Katamari prince.

A body pillow case is hard to find, and I couldn't help but notice that the dimensions were pretty perfect for a homemade case anyway. My body pillow is now extra snuggly!

Look out, kitty! You're gonna get rolled up!

Terra.

Another friend wanted a Terra. While the FF4 field sprites fit a standard frame perfectly, the FF6 sprites are just those couple pixels taller, which poses a problem. I solved this by using Terra's crouching sprite. Fits in a 2.5x3.5" frame again! My friend and I discussed our love for struggling, emotionally charged green-haired heroines so it seemed an even more appropriate pose.

Poor Terra!

Hear ye, hear ye.

I have been on a little bitty bit of a cross-stitching kick lately. I did a Final Fantasy 4 "Rydia" for myself, and then Dark Cecil and Paladin Cecil for a friend of mine. Observe!

These take a godawful long time but compared to the stuff on Sprite Stitch, I consider myself a lightweight.

And then, on Friday, I thought it would be a cool idea of create a coat-of-arms for my family unit. I changed my last name in my early twenties, and my husband took said name, so we really are a totally new unit. I figured it would be a good time to solidify our values and identity in a way that would be both bad-ass and a helpful reminder for the goals we want to strive for (before we get too cranky and old).

I spent some time in the SCA as a kid, so heraldic stuff is not entirely new to me. I think I took to it rather like a fish to water! The hours of research were quite fun and it's really amazing I didn't try to shove more symbols in. There are so many to choose from! I originally meant to put a cool crown/collar and chains on the ox but totally forgot about it when it came time to ink. Oh, well.

The Latin translates (if Google is to be believed) to "wealth (within) skill and knowledge lies". I wanted a real "working class" badge, with a hammer and star representing the quest for perfection through arts/crafts. The star also corresponds to the symbol for a third son, which is what my husband is. The 'X' pattern is a Scottish designation for the first generation of a coat. Shafts of wheat (in place of, traditionally, garish ribbons) and the wheel (in lieu of a helm designating rank) for progress, forward movement, and fruition. The ox represents fortitude/labor and the lion valor/achievement. The owl, of course, for wisdom and learning. Apparently there is a big difference between eared owls and earless owls, so I gave him ears. I will say that the one owl I saw in the wild was earless and pretty damned freaky. Every other culture of the world but the west is into them as harbringers of death.

Jerry says that orange and blue is the best color combination EVER, so what choice did I have there?

What can I say? I love symbolism.

"All for under fifty bucks!"

He builds furniture.

I sew.

He built a headboard; we upholstered it; I made a matching bedspread.

We're a pretty good team.

Texture quilt.

I have a nephew on the way, so I've made some reusable wipes and have been looking at cloth diapers (which are really scary and, to be honest, beyond my abilities). I also wanted to make some kind of quilt. What I loved growing up were patterns with lots to look at; and babies love to touch and feel; so with those two put together, I decided on one of those map playmats.

I've sewn together about half of it and have the other half to do.  The "lots" and "roads" vary from suede to vinyl to denim to wool to jersey knit cotton. (Ahem, hand wash and line dry.) When the batting and first backing is in, I will machine quilt different patterns over the "lots". The fabric in the upper right is what will be on the backside to look tasteful when necessary, with a yarn-tie technique to boot. I always, always push beyond what's realistic in layering but, just the same, I always, always pull through (thus far).

I'm deferring to mama's wisdom on where to go from here. I have felt and other materials ready for trees and buildings, but do we want the playmat to have the capacity to grow along with junior, too? Do I attach buildings so it's cutesy and arty, or leave them loose as playing pieces so the LEGOs can eventually move in? Or I'm probably overthinking this, and a combination of diarrhea and projectile vomit will strike at once and totally destroy the thing, and it would be really uncool after a few years besides. But I'm toying (ha!) around.

Market bag.

I signed up for a secret Santa group made up of a network of neighborhood ladies. We were to craft a homemade gift, the materials of which were to cost no more than $10. I drew a 70 year-old woman. What the heck do I do with that!? So, I procrastinated until this past weekend, when I pulled myself together and sewed the day away.

I ended up with a reusable tote bag - a nice, big size - to reflect her crocheting supplies, out-and-about-ness, and who even knows! I finally conquered my fear of gussets by watching this completely wonderful tutorial. I finally feel like I can move on from my flat messenger bags.

Another $3/yard pattern from the warehouse room of my favorite store.

Also, buttons!

Holds two shoeboxes. That's what I'm talking about!

Cross-stitching is a possibility I often entertain. The same goes for rainbow thread.

What's great is the realization that I will be getting a handmade gift of my own! What a treat!

I want an avocado fridge.

I got 1 1/2 yards of fabric yesterday for a project, and it turned out to be completely, utterly, miserably wrong. This is what happens when you walk into a fabric store with no real plan and mill about for over an hour looking at everything from batiks to upholstery fabrics to calico. At several points I literally laid my head on the bolts and groaned aloud from mental exhaustion. I just broke down and picked something so I could leave.

Again. Completely wrong and not tasteful at all.

