Surprise: I can quilt!

Okay so here goes a long story! But it's cool because there will be a lot of pictures and a heartwarming story of triumph over skepticism and disbelief! Who doesn't love that! Like some Disney stories it starts with some sadness.

So once a upon a time my best friend was going through some serious shit... that should not be divulged to strangers on the internet! Needless to say I did not have the ability to go back home and cheer her up in person so the question was, what could I do? Being that my brain long ago decided it doesn't have boundaries it decided we were gonna make a quilt. 

Do I sew you ask.. Not really. I made a cinch bag when I was 13 in home economics (ps- it is super messy inside... I hope I never see the inside of it again. Really the only other thing I made was a set of kind of wonky short curtains. 

Why a quilt you might ask. Because I am a psycho and I like to just rain pain upon myself. Also my friend and I have a love of all things cuddly and blanketish. She loves fall colors so I went to Joanns and began a rather strange adventure. My mom had always told me how expensive sewing had become and I was determined to prove her wrong at least a little. So I found fabric quarters that were on sale and got a bunch in fall colors and figured that with them I would make the quilt top and if I needed more space I could add a border around it in a solid color. During this trip I also went to the lady who sells sewing machines inside the joanns to ask about machines and what they do. In this process she was wondering what I was gonna make and when I said quilt she looked confused and skeptical. After a lot of talking about the questionable pattern that was just in my mind she said she wanted to see it when I got the top done. 

I am pretty abnormal in everything I do ... This is me dealing with the Huge piece of batting.... sometimes you just have to have a crazy moment :D

My brain plan was to cut out long skinny rectangles like subway tiles and put them in an offset pattern just like you would actually do with subway tiles on a wall but in fall colors. Then have the back and border be a plain color fabric that would probably be green (since it is her favorite). After a week of blundering my way through the strangest quilting brain pattern this was created. 

 I am clearly too short to continue taking pictures of my quilts if they get any bigger...

 The back is stitch in the ditch method because the machine I used is old and wanted to murder me so it was about the only method other than tying it off every so often.

 I was told it needed a tag to document when I was done so I made this and then since my mom always claimed my hand sewing was horrible I let her sew it... probably not gonna do that nest time... MAHHMMM JEEZ

Its cool though I only had to stand half way up the stairs to get the whole thing in the picture...  :-(

I went back looking for the lady and she wasn't there instead I found a quite mean lady in her place who before even saying hello said "WELL you clearly don't know how to edge!" So I left rather upset and chose to look for the other lady the next week.

So I went back to show the lady at joanns and showed her what I had come up with. She was speachless for a while and then just went... um this was the one you were telling me about?! She then started yelling for people to come look including the people at the sewing counter yelling THIS IS HER FIRST QUILT PEOPLE!! This went on for quite a while being that she showed just about everyone that walked past us. Which was strange but fun. She also asked if she ever started a quilting circle or group if I would be in it...I said yes but maybe I should have shown her the picture of me in the batting and asked if she wanted to take back her offer. In the process I met a seamstress that immediately started telling me how to get discounts or to find stuff that I would need even cheaper. 

I told her I did not use a rotary cutter to make this as she was telling me where to find the blades and she looked rather confused. So I told them what I had used to make the quilt. The list was small and confusing to a seamstress and a quilter. I had used a 12 inch bendy school ruler, a pair of old unsharpened sewing shears, a marking pencil, and an old brother that was not meant to do much but sew two pieces of fabric together. At this news they were pretty floored I had no idea I was sewing in the stone age but they were more than happy to ask, comically, if I had sewn the whole thing in a cave as well.  Apparently I should not have been able to do the stitch in a ditch without a walking foot to keep the layers from crumpling up... I told them to prevent that I just Pulled REALLY HARD. They thought I was a bit nuts but hey it worked so that's all that mattered to me at the time. They gave me all sorts of information to help me and asked for pictures to be sent to them. Since then I have been able to ask the Seamstress anything and she has even invited me on some trips she takes to show her students where to find stuff. As soon as I save up some more money I will take her up on the offer! I have also since bought myself a rotary cutter, and a clear quilting ruler guide thing and dug out my old cutting mat from photo class. MOVING ON UP! to be honest given the choice I think I liked using the scissors better especially once I get them sharpened! but I have more precise pieces with the cutter... DILEMMA I think the main thing here is to know that I am terrible at holding a ruler in place long enough to roll along the edge.

