More snow on the way?

Squiddy's expression really sums up how I feel about hearing that there will be MORE snow coming tomorrow. We've really had quite enough, so much so that we're not done with the last helping we got!

I took this picture a week and a half ago, and this bike is still seriously frozen in this snowbank. Frozen as in one would need an ice pick to get it out or maybe a ginormous hair dryer or 75 gallons of hot water, or 135 old geezers farting in it's general direction or . . .I know! How about a couple of actual spring days?!

Bias tape, binding and photo heavy.

I have a mental list of things I don't know how to do (sewing wise) that I think I should know how to do. It includes zippers, buttonholes, ruffles/pleating and elastic. I'm sure there is more but that is what comes immediately to mind.

However! Thanks to the patient efforts of my dear sweet mother, binding is no longer on that list. That little item was beginning to feel like a 10 page paper I hadn't written and  I am so glad to get it off of my list.

There are so many very good tutorials so what follows isn't really one. I took photos of the process so that I could remember how to do it next time without having to bother me' mam.

Started stitching in the middle, rather than a corner, with enough binding to overlap. This is the back side of the piece.  I forgot to fold the initial edge under so it looks more finished but for this test piece it looks just fine. 

 

I sewed almost to the edge of each corner, stopping at about 1/4 of an inch before and then starting on the next side.

Folding  the tape over like this means there'll be enough fabric to go to the other side and it will look mitered on this side. 

Then I flipped it over, and folded over the binding. It's possible I used pins, but unlikely. It was a little tricky at the corners, but nearly as scary/impossible as I had previously thought.

My mother is generally a woman of few thread colors. She knows what she likes and she sticks to it. So I was puzzled when she brought out the box of many colors and asked me 3 different times what color thread I wanted.  Once I was done however, I understood. Matching thread means that if your stitches are at all wobbly, it won't show.  Since this was a test, only a test, it's no big deal, but I'll be certain to all kinds of matchy-matchy next time.

I love Japan and it's lovely people unabashedly. Do you see the cushions on the chairs in the photo above? They demonstrate one of the bajillion reasons I am so fond. Someone in the neighborhood of that train stop made those cushions. The cushions are completely unmolested - there's no gum on them, no rips, no nothing! Also, the cushions are still there without having been locked down in some way. I think this is the ultimate in neighborliness of which I think there can never be enough.

 I have been feeling especially powerless to help the folks affected. Thus, I am asking you to consider donating to 2011 Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Victims  via my friend Aya and her sister Emilie who have family in Tokyo. They've found a fund that will help directly and are hoping to raise $4k by Friday. Thank you for being neighborly along with me.

here's hoping

in progress veggie bag, originally uploaded by moxiegrumby.

that these bits end up being something I like. Lately i've been in a bit of a slump as my experiments haven't turned out as well as I'd like. This fabric is so fun and vibrant, so much so that it's hard to think anything could go badly!

long awaited!

Alright, alright, maybe it's only been awaited since I placed the order last week, nonetheless, my new camera arrived last night.  I'm so excited, it's got functions aplenty plus it is a very bright pink.


It will also allow me to take pictures even after the sun has gone down, and at this time of the year, that will be hugely helpful. Any scheme to feel like I'm beating this never ending winter is one I am on like lines are on graph paper.

This means I am much more likely to post pictures of things I'm working on. There's an idea floating around the crafty blogging world of posting the process of your own projects, rather than just the perfect finished product. I'm all for that, partly because my stuff is rarely perfect, and a lot of times what I'm aiming for isn't quite what happens in the end, and it will be good to have a better record of that kind of thing.

Thus! Here are some pictures I took last night of a raw edge applique small project I started.  I've been using interfacing for this kind of applique, as interfacing had been on my list of things to no longer be afraid of, like zippers and binding. I'm working up to those.

The extreme closeups show where I'm having some trouble with machine. I'm told that maybe the bobbin is defective, but I'm not sure. I was too excited to see how this would look to stop and take it all out and start over. I will though, because I really like how this looks. I'm also excited to see this in other pattern and color combinations.

The pattern and the project before I've tacked it all down. I know this is a little dark.

My stitches have gone all kinds of wonky. On the plus side my camera  has a macro function that makes me very happy!