Ok, so I’m embarassed that it’s almost been 2 months since my last post, but I have been REALLY busy!  Spring semester was coming to a close and I had stuff to do coming outta the wazoo.  And once my 3 weeks of end of semester papers and exams drew to a close, I had a week of finals.  And once those were over, I had to pack up all my stuff and get it ready to move into my apartment!  So psyched to not have to live in a dorm again and have actual space to move around in.  My new bedroom in the apartment is HUGE and I want to make a corner for my crafts with a work table and some shelves.  Cross your fingers that I can convince my parents to let me take my sewing machine and more of my supplies (yarn, needles, books, etc) when I go back.

 

I’m back home in MA and settling in.  I went to Joann Fabrics this past weekend and spent an hour just browsing around looking at fabrics and yarns.  What is it about craft stores that makes me feel so centered?  I was there to buy some black fabric to line the back of Pasha, because the white stuffing was showing through my stitches and it looked ridiculous.  The lining worked perfectly and you couldn’t even tell it was there.  I finally gave Pasha to Ryan (belated first birthday gift) and he loved him!  He kept snuggling him to his face and playing with his wings and feet.  I am definitely going to have to make more…my friend wants me to make one for her, so I need to get on that. 

 

While I was at Joann’s, I saw this really cute kit to make a little 30×36inch quilt with the Disney princesses on it.  My Goddaughter, whose fourth birthday is June 18, loves Disney pricesses, so I bought the kit to make her present.  I was a really good deal, $20 for all the fabric.  I just had to buy the batting and the thread.  I was a little disappointed in the kit though.  I am VERY new to quilting, and I am terrible at cutting the fabric, so I was all excited when I saw the kit with all these pre-cut swatches.  However, the fabric was NOT pre-cut and all the cutting had to be done yourself.  Not to mention how the kit BARELY gave you enough and some of the measurements for the uncut fabric were off.  For the large center panel, the kit said the fabric was 15×10 and needed to be 14.5 x 9.5, so silly me, I just marked and cut off a half of an inch from each side.  Turns out the bloody thing was already 14.5 and the other side was 9.75 instead of 10.  So my panel was too small.  And if you know anything about quilting, measurements are crucial.  So I was already set back by that, but the kit also had this plush fabric that was IMPOSSIBLE to pin…I mean I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E.  It wouldn’t work with regular pins, so I tried ballpoint pins, but those didn’t work either.  And then I tried paper clips, binder clips, taping it down while I pinned, chip clips, and staples.  The staples worked the best.  The problem was that the fabric was too slippery…but not like satin is slippery…it was almost as if the fabric would…migrate.  I don’t know, it was really frustrating.  The quilt therefore, is far from perfect, but I doubt a 4 year old will notice.

 

I’m job hunting right now, but the economy is bad, so no one is hiring!  And any job opening that comes along doesn’t work out because the company is looking for permanent part time employees, not someone who’s only around for the summer.  I really want to work at Teavana because I love the store and they are hiring, but when I met with the manager she didn’t want to hire me for the summer.  Some bs about training.  When Sharper Image hired me last summer there was the same hesitation, but I went through the training so quickly, they were stunned.  Anyways, it sucks not being able to find a job and I really don’t know what to do with myself during the day.  I have been thinking about making little blankets, like 10×10 size, out of different textured fabrics (note to self: do not use plush fabric from Disney quilt kit) and selling them for babies blankies.  Babies love feeling different textures and my cousins have these blankets called Taggies that are sort of a similar concept.  When my sister was little, she had a blanket with a satin border and she sometimes “borrowed” the tie from my mom’s satin robe when her blanket was lost.  Making the blankets would be easy and quick, it’s just figuring out where and how to sell them.  Maybe I can see if there’s a way to do it through Ravelry. Kind of spread the word and set up something informal.

 

Ok, so project updates: Pasha-he’s done and in Ryan’s hands.  Meghan’s sweater is all done and I gave it to her this past weekend.  It came out really well.  I found this cream blanket I’d been knitting last year in my craft closet at home, and I am working on that again.  It’s nice and relaxing after months of shaping and following patterns.  I also worked on a little sundress for a 6-9 month old, and I have no one to give it to…into the stash it goes! 

 

I am working on stashing all of my yarn on Ravelery, and I cannot believe how much I have!!  Right now I think I am going to try and make some baby sweater I can sell, but I don’t really know how to get myself out there.   

 

This time I will post the pictures I took (Soon!).