tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10739087246913283822024-03-13T14:43:33.112-07:00The Orange Kitty WorkshopNataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-32816317499316583752012-03-18T12:18:00.001-07:002012-03-18T12:18:10.961-07:00In which the baby is actually napping, so it's posting time, right?The tulip wall hanging is coming along very slowly. I was hoping to get it done by the actual start of spring (which is, what, Wednesday?), but., meh. It won't actually feel like spring for another month in the Pacific Northwest, so I've got some time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFEF9afPtntGQ8mofHMnINDu2KdGlXO70zeeJWQfkQTphyphenhyphen8kduiuLanq4nQUpgeYr0U8cNwFgbgogXNO27HZP2Ek_xWg_SOlZ6JE3BidzVnTQCKcWxX6xOBNC_2pzd82qbVf__K8SNOY/s1600/tulip1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFEF9afPtntGQ8mofHMnINDu2KdGlXO70zeeJWQfkQTphyphenhyphen8kduiuLanq4nQUpgeYr0U8cNwFgbgogXNO27HZP2Ek_xWg_SOlZ6JE3BidzVnTQCKcWxX6xOBNC_2pzd82qbVf__K8SNOY/s400/tulip1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They are actually just a slight modification on the maple leaf block. Shhh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
I am excited for the Rainbow Charm Swap I'm part of. I already know what I'm going to do with all my charms. Behold, my professional, not at all sloppily and hastily Photoshopped together:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDKTATDemPm9Y9ccGPIj9D0FxnKxP9-qFviNsDaXMEasO6hKsB9iomu5qqmZIPDAGNTu52DCw6skSzRz619JJZlwQQw0q7PbNL2WbKQkPO944w0IWBkOZpjX6npt8UNkwMUrF86V7tkSM/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDKTATDemPm9Y9ccGPIj9D0FxnKxP9-qFviNsDaXMEasO6hKsB9iomu5qqmZIPDAGNTu52DCw6skSzRz619JJZlwQQw0q7PbNL2WbKQkPO944w0IWBkOZpjX6npt8UNkwMUrF86V7tkSM/s400/15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used to hate rainbow and grey together until I did a rainbow/grey mug rug for a swap last year. Then suddenly I liked it. Orange Kitty says: "Try new things! They may surprise you! And if it surprises you in a way that gives you horrible stomach cramps, it's probably spoiled, so throw it away!" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I've been wanting to do a chevron quilt for a while, but then I saw the <a href="http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/01/patchwork-chevron-quilt.html">patchwork chevron on Moda Bake Shop </a>and the scrappy-loving part of me said, "THAT'S it, I HAVE to do that!" The great thing about this is that when I ordered my fabric for the charms, I also ordered the solid fabric I'll need for it, and since the charms will be pre-cut, theoretically it should piece together quicker than I'm used to. Thinking ahead, that's a new thing for me...so this is what it's like to be prepared for things ahead of time...<br />
<br />
In yet other news...<a href="http://sana-saroti.blogspot.com/2012/03/liebster-blog-award-is-coming-home.html">Sana</a> awarded me with the Liebster Blog award! Thank you so much, Sana! It's Orange Kitty's very first blog award! So I guess the rules are:<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">1. Thank the person who gave you the award.</span><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><span style="line-height: 24px;">2. Link back to their blog.</span><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><span style="line-height: 24px;">3. Copy and paste the Liebster award to your profile.</span><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><span style="line-height: 24px;">4. Pick 5 blogs that you feel deserve to be in the spotlight (they must have under 200 followers).</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">5. Blog about it and leave a comment for your nominations to let them know that you have chosen their blog.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCxiXvPVu4HKVpkZ0H1SJTWoCeq8cCrAfS8wcrWxl5g8teoGN7ohWAx9gB3rw8ehOqjSbMfh8gIpYSkKBe7fugxUpAvO2KHRnQnDpnAB5FV8UGGQKR5eLyGRLWgNywDmUBTLTm19KN1A/s1600/liebsterblogaward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCxiXvPVu4HKVpkZ0H1SJTWoCeq8cCrAfS8wcrWxl5g8teoGN7ohWAx9gB3rw8ehOqjSbMfh8gIpYSkKBe7fugxUpAvO2KHRnQnDpnAB5FV8UGGQKR5eLyGRLWgNywDmUBTLTm19KN1A/s1600/liebsterblogaward.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So I did a quick scroll of my blogger list and it doesn't look like any of the people I wrote down last week have gotten the award yet. But if they did...well, this is what I get for not blogging about it for a week! Anyway, I award the Liebster Blog Award to: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://slikstitches.com/">Benta of SLIKstitches. </a> She was my swap partner in the very first swap I did as a brand-new blogger last year and I continue to follow her blog because she makes some amazing projects, plus she always has a positive, humorous outlook on things. Visiting her blog is like visiting a old friend's home, it's just so warm and inviting!<br /><br /><a href="http://quietplay.blogspot.com/">Kristy at Quiet Play.</a> She's so creative, her recent toilet toll cover is adorable! She also has a couple of kids that are involved in some of her sewing projects, and it's kind of a neat glimpse into where I might be in a few years with my own kids :)<br /><br /><a href="http://theelvengarden.blogspot.com/">Jess at The Elven Garden</a>. I just started following her recently, and I stick around because everything she makes is so colorful and bright! Visiting her blog is such a visual bombardment of color, it cheers me up every time! I don't know how she does it.<br /><br /><a href="http://findingfifth.blogspot.com/">Fiona at Finding Fifth. </a> I feel like every post she makes, no matter how short, is packed full of information from speaking Hindi to fabric storage tips! After seeing that she plans out her weekly meals on a white board, I got my butt to the store and bought a white board too, and have written down dinners for the last few weeks and not sat around at 6pm whining, "Ugh, I'm so hungry but I don't know what I feel like maaaaaaaking..." (or at least, I haven't whined *quite* as much...)<br /><br /><a href="http://kristastitched.blogspot.com/">Krista at krista stiched.</a> She also uses a lot of bright, fun colors, usually in combinations and shades I wouldn't even think about using, but she makes it work! Her hexagons are downright amazing! I never know what new, crazy project she will be working on whenever I see an update from her!<br /><br />So there's my Liebster Blog Award picks! Please take a moment to visit them if you haven't already--they are all great!<br /><br /><br /> </span>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-49197260262492700742012-03-11T14:42:00.000-07:002012-03-11T14:43:08.677-07:00In which I prepare for spring, a season that Seattle normally skips completely, going straight to summer sometime in late JuneSo we finally took down our Christmas wreath a couple of weeks ago (lazy, I know, shush). The wall it was on has been bare and white since, save for a lone nail sticking out of it. So since spring is coming (kind of...not so much in the Pacific Northwest) I decided to start on a little spring-themed wall hanging.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVqJnfJCdXLDvZyEcMeZVUr7VA7ia5_mxaX42iFkaIny8pv1736-UaRfm1Ep-X71eyc4-bJmKSSWUOgjmvgXyp_Q3i3Al_kTocF2Gsoe2cP4Zv1YctGI5uiRESK7l4Rc-_s5Rli5NqtE/s1600/IMG_0617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVqJnfJCdXLDvZyEcMeZVUr7VA7ia5_mxaX42iFkaIny8pv1736-UaRfm1Ep-X71eyc4-bJmKSSWUOgjmvgXyp_Q3i3Al_kTocF2Gsoe2cP4Zv1YctGI5uiRESK7l4Rc-_s5Rli5NqtE/s640/IMG_0617.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am generally an apathetic fan of flowers, but I have a soft spot for tulips. If that guy in 11th grade had put tulips in my locker instead of red roses, he might have had a chance. Though I still would have been creeped out about how he broke into my locker in the first place.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The thing about having a baby who only takes 20 minute naps is that you have to cram as many things into 20 minutes every couple of hours that you can. Baby's eyes flutter shut? Cram those scrambled eggs down your throat while chugging coffee while running to the bathroom while tossing food at the cats at the same time and wondering if you can set up a little table in the bathroom so you can rotary-cut fabric while on the toilet. Baby wakes up. Entertain baby for 2 hours, baby falls asleep, repeat. It's like a reality game show of Multitasking XXXtreme!<br />
<br />
But the whole thing has inadvertently made me slightly (and I do mean slightly) more organized with sewing. With pieced blocks I have a bad habit of doing only one or two blocks at a time. I'll cut enough fabric for a couple of blocks, piece them together, then start work on the next one or two, leaving all the fabric on the table or floor or whatever while I go eat dinner or whatever. It's fine when you have hours to sit around and sew, but that method was not working for me any more. So with this wall hanging I'm working on, I actually sat and pre-cut all my blocks, then sorted them into little baggies labeled with their dimensions and everything. When I have my 20 minutes to sew, all I do is grab the right color fabric from each little baggie and sew and bam, a block is done. I am sure other people have figured out this method a LONG, LONG time ago, but I'm slow and lazy and all that. Also, Orange Kitty and Gray Kitty recently decided that Fabric On The Floor was the best place to fall asleep and promptly eject huge tufts of fur on. That huge cat tree in the corner just isn't good enough for them because the moral of owning cats is that nothing you put effort into is good enough for them; however, that cardboard box sitting by the door waiting to be recycled is the BEST CAT TOY EVER. Every time.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-18146135098591923762012-03-06T23:34:00.002-08:002012-03-06T23:34:26.825-08:00In which I probably should not whine so muchOk, so I guess I wrote my last blog post when I was tired and irritated, because a bunch of people commented right away on their opinion of Joann's Fabrics. When I reread the post this morning it did come off as kind of whiny and not entirely necessary. I think blogs are for venting as well as sharing nice stuff, but I do feel bad lashing out at an entire chain of stores when I've only had terrible experiences at one. Negativity is not the intended tone of this blog, so I'll try to keep the venting posts to a minimum in the future. Or at least make them a little more humorous!<br />
<br />
On a more positive note...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggX36kvSFq-UV_XldqEwrDR0GhybCsFfTNBMaj01MVKW6tN8t9DIcIvi9zf9rgvbCe-evkpyYZqCCDQ7a41uiASs8_XS3R89ELvmcv1eZLUHERcb1FPWrwkAvLRunF-JOSrC48a7P9QE/s1600/IMG_0605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggX36kvSFq-UV_XldqEwrDR0GhybCsFfTNBMaj01MVKW6tN8t9DIcIvi9zf9rgvbCe-evkpyYZqCCDQ7a41uiASs8_XS3R89ELvmcv1eZLUHERcb1FPWrwkAvLRunF-JOSrC48a7P9QE/s640/IMG_0605.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why yes, those are dinosaur pajamas that she's wearing!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
...the tag blanket that <a href="http://slikstitches.com/">Benta</a> sent me for the goodie swap last year is finally being put to use! The baby (whom I shall hereafter refer to as "Maggie," since that's one of her nicknames) has just figured out she has hands and is starting to pick things up. I learned this when I looked at her last week and she was lifting up the hem of her skirt and flashing her zebra-print diaper at everyone. The other day, after being unable to find her favorite toy (a bendy ball with a bunch of holes in it that makes it easy to pick up)--I have reason to believe it is at the bottom of the laundry basket underneath all the clothes--I remembered I'd put the tag blanket away in a drawer until Maggie could actually use it. So I pulled it out to see...and she likes it! I haven't gotten to use the lovely bib that Jennifer made for me yet, but Maggie will be eating solids in a couple of months and I know we will get a ton of use out of it then.<br /><br />This is making me think back to a sort of giveaway I wanted to do on this blog for a while, but I'll have to mull on the details a little longer. Stay tuned...!</div>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-55471360689440146812012-03-05T20:35:00.000-08:002012-03-05T20:35:18.607-08:00In which I remember why I stopped going to Joann's a long, long time agoYeah, so if you can't tell from the title of my post...I HATE Joann's fabrics.