Once I got the quilt almost done my mom had to help me pull the last few rows through and she started crying. Admitting that she thought it was going to be one hell of a mess and she couldn't believe I pulled it off... GREAT SUCCESS! 

Today I got a message from my best friend who got the quilt. It included these pictures. She works in a bakery so that's whats going on. Needless to say I think she is quite enjoying her new cocoon. 

TRIUMPH!!!! 

Since making this I have started a second quilt that will replace the crochet one that I had started for my other friends wedding. I asked for colors she and her fiance and she liked. She said grays, blues, teal and lime green... Don't think those colors can work together... THINK AGAIN. I DO WHAT I WANT!

This is how I make the patterns those are images of the actual fabric I got and I tinker with them in Photoshop until I have what I want. This is the mockup for the new quilt. I have been told the house is quite gray so the border and backing will either be gray or blue to try to match the best I can having never seen the place. I also am hoping to have a new machine before this one is done so It may be quilted down differently and possibly have some embroidery and wedding date type things. 

I am doing this one slower just because the wedding is next year and I know that if I get the top done I will want to quilt it down and currently I am waiting probably till around my birthday for a new machine. I nearly killed the old brother trying to push through two layers and batting it tried to protest quite a few times but I forced the issue...and won. DON"T SHOW THE MACHINE FEAR!

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of the girls I babysit from time to time. She is turning 11 and wanted a marvel super hero cake with (Deadpool, Ms. Marvel, Groot, Hulk, and Archangel) If you have ever watched a super hero movie or read anything about any of these guys you know that this team up would probably never happen... but it is what she wanted so her cake will have them all. I do them as drawings attached to skewers so they are more detailed and you can take them off if you want to keep them. She wants to do the cake saturday though so I will have to add a picture of that later. But I went out and got some marvel fabric and made her a cinch bag. I figure it could be an overnight bag. Being the first one I made years ago is such a confused mess I had to find a tutorial for the bottom of the bag since I figured out the top fine. So this is her bag and it holds the rest of the presents!

 The bag is 20.5 inches wide and 14 deep :D and much nicer inside than my last!

Jar of candy.. what kid doesn't want a jar of candy?

This is everything inside the bag and then the bag wrapped! Also a deadpool card WOO!

In the process of making these things I have met a bunch of new people which is awesome except for the few shitty ones. My aunt introduced me to a super nice and helpful lady named Corinne who has helped quite a bit already and has sent me a really nice book to help me get even farther with quilting! 

Thank you to everyone that helped or is helping me with all this stuff it is much appreciated! 

March Madness!

First off I finished my first arty commission! Like I said before one of the ladies who got a bunny bag wanted me to make a bunch more for her. She had me make 36 and 18 hours later (spaced over 2.5 days) BAM bunnies were done! She loved them and can't wait to hand them out! She is filling them though so they look different than mine just due to not being filled and tied up which they will be when she hands them out. They are all girl bunnies except for the stack of blue that have no eyelashes to be given to little boys.

Second we were out on Fremont street today people watching and I finally got a leg cup! The white part is a coin bank but I plan on turning it into a leg lamp :D It will be glorious!


Lastly for today we went to Cold Creek to find the wild horses that roam in that area and luckily they were all over right up next to the road. I just loaded the pictures so I have to adjust them due to how sunny it was but I did one up so have a nice oogle at this lovely skinny free horse!

