Sunday, March 22, 2015

Tomorrow is Another Day!

I know it's been a while!  I'm still out there reading your blogs and being inspired.  I'm just getting a slow start to the year.  Thank you for hanging in there with me!

One of my goals for the year is to have more handmade ornaments for our Christmas tree this year.  It's a sad state of affairs here as there are presently only two in our "collection".   There are times at work where I do get to take a full lunch hour.  It doesn't take an hour to eat so I've put together a little kit so I'll have something to stitch on when I do have that extra bit of time.  

Here's my kit - this is actually what I'm working on presently.  Fabric, pattern, thread, QSnaps, and a cute little handcrafted needle holder that Annette made for me at the holidays (I love it so much, perfect for a couple of spare needles).  
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It fits nicely in this zippered bag.  It looks huge here but in reality it is just a bit bigger than a paperback book and fits nicely in my lunch tote. 
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It's amazing how much progress can be made on a ornament with little bits of time here and there.  I've actually finished stitching two ornaments and the one in the kit above is more than 1/2 done.  The one below is the first one I finished this year and the kit was gifted to me by a good friend Teresa.  It definitely started off my year on the right foot!  Thank you T!
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Erica Michaels
Quiet Night
JCS Christmas Edition 2007
It's no secret that my sewing mojo has been on a field trip.  I haven't even been going into my sewing room.  A few weeks ago I did get in there and re-organized my scraps.  Today I went in there and told myself to  "just sew anything".  So I pulled out some scraps and ended up making a little zippered pouch.  As you all know, I'm pretty new to zippers.  My first experience wasn't that bad though.  It feels like it's been downhill from there.  I'm not happy at all with today's pouch.  It didn't help that my machine was being cranky as all get out and I felt like I had to fight it to get through this and it shows in the end result.  But that is OK, because I'm going to try again and do better.  And in order to do that, I need to get in there and sew on a more regular basis - improve my skills instead of getting rusty!  

I do love those rounded bottom corners though!  
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Even though today was a bit  frustrating, I am grateful that I don't do everything well on the first (or even the 5th try) as I do find joy in learning!  Wouldn't it be boring to master every new skill on the first try?  I think so!  

I'm off to watch some YouTube videos or at least I will be after I finish watching Real Housewives of Atlanta.  Ha!