I am sure in some parts of the country, Joann's is worth going to. Not the one closest to me. For one, <a href="http://www.pacificfabrics.com/">Pacific Fabrics</a>, a local Seattle fabric chain is much, much closer, and even though they're pricier, they carry really nice fabrics and all the people there are super friendly and helpful. The only things I don't like are that the only time they have sales I'm usually out of town (this has happened the last THREE times they've had sales, what are the odds?), and their sales are <i>incredibly</i> rare, as are coupons. Their fabrics are standard price, but all their accessories--notions and thread and rotary blades and stuff--tend to be a dollar or more expensive than I could get elsewhere. But I like going there and it's totally on the way to Target and since I go to Target a lot, I always have an excuse to pop into Pacific Fabrics "just for a spool of thread, oh look how did all these fat quarters get into my basket."<br /><br />And then there's Joann's. It's out of the way for me. It's on a large main road I hate driving down. The last time I was there I witnessed an infuriating conversation between a worker and a customer. The customer was buying buttons and they had rung up at the regular price--not sale price. When she politely pointed this out to the cashier, the cashier flatly told her she was wrong. The customer asked to see a copy of the sale ad to see if she was mistaken, and the cashier laughed and said, "I don't think so. I'm not going to check because I know you're wrong." After a few more heated words, the customer left in a huff without paying...and out of curiosity, when I got home I checked the ad and the buttons were totally on sale. This was just such an awful bit of customer service (plus I don't like their quilting fabrics) that I swore I'd never go back.<br /><br />
But I'm tight on money and I just got a bunch of coupons for them and I need more bobbins and rotary blades and the baby needed fresh air, so I packed us up in the car and drove down the stupid road to Joann's. It took me a full hour to get back out of there, and 10 of that was waiting to get a yard of cheap white solids cut (I have plans for a small wall hanging I don't want to blow my Konas on) because no one was around and another 15 was spent in line because they had one person working the registers who was going. As. Slowly. As. Possible. While another worker just kind of watched for about ten minutes before opening another register. It's not worth the trek there and back to spend 25 minutes waiting around because of their poor customer service. A friend of mine assures that a Joann's in another part of town is better, but it's harder for me to get to. Maybe I'll try that one some day. Maybe.<br /><br />ANYWAY, I got a new rotary blade because--well, I needed it, but I'm also hopefully going to be cutting 168 charm squares for the <a href="http://modernpinkdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/03/charm-swap-update.html">Rainbow Charm Swap</a>, hosted by <a href="http://modernpinkdesigns.blogspot.com/">Sara at Modern Pink Designs </a>(thanks to <a href="http://thepewteracorn.blogspot.com/">Annaliese</a> for mentioning it!). There's only slots for 28 people right now, so join quickly! I've been wanting charm squares because I like wanting things and then buying the things that I wanted, and I especially like getting fabric stuff in the mail, so it should be fun. I want to join more swaps and stuff this year, so point me towards anything quick and easy going on! (That means no double wedding ring quilt swaps!!!)<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://modernpinkdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/03/charm-swap-update.html"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PONqQBE2jiliB9xqtDWbv7YlinI_oVl625l368vjzMubQjHyWknJyvupu-hAlPxLoH4UShwzsKKEPB6sV1K90ILRDi_yCmyI_D4BTgtXNUekaCcUaURbhczuAhb6fxMHVdsjcdIH9y8/s320/rainbow+words.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /><br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-56165576240926882192012-03-01T12:59:00.000-08:002012-03-01T13:00:34.828-08:00In which I might not be a small blog anymore if I bothered to update on a regular scheduleHello, those of you who are coming in from the small blog meet! I'm Natalie, a new mom, and someone who likes to do things without thinking them all the way through. Which may, in part, explain why I'm a new mom, but I digress. Mostly I like to sew but I often take on other crafty projects as well, with my husband, new baby girl, and two gigantic cats tagging along for the ride. I'm trying to get back to updating somewhat regularly after the craziness that is the first three months of having a baby, but please bear with me and any strange, disjointed thoughts I may have. Enjoy.<br /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center"><a href="http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/" title="Lily's Quilts"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6941827867_47a1264625_m.jpg" alt="Lily's Quilts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-52953966612385272382012-02-29T14:56:00.002-08:002012-02-29T14:56:49.604-08:00In which it will be 4 years before I have another post dated February 29Happy leap year day...or something? Anyway, I've had to suspend working on my string quilt due to me not making it to the fabric store yet to pick up more cotton thread. Also I'm <strike>afraid</strike> positive that I will not be able to walk out of there with JUST a spool of thread...I mean, technically I do need some more solid white for the border of the string quilt, but I don't think I've ever left the fabric store with just a single yardage of fabric, either. And I can't just blow my income on random fabric anymore since I don't HAVE an income anymore.<br /><br />However, I do have another project to work on. Even though we're in a tiny apartment, we have a decent sized patio, so for the last couple of summers I've been able to have container plants growing out there. After two years of having peppers die on me within hours of planting them, cucumbers succumb to powdery mildew no matter what, squirrels digging up my garlic because Seattle squirrels apparently need a stash of garlic to defend against vampires, and me accidentally managing to snap my tomato plants in half while trying to tie them to a stake (who DOES that???), I have a pretty good idea of what will be successful and what won't. Snap peas have always grown well, but last year I kind of had to cobble together a trellis for them. This year I wanted a real trellis, but I couldn't find one that would fit my containers.<br /><br />So the other day, Baby was FUSS FUSS FUSS so I drove to Fred Meyer, strapped her in our Ergo carrier, and began walking around. After about an hour of wandering around, I was ready to go, but she'd fallen asleep...naturally. Obviously not wanting her to wake up, I walked around for another hour until I noticed workers starting to stare at me as I hiked past (well, really, there aren't a ton of people at a Fred Meyer at 11am on a Monday...we stood out). I ran into the garden section, grabbed some wooden stakes, and bought them before finally driving home, then plopped Baby into her bouncer and busted out my husband's tools before realizing I had NO idea how to actually build a trellis. I managed to saw everything to the right size but I didn't know how to put anything together. Probably because I didn't really research or think of anything past "I want to build a trellis."<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsIF_wdbo-l1BHp3NPJTnYC1XkUUdBgq0zCE9xNBl65wRn7AMaGECWYM_jsl6iZ554gF48Cp9Fpwv2Y_zxU95nXJzUxQxznnj6bjdXKsvMP5YTi_mLf7vr5lHbCwGh__Rl9RMun5ONsU/s1600/IMG_0589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsIF_wdbo-l1BHp3NPJTnYC1XkUUdBgq0zCE9xNBl65wRn7AMaGECWYM_jsl6iZ554gF48Cp9Fpwv2Y_zxU95nXJzUxQxznnj6bjdXKsvMP5YTi_mLf7vr5lHbCwGh__Rl9RMun5ONsU/s640/IMG_0589.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orange Kitty shot up to 17lbs shortly after the baby was born. I think he is trying out outpace her growth. Grey Kitty is probably already over the 20lb threshold. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm still winging it. We'll see how things hold up. Stay tuned for the next few months to see if the minute a wine tries to cling onto my trellis, the whole thing collapses and squishes all my plants.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-50571404900869027532012-02-26T11:46:00.000-08:002012-02-26T11:46:14.690-08:00In which I kind of stop procrastinatingHoly cow, I knew it'd been a while since I last updated, but not THAT long. Oh well.<br /><br />Little baby orange kitty is now a bit more predictable with her naps, etc. Sure, I could do the dishes or vacuum or any of the other chores that have been woefully ignored for the last three months, but sewing is more important. I've been working on small baby-related projects for the last couple of months and it's as fun as it gets when you're making nursing pads and diapers.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4v5Mj3gC0piNH9wWAOg5WB0UrLVJb_YCziZ62BqMI9jj3m7RjEukTMKJGdAp_kK5rH2YP8b7-JqpOOk7affyp2FZ5CMXjPVPFqmBR2ap4FDLTklemgBqUhRUJtQONH-oktdKsQWsFHI/s1600/nursingpads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4v5Mj3gC0piNH9wWAOg5WB0UrLVJb_YCziZ62BqMI9jj3m7RjEukTMKJGdAp_kK5rH2YP8b7-JqpOOk7affyp2FZ5CMXjPVPFqmBR2ap4FDLTklemgBqUhRUJtQONH-oktdKsQWsFHI/s400/nursingpads.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are super easy to whip up, even if slightly imperfect. If I remember, I'll make a tutorial next time I sew a pair. Making these made me wish I had a serger, though.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm a cloth freak. I like using cloth things over disposable things (except toilet paper...some people use "family cloth," but REALLY, I'd rather just flush that stuff down the toilet. There are limits to my hippie-ness). Even in 2012, people seem shocked when I mention we're cloth diapering. When I tell them that cloth diapers come in super-easy snaps, velcro, and cute prints these days instead of pins and plastic pants, they say, "Oh, but doesn't that make a TON of dirty laundry?" Yeah, but I've noticed having a baby=more laundry regardless. That cute outfit I put on her at 9am is covered in spit-up by noon, and then at her 1pm changing she kicks her pant leg into a dirty diaper, then spits up all over the changing table cover AND outfit #2 AND me and then the cat pukes on the bed or something and there's a load of laundry right there. It is really no biggie to have to wash a load of diapers every other day on top of everything else, and this is coming from a lazy person who hates doing all chores (yeah, I'm like an overgrown 5 year old, I know).<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFEbjb3paK0j0QgYO7vORUapqYnAE8HL4KW5hqcbh6osk5yIu0F810c__0VG8g4ZiDEVG0fMCHs4yoMVV1SM5SwwNMttrzDZZEs-CQUkxsWxltXr4sXrbEQ3WqCWZEKx7N75cQZSWD3E/s1600/fitteds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFEbjb3paK0j0QgYO7vORUapqYnAE8HL4KW5hqcbh6osk5yIu0F810c__0VG8g4ZiDEVG0fMCHs4yoMVV1SM5SwwNMttrzDZZEs-CQUkxsWxltXr4sXrbEQ3WqCWZEKx7N75cQZSWD3E/s400/fitteds.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I made about ten of these over the course of two months. Suffice to say I way overbought some basic flat prefold diapers, so I just converted some to this "fitted" type rather than buy more...can you tell I was blowing through my spare thread when I was making these?<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
