Week 16: Fabric Pennant Banner

"It was a dark and stormy night..."

Well, maybe not stormy, but certainly windy.  Here we are, four days into May, and we're having strong winds in the Bay Area that are more typical of an impending winter storm.  Trees are being thrashed about, debris is flying all around, and there is the possibility that the near-30 mph winds may cause power outages.

Just a few hours earlier it was hot, sunny and breezy.  We were escaping the 90-degree heat and enjoying hot dogs and strawberries in the air-conditioned home of one of our friends, but now I'm having to pull out my heavy comforters and sweats.

I, for one, will ignore this blustery weather and look forward to the coming summer, full of sun, family, and celebration.  And what would a celebration be without decorations, decorations like this week's project, the Fabric Pennant Banner from Leigh Anne of yourhomebasedmom.com?

Fabric Pennant Banner from Your Home Based Mom
Image and design © Your Home Based Mom

French Poem Tea Towel Embroidery, Day 6

I've come to a decision on the tea towels, and my decision is this:  These tea towels, once completed, will not be gifted to my best friend.  My "handiwork" on the embroidery is so atrocious, so embarrassing, so offensive to the eyes, that to present these pieces to Miss BFF as tokens of friendship would cause such a strain to our relationship, that I must vow to hide them from her for all eternity. 

French Poem Tea Towel Embroidery, Day 5

Ladies and gentlemen, can we have a show of hands from those of you that don't seem to like embroidering as much as you thought you would?  One, two, oh, Sunnygal, you don't need to hold up both hands.  What's that?  You REALLY don't like it as much as you thought you would?  You messed up how many times?  And you've thrown away how many feet of embroidery floss?  Oh, dear.  Oh, oh, dear.

French Poem Tea Towel Embroidery, Day 2

Bon jour!  The pattern for this embroidery project was originally set to napkins, but I thought it'd work well for tea towels, too.  Teresa Down Under used lines from a French poem entitled “Pomme et poire" and accompanied them with some cute sketches.  I'll be making four tea towels, so I'll just be using four of the five parts of the poem.

Week 15: French Poem Tea Towel Embroidery

I would really, really like to catch up on my blogging this week.  At last count I have 15 posts that I still need to work on, all for projects that have already been completed, so I'm hoping that this week's project leaves me enough time to catch up, even just a little bit, on the blogging.

I've gone back and forth about posting on this week's project, as it was supposed to be a surprise housewarming gift for my best friend (and she moved into her apartment years ago).  She's one of the five people that read this blog, so it won't be a surprise after this post, but I've still got a Christmas gift to give her, and it's been several months since I wrapped it, so when she finally opens it, it'll be a surprise to the both of us (hopefully it wasn't perishable).

Strawberry Pillows, Day 7

The day has finally arrived.  The day I had been avoiding all week.  Yup, today is the day I finish up the berries with hand sewing.

For finishing up the berry, The Purl Bee listed a cotton embroidery floss that was a size 12 thread.  All I had on hand was DMC embroidery floss, which comes in six strands that are each size 25.  I don't know much about embroidery floss, and even less about floss sizes, but apparently the higher the number, the thinner the thread size.

Strawberry Pillows, Day 6

Since I was still procrastinating on hand sewing up the Connecting Threads strawberry, I moved on to the patchwork strawberry.  I had about five different shades of red for the main body and about seven shades of green for the stem to work with.  I didn't have any real rhyme or reason when sewing up the patches together, other than to not sew up the same fabric next to each other.

Strawberry Pillows, Day 5

On the top of my list of things that I don't like about sewing is hand sewing.  For one, it involves dealing with sharps, and, as you may know, I try to avoid interacting with pins and needles as much as possible.  For two, it doesn't move as fast as, say, a sewing machine.  Or a racing turtle.  Or an ambitious snail.  And for three, I always feel like I'm doing it wrong.

So instead of sewing up my strawberry, I worked on the strawberry top.  I cut the two template pieces out, and I was fine with the stem top, but I was confused by the stem bottom.  It said to "Cut 2 and tape together along dotted line."  Did they mean to cut 2 of the templates and then tape them together before cutting the shape from the fabric?  And if so, would I cut one or two pieces from the fabric?  Or, did they mean to use the template to cut two pieces of fabric and then tape the two pieces of fabric together (for some strange reason)?

