Category Archives: crafts

As 40 creeps closer…

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It’s been  a year since my 40 by 40 list post was created and I am slowly getting through the list! I still have a lot of work to do, but have ticked off quite a few big items. One more year to go to as 40 creeps closer!

38 was the year of bills and home improvements. I paid off a small left over mortgage loan, and paid for a chimney rebuild and a new roof. That will be a lot more money in my pocket in the long run, but it sure was hard to say good bye to all that cash.  It’s also really nice not to have a failing roof, and a leaking chimney (hooray for maintaining structural integrity of this money pit…um, house!)

It was also the year of pushing myself-to learn more, do more, be more. You know, without getting all sorts of overwhelmed.

I also traveled alone, including business trips to Portland for Feast and Vegas to eat and for the Vegas Food Expo. I’ve never really been somewhere by myself, and so this was pretty huge for me!  Feast was my first time away from Izzy and while I was both terrified to be without her, I was so excited to be away and treat myself to a weekend away. Turns out taking a bath by yourself after eating a few thousand calories and then not sharing a bed with a tiny, raging octopus/toddler all night is AMAZING. That trip really prepped me for Vegas, where I hit quite a few of my goals-eating an amazing dinner, getting my first tattoo, singing loudly in front of strangers, and dancing in a huge sea of people.

I wrote more and collaborated with brands while not losing out on any of my creative desires. I spent more time learning herbal medicine and did a lot of wild crafting. I spent time nurturing my heart by making herbal goodies for friends, which reinforced how much I enjoy chemistry, biology and botany!

I built up the farm, too! I brought in 2 rabbits, which led to even more rabbits (see that whole thing here), and worked hard to not screw up growing carrots and peas. My corn thrived and grew taller than my house. I fed neighbors with the extra vegetables, and ripped up my lawn for more gardening space. It felt good to get up and out and push myself physically to make my home what I wanted it to be.

I participated in activities that fed my soul, more than fed my bank accounts. Let’s look at what I’ve been up to this year…the bold, italicized items are completed!

1. Do something that scares me, often!
2. Go to a ridiculously fancy dinner
3. Finally get that tattoo!
4. Pay off a large bill-not super exciting, but getting rid of any bill is more cash for fun
5. Be more accepting of my body, strengths and flaws
6. Go overseas again/travel more
7. Continue to get in shape -eehhhhhhh. A work in progress.
8. Skate more
9. Learn to knit
10. Make sourdough, actually keep it alive for more than 1 week
11. Do 5 push ups, well. Yeah, I said it. 5.
12. Do more karaoke
13. Make a blood orange olive oil milkshake like the one at the Olive Pit, in California-so good!
14. Fix up the garage and make it into a studio
15. Raise rabbits
16. Make more quilts
17. Finish up my herbalism classes
18. Eat fewer processed foods
19. Rock climb again
20. Hunt a deer and properly butcher it
21. Write more (hmmm…check?)
22. Make cheese
23. Go clam digging
24. Set up a friend version of Outstanding in the Field.
25. Teach Izzy to fish
26. Find more happiness-actively seek it out, and hold it tight
27. Successfully grow peas and carrots, and not little dinky ones
28. Bring Izzy backpacking
29. Take a photography class
30. Dance more
31. Build the fence that has been sitting in raw materials in my garage for 10 years
32. Kayak on Lake Washington
33. Ride in a hot air balloon
34. Go to Disneyland
35. Camp on a beach
36. Buy more nice knives
37. Teach more
38. Hike to a hot spring
39. Take a train ride
40. Read more

So what’s on tap for 39? More travel, more food and more finding and keeping what makes me happy. I’ll continue to tick things off of my above list and keep reporting back on all of my adventures!

Yours in squeezing all we can into life!

Raina

 

Sew Long

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Hi there!

It feels like it has been a long time since I just sat down and was able to sew. I forget that it is really a relaxing activity for me. The feel of my scissors cutting through new fabric, matching up of corners, the sound of my machine whirring as fabric comes together into something more than it’s original  parts.

A few years ago, I started making quilts and clothes for myself and Izzy. I am by no means great at it, but I love teaching myself a new skill and enjoy watching something come together from a pattern, or a sketch. You know that feeling when you sit down and just focus on one task and when it’s completed, you feel both relaxed, but proud of yourself? Sewing does that for me. I love it.