ANYWAY, last week a friend came by with super-soft cuddle fabric (knowing that I am always receptive to gifts of fabric) and suggested I make a blanket for little Elly with it. I got all excited at the thought, then remembered the many unfinished projects in my closet. I pulled out the string quilt I've been slowly working on for a while and realized I had enough blocks to piece together, said "Cool," and finally sewed them together. Somehow I managed to sew the "top" four rows <i>underneath</i> the "bottom" three rows, but since it's a scrap quilt anyway, you can't tell (oh thank heavens). Then I went to sew on a border, but as I stepped on the presser foot, my sewing machine made that oh-so-subtle change in sound that made me stop, and look....and sure enough, I was completely out of white cotton thread. I NEVER run out of white cotton thread. I'm sure that a few months ago I made a mental note to buy more thread the next time I went to the fabric store, but then I had a baby and totally forgot and at that point it was 11pm and way too late to run out and grab more.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EX72uTwV8VckJTKeDxEjFiLxKAUhTP5NQr2lb3XikVFNBDW766KsQ1b7uXMwhj95QfWPZP4VxKiJrt399f2NYP4ppDOpjomwkKf9713krloTbJCEBHrJz8_xIF9NyKISYNESsyoz56c/s1600/scrappyquilt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EX72uTwV8VckJTKeDxEjFiLxKAUhTP5NQr2lb3XikVFNBDW766KsQ1b7uXMwhj95QfWPZP4VxKiJrt399f2NYP4ppDOpjomwkKf9713krloTbJCEBHrJz8_xIF9NyKISYNESsyoz56c/s640/scrappyquilt.jpg" width="572" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the nice things about not being pregnant anymore is that I can stand on a chair and lean over to take a picture without fearing that I will tumble forward flat on my face.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />So the string quilt top is still in progress. My goal is to have it totally done by the end of March, because some friends may visit and it'd be nice to throw the quilt on top of the guest airbed. My secondary goal is to actually get around to updating this blog more...I've missed sewing and the blogging world. Sharing projects with the Internet allows me to step back and look at my projects with a critical eye to see where I could improve and such, and get feedback from others. It's nice.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-30736455079391600672012-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:002012-01-05T11:40:45.959-08:00In which there is much procrastinatingSo, you know like 90% of Part Two of my birth story has been written for a month. I just haven't bothered to finish and post it. In my defense, it's hard to type with one hand when the other is holding a baby (or shoving a very hungry orange kitty off your desk once he noticed you were distracted with the new little squalling pet in your arms and jumped up to the desk to attempt to steal the meat portion of your breakfast)...but, I've obviously found some time to type now, so laziness is partially to blame.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n1sbvBUD0Bs/TwX7GINyITI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ln4ywzcTw5U/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n1sbvBUD0Bs/TwX7GINyITI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ln4ywzcTw5U/s640/IMG_0316.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm just so cute, Mom can't be assed to drag herself away from me for five minutes to finish up a blog post that's been a month in the making. Or so she says.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The Mom thing? Yeah, it's hard. I found a little time to sew early on. I made a bunch of cloth nursing pads that turned out pretty well after the first few tries. Too bad there isn't a huge market for cloth nursing pads that would let me make a viable income by selling them on etsy or whatever. Quilts are kind of on the backburner for now, which is annoying since I have so many in progress. But I need really small, short projects right now to get me back into the swing of things. Anyway, have a little preview of my current project. If I'm not using my baby as an excuse to be lazy, you may see a post about it sometime soon!<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TWVCTL1RAww/TwX6te3oxQI/AAAAAAAAAOM/WzwUUx_eXD4/s1600/IMG_0318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TWVCTL1RAww/TwX6te3oxQI/AAAAAAAAAOM/WzwUUx_eXD4/s640/IMG_0318.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Of course it's diaper related. Babies tend to sort of make everything suddenly about them, you know? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-6977221818133932232011-12-24T23:55:00.000-08:002011-12-24T23:55:07.777-08:00In which it is Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Merry Christmas from everyone at the Orange Kitty Workshop! We will return to our irregularly scheduled blogging within the next week! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qz_Zh7DavV8/TvbWEQVK01I/AAAAAAAAANs/aVA3nxvoKRk/s1600/IMG_0144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qz_Zh7DavV8/TvbWEQVK01I/AAAAAAAAANs/aVA3nxvoKRk/s640/IMG_0144.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-52728871787378287892011-12-07T18:58:00.000-08:002011-12-07T15:24:35.205-08:00In which things go GUSH GUSH: A Birth Story, Part OneI don't know what it is, but I love reading people's birth stories. Maybe it's because everyone has a completely different experience, yet the outcome is the same: A cute little baby amid a torrent of various body fluids after so many hours of ridiculous pain. Anyway, here is the first part of my birth story and I'll try to keep the details about my various body fluids to a minimum.<br />
<br />
So, the Thursday before I went into labor, I woke up at 5am to pee. Nothing new there, being 38 weeks pregnant and all. I rolled over to get up and OH HOLY CRAP the abdominal pain was incredible. I stayed half-slumped over the bed, feet on the floor, not sure if I should continue standing up or yell across the bed at my husband to wake up. But my bladder screamed, "HELLO, IT'S PEE TIME NOW NOW NOW" and I managed to quickly waddle across the apartment to the bathroom with no accidents happening.<br />
<br />
I had quit work at 37 weeks because of bad pelvic pain. This was way worse and I wondered if I was in labor, but it was a super constant pain, not pain that came and went like I figured contractions would. I have a fairly high pain tolerance, so the thought that this might just be the beginning and I had somewhere between 12 and 24 hours of labor to go sent me into a ceiling-staring panic coma until my husband, R, woke up a couple of hours later. <br />
<br />
R: Morning, honey.<br />
Me: I'M IN TERRIBLE PELVIC PAIN<br />
R: Oh god where is the hospital bag should we go to the birth center now?<br />
Me: ............Nah, I don't think it's labor.<br />
R: THEN WHY<br />
<br />
I had thought the baby had "dropped" (that is, moved further down in my pelvis in preparation for birth) a few days earlier because I could suddenly breathe much better and my tummy sagged lower. But NOW she had<i> really</i> dropped, and the terrible pain was her head chilling out as low as possible without me being in labor. Thanks, baby. I spent the next couple of days in bed with my Kindle, with my husband bringing me meals (woot!), and by Sunday morning I felt well enough to be up and at my computer and got my own breakfast while my husband headed off to work.<br />
<br />
At this point, I assumed labor was "near," but I wasn't sure how "near." Both my husband and I had a feeling that the baby would come early, but now we were only 4 days away from her due date and I was beginning to doubt she'd be early and figured she'd be two weeks late, just to piss me off and prove my instincts wrong. Around 2:30pm, I yanked out a half-square triangle quilt in progress, sat down at my computer, and plugged my camera battery into its charger for some super happy quilt progress picture time.<br />
<br />
And then there it was again, the familiar pregnant urge to pee. Now, every single website and pregnancy book out there had a little passage about water breaking, and they all said pretty much the same thing as this article from <a href="http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/symptoms-and-solutions/water-breaking-during-pregnancy.aspx">whattoexpect.com</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>"Only a very small percentage of women experience the rupture of the amniotic sac before they go into labor, so chances are good you'll have plenty of warning (or that you'll already be in the hospital). If your water does break in public, it probably won't come as an embarrassing flood but rather a slow trickle (or a small gush) of colorless and odorless amniotic fluid. "</i><br />
<br />
So I was completely unprepared for raising my butt an inch off my chair and having a huge GUSH of fluid suddenly blow up all over my pants, my robe, my legs, my chair, and the carpet. The lazy cats glanced up from their nap and blinked confusingly at me as I waddle-ran past them, screaming, "Oh no oh no what the hell, those FREAKING LIARS IT IS GUSHING EVERYWHERE."<br />
<br />
In the bathroom I sat on the toilet, panicking and cursing every single pregnancy book and blog out there for lying to me. After a moment I crammed some towels between my legs and hobbled back to my desk to call the birth center. Somehow they managed to decipher my babbles of "Water broke GUSH GUSH yes I'm Natalie GBS-positive HELP" and calmly instructed me to come in within the next hour or so to get my IV antibiotics started due to me being <a href="http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/groupbstrepinfection.html">Group B Strep+</a>. I thanked them, slammed the phone down, then immediately picked it up again and dialed my husband at work.<br />
<br />
R: Hello, Interlibary Loan Department, this is R spe-<br />
Me: YEAH YOU NEED TO COME HOME NOW<br />
R: .....Um, ok???<br />
Me: MY WATER BROKE AND WE HAVE TO GO IN <i>NOW</i><br />
R: ..............!!! All right, I'll be back shortl-<br />
Me: THANKS *slams down phone*<br />
<br />
After hanging up on R, as I started wildly throwing last-minute necessities into my hospital bag, like my Nintendo DS and a canister of mixed nuts, a contraction hit me. It was unmistakable. Things were getting <i>real.</i><br />
<br />
R rushed home and, having not taken his lunch break, crammed half a rotisserie chicken down his throat as I continued to toss completely useless things into my hospital bag. I dumped about half a bag of cat food on the floor for the cats, not knowing entirely how long we'd be gone (they were very happy about this). As I started to head out the door, I paused for a moment; there was a thought deep in my mind that I simply could not put into words: "This is it. When you come back to this apartment, it will be with a baby. YOUR baby." I didn't let myself think it, but it was there. I knew my life was about to change tremendously, and I simply couldn't quite handle thinking about it at the moment. Also, my contractions were getting stronger, and feeling biting pain down near your nether regions kind of distracts you from momentary deep, philosophical tangents. We closed the door to the sounds of cats happily munching and headed down the hallway.<br />
<i><br /><b>To be continued in, unsurprisingly, part two...</b></i><br />
<br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-90773848771420618222011-12-06T21:09:00.001-08:002011-12-06T21:14:42.950-08:00In which I am STILL STILL a small blogRight, so I know it's already the 6th, but I'm jumping in on the <a href="http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/">small blog meet</a> again. I have a feeling I'm going to be 6 days late on EVERYTHING for a while.<br /><br />If you're a new reader, welcome to the Orange Kitty Workshop. Sewing things are kind of on hiatus right now as I'm the proud and tired new mother of a two-week old baby and two jealous but lazy cats. Bear with me and the OMG BABY posts for a while, though I hope to get some more sewing-project posts up somewhat soon. Really, the Orange Kitty Workshop isn't just about quilts, it's about EVERYTHING. Life itself is kind of a workshop, no?Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-57279541638646118192011-12-04T19:32:00.001-08:002011-12-05T12:03:30.130-08:00In which I remember to post on my blog after two weeks of crazinessFinally, things have calmed down a bit. Honestly, it's kind of like I stepped into an alternate dimension two weeks ago, and I just stepped back out, and I'm not sure how to get back to "normal" life plus Baby. We've had a super steady stream of family visiting and helping out since the baby was born, but now it's just the three of us, alone, and it's weird. It'll be even weirder when my husband goes back to work next week and it's just me and the baby. I've always dreamed of being able to stay home, but at the same time, I've held some sort of job nonstop since I was 18 and in college, so now it's strange to suddenly not have a daily schedule to adhere to. I don't NEED to be anywhere by 7 or 8am, I don't have to eat lunch between 1 and 2pm, and I don't need to make a list of groceries to buy for dinner on the way home from work. I am sure the comfort of adhering to a schedule not made by yourself comes back into play when kids are school-aged, and you HAVE to get them to school by a certain time in the morning and whatnot, but when it's just me and a newborn at home--there is no set schedule. I COULD try to make up something like, "Ok, I'll wake up at 8 and we'll take a walk at 10 and eat at 12" but that doesn't really fly with a two-week-old who may be screaming at 8 and dead asleep at 10 and damn if I'm going to wake her up just so we can walk around the block because my schedule told me to.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