Strawberry Pillows, Day 4

Ah, to frolic in a garden of strawberries as big as my house!  Can you imagine how delicious that would be?  Berry delicious!

Week 14: Strawberry Pillows

Strawberry Pillows from The Purl Bee
Photo courtesy of The Purl Bee

The other day I was shopping at the local chain grocery store and was lamenting over the selection of out-of-season tomatoes.  I tell ya, there's nothing like the smell of homegrown tomatoes freshly plucked from the garden.  But we're not at peak tomato season yet, so I've had to console myself by browsing through the local farmers' markets.  We're lucky here in Northern California to have so many farmers' markets to choose from.  On some days, we actually have more than one to choose from!

Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug, Day 4

Now that the five sections, A, B, C, D, and E, have been pieced and the edges trimmed, it's time to join them together to form one large piece.  

The pattern lists the sewing order as:

     A + B

     AB + C

     D + E

     ABC + DE

Don't worry - it's not a math nightmare!  This simply means that you first sew sections A and B together, then you sew the "A+B" piece to "C."  D and E get sewn together, and then you sew all the pieces together, "A+B+C" and "D+E", to make the one piece.  If you want it in mathematical format, (A+B+C)+(D+E) = Paper Pieced Union Flag.

Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug, Day 3, Part 2

"From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here..."

                                                                      -Henry V, William Shakespeare

Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug, Day 3, Part 1

An Englishman and a Welshman walk into a bar...

Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug, Day 2

To piece, or not to piece, that is the question...

Week 13: Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug

I was able to finish the Lazy Days Skirt in time for me to get back on track with my sewing, but I'm still not caught up with my blogging.  Ah, well.  As these two gentlemen (not) of Verona would say:

Shakespeare in Love from Miramax/Universal

Lazy Days Skirt Sew and Tell

The Lazy Days Skirt is a complete misnomer.  This piece is so quick and simple to make that rather than wanting to spend the rest of your day relaxing, you'll want to churn out a basket full of skirts in all sorts of colors, fabrics, and lengths.  Casual backyard birthday party for your daughter's ballet buddy?  Just whip up a pink mid-calf skirt with a satin ribbon hem.  Need to find a project for that popsicle and ice cream sandwich print that your neighbor dumped on you?  Sew up a knee length number and celebrate the beginning of summer!  Got a lot of odd-colored scraps piling up?  Practice your patchwork and make a tea-length skirt for your little girl to wear at her school's "Crazy Dress-Up Day."

Lazy Days Skirt, Day 6

Now that the Biscuit Quilt is complete, I'm free to work on the Lazy Days Skirt.  I've stitched up the sides and made the waistband casing, so now it's time to run the elastic through.  You can use a safety pin to help the elastic along, or you can use a bodkin, which is what I will be doing.  The bodkin looks like a pair of tweezers but has a little ring to lock the ends down onto whatever you're pulling through the fabric.  It works really well, even with tight fitting casings like the one on this skirt.

Lazy Days Skirt, Day 5

I decided to take a break from the triceps/biceps workout that is the Biscuit Quilt and spend about five minutes on the Lazy Days Skirt.  Even though I had four fabrics to choose from, I couldn't make up my mind on which two I wanted to make the skirt.

Biscuit Quilt, Day 9

When you eat a box of chocolates, are you the type of person that throws the paper wrappers right away, or do you just leave them there and move on to the next chocolate?  I don't like all that trash lying around, so I throw it out right away.

Breakfast of Champions, er, Chocolates.

Week 12: Lazy Days Skirt

This week is all about catching up with my blog posts.  At this moment, I've yet to complete my posts for the Biscuit Quilt, the Ruffle Top Romper, the Crinkle Quilt, Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, and the Chenille Hot Pads.  I'll therefore need to work on a project that is quick and easy, one that'll leave me enough time to finish my posts.

Lazy Days Skirt from Oliver + S
Image and design © Oliver + S

Biscuit Quilt, Day 6

I like the word "biscuit."  It makes me laugh.  I don't know how that started, maybe with Yosemite Sam's exclamation "My biscuits are burning!" and then there was that SNL skit with Beyonce where Justin Timberlake, et. al, claimed to be the "dance biscuits."  In any case, I giggle just a little whenever I see the word.

Biscuit Quilt, Day 3

Remember how just a few weeks ago I was raving about the warm weather we were having in the Bay Area?  Well, this last week has brought all sorts of inclement weather, including rain, winds, and quarter-sized hail, so I don't feel so weird working on another quilt.

