craft hope

Boy was I frantic when Craft Hope posted last week that project #5: quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest was in need of boy quilts. I hadn't made my quilt for them yet but my plan was for a nice girl quilt. So this weekend after playing around with some red and blue, I went to my green fabric drawer. That baby is PACKED. Last year my mom went through her green fabric and gave me a ton. So I figured green might work...



a real live boy quilt from my drawers!! who knew all these would work. I like the fact too that it is not juvenile at all so it could go to any age boy. Gregg and I decided it had a real jungle or swampy feel to it so I tried to quilt some long bamboo shoots. I am not sure how they turned out. I think I should have done more of them. or made them more even.



I used invisible thread for the top and cream thread in the bobbin. The backing is mostly cream cotton with 3 large solid rectangles.



This thing took me NO TIME to make. I started playing around at Lilly's naptime on Saturday where the fabrics and the pattern just made itself. Most of these pieces just needed a little straightening trim and went in as is. The brown I cut to fit in. After Lilly woke, I left the fabrics spread out and didn't go back to them until after dinner. By 10:30pm, I had the fabric top and backing sewed, and the whole darn thing pinned ready for quilting! I was even taking breaks because OREGON was stomping the crap out of USC. I guess that is what happens working with those big pieces of fabric. I have never made a quilt like this before. Only one thing I would change is the binding. I wanted to try machine sewing the binding. EEEEK! I don't like it. It is just a tad too messy and there is something about hand sewing that binding.



Gregg was so excited about this quilt. He wants it BAD. I told him who it was for and he didn't ask again for it but when I was whining about how bad I didn't like the binding and how I felt bad that some poor kid was going to be stuck with crappy binding, he did say well give it to me and make another one! I am sure if I mentioned I would have to go to the fabric store in order to make another one he would have changed his tune. man is he cute!

So now on to the next blanket project. I have one barely in the works for Lilly, she requested a blue blanket. But more importantly, I want to make a few blankets for the Mountain Baby Blankets project. Andrea suggested this project to me, so I finally took the time to read about where and why these blankets are needed, SO SAD! I am giving myself until mid December to get a few out to their organization.

fit for a real garden artist

Gregg's mom celebrated her birthday today. She loves to spend time in her garden. Thus, this garden artist apron was perfect for her.


(geez iron much?)

This project is in Simple Sewing with a French Twist. The book requires you to take all small pattern pieces found in the back pages and enlarge them at a place like Kinkos, no thanks what a pain, but I found this pattern that gave measurements to make the apron instead. So I did that but followed the books instructions the rest of the way. It just needed a brooch to dress it up a bit.


We grouped it with some new gloves and tulip bulbs.


Happy Birthday Karen! I think Lilly said it best after we got off the phone with you this evening "we all love Nonni!"

how to make silhouettes with photoshop

(I feel like this wall needs something else, ideas?)

Finally these are off my want to make list. I had the silhouettes done since May but I kept spending my craft budget on other stuff and never had enough left for the frames. Then this month I just told Gregg that the frames were not a crafty item and therefore would not come out of my crafting budget. and now I am happy to saw the project is DONE!

I love the look of silhouettes and I wanted to do make these for our living room. But really I fell in love with the idea of these as Mother's day presents (yes it took that long to share them with you). I sent one of our girl to Gregg's Mom and my mom got one of each of her 3 grandkids. I know a lot of people make silhouettes by cutting out the picture with a scalpel and paint over the picture with black. I knew this would not be a good idea for me, I would have done a hack job. So I found a couple tutorials using photoshop to make silhouettes but their techniques would just not make a black enough silhouette. This is what I ended up doing. PS. Photoshop seriously rocks and I only understand like 2% of all it can do.

How to Make Silhouettes with Photoshop

Open up picture in photoshop (I used adobe photoshop version CS3).


Make a background copy of the photo. Keep this highlighted. We will be editing this picture but if we make any mistakes that are too hard to correct we can easily delete this copy and go back to the original photo.


Click on the "Paths" tab. Then on the lower right corner select "create a new path." The pen tool should automatically be selected or just click on it to select.


Use the Zoom slide bar to make it easier to see the details of the outline you want to make.

Decide where you want to start selecting your outline. Using the pen tool, click on your starting point. The pen tool makes straight lines between two clicks (dots). Decide where your next click or dot should go. Click spots close together around delicate parts of the outline or click spots further apart when straight lines are reasonable for the outline.



If you mess up a placement of a line, CTRL-Z will remove it but if you decide that you messed up 2 lines ago, it is best to delete the whole background copy and start again with a new copy.

Continue all the way around the profile. I was sitting twisted at the waist so my neck and chest don't have a proper profile. I tried to make up where they might be (see below). Then go in a semi straight line across the bottom and connect back to the beginning dot. The dots disappear and you have a continuous line.



Select "load path as a selection". The solid line (and everything inside) will become selected. (Path 1 must be highlighted in order to select this).



Click on "Layers" Tab. And select a new layer.


Go back to your path tab. Put black color as your foreground color by clicking on the double arrow (if black is one of the colors available to be selected here). Then select "fill path with foreground color" in the bottom left corner of the Paths tab.


Click on Layers tab. Our filled path selection is automatically placed in the new blank layer. Deselect both background layers.


A silhouette! Now save your silhouette as a jpeg. (The checkerboard background is just saying the background is blank when you save this as a jpeg and print the picture it will be white or whatever color paper you print this on.)






****

Take picture on solid background for ease of outline.

If you are doing multiple silhouettes, take the picture all landscape or profile views if you want to hang them in the same direction.

