I'm Baaaack!!!!

Days since I've blogged.

So I haven't blogged in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting. I sort of lost my job pretty much around the last day I stopped blogging. It was pretty unexpected and I've been in a little bit of a funk ever since. I am still looking for something permanent but have some temporary things lined up for now. Still waiting for my dream job as head crafter somewhere... sadly I'm certain I'll have to keep waiting for that one. But enough boring personal drama let me catch you up to speed on the crafts with a looooooooong blog post...

I have a new hand embroidered dry erase calendar which can be seen above. It was super hard to photograph without picking up all sorts of glares and reflections of everything around me so I apologize for the terrible photo above.

Literally the first day of my unemployment stint I was out walking the dogs and I came across these great Ikea picture frames in an alley near my house. They'd never even been open. I immediately snatched them up and laughed to myself that I was already picking trash out of the alley.  Here is a close up detail:

I embroidered the first letter of each weekday and the lines of the calendar and will leave the rest to the magic of dry erase. I still haven't decided what to do with the other frame. Probably a dry erase to-do list for my craft room though.

In case you are curious that is what the guts of 15 medium sized pumpkins looks like. The box is quite deep and probably weighed about 15 pounds. While job hunting I came across this post on Craigslist for someone who was looking for a pumpkin carver for an engagement party. I figured why not! I love carving pumpkins and the pay was pretty decent. The woman gave me a list of 10 things that were representative of the couple and asked me to incorporate them into the pumpkins and then gave me free reign of the last five. Three days, a crippled hand and a gross layer of pumpkin goo covering every surface in my kitchen later I had these:

These last few I finished the day of and sadly didn't ever get to see them lit up. They were Cinderella pumpkins and nearly impossible to carve. They were super thick which didn't allow me to carve anything too intricate. I wouldn't recommend using them as carving pumpkins.

So that is a few of the things I have been working on. I have some other projects I will save for future posts. Hopefully I can become a more frequent blogger in the weeks to come. I will leave you with one final picture... a sneak peak of the quilt I have been working on. I am really loving it and hopefully will have it finished soon. It is going to be the first quilt I attempt to sell...

Modern Swappers 2 - Items Sent

Today was the last day to send my package to my Modern Swappers partner. I stitched right down to the last possible moment and got it shipped off just in time. My partner should have there package Monday if all goes well at the USPS. I will share two items now and the rest of the package after I know my partner received the package in case she is checking my blog. I want some of it to be a surprise.

The main item is several things in one. I love the sewing machine cover I got in the last round of Modern Swappers it looks amazing in my sewing room but it spends a lot of its time off my machine because I am sewing so much. So I thought to myself what if a sewing machine cover could serve a duel purpose. Lots of people have been making weighted pin cushion thread catchers to sit beside you when you sew. So I combined the two. When it isn't covering your machine, it sits under your machine. I have thought about the fact that you might not want this directly in front of you, so partner if that is the case hopefully you have something you can weigh it down with and use along side of you. Also the pin cushion is held on with snaps so you can use it anywhere as just a pin cushion and the thread catcher is also held on with a snap to make emptying your scraps easier. Partner I hope you enjoy your sewing machine cover/pin cushion/thread catcher/notions holder... in one!

I also made a wall hanging to match the cover as a decoration for her sewing room. I embroidered 'sew' on some tiny hoops and attached them to a small quilt. I have had these teeny tiny buttons for a long time and finally found a cute use for them.

The rest of the swap includes some little surprises and 1 1/2 total yards of fabric. I love this swap and can't wait to do it again! Hopefully my package from my mystery partner arrives soon.... I CAN'T WAIT!!! People put together some great packages!