In Progress
I had a request to share a couple of the creations mentioned in the last post - so, for you, here they are!
In November, I hatched a plan to craft a holiday garland of little felt ponies, and got supplies to make them a couple weeks before Remi’s arrival. I’d seen some similar ornaments but was deep in the “I can make that!” mindset…so I decided to go for it. In my head, I was going to make one a day in December, from the first through Christmas. I figured, babies sleep a lot - here’s an easy craft I can work on on the couch while we watch movies and snuggle and generally bask in the newborn phase! Life ultimately looked a little different than my imaginings.
I ended up with four ponies total and it took till mid-January to finish them. Even so, each felt like a creative playground and I just stitched what I was feeling - meaning I had a lot of fun and they ended up very unique. I left them out when the rest of the holiday decorations got packed away, just because I love looking at them, and am thinking I’ll probably make a few more next holiday season. Maybe this year I’ll end up with a full set of 25 (wishful thinking!).
Then, there’s my attempted quilt block. Big sigh on this one.
I’d become slightly obsessed with Lone Star quilt patterns during my long nights awake and happened across this one - it took my breath away. So much color, so many pieces - I wanted to make it so badly!
But, new baby - so I decided to do a test block using scraps from Remi’s sparrow quilt before committing to the project. I worked on this sucker in five minute increments for six weeks…only to find when it came time to assemble the whole star that I hadn’t been quite precise enough in my cutting or my sewing (I’m not entirely sure which is to blame). Anyhow, things didn’t exactly line up in the end. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry, but I ended up choosing the former and also choosing an easier quilt pattern to tackle next.
More on that quilt in awhile. I finished cutting all the pieces for it on Friday (while Remi took a morning nap - such a miracle!) and hope to start sewing shortly. I’m a little worried the fabrics I chose are going to look a bit too cutesy, but I won’t know till it’s assembled. However it turns out, I’ve learned so much since making Remi’s quilt - and my failed star - so I’m excited to see how that newfound knowledge translates to something more my level.
I’m having to push myself, but I’m also making time for metal. Specifically the first project in a body of work that I’m feeling really inspired about. All I’m going to say in this moment is that, for this first piece, I’m making a pair of pincushions, and the first step in their creation has been to make a pair of domed, silver frames.
Attempt one was disaster.
I know from experience that trying to dome a piece of metal with cutouts like this is futile - it ends in distortion and wasted silver. The only way to have it come out clean is to dome the metal first and THEN do the cutouts - even though doing things in this order is a pain in the butt. Feeling lazy (and perhaps a bit self-sabotaging) I committed to the mistake anyway and this is what I have to show for it - twisted metal and wasted time and a hefty chunk of silver that’s now headed for the scrap pile.
So now I’m doing it the right way - doming, then cutting.
Only problem was that I didn’t have a block big enough to sink my silver disks into…so I made one. Using a grinding wheel on the flex shaft I carved a little bowl into a block of wood (in the perfect size!) and domed my silver. So much better!
At this point, I suppose it’s time to stop stalling and break out my saw - these frames aren’t going to cut themselves!
