Random and TGIF

I have no pictures or crafty projects today.  Just thoughts.  I'm all over the place...

• My neighbors are on drugs.  They don't sleep.  And apparently they don't want me to sleep either.  The played music ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  And I don't know why they felt the need to be in their bedroom (directly over mine) when they have a whole apartment to occupy.  I can't wait to move.
• January has been a great month for paying off debt!  I eliminated two debts and just paid a chunk on another.  Despite my talk of wanting to get rid of debt for the past 6 years, I've really only focused on it the past two - you know, since I've had a job that paid enough to cover life's expenses and still have some left over. The end of my credit card debt is near - like this Spring!!
• I'm trying to imagine a life without debt.  My parents were not great with money and always had debt. I've had debt my whole adult life.  I hate it and I'm doing things differently, but I've never lived a life without debt.  Honestly, I'm really excited about it.  It'll be a wonderful adventure!
• I plan to do Project Life this year and I've been keeping track of things to include for January, but I'm kind of stuck.  I think starting is hard.  I also think deciding which products to use it hard.  I have a binder.  I have pocket pages.  I need to just dive in.  
• If I had a magic lamp with a Genie inside, one of my wishes would be for wash-and-wear hair.  I hate doing my hair.  It's naturally wavy, but not in simple and convenient way.  It's wavy in a must-be-styled-or-looks-like-bedhead kind of way.  
• I have a string quilt that is almost done!  I completed the top quite a while ago and haven't completed the quilting or binding.  I pulled it out this past week and I just love it.  The quilting will take a couple more days and then I just have the binding left.  I kind of want to make another string quilt.
• I'm so happy it's Friday!!

Twister

Ready for another quilt post?  Well, that's what I have photos of, so it will have to do.  My friend adopted a baby a year ago.  It was a quick process from being selected for placement to the birth, so I put some other projects on hold to work on her quilt.  As soon as I got the text telling me the gender, I got in my car and drove 2 hours to my favorite quilt store.  I have a couple stores locally and there are a handful between here and that store, but I needed a large selection to really be inspired.

Actually, I started with this fabric from Hobby Lobby.  It caught my eye because of the various bright, yet girly colors.  Also, the mom likes paisley.  From there, I just gathered numerous bright, happy fabrics that worked well with the inspiration fabric.

That's my normal method - pick an inspiring fabric and then find other fabrics that coordinate.  That's also my very favorite part of the whole quilt process - just picking the fabrics and imagining how they will work together.

My mom's family is creative.  And social.  About once a month, there is a Cousin's Quilt Day and anyone who wants to work on projects is welcome to join.  There is a diverse group of people from my grandpa's cousins on down to my own cousins.  It's not limited to quilting.  Often people do other sewing, crocheting/knitting, scrapbooking, homework, or just visiting.  It's usually held about an hour and a half from here, so we don't make it often.  We try to go once in the Spring and once in the Fall.  

I had seen one of my grandpa's cousins do a Twister quilt at one of these gatherings.  Many of the other family members thought it was too busy, but I loved it.  I thought it would be perfect for this baby quilt.  I bought a template and went right to work. It was quick and simple and looked a lot more complex that it actually is.

I loved this quilt.  It was so warm and happy and charming.  Everyone that visited my house while it was here loved it.  Most importantly, my friend loved it.  And when my sister in law announced they were expecting a girl, I made another just like it for her.  I never duplicate quilts, but this one, I did!  In person, the colors are more vibrant and the oranges and yellows are less similar than they appear here.  It is really such a happy quilt.  I get so excited when I see Baby Madeline or Baby Lily using it.

Winter Decor

It's January!  And it's hard to believe that it's 2013!  I remember when the 2002 Winter Olympics were announced and that felt so far away.  It was a big deal because it was local - and nothing ever really happens in Utah! Ha.  And now... 2002 is in the distant past.  Time flies!

So I love two things - well, I love LOTS of things, but two in particular for today... Home Decor and Silhouette - and when I can merge the two, I'm a happy girl.  I like using the Silhouette Studio software to make signs and printables.  I enjoy layering patterns and shapes and changing opacities and line settings.

I made this sign last Winter and it's one of my very favorite things I've ever created with my beautiful machine. And then my hard drive died.  I'm glad I printed it, but I wish I still had the hard copy.  I can recreate it, but I haven't.  I also made the smaller sign.  It's much more simple.  No layering - no changes to opacity - basically just a font with a pattern fill.  Still cute.  I found that blue and wood frame at TJ Maxx and bought it without a plan in mind.

The paper trees are new this year.  I found them on Pinterest and my friend and I had a craft night to make those and a couple other little things.  The instructions are here.  They were very easy, but more time consuming than I thought they'd be.  The furry tree is a craft boa that I wrapped around a metal frame and stuck on a candlestick.  Simple, but cute.  And it's more fun to enjoy "winter" in my warm house than outside in the below-zero temperatures! Brr! 

Christmas Tree Decorating

I love my Christmas Tree.  I've learned a few things over the years that have made my tree better. I don't consider myself an expert, but I do enjoy the process a whole lot.  Also, photographing a tree is hard!

We had a 6.5' tree for a couple years and it made me claustrophobic.  In fact, one year I took the tree down a week before Christmas because I was tired of having it in my space. That said, I live in an apartment.  In a house, I would have no issues with a larger tree.  Our is 4.5' and it is perfect for us.

