Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012

First Finished Project of the Year

Okay I started this post over a week ago.  Luckily I've been more successful at my sewing goals for the year then blogging.

This year, we actually had a lot of time off at Christmas, but we were away for most of it, visiting with family. While we were away I caught a nasty bug (it wouldn't really be Christmas, if my sister, mom or I weren't sick), and I was still feeling like crap when we got home.

So even though we were home with nothing to do for a good 3 days, no real sewing got done.  But I started feeling much better by New Years, and on January 1st & 2nd I dove right into a new project for myself.

My sister got me an Anna Maria Horner Figure 8 Scarf Kit for Christmas, I'd been contemplating buying a kit for a while, just to try out the velveteen and voile to be honest. It's wonderful, my favourite is the velveteen for sure, it's so soft and cozy.  


The project is a quick one (or should be if you read through all the instructions first). Definitely should learn to listen to what the pattern says, like when it says "square up and make sure all sides are even" just do it, don't pretend like you know what your doing.

The fact that I have never sewed with either of these fabrics should have been the first clue that I should have been extra careful. I did read a few reviews that said lots of pins were necessary, but I didn't believe it at first.  After ripping the whole thing apart one and a half times, I've learned my lesson.  That voile is slippery.


But eventually I figured it out, I was a bit worried about the hand sewing, but it turned out really nice.

However its not getting much use.  Its just sooo big.  I did some searching and found I wasn't the only one that found it to be a bigger fit.  On Fresh Lemons she talks about making the scarf only 13" wide by 72" long for a thinner scarf that would be easier to manage.

This picture was from my #project365, and although it doesn't look so crazy here, its actually taking over my whole neck!

So I think I might end up taking this apart again with my seam ripper and cutting the width down.  I really love the fabric and I don't want this to be something that just sits in the closet looking pretty!

Either way, happy to have finished something so quickly in the new year!  Here's to a year of great sewing!


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Almost ... Wordless Wednesday

Okay I've seen this "theme" on some other blogs, and since I've been putting off a post all week on my first finished sewing project of the year (I promise myself I will do it tomorrow or this weekend or when i'm not sore, sick and tired) I figured this would be an easy post to keep at it for the new year .

So here are a few pics that I've been taking for my project365/ janphotoaday challenge .

next time i'll leave out all the words.
enjoy.






Monday, January 2, 2012

Oh how a year (or more) goes by!

Seriously, it's been over a year since I've made a blog post. Fail. There is no excuse for not keeping it up other then pure laziness. 

Anyways, its fine cause 2011 was kinda crappy, and I'm glad its over. It was a ruff year.  

Here's hoping 2012 brings more happiness and fulfillment then 2011.  

I think it's only fair (mostly for myself) to sum up 2011. I'll refrain from posting crap about work, since that is still a daily occurrence that even I don't want to hear about anymore. 

I'm sure this will be long, but after a year I suppose its alright.  Let's hope I can keep up a bit more regularly after this.  Its a goal, but not a resolution, cause lets face it who keeps up with them. 


January 2011
- Spent New Years in Sault Ste Marie for Amanda & Drew's Wedding


February 2011
- Amanda & Tim got married! Spent a (short) but great night celebrating 
- Ski Weekend up north with the KW Crew where I skied more then Paul since his gout was really bad that weekend :(
- Helped say good bye to a Friend's dad who passed away suddenly
- Reached an impressive 7 years at Zenith


March 2011
- Turned 30 and was not happy about it. I'm over it now since i'll be 31 in less then 3 months


April 2011
- Watched ourselves on TV for the first time! 
- Totally wiped out running for the train on front street, screwing up my knee for months
- Bought a new sewing machine that does fancy stuff :)
- Hosted Easter dinner at our place for the Cronin/ Moore Family


May 2011
- Celebrated a special Mothers day brunch at my sisters with the Campbell Family mom's
- Celebrated Krista's upcoming nuptials by showering her with love and gifts in Stroud
- Spent the first long weekend of the summer at home since the trailer was leaking gas
- Supported a friend as she said goodbye to her grandma
- Finished my first quilt of the year (baby quilt for baby Elise)


June 2011
- Said goodbye to my aunt who was and always will be a fighter
- Celebrated owning our house for a whole year


July 2011
- Spent Canada Day up north and celebrated Grandpa Moore's 80th b-day & had Family pictures taken
- Scott & Krista got married! Spent a great weekend in Barrie with family
- Made a cute little bag for the wedding to match my dress
- Went to advanced screening of the last Harry Potter movie - sad to see it end :(
- Went Garden touring with Mom and helped my cousins with a garage sale
- Became obsessed with pinterest


August 2011
- Spent the Civic weekend in Michigan visiting Uncle Barry
- Said goodbye to my Papa Lavender who was a truly great man 
- Finished my second quilt of the year for Alicia & Chad's big day
- Made a great bag for the wedding - favourite clutch bag I've made yet
- Alicia & Chad got married on a beautiful day (and Pauly's b-day)
- Celebrated our nephew Rhett's first birthday! 
- Celebrated and showered Steph & Steve and their upcoming little boy!
- Watched two of my closest friends at work leave for good reasons and was sad to not be going with them


September 2011
- Celebrated and bid farewell to friends moving to San Francisco 
- Tried canning again - 9 jars of salsa and 9 jars of tomato sauce to last through the winter
- Registered and started drivers training 3 years after getting my G1 and 14 years after I could have gotten my licence 


October 2011
- Welcomed my 2nd substitute nephew!  Benjamin Cook on October 2nd
- Started in-car drivers lessons
- Went to 3 thanksgiving dinners in one weekend
- Worked on my very first mug rug for a birthday gift, and made a kick ass kids car mat for my 1st substitute nephew
- Took a whole week off work at the same time and spent it with friends 


November 2011 
- Celebrated 5 years with Paul - sometimes he's the best
- Spent a lot of time at work
- Went black Friday shopping in Erie PA with my cousins and spent lots of money
- Drove on the 401 for the first time


December 2011
- Was busy and away from our place for every weekend 
- Became obsessed with the Party Rock Anthem song
- Went to my work Christmas Party and then Paul's work Christmas Party the next night in heels both nights and thought my feet were going to fall off
- Finished 5 sewing Birthday/Christmas gifts (3 pillows, 1 apron, 1 quilt)
- Went to 5 family Christmas and was total spoiled with gifts


My Year in Review - Slightly out of order 
Okay so it was a busier year then I thought.  A lot of up's and downs.  4 Funerals, 3 Weddings and we welcomed several new babies to our circle of friends. 


I didn't sew nearly as much as I would have liked too, but I still finished a lot of really great projects that I was super proud of. 


Okay I think that's a good start to the new year, even if it took me so long to write that i'm now posting at 2:20 in the morning on the 2nd of January. Oh well, better late then never?