It Came from the Scrap Bag

What's this?  OH, be very careful.  We have stumbled upon a very rare creature indeed.

It's an elusive scrap monster.  Legend has it that if you befriend one, you will have great creativity.

Legend also holds that scrap monsters love sweets, especially sweets purchased on deep clearance.

"Hey little guy.  Want a piece of this Christmas Kit Kat I got for 50% off at Target's after Christmas sale?"

CHOMP!

BURP!!!!

Well, guess the legends are right.  But it is hard to resist a cheap Christmas Kit Kat, right buddy?

Oh, don't run away!  I thought we were friends.  I don't share discount chocolate with just anyone.

Darn, he's gone.  But I think I saw him smiling, so maybe we are friends.  Time will tell.

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Ok, so the story behind this fella is. . .I was setting out to make a dotee doll and got completely side tracked and he just happened.  Yup, just like that.  The dotee was a "your favorite color" themed one and I was going to go more with my favorite texture/fabric (since I don't really have one top color I love more than others) so I got digging through my felted sweater scraps and fiddling about and low and behold when I spied the button holes on one of the scrap pieces they just had to be eyes (using some beads I bought a month or so ago and have been drooling to use).  I was going to make him into a dotee but he's just a bit too demonic for that.  I thought my swap partner might not appreciate that about him (even though he's a very lovely monster--no religious affiliation at all, really) and I just loved him so much I couldn't give him away.  Ever.

He's made from the bottom bit of a felted sweater, the waist area that included two button holes.  His arms are seams and I just used six strand embroidery floss for all the sewing.  Two bead eyes and a bit of poly fil and the cutest little demonic scrap monster EVER was born.

His eyes remind me of The Predator.  I kind of want to make him a dread lock wig now.

For Swaps: TM patches: Blue and Purple

These are hot off the presses (so to speak).  I just finished them up in the past two days.

Yup, more TM (Teesha Moore) style patches for some swaps.

There's a rainbow series and these are for the BLUE round and the PURPLE round.  (you have to make three patches for each round--all go to one partner).

BLUE:

The whole group, looking all fancy.

Closeups!

Puppies.  That dog is just loving on that bone.  And the one on the left there is filled, just filled with envy.  So much drama on one patch, it's just overwhelming.

Fun story.  That dog fabric came from this totally awful swap I received.  Yeah, I'm going to sound all bitchy right now (and I may have mentioned this before so if I did just be all polite and nod along).  On the last Crazy 9 Patch quilt block swap, one of my partners sent me straight up crap.  The blocks were made totally wrong and poorly and it was just a fabric train wreck.  Except for one thing.  That dog fabric.  That square there is from the center of one of the train wreck blocks.  How's THAT for lemonade from lemons, huh?

I want to be, under the sea.  In an octopuses garden. . .

I've had that fabric for a bit.  Got it in a swap and liked it but because of the texture on it (it's so not quilting cotton) I was kind of at a loss on what I'd ever use it for.  That was before I started making patches which aren't so picky about fabric types.  BAM, octopus patch with sequin and bead sucker and sequin and bead bubbles and. . .FABULOUS.

And boring patch is boring.  Hey, they can't all make you wet a little.  This one is very blue.  So very, very blue.  Nice and all but not that exciting.

And the back of them all.

Next up:

PURPLE

The whole set.

Closeups!

Sequin elephants in little bubbles.  I kind of wish I'd remembered I had these sequins for the pink round (has there been a pink round?).  Pink elephants makes me happy.  The backing on this one is flannel.

Black cat looking worried at a jack o lantern.  My partner's profile mentioned they liked Halloween and I love this kitty fabric (which isn't technically Halloween fabric) so why not make a little Halloween patch with a super cute button I scored (yeah, I went a bit hog wild when Joanne Fabrics had their buy one get one free button sale).

Bride with veil that lifts up.

I freaking love this patch and now I want to make a whole set of Day of the Dead patches using this fabric.  This bit was from a cat toy I was making but I sewed the fabric together wrong and didn't feel like pulling it apart so I just flung it into my scrap bag (to be resurrected as a patch).  I just added a bit of razz-ma-tazz to her jewelry (blinged it out, yo!) and did a tiny bit of embroidery detail (black sewing thread, filled in a few lines here and there--like her mouth) then added the lace as a veil when I was sewing up the edges.  The backing fabric is corduroy (and is actually purple even though it looks black in the pic).

