Crafting Envy

   So....It's been a while, eh? Busy busy here with Turkey Day preparations and such. We've been hittin the gym 3 to 4 times a week in the evenings so that eats up a bit of time too.
    The little one has really started to walk well. It's pretty funny because she's so short. Poor thing.
 I've been in the process of sewing her a coat since NOTHING is small enough for my child. Anything that is 12 months just about swallows her. I found a pattern for a lightweight coat and subbed in a nice fall suiting that feels like a soft wool but is some kind of a blend. I haven't cut the liner and I've never lined a garment before so this should be interesting, especially since there are no pattern pieces for a liner. Cross your fingers. I should have enough fabric left for a skirt for me and a jumper for her and maybe some owls. All that is likely on hold till after this Saturday. Lots of cleaning still to do....ugh...


  This is the coat in progress. I love the pattern and color. She seems to like it too. I tried it on her and she yelled at me when I took it off of her.





    I have managed to clean and organize 2 of the 3 closets in our house. Yay me! It was a bit of a job but I'm glad it's done. Now the problem is keeping them clean.
    I'll post some pics of the coat when it's all finished up, till then Happy Thanksgiving!

   Is it strange that I'm more scared now that Halloween is over? I am. SCARED. What am I scared of? Oh, well, you see, I'm scared of my house. I have to clean this awful mess up and keep it that way because I have guests coming over at the end of the month.
And I'm scared because I'm running out of time to think of fabulous gifts for my lovely family for Christmas. Time to think and then time to execute the making of them... oh boy, now I'm really really scared. I think I'm going to try to find a closet clean enough to hide in. See you later...maybe...

   Looky what I found a couple of weeks ago at Target. I hit the motherload of clearances.








  And no, I'm not opening a hotel. This is pure Stasheesh, ladies. I have visions of Christmas tree skirts, pajama pants, quilt backs...sigh

  Doncha wish your Stash was hot like mine?lol




   Its finally raining a bit here...I like rainy days. They feel restful to the soul.




   My plants are thirsty too.


   I'm whittling down the to-do list before the Thanksgiving Fest at my house but it seems to keep growing somehow though. It's back to the grind for me with some sewing thrown in for fun.

   Well, I did actually get my rear in gear and manage a few things around the house. We repainted the kitchen and re-trimmed the windows and re-did the baseboards and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and bottled beer and cleaned....
Here's a before and after.












Much better, no?




   I'm still cleaning. In cleaning our children's bedroom I ran across a tote of my old journals...every time I run across these in the midst of cleaning I always look, it's too tempting. It's so interesting to see what you were thinking at 15 or 16 and then at 20 and 24. Interesting and utterly embarrassing....I mean, wow. EMBARRASSING. I hope one day I can read those incredibly naive "poems" and not shudder and look over my shoulder as I stuff them back into the black hole they came out of hoping no one else saw them. Maybe someday I can laugh a little more at them or think them sweet in their innocence.
   Also in the tote was a post card from an old friend. Funny how reading something in some one's own handwriting can conjure up the image and sound of them so perfectly. The mind is an incredible thing.
   Enough of this little jaunt down memory lane. I have much more cleaning to do....Oy.

   Not too much has changed since I posted last. No news on the deployment front so far.
   We decided to paint the kitchen and redo the trim on the windows in there but we haven't really started on it yet so no progress to show you. I have managed to get some necessary cleaning done and almost caught up on laundry so it hasn't been completely unproductive.
    We'll be visiting my Sister in a little bit which will be fun. I need to get my rear in gear and get some stuff done for Thanksgiving and the holidays.... 0_0 I'll let you know if I'm successful in that endeavor....

   I've been away for a bit. Not away from home, just away from my blog here. My evil husband signed us up again for Everquest 2. For those of you who aren't hopelessly nerdy, that would be an online mmorpg. It's a place where thousands of nerds gather and fight dragons and orcs and talk with other nerds.   Anyhow, I will try to divide my time between all my craftiness, blogging and questing, oh and raising children, keeping house etc...
   Speaking of my evil husband though, he got a notification to be ready for being notified of a possible deployment in January of 2012. Don't you love the bureaucracy of the military? So it's not a done deal and the last two units who got this notice never ended up going anywhere but it's enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. This would be number 3 since we've been married and the 4th of his career. I can tell he's excited about the possibility of going. I know he loves his family and likes being home but I can tell he is happy he might go again. I'm trying not to be to upset about that, that's just him. I'm trying to not let myself think about the whole thing too much so I don't get too crazy. It does seem to be an effective appetite suppressant so that's a plus, eh? Nothing like the thought of your husband being away in a warzone for a year to make you put down that chocolate. Anyway, I'm sure if things develop along those lines I'll be posting about it.
   I have managed to finish some outstanding projects and some new ones too. There have been 4 plushies, 2 blankets, and one pair of pajamas (with another soon to follow). Not too bad for a Questing Mama... So long for now :)

   The first soccer game is today and it rained yesterday and some today. Wet grass+11 month old baby = dirt ball.
   So I made a little waterproof blanket to romp on, or if it starts raining again we can use it as a poncho. It took about 15 minutes or so, pretty good for a Saturday morning last minute project :)
   I thought it might as well be my first mini-tutorial. Here it is then....









   I used the remainder of a flat sheet for the blue part and a vinyl tablecloth for the waterproof part. Here is a little mini-tutorial for those who didn't already know how to do one of these.

• Pin right sides together.
  
• Sew all around making sure to leave a gap in one of the short sides.
• Trim the edges up and flip inside out.
  
• Stitch around again closing the gap this time and Voila, you have a Quick and Dirty to Keep Clean Blanket.

  Hope that made enough sense. Have a great Saturday :)