Basically this whole thing is a huge learning experience and the good thing is that I should have tons of time to sew when the baby is asleep (if I am not napping as well), so more "workshop" related posts should come soon. I mean, honest to (insert deity here), the day my water broke and I went into labor, I had laid out an unfinished quit on my bed and was preparing to take pictures with my new camera and write up a post about my progress. But then my water blew up all over my desk chair as I was at my computer and less than 12 hours later, I had a baby in my arms.<br /><br />And in case you were wondering, Orange Kitty has no idea what the hell a baby is and mostly curiously keeps his distance. However, after a week of observing us taking nonstop pictures of her in her little bouncy chair, he decided to try to get in on the action. I think we have a jealous cat.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhMiiBgCZ6PM9wD73O5tAKJPNjvIgDe35ZSTh8C-xpD-K8zJ5kknbJdIsfjHfWCfQnTXJDiHcntAOCT1qkhSW2ZScbGH9iXCzvFTNRSBYf5fYb7tZ-uaPuJR9kGZz9HAhqh_dMBFmzLk/s1600/IMG_0148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhMiiBgCZ6PM9wD73O5tAKJPNjvIgDe35ZSTh8C-xpD-K8zJ5kknbJdIsfjHfWCfQnTXJDiHcntAOCT1qkhSW2ZScbGH9iXCzvFTNRSBYf5fYb7tZ-uaPuJR9kGZz9HAhqh_dMBFmzLk/s640/IMG_0148.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If I sit in here, you'll take pictures of me for people to coo over, right?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-50677674822510319482011-11-21T13:55:00.001-08:002011-11-21T14:07:00.308-08:00In which I become a Mom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So I was going to post about my new camera and how much I like it compared to other ones, and maybe talk about one of my quilts in progress. But I had a baby, so you can have a picture of her instead--taken with my new camera, of course. You don't mind, right?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPeT-RLcx2007scTyC07PzD7CQm858RxOc0JkgGI_v3_Hmglngp5Y30pjZF21soZPRIX0lSDzjp2TS1JlSVf4nyUGgaMfkF6c8qybb8yOFI6dbgyCEGS9VNsxAP1dCy4um_IEOg1DzSg/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPeT-RLcx2007scTyC07PzD7CQm858RxOc0JkgGI_v3_Hmglngp5Y30pjZF21soZPRIX0lSDzjp2TS1JlSVf4nyUGgaMfkF6c8qybb8yOFI6dbgyCEGS9VNsxAP1dCy4um_IEOg1DzSg/s640/IMG_0048.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Elena "Elly" Magdalene<br />11/21/11 2:12am</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'll probably post a bit of birth story once we are discharged from the birth center and go home. Is it any surprise that I'm anxious to see how Orange Kitty reacts to a baby?!</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-28246565534641057762011-11-14T13:05:00.001-08:002011-11-14T13:18:03.543-08:00In which I talk about cameras, not quilts or sewing or kittiesI am sure some of you have noticed that the pictures on this blog are...well, subpar. While I certainly make no claims about my photography skills, I must put some of the blame on my camera. I've been using a 7 year old Kodak EasyShare that I cannot stand to take all my pictures. It's old enough to be a digital camera with an actual little viewfinder still on it, and the digital screen on it is TINY! It takes 5 seconds from turning it on for it to be ready to snap a picture, and it's fat and clunky and the flash isn't very strong anymore. The only good thing I can say about it is that, for being a 7 year old camera, it still works!<br /><br />I had a more modern Samsung digital camera that I liked a lot, but it died back in, oh, January? And I just never got around to replacing it because the old Kodak one worked "well enough." However, this weekend it finally occurred to me that, "Hey, we have a baby due in less than two weeks. Maybe THIS is a good excuse to finally get a new camera?" After consulting my younger brother (who is a great photographer--you can check out some of his stuff at <a href="http://classicallygeeky.tumblr.com/">Classically Geeky</a>), I ordered a Canon ELPH 300. As much as I'd love a $500 camera, I just can't afford it right now, but since the only things I ever take pictures of are cats and quilts (and soon to be baby), I don't need anything TOO fancy. Anyway, the whole point is that I'm getting a new camera and I'm excited because who doesn't like new stuff? Later this week I'll post some pictures and then we'll see if it WAS the 7 year old camera making my pics kind of subpar, or if I really am just a crap photographer!Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-60484799423830806682011-11-08T15:48:00.000-08:002011-11-08T15:50:58.416-08:00In which I become a Stay-At-Home-Mom without actually being a mom yetShortly after my last post, I decided I was done, done, done with the working-for-pay world (at least, for the remainder of my pregnancy). So I told my boss I'd stop working the next Friday (coincidentally, pay day, so I got to pick up my paycheck...), told the <a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-which-i-talk-about-old-project.html">preschoolers to ask someone else to tie their shoes</a>, celebrated at the thought of not having to spend my mornings outside in 38 degree weather anymore, and was DONE.<br />
<br />
After a weekend of visitors, I found myself with actual free time yesterday morning. It was bizarre, as even when I would normally take vacation time, I'd usually be busy travelling or at least preparing to travel or whatever. I was always doing SOMETHING. At the moment I am literally sitting at home waiting to go into labor, which may happen tonight, or three weeks from now. Other than "pack and repack hospital bag, wash dishes, pet kitty," what else is there to do?<br />
<br />
SEW, of course. The sewing machine had sat silent and idle for at least two weeks, as I just haven't had the time or energy to work on any sort of sewing project. Yesterday I flipped it on, loaded up some thread, and mused over what I wanted to do. I didn't feel like working on a quilt since I wasn't fully back into "sewing mode" yet, so I pulled out a bunch of cheap, slightly used Gerber prefold diapers that we were planning to use as burp cloths, yanked out some scraps, and sewed away.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0cVhr67SBwiZLjSXLZmSA2514qdtVsj30H-dFsbNYLCz2-iiu85fgqF6kcImuckUoDMXmiPx0pn6eRKyoD41pIT1pj4CEIQtjSIPlYxxl3kHvqFgpP2il1tBeuW23t1-0B_l0DGVmy8/s1600/BurpCloth1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0cVhr67SBwiZLjSXLZmSA2514qdtVsj30H-dFsbNYLCz2-iiu85fgqF6kcImuckUoDMXmiPx0pn6eRKyoD41pIT1pj4CEIQtjSIPlYxxl3kHvqFgpP2il1tBeuW23t1-0B_l0DGVmy8/s640/BurpCloth1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, the dinosaur love shows up even on a cloth meant to be puked on. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
There are a bunch of tutorials on how to embellish burp cloths out there, but I didn't follow any particular one. I just grabbed some scraps and ric-rac and sewed away. I even used the opportunity to practice my binding skills (which could always use some work) on one of the cloths. I like how they turned out and I'll probably spice up a couple more this week. Or, knowing me, go totally overboard and make like 50 burp cloths, which probably won't actually be a problem since I'm sure we'll have the spit-uppiest kid ever. Anyway, I'll probably be sewing a lot now that I have the time, so look forward to more updates, which will probably get more and more insane as my pregnancy progresses towards my due date with no sign of labor in sight. Can one induce labor by sewing too much?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19QSy6XJY68pZTzaCxi2DVtJ3RnX_k3LRwwj8sowMMkvBQeSpNB7w7Tx8eRNlNrajlItprhTRtizY2DouniyUT3PG2JoYMYhSk1wWz1X7KfCRh4zBu7qcW54xjABeQ-niYuqIJPSM4po/s1600/BurpCloth2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19QSy6XJY68pZTzaCxi2DVtJ3RnX_k3LRwwj8sowMMkvBQeSpNB7w7Tx8eRNlNrajlItprhTRtizY2DouniyUT3PG2JoYMYhSk1wWz1X7KfCRh4zBu7qcW54xjABeQ-niYuqIJPSM4po/s640/BurpCloth2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the upper left: a couple of store-bought baby legwarmers, and a bunch sewed by my mom! This baby is going to be spoiled by handmade things! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-65718135301574864612011-10-27T17:51:00.000-07:002011-10-27T17:51:20.865-07:00In which I talk about an old project because I've been way too lazy lately to make anything newSo I'm not dead, nor do I have a baby yet. I've just been exhausted--even though I work part-time, my job requires me to stand outside most of the morning chasing after preschoolers, and the standing + cold Seattle rain + being asked to tie shoes, because being 36 weeks pregnant apparently triggers the "Oh, let's ask the teacher with a belly as big as a watermelon and stinging pelvic pain to BEND DOWN and tie our shoes every five minutes!" logic in 4 year olds, has completely wiped me out this week. Usually when I stay home sick or something, I'm able to relax and use an hour or two to sew, but this week I've mostly been stuffing my face, then stuffing my face with Tums, then curling up beneath an electric blanket to "read," which tends to result in me taking several-hour naps. And the whole time, Baby Orange Kitty is happily kicking away at my ribs like she's practicing to be a jackhammer when she grows up and showing no signs of coming early. I mean, I know the longer she's in there, the better, but man, it'd be nice to finally have a baby in my arms that reassures me that all the pregnancy pains + puking + etc. weren't for nothing.<br /><br />One thing I did do lately that was sewing-related was fix up a small wall hanging I'd forgotten about. Well, not really "forgotten"--it's been hanging in my bathroom, but I just kind of ignored it every time I walked in there since I wasn't happy with it. I'd made it to practice the hourglass block, and it was also the first thing I completely finished quilting and binding. So why didn't I like it?<br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XVGsADlFh-rGdOYykTVitqFtcvtoOWGaysGdh-ztgydZXzR6UhoXSx1YfJ4-AEq-Pl1UOVAxmDJVa3hbd7ZN3mQ0EnkH5ElCQL3AdaFgJUlfDqxXI9Cdux_yoB_tTE8uv74IrHtrLPU/s1600/103_1477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XVGsADlFh-rGdOYykTVitqFtcvtoOWGaysGdh-ztgydZXzR6UhoXSx1YfJ4-AEq-Pl1UOVAxmDJVa3hbd7ZN3mQ0EnkH5ElCQL3AdaFgJUlfDqxXI9Cdux_yoB_tTE8uv74IrHtrLPU/s640/103_1477.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Well, first of all, it's not terrible, considering I made this when I still barely knew anything about quilting. I liked how the design came out and considering I had no idea how to bind, the binding came out all right too. Also, I had no walking foot--I didn't know what one was--so yes, the grid quilting was done with just a normal multipurpose foot that came with my machine, hence why it looks like I was tackling quilting after having a couple shots of bourbon. Even then, it wasn't really the wobbliness that bugged me--it was that I quilted using plain white thread and the diamonds were way too small. The quilting completely overtakes the rest of the design, in my opinion. If I had used a darker thread OR a larger grid, I would have been happier, I think. Or I could've just kicked back some more bourbon and then I REALLY wouldn't care what it looked like, but I'm thinking that's not really the best way to fix a quilting goof. A fun way, perhaps, but not the best way.<br /><br />So in lieu of sewing (if someone can figure out a way to setup a sewing machine + table and supplies in bed, like a breakfast-in-bed tray but way bigger, please tell me), I decided to attempt to make this little wall hanging a little more visually attractive. I sat down with my best friend, the seam ripper, and ripped. And ripped. And thought of all the little brats at work daring to ask the pregnant lady to impossibly bend over to tie their shoes, and ripped some more.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttfh98sNX2MvEimFEfybBapu8kqrk6WjwGyieL7ZwKx8BLcfT_06uPJKnXvzsIdjRsQ90jtMjYq_e2OIMdpSvXSFjLiHX-hu6ngyW9EPJIcX_1OEPWh_5y2zw5juSTF-EmXB3JTmVPzE/s1600/103_1617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttfh98sNX2MvEimFEfybBapu8kqrk6WjwGyieL7ZwKx8BLcfT_06uPJKnXvzsIdjRsQ90jtMjYq_e2OIMdpSvXSFjLiHX-hu6ngyW9EPJIcX_1OEPWh_5y2zw5juSTF-EmXB3JTmVPzE/s640/103_1617.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />There we go! I think if I were to redo the whole thing, I'd practice some free-motion quilting on it instead, but I think the grid quilting is large enough now that it doesn't immediately detract from the design as a whole. It's definitely not perfect but it WAS one of the first quilting projects I ever did. It's nice to compare it to more recent projects and see how I've improved over time. I'd love to see other people post about projects they completed when they first started quilting and how far they've come since then!<br /><br /><br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-42134612712543358672011-10-14T17:34:00.000-07:002011-10-14T17:34:30.575-07:00Free Motion Friday #2: In which I do somewhat better than last weekLast week's<a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/10/free-motion-friday-1-in-which-i.html"> Shadow Waves</a> didn't go over so well. So, confession: While I was reading through everyone else's entries from last week, I noticed a few people mentioned "Oh, I forgot to set my stitch length to 0, but once I did, things were a lot easier!" And in my arrogant mind I'm like, "Ha ha, who doesn't check their stitch length before starting to sew?" I hadn't touched my sewing machine since the horrible Shadow Waves attempt, so I sat down at my sewing machine the next day and noticed...<br />
