needle and thREAD

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Good morning! I think I'll share some December sewing with you. Just before Christmas, Cari and I made drapes for my sewing space. I know, all the cool chicks call it a "studio," but in our house, studios have long been places where Daddy goes to make TV shows or girls go to dance. So, it's the "sewing room" or my "sewing space."

These drapes were the last to be hung. Cari hasn't even seen them finished! And they're my favorites. Mike's favorites, too, I think. The room is so pretty and inviting. I made some pillows to match for a chair where kids plop while I work (I write in my sewing space, too, just this little side hobby, the writing). I love to be in there. Next week, I'm going to give you a tour of the shelves. I think I need to write a post detailing my intentions for all that fabric and yarn over the next year. Then, you can hold me to it!

There's no picture here of my chair, where I sit to sew. Mary Beth and I have some plans for that chair. Perhaps you'll see it here in the next few days. 

No picture of my book, either. In the past couple days, two people have independently recommended Brene Brown to me. So I've downloaded the audible versions of The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are and Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

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needle and thREAD meets Yarn Along

I had an a vision during Advent: a handknit sweater, a skirt made of stashed Anna Maria Horner flannel and a pretty AMH ribbon, and those TOMS (the ones that have taken on such meaning). Sarah would wear it all for Paddy's brunch the day after the wedding. It was a golden vision.

Totally in my head.

I never really put them all together until after I was finished knitting and sewing (and that happened around the morning of the 28th). The vision didn't quite become a reality;-). The sweater is a bit too snug through the chest and not really the right shade of gold to go with the skirt. Oh, well. She likes it. She went to bed talking about her "golden clothes."

Reading has been sparse this week. I started two books, The Language of Flowers and A Homemade Life. The first glances of each were depressing so I put them aside. I downloaded The Art of Family to read in the orthodontist's office, but my friend Jen was there, so we spent the morning chatting instead.

What are you sewing and reading this week? Tell me about your handmade Christmas gifts!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

 For more knitting and reading, visit Ginny.

needle & thREAD

This was supposed to be the St. Lucy's Day edition of needle & thREAD. There were to be three flannel nightgowns here for happy pictures. Alas, I spent the weekend relearning slope-intercept and graphing inequalities. Saturday morning, fabric all smoothed out and newly-traced patterns pinned in place, I recognized that these nightgowns weren't going to happen before exams were taken. They might not even happen before Christmas. When I make them, I'm going to make them extra long. They can wear them in January and February and then again next year. 

I do have some things to show you, though. iPhone pictures are beginning to frustrate me. A camera is moving to the top of my list of things to research. Do you love yours? Tell me why.

The drapes for the main floor of the house are finished. Cari and I worked on the sewing room drapes this week and I finished them yesterday morning, early, early. Mike's been working ridiculously long days, splitting his time between here and Miami, so the rods aren't hung yet, but the drapes are so pretty!

I'm nearly finished with the great pillow expedition in the family room. I love the pop of color on some otherwise rather dull couches. 

One last pillow remains to be covered. I've been doing a little stitching sampler on a scrap of the drapery fabric. It will be the center of a log cabin square. This seemed a grand idea when I first conceived it. In reality, this fabric is so loosely woven that it frays if you look at it the wrong way. It's not fun to make patchwork with it. I'm determined to make just that one pillow, but my grand plans for lots of them were squashed pretty quickly. I do want to do just this one pillow, though. The needlework competes with my knitting time whenever I sit down these days. I want to finish Sarah's sweater by Patrick's graduation party (the day after the wedding). Knit? Stitch? Math? 

I haven't done much reading. Last week, Emily recommended Dirt and the Good Life. I have the book now, but haven't yet begun to read. After the math final...

So what's happening out there in needle and thread world? Are you working on Christmas presents? Racing to the finish with something special? Do tell.  

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

needle & thREAD

I actually have more drapes to show you, but I think I'll wait until after Christmas, when the decorations have been boxed and returned to their shelves. For now, I'm pretty tickled to tell you about an old project, now finished. Last year, in late November, Deborah at Whipstitch offered me an opportunity to take her online quilting class. I knew how busy this time of year is and I knew it was carzy to commit to a class, but I also knew the phenomenal teacher Deborah has been to me. I jumped at the chance.

I worked hard to keep up and I completed all the squares. Deborah encouraged me to back and bind and finish, lest my quilt forever decorate the shelf in my sewing room. It taunted me from that shelf all year. Then, in a wonderful moment of serendipitous happy, my very first sewing teacher, my friend, Cari, swept it into her competent hands. A week later, she brought it back, quilted and bound.

I love this quilt. Love it. I love how happy it looks. I love how much I fussed over every single piece of fabric sewn into it. I love how when I ask for help, the love of friends magnifies anything I can do alone. 

So that's the sewing for the week. We're actually talking about my recent reading in yesterday's post. Lots of people leaving me more reading to do. And I'm dreaming CSAs (at least I did last night).

{I have real pictures on my real camera. Alas, I cannot find the cord. So, more Instagram. My New Year's resolution is to become a real photographer. More on that next week, I think. For now, thanks for your patience with iPhone pictures.}

So what's happening out there in needle and thread world? Are you working on Christmas presents? Christmas decorations? Winter jammies? Do tell.  

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

needle & thREAD

I've been sewing lots and lots lately. Still making window treatments:-). I'm learning that if there's fabric involved, it doesn't take me long to get to my happy place. I'm also learning that sewing is even better with friends. My friend Cari has been here often to help me with draperies and it's just so nice to wrok together, to have long conversations, and share a passion for fiber arts! We've been trading fabric and yarn and lots of ideas. My project list is growing quite long. (Speaking of project lists, Deborah has some insight to that today. even if you've never sewn and never plan to, this post is a very good read.)

I've also found that I love to teach other people to sew. Since I'm so new at this, those "other people" are mostly children. Last week, Megan's daughter Katie came over for sewing and tea. I helped her create a ribbon-hemmed skirt. This sweet skirt is such a great first project! (Here's a link to a free tutorial.) The results are nearly instantly gratifying. She sewed so well and was such a dear little sponge. 

When Megan came to pick  her up, Katie beamed her success. Truly darling. Then, Sarah told Megan that she has three ribbon hemmed skirt and I helped her make them all. Megan asked what Sarah did when she sewed her skirts. "I gave Mommy the pins to put in the skirt. And then she gave them to me to put in the pincushion. She was a big help." Yep. In her darling little brain, she sewed those skirts. And that's all good.

I'm reading Chesterton this year, to celebrate the Year of Faith (more on the plan here). I took a picture of my reading and knitting yesterday to write a Yarn Along post. Then, Cari came to sew and I forgot all about blogging. So, here's my read:

So what's happening out there in needle and thread world? Are you working on Christmas presents? Christmas decorations? Winter jammies? Do tell.  

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)