Workin!

So I know this picture is already in here but I just gave one of these away to a lady who travels over holidays. Since she is leaving the end of this month and we are having two different groups of people coming to stay so she got hers a few days ago. Hers was the green one in this picture. In another picture it was sitting in a yellow basket. She was so excited and liked it so much she has now commissioned me to make a bunch more for her to give out to family, work people, and friends. I got super excited! I asked how many she wanted and she brought me 36 pieces of felt which means 36 bunnies to make! Woo!

Honestly I am one of those people who just needs stuff to keep my attention constantly, it could be a book I read for hours but I LOVE making things. It keeps me calm and lets all the jumble in my brain come out. I can't always follow a pattern, and they don't always come out right the first time around but it makes my life better to have stuff to make. Weirdly money is not even my second thought in these processes. My one aunt had sent the stuff months ago that I used to make them just for "if I thought of something". She is used to me thinking of a million things I want to make and having the total set of materials for non of them. If I don't have stuff like this to keep my attention when I try to go to sleep my brain just likes to replay all the ideas I have waiting on the back burner and I don't sleep but if I have little things like this that happens way less.

Either way I was super happy that she liked it and I am already half way done making them already, I will probably be done by tomorrow!

These are the colors she picked, No matter what I do this photo if the right way up and then it uploads this way... So sorry for that!

In other news COMPANY IS COMING! So this month we have mom moms cousin Ellen coming from the dirty Jerz! We love her to pieces but when you are from PA, Jersey is always gonna be the dirty Jerz. It doesn't mean we haven't used their beaches for vacation but doesn't mean we have to like it. We are also going to see some shows when she is here. Gonna go see some fancy acrobatics and then off to see some ELTON! Whoop!

After Ellen comes my dads best friend and his family are here for a week as well and we get to have some fun taking them around. The past few weeks I have been playing travel agent for both of them and setting up the shows and other interesting things to see.


In Super other news mom asked me to make her light fixture look like a holiday chandelier again (last time was Christmas) So I concocted a spring/ easter chandelier! woo!

I figure after Easter the eggs can come down and the spring part can stay.

This is what it looks like when you are sitting at the table.

FINALLY PROGRESS!

For those of you who know me it is no shock that I have trouble keeping things consistently tidy. For those who don't my name is Jess and I have a problem. While I typically know where stuff is that doesn't mean it is put away nicely it may just mean I can tell you the exact spot on the floor in which it resides even if it is under a mountain of clothes. So it is a small wonder that it only took this long after moving to get my room pretty much set up. Since people wanted to know what my apartment looks like and I had a day with nothing better to do I cleaned. While I like things nice and tidy (unlike when I was younger and relished mess) I tend to clean one room move to the next and by the time I have come full circle the first room is a disaster again. I am working on it but as you read this my kitchen is already a mess...what can I say, progress is slow and I was not meant to be Susie homemaker. Alas at least I can cook I guess lol!

I had posted this to show that the end door was my room. Also I guess I should say that is not some alice in wonderland illusion the ceiling is 9' tall so  some of my doors are at least 8' They make me feel even shorter than I am and are hard to decorate but it is hard to decorate most things in here without a ladder.

So my room kida has a tiny hallway because that door on the left (with the blue and white checked flag over it) has a cubby where there is a washer and dryer

that's right I live in the UN! I decided during my travels that I wanted to collect flags and believe it or not I am missing one or two but I do have an extra that someone got me thinking I just collected any flag for fun..and they are not all in this picture either.

That large door covered in curtains leads to the patio and pool.

My room was such a mess when I posted the original pictures of this wall I figured this time i would give some context. 

Believe it or not I am not actually done decorating either I just need some hooks so I can hang some heavier stuff up. Like I said before I am not a fan of blank walls but some of my pieces are heavier than others.

The Hatching!