Week 11: Biscuit Quilt

Biscuit Quilt from Buzzing and Bumbling
Photo courtesy of Linda at Buzzing and Bumbling

I'm more of a cat person than a dog person, so in the mid-90's, when my dad brought home a Bichon Frise-poodle mix, I was not enthused.  I didn't want to deal with the dog smell, the barking, and all other sorts of dog-related stuff.

Hoppy Easter Eve!

This will be Darcy's first Easter, and we've been spending a lot of time this week to prepare for the visit from the Easter Bunny.  Hasn't left too much time to sew and blog, but now that I, as the Easter Bunny's assistant, have finished all my errands, I'm hopping (ha ha) that today I'll be able to catch up.

I finally finished The Crinkle Quilt, so I'll write a post about that, as well as the Sew and Tell.  Then I started on the Ruffle Top Romper, and am pretty close to finishing that as well, so I'll have the play-by-play and the Sew and Tell for that project, too.  And finally, this being Saturday and the start to my sewing week, I'll have a post about my new project.  That's five, FIVE, posts that I'll be working on today.  Any chance that this is the longest Saturday of the year?

The Crinkle Quilt, Day 10

This weekend was chock full of activity.  Lots of family and friends to visit, and little Darcy even went on a swing for the first time!  I felt like such a slacker because I didn't get much sewing done, but then The Husband reminded me that I wasn't slacking off, I just was doing more important things.

Week 10: Ruffle Top Romper

My on-time record hasn't been great these last few weeks.  In fact, I've not yet completed The Crinkle Quilt, and it's possible that it won't be finished until mid-week.  I wanted to make a dress for Darcy to wear on Easter, and had picked out Simplicity 2668, but after reading the directions, I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish The Crinkle Quilt and the dress by this Saturday.

Ruffle Top Romper and Dress from Make It & Love It
Image and design © Make It & Love It

The Crinkle Quilt, Day 7

Okay, I've cut all my 5"x10" pieces, so now it's time to stitch them together end to end!

The Crinkle Quilt, Day 5

This is Day 5 of The Crinkle Quilt, but because I worked on the Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins for three extra days, I didn't actually begin work on the The Crinkle Quilt until yesterday.  

Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, Day 10

The day you (and I) thought would never come has finally arrived.  The Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins project is done!  I did think that I was going to finish it yesterday, but as I was finishing up the binding on the Green and Yellow placemats, I noticed a problem, and I knew I'd have to redo the binding.

Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, Day 9

This is the first Day 9 I've had since starting this 52-week endeavor.  It's kinda got me down, and I want to throw in the towel and start the next project, but I gotta press on.  I can't let these placemats get the best of me!

Week 9: The Crinkle Quilt

Even though I've not quite finished the Pretty Patches Placemats, I'm going to begin the next project.  I'm still in stash-busting mode, and I want to also use some of the batting that's been taking up some room, but I also want to work on a quick project.  I think I've found a project that'll cover all those things.  For Week 9 I will be making The Crinkle Quilt designed by Palak of Make It Handmade.  This pattern is on the Make It Handmade website and also posted at Moda Bake Shop.

The Crinkle Quilt from Palak of Make It Handmade
Image and design © Make It Handmade

Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, Day 7

"It's that Poppins woman!  She did it!"  She of the "Well begun is half done" philosophy!  Well, let me tell you, Mary Poppins, I began this week's project with a bang, busting out those napkins like nothin', and cutting out the fabric pieces for the placemats like a hot knife through butter.  I was on my way to having Friday night supper served on my brand new placemats.

Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, Day 6

The Leaning Tower of Terror

For the past three days my project progress has been stymied by a little phrase in the placemats' pattern directions - "randomly placed."

Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, Day 3

This Daylights Saving thing is wreaking havoc on my internal clock.  (And by the way, does anything else other than havoc get wreaked?)  I mean, I'm enjoying the extra bit of sunshine, but my body doesn't know when to sleep or when to wake up.  I woke up at 3 o'clock this morning and couldn't go back to sleep for nearly four hours.  I did cut all my pieces yesterday, but I haven't felt like doing much sewing.

Week 8: Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins

I'm in a major stash-busting mood this week.  I need to work on a project that'll significantly reduce the amount of fabric I have.  This week I'll be working on one of the many kits I've purchased over the years, the Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins kit from Connecting Threads.