<br />
Yeah, my stitch length was set to 3. WHOOPS. Talk about eating humble pie (or humble sugar-free cheesecake, in my case, anyway) or whatever. So I set my stitch length to 0, bit my lip, and attempted Drop Art.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAJ3ixFXt1lOu1E64rVSut0-0ckv8Pm-d-TxtIUzDv5Sxrnuo1IoJ3aQwhxoKVViJ5caWYPN4Un91DwPc5fMien_fkwO7j0FPT0tfGFZd_RjzjXwN9JvvaJ0bHabQID30dayu0N3PN2w/s1600/FMF2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAJ3ixFXt1lOu1E64rVSut0-0ckv8Pm-d-TxtIUzDv5Sxrnuo1IoJ3aQwhxoKVViJ5caWYPN4Un91DwPc5fMien_fkwO7j0FPT0tfGFZd_RjzjXwN9JvvaJ0bHabQID30dayu0N3PN2w/s400/FMF2-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I apologize for the poor quality photo, but my inlaws are coming to visit tonight and "OMG need to clean NOW" takes precedence over "Carefully toggle color and brightness balance in Photoshop for small blog picture that is orange like all the kitty hair I need to vacuum up!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Hey, it looks a lot better this week! I was able to keep a more constant stitch length and somehow making drops was easier than making wiggly lines. It's still obvious where I wobbled a bit, and it was way harder to make the bottom teardrops than the top, but overall, an improvement from last week. One thing I just can't get down is following the edge of my square when going from one teardrop to the next--I cannot freaking sew directly on top of that stupid line, no matter how hard I try, so it's all wiggly and stuff. I guess on patterned fabric it wouldn't really show up, but it bugs me when I can see it so well on my solids. And yeah, I totally misjudged the size of my last teardrop, so that's why there's a huge gap on the left. Oh well. Practice, right?<br />
<br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-82734468561433866532011-10-07T21:07:00.000-07:002011-10-07T21:07:27.858-07:00Free Motion Friday #1: In which I discover I really, really suck at free motion quiltingI've joined up with <a href="http://fluffysheepquilting.blogspot.com/2011/10/free-motion-friday-week-1-wave.html">Cindy's Free Motion Friday</a>, where every week she posts a new free motion quilting design from the <a href="http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/">Free Motion Quilting Project</a>. Then anyone who wants can practice the design all week and post their results every Friday. Since I've been wanting to do more than grids and stippling, I thought this would be great.<br />
<br />
And this week was great in that I sat down at my machine and practiced. What wasn't great were my results. First off I wasn't sure what to practice on. I have TONS of scraps, but since I'm also working on three scrap quilts right now, I didn't want to use up all my large scraps on quilting practice. I found some white knit fabric shoved in the back of my closet and did my first attempt on that, but it was terrible because the knit fabric was stretchy and pulled too much while I was trying to guide my fabric. I guess the design came out all right for a first try, but you can see my stitch length is all over the place and the fabric went from being a square to being a....not-square.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVMM8-VLCR9CYI1Iwz2HusW9ZzYjhJm7WjL8SK4DIj1dGDlVV8ixU3_kX4j20phY-ZUwjAv4HSaTvI2ppsmas9HtnLNx22rPiSJ2KoUBXSu5NkZF1_2cmuEY0fjKlDVREP6zQN2Bp7gM/s1600/FMF1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVMM8-VLCR9CYI1Iwz2HusW9ZzYjhJm7WjL8SK4DIj1dGDlVV8ixU3_kX4j20phY-ZUwjAv4HSaTvI2ppsmas9HtnLNx22rPiSJ2KoUBXSu5NkZF1_2cmuEY0fjKlDVREP6zQN2Bp7gM/s400/FMF1-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like my sewing machine had a seizure on the left side of the block...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
At the bottom of one of my scrap Rubbermaid tubs, I found some really cheap white solid cotton so I spray-basted that to some scrap flannel (just for bulk) and tried again. This time, guiding the fabric through my machine was MUCH easier, though my hands slipped a lot more than usual--I always thought quilting gloves sounded stupid, but now I see how they could be helpful. My stitch length is far more even, but the design....eh. The first couple of lines on the left are actually pretty nice, but then I got impatient or something and the rest are kind of pointy and jerky. It's less "Shadow Waves" and more "Shadow Someone-Threw-A-Freaking-Boulder-Into-The-Ocean-Waves."</div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TcyhLVO4xaBlPD8kVwycacM986SHnLhyphenhyphenFMZYtefHzi1ZLp_FTJHzTD0_INQm6smc60IgNVryWWe7T0SO3yikIkKPzu-Q1AxXxVSQ1sD1kay0sc9hlWM-4E8YNya-26Zy-9meWwnyTOg/s1600/FMF1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TcyhLVO4xaBlPD8kVwycacM986SHnLhyphenhyphenFMZYtefHzi1ZLp_FTJHzTD0_INQm6smc60IgNVryWWe7T0SO3yikIkKPzu-Q1AxXxVSQ1sD1kay0sc9hlWM-4E8YNya-26Zy-9meWwnyTOg/s400/FMF1-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I think the more embarrassing things here are the guacamole stains on the right. Please ignore my gluttony.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I think the best part of this whole experience was the fact that I used crappy polyester thread wound on a crappy nicked spool. There is nothing better than being already frustrated with your sewing when suddenly the thread catches on the crappy broken spool and your entire spool of thread goes FLYING off your sewing machine WHILE YOU ARE STILL SEWING and sails across the room into the middle of a sleeping kitty pile, scaring the everliving crap out of everyone. Only MY crappy thread would be strong enough to catapult itself off my sewing machine instead of just breaking like normal crappy thread would. </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Tune in next Free Motion Friday for the <a href="http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2010/11/day-230-drop-art.html">Drop Art</a> pattern! I have a feeling this will be even worse...<br /><br /></div>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-59730771614578707842011-10-02T17:55:00.000-07:002011-10-02T17:56:04.348-07:00In which I am still a small blogSince I am still a small blog, I'm linking up with the<a href="http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/2011/10/fresh-sewing-day-and-small-blog-meet.html"> Small Blog Meet Up over at Lily's Quilts </a>again. Hello to those of you finding this blog through there! You can read last month's intro post <a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-which-i-am-small-blog.html">here</a>, because I don't see the point in typing it out all over again. I hope you find something amusing to read here as I cuddle my orange kitty and freak out over the last few weeks of my pregnancy. My very first tutorial is up today (post below this one), and there will likely be a small giveaway towards the end of this month. Hurrah! These are exciting times at the Orange Kitty Workshop! (Or at least,<i> I'm</i> easily excited, okay?)Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-60801662968365916402011-10-02T17:54:00.001-07:002011-10-02T17:54:28.373-07:00Easy Flower Pincushion Tutorial<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Utyd8e6t_Bw2Mz5xpyn4d8YDdtM91fxo2aUgn644sIScqkQVeNccop152-VHXmbEINTtk7ct6LODOKgE0oHBHxYJn5qQ1ND16c9zEBXUwuEznsiO7uXMP-vZXWA87UgeBV4j08mGtM4/s1600/Tutorial19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Utyd8e6t_Bw2Mz5xpyn4d8YDdtM91fxo2aUgn644sIScqkQVeNccop152-VHXmbEINTtk7ct6LODOKgE0oHBHxYJn5qQ1ND16c9zEBXUwuEznsiO7uXMP-vZXWA87UgeBV4j08mGtM4/s320/Tutorial19.jpg" width="320" /></a>Welcome to the first Orange Kitty Tutorial! This is an easy pincushion I can whip up in about 40 minutes, which means you can probably do it in 30 or less because I'm a bit slow when it comes to the hand-sewing.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Materials you will need:</u></b><br />
Some felt<br />
Some fabric<br />
Embroidery Thread<br />
Small button for pincushion center<br />
Small decorative insect button (optional)<br />
Fiberfill for stuffing<br />
Chopstick, stuffing fork, etc.<br />
Pins<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIl4iBI2lYMk1CcOi38nRZJifwqPagtMA5iQgIRTeriiWtwOa7F9T92I-jh_2BNWZqichfRvc_oVUIBikeWWIxA0iHDbzsmwj_WKw_hLC8cYBovjhQ0ttlG2m8LKiVaWW_q85PglgaWkc/s1600/Tutorial2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIl4iBI2lYMk1CcOi38nRZJifwqPagtMA5iQgIRTeriiWtwOa7F9T92I-jh_2BNWZqichfRvc_oVUIBikeWWIxA0iHDbzsmwj_WKw_hLC8cYBovjhQ0ttlG2m8LKiVaWW_q85PglgaWkc/s640/Tutorial2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top: A finished pincushion, a decorative dragonfly button, and a green button for the center that I got in last month's goodie swap! Bottom row: Purple felt, white and green cotton fabric, and a mess of embroidery thread--I'm sure yours is less tangled than mine. Not pictured are the fiberfill and chopstick, because I totally forgot I needed them until I got to that point in the tutorial. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b><u>Step One: </u></b><br />
Cut your felt and fabric into same-size circles. You can make a huge pincushion or a really tiny one, whatever will work for you! My circles are about 5" in diameter, traced from a Pyrex lid, and my finished pincushion is roughly 3 1/2" in diameter, which I find is the perfect size for me.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusGENSlv-DPHbs53yDQrC6Wgjq4w8bpfRuft4zAKYo0cBEk0nRFq4KYnxlKmIaHh4B58AeFukE3fTKR1hwDXoIys35WIEgRM2b4jRP5CPdYFTptoi3WA4Q82hJ8aW3ChMG94XfaPkUQM/s1600/Tutorial1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusGENSlv-DPHbs53yDQrC6Wgjq4w8bpfRuft4zAKYo0cBEk0nRFq4KYnxlKmIaHh4B58AeFukE3fTKR1hwDXoIys35WIEgRM2b4jRP5CPdYFTptoi3WA4Q82hJ8aW3ChMG94XfaPkUQM/s640/Tutorial1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">I didn't show the uncut squares of felt or cotton fabric because I'm pretty sure you already know what they would look like. If you don't, then this tutorial is probably too advanced for you, and what are you doing on a sewing blog, anyway? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Step Two:</u></b><br />
Place your cotton fabric face down on the felt. Pin together, then sew about a 1/4" from the edge--backstitch at the beginning and the end! Make sure to leave a gap of about 2" so you can turn it inside out. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdVm6z4aqzdDCDNjNINi7zwVXIH-3T1nzS_7E6vRZoNJBagcdKPr6LFXJHZPjc-UXQYRa0a-tmQ8PyQogDybEjcZJngDUUodNuE4_v0lbLX0is6UP0VnDjWzxoIfa4_chS2l7fbfe-uQ/s1600/Tutorial3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdVm6z4aqzdDCDNjNINi7zwVXIH-3T1nzS_7E6vRZoNJBagcdKPr6LFXJHZPjc-UXQYRa0a-tmQ8PyQogDybEjcZJngDUUodNuE4_v0lbLX0is6UP0VnDjWzxoIfa4_chS2l7fbfe-uQ/s320/Tutorial3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pin the circles together...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TVgOT7XYBm0-Jo6guaJDJMaVN2NsaQIDrAAub2EklDXtxCZ6PrwxV40ll0V2stmyO44m6bc_xnbytZ-s0XDED8pxyY1mdaWQnHMezlGt3KPR5z-YgS8ccyyUjDob0yWdqSxgnQT6fhM/s1600/Tutorial4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TVgOT7XYBm0-Jo6guaJDJMaVN2NsaQIDrAAub2EklDXtxCZ6PrwxV40ll0V2stmyO44m6bc_xnbytZ-s0XDED8pxyY1mdaWQnHMezlGt3KPR5z-YgS8ccyyUjDob0yWdqSxgnQT6fhM/s400/Tutorial4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">...then sew! The thread hanging off the circles is where I began sewing, and the sewing machine needle's placement is where I stopped. This leaves a nice gap to turn it inside out in the next step.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Step 3:</u><br />