Pick a color scheme or theme.  Or go with a collected/eclectic look.  I chose to match the decor in my living room.  It's primarily orange, aqua, and plum.  Choose ornaments in various sizes (appropriate to the size of the tree), colors, and finishes (shiny/matte/glitter).  That adds a lot of interest. 

Also, use plenty or ornaments.  I don't like naked trees.  Nor do I like trees where you can't see any tree at all under the mass of ornaments. I have approximately 75 ornaments ranging from 2-6" on my 4.5" tree.  For my own taste, I won't do more than that.  I may switch out some of the existing ornaments, but I like concentration of ornaments as they are now.

Attach ornaments to the tree with green florist wire.  That allows you to place ornaments exactly where you want them and it controls how they hang.  It's also great for people with pets or small children because it's much more difficult to knock the ornaments off the branches.

I like to tuck some ornaments deep into the branches while others hang from the ends.  That gives the whole tree more depth and more interest as well. 

I prefer a fake tree, but I don't prefer to see areas of the tree that are less full - primarily on the inside of the branches.  I bought a cheap fir garland ($4 at Walmart, I believe) and cut it in 3 or 4 pieces and then I strung it between the empty spots on the inside of the tree.  It looks like a much more expensive tree now.   Very full and lush!

I also like matching the gift wrap to the style of the tree.  I used lots of ribbon and paper doilies on mine. Now I just need to finish shopping!

Be Grateful

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  My family gathers and enjoys simple, reflective time with one another.  Life is busy and hectic and there are too few days where the main point/tradition is to sit down, shut up, and just appreciate all that you have.  The food is good, too.

I don't remember being taught to show thanks, but I was.  My family was not well off when I was young and there were many kind and compassionate people that helped us along.  Some were family, some were friends, some were anonymous.  We were far from destitute, but there were times that we did need help.

The time I remember most was the holiday season just after my dad had heart surgery and started dialysis. He was not able to work and things were not great financially.  I was already an adult at that point and I was not living at home, but so many people were wonderful to my parents and my younger brother.  One neighbor hung lights on their house.  Another offered to watch their dog.  Anonymous people dropped by with food, money, gifts, etc.  It was amazing to see so many people willing and eager to help someone in need.

I have much to be grateful for.  I have good health. A great job.  A loving and supportive family.  Trusted friends.  A relationship with God.  Talents.  This year has brought some changes with it.  My brother and sister-in-law had a surprise addition to their family. I had a promotion at work. Two, actually.  We bought a new car. And we can see the light at the end of our debt-tunnel.  I have been blessed, challenged, trusted, and loved.

Life is good.

(easiest Thanksgiving sign ever -- hot glue letters to the sign, paint or stain, and enjoy)

Ogee

Last Summer, my friend announced that she was expecting her second child.  Happy news!  I had previously bought some fabric and I knew it would be perfect for her -- if she had a baby girl. As soon as she found out she was having a girl, I got to work on her quilt.   

I originally saw this quilt and knew I had to make it... but I was feeling cheap and didn't want to pay for a pattern -- sometimes I'm cheap over the weirdest things.  Anyway, as I sat admiring the quilt, the construction seemed clear.  It was a Drunkard's Path variation.  Bonus, we had just finished the Only Nine quilt and I could use part of those templates for this quilt.  One area where I am not cheap; tools.  I think a good quality, versatile template is worth every penny. That said, I don't buy templates for squares and things like that I can do with my rotary cutter and ruler. Mine has wider points than the pattern I didn't buy, but that could be easily changed.  I happen to like it just fine this way. 

The fabrics are mostly a Michael Miller line sold at Joann Fabrics. There are some other fabrics thrown in there as well.  The back is the large multi-colored floral and the binding is the teal polka dots.  

Meanwhile, two of my other closest friends suddenly announced that they were also adding to their families -- all baby GIRLS!  One was adopting and the baby was expected before any of the others, so this quilt went on the back burner while I made a quilt for her. Eventually, I finished this one.  Yes, the baby was already here at that point, but that's okay with me.  She loves it anyway :)

Halloween Decor

I feel like Autumn, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all thrown at me at once and I'm changing up my decor a lot over 3-4 months time.  Then there is a huge dead-spot for decor on the calendar that stretches from Easter to Autumn.  It seems that things could have been spaced out a little better. Haha.

I like to add new things to my decor and switch things up so that there is some variety from year to year.  This year's addition is the canvas print.  I designed a similar sign last year and framed it.  And I really liked it... except, I kept thinking about how much more I'd like it if it was a canvas.

The original sign was created with my Silhouette Studio software, so I needed to recreate it in Photoshop for printing and sizing.  I ordered here and waited forever. I was anxious to see it and they also had a computer glitch on their end - the combo made it seem like forever.

I added some potion jars I created last year and some decorative pumpkins from a few years back.  I also suspended a spider from a little web that I stuck to the ceiling with clear thumbtacks.  He's on clear, elastic thread, but the photo caught the shadow, so it looks like it's dark thread.

Unfortunately, I was waiting on the canvas to decorate for Halloween so I won't get to enjoy this decor for very long. Soon enough, I'll be switching things up for Thanksgiving.  I'm also kind of obsessed with canvas prints now and want to order all the signs I've created on raised canvas!  They're more than I'd pay at the store, but I somehow justify it in my mind because I did the design work and made exactly what I wanted.  Haha!