Goodbye.

Dear B11,


You've been the best apartment a girl (and her cat sidekick) could ask for for these three years. Though this may be our last night together, may we part with no ill will. You have great light, abundant window sills, and gorgeous sunsets. I even got used to the fog horns, trains, and river funk. I hope you can make someone else as happy and safe as you've made me. 


Love, Melanie.

The best kind of TO DO list...

... is one full of projects you WANT to do, not stuff you HAVE to do!

With that in mind, I have several potential projects in the works, and in order to get the anxiety of moving off of my mind, I've been doing a lot of internet window shopping (with my credit card far far away), and concentrating on things to create.

First things first.  J&C, two of Rob's friends, are expecting twin boys this summer!  And since I only make things anymore (or so it seems) for babies or weddings, I MUST make these babies something awesome!  And simple, because my goodness, there's going to be TWO!  I also firmly believe that every baby should have something handmade.  It's kind of like an unwritten rule for me.

So I bought some blue minkee that is 30" square... and I have the baby fabric from the quilt show.  And Monday afternoon I finally figured out what pattern I wanted to make/use (it had been marinating up in the brains for a while now), so now I just need to get to work!  Minkee by the way is quite possibly the best fabric every invented.  I think I need some of this just hanging around.

Second things... and very ambitious things... I have decided to make the Wiksten Tova Pattern shirt!  Just look at the beautiful versions everyone has made on the Wiksten Flickr Group!  They are beautiful!  And they look great on everyone.  I have a feeling I will have to combine a medium top with a large bottom for the pattern, but there was a Sew-A-Long a few weeks ago, so I think I can do it.  Hopefully with some help from my mom too.  I bought some awesome green and dark orange fabric for it, and I would post a picture, but it's currently in the washer.

Alright, when I have something pretty or frustrating to post, I will.  But until then, time to take down the curtains....

Phew!

What a week it has been!  My epic Spring Break To Do List is about 2 pages long, but I've gotten through about 3/4 of it... which might be a record for a running "to do" list for me.  But I do have a few minutes (whilst finishing my fine glass of $4.99 wine) to update with some pictures!

MOBILE: So there was that Philadelphia Phillies mobile that I made for my friends, Laurie and Parker, and their beautiful new baby boy, Graham.  I went over to visit a week after he was born, and brought them the mobile.  It definitely took longer to finish up than I thought, mostly because threading the yarn through the felted shapes proved to be more difficult than I thought.  And I hate felting round balls.  But anyway, Laurie and Parker LOVE it, and they seem super stoked about the whole thing!  So that's fantastic!

The above picture is most of the mobile completed, it's just hard to see the pennant that says "Graham" up top.  I found the basic pattern for the mobile in a book, and it's actually the third baby mobile I've made.

I had to wait until after the baby was born to make this part of the mobile, because they did a sensible thing and waited to "meet" the baby before officially giving him a name.  It was a cool and different way to do things (these days, at least), but more difficult for crafting purposes!

Close up up the bottom section.

Baby's jersey!  With his own number for 2012 of course!  (This is the back of the mini jersey.)

This is the front of the mini jersey.  I think this is my favorite part of the mobile.  I just wanted to put it on something like a real jersey!

Mini felted baseball.  I tried to make a felted bat, but that didn't go over so well.

Phillies logo!

This is the far away "I have nothing to hold it on but the doorknob" shot.  You get to see a sneak of my "craft room" as well.  I'm really excited about this mobile.  It definitely made the football playoffs easier to watch... so I have a feeling I will be making a lot of crafts during next year's season!

OTHER PROJECTS:  I currently have 2 other baby boy blankets/quilts I need to make, and a baby girl one.  All of the babies are due this summer.  The shower for one baby is in 3 weeks, and I have a feeling I might only have the top of a quilt pieced, if that.  Oh well.  This weekend I'm going home to my parent's in Richmond, so I plan to swing by Quilting Adventures with mom and get some more supplies.

MY DISTRACTION:  As I previously mentioned in my short excuse-filled update, I haven't had time for much blogging or crafting because I'm moving... in two weeks!  Eeeeeeek!  But I must admit, I'm incredibly excited about it!  And of course, there will be plenty of chances for crafting because of the move too!  Just a sneak peak...

That's all for now.  Hopefully I will have a few minutes between praying homage to the corregated god in cardboard form and cleaning that I can keep the sewing machine (and ironing board, and cutting mat, and cutting tools) set up and work on something.  If not for the sake of sewing, than at least for the sake of sanity!  And some stress relief too!