would highly recommend this Craftsy class to anyone who likes to sew from commercial patterns and would like them to fit better!  I am learning so much!

WiP Wednesday: I See How Its Gonna Be Edition

And by that I mean that I can see that progress is going to be slow if non-exsistent on a lot of these.  Pastille is stalled because I still haven't gotten more muslin, The Sophia Cowl is stalled because I started something new that has a deadline, Scrap Vomit is still stalled because of the glue.  The rest is stalled for what seem like perfectly legitimate reasons though I'm sure that they aren't anything more than weak excuses.  I'm just not making the time like I should be.  I will work on that.

What's worse is that this blog post as been in the works for weeks now!  WEEKS!  

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt (New!)
Check out the slow but sure progress on this project here!  Virtual Craft Night is a life saver on this.  I get so much done that I don't think I would if not for this dedicated sewing time with my girls!

Beard Hats (New!) (Complete!)
My friend is throwing  threw her husband a lumberjack themed birthday party.  Jinx had even started growing out a beard just for the occasion   Alas, we gals aren't so facially inclined so I HAD to make us a beard to wear for the party!  I found this pattern on Ravelry and got to business.  Knitting down to the wire, I got them done!

Even better is how the cats conspired with the dogs to destroy the nice (ahem, expensive) knitting needles that I'd gotten to make these hats with.

At least they waited until I was done with the hats.  Assholes.

Sew the Perfect Fit Craftsy Class (New!)
I was offered a GREAT deal on this class and just had to try it out!  I am only in the watch-the-videos-and-learn phase but already feel more equipped to tackle the fitting on my Pastille as well as any other dress or blouse that comes along.  Claudia is going to be an invaluable partner in this endeavor.  I am waiting to get my pattern for the class, but as soon as it gets here (and I get more fabric), I will be making a muslin.

No Progress:
Hexy Scrap Vomit Quilt
Pastille Dress
The Sophia Cowl
Craftsy Bombshell Dress
Craftsy Starlet Suit Jacket
Rainbow Granny Tote (crochet)
Slipper Socks 
Ashton Shawlette by Dee O'Keefe  (work schedule has made it almost impossible to work on this at lunch)

Coming Soon:
Wonky Stars Mini Quilt ala Janice @ Better Off Thread
Tattoo Mini Quilt
Ice Cream Mini Quilt
HST Notebook Cover
Tiny Travel Sewing Case
Noodlehead Gathered Clutch 
Toe-Up Crochet Clogs for VCN


The Coming Soon section is just a lie.  Its more of a place holder for shit I will get to eventually and don't want to forget that I wanted to do it.

Completed: 1
WIP: 9
New: 3

Linking up over at Lee's so you can see what awesomesauce the rest of the crazy crafty folks are up to!

  

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt

Once Upon A Time...

There was a quilt that looked like so much absolute tedium and bullshit that I just HAD to make it.

The quilt was the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt.  Its pieces were tiny and precise.  I'd seen it made in the quilt-a-long and know folks who have made the blocks and I wanted in.  That kind of detail work soothes my soul, I don't know why. 

But how was I to get my hands on the book?  Enter the lovely and wonderful Jaquie.  She had the book and no intention of making the quilt so she sent it to lil old me.  Quilters are some of the nicest people I tell ya!

I decided to not go full crazy and make a throw sized quilt instead of the queen because this one was going to be for me and I just don't need all that blanket.

I flipped through the blocks and, of course, picked out the 50 more complex and convoluted blocks possible, made my little list and printed out the templates from the Yahoo Farmer's Wife group.  I decided to go paper piecing because this shit was going to need to be precise and cutting isn't my strength.  I'm too impatient at that step.

As of 1/29-13 I have 10/50 blocks done!   I feel pretty good about all that!

I could not be getting as far as I am without Virtual Craft Night.  The dedicated sewing time and the gals telling me that the points match close enough are keeping me going.  I'm so excited to see it all come together in a quilt that is just for me!

