finally! a finished product

I have been wanting to sew something, like, forever! Several days ago my friend Kim posted a project she is working on that she calls "Share the love! (don't share the germs)," that involves making cozies for travel-size tissues. Kim has such a great sense of color, and the cozies are so darn cute that I thought, "this, I can do!" It took me several days to clear space in my office and to free up the work counter to set up my cutting mat. Once that was done I began going through my stash of fabric. There's plenty there! The trick, however, is to find three fabrics that work together in the finished look. Not so easy, especially when my fabrics were acquired over a span of years, and the colors don't always coordinate through palette changes. I finally found several combinations that would work, and got busy on my first cozy.

Kim reports that she has the project down to five minutes. Let's just say that my first effort took longer than that. For one thing I had to shake free of "the practice of sewing" cobwebs. Don't laugh, it's a genuine impediment! And then there's the "measure twice, cut once" wisdom that translates into exceeding caution following directions the first time through. The sewing part, after that, was easy. I got stuck on the corners yesterday and then got interrupted by other tasks (we will NOT talk about dangerous it is for me to go to Sam's this time of year), and finally decided that a fresh start in the morning would be a good idea.

Never underestimate the power of the mind to work through problems during sleep, for it was during that brain doze that I resolved my corner dilemma. Did you know that Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine overcame a major stumbling block with his invention because of a dream? In the dream he was being chased by sewing needles that bounced up and down to create forward momentum, and that, ladies and gentlemen (are there any gentlemen that read this blog?) led to the mechanical principal of the sewing machine.

Back to my cozy. Strengthened by a cup of coffee after rising this morning, I got busy taking care of the cozy corners and voila! The picture you see above is my first finished product. There will be two just like this, and who knows, maybe more, but this is a happy place to start.

So thanks, Kim, you got me off my duff (and then onto it, ironically) and I am now producing handcrafted work again. Y'all have no idea how huge this is, especially right now in my life. If you'd like to take part in this sharing adventure, link to Kim's blog (see banner in the left hand column), and join the fun and use up some scraps.

Now I just need to go buy some tissue packs!

forecast for the day

Sewing!

I have been diligent in my cleaning efforts in my office/craft space these last few days, and I am happy to report that there is finally some space to get busy creating!!! It's true there are still a few things that need to find homes, and they are taking up residence temporarily in the guest room (where else?), but my countertop is now free and clear for use, my desktop is, amazingly, clear, and the sewing machine is up and ready to go. I've even got some things up on the walls! Yes, yes, pictures will be forthcoming, but right now I'm too excited about the prospect of getting something done as opposed to just thinking about getting something done!

While going through drawers and such looking for items to put in last weekend's church yard sale (which, by the way, was a success) I came upon a pattern for a small project--the perfect way to reenter the creative realm. I'm going to do it with fabric I already have on hand, so it won't be necessary to spend any money. I'll also make a couple of these (I did say this was a small project, and it is, literally) using different color combinations to exercise the "color outside the lines" muscle of my soul.

While thinking about different color combos I also had a stroke of genius to help the church. We're anticipating a "fall bazaar" and need to have things to sell. This particular pattern has a center object--an apple--that can be changed to any other: think paw prints, a Christmas tree, pumpkin, heart, shamrock, flag... pick a symbol and there you go! We can whip up a bunch of these suckers for sale at the bazaar and make some cool cash. Peachy, huh?

So that's the exciting development in this corner of the world. I had to break in to the gratitude list to share, which I'll do on occasion. Tomorrow I'll be back with the e's. See you then!