Native Woman Sews, Crafts, Writes, and More

Kitchen Table As Sewing Table

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Once the kids and I moved in with Mom, she lost her sewing area. And I lost my craft room. So what did we do to make the best of it – set up shop in the dining room!

It’s been … well not a struggle, but we have had to figure out what works and what doesn’t in terms of storage. She has a hall closet that we use for fabric, supplies, etc., and we also have the bottom part of the kids closet as storage for fabric. She doesn’t do many other crafts such as making cards, scrapbooking, etc., so it’s mainly sewing in this house. I’ve managed to crochet a few things and we both do beadwork.

So we use the hall closet for storage – that stays fairly organized with bins and buckets. The space in the dining room surrounding the kitchen table though, that has been a lot harder for us to get under control. We’ve tried stacking fabric on a chair (yeah…that doesn’t work so well!), we’ve tried baskets, and then those end up stacked on top of each other, we tried putting things away and only getting it out when it was needed, that really doesn’t work well at all. Mom had the idea that she wanted a bookcase with cubbies in it for quite a while and we finally got one last week.

She wanted a mix of baskets and the fabric bins you can buy that fit the spaces, and ended up with six fabric bins because we had a hard time finding baskets that would fit. The one we used at the bottom sticks out a little, which isn’t too big of a deal since this sits in a corner and people don’t run into it. Now all we have is the basket to the left that holds the sewing machine quilt table attachment and the rulers. Everything else we are using and working on is in the bins!

So yay we are organized!

And the real benefit of being this organized – the little pile of fabric next to the sewing machine and red circle bobbin holder – Mom whipped out five matching needle holders and pin cushions.

As a sidenote, the green sewing machine up there is the Janome Hello Kitty. Alice got it for Christmas! She (and I) was SO excited! We got it out on Christmas day and set it up – only to have the thread tangle up if you even look at the machine funny. It’s a huge disappointment because she really enjoys sewing and I don’t want it to be a chore for her. It’s also annoying for us because we (Mom or I) have to quit what we are doing in order to try to fix it. I asked a friend who I know has the same machine only to be told that she had the same problem. So I am going to send it back and invest in a quality machine for Alice. Sure it won’t have Hello Kitty on it, and it won’t be pretty and green, but it’ll be a machine that works!

Baby Update

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I am huge.

See!

But oddly enough, I’ve technically only gained two pounds. That’s because of losing so much weight at the beginning and throughout. But he still grew and is doing great. He constantly moves and I’ve been having Braxton Hicks contractions forever now. A couple of weeks ago, for one day, they were every half hour, but I knew they were nothing. At my dr appointment last week, the dr estimated him to be seven to eight pounds – and said if I go to my due date, I’m looking at a nine pound baby. The kids were with me and I said oh Jake was almost nine pounds, and the dr said “well then!” So that’s a good thing?

I woke up today kind of feeling sick and wondering if that means labor is coming – but really it’s probably the cheese bread and pizza I had for dinner. Either way, today I’m going to pack a bag for the hospital, just to be prepared.

I had a moment the other day where I felt the NEED to clean up this pile of papers next to my laptop. Nesting!? I actually look forward to that. 🙂 Mom suggested nesting and cleaning my room and closet would be a great nesting thing – too bad you don’t really control what it is you clean or organize. I remember with Jake I took all the plates, dishes, pantry items, etc., out of the cupboards and cleaned everything, then rearranged when I put them back.

I am interested in him hanging out until his due date though! I have a thing with numbers and his due date works. Hahaha

Star Pillows

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Last week my Mom organized a quilt class to be held at her office. She invited several people but a few had colds and so only a few of us ended up participating. At the class she taught us how to make star pillows using the strip piece technique, and after I finally caught on to how to pin the strips my pieces actually ended up matching. So far I’ve made three – one set and then one single pillow.