Sip of Summer collection from
Connecting Threads

Reversible Bucket Hat Sew and Tell

The Reversible Bucket Hat from Oliver + S is the first hat project I've ever done.  The pattern and the steps were easy to follow, and the illustrations were very helpful.  This is a free pattern on the website, but it is also included in their book Little Things to Sew.  I've been looking at a few other patterns on the website, and if the directions are as clear as this pattern was, I'll be really looking forward to making those outfits.

Reversible Bucket Hat, Day 6

No sooner had I written about the warm, spring weather in the Bay Area do the March winds come sweeping in.  It turned out to be fortuitous, though, because as I watched tree parts tumble down the street, I frowned thinking how Darcy wouldn't be able to wear her hat in this kind of weather.  But then I realized, "Oh, yes she CAN!"  I decided to add straps to the bucket hat so it won't blow away during blustery days.

Reversible Bucket Hat, Day 5

It was hard to choose which two fabrics to go with for the bucket hat, especially since the Cheep Talk collection had a lot of great designs.  I finally went with a light/dark orange combination, because it made me think of the warm sunshine.

Baby Darcy is only 9-months old, but according to the pattern, her head is the size of a 3 to 5-year old!  I get the feeling that I'm going to be making all of her hats because she's apparently the Bruce Bochy of the baby kingdom (for those of you non-Giants fans, the World Champions' manager has one of the largest hat sizes in the Major League)!  Fortunately (or not), her body is proportionate to her head, so no, her head does not look like an orange on a toothpick.

Week 7: Reversible Bucket Hat

Spring has come early to the Bay Area.  The weather's been warm, and I've been taking Darcy out for walks in her stroller.  She enjoys being out in the sunshine, but on certain pathways, the sunshine hits her face a little too much for her liking.  I've given her sunglasses to wear, but she thinks they are for chewing and not wearing.  Since she does alright with headwear, I'm going to make her a hat.

Reversible Bucket Hat from Oliver + S
Image and design © Oliver + S

Belt it Out Sew and Tell

The Belt it Out belt is one of the easiest and quickest projects you'll ever do.  It doesn't take a lot of materials or fabric, and in fact, it's a great way to use up your scraps. 

Belt it Out, Day 5

Silly me!  I finished this project so fast that I almost forgot to write about it!

After choosing some fabric for the belt, I cut them up into varying widths.

Week 6: Belt it Out

The Tax Man cometh this upcoming weekend, and I need to find all my receipts and other tax documents for last year.  Since this'll take up a majority of my free time, I'll be working on a project that should be quick and simple, the "Belt it Out" belt designed by Erin Harris and published in Pretty Little Patchwork. 

Chenille Hot Pad Sew and Tell

In some ways, the hot pads turned out better than expected.  Also in some ways, the hot pads were more time consuming than I thought they'd be, but mainly because of mistakes I had made.

Chenille Hot Pad, Day 7

I decided that I wanted to add a feature to the hot pads that wasn't part of the original pattern.  The hot pads didn't have a way to hang them, so I added a loop to each one.  The loops didn't need to be very wide, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try out another tool that's been collecting dust - the bias tape maker!  A bias tape maker is an awesome little tool that folds the edges of your fabric strips to the center of the strip.  It saves a lot of time and aggravation, and it also saves your pretty little fingers from being burned by your iron.

Chenille Hot Pad, Day 6

Wow, this week just flew by!  I've been working on the hot pads daily, but haven't been able to update the blog about it, so today's post will have several days' activities on it.

Week 5: Chenille Hot Pad

Chenille Hot Pad from Moda Bake Shop
Image and design © Victoria L. Eapen

This week I'll be going back to an online pattern, the Chenille Hot Pad designed by Vickie Eapen.  You can find this pattern at Moda Bake Shop.  I'll be using fat quarters from the Aqua Terra collection once again. 

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top Sew and Tell

I don't know if it's because it's just so cute or what, but the Toddler Pinafore Smock Top is my favorite project so far.

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top, Day 8

By yesterday morning, all I needed to do to finish up the pinafore was to hem the ends of the ribbon ties and to add the last of the topstitching.  I had planned on doing that after dinner, but all of a sudden I was hit by a wave of exhaustion.  Not sure where it came from, but I was out for the night.  So I ended up finishing the pinafore this morning instead.  My record for getting these projects done within a week is now 2-2.  Now that I think about it, it's acutally 1-3, because I ended up finishing the pillowcases after midnight of Day 7.  Gollee, what a bummer.  I hope my record improves.