So I made the stuff into a not-tasteful-at-all kitchen valance! We have a hilariously ugly kitchen - in a rental, no less, so our hands are tied - and have been trying to figure out ways to embrace it... maybe giving it a '70s look. You just can't fight wood paneling. GIVE IN TO IT. So this fabric certainly helps.

And matching potholders! Bwahaha.

Overnight bag.

On Wednesday I arranged for a full day spent meandering around Kalamazoo, Michigan, as well as an overnight at my inlaws' place. Only 3 days to prepare! While only 40 miles away, this journey would be accomplished by public transit and Greyhound - no car. Urban gypsy-ing supreme. I really hate wandering around with an obviously overfull backpack (nearly got mugged once in Hartford, Connecticut), and yet my regular messenger bag is too small to fit everything I needed. Tote bags? Egh. Nothing was looking good. So I hurried to my sewing table to make something juuust right.

It's a take on my original super-easy design of a one-piece bag. But because it was so big, the material was so thick, and I wanted that "box" bottom... I had to make some adjustments.

Oh yes. It's a lovely size.

 I used 6-ply embroidery thread to hand sew the D-ring loops because it was somewhere between 8-12 layers of duck cloth, denim, and upholstery fabric. It'd be easier if I had a serger - instead of folding over all that fabric - but I loathe ever seeing edges and I wanted über strength. I push my poor machine so hard; the needle bent so badly it was out of alignment with the bobbin needle and wouldn't even enter the underbelly of the machine. So I fought and fought (ever tried to push a needle through a cutting board with your hands?) and eventually got those crazy thick segments stitched.

The strap is from a duffel bag I never use, attached with metal clasp thingies. After all, you gotta have a nicely padded shoulder strap if you're going to be carrying 10 pounds of stuff all day.

The keys and felt coin purse are attached to the D-rings with a ball chain. You may notice the ties there at the bottom of the bag; if you bring them up to the black loop just above and knot 'em, you end up with a "squared" bottom. Again, this was something I kinda came up with because it was all one piece and I needed a solution. It works! And if I want to carry flat stuff, I can just leave the ties alone.

In this thing, I carried:

• One spare outfit (2 shirts, pants, socks, underwear)

• Toothbrush, comb, pill case

• 2 comic books

• Journal and small pencil tube

• Water bottle, juice box, 5 oz can of V8, apple, 2 granola bars

• And a travel mug that I bought while I was out.

In its natural habitat, outside the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

I added a carabiner to pull the straps as taut as they'd go so it would sit higher up on my back, bike messenger style. It worked really well!

Let's hear it for making it up as you go along!

Star-bellied cornhole.

I didn't know about cornhole until I moved to the midwest. It's not really a sport catered to yuppie Pacific northwesterners. But I've taken a liking to it. Recently, the dad-in-law asked me and my husband to make him a custom set. He would do the woodwork and general planning, and I would do the final painting and sewing.

To start with, we did a "test run" on a set for ourselves. I attempted a '50s pin-up beach girl thing with mixed results. We made a lot of mistakes. We learned what to do and what not to do. Well, mostly me. The boards are pretty "meh" artistically, but hey. You can still toss a bag of corn at 'em just fine. So, whatever!

Now that we've got our game faces on, we've done up the official set. Dad-in-law is a huge fan of children's books, and that means, of course, Dr. Seuss. So we decided to go with two teams: Sneetches and star-bellied Sneetches.

I used the lessons from the last set (yellow acrylic does not hide pencil lines! for the love of God, primed wood is not a sketchpad!) to dutifully reproduce some Seussimals. Something I have to keep drilling into my brain is that reference materials are there for a reason; you draw what's there, not what you think is there. It is, single-handedly, the toughest lesson for me to accept in all the art I do - but whenever I do accept it, my work instantly becomes 200% more awesome. I actually sketched a number of Sneetches yesterday, trying to grasp Seuss' linework and flow. So I felt pretty confident duplicating it.

Hard at work. One stroke at a time.

Because acrylic is... acrylic, I went ahead and did two coats of the outlines. Time-consuming, but totally worth it. Of course, I re-discovered a brush that does a mean chisel, but it was when I only had about 10 more strokes to do. Next time. Always next time: a fresh opportunity to do better. For now, I'm still super happy with the results, and pleased that I approached the work in a very thoughtful and successful way.

We had the idea of making star-bellied bean bags, too. Applique is super meditative.

My husband and I are an awesome team. Like Rocky Balboa says, "we got gaps". It's so great to have someone to work next to, on the same project, doing different tasks. And I think dad-in-law will enjoy the set.

R-o-c-k U-S-A?

To sate my raging biological clock, I thought I'd try some quintessential "mom" crafts. Just to keep me distracted and shut up my damned ovaries already. So I thought, hey, what's more mom-ish than a quilt!? So here was my thought process.

1) There is no way in hell I am cutting out 3,000 tiny triangles; appliqué it is!
2) When I was a kid, I loved blankets, posters, etc. that had tons of cool patterns and details to look at and interpret.
3) I like maps.