This is the first star that I made – I made it at home a couple of days before the class so I would know what to do. I ended up taking it out a lot (I can’t even remember how many times) and it is a little bit bumpy or something in the middle, where the points meet. However, this is the first one I made of this color, then I made the red below, then another of this purple one – and the second purple one, wow – it just about all matched up AND lays flat in the middle. I’m amazed I was able to do that because really, the pinning really threw me off. I’m not sure why it took as long to figure out or to catch on to either. This is the first time I’ve ever strip pieced though so I’m very happy.

Here’s the red (and purple I suppose) star – this one I don’t think I took out at all and it ended up with nearly every point meeting up and the middle lying flat. I have yet to add the white, but am going to get that done this week. During the quilt class Mom taught, one of my friends used this same material and also copied my pattern – so I figure I’ll finish this and give it to her so she can have a set. Mom already said I’m going to be the star quilt maker in the family since my stuff has matched up so easily and the center lies flat. 🙂

The book that Mom has that she uses is the Radiant Star Quilt by Eleanor Burns. We used the four color and just adjusted the size for a 18″ pillow vs a blanket.

First Crafts of the Year

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I have been SO crafty over the past few months! I’ve made baby blocks for a friends new baby, crocheted a baby blanket, did the beadwork projects for my class, sewed pillows, made ribbon pillows with my Mom, helped Mom make a table topper for my niece as a wedding gift, helped make a table runner for my sister in law for Christmas – and the list goes on! Oh and we can’t forget the Christmas ornaments I made for a handful of friends, as well as for my brothers and their families.

But for the first craft of the year – I made myself a crochet hook holder. I’ve been wanting one for quite a while and finally got around to it. We spent the night in Seattle when we dropped Chris off at the airport, and I came home and immediately cut the fabric for it. It took a few hours because I couldn’t grasp the idea of the instructions – and of course after I finished the project, the instructions are very easy to follow along with.

One mistake I made is putting the flap on the left side (as you can see) because in the instructions it says to put the flap in between the inside and outside fabric, on the top right side. Well they meant the top right side after you were finished – not the top right as it was laying on the table. So my flap ended up there. But it still worked just fine!  There are 12 pockets for hooks, as well as a larger pocket on the right side for scissors. The flap makes it so the hooks don’t fall out and it closes with a cute button.

The button I got from my Mom’s stash and was a quick add. This project is from the Sew Darn Cute book – there are several things in here we are going to be making over the next month or so. My Mom already made a handful of needle books from it, and Alice is going to make headbands for a few of her girlfriends.

So that was the first craft of the new year! Actually, the first after Christmas craft as this was done a few days after Christmas. I also embellished a crochet hook (need to get a picture of that, I thought I had one but guess not!) and worked on baby moccasins that day. Living with my Mom has really opened me up to being able to sew and be even more crafty then I used to be. It helps that I went back to school and the kids are in school. Before we would have full days and while my own schooling keeps me busy, I have lots of free time when everyone in the house is gone so I can get a lot done.

2010 Plans

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Last year I picked a word, actually I picked a few words, to strive to live by for the year. There were times when I didn’t think about the words at all, but there were times when I leaned heavily on them.

Last year my words were: Just Breathe. Be Strong. Be Generous.

I didn’t try to actively do any of these things, like doing something and then realize oh I should be generous. Instead I tried to just live my life that way. I tried to be strong because living at our last duty station was horrible, I tried to be generous when we moved and were on the road for so long, and in times of anger or sadness (or anything in between) I reminded myself to just breathe.

I want to pick new words for this year. I think these went along together nicely and maybe I’ll keep one or two of them. We are facing another year of challenges – a new baby, public school woes (there is a bully who just won’t leave my daughter alone!), sports, traveling, being apart from Chris, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things!

We’ve been in the military for 11 years now, married for 9 of those, and the past couple of years have been the hardest so far. I didn’t think it would get easier, I didn’t think that him going from enlisted to officer would mean it would be easier either, but I certainly didn’t think it would get this much harder. Somedays I just focus on taking care of the kids and myself, and just breathe and be strong to get through the day. Being separated by over 14 hours and who knows how many miles and hardly getting to see each other – it’s a test of a relationship for sure.

So the quest to find my 2010 words is on! I have several blank notebooks that I plan on journaling in this year and am thinking I’ll devote one to my words.

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