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top, Day 4

Today I just worked on the skirt gathering.  I've been kinda nervous about it because of The Ruffled Pillowcase Disaster, but I've also been hopeful since it's on the sewing machine and not the serger.

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top, Day 3

What's a pinafore?  It's for wearing!  Ha ha, bad joke.  Might need a rewrite.  But really, a pinafore is basically an apron that young girls wear over whatever outfit they are wearing. 

Week 4: Toddler Pinafore Smock Top

After the letdown that I will forever refer to as "The Ruffled Pillowcase Disaster," I've decided to go with a simple project, the Toddler Pinafore Smock Top from One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. 

Ready Set Serge Pillowcases Sew and Tell

I've delayed writing this Sew and Tell for as long as could, basically because despite most of the pillowcases made this week turned out great, I haven't been able to look past how badly the ruffles turned out.  But I'll try.  I'll do it for the good pillowcases.  Let's win one for the Gipper!

Ready Set Serge Pillowcases, Day 7

Somehow I managed to make two extra pillowcases.  I had planned on making two each of the regular Pillowcase and the Stepped-Up Pillowcase, and then when I saw how quick and easy the regular Pillowcase was, I decided to work on a UFO that had been sitting around for two years.

Night sky fabric that The Husband chose 2+ years ago.

When Sergers Attack

Sergeant Serger just tried to blind me.  There I was, running the last stitches for one of the pillowcases, when SNAP!  CRACK!  TINK!  I knew what that sound was, and before I could duck for cover, a piece of shrapnel hit me above the eye!  After I calmed down from the attack, I checked my serger and saw that one of the two needles had broken.  Sergers can run up to 1,700 stitches per minute, so that's quite a dangerous force behind those needles.  A good 3/4" missile had launched from the serger and was now somewhere floating around my house.  I tried looking for it as I was sitting down, but wasn't able to locate it.  I haven't looked in the mirror yet, so it is quite possible that the sharpened rocket is embedded in my forehead, but it's probably somewhere in the carpet, and with my luck I'll find it with my bare foot.  I had once considered wearing safety glasses when I was first told about needles breaking during sewing, but I didn't want to look like some poindexter while doing a supposedly safe hobby, but now, having had my life flash before my eyes (or was that the needle?), I'll reconsider!

Ready Set Serge Pillowcases, Day 5

When I asked The Husband what he thought of the new pillowcases, he said that he slept a lot better than he had with the other pillowcases.  You heard it here, first, folks!  My pillowcases will improve your sleep!

Ready Set Serge Pillowcases, Day 4

A serger machine (also known as an overlock machine) stitches up and trims the edge of your fabric, automatically creating an enclosed seam allowance as you run it through the machine.  I've had my serger, a Brother 1034D, for at least two years now, and I found it so intimidating that I only started using it last month.  If you're familiar with sergers, you probably can sympathize with why I had been too scared to use it.  If you're not familiar with sergers, then let me help you understand why sergers put the fear of God into even the most seasoned sewers.

Week 3: Ready Set Serge Pillowcases

I'm a little burnt out from working with batting, so I'm going to work on something with just fabric this week.  For Week 3 I'll be working on projects from Georgie Melot's book, Ready Set Serge.  Yup, I'm bringing out the serger!  I'll be making the Pillowcase and the Stepped-Up Pillowcase using fabric from Connecting Threads' Bed and Breakfast and Aqua Terra collections.

Simple Circles Table Runner Sew and Tell

The Simple Circles Table Runner is one of those projects that is more difficult than it looks, but once you finish it you feel proud of yourself.  For me, the most difficult part was sewing the circles, both the individual circles and also the stitching up of the final pattern.  I did get better with practice, though, and now that I've sewn circles, I feel more confident about sewing curves in any future projects.  I just need to remember what is key to sewing circles:  Pivot!  Pivot!!  PIVOT!!!

Simple Circles Table Runner, Day 8

Day 8?  What happened to getting the project done in one week?  Yes, yes, I know, my deadline slipped.  I feel like I let myself down, but the truth is, things came up and I just couldn't get to it.  But I'm almost finished and I do actually have another project started for Week 3.

