A few new things to blog about....

It's been a while since the last time I posted anything, so I have a little catch-up to play.

1: I finished the write-up for Singer's website and have sent that off. I think it turned out well. I made some diagrams (all those hours in Architecture school may have finally paid off) and they really seemed to help clarify the directions. My mom did a run through of my directions to find anything that needed more clarification and was able to get most of the tough stuff without me being there, so that's definitely a good sign.

Thanks for helping me out, mom!

2: I've joined a Row Robin Quilt Swap! The way it works is we were split into groups of 6. Each person makes a row for the quilt theme they have chosen. They have 6 weeks to complete it. When they are finished, they stick it in a ziploc bag and mail it off to the next quilter. That person makes a row to fit your quilt theme and style within 6 weeks and mails it to the next person on the list. Each bag of strips gets sent to all 6 group members, so by the time it gets back to the original person, there are 6 different strips for them to complete a quilt top with. They can add sashing and arrange as desired before finishing the quilt.

I'm really excited to see what comes back to me at the end of the swap. Throughout the swap we are supposed to check in periodically on the flickr group so that everyone knows their quilt is still in good hands and hasn't disappeared.

The theme I've chosen for my quilt is the Wizard of Oz. I'm thinking I'll have a finished quilt of 54" in width. If I make 6" blocks, that gives me 9 to make my strip out of. My mom (who also joined the swap) and I went to a quilt shoppe in Plattsmouth, Nebraska over the weekend to shop for our swap quilts. I got a few really cute Wizard of Oz fat quarters to use in my strip. My rough plan for my strip is this:

Block 1: A simple block with one of the scenes from the fat quarter I purchased.

Block 2: Ruby slippers. This will probably be appliqued (which reminds me I should get some library books to teach myself how to do that exactly). I'm planning on using some of the red sparkly fabric I had sitting in my stash.

Block 3: The hot air balloon. This will most likely also be appliqued.

Block 4: Maybe something with the witch fat quarter I bought.

Block 5: The emerald city. I'm not quite sure how to make this yet, so we'll see what I end up with. My mom loaned me this green fabric that I think I'll probably use. I think maybe inventing some sort of strip method may be the answer.

Block 6: Is still up in the air. I might do some sort of really simple frame for one of the scenes from this awesome fat quarter I scooped up.

Block 7: Also up in the air, but maybe another framed scene from the same fabric.

Block 8: I was thinking about doing the ruby slippers again, but this time putting them on the wicked witch. Do you remember the scene when she was squashed by the house in the tornado?

Block 9: There are several scenes on the same fat quarter. If I don't end up using them in the strip, they'll probably end up in the corners on the finished top. I'm really excited to see what I come up with for my strip and then to see what else turns up in all the other strips that I'll recieve at the end of the swap.

I also scooped these few fat quarters up, but haven't decided how to use them yet. I just couldn't leave the quilt store without them.

My mom's theme is all 30's prints in pastel colors. She found a lot of them at the quilt shoppe over the weekend, but was still undecided on what sort of pattern she wanted to do. I'm glad we didn't end up in the same group of 6 because I think it could ruin part of the surprise of what each of us would end up with at the end of the swap. I also think it would have been neat if we had ended up in the same group because we've never done a quilt together. I have a few she's made for me, but we've never done one where we both have worked on it. I suppose we'll just have to save that for another project.

3: I'll keep this blog from going to much longer and add my other stuff in the future. A few things to look forward to in the near future:

• A Plastic Bag class I took at Urban Arts + Crafts. I'm considering turning this into my first tutorial, which is why I have yet to write it.
• A tour of my quilt collection.
• A blog on a few different print methods I've tried recently.
• I'm considering starting some sort of Etsy find of the week
• A review of the Seams to Be Quilt Shoppe in Plattsmouth, NE

Another great week in Sewbot's World

I got an email from a Trade Marketing Manager at Singer this week. This is what it said:

Jessica:

We’d love to feature your sewing machine cover as a project on our website. All you’d need to do is write-up instructions (including materials). We’d then put transfer them to our format and upload them onto our site. Let me know if you’re interested.

Thanks!
Katie

So, I've been thinking about how to write instructions on making this project. It's really not a difficult method to grasp once it's been explained, but it is a little complex to walk someone through it. I'm going to give it a shot. I've been waiting for my new machine to show up so I can make a cover for it rather than another one for my current machine. I think it will be easiest to write most of the instructions and take photos or make diagrams while making the project rather than trying to remember exactly how it all went together the last time I made one.

Another neat thing that's happened this week is my introduction to flickr. I've been so amazed at how fast people have found my photos and how many have been adding them into their favorites. I get so excited every time I have a new email saying something new has happened to my photos on flickr.

Flickr

I just wanted to stop in to let you know...

I'm now on Flickr!

You can click on the links to go to my photostream or my profile on flickr.

Enjoy!

A fun project for me.

I have been wanting to rip apart an apron I made a while ago, that just didn't work for me. It was a lot of fabric, so I wanted to make something new with it. I love the print on this fabric, so I couldn't just toss it.
I made myself a crafty apron. The pockets are sized for the items I'm constantly misplacing while I work (water-soluble pen :: chalk pen :: seam ripper :: cell phone :: tape measurer). I also put on a button and attