I'm Still Making Stuff!

Slowly. Very slowly.

You see, I thought I was going to have amazing amounts of time to sew when I found out in December that the boyfriend was being moved to 2nd shift (supposedly temporarily, but I'm not holding my breath!). Trying to put a happy spin on what is really a sad thing.

But what has really happened the past couple of months is a whole lot of moping and a whole lot of TV watching because the house is just too quiet at night. Pathetic, I know. But we seriously haven't spent more than a day apart in probably 4 years? I'm really used to seeing him every day... and during the week I see him for maybe a few minutes in the morning before I leave for work and that's it. UGH. I know. Excuses, right?

Anyway, in spite of my mopeyness, I have been able to get a few things accomplished. Like sewing my Catvent quilt top together:

Isn't it pretty?? I just love how it turned out!

I just need to decide on a backing and get it quilted now. Eee! Can't wait! I have been working on a few more things, too. But you're going to have to wait just a little while to see those ;)

What have you been working on? Linking up to WiP Wedneday with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

Friday Finishes

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, however and whatever you celebrate. Mine was quite lovely. Spent time with family and friends who are pretty much family. And I spent a good deal of time sewing, which has been fantastic! Here are some things I did.

FIRST. I did it! I finished all 25 cats for the catventquiltalong! If you follow me on IG (crookedbanana), then you've probably seen all my cats. But for those of you who don't, here they are in all their rainbowy glory:

YUM. That's all I can say. I'm so proud of myself for seeing this through til the end! Now I just have to sew all those cat faces together into a super awesome little quilt that will hang on my wall. I can't have real cats because Mario is allergic, so I guess this will have to do!

I also learned to make an infinity scarf!

I only got a phone/IG picture of someone actually wearing it, oops! It was super easy, though! I decided I really would like to be able to sew with knits. I tried it once before with pretty awful results, so I thought maybe trying a scarf that is meant to be worn all bunched up and lumpy would be a much more forgiving choice than a shirt. I was right! It still isn't perfect, but I think this is a great way to get comfortable with fabrics other than quilting cottons. I read a few tutorials, but just kinda did what I wanted. Here's one if you wanna give it a shot, though: http://www.sewcreativeblog.com/tutorial-how-to-sew-an-infinity-scarf-30-minute-project/

And finally, I finished my bee blocks for the month. Of course, I forgot to go to the post office today so they're going to be a little late... but hey. Holidays and finals. Right? And she's getting 2 instead of just 1 because my sugar and caffeine-addled brain thought 25 squares would yield me 25 HSTs. WRONG.

Oh man, hot pink is hard to capture, huh? And the dying sunlight didn't help. No excuses, though. I just forgot to take pictures until twilight... Oops!

So those are the things I have finished! How about you?? Linking up to TGIFF hosted by the lovely Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts :)

A Finished Gift

Guys. Finals are *finally* over and I am on the verge of a 12 day break from work. I cannot express to you how excited I am! I am going to sew, sew, sew and play some video games on my time off. And it will be GLORIOUS.

But today I wanted to share with you the only other project I have been working on besides cats. My boyfriend and I recently celebrated our 5th anniversary and I wanted to make him something special. Here's what I came up with:

Isn't it cute? He has loved Calvin and Hobbes since he was a little kid, so I decided it was about time he had a Hobbes of his own to have adventures with :)

I used this free pattern to make him. I can't tell you all the yarns I used. I know the black is Caron Simply Soft. The orange is some remnants I had lying around... Same with the white. The eyes and nose are felt and I used yarn to make the mouth. I don't quite understand how his belly turned out so small when hers is so in proportion! I even made it slightly bigger than the pattern! I think I'm actually going to remove that bit and make it a bit bigger. It's just really bothering me.

But he was definitely well-received! Mario had NO idea I was even working on it, which made me pretty happy considering I didn't hide the progress pieces very well! But I should never underestimate his obliviousness to my craft projects ;) Makes things pretty easy!

And because this post wouldn't be complete without it... here are the newest additions to the catvent family:

Yay ipad photos?

What have you been working on?

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

The Cats Have Taken Over...

Yeeeeeah... so all I've been working on is CATS. And homework. But mostly CATS.

This was my progress as of this morning. If you follow me on IG, you've probably seen these guys before ;) Aren't they fun?? I'm a little obsessed. I just finished Toby and Lucy, which catches me up to today!

My giveaway for Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is still open, by the way! Pop on over if you haven't and toss your name in the hat for $25 to spend at Fat Quarter Shop. I have absolutely overwhelmed by the response! It has been so fun reading everyone's holiday plans. I'm not really "into" Christmas in a lot of ways- I don't really decorate or put up a tree or listen to Christmas music. But I do love spending time with my family, which is really what Christmas has come to be for me- both traditional and non-traditional family time. Judging by the comments, you guys all totally get that. SO thanks for making me feel warm and fuzzy :)

Just as a public service announcement... I have gotten a lot of responses from no reply bloggers with no e-mail address in the comment. I would hate for you to miss out on the prize! For instructions on how to correct this, there is a good tutorial by Adrianne of On the Windy Side. Go check it out if you think you might be one!! And even if you're pretty sure you're not, in fact! Just in case.

The Day of the Quilt Block

So. I had a LOT to do this weekend and definitely did not get it all done. House buying stuff keeps getting in the way of all the other stuff I need to doooo :( But for the sake of a new house and a sewing room with actual light, I guess it's worth it!

Here are all the blocks I managed to finish this weekend:

First up- for Audrey! Two big, bright churn dash blocks to go in her quilt for tornado victims. I wanted to make more but I ran out of white :( But these will be in the mail tomorrow!

Next, my slightly late and slightly difficult to look at bee block for November. The queen asked for bold and bright solids. Hope I didn't go overboard here! The red is Kona Flame if you were wondering. Probably because it burns the retinas. I don't remember what the other two are!

And finally, Ferdinand. Yes, Ferdinand. Do you follow Elizabeth Hartman's blog (is that a stupid question?)? Well then you may have seen her brilliant idea for a quilt along. She will be posting a new 6 inch cat block every day until Christmas. Isn't that awesome?? Instead of going with a solid background I'm doing LV scraps. Partially because I think it will be awesome but also a little because I didn't have enough of any good background fabric to make the whole quilt, small as it is. How sad it that? I need to build up my solids stash...

All 25 cats have their own names, which is amazing. Don't you want to join in? I know you do! Check out the links above for more info and come see what everyone is making by checking out #catventquiltalong on Instagram!

Well, that's what I've been up to. How about you?