Simple Circles Table Runner, Day 7

Very often with sewing projects, you spend more time measuring, cutting, pressing, pinning, clipping, turning, etc., than you do sewing.  This project was no different.  If I were to calculate how much time I spent pressing the muslin, tracing the patterns, trimming the circles, layering the fabric, notching the edges, turning the circles inside out and arranging the circles, I'd find that I had spent less than 10% sitting at the sewing machine.  It's all part of the process, but sometimes I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything unless I'm actually running the machine.

Simple Circles Table Runner, Day 6

I had some leftover batting from a few projects I had finished before.  Some of the batting was fusible and some of it was not, but it didn't really matter with this project because the batting would be next to the muslin, with the fabric pieces on top of the muslin, so I just used pieces of batting that would fit as many circles as possible.  I was able to fit all six of the smallest circles onto one of the larger pieces of fusible batting.

Simple Circles Table Runner, Day 3

A layer cake is a set of fabric, normally of a fabric collection, with each fabric "layer" pre-cut to 10"x10".  Layer cakes from Moda usually have 42 swatches, although other fabric manufacturers' 10" pre-cuts may have a different quantity.  A fat eighth is a one-eighth yard of fabric that is cut to measure about 9"x22", instead of 4.5"x42".

Simple Circles Table Runner, Day 2

 

Today I did a lot of prep work for the table runner.  First, I researched how to sew curves.  You would think that I would be able to find information on that in at least one of the dozens of sewing books that I have, but I didn't find anything there.  Luckily I came across a video on ProfessorPincushion.com on how to work with curves.  They make it look so easy, and I'm feeling less anxious about sewing curves now.  I have a feeling I'll be going to that website again in the future.

Week 2: Simple Circles Table Runner

Simple Circles Table Runner from Moda Bake Shop
Image and design © Natalia Bonner

For Week 2 of my 52 Weeks, I went back and forth between working on a patchwork belt, an easy project, but one that wouldn't use much fabric, or a project that might be a little more challenging to me, but would make a bigger dent on my stash.  I opted for the latter.

Lap Duvet Sew and Tell

For my "Sew and Tell" posts I'll basically review how my project went for that week.  I'll talk about what worked, what things I'd change, things I'd learned, what I liked, etc.

Lap Duvet, Day 7

I'm still getting used to this whole blog thing, so apologies for not posting as it happens.

So the quilting phase started out being aggravating for me.  Because my duvet didn't end up being 58"x42", when I started out pinning every 7", my last row ended up being close to 5".  This drove me crazy so I started all over again and readjusted my measurements so that each row was the same height.

Lap Duvet, Day 4

I started working on the Lap Duvet on Saturday afternoon.  As I mentioned, I chose two fabrics from the Grow With Me collection.  In addition to reducing my stash, I am also trying to cut back on my spending, so even though the project called for throw-sized (60"x60") wool batting, I used some crib-sized (45"x60") "poly-down" batting that I already had.  I have a few larger-sized packages of batting, but I figured that the crib-sized batting would work perfectly, since the finished duvet would measure 58"x42".  More on this later...

Week 1: Lap Duvet

Photo courtesy of The Purl Bee

Hooray, it's Week 1 of 52 weeks of sewing, knitting, etc!  I'm going with a supposedly quick and easy project, the Lap Duvet from The Purl Bee.  According to the website, this project should take about 2 1/2 hours to make.  I'm so excited to make this!  They look so cozy and fluffy.

I Read it on the Internet, so it Must be True

Hello and welcome!

So, yet another blog about sewing and knitting, you ask?  Well, I’ve got a fabric and yarn stash that is growing out of control, and over the years have made countless plans and dreams of making beautiful and marvelous garments and accessories, but for one reason or another, I’ve not been able to bring these plans to fruition.  My reasons, well, let’s be honest, my excuses, have ranged from being too intimidated to learn a new technique, to being too afraid to cut my fabric, to being just plain lazy.

 

The stash is getting to be too much to live with, so I’ve enlisted myself in one of the most ambitious missions of my life.  And I'm announcing it to the cyberworld, so I can't take it back:

For the next 52 weeks I’ll be working on one sewing, knitting, crocheting, or embroidery project per week.  Hopefully, by the end of one year, I will have significantly reduced my stash and become more confident in using techniques that had previously intimidated me.  And hopefully I don’t go insane doing it.

Week #1 starts today, January 19th.

Thank you for joining me on my journey!