Turn the pincushion inside out. I find a chopstick works well for this. Don't jam it too hard into the pincushion or you might rip right through the fabric (not like I'm, um, speaking from experience here or anything...). If you don't have a chopstick, you can use a dull pencil or small dowel, or take a break to go out for some Chinese food and grab an extra set of chopsticks while you're there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TISEe5MQ4WRnBfWNBfXuu-vyPBWRMJYQRhMBIx22L30qaiTk3C4maPKq3m7O3793WOQBRF4PwDl1dD7SCGSx1G_qMWGgzk_DGmJRuWgMxXNKRL-YZimgk3KFOV2qnKzmSVm094cU_-8/s1600/Tutorial5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TISEe5MQ4WRnBfWNBfXuu-vyPBWRMJYQRhMBIx22L30qaiTk3C4maPKq3m7O3793WOQBRF4PwDl1dD7SCGSx1G_qMWGgzk_DGmJRuWgMxXNKRL-YZimgk3KFOV2qnKzmSVm094cU_-8/s400/Tutorial5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I fully advocate taking a break ten minutes into a project to pick up some tasty Chicken Katsu or General Tso's Chicken. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Once you've turned it, start cramming fiberfill into it! The more stuffing you stuff it with, the fluffier your flower will be, but the harder it'll be to sew the embroidery thread on in the next few steps. However, if you plan on using your pincushion for really long pins, you'll probably want to stuff the pincushion quite a bit, otherwise you may end up sticking a pin into the cushion and having it go straight through the bottom and jam into the table/cutting mat/hand/etc.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGUv4TQH24TDINDBx6BuDco-XTUye8HsSac8-5mQ5EQQwMK82h4rF6G7XEkw7ikOF9IYHey1JpZ23H4hcYhRLVnXjWiY4024rEcm3X1XLso2BUaIIWTHMhgwJadZvR7ZIzU3IBsdmeGA/s1600/Tutorial6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGUv4TQH24TDINDBx6BuDco-XTUye8HsSac8-5mQ5EQQwMK82h4rF6G7XEkw7ikOF9IYHey1JpZ23H4hcYhRLVnXjWiY4024rEcm3X1XLso2BUaIIWTHMhgwJadZvR7ZIzU3IBsdmeGA/s400/Tutorial6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuff that sucker well! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b><u><br />Step Four: </u></b><br />
Stitch closed the stuffing hole. I didn't take pictures of this because I'm still mastering it myself, but I used a ladder stitch tutorial from <a href="http://turningturning.com/tutorial-invisible-ladder-stitch-for-quilt-binding/">here</a>. It's not hard, nor does it take long, my hand-stitching just still sucks!<br />
<br />
<b><u>Step Five:</u></b><br />
<br />
Measure out your embroidery thread. I find that wrapping the thread loosely around the pincushion five times gives me just enough thread to sew and have a little left over to attach the button at the end. Use whatever color you want or have on hand.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fzyjmLyZoWo1eXuoQseFki7J9FJuVNhnBIgGjHis6L-ToJYS-e_9v4LBhyphenhyphenVsVWnkObMlVDg3wqddd-CsFrcipvXnf1R1iphUTV1FyILZTpYrjku0OY0PKN2eZwXYmxeGdwR7sZRr5iE/s1600/Tutorial7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fzyjmLyZoWo1eXuoQseFki7J9FJuVNhnBIgGjHis6L-ToJYS-e_9v4LBhyphenhyphenVsVWnkObMlVDg3wqddd-CsFrcipvXnf1R1iphUTV1FyILZTpYrjku0OY0PKN2eZwXYmxeGdwR7sZRr5iE/s640/Tutorial7.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrap the thread loosely around the pincushion to measure it out. Hey, Benta's autumn mug rug from last month's goodie swap is being put to good use! Too bad my coffee mugs didn't get the memo that it's only autumn, and nowhere close to snow weather yet...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b><u>Step Six:</u></b><br />
Knot one end of your thread. Using an embroidery needle, find the approximate center of the felt side of your pincushion and draw the needle through to the front. If you have a super stuffed cushion and a really short needle, this may be tough, but you can make it work by squishing the cushion down as much as possible (or just getting a longer needle.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-rggC6V1L-DrE5JB4wFuif_CWb3ToCj5d9JqwhjkIiV9JL73nTNVB-lwWA7_J9igPSi9qKKB2Q5bQYE-y8z9iOzPWZMLlOLARZMl-12fJaDCPZbZnNE0G6DL2IGH01lDwTNl4tlM3ns/s1600/Tutorial8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-rggC6V1L-DrE5JB4wFuif_CWb3ToCj5d9JqwhjkIiV9JL73nTNVB-lwWA7_J9igPSi9qKKB2Q5bQYE-y8z9iOzPWZMLlOLARZMl-12fJaDCPZbZnNE0G6DL2IGH01lDwTNl4tlM3ns/s400/Tutorial8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jam that needle into the center of the back of the cushion. It doesn't need to be exactly in the center because no one will notice. Also, apparently I got distracted halfway through making this tutorial because I'm not sure how we ended up finishing this pincushion at my desk instead of at the sewing table in the other room, where we started. Oh well! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2deP_vqoTI5o0804ez-h8Xh-2XhoJGVzbhDEPnRqg7aDkVjpOiKJ03d0jnoTR96iY2BJjZNuFZW7SO5XPf3bAWn5Fu3DyIpuctfX4pAprMojCOgSXCdK18OPd6TaR8xH7bdHAwCQoDrI/s1600/Tutorial9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2deP_vqoTI5o0804ez-h8Xh-2XhoJGVzbhDEPnRqg7aDkVjpOiKJ03d0jnoTR96iY2BJjZNuFZW7SO5XPf3bAWn5Fu3DyIpuctfX4pAprMojCOgSXCdK18OPd6TaR8xH7bdHAwCQoDrI/s400/Tutorial9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make sure when the thread comes out the top, it's also approximately in the center, unless you really like the lopsided flower look. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Step Seven:</u></b><br />
Once you pull the thread through the top of your pincushion, wrap it back around and draw it through the center of the felt again, pulling as tightly as possible. You now have half a "line" going down the middle of your pincushion. Wrap the thread around through the back again and repeat for as many "petals" as you want on your cushion. I ended up with eight petals total, so I repeated this step seven more times after the first.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIJOc1i5yHDBuMjYx33pRuPMwqJmq5cMKnvsvevjLDvPxc0Q3hcxF3cC5fUBq5R-rFX4yXtzkfAJ7UvSKG2bTbIT7LWdRmYSmAfUZp3EgnKoi9e-t1hBH0jz8hdi9LMTPhDSW6XzENSs/s1600/Tutorial10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIJOc1i5yHDBuMjYx33pRuPMwqJmq5cMKnvsvevjLDvPxc0Q3hcxF3cC5fUBq5R-rFX4yXtzkfAJ7UvSKG2bTbIT7LWdRmYSmAfUZp3EgnKoi9e-t1hBH0jz8hdi9LMTPhDSW6XzENSs/s400/Tutorial10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrap the thread around and stick the needle up through the center back again, so you have something that looks like this. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkMe_9dbp_cL6w88d4UwkqPZm7Z62c6nHU6PsjhPV3y9Jp6H_9v7g0p78osk2ay0XZOkFot__CBNtNVx5WnL735Ihg-7mAOMsGX9rcYappoSTGROBQ7tEFij-cpc5mJuMs-5mn5UJ86k/s1600/Tutorial-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkMe_9dbp_cL6w88d4UwkqPZm7Z62c6nHU6PsjhPV3y9Jp6H_9v7g0p78osk2ay0XZOkFot__CBNtNVx5WnL735Ihg-7mAOMsGX9rcYappoSTGROBQ7tEFij-cpc5mJuMs-5mn5UJ86k/s400/Tutorial-11.jpg" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pull tight, so the thread sort of "cuts" into the side of the pincushion. The tighter you pull, the more pronounced and fluffy the petals will be at the end. Now you are going to wrap that thread around and bring the needle up through the center back again. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXiJbHba8KBgJYrtj3D45ZbKLRsN0iENDclXaRS7Cu9ZEhxshHouMmGFOs2JIXi57rmNBNQmHHulkLKZnyy22AZ0dg1Br6J1HOFbznldjK22HkhaeL_ADT5hxiPgUiU7gxNBWQQuo0jA/s1600/tutorial12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXiJbHba8KBgJYrtj3D45ZbKLRsN0iENDclXaRS7Cu9ZEhxshHouMmGFOs2JIXi57rmNBNQmHHulkLKZnyy22AZ0dg1Br6J1HOFbznldjK22HkhaeL_ADT5hxiPgUiU7gxNBWQQuo0jA/s640/tutorial12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...Like this. Then keep going to make more "petals" for the flower, pulling the thread tight each time. Here I've wrapped the thread around three times and made two petals. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b><u>Step Eight:</u></b><br />
To add your decorative insect button, just thread the embroidery thread through the insect button's hole at any point you'd like and pull tightly.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8Id-gbXfTsmBaRsOFt9Rb5lRJtGVO82q4gDCcW3H97Z1Fs0LzvVbkXFerYTVfOORzrT-V3HSqGHDRLyEDfbRvC_zPECo8ghL115RF1dzJN6VWlMuxu0suc8W2hNgo1xOTRgylntrvDY/s1600/Tutorial13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8Id-gbXfTsmBaRsOFt9Rb5lRJtGVO82q4gDCcW3H97Z1Fs0LzvVbkXFerYTVfOORzrT-V3HSqGHDRLyEDfbRvC_zPECo8ghL115RF1dzJN6VWlMuxu0suc8W2hNgo1xOTRgylntrvDY/s640/Tutorial13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No need to tack it down or anything--as long as you're using all six strands of embroidery thread and you are pulling tightly, the button will stay in place! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Step Nine:</u></b><br />
Once you have your petals completed and your insect button attached, it's time to add the center button! Thread the needle through the button and center the button in the middle of the pincushion, pulling tightly, as always. Sew a couple of stitches through the button to attach it, then knot your thread and trim the excess. You're done!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCTersI4r02y3jOTQN78IKzw3fqozwVq3alUQH7bUicQwXcsXLooYjGYODAa0f_WYws5YdhYZQkA8Rla9clcCe597hf84sZGNGH3siExXrRCCSoohEpBsLdazLIImwhsLXktLmc2-nGM/s1600/Tutorial14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCTersI4r02y3jOTQN78IKzw3fqozwVq3alUQH7bUicQwXcsXLooYjGYODAa0f_WYws5YdhYZQkA8Rla9clcCe597hf84sZGNGH3siExXrRCCSoohEpBsLdazLIImwhsLXktLmc2-nGM/s400/Tutorial14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the center button! I think it's easiest to use a button with only two holes in it to attach--if you use a button with four holes, you will need to cut your embroidery thread a bit longer at the beginning. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lTd5-uvy5ftGS0Bzokyf571UJVDc_rURKK01-xsHWnM-j3fG3QTwMuLXcEcts3mcYU_j6uYnCVUplDAgEGb9_MIqh9eTVGr0e2UyCzkBxxspiTI7jKslz5F_jNk-_npHvOQ0u08vV-Y/s1600/Tutorial15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lTd5-uvy5ftGS0Bzokyf571UJVDc_rURKK01-xsHWnM-j3fG3QTwMuLXcEcts3mcYU_j6uYnCVUplDAgEGb9_MIqh9eTVGr0e2UyCzkBxxspiTI7jKslz5F_jNk-_npHvOQ0u08vV-Y/s400/Tutorial15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just slide the button along the embroidery thread....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncJqldj-VaqjSkxl3SaCUsHsQH1yS0EuNhvz18h4-jv5rp31zHDbqd7PbeBThe2Wg7DqRAbLWlicF32M08yW1Tz3fSyk9BEGJC7KGWzBCcExIb5nr86BVAMYV8HdO7lah0_I-a7jUzx0/s1600/Tutorial16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncJqldj-VaqjSkxl3SaCUsHsQH1yS0EuNhvz18h4-jv5rp31zHDbqd7PbeBThe2Wg7DqRAbLWlicF32M08yW1Tz3fSyk9BEGJC7KGWzBCcExIb5nr86BVAMYV8HdO7lah0_I-a7jUzx0/s400/Tutorial16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...And make a couple of stitches through the button's holes to tack it down. Knot the thread on the felt side of the pincushion and cut off the excess. You're done! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfHflLGwC6xeP70zQtULF038J0lwPZXLS2Pw3f_0HeFTgvl_S68jIrCSoAfVTBI7Q75HKeQxU1HNRDY22zf1FNH173255_Z6WK8apg50Q6G4d7oWqERcVRuKZz21ob4ekMdJhmmNERdE/s1600/Tutorial17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfHflLGwC6xeP70zQtULF038J0lwPZXLS2Pw3f_0HeFTgvl_S68jIrCSoAfVTBI7Q75HKeQxU1HNRDY22zf1FNH173255_Z6WK8apg50Q6G4d7oWqERcVRuKZz21ob4ekMdJhmmNERdE/s400/Tutorial17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All done and ready for pins! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
I hope you enjoyed the very first Orange Kitty Tutorial! If anything is unclear, please let me know--Step Seven is really hard to explain in words, but hopefully my pictures help. If you make one, feel free to share in the comments, I'd love to see other variations or improvements you think up!<br />
<br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-77010774809115505352011-09-28T15:01:00.000-07:002011-10-02T23:18:39.227-07:00In which I get cool stuff and you get two blog postsHey all! You guys get TWO new posts today because I was dumb and wrote a post a few days ago and hit "save" instead of "publish." Isn't this the opposite problem most bloggers have? Sunday's post should be below this one, so go ahead and read that one first if you want.<br />