Sit upright, good posture! and have your whole body facing the same direction, not twisted from the waist. Just makes it easier to get a good silhouette. I was twisted at the waist. Look at the silhouette from the tutorial above...I look like I am sticking my chin out



then I redid it making up the chest and the back for what I thought it should have been by shaving off my shoulders. so much better!! (I wonder if my neck really looks like that?)



Final silhouette!




Hope you have a good weekend and Halloween! We already went trick or treating last night as per central PA rules, isn't that crazy??!!! Do any other places have a different night that Halloween is observed on? California and Oregon sure didn't.

weekend tidbits

Lilly and I tried to make cupcakes like this but failed (not Lill's fault at all she was HUGE in helping me with the cupcake liners). I used yellow cake mix and overcooked them so the edges were slightly brown instead of the colors they should have been. I also made the cupcakes way to big so I had to shave off the tops and sides (best part). and I messed up the color order. You should try this though, a fun idea!


made myself a flower pin. Gregg asked "are you going to wear that in public?" I was quite shocked with that comment/question, I think it is cute! (what is not cute is that picture he took of it! sabotage!!)


started a new knitting project. it's my stocking and I am in love


set up my sewing machine to work on a very special project. My mom made me this great cover and under pad that has pockets! Thanks mom! Now I have a really good excuse as to why I simply can't clean my sewing projects off the table for dinner!


(haha! I just realized I have the cover on wrong in these photos, it should be rotated)

I hope you all had a good weekend too!

my mom's birthday

Oh my gosh, I was getting so annoyed with blogger the other night because I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get to any of my posts by their individual links. The posts would come up any other way except by their own links! So after much frustration and emails from blogger, I actually read a help file in blogger that suggested I uploaded my html template backup file. So I did. and now the links work...(light bulb comes on) I remembered a few weeks ago I was messing around with the blog template trying to do something, can't remember now. So, oooops! sorry blogger, you are a nice blog host!

When my mom was here, it was her birthday!!

Her gift included:

a small tea pot wall hanging (pattern here)



this was fun to make and I used our favorite colors and fabric scraps that were from special projects from the past except that orange lid. I knew it wouldn't look right but I thought just maybe (insert sewing here), dang it! but I didn't realize how much I didn't like it until the whole thing was done (insert laziness here). Mom's have unconditional love, right?


quilted coasters (project found in last minute quilted gifts)

again these fabrics were from projects past


I put her gift in a travel bag (project found in weekend sewing), that also served as the wrapping paper. I am pretty pumped about that travel bag project. I made one for my dad too in his favorite colors (also matches his suitcase). He was really happy with his travel bag, awesome for a guy that I would normally never attempt to make a gift for.


My mom's birthday was when I was actually in Chicago so we celebrated the next day with her favorite cake:


Layers of whipped cream, sliced bananas, crushed, and whole oreos. Kept in the fridge for a cool and REALLY GOOD cake!

Mom, thank you for celebrating your birthday with us, you are the BEST!

Chicago knitting!

I am still here! Things have been busy and fun. First, my parents have been visiting since last week. They are leaving tomorrow, so sad. Their visit has gone by entirely too quick especially because a few of the days I went to Chicago for work. Gregg was gone for the past 3 weeks doing an away rotation (I can't remember if I have mentioned here that he is in med school?) so our girl was left by both of us to be spoiled by Grammie and Grampie. I was spoiled too, I love flying places without her. So much less stressful when she is not sitting (or rather spazzing out) next to me in the plane. I think I am still traumatized from our last plane trip together (although I have plans to take her on my next work trip to....ANAHIEM! hmmm, I wonder what we will do there???). So with all that relaxing time on my hands in my travels I did some knitting!

Felicity hat:


(we're winking)



HELLO!! Freakin' love this hat. I started this hat here and finished it in Chicago, thank goodness, it was so cold over there.



Mods are listed in my raverly page as is the link to the pattern page.

Yarn: I used Berroco ultra alpaca yarn in the colorway tiger's eye mix. I feel like such a broken record, this colorway is almost the same as my lovely dark gold healther Cascade 220. I love these colors. I had narrowed down the Berroco to the tiger's eye and the most wonderful dark pea soup color but I just couldn't deny that brown/reddish/orangey goodness. Maybe I should have branched out? or maybe I should just make another one? maybe next year...


Instant Gratification Scarf:


This scarf was super easy just like the name suggests (pattern here). The look is great very lacey, even with some ultra soft bulky yarn. I got a great deal on some misti international bulky yarn. I have been wanting to try knitting with this stuff, it is like touching clouds! (rav project page) This is a gift but I have a plan for one for me!


Mitered Kitchen Towel


This was fun for a few rows then I got over it. It seemed like it took forever and lets face it, its a k i t c h e n towel.
Pattern: mitered hanging towel



One more thing...I am a WINNER! I was pumped to have received this in the mail...


I won a giveaway that Lyanna was having for her birthday! (how nice was that to do a giveaway on her day???) Thanks Lyanna!

see you soon!

buttons and toasts

It is getting colder here, perfect timing for JoAnn's to have buy one get one on buttons (ps. they also had tons of cute quilting cotton for 1.50 a yard?!?! are you kidding me?!?!) so I could finish my buttony. This blue was not the color I had in mind, I was thinking a fun red or parakeet blue but those didn't look right, this pretty blue was it!


+

toasty mitts for me.

I feel like I am always crafting for me. but seriously these are awesome, I am glad they are mine. I am working on another pair for a Christmas gift so maybe I am not totally selfish?

Pattern: toasty
yarn: cascade 220 in dark gold heather (I still have tons left from my lace panel cardi, such a good color to have around)