And the backs of all three.  Again, one is flannel, one quilting cotton, one corduroy.

OK, we're on the home stretch now.  Just one more post to make and then my spamming is over.

Scrap Pack Review: Fabric Worm Japanese/Organic Neutral Pack

Since I'm going on a fabric buying ban for the first six months of 2014, I had to get one last purchase in before then (like hogging down on candy the day before you start that diet.. .what! it's not gross to eat three kit kat bars in one day, really, it isn't.. .)

Fabric Worm was having a sale on their bundles a bit ago and I've been eyeballing their Japanese/Organic scrap bundles (which are slightly more expensive than the regular bundles) so I decided to get one (that and I had some money in my pay pal from that guinea pig I sold).

I chose the neutral pack (there is "girl" and "boy" and "neutral") and received eight lovely pieces of fabric in a range of sizes.  I didn't measure each piece but I'd say the smallest was about 1/4 yard (full WOF) and the biggest was probably 1/2 yard.

They all coordinated really nicely too.

See!

I love the colors.  Fall colors (and browns/muted oranges in general) are some of my favorites.  I really like the multi color chevrons and the little lady bugs are adorable (and one of the bigger pieces!).

All were quilting cotton weight except the one. The trees (bottom fabric in the top pic) are a heavier weight of cotton.  Almost canvas/duck but not super stiff like that.  It reminds me a lot of the cotton/linen blends you get in the Japanese fabrics but the selvage says 100% cotton.  It's a pretty big piece so I'm tempted to use it to make a shopping bag (some of mine are looking a bit long in the tooth so it's time to upgrade to all handmade ones and let the cheapos fade, fade away).

Overall I'm very pleased with this purchase.  I got it for 20% off  which pretty much made it like getting free shipping (I also got a half yard of some super cute kitty fabric I'd been eyeing).  I can't remember if I've ever bought a Fabric Worm scrap pack before (I want to say I have but I really think I haven't) but I know I've never splurged for the Japanese/Organic pack.  I'm very happy with the fabric quality and quantity and I would splurge on one of these again.

Made for Christmas Gifts

So very behind on posting.  So I'll be spamming the blog today.

First up, the things I got done for Christmas gifts.

Pouches.  Oh the pouches.

One for my sister, one for my mother, and one for my father.  The ones for my mom and dad were to house the Nooks they received.  Perfect fit.

Star Trek for my dad (love Kirk's disapproving scowl).

Enterprise on the inside (love that fabric).

Black cats for my mom.  Love this fabric, too.

Fish bones on the inside.

Big Bang Theory for my sister (and one bad photo--the lighting in my house is horrendous).  This was the only pouch I put a little tab on.  Super easy addition, I just used some pre-packaged bias tape.  Leftovers from the. . .

POT HOLDERS!

Let me pause here to share with you my boobery (and hubris).  I thought "ooh, that will be so easy" which pretty much sealed my fate.  These mama-jammas were a pain in the butt.  Ok, not that bad but they had me scowling and reaching for the seam ripper.  The holder part was easy (though it proved to me I will want to get a walking foot for my machine if I plan to do a lot of actual quilting--fabric was going all over the place).  The binding was where I suddenly had head trauma and just could not figure out how to miter the corners.  Oh, I had tutorials with pics and the works but it just would not compute.  That's why they ended up with rounded corners.  A sign that I have given up.

Two different fabrics, on on each side.  Since the pics are so bad, I'll just tell you that one is trimmed in orange and the other in bright green.

BAZINGA!

(and yes, I do have a bit left over and I am going to make a Spock and Sheldon patch--after I get some more important sewing done).

All gifts were well received.

NEXT!

For a Swap: Holiday Dotee

Been a while since I've made a dotee.

I still love them but swaps (in general) are less this time of year so my dotee making has slowed, too.

This one was for a Holiday Dotee swap.  You just had to make a dotee that represented the holidays (to you).

I toyed with making a gingerbread man or a tray of little kawaii cookies (I almost went with with that idea but the thought of doing something so structured bored me--making the baking sheet would be boring sewing).  Then I started pawing through my mass of fabric and I was reminded of some great vintage Christmas fabrics I have.

So I had to take them and make some patchwork fabric.

See, those are some cute fabrics.

Then I had to figure out the face.  I started by making a felt/embroidered one but it just wasn't whimsical enough.  It was kind of scary/mean looking which was clearly not what I'm going for (though all my faces tend to look that way, what's that about?).  So I tucked it aside for some future project and in doing that I spied my pom poms and the rest is dotee history.

