Silhouette Pumpkin

Silhouettes seem to be all the rage now. You can find examples in just about every October issue of every crafty magazine out there. I love the idea of doing something that is so easy and relatively inexpensive!

This little guy came from "Country Living" magazine. I downloaded the template from their website and traced it onto a white fake pumpkin. Then I just painted it with acrylic paint. The "Nevermore" was my own touch, since I can't think of a Raven without the quote from Edgar Allen Poe. BTW, did you read that poem in school? I can remember about 3 lines from it, and that it was about a girl named Lenore. 

I don't have my Halloween decorations out yet, only my Fall ones. I'll probably do Halloween next week, since I'll be in Ohio the first week of October. The first of the month is when I decorate for any given holiday (although I probably start Christmas soon after Thanksgiving since it is such a BIG holiday.)

Baby Blanket

I have finally (after about a year!) finished this baby blanket. Almost...I just have to weave in the ends. It is a gift for Dr. A's granddaughter. (BTW, I called her 'Riya" in a previous post, I think. Her name is actually "Diya.")  The repeat of the rows is like this: singles, singles, doubles, then a row of front post triple crochets. In the FPTC row, you do two stitches, then skip a stitch, do two more, and then you take the 6th stitch and pull it back to that skipped stitch. It makes a crossing pattern that is really pretty.
I noticed that on the back, the post rows made a kind of 'ridge.' So what I did with the next row (all singles) was to 'catch' half of each stitch before the FPTC row, pulling in the ridge. It flattens out the back, which I think will be more comfortable. I'm sure that doesn't make sense at all, since I don't have any idea how to write crochet instructions, but trust me, it works.
The border around the edge is very simple: in the first round, you just do all singles. Then you do a single, half and double in a stitch, skip two stitches and do another sc/hdc/dc all around. In the second round, you do a sc/hdc/dc in the 'spaces' between the stitches.
This would have been done for me to take to work today, but I got started on a HUGE organizing project. Our attic ladder/doorway is broken so you can't go up and down it too much. So I handed down about six boxes of Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving stuff to my husband, as well as a box of sweaters. (It's already feeling like fall here--yay!)
I wasn't planning on sorting through it all but once I got started I just went with it. Managed to reduce six boxes down to four. Once I start to decorate, I can sort even further and decide on more things to either go to charity or decorate the office with. It's a big task but at least it's 90% done!

Come to think of it, most of my tasks seem to always be "90%" done, LOL!

Diaper Cake Finished

 

The baby shower was supposed to be today. Dr. A had rented tents for the back yard, and I brought the 'cake' over last night. The only problem is...

Baby Riya decided to be born 3 weeks early! She came into the world yesterday morning weighing 4 pounds and change. She's totally healthy, Thank God. So she'll be using the diapers sooner than we expected. The booties (which I made myself since I refused to pay what they're asking for plain old ordinary ones) won't fit her for months, LOL! I didn't even ask if she has hair. In fact, I almost forgot to ask her name! I guess I'm as surprised as anyone. 

So her birthdate is 9-10-11. How's that for an easy date to remember?

Diaper Cake

 

Dr. A asked me if I could make a "Diaper Cake" for her dil's upcoming baby shower. I have never done this before and did some research on line. The first version I found was so complicated I actually had dreams about goofing it up. No kidding.

Then I found a great tutorial on You Tube. It involves simply rolling the diapers into 'candlesticks' and securing them with clear hair elastics. Then you place them around an inner form created by a baby bottle. (Actually, it's two baby bottles on tpp of each other. 

You are supposed to use a giant rubber band to secure the large rounds of diapers. But that would have meant hitting Staples right before school starts. No thanks...

I used thin pink ribbon to tie the 'layers' together on the bottom. Then I used baby hair bands for the top layers.

The baby bottle was sticking out of the top, so I just wrapped it with two diapers. 

I have only added 2 pacifiers for decorations. I want to get some rosettes and some more little baby doodads for more decorations. I'll put either a little stuffed animal or a pair of booties on the top.

All in all, I don't think it was a bad first try!

Wire hider

Or whatever you want to call it. The wire on my mouse is too long for my small desk, and was always getting 'caught.' So I made this big flower thing to hold some of it. The petals are sewn wrong sides together, then pinked. The middle of the flower is two pieces of felt, stuffed.

I cut enough petals to sew around one circle, each with a little pleat to give them 'shape.' Then I sewed a piece of elastic across the back of the second felt circle. I sewed this to the back of the flower, with a little stuffing inside.

You get the size of your flower by folding up your wire. You want the flower to hide it. The elastic holds the wire nicely.You  just have to let out however much wire works for you.

Kind of Like Tetris

 

Did you ever want to use a piece of fabric for a project, but found it was not big enough? It might just be, if you play 'Tetris' with your pattern pieces!

Just cut them out in a single layer, rather than on doubled fabric. Cut one out (as you can see I did with the T-shaped pattern for the 'bucket' from the book I told you about in the previous post) and then flip it upside down and fit it onto the rest of the fabric! You could do this with any pattern, I think. Just don't forget the 2nd piece (although not in this case) is usually a 'mirror image.'

Hope everyone is staying safe as Irene rushes up the coast. We are as ready here at my house as we could ever be!

Straight Line Sewing

Even after 40 years of sewing, I'm always on the lookout for the easiest, but nicest-looking, projects. So when I read (somewhere) about a book called "Sewing in a Straight Line," I had to check it out. A brief sample on my NOOK and I knew I wanted it. I actually used some money from the gift cards to Barnes and Noble that my kids gave me for my birthday last January to buy the actual copy, not a NOOK download. I'm glad I did.

The author is Brett Bara. If you are lucky enough to get "Crochet Today" on public television, or if you've read "Crochet Today" magazine, you'll know who she is--the girl with blondish-brown hair and blue eyes. Who knew she was a sewist, too? And the book is true to its title: all straight lines!

The book if full of adorable and quick ideas, even clothing! Above is the "Clutter Busting Bucket Tote." Mine is a little saggier than the book's since I used what was on hand (she recommends canvas for the outside and I would guess the interfacing should be stiffer.) I'm using it to store my 'baby' yarns. (I should also point out that I just topstitched the straps to the outside. In the original, they are in between the layers.)

I also made a pillowcase, but you've seen enough of those without a picture.

Now I'm going to go check out her site: www.brettbara.com.