So once again I am on a decorating spree. This time its an egg party! I already posted my kitchen table and my dead bat but now the rest is complete! After gathering every egg I could find I spent at least a full day stringing them up and coating the apartment in colorful egg glory! I also did a small day project of sewing since I am slowly trying to learn in hopes of learning to do some quilting some time soon. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am shit at containing my excitement when I have a project in mind. So when it comes to sewing I am not the greatest. I just want the project done so I can use whatever it is I am making or send it out as a gift. Slowly learning a skill is tedious in the extreme for me. But I have a love for blankets and all things cuddly so I refuse to make sub par blankets or quilts! Lastly I am working on an actual quilt, I guess I should say blanket or over-sized afghan. One of my best friends got engaged and since I don't have a lot of money I thought I could make her something and then get her something smaller from her registry when she has one. For now all I can hope is that she doesn't read my blog if so PRETEND YOU DIDN'T SEE THIS! THIS IS NOT THE BLOG YOU ARE LOOKING FORRRRR... First for the HATCHING!

EGGS EVERYWHERE! 

Owl cookie jar is all jazzed up for st. Patrick's day as well!

I also took some pictures of some more of the apartment that I don't think I have posted yet so it doesn't look like I just live in a kitchen living room combo! lol.

Plus more eggs... naturally.. The door to the left is my bathroom and the one straight ahead is the bedroom. Directly to the left of the fridge is an entry way and a door to the outside that leads to the garage as well. (I will take a picture of that when it is not filled with stuff that needs to be donated.)

That's right its laundry day! But I am human and embrace the fact that my apartment is never fully clean so you will just have to deal with some clothes... 

Egg bundles! Yup even the bathroom is hatching!

I think the egg bundles look like balloons but they are festive! I also re purposed some little Christmas tinsel trees as Easter trees!

Also the lorax hiding away in the ficus protecting the trees!

Now on to stuff I made! you can see them in this picture but I took some close up so it is easier to make out what they are. So the first bunny bag i made I was a doofus and sewed it up first and then had to put on the eyes and face with only that little opening between the ears to work with. Like I said when I get excited I want the stuff done yesterday but I figured it out and slowed down as much as i could... Which isn't much but its the best I got for now.

So this is my small sewing project they are little bunnies that you fill with some candy for easter and tie under the ears. 

Lady bunny!

This is for a little boy who likes superman.. but unfortunately I didn't have the right colors so he is getting hulk bunny instead. I also didn't have enough purple for one straight go so now it looks like he is wearing shorts.. which is accurate but not what I was aiming for. YAY for his angry eyebrows though!

So here they are filled and tied up.

the rest of them.

Here are two in some little baskets that will be filled with baked goods. One of the ladies getting these donated her unused Easter eggs to the hatching! and is always super helpful so of course she gets a nice treat!

Next I had gotten a basket for the now engaged friend years ago and never got to give it to her. Yeras later going through moving crap I found it and it still looked terrifying as the day I got it... So naturally I did some modifications to make it more her.. and less creepy...

before... seriously he was creepy...

But now he's a beautiful LADY! WOOWOO! so much better!

all put together with some goodies!

This is the blanket I am making her for her wedding present. (sorry about the phone picture but its all I have for now.)

My basket with a saucy eyeliner wearing bunny perched in its grassy bed.

Lastly last night I got to go to a Bob Seger concert and got possibly one of the best tour shirts I have ever seen. My mom was convinced it was a motorcycle but when the guy took it down and showed me I was sold... its not a motorcycle. It is so much better! The guy looked totally freaked out that this was the one I wanted but who can say no to saucy big haired ladies riding a bullet.. Not me! I don't think anyone else had gotten one and if they had it was probably a man. My favorite of my tour shirts by far now! Look at that hair!

You do you ladies... you do you! I totally feel your hair frustrations!

I hope everyone else is keeping warm in the cold since most the people I know are trapped in the snow globe that is the east coast! Warm dusty desert hugs to all of you!