<br />
Anyway, both my swap goodies came in this week and THANK YOU SO MUCH, SWAP PARTNERS! I am actually pleasantly surprised and touched that you both took my incoming baby into account and made stuff for her, too--I genuinely wasn't expecting that since my blog is more about self-centered me than about the kid. <a href="http://knotted-thread.blogspot.com/">Jennifer at Knotted Thread</a> made an ADORABLE mug rug that features both my kitties on it--how cute is that?! And <a href="http://slikstitches.com/">Benta at SLIKStitches'</a> autumn-themed rug came just in time for me to start my fall decorating since I love autumn so much. The scissor tags are perfect too, since lately my scissors keep disappearing from my sewing pile (yeah I don't have a dedicated sewing table). Now I can point to the tag and say, "SEE, MY NAME REALLY IS ON THEM!" <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAImgvfF6LEHHUFWx37jrBcXSOa8JYb8dtt8iw0tivNz06UpDv8PtYtvJdGmw4O-JqCJAqZu82Dx_Iv4aNDIa5IgIK50WO3bg3VczgoLnyfVmpR1GtGZGpnsfh9tkghJcm_ALJ4ia29Q/s1600/MugrugSwap4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAImgvfF6LEHHUFWx37jrBcXSOa8JYb8dtt8iw0tivNz06UpDv8PtYtvJdGmw4O-JqCJAqZu82Dx_Iv4aNDIa5IgIK50WO3bg3VczgoLnyfVmpR1GtGZGpnsfh9tkghJcm_ALJ4ia29Q/s640/MugrugSwap4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer's goodies on the left, Benta's on the right. Why yes, that's the back of my<a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/08/in-which-pregnancy-hormones-take-over.html"> Fall blocks quilt</a>, which has not yet made it onto a wall due to being stolen and slept on by a certain orange kitty. Oh, and Jennifer also sent a small container of green buttons that I forgot to take a picture of...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
I really enjoyed this goodie swap. I wish I'd had little more time to complete what I wanted to for my swappees, but it is what it is. Right when I was getting back into "sewing mode," real life took over and got in the way and unfortunately "Sewing Goodies For Internet Strangers, Which Is Far More Fun Than It May Sound" gets pushed further down the list, behind things like "I Need To Reapply Thermal Compound To My Computer's Heat Sink Because It Keeps Overheating, Oh No Now The Computer Is Crashing Every Time It Comes Out Of Hibernation Mode, WHY" and "I Just Filled My Car Tires With Air Two Weeks Ago, Why Is One Going Flat Again Already?!" and so on. I really admire those of you who seem to have it all together and manage to balance kids, work, hobbies, and everything else.<br />
<br />
Now for more action shots of my goodies:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKER1EhH8nFYEf4wpEcGr2NEMe_y5EmB27gYKSycrROCJJdMLfuwPIcDzTj322hbMZwswSnUS3mpthcUZmM0sAgpmbv3H0BeF9shcoRJaz23O2TCO5dl9gs46yXXELDOcDh7XZo-PKIb4/s1600/MugRugSwap5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKER1EhH8nFYEf4wpEcGr2NEMe_y5EmB27gYKSycrROCJJdMLfuwPIcDzTj322hbMZwswSnUS3mpthcUZmM0sAgpmbv3H0BeF9shcoRJaz23O2TCO5dl9gs46yXXELDOcDh7XZo-PKIb4/s640/MugRugSwap5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
Yeah, this is my "sewing pile," otherwise known as the dining table, which is really just a card table shoved next to a wall by the kitchen (I miss living in a house). Um, I usually don't use my tomato pincushion upside down, so ignore that. I am very happy that my scissors are labeled, without that label being some squished lettering in Sharpie on an ugly piece of masking tape. This is a great idea!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYVWSDX7oLUylhiJ72SMPseedtv4JNlAjHnD_n8F-UsM5ye4d8zD3eNl-iTgg5a5sMavk3lSMN0-KM74WcIQ4xYhGQXxJWhsp_T9lMk7C0DNaufzwpGSFRxsfU5fc78C_XiWyxvSDG9k/s1600/MugrugSwap6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYVWSDX7oLUylhiJ72SMPseedtv4JNlAjHnD_n8F-UsM5ye4d8zD3eNl-iTgg5a5sMavk3lSMN0-KM74WcIQ4xYhGQXxJWhsp_T9lMk7C0DNaufzwpGSFRxsfU5fc78C_XiWyxvSDG9k/s640/MugrugSwap6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
So my cats are enticed way more by treats than they are by water, and I would have been mauled to death had I tried to intertwine their tails together, but here is the closest I could get to making them imitate Jennifer's mug rug. I also think this is Gray Kitty's pictorial debut on this blog--construction is being done on our apartment building and Gray Kitty spends most of his time cowering under my husband's desk, terrified that all the Scary Noises coming from outside are going to invade and steal his cat tuna or something. Orange Kitty couldn't care less.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLDtR9gB8HCTFACN2KgSsAHiJ0sbURE0MPV8TICpYAovdIjb83bSoTU1FnYUxsuyGM2VGYcZ6YfWQDsPpuWmaiVy8vTFJtl4gH9Bt4sTsGWBDUxbc9I4u-MK45LhjRpcYfT5hM37to1M/s1600/MugrugSwap7.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLDtR9gB8HCTFACN2KgSsAHiJ0sbURE0MPV8TICpYAovdIjb83bSoTU1FnYUxsuyGM2VGYcZ6YfWQDsPpuWmaiVy8vTFJtl4gH9Bt4sTsGWBDUxbc9I4u-MK45LhjRpcYfT5hM37to1M/s640/MugrugSwap7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Proof that taking pictures of cats is a several minute, multiple-try endeavor.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to my swap partners! See you around the blogosphere (or whatever they call it these days).</div>
</div>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-10008857498172643972011-09-28T15:00:00.001-07:002011-10-02T23:18:30.484-07:00In which I totally meant to post this Sunday, but didn't, so you get it on Wednesday insteadIt's Sunday and I finally have time to myself to get things done, like surfing the internet and not cleaning and forgetting that the laundry has been waiting to go in the dryer for the last hour. It is a very productive day, you see.<br />
<br />
The most exciting thing that's happened in the last week or so is that we got a new ironing board. I know, it's THRILLING. Our old ironing board we bought cheap, as we had just graduated from college and had no money, and it ended up sagging in the middle. The "board" part was plastic and so over time I guess the plastic melted and warped and there ended up being a fairly nice deep trench all through the center length of the ironing board. Why yes, that means EVERYTHING you've seen me make on this blog was pressed or ironed on a board that wasn't even close to being flat, which is as much a pain in the butt as it sounds like. Honestly, I hate to be all "IT WAS THE IRONING BOARD'S FAULT" but I swear half my mismatched seams and stuff were because I was pressing fabric at an angle, or in a trench. Anyway, the new ironing board wasn't exactly expensive either, but it's metal and much sturdier than our old one, so yay!<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxpm5eHyjlLZO1Dinjq6yKyQI_qqXEoUgbjAIrfSpPJdfugMelGPxdarYFv738jPQWC8egkRylMqmRUDm7CtylqWxU-DIt9gYnqQuE69Ht9iVGDtBiiB8kDaIQsBbkfSVNqjlopOLEOA/s1600/MugRugSwap1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxpm5eHyjlLZO1Dinjq6yKyQI_qqXEoUgbjAIrfSpPJdfugMelGPxdarYFv738jPQWC8egkRylMqmRUDm7CtylqWxU-DIt9gYnqQuE69Ht9iVGDtBiiB8kDaIQsBbkfSVNqjlopOLEOA/s640/MugRugSwap1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New ironing board action at an...uh, let's call it "artistic" angle. Yeah. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And with the new ironing board I finished my mug rugs for the goodie swap. It took me way too long to do these because of how intimidated I got looking at everyone else's work on the flickr page. "Ahh, why do they have to be so awesome and complicated?!" I asked myself, and then finally it hit me: "Yeah, why DO they have to be so complicated?" It didn't help that my swappers both listed a bunch of colors and fabric that they did/didn't like and I was going crazy digging through my stash to find tons of fabrics. I totally respect those people who were able to make really neat designs and hand-quilt and stuff, but realizing that wouldn't work for ME and would just stress me out more was what allowed me to relax and get back into "sewing mode."<br />
<br />
Both mug rugs ended up only having two fabrics (plus the binding, so three, really, I guess). I think it really ends up working, I mean, the colorful fabrics I think are colorful enough that the first thought that goes through your mind isn't "Gee, she only used TWO FABRICS, how lazy." I'm an hourglass block fan, so I used that for the "pinwheel." Neither mug rug is totally perfect but overall I'm really happy with how they turned out and I hope my swap partners like them.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvJJVu8QfeooM4hw0U8gQkCTE-Xjj7PxRDAyEVf9DQlMgIP0jxB7hzK99Yf1ZP2IrwX7wUhnw5wyU5RbXQvPGM1Xd2PYqKZPHGE3p84erb3gH6dkcsbpsCs0GoRQjFBD593MWePCgU-k/s1600/MugrugSwap3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvJJVu8QfeooM4hw0U8gQkCTE-Xjj7PxRDAyEVf9DQlMgIP0jxB7hzK99Yf1ZP2IrwX7wUhnw5wyU5RbXQvPGM1Xd2PYqKZPHGE3p84erb3gH6dkcsbpsCs0GoRQjFBD593MWePCgU-k/s640/MugrugSwap3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I spy a bee button...!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The goodies are really easy pincushions. I had to put to use<a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-which-pregnancy-brain-wins-again.html"> the bee buttons</a> I got distracted by a while ago, and this seemed like a good use! A dragonfly snuck in there for one partner, too. I liked these enough that I made myself one as well. If I join another goodie swap I'll probably make more of these; they are quite fun.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXWc3iqR0dmCO0my_DfV9zuNRSGVEhXvIuIuq7YSQPai9D97yfV2R_l4pYCf9UUQRW19eRIBfW6ek8hz_8DKEEHPVGxEVDxW6Ucqc56LhEi9FxalMdGUMEu2DQEi16hUFzczGyAElql4/s1600/MugRubSwap2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXWc3iqR0dmCO0my_DfV9zuNRSGVEhXvIuIuq7YSQPai9D97yfV2R_l4pYCf9UUQRW19eRIBfW6ek8hz_8DKEEHPVGxEVDxW6Ucqc56LhEi9FxalMdGUMEu2DQEi16hUFzczGyAElql4/s400/MugRubSwap2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Of course I had to keep a bee pincushion for myself! This was the first one made so it's not as fluffily stuffed as the ones that my swap partners are getting. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-66675357952718782252011-09-19T23:43:00.000-07:002011-09-19T23:43:10.702-07:00In which I have not totally vanished<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Oh wow, it's been a while since I last blogged. Sorry, folks, I'm not dead. Partial laziness, partial pregnancy exhaustion, I suppose. I'll have a proper update in the next couple of days, but for now, I shall allow Orange Kitty to explain how I feel: </div>
