long time no see.

sorry. life got very far away from me. today though, i’m home sick, so i thought i’d give a hello!

there are certainly things to catch up on, and i’m going to start with what’s come of last january. my neighbor came up with the idea for a new years resolution of making at least one garment a month. i’ve had a good time with that! with just one more month left, i’m pretty pleased with what i’ve created.  [though i did get a new computer, and seem to be missing photos of some of the shirts that i made. odd.]

hats!!! i’m on a serious hat making kick. i’m working on matching hats for a bunch of my favorite peoples… i’m working on the mister’s right now since he keeps trying to steal this here “funfetti” hat. i’ve been using madeline tosh yarn. it’s a dream. i have a sweater that i started LAST october, but i’ve stopped working on it. the friend who was helping me has fallen away a bit, and i’ve let that be my excuse for working on other projects…

you will notice that i have a lot of nani iro fabric. i could swim in it!

i know. i look like a killer for hire in this photo, but the shirt is nice!

ah merchant and mills.

i’m obsessed with this cotton and steel print. it looks like ritz crackers. i used this fabric as the base for a set of cloths that i made for my favorite chileans. the mister wrangled research money, and got to stay with our best friends in santiago. yes. yes i was/am jealous.

these are from a pattern that i made up based on a shirt that i already have.

for a ten year old.

infinity scarf.

ties for the gentlemen.

some of the recipients in all their splendor.

my first time making pleats. their not amazing, but they will only get better from here. i hope.

aaaand. while this is not so much a garment, i did make my first weaving! a little less than stellar, but i’m okay with that as a first attempt.

fertig.

 

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i made a quilt!!!

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quilts

i made this one for one of my oldest friends. the mister and i went to nyc for a long weekend, and i tried desperately to finish this “demented flying geese” quilt, but failed. thus, i showed to the ‘rents and cooed over baby charlotte, but ultimately ended up finishing the quilt at the mast brothers/ blue bottle coffee shop in williamsburg. such an awesomely hipster thing to do.   i’m all about the hand quilting these days.

fertig.

like rapunzel. only, i get to leave the house whenever i want.

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crafting, pen pal, quilts

lest you think i’ve been lazy in my months of relative quiet [sorry, i will try to be better about posting goings on], here’s what’s what on the berlin crafty front.

baby river’s quilt.  gift for my best pal, grandma rogee. not her real name, but my friend roger’s grandmother. she’s amazing. in her mid-90’s and still crafting. we currently have an international craft exchange going on. her last package to me included some artwork, and a handmade notebook. we made all our christmas ornaments this year. full credit for the popcorn string goes to the mister.  quilts for jayce and jax, my step-sister’s twin boys! that makes four! each one as cute as the last, so that’s good.  last, but not least, baby max to be’s quilt. his parents have helped us a ton since we moved to berlin. also, marcus had introduced us to all our favorite t.v. shows. thanks to leslie knope, my life will never be the same. thanks to marcus, leslie knope became a part of my life.

fertig!

my fingers fly yet

Tags

birthdays, crafting, cross stitching, felt, quilts

so. with the fun of finally being back in a city, and having lots to do, see and explore outside of my house, i have not forsaken afternoons with German TV programs [later about that] sewing my man-hands off. the first project that i got started on was a baby quilt for our good friends back in vermont, joyce & ben. joyce made a pillow with this very same triangle fabric a few months ago. so, when i ran into it [hello old friend] in a fabric store here in berlin, i knew i had the backing for the quilt.

also, i burned the crap out of my arm while ironing this here sweet cuddly baby quilt. evil. the scar seems as though it’s here to stay as it’s a dark chocolate brown two months later. they say love hurts. now i know it’s true.

i also the baby a cross stitch of the alternative pledge of allegiance that ben was taught as an elementary school boy. it was written by his librarian dorothy vickers-shelley. she seems to have been a really amazing woman.

my next two projects were to celebrate the birth of some about 30 some odd years ago. i made eddie a travel backgammon set. we traveled lightly with our games for our year in berlin, but we LOVE to play most things. so i figured a compact set would easy enough to get back home.

then, after eddie started a fierce whining campaign, i made him a felt ipad carrier.

i can’t get away from felt it seems.

fertig.