THAT face is what I wanted.  Cute and kind of silly and a bit wonky (the wonkiness was pure accident, the face went on a tiny bit crooked but once I saw it it worked with a little off center stitched mouth).

See, cute and kind of silly and a bit childlike.  And just covered with all things I think of when I think "holiday".  We have santa.  We have poinsettias.  We have ever green boughs and little berries.  We have toys.  And on the back is non-patchwork fabric that has a snowman and jingle bells and sleighs and snow and. . .yeah, holiday-a-rama.

Then I had to gussy the doll up so I added gold and silver and red and jingle bells and sparkle (tinsel hair?  yes please!).  I was *this close* to adding glitter but glitter is a hot button thing so I decided against it (I like it in rational amounts but some folks despise it and I get that so, I always err on the side of no glitter).

The fabric in the background is what I wrapped it in (and loosely tied it with a bit of the same gold ribbon I used for the hanger.

And last but not least, a little deer on the tail.  I've been wondering what I'd use this little cutie for and this was PERFECT.  You can't have "holiday" without a reindeer!  (and I finally used some ribbon I've had in my craft hoard for a long while, which is always a bonus).

I'm so happy how this one turned out.  It was such a refreshing change from what I've been working on.  Which is?  Potholders.  And last night those bad boys were giving me the business (hello seam ripper, my old friend) so doing this project first and having success kept me from having a tizzy of a tantrum when the pot holders got the better of me (well, the potholders themselves are fine, it's the bias tape binding that had me in less than a festive holiday spirit).

I'll show off the potholders (and some other christmas gift stuff I made) at a later date.  I need to get good pictures of it.  And I'm still not sure the potholders will make the gift cut.  I'm not totally happy with the one I finished so. . .we'll see!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway WINNERS

Sorry for the delay folks.

I was all planning to pick my winner Saturday but my home computer had other plans.  Plans like freaking out and just not working.  It has a long history of being a crotchety machine so I wasn't all that shocked that it decided to pull a stunt the ONE time I wanted to use it.

Yes, I could have tried doing all this using my phone but jeez that would have made me crazy and that's something none of us needs, trust me!

SO. . .blah blah blah. . .I picked my winners this morning (on my work computer) and congratulations go out to:

Comment #60 Hafza (for the international pack)

Comment # 95 OhioLori (for the domestic pack)

I have emailed both winners so I hope they reply with their addresses so I can get their packages out this week.

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaways and the folks who decided to follow my blog.  It's fun to know there are a few eyeballs out there checking out the wacky stuff I make.

Thanks to Sew Mama Sew for hosting this every year.  It's fabulous.

(oh, and I won one of the giveaways I entered. . .I'll show that off in a separate post).

Another Guinea Pig

I finally got back to working on the Fluff Project guinea pigs last night.

I wanted to pull one particular pig out of the poke and finish him/her up.

You see, I showed off the first guinea pig and someone asked if I'd sell one to them (wee, I do like a commission).  Of course I jumped on the idea and the colors they liked just happened to coincide with a piggie I already had cut out and half finished.

Piggie at the office!

So I finished this cutie up last night.  It took almost exactly one hour to finish.  I had to cut and add the eyes, turn and prep the ears and limbs (turn them, stuff limbs, baste all closed then baste to the front body), sew, turn, stuff, and close.  That time included winding a new bobbin and going up to my craft room to get more stuffing (so a bit of down time).

This little piggie turned out very well.  Though I'm still placing the one ear a little oddly.  It looks plenty cute but I want to get that left (when you look at the pic) ear a little lower.  I got a lot nicer of a close on the stuffing opening on this one.  It's very smooth which I like.  I had to free-hand the eyes since (despite my best efforts) I lost the eye pattern piece.  I could have traced it from the body pattern (which has the whole face drawn on it as a placement template) but to be honest I didn't think of that until right now.  Duhr!

If this color set doesn't work for the buyer, I'll make another in different colors.  But they said they liked icy/winter blues so I figured this one would fill the bill.

I still need to finish the rest of the piggie herd (7 toys not including the fuzzy one just incase it doesn't turn out well).  So I'll definitely have a total of 8 piggies for the Fluff Project.  I'll probably make two more just to have a nice round 10.  Ten little piggies!  Wee, wee!