WiP Wednesday: Happy New Year Edition

Once upon a time I thought I would be able to start a new year with a fresh slate of projects.  Then I realized that is stupid.  Part of what I like about being crafty is that there is always something to work on.  While "finished is better than perfect" is my motto for this year, I'm not going to punish my projects just because they didn't get enough attention before the dreaded December 31st.  So onward we go!  To the crafts!!

Hexy Scrap Vomit Quilt
I got a block stitched together!  Do be honest, this is stalled because I ran out of glue to baste and cannot be bothered to thread baste and keep forgetting that I need more glue when I am in places that sell glue. 

But hey!  1 block is together!  29 to go!  That's progress!

Pastille Dress
There's a post about this lovely dress here!  

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt
Originally I wanted to go with a Rockabilly theme for this quilt.  But after much consideration and looking at/for fabrics I decided that with all this gloom and rain that is winter in the south, I wanted something delightfully bright and cheery.  Armed with a small stack of fat quarters and a list of the 50 blocks I want to make, I shall embark on this beast that is the FWSQ.


I took the plunge with what fabric I have and like what I see so far!

No 27

No 7

The Sophia Cowl
My triangle shawl is wicked complicated for me as a newbie knitter.  As in I can only work on that thing when all is still and quiet and there are no distractions.  I wanted something that I could work on while I was watching TV or watching Jinx play video games.  This basic seed stitch cowl was the answer!  While the constant switching of the yarn between a knit and a purl is maddening, its just what I needed and is coming along nicely.

Sleep Mask (Complete!)
For Virtual Craft Night I wanted to make a quick little win of a project.  So I whipped up a sleep mask for me and for Jinx.  The skinny elastic kinda sucks but they are cute and block out light if you need it so taa-daa!

No Progress:
Craftsy Bombshell Dress
Craftsy Starlet Suit Jacket
Rainbow Granny Tote (crochet)
Slipper Socks 
Ashton Shawlette by Dee O'Keefe  (work schedule has made it almost impossible to work on this at lunch)

Coming Soon:
Wonky Stars Mini Quilt ala Janice @ Better Off Thread
Tattoo Mini Quilt
Ice Cream Mini Quilt
HST Notebook Cover
Tiny Travel Sewing Case
Noodlehead Gathered Clutch 
Toe-Up Crochet Clogs for VCN


The Coming Soon section is just a lie.  Its more of a place holder for shit I will get to eventually and don't want to forget that I wanted to do it.

Completed: 1
WIP: 9
New: 2

Linking up over at Lee's so you can see what awesomesauce the rest of the crazy crafty folks are up to!

  

Virtual Craft Night!

You may have seen mention around the Twitterverse of #VCN of Virtual Craft Night.  

What is it?  How do I play? You may be asking yourself.  Here's how!

We are using Google+ Hangouts which allows us to be on webcams, or just chat, and share with each other while we are working.  The events are invite-only because we are all in our homes, we don't want just anyone to be able to pop in and peep at us!  Add me on Google+ and drop me a note that you'd like an invitation. 

We have Craft Night every Saturday from 8pm EST to 2am EST.  Come when you can!  Stay as long as you like!


Google Hangouts is pretty straight forward, but I put together some Getting Started information to help you along if you need it!

When the event has started there will be a "Join Hangout" button.  Click it if you want to live!

They want you to install this Plugin.  Do it.  If it gives you trouble you may need to close your browser and reopen. (I had to.)  And it should take you right to the Hangout after it installs!

Helpful things to note right off the bat:

On the top right of the screen are your camera/mic options.  You can mute or change the volume of your mic...

Or turn your camera off if you're still getting dressed or something.

And if you don't want to be on camera, but you still want to talk to everyone, there is a handy chat feature over to the left-hand side of the screen!

 I'm looking forward to seeing you there!  We just plan on working on various sewing/knitting/crochet/whatever projects, and I usually have my laptop set up near my sewing machine.  Come meet some of your virtual friends and hangout!