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Some Purse Organizers!

This post is just mostly photos today as I must run. Our oldest has his birthday dinner tomorrow and I have to get a bunch of things done. Life seems to be on fast forward these days. I sure wish it would slow down for a day or two.

These are all made out of up-cycled denim. They are fully lined and three of the bags have pleats in the bottom so they can stand up if they are full. I had great fun matching the different fabrics and of course the denim is soft. It feels really good in your hands.

 

Must run,

talk to you later,

Karen

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100 items in 100 days: # 23 – 29

Yesterday was productive. I finished up quite a few Use Your Stash projects and thought about others.

Here are the ones that I completed along with the back story.

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When I was a young teenager, my Mom made these stars for our Christmas tree.  Parts of the stars were made from scraps of clothing she made for me. I have always wanted to make some for our tree but lacked the skills to get the points to turn out nice in the center.

Finally, I have made them and I do like them. I made five of them and will probably make more in different colors.

IMG_1525 IMG_1529

 

So, there are my Christmas stars ornaments. I made five out of scraps in my scrap bin. They count in my 100 items in 100 days and make up numbers 23 – 28! Yay!

I also finished a cute crochet pin cushion and I will post a photo later. Here is the photo of it in process.

IMG_1508Which makes number 29!

Woohoo! Only  79  or correctly 71 more items left, today is not a good math day!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Progress!

It has been a busy week or two or is it three since I started the challenge?  Ok, I checked back and I started on Jan. 17. It has been 2 1/2 weeks or 19 days!

In that time I have finished 24 items! Yay! (As of right now, today)

I have written 2 new patterns and listed them on both Craftsy and Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/178258980/crochet-fingerless-gloves-pattern-pdf

aqua fingerless glove

https://www.etsy.com/listing/177236880/crochet-blanket-pattern-or-crochet

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I have finished two major projects: the repairs on Kathryn’s quilt and the blue, white, red and grey crochet blanket

2014-02-05 12.48.18

 

 

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I have finished a bundle of little things, including 3 scarves, 5 headbands, and 2 purses.

How do I feel about the 100 item in 100 days Challenge?  I feel pretty good about it, but I feel a little pressured. I have started some new projects but they are going to take some time to finish them.  So, I am not sure if I can finish as quickly as I want to finish. My projected finish date was about April 28 or 29, if I complete one a day! Hmmm…

I really would like to finish up sooner than that. I have some shopping I want to do!=0)

 

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Margin

I have been reading a bunch of people talk about adding margin to their lives.
Margin,

I remember my teachers telling me not to write in the margins on                                         my school papers. That our eyes needed the space to be able to see the words.

 

White space,

My art teachers said white space was essential for helping you                                              realize what was important.

Down time,

Can be many things to many people; a computer that quite                                                   working, a factory machine that being maintained. The main idea                                           here is that what ever it is, is Not Working.

Breathing time,

A time to catch your breath. This reminds me of the breathing                                               treatments we had to give our daughter for her asthma. She would                                       be gasping for air and then the nebulizer would start running and                                           she would finally be able to get full lungs worth of air. It forced her                                         to sit and just breath for about 20 minutes off and on through out                                           the day. I wonder how much more would get done and how much                                         more creative we would be if we forced ourselves to sit and just                                           breath, no multi-tasking, no rushing from here to there.

Coffee time,

A time to sit and drink coffee. This reminds me of Saturday                                                    mornings as  a child watching my Father read the newspaper and                                        drink his coffee as the sunshine streamed into the kitchen. It was a                                      very restful, warm, relaxed feeling to it. Rather like a mini vacation                                        in the midst of the daily rush.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/173400035/theres-always-time-for-coffee-8×10-print

Fishing time,

Time to sit and talk with someone you love.

A chance to reflect on life.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/56012169/canoe-in-the-lake-watercolor-print-boat

I think people today spend too much time worrying, running errands, texting, driving, eating, rushing, nursing, shuttling, emailing, or facebooking. We don’t have down time, a chance to get bored or just rest and be quiet. A chance to regroup and think.

Several years ago, when all of the kids were home. We had such a finely tuned schedule that if any 1 thing happened the whole schedule would fall apart. We had four kids homeschooling and they were each in two activities per week including church activities and music lessons. So I was driving every single day and would be gone for hours at a time. In more recent days, I was working at the kids’ school from 7:30 – 3:30 and then the kids had practice/sports until 5 or 6 and we often wouldn’t get home until 8 at night. I am telling you this so that you know that I have walked in those shoes.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/110352835/2014-cuppa-tea-or-coffee-desk-calendar

I have been working a bit this year at adding margin. I need margin in so many areas of my life.

My business…. I have so many supplies I can’t think what to do next. I spend all of my time putting things away, managing supplies, cleaning up, and searching for needed items. I need space in my storage containers, not so I can fill them back up but so that I can get rid of some and enjoy the space. This is why I am doing the Use my Stash or 100 items in 100 days challenge!

My home…We (all of us) are working at adding peace and margin to our home. We are trying to get things less cluttered and a bit more up to date. While using the supplies that we have so we don’t blow our budget. It isn’t hard but it does take imagination and work.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157004734/1920s-rumford-book-on-home-management

White space in money management is called the emergency fund and a budget. We are using both this year. It is helping us manage our spending so we spend money on things that are important and not spur of the moment!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/89181845/ceramic-piggy-bank-yellow

These are just a few areas where we are adding margin or white space. A safety bumper so we don’t get over stressed.