Yup. It will be all 50 U.S. states, in quilt form, using different representative fabrics. Some of them are my own personal associations (bicycles for Oregon) or general cultural contexts (Idaho = potatoes). And then some are going to be input from friends, or something that reminds me of a friend that lives in a given state. (Because, honestly, I don't know anything about Virginia.) And then some of those little tiny states on the east coast are going to get whatever scrap fabric I have lying around, because screw them. Sorry, Maryland, I would make you out of crabs, but no one would actually know they're crabs, and I'm not about to buy a fat quarter for that buzzkill.

Anyway, this is going super well, which surprises me. No, it's not 100% geographically accurate, but you know what? Simplification keeps my sanity intact. Also, while I have a reference grid and actual-size guide, the rest I am totally winging. That's where I tend to have the best success. I'll deal with problems as they arise and just work my way across the country.

More fabric postcard action!

Apparently there's hope for me in the realm of appliqué!

Fabric postcard!

Some fun fabric, fancy machine stitches, and fantastic ribbon attached to a piece of cardstock. Going in the mail on Monday!

Fanfare for the common dress.

I am going to a performance of Copland's Third Symphony in a little more than a week. I have literally waited a year for this. Really, though, I've wanted to attend such a performance for five years. So I thrifted a dress for the event, which I like. But as the date draws nearer, it really does not seem sufficient. I want to make a dress just for the occasion.

Right now I'm arranging pieces and trying to figure out how to make it work. Flowy salmon-colored polyester with a lovely black sash that will be sewn into the waistline. The teal thread was actually what my aunt happened to have in her serger, which I was toying with. So I'll take the extra little "surprise!" burst of color. It's a set of modern colors for a great modern classical composer.

Oh, Aaron. I love you so.

If you hear someone sobbing loudly from the mezzanine, it's me.

Cat toys.

Scrap fleece, wool, and fluffy winter sock. Large seed beads (or small pony beads) for the mouse's eyes, a leather scrap for the tail, and embroidery floss for the whiskers. One toy is filled with catnip and the other with dried beans.

Let's hear it for kittens!

Knox on fox in socks in box.

Another Christmas project that I can now post about! Yes, I made some people things for Christmas. For this scheme, I picked up one of those little wooden boxes from the craft store and decided that I was going to paint it like a grown-up and gift it like a grown-up.

India ink does nicely on wood - fast-drying, bright colors, no raised anything, and the wood grain shows through. So I recommend that. Then, finely sand to give a distressed look and really bring out the natural grain. Then lacquer. (My husband used to work for a paint company, so we have tons of this second-quality lacquer-like stuff that's used for oil paints. It's fabulously glossy.)

The 4-drops-blue, 1-drop-green combo I mixed was questionable at first, but I chose to roll with it. Turns out - after the gloss darkens - to be a classic-looking, aged hue. I then hemmed and glued some leftover bookbag fabric (thanks Stacey!) in the bottom. And it's a nice little trinket box.

Bookbags.

Taking it into the last century.

I haven't cross-stitched since the eighth grade, but it just came roaring to the front of my mind recently. Nobody loves a totally random, useless creative detour like yours truly.

Ragnar and his little friend Healie go on adventures together. They are an unlikely duo and I like to think there's some kind of Brokeback Mountain thing going on here. But let's not think too long about that.

This was going to be a bookmark, but my attempts to incorporate it into a fabric sleeve made it almost wallet-like instead of boookmark-like. Something to consider as a learning experience, perhaps.

Shrawl, anyone?

My mom-in-law bought me some amazing fabric, with which I promised I'd make her a skirt. I trimmed off some leftovers from the pattern and decided to get acquainted with the stretchy purple stuff through a "practice" skirt for myself. Somehow, I ended up with this.

I started out making a loose "shrug" (apparently that's what kind of a half-jacket or slightly-ambitious sleeves are called) and decided to leave the other end free. So it can pretty much function as anything from a scarf to a top. What I really love about it is that it has kind of a kimono tone to it. I took my little shrawl to the local business that sells my clothing creations (well, two of them, including this!) and the shopkeeper acted wildly impressed that I designed this myself.

I just spend a lot of time playing with fabric. I love saris. I love folding and pinning. So a shrawl was really not that wild of a departure. Still, I'm happy with how it turned out and hope someone with a lot of matching evening gowns adopts my little creation.

Meeting little goals.

Awesome vintage '70s pillowcase + my machine = fluffy skirt. You can buy it here!

Book bag!

Maybe 2 years ago, I picked a small canvas purse out of a free box. That's been my main wallet and carry-all ever since. But, after those faithful years of service, it finally got to a point where the velcro was shredded, pockets hole-ridden, quilting miserably stained, and carrying capacity too limited. I wanted to bring along a book or sketchpad without flank-smacking people with tote bags as I walked down the bus aisle.

So I stitched up a new all-purpose bag. It's made out of scrap fabric I got from a local upholsterer. I even "harvested" the ID window and credit card inserts from my last bag and sewed them to the inner liner. Perfect!