two turtles and three months

Over the past week I made these two turtles. I had originally wanted to use more shapes to create the shell part, but I learned that pentagons are one of only a few shapes that get 3d when attached on all sides. I like the way they came out I just wish there could be more variety. I started by making mock-ups in muslin to get the pattern right and then did the "final" one in the greens and browns. I don't know what I was thinking with theses colors, but they don't really appeal to me. So I went back to one of the muslin ones and tried to pretty it up. I appliqued repro feedsack pentagons on to the shell and then made yo-yo's with buttons to sew on top.

I have not done any hand applique in a long time and it was so much fun. I feel like doing some big ambitious applique wall quilt now. Since I'm having a baby in 3 months it would be a really good time to start some big million hour project. I'll do it right after I make the three cloth dolls I want to make, and the blanket I'm going to knit or crochet with the yarn I'm bidding on in E-bay.

What I'm really feeling like is that in three months from now everything in my crafting world is going to shut down. I want to get as much done now and maybe it will carry me over until I can get some time back to myself. I want to stockpile the satisfied feeling I get from creating things. It was about a year after I had Betsy that I started the dollhouse project for the girls.

This was probably the most fun I have ever had making anything (do I say that after every project?). I got the house off e-bay and it was just bare, unfinished wood. Beautifully made and incredible just as it was, but I went ahead and painted and stenciled all over it. Then I made the dollhouse family from a great pattern by Barbara Graff. They could not have come out any cuter. There are some brothers somewhere, but I could not find them for the picture. Then I painstakingly hand painted some of the furniture. My whole goal was to handcraft everything in the house. I decided that they would need tiny little quilts for their beds. Little did I know what I would fall into when I started looking into mini-quilts. Well those dollhouse dolls still don't have any quilts for their beds, but I have enjoyed making several other quilts since then.

I don't really know where all this is going. I guess I just want a reminder to myself that when the time is right, I will to come back to doing this stuff because it is something that I really enjoy. Many moms, after having a baby, look forward to getting back to their jobs or to the gym. I know, for me, it will be crafting.

Frozen February

For a month that most people in Chicago find miserable, this February has been pretty fun so far. Jim got surprise tickets to the Super Bowl in Miami! Yea! Go Bears! We went all out and stayed at a nice hotel on the beach and ate nice food. It was tons of fun to go to such an exciting event and amazing that it was the Bears playing in the game. I wore my Patagonia raincoat and was confident that when the rain started I would be fine. Well, by the end of the first quarter I felt drops running down the skin of my back. I didn't know why that would be happening when I was wearing this excellent raincoat. Must be condensation.
It ends up my thinking was as cloudy as the skies on many things that day. It was not condensation on my back, that was rain. I was not wearing a raincoat, just an expensive piece of twill with a hood. Rex Grossman would not finally be redeemed, the Bears lost. It was very fun no matter what.
It was great to get away and be with Jim. He has been off travelling the world for the past month and having a lot of exciting new experiences. I have felt very left out that I couldn't share those with him. This trip to Miami really came at the perfect time.
The other fun thing about February are all the Birthdays. Mine, Jim's, our niece, our nephew, my father, Abe Lincoln, George Washington. For my niece I made the doll in the photos above. I just loved making her and I think that she came out really pretty. The pattern is from Martha Stewart's web site for a cloth doll. Of course, both Maria and Betsy want one too. I went right out yesterday to get supplies to make more of these girls. I'm well stocked for some fun indoor crafting during this big snowstorm and deep freeze we have going on this week. I can't wait to get started.