<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDnagWh3WrP5J4rswmdbxo35uIJqQ5QSLI1Ukw1kwObHXElct92a6enA31QXrfXl8REZJ7m4CV1Ex5bvKlFbzjAH6rjcHo9URScD4S1tqax8hst2IP_QuW1RKqmmHJ-TKfrrWI_zjEcM/s1600/103_1487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDnagWh3WrP5J4rswmdbxo35uIJqQ5QSLI1Ukw1kwObHXElct92a6enA31QXrfXl8REZJ7m4CV1Ex5bvKlFbzjAH6rjcHo9URScD4S1tqax8hst2IP_QuW1RKqmmHJ-TKfrrWI_zjEcM/s640/103_1487.JPG" width="640" /></a>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-4415287780056074632011-09-08T18:15:00.000-07:002011-09-08T18:15:26.942-07:00In which "pregnancy brain" wins againI spend way too much time at the fabric store. Part of the reason for this is sheer stupidity on my part. Like, yesterday I went in to buy supplies for the mug rug goodie swap and walked around the store for thirty minutes with an index card with the words "<i>embroidery thread, interfacing, fiberfill</i>" scrawled on it. What did I walk out with?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheUHPb-sZajd3oQtOoWZohnPTCOcjZ3wo_hKBgNxM_Zu1tlmtUIQ4lzWq6tp2p-HrZpQrS2K9IRz5qM-PrqpcIixAcWGtpsJXScHRzfUeMZsZZ2ZMUJoUHsb8Dg5BDLudNmR-IGOhNkN8/s1600/supplies1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheUHPb-sZajd3oQtOoWZohnPTCOcjZ3wo_hKBgNxM_Zu1tlmtUIQ4lzWq6tp2p-HrZpQrS2K9IRz5qM-PrqpcIixAcWGtpsJXScHRzfUeMZsZZ2ZMUJoUHsb8Dg5BDLudNmR-IGOhNkN8/s640/supplies1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I would say "Ignore my messy sewing space" but the mess just proves that I AM working on stuff, so meh. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Embroidery thread, interfacing, buttons. Buttons? Well, the button racks are near the cutting table where I got my interfacing cut, and I got totally distracted by the bee buttons, which I thought were adorable because I love bees, too, and then there was a rack of 30% off buttons so I went through those for a while, then paid for everything and left. In my mind I knew I had three types of items on my list and I left the store with three types of items, so, satisfied, I drove home.<br /><br />Cue a few hours later after I'd made dinner and sewed for a while, I got to the part of my project that instructed me to start stuffing it, and I looked around and wondered what I was going to stuff it with. My eyes fell on my buttons and OH YEAH, I was WALKING towards the batting section of the store earlier, but never actually reached it because of CUTE BEE BUTTONS. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I forgot my fiberfill, because I set aside my sewing earlier than usual and went to bed before midnight, so I actually got some decent sleep. Still, I felt dumb pulling up to the fabric store for the second day in a row after work today, and forced myself to bypass all the buttons and fabric and go STRAIGHT to the batting section at the back of the store.<br /><br />Then my pregnancy bladder called, so I ran to the bathroom and got distracted by felt on the way back to the batting section, thus I nearly walked out the door without my fiberfill AGAIN, but by some miracle remembered at the last second, and actually managed to pay for it and bring it home. See? I even took a picture to prove it.<br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglU4BAnK-q4LJa8GOqhDxZPnz1YrzRKHbSkvjO2H2_UfquRHchAJ898eW5T-ZBG2EVXlHQJgkHnwseGm6qrKmOSZ1Eb1EDdtynCy_YnRPU9Ya1JUnqs6rS281YdIwSxBGKufJDlFo8vK4/s1600/fiberfill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglU4BAnK-q4LJa8GOqhDxZPnz1YrzRKHbSkvjO2H2_UfquRHchAJ898eW5T-ZBG2EVXlHQJgkHnwseGm6qrKmOSZ1Eb1EDdtynCy_YnRPU9Ya1JUnqs6rS281YdIwSxBGKufJDlFo8vK4/s400/fiberfill.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />I don't know how some people manage to do like 3 quilt-alongs and 2 fabric/goodie swaps and their own personal projects and raise kids and cook dinner and stuff all at the same time. I mean, I apparently can't even manage to buy what's on the three-item list I'm carrying around the store with me, though I'm sure the fabric store employees get some amusement out of me. They probably refer to me as the absent-minded pregnant girl since a few weeks ago I left my car keys sitting on top of a shelf of autumn fabrics and ran back through the store in a panic after paying for my purchase, retracing my steps to find them. One person's forgetfulness is another person's amusement, I guess!<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AMW7Ya1xKCneaWpjdLjwjOBejSEkrg3OtVfXkrYQjStOhIpnvtGCmTDGPFMJbkala_cNOwr3AhA0e_fFpxzAies_Wqd4m6QE2_YO8ueBj3eVteLMDH3In2EwdOiJMA7h06tNTFDT7ho/s1600/badkitty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AMW7Ya1xKCneaWpjdLjwjOBejSEkrg3OtVfXkrYQjStOhIpnvtGCmTDGPFMJbkala_cNOwr3AhA0e_fFpxzAies_Wqd4m6QE2_YO8ueBj3eVteLMDH3In2EwdOiJMA7h06tNTFDT7ho/s400/badkitty.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />As a bonus, have an Orange Kitty Story of the Day: When the cat heard me get out my camera to take a picture, he ran in the room and shoved his face in the lens because he's vain like that. I pushed him out of the way and he apparently went, "Screw this, if you ain't taking a picture of me, you ain't getting a picture of what you want" and shoved his tail directly in my line of sight as I snapped the photo. He is such a brat.<br /><br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073908724691328382.post-85644805305912997882011-09-06T20:12:00.000-07:002011-09-06T20:12:58.396-07:00In which I intentionally make a baby quilt for someone else<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, that was a busy weekend. Let me sum it up:</div>
<br />
<u>Wednesday Night</u><br />
<br />
<b>Me</b>: Hey, since we can't make it to southern Oregon for Nephew's birthday next week, why don't we just bring him his present this weekend when we drive to your parent's house in Portland?<br />
<b>Husband:</b> Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. But I don't know what to get a 1 year old at all.<br />
<b>Me</b> (busy sewing away on a kitty quilt): Hmmmmm.<br />
<b>Husband:</b> Hmmmmm.<br />
<b>Me</b> (sews for another 10 minutes): OH WAIT I CAN MAKE HIM A QUILT!<br />
<b>Husband</b> (glances uselessly at calendar, which is still set to July): Can you make one by Saturday?<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLL215Sem2HEnqZwPGqTrf99dmRNJzmXYdKCKeOm5qEZd3AUovruxH1mbB9tVtx_RQsPC1H675YCTbZiGPKKxQ4y6ewZKY2oZrTg0gJx15gUIlY4Oi0czPqa81jwlQ_sI08-PvYeH9v8/s1600/Baby-Charm-Quilt-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLL215Sem2HEnqZwPGqTrf99dmRNJzmXYdKCKeOm5qEZd3AUovruxH1mbB9tVtx_RQsPC1H675YCTbZiGPKKxQ4y6ewZKY2oZrTg0gJx15gUIlY4Oi0czPqa81jwlQ_sI08-PvYeH9v8/s640/Baby-Charm-Quilt-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Was that a challenge? Because oh yes, I can! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
And thus, Thursday after work I dashed off to the fabric store and scoured their remnant table for fabric suitable for a 1 year old. I was totally inspired by Amy's <a href="http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2010/04/lets-hear-it-for-quilt-and-boy.html">On the Road Again</a> quilt, because I love the primary colors she used, which really could be for either gender. I didn't want to use transportation fabric, though, because I have the same issue with CARS ARE FOR BOYS that I do with HORSES ARE FOR GIRLS or whatnot, and also I absolutely love dinosaurs and I wanted to sneak some dinosaur fabric in there because I'm self-serving like that.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Thursday night was full of <i>cut cut cut sew sew sew baste baste baste</i>, and then Friday night was full of <i>quilt quilt quilt bind bind bind. </i>Before quilting, I hesitated for several minutes, trying to decide if I wanted to stipple the quilt or do a straight line grid. I like stippling, but in the end I figured a grid pattern would be faster and less hard on my <a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/08/in-which-i-finish-wall-hanging-with.html">pregnancy-shot wrists</a>, and I finished sometime around midnight.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLSsVcXYTrXSrAd01evh6SvBHLZTPVZnpvesaHOkLHHfUbwe8QHrvUt9aKJcIsMO9AP6SCDkx9J3SimNMchFSEfSO775cqAriZBXh6jFkFOxeuUhnw3pTlSHXeTpRAGRI7jblwzEfqQ4/s1600/Baby-Charm-Quilt-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLSsVcXYTrXSrAd01evh6SvBHLZTPVZnpvesaHOkLHHfUbwe8QHrvUt9aKJcIsMO9AP6SCDkx9J3SimNMchFSEfSO775cqAriZBXh6jFkFOxeuUhnw3pTlSHXeTpRAGRI7jblwzEfqQ4/s640/Baby-Charm-Quilt-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woo, look at how nicely most of those corners match up! And it bears repeating that I really LOVE my walking foot. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />I must say, I LOVE THIS QUILT. I wish I could've kept it for myself, because even though the fabric trends towards "boy," I'd totally be thrilled if someone gifted this to me for my baby girl (side note: If anyone recognizes a fabric line in my quilt, feel free to let me know what it is since most of this came off an unmarked fabric table or my stash, and I've GOT to get better with keeping track of what fabrics I use). My piecing has gotten way better--there were still a couple of seams that were off, but far more corners met up than didn't, and that makes me really happy. Also, the binding! The binding!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTe6tsjts9Ax8CokNvQ5y_ua6DwBIhg5fUHIHnWn47Pp_AFPFgC3Q2-IP6mEps7MFkdMtC1NZ-FeZqHHXlPSzcnEPtxUNyR_BGLcGTbzeqKLrn_gxiyRvAnVDEEF6crVOmOG17IgSEm8/s1600/Baby-Charm-Quilt-4+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTe6tsjts9Ax8CokNvQ5y_ua6DwBIhg5fUHIHnWn47Pp_AFPFgC3Q2-IP6mEps7MFkdMtC1NZ-FeZqHHXlPSzcnEPtxUNyR_BGLcGTbzeqKLrn_gxiyRvAnVDEEF6crVOmOG17IgSEm8/s640/Baby-Charm-Quilt-4+-+Copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MY (mostly) BEAUTIFUL BINDING! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />It probably took me twice as long to bind as it should have, but after <a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/08/in-which-pregnancy-hormones-take-over.html">my last binding failure</a>, I was determined to make this one WORK (especially since it was a gift). I only bound one edge at a time and I wish I had stopped to take a picture because it looked absolutely ridiculous with the amount of pins and clips attached to it. The front was crisp and straight, and the back looked as well as you can expect a machine binding to look. I am stupidly happy with how well it came out and it was totally worth stabbing myself a million times with the millions of pins poking out all over the place. </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmKkuJG_IlspjqrDAye0em5_71RnSTJZQgs9WJ6Er7IkZ1OPhxiyaOq_mp82F8Qiy3gzByWSffaenb_GbV3zvADhpohzdpDAVMPEZxS10CeXUDlL8xul1AXFXFaLR1y3NLXPrWY-9at8/s1600/Baby-Charm-Quilt-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmKkuJG_IlspjqrDAye0em5_71RnSTJZQgs9WJ6Er7IkZ1OPhxiyaOq_mp82F8Qiy3gzByWSffaenb_GbV3zvADhpohzdpDAVMPEZxS10CeXUDlL8xul1AXFXFaLR1y3NLXPrWY-9at8/s640/Baby-Charm-Quilt-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My couch is ugly and green. This is not my couch. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The last part of this quilt I'm proud of is the backing. It's my first pieced backing ever--completely unintentional, because I had figured I had enough red fabric for the back, but after I cut up the red for the binding, there was hardly any left, so I settled on the yellow I used for the border, but surprise! I was barely short of yellow, as well! I had a few squares left over from piecing the front, so I sewed those together and slapped yellow on either side and was pleased with the result. I'm not sure why I was terrified of pieced backings before this--probably because I'm lazy and it seemed like a lot of work--but I like the look and I'll definitely have to do more.<br />
<br />
And I think this quilt will look even better once it's been washed a couple more times and gets all crinkly. I didn't have time to wash it between the time I finished it and when we drove to Portland on Saturday, and then my sister-in-law and nephew showed up shortly after we did so I couldn't sneak it into the wash without anyone seeing. Luckily, everyone except my husband and I had left the house on Sunday morning when I woke up, so I ran downstairs, spritzed the quilt with water, and threw it into the dryer for 25 minutes, and had time enough to pull it out and quickly take pictures of it in their living room before everyone came back. It got crinkly enough to look "quilty," but I'm kind of hoping our nephew pukes on it a couple of times so it gets washed a lot. Happy Birthday, nephew, please vomit on my present to you.<br /><br />Now I kind of want to make a slightly more "girly" dinosaur quilt for our kid, even though I still have the <a href="http://orangekittyworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/08/unintentional-baby-quilt.html">unintentional baby quilt</a> to finish. I like primary and fall colors a lot though, so "girly" for me would be throwing in a couple of purple squares or something. I have a ton of other things to work on right now though (hello, <a href="http://fluffysheepquilting.blogspot.com/2011/08/goodie-swap-sign-ups.html">mug rug goodie swap</a>, hey look it's already September 6th and I haven't sewn anything for it yet even though I have a million ideas in my head), so we'll see. There's always time AFTER the baby is born, right? (Already-Parents: Go ahead and laugh at my naivety. Or tell me "Oh yeah, the baby will sleep 20 hours a day like a cat and you will have tons of free time on your hands." That'd be cool., too.)<br />
<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLhqQbk8MukCnW1wVbCq8ZvmgUQz10pEKksGtnGScvrCFmbd39mxiGRHdtMY123qAVnA_K55SYXDNJ6o_nupuug2cixcKrlvGGDvcwXF7_VKMDaFdkL51aK9anoHhzQ2zALBgGXlGjBg/s1600/Baby-Charm-quilt-2+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLhqQbk8MukCnW1wVbCq8ZvmgUQz10pEKksGtnGScvrCFmbd39mxiGRHdtMY123qAVnA_K55SYXDNJ6o_nupuug2cixcKrlvGGDvcwXF7_VKMDaFdkL51aK9anoHhzQ2zALBgGXlGjBg/s640/Baby-Charm-quilt-2+-+Copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uh, the top isn't actually as uneven as it looks in this picture. It's straight, I swear. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01920759461540357511noreply@blogger.com6