I recently had a chance to try fabrics from the Little House on the Prairie Andover Fabrics Collection. The fabric has an awesome vintage look, with pretty colors and patterns. Even better? It holds up well when you have to pull out stitches after not lining up seams. Fabric that doesn’t fray when you pull stitches is great-you have less waste, less frustration and you can feel OK with having to redo a quilt patch when needed (even if you end up redoing it three times for one section like me). The fabric also has a good feel-thick and soft, right off the bolt.

Here’s a look into what I am working on! Its a few squares into a sampler quilt that will be twin sized. Izzy’s room is filled with vintage and antique items, and this quilt should fit right in!

First, I started off easy, making a patch quilt block, with a lot of little squares. It came together quickly, which inspired me to branch out and make something a little more complicated that I sketched out.


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After that, I wanted to go bigger and make this next block, a Drunkards Path. This one was hard, was the one that I had to redo a few times and am still tweaking to get it just right.

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Fun right? A little time, a little patience, and a glass or two of wine, and you have some fun quilt blocks. That’s my kinda craft.

Interested in getting your hands on your own fabric? You can enter the rafflecopter for a chance to win all of this awesome swag, valued at over $380! What could you win??

    • A fat-quarter bundle of all three Little House on the Prairie® fabric collections
    • A limited edition tote bag made of Little House on the Prairie® fabric
    • The Deluxe Remastered “Little House on the Prairie” Complete Collection DVD Set
    • “The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder” DVD
    • The Quilting with Laura book
    • The World of Little House book

swag

So there you go. You have ideas, the allure of fun goodies; now all you need is to enter to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more information and ideas, please check out the Little House on the Prairie site!  Thank you all for reading! What would YOU make with these fabrics?

Yours in sewing,
Raina

Disclaimer: I did receive a sample of the fabric to help create this post, but the opinions are all mine! My promise to you, dear reader, is that if I don’t like a product you won’t see it here.

Bigger, Faster, Better

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I’ve had a few sewing machines in my life. First was my mothers’ machine. An old beast that I only remember as being slightly yellowed and likely to take off my finger at any moment. It served a purpose in my house for my mom: to make me clothes. For me, it encouraged me to learn hand sewing. I hated that machine, and for the life of me I cannot explain why.  I hand sewed everything I could-quilts, doll clothes, odd-looking stuffed animals. I couldn’t get enough. Of course, once I figured out boys were way more fascinating, sewing took a back seat.

My next machine was an old 80’s beast that was secured nicely into a desk. It was a salvaged item from my then father in law’s garage sale. He had no interest in it, but I did.  I remember having my ex put it in the van to drag it into our tiny little apartment, where it sat. It hadn’t been serviced in over a decade, and wouldn’t even thread. Defeated, it went into the storage area below our building. When I eventually moved to Seattle, it stayed with the ex after having moved with us 3 times.  I stuck to hand sewing then too.

A few years later I spied a cheap machine at a Target post-turkey day sale. It was less than $100 and I had to go to 3 Target stores to get it. I toted it home and peeked in at the box. I quickly forgot about it after I got my new Subaru. I later opened it up to do a little sewing and crafting. Either something needed mending, or I wanted to make sure it worked. My love of sewing was renewed!

In the past year or two, i have been making blankets, and quilts and have ventured into sewing bags and pants. Its been nice to be a little more self-sufficient, and to have something that is all mine.

Recently my cheap little Singer was starting to annoy me, it wouldn’t stay threaded, and it was just a pain to sew through fabrics. I vowed when I could afford it I would buy a new machine. That happened a few weeks ago, after I finished the new fabric cabinet. I bought a Brother machine, with 100 something stitches and 6 types of button holes. It has quilt and embroidery stitches and when programmed can spell my name. Its crazy, and I love it.

I’ll be doing more with it, making pot holders and aprons from designs I have sketched, and I’ll be bartering with an amazing local seamstress to learn more tricks.  I’m excited, it’s a nice contrast to an otherwise busy life.

As I complete projects, I’ll post em and show folks what I am up to, I’ll also post some of the garden barter pics too, stay tuned.

Yours in craftiness and playing with bigger, faster and better toys!

Raina