A few more new books

After exchanging gifts with Jon's side of the family, here are a few new additions to my sewing library (which had 0 books before the holiday season):

Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing looks like it has some good projects that I've seen all over flickr and blogland.

One Yard Wonders looks amazing! It has 100 projects, from home dec to kid stuff to clothes to softies. I've already found a handful of projects that are now on the must-sew list. Great gift ideas too!


These are going to be good for finally making some of my own clothes. Although the cover is seriously outdated, Palmer's Fit for Real People is a great resource about how to alter patterns to get them to actually fit. I have all kinds of problems buying off-the-rack, so I would love to learn to make clothes that actually work for me.

Sew What! Skirts looks like a fun basic book that basic instructions for pieces that mix and match for different skirt types, like different cuts, closures and waistbands. There isn't much new information for me there, but it's nice to have it all in one place as a resource.

Our Christmas Tree

I know this is a bit belated, but before we took it down, I wanted to share our Christmas tree. It's bright and festive and feels like us.



Jon started doing the lights this way when he got his first Christmas tree 4 years ago. It's a little unconventional, but I fell in love the effect. There are colored lights wrapping the inside of the tree and then white lights towards the outside. It gives the effect of color throughout the whole tree and makes the bright ornaments easy to see.








It'll be sad to take it down this weekend.

Handmade Christmas Gifts

I'm finally back home after almost two weeks of traveling to visit family and it's nice to be back. Last week was spent outside Philly with Jon's family and it was great!

Over the holidays I only managed to make 2 handmade gifts, but I really liked both. First, I made my sister an Emmeline Apron. She really wanted a cute apron. I forgot to take pictures of the finished product at home (again!), so all I've got are pictures of the fabric and her opening it.


She is also a little more busty than average so I used Robin's modification (adding about 2" in length) and it looks like it worked beautifully. I really wish I had done this when I made one for myself.


I also made Jon's 5.5 year old nephew a Traveling Art Show (free pattern from Mr. Monkeysuit). It seems like the perfect thing to have in the car and at restaurants to keep a kid occupied. Jon picked out the monkey fabric. It's a Michael Miller print I couldn't resist buying a fat quarter of while I was in a quilt shop a few months ago.

I made a couple modifications to this one too. I used velcro instead of ties so he can close it himself (good idea, Angela!) and since it then needed to lay more flat, I moved the locations of the pockets.


And now to finish off the holiday crafting season, I just need to finish my Christmas Threads quilt!

Christmas Excitment

A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!
Jon and I just enjoyed a wonderful week at my parents' house in Minnesota. Almost everyday was busy with get-togethers or errands, but it was so wonderful to be able to spend time with everyone.

I got completely spoiled with gifts this year. My sister really surprised me with a Modern Quilter illustration from Ariel Eldridge (on flickr and etsy)!! I was just gushing about how I love this series and lamenting that she didn't have any more for sale. Little did I know that the reason was because my sister already bought the last one!




I got some really beautiful books about Gee's Bend Quilts from my aunt and uncle. There's way too much inspiration!!




And finally, I really got spoiled with a new camera from my parents. I have a good point and shoot, but lately, I've been getting frustrated by the limitations that come with a small point and shoot.




I asked for a DSLR so that I could get better control over colors, better low light photos and so I stop missing the moment waiting for my camera to respond. I'm definitely going to get that and a whole lot more. I have no idea what I'm doing with it and have only used it in full auto mode. I'm already soooo happy!!

Here's a little direct comparison with indoor light (my biggest frustration).

Old Camera

Me and my dad

My sister and her husband

New Camera!

My sister laughing

My aunt and uncle
Sisters!

And here's a fun moment that I caught (and wouldn't have caught with the old camera) at a family get-together with my dad's extended family. My dad's cousin had set up a way to race little bait fish and here's one of the races. There was also a costume contest if you're wondering about some of the outfits. :) By the way, bait racing is really fun!




I'm going to take a 6-week class at a local art center on how to use a DSLR camera and I can't wait to get started January 25th!

Traveling Threads Christmas Quilt

I've been promising an update on my Christmas quilt for a while, but the end of the semester teaching has been much more time consuming than I anticipated and slowed my progress. I've received all the blocks from my Traveling Threads quilting bee and they look great!


I made three more blocks today. One is a completely improv block:


The other two are similar but I forgot to take a picture of the other one. You can see both in the picture of the layout though.


What do you guys think about this layout? Any blocks standing out as being in an odd place? Any better ideas?

Currently, the top and bottom rows are turned and the background would be white. I'm trying to make it 5 rows so that it'll be long enough to cover Jon's toes. :)
I have a candy cane stripe for the binding that I think is going to be really cute.