simple Analogy

In My Little World: Meet Myrtle

 

In my little world all plants would bloom and be happy no matter how hot and dry it is.

In My Little World: The Ideal Cup

 

In my little world, and in Noah's little world, this would be the ideal cup of coffee:

mostly milk

a drop of coffee

lots of sugar

and oodles of cream (no whip for my world)

In My Little World: Meandering

In my little world I think I'd go around that rusty nail too! 

Bouquet for You

Thank you to all who continually stop by to see the crafting and life that happens here at simple Analogy.  I do have a few short "in my little world" posts arranged for you while I'm in vacation mode. 

A Colorado wildflower bouquet just for you. 

The Boy Version of Clever

Packing for a trip takes a lot of thought, and children do not want to spend their playtime thinking it all through.  They grab a few things and shove them in a suitcase and - DONE!  Later when you check their suitcase you are appalled to find they have only one pair of underwear, 15 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts (which have been pulled out of the laundry hamper), and no deodorant.  I don't know about your kids, but mine need a list!  And they need it today - the boys and I are going to Colorado tomorrow.

Last year House on Hill Road posted a printable packing list for her kids.  Print it out, write in the amount of each item - how clever!  I remembered it for this vacation and printed it out.  One little problem... she has girls.  Somehow when I saw the pink underwear, ponytail holders, dress, and party shoes print out, I didn't think my boys were going to appreciate it for the genius idea it really is.

So, here is my boy version (click on it to enlarge): 

   

Ours even has guns and ammo on it!  (Please note that these are air soft guns only and my boys have been trained to use them with safety, caution, goggles, and always under supervision!  No kicking fire buckets at each other around here!  Long story!) 

Summer Sundress

 

Just look at that shirring!  It gathered just fine as I sewed and tightened up as I pressed it. 

Oh, and did I tell you I got this fabric for $2 a yard?  I'll be sporting this one to church tonight - with a sweater of course.

Shirring Glitch

I've been trying the shirring technique.  My first WHOLE spool of elastic thread (that's 30 yds) went to practicing with absolute failure.  Ms. Imagination said that she couldn't get the gathers to happen, and that's exactly what I was coming up with.  Nary a gather to be found even after I steamed and steamed!  Frustration! 

I was also having tension problems with the bobbin which is where the elastic thread goes.  The back is supposed to look nice and neat (see step 2), but instead mine looked snarly.  I tried every stitch length and tension possible, but could not get any consistency. 

I went to several other shirring tutorials for help:  House on Hill Road has a very detailed tutorial - more so than the Heather Ross segment, because you can see what she's doing close up.  But Pretty Ditty is where my problem was discovered.  I didn't even find it in the instructions, but in the pictures.  She has a drop in bobbin, as do I.  After she had pulled up the bobbin thread, the thread came across like it does with regular thread.  Mine was not set right.  It was coming straight off the bobbin directly through the opening by the needle.

WRONG: 

No wonder my tension was screwy!  That's like having no tension at all!  Threading a bobbin of elastic thread through my machine took a little effort, but after I got my bobbin set and threaded correctly, the first practice row gathered up perfectly. 

RIGHT: 

 

The tension was perfect as well.  I used a stitch length of 4.0 and my tension was set for about 5 1/2.

Patchwork Pillows

I finished the pillows Friday night!

 

  

 

Both have a covered zipper on the back.  My first zippers!!!!

 

The minute I set them on the couch, the boys were there trying them out.  "These are NICE!"  "Oh, it's comfortable."  "Ahhhh!"  "It makes me want to sleep out here!"  "Can you imagine having one of these to sleep with?"  Don't you know that made my day!!!!  I foresee pillows in their Christmas future.

We're all loving our new pillows - even Joel, who's using one of them at this very minute!

The Feathered Nest

It seems I'm feathering my nest.  Filling my home with my creativity.  Making it a welcoming, peaceful, comfortable, beautiful sanctuary for my family.  How about those adjectives!  We spend a lot of time in the living room... playing games, reading, watching movies, computing, talking, praying, schooling.  My living room is so inviting and cozy now that my gallery is hanging on the wall behind my couch.  Just wait till those pillows are done! 

Click on any picture to see it larger.  You can see the set I used on flickr.

The Piecing of Pillows - Part Two

This one was also made from a pattern in Stitch by Malka.  It is really just improv piecing.  If you've ever wanted to try improv, but aren't quite comfortable about diving in on your own, use this pattern.  It takes you step by step in the piecing process.

I was more free with reaching in the bag and pulling out a strip this time.  It think I'm getting more into the true improv spirit.  I had two bags:  one for cool colors (mine were green and aqua) and one for warm (orange).  I did want to add a little black and white as well, so I threw some of those in my warm bag.  This pattern starts with a cool center then rotates around the center with two cool, two warm.  You keep going until you have about a 7 1/2 inch block then square it up.  There are nine 7 1/2 inch blocks altogether.  Since I have done improv before, it was a breeze.  Now let me tell you just because it was a breeze doesn't mean it didn't take time.  Sewing all those little pieces together does take time, but it's really fun.  Each block comes out as a surprise at the end.  This is exactly the look I was going for - fresh and fun.  Time for free motion! 

*** Take a look at the variations on this pillow at Wise Craft!