thimbly things

This past weekend, I opened my JoAnn circular to realize that I had several coupons that were on the brink of expiration. I thought quick. What do I need? What do I really need? With a tiny allowance (and not wanting to spend it all) I headed over and purchased only needles and thread. That was it. No fabric. No yarn. No buttons. Just the basics, which made coming home and emptying my bag of goodies a rather dull experience. But! But then came the inspiration for the evening.

Pincushions=gratification. They’re quick, easy, require very little material, very few tools, and are so small and pretty. And my new sewing instruments became beautiful to me. Shiny, sharp, glistening pins. Ready to take on all manner of crafting.

This little pincushion is based on the pattern in Sew Pretty Homestyle (Thanks, Mom D, for the Christmas present!). This is the first thing I’ve made from it, but believe me, there is more to come. I love how the cushion came out looking very much akin to a mushroom.

(Oh, and remember my thrifting trip from a couple weekends ago? In my grab-bag, I found a little wooden ring which is now the base for this pincushion. How I do love thee, Quality Thrift Store? Let me count the ways…)

I was also inspired by the needlebook pattern in Sew Pretty, but I modified the design and materials and ended up with my own pattern. The one in the book doesn’t use felt or buttons, and it seems larger. I was determined to use my scraps of fabric because I have quite a pile-up in my craft room. So now my pincushion has a matching friend to organize all my fresh, new, beloved needles.

I thought about sharing one of these each day of the week, but it’s so nice to see them all side-by-side. I came across the set on Saturday at an antique store here in Tulsa. The colors and designs are wonderful, but I could not imagine paying the $36 asking price. They do provide some great inspiration though, don’t you think?

Alicia Paulson at Posie Gets Cozy recently made some lovely designs inspired by her favorite kitchen items, and I’d rather embroider her patterns than fork over the money for these.  But still, they are nice.

My Joann circular informs me that March is National Craft Month.  Every month is craft month for me, but having an excuse to craft more is fine fine fine.  In honor of this month of awesome, I will try to make a little something every day.   Perhaps with the exception of Sundays.  On Sundays, I craft little dreams during my afternoon nap time.

A bit of crochet that may turn into something bigger:

And another bit of crochet:

What is it about crochet that makes one compulsively crochet things that aren’t quite useful?  I have no idea what to do with this pretty little square.  But I had to make it.  It’s about the size of a coaster but clearly cannot function as such.  I’ll work it into some project.  (Both of these designs are from 200 Crochet Blocks).

Saturday was another beautiful day.  A day when a mama can not only venture out… but venture out alone.  And I found that I don’t have to venture far to be satisfied.  Across the street, to be exact.  Across from our neighborhood is a kinda gross strip-mall.  Strip-malls are the bane of Tulsa life, but I digress.  I think I’ve been to this particular strip-mall 3 times now because it simply isn’t much of a destination point.  However, I was determined to do a bit of thrifting this weekend…

What better place to start than a shop calling itself Quality Thrift Store?  Though overpriced on the most arbitrary of items (ex: used pillowcase (just 1!) for $4), I made $16 go farther than I think I ever have before.   We’re talking .48 teacups and a grab-bag of crafting goodies for $4.  I was giddy for the rest of the day, perhaps from my great finds.  Or perhaps because I found treasure just across the street.

Thanks, Myrtle.  Wherever you are, you’re awesome.  And thanks lovely, though smelly, Quality Thrift Store.

Since it’s still February somewhere…

I made these for Evan this year in our effort to give heartfelt, frugal Valentines to one another.  The framed ninjas sit on his desk at work now.  I brought them home for a photo shoot because it’s just so dark in his office.

There’s little that will make one more desperately needy for an outing than handling a cranky baby all day long. Last night I wanted to escape, but with temperatures below freezing, I decided to stay in. With Sufjan Stevens and U2 on the iPod, I holed myself up in the bedroom and began my free-hand embroidery for the quilt I recently began. I made quite a bit of progress–finished 4 squares and started another. I’m 1/3 of the way there!  The fabric used on these bunnies in the book Softies by Therese Laskey was a great inspiration for me.  And being “alone” for a few hours was just what I needed to recharge.

Even now as I type, Emily is sitting on my lap. I can’t seem to reason with her that she needs a nap. She doesn’t feel well, but she’s not whining. A sweet but clingy baby is way better than a crying, snotty, inconsolable baby.

EDIT: Emily is now crying inconsolably in her crib. Now where did I put my iPod?

This is the gorgeous (and rather huge) rose Evan gave me on our anniversary. A single flower means much more to me than a dozen–I think it’s easier to appreciate its beauty.

Today we have a “Winter Weather Advisory” in our area. Since 8 am, I’ve been longingly peeking out the window in hopes of seeing a little of the white stuff. But all I see is dreariness and a light dampness on the ground. On top of the ickiness, Emily is sick-ish and grumpy (hopefully just cutting teeth). Maybe after I get a shower (this is almost always an afternoon event), I can start fresh on some project that will brighten the day. I’ve cut a few quilt squares, and now I’m seriously thinking of free-hand embroidering the solid pink squares with flowers. I also need to cut borders for all my squares, so I have quite a bit of work ahead of me: 12 embroidered squares and about 100 rectangular strips to cut.

These two little birds on a limb are appropriate today as Evan and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. It was a long, hard road getting to our wedding day in 2005–it took a lot of work. We liked each other for years in college (and nearly drove all of our close friends crazy!), and then we finally dated for about a year. That year was miserable. We had “Define the Relationship” talks every few weeks, which inevitably resulted in me crying and knowing that Evan would break up with me in due time. Why did I hang in there? That’s a bit of a mystery. I was actually quite relieved when we did break up in the spring of 2003. I was about to graduate, and I could finally make some life decisions about where to go next. Maryland: with wonderful family, including my Grama who is responsible for the lovely bird embroidery.

For several months, Evan and I had no contact with one another. And that was a very good thing. Time and distance indeed made our love grow, and by the fall of 2004, we were engaged. That’s the simplest way to put it. If Evan wrote this entry, you would hear of great anxiety and struggles. But that didn’t happen on my end of the relationship (on the second time around), so I can’t speak to that. Alas, it’s a miracle that we did finally get together. I guess I just always loved him.

Having just made a Valentine for him (I’ll share a picture of that later), I’ll just have to express my love in another way. I’m thinking a nice, old-fashioned love letter is the way to go.