Where are you adding margin in you life? Do you need more white space?

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Today: Feb. 3, 2014

Today has certainly been very odd. Hubs was home for part of the day and then left for work halfway through the day. So it has felt off balance all day. We were out of bread, so lunch was a rather yummy potato soup made from hash browns, left over ham bone broth, ham pieces and home made biscuits.

Anyway all of this to say that I got a huge long three hour nap in the middle of the day. I got my next crochet blanket figured out down to the number of squares per color! We now have homemade bread and I have no idea what we are eating for dinner! Woohoo, it seems I am on a roll! Well, not really, but the blanket though is a beauty and seems to just roll of the crochet hooks. The colors are incredible. I am not going to give any sneak peaks this time until it is finished all 248 little 4″ squares! I think it would give it all away.

I have been working on a new pattern for fingerless gloves and after three pairs I am about ready to kick that into production. The pattern is simple and there is no sewing involved.

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It is a version somewhere between the red ones above and the grey ones below!

2014-02-02 14.52.04

 

So that is what I have been working on. OH, the sewing machine part came in and I have been working away on #10 The quilt. I hope to be finished with it soon as well. I feel a bit like Einstein to be able to diagnose and order the correct part for my machine!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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100 Items in 100 days…#15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Here are some new Supply busters!

The red and blue scalloped scarves from a few days ago was joined with scalloped fingerless gloves. I finished several new headbands for our youngest daughter. So this would make numbers 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and finally 20!

I can’t decide which pattern to use with some new bright yarns. I have a new type granny square that  I am considering.

Which pattern would you suggest?

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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#13 and #14

These are just a quick peek at #13 and 14 out of 100. I have to admit that it is hard to stay on track. I have been deleting about 15+ emails a day that have to do with sewing, yarn, craft supplies or patterns. I am also trying to use the patterns I have or free online patterns. #13 is a crocheted bowl using cord and variegated left over yarn. The other is a scalloped scarf like the red one only in bright blue and a little chunkier.

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There you go two more down and only 86 left and no #10 isn’t finished yet, I am waiting on a sewing machine part.

 

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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#11, #12

Confession time

The quilt is quietly killing me. Well, not very quietly, I must admit that there is a certain amount of huffing and puffing as I haul that quilt around, between and through the sewing machine. If you add in the fact that my sewing machine isn’t quite happy to be sewing right now, then you can guess what I am going to say next. After fussing about it to myself anyone who will listen, I moved on to crocheting, and modge podging. Something that will actually allow me to complete a project. These photos are just quickie phone photos but they get the job done.

I found this pattern here and it is wonderful.

http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2011/11/crocheted-skinny-scalloped-scarf.html

I also decoupaged some tea boxes with fabric as I was needing some drawer organizers.

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Here they are drying.

 

Talk to you later, My FIL just arrived for lunch!

Karen

p.s. I am in deep trouble. My father in law brought four more tubs of fabric from my mother in law’s stash. oh wow. He said I could make 100 more items…!

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Love’s Labor

There are certain rules that should be followed when sewing a quilt.

1. Always use a quality cotton fabric as the backing, never a twin sheet.  A twin sheet might be cheaper but you get what you pay for.

2. Always use fabric of about the same quality.

3. Always quilt the quilt as close as the label says you should.

4. Do not use Rayon thread as any of the decorative stitching, because rayon deteriorates quickly when washed repeatedly.

How do I know all of these things, because I once did all of these on one quilt. It became THE quilt to my daughter and now all of my errors and tightwaded-ness are haunting me. I took it down out  of the top of her closet to repair it. When I  saw how much repairing it needed I almost gave up, but she loves it. So it is worth saving. I have given it a new backing, new batting, patched all the holes, and it is slowly coming together. Basting it all together on the floor about killed me but it is reconstructing slowly. That really does look beautiful from a photograph but is quite the nightmare to sew on. Some of the fabric wasn’t cut on the grain and stretched. Some of it was a good quality and some wasn’t and you can now tell. So, it is rather wibbly wobbly in places. I don’t think she will care, if it isn’t perfect.

2014-01-28 16.08.35I have been wrestling it for two days and I am no where close to being finished with it, to top it all off my sewing machine is acting up. I am taking a break right now. I have ordered a new bobbin case. I hope that solves the problem but this repair is taking longer than I thought it would!

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. This is #10

 

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#8 and #9 of the 100 items in 100 days!

Here are #8 and #9 in the 100 items in 100 days!

I’m including the photos of the beginning of the project and then the finished product! Some I list in my shop and some I am using at home!

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This is a great cowl. Large enough to pull over your head if you need to but small enough not to be in the way! The buttons are handmade ceramic buttons. The yarn is dark charcoal grey and goes with anything.

#9

2014-01-24 10.35.45Here was the humble beginning of #9 a Head band with interchangeable flowers.

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Whew, this Challenge is a challenge but I am wading through it and I hope to get through #20 by this time next week. My sewing machine is acting up so I haven’t really been sewing much, but I am going to try.

Talk to you later,

Karen