Sunday Weekend Wrap Up

I've been pretty busy this past week for a girl without a job. My mom and I have been going to the gym together, and we actually make great motivators for each other.
Alyssa loved the pouch I made her, and since my Wednesday was pretty much consumed with her get together I thought I'd post a few (ok a lot) pictures I took.

After dinner at the Chinese Buffet, and on the way to the Bowling Alley; not that any of us knew where it was. Thank goodness for the GPS, and not so thank goodness for Leah's driving skills, yikes!

Alyssa and Leah waiting their turn.

Now for a few action shots:
Alyssa bowling. She liked the big balls.

Me bowling with my side squat approach.

Leah bowling without any technique at all. First time 10 pin bowling. Poor Leah.

Vanessa bowling. She put us all to shame. Pretty sure her score was higher than Leah and mine combined first string... not that it was hard considering Leah got a 30.

(Not so) Pretty bowling shoes. Actually Vanessa's were quite pretty, but she brought her own. My feet are huge, and the picture just makes it worse.

Thursday mom brought me to the store to pick out fabric for a tote she wanted me to make my grandmother. Ever since I made her one for her birthday she's been all about giving them as presents to everyone. I also made another Alyssa pouch for my first Etsy "sale"!! Which is actually a trade. I'm getting this lovely necklace in return. I am quite excited.

Friday was kind of slow until I realized I needed to get to work on this tote. I finished it in 5ish hours I think? I didn't get started till after dinner (8ish) and worked till a little after 1am. My mom was very specific about how it should look, what size, what pockets... etc. but it ended up coming out very well.

The outside. (My grandmother's name is Rose. How fitting.)

The inside. Notice pockets on sides. This bag also happened to come out totally reversible in case you're in need of a sunny change.

Yesterday was my brother's graduation party with my mom's side of the family. My Grammy loved the bag I made her, Nolan made out like a bandit, there was lots of food, and my brothers and I managed to sneak some time in the hot tub. 8)

Birthday Present

Tomorrow is my friend Alyssa's birthday, and being the poor college student I am, yet wanting to give her something nice decided to make her something.

I know she always has a lot of change that doesn't fit in her wallet, so I figured a change purse may be in order.
Her favorite color is purple, and since I already did a bag in purple, I already had the fabric lying around.

I think it came out cute, I may have to stock a couple of these in my Etsy shop.
I lined it with the same lavender cotton fabric I did for the wristlet. All I needed to buy was the zipper!

Recent Goings On

I have been working on my Etsy shop a bit though, fixing pictures, creating a banner, basic new shop type stuff, and since I have no other pictures, I think I'll share my revamped pics of the wristlets in my shop. I found a wonderful tutorial somewhere giving instructions on how to brighten photos, but I can't for the life of me find it.


The photos of the black and white bag didn't come out quite so well, it was hard to adjust colors and brightness without washing it out too much.

New School Tote :)

So I've spent part of yesterday and all of this evening working on a new tote for school since my old one was getting pretty ratty.

It's a really good sized tote measuring about 20 inches square when laid flat.

This is my first attempt at applique letters. I really like how they came out. Delta Zeta are the letters for my sorority, and our colors are pink and green, which also happen to be my favorite coincidentally.

I incorporated some of the accent fabric into the handles.

I had such a good time making this! I can't wait to get started on my Aunt's.
The lining is the same tan material as the outside, and i also have a pocket on the inside with a spot for my pencils and calculator.

Happy Day!

So, today has been a super exciting day all around, but first here are some pictures from the weekend.
Saturday I finished a lovely laptop sleeve for my computer based on this tutorial by Oh, Fransson! I just LOVE how it came out!

I made a few changes to the original design; I pieced and quilted the panels before sewing together, but overall I LOVED the design. SO fun and easy :)


I also started another wristlet similar to the purple one, but black and white and without pleating.

My second wristlet from the same design as my purple one, only there is no pleating. I love the colors and designs together.


And now for today's excitement... my mom took me birthday shopping!!!

I now have the proper cutting equipment for whatever my heart so desires, joyous day!

This is such a pretty rotary cutter. Luckily there was a HUGE sale at JoAnn's or I never would have been allowed to pick this out.

Preview of one of my upcoming projects, a tote/purse for my aunt.

An assortment of colors for future purses, wristlets, perhaps even quilting blocks.

Thank you mommy! You're the best :D

PS I know my pictures aren't good :( I'm always so busy during the day that I don't end up taking pictures till night time when the lighting is bad.

Pie!!

My friend Anja's Mother's birthday was a few days ago, so she and I decided to put down our sewing for the evening and bake up a storm.

I have a knack for making pie crusts, so I was in charge of the pie

This was my first attempt at the lattice top, which I felt was fitting for the blueberry pie. Just looking at it is making me hungry, I wish I had some left, but it was gone nearly before it had cooled.

Anja made a delicous birthday cheesecake

and some poppy seed bagels.


I know this isn't a baked good, but it turned out so pretty I just couldn't reisist. Who knew that sticking fruit on wooden skewers could be a work of art. Anja and I made this while the pie was baking... well mostly Anja, all I did was ball the melon.

Wristlet fun

I've had this idea for a wristlet for quite some time now, and with the quilt out of the way, I finally got a chance to create it.

It is fully lined with a light lavender cotton, and no raw edges. I also started an Etsy shop, so I think this will make a good first item.


First I drew up my idea


Then I cut out the pieces


And before I knew it, it was finished.


I really like how the pleating came out, not too bad for my first attempt.

This is the back.

First Quilt

Tada!
(I have no idea what that spot in the top right of my picture is)
Probably most of the reason why I'm so excited about the completion of this quilt is that it was just SO frustrating. Trying to piece what my thirteen year old mind was thinking with what I now know was not an easy task.
After all that work, my bed completely dwarfs this quilt. Definitely closer to a baby quilt size.

There was much fixing involved before I could make any real progress:
And yes I'm using scissors to tear apart my quilt due to the fact that I broke my seam ripper earlier in the week.Finished quilt top

I picked white for the backing because, well, it's cheap. Despite that, I think it gives a certain crispness to the overall look.Of course I couldn't help but add a little color to prevent the quilt back from being completely boring. I had a few extra partial quilt blocks left, and I really like how it came out.
And now I can finally sleep.

First Completed Quilt EVER!

Today was a very exciting day; today i completed my first quilt!!! It's about time too, I started this quilt when I was thirteen, and here I am turning twenty in a month! Nearly seven years from start to finish... of course the quilt spent most of those years in a bag in my closet, but we don't need to talk about that.
All things considered it came out quite well. The fabric is cheap, and I was making it up as I went along, but it's a start, right? I'll post pictures in my next post.
The next step is to get the right tools. I desperately need a rotary cutter, mat and ruler but I am a poor college student, so I can only hope that I either find a summer job soon, or have a very lucky birthday.

Hello!!

I suppose I should start off with an introduction.
My name is Alice, I live in Maine with my parents and two younger brothers. During the school year I attend the University of Maine working towards a degree in Civil Engineering. There I am an active sister of Delta Zeta where I have 55 sisters to make up for not having any biological ones to speak of.
Anyhow, I created this blog to share the products of my love for anything crafty. Lately I have been running my sewing machine ragged making purses and bags and quilts, but I also enjoy knitting, crocheting, painting, mindless doodling, and giving the occasional haircut (my friends actually trust me taking scissors to their hair).
I suppose that's enough for now, I initially intended to post pictures of my latest endeavors, but somehow it became 2:30 am and sleeping is on the agenda for me.
Goodnight world! I am truly excited to enter into the blogging community.