Red, Red Wool

Earlier in the year, I bought a red wool jacket at Goodwill for the express purpose of cutting it apart. 

I did that recently.

The idea was to try to felt the wool.  I envisioned making all sorts of cool Christmas things, like gift tags or ornaments or little stuffies resembling Santas and stockings and poinsettias and cardinals and such.  As you do, when you think the entire year stretches before you like an empty road and you have all the time in the world.

But all of a sudden, here it is December and there is that red wool.  I should do something with it.

So first I washed it in the washer on hot setting and dried it in the dryer.  But it wasn't quite felt-y enough afterwards, so I decided to boil it on the stove.

Simmer is probably a better word.  About 20 minutes later, I drained the boiling water off and gave the pieces a brief soak in cold water so they could be handled.  Rolled them up in a towel to draw off the excess moisture and then hung them to dry.

Felt-y goodness!

This morning, I drew a little ornament on paper and then traced and cut it out from one of the pieces of wool.  I cut out the middle circle and replaced the felt with part of one charm square of Blitzen, which I Elmer's Glued in place from underneath and pressed with a dry iron to set dry.

I glued another little piece of fabric over the top.  Then I set the whole thing on another piece of red felted wool which was bigger all the way around than the top piece (basically a square).

I threaded my machine with some sparkly metallic Sulky thread (which my machine did not like at all), and I quilted through all the layers, first in a straight line star pattern, and then around the outside edges and finally around the inner circle.  Then I trimmed it, following the shape of the upper piece as a guide.

It was an afterthought to add the hanging loop, and I really should have sandwiched in between the layers as I was quilting it together, but hindsight is 20/20.  My machine rewarded me by jamming with the very last stitch, and because I thought I could sew past the jam (ho-ho-ho), it proved just who was boss and broke the needle with a flourish, as if to say "FINITO!"

Oh, the drama.

I added a little red button in the center as a final step.

This may or may not be the only red felted wool item I produce this season, but better than nothing.  And it's kind of cute, if I do say so!

Update:  I made another one last night. This one went together faster.

Monday Miscellany

I am working diligently on a lovely project that I am unable to blog about just yet.  After that, I'm going to make something else I can't show yet either, and don't you just hate that?  I do too!  But all in due time, my pretties, all in due time.

So, hmm.  Other than that, I've been doing my part in boosting the economy lately, what with Christmas shopping, of course, but also because there are deals to be had and apparently 'tis the season when my resistance is low.

Such a pretty green!

Last week, I set foot in a thrift store for the first time in many, many weeks.  Frankly, I felt a bit out of sorts.  I stood in an aisle of glassware and just blanked.  What am I looking for again?  Oh yeah, that's right, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

While I floundered with the loss of my thrifting mojo, Norm was on autopilot flipping through racks of clothing.  He found some nice stuff too, which I might have resold, but instead we arranged it all neatly back on the rack and left the store empty handed, sanity intact.

But today...today was a different story.  I hit a thrift in a neighboring town I was passing through and spent about three bucks.  I didn't need another Pyrex gravy boat, but it was pretty and cheap, and I thought instead of just shelving it in the collection, I might actually do something different, like plant pansies or oxalis in it come spring.

I know you know a rationalization when you hear one.

There was a Moda fabric remnant that made it out of there with me as well, but I left the package of vintage paper poinsettia doilies on the shelf, I'll have you know.  I.e., restraint was exercised.

In other fabric folly-la-la-la, I finally found a backing fabric for the string dresden quilt.

Ahoy mateys, it's A Pirate's Life for Me by Robert Kaufman.  I think it'll be fun!

I needed an off-white background fabric for the current project and thought I might try Michael Miller Cotton Couture in lieu of Kona.  The MMCC Soft White is pretty close to Kona Snow, color-wise.  Maybe a little more grayish than creamy.  Here is a side-by-side comparison.

However, the MMCC (on the left) has a thinner texture and a more polished finish, almost like sateen.  I decided it wasn't right for me this time around, so I went with the Kona Snow, which is working well.  Just thought I'd mention my impression of one vs. the other, for what it's worth.

Back to thrifting for a moment, my daughter sent me this YouTube link to the song/video Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Lewis.  I laughed my butt off, but if you are offended by explicit language, you may want to pass.  Thanks to that, last night I dreamed I drove a DeLorean!

"I'm gonna pop some tags, only got 20 dollars in my pocket..."

November NewFO Wrap-Up

I feel like I got a lot done in November, and all of my NewFOs for the month were actually finished, thanks to holiday pressure.

Here's a quick summary.  Click the captions for more details.

Carpenter's Wheel Christmas Wall Hanging

Serendipity Table Runner (Tutorial)

Pin-up Holiday Pillowcases

This Thing*

This Thing Too*

*I am not naming these items because I made similar ones for Christmas for friends who read this blog.  They have been advised not to click these two Flickr links.  Everyone else, please feel free to look!

Have you finished decorating for the holidays?  We don't do it up big here, but I've got a few things out so far.  I had to laugh when I saw this video of someone's house lights synced to South Korean artist Psy's "Gangnam Style."  I think I've watched this a half dozen times.  Then I had to go watch the original music video, because I am apparently one of the last people on earth to see it.  THAT made me laugh even harder! 



I'm linking to Cat Patches, sponsor of the 2012 NewFO Challenge.

Looking Up

When the day starts by having to call your credit card company due to fraudulent charges, things can only get better from there, right?  Well, so it seems. 

Actually, they had called me Saturday night, but since I was on the treadmill I let it go to voice mail and didn't listen to the message until Sunday morning.  I logged in to my credit card account online, and there it was, six different iTunes charges in two days, which I did not make, totaling just under $100.  So the company canceled my card and opened a new account with a different number.  They were very pleasant about the matter, which made me feel a little less annoyed about the entire situation.

Norm and I assembled my new cutting table last night without incident (unlike the bookshelf a couple weeks ago).  Thanks to Karen for the tip on this table, which adjusts up to 38 inches high.  I've got it set at about 36 inches, and my back is ever so grateful!  It's 59 inches in length fully extended, but the two side sections fold down and the legs move in, for a smaller footprint when you need it.  And I like the shelves on the bottom for storage.  I found this one online at hayneedle.com.

I don't have one of those large cutting mats yet, and a 24 x 18 inch mat wanted to slide around on the smooth table surface.  A strip of dollar store rubberized shelf liner underneath the mat solved that problem.

Here's some of the fabric I was cutting for a new project today.  Vintage Modern by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.  I love it!

I've got a mess in the sewing room again.  We seem to be playing musical chairs with the furniture.  The new cutting table meant I had to move the old sewing machine again, which meant moving this, that, and the other thing as well.  

Hopefully, it'll all come together eventually.

A Murder of Crows

I shot this video about a half hour ago, as a murder of crows harassed a hawk trying to enjoy its lunch on the tree branch in our backyard.  The hawk is sitting just off center, to the right of the squirrel's nest.  It was eating some kind of bird, as I could see a wing hanging below the branch.


The ruckus went on for 15 minutes after the hawk swooped away.  The crows were riled up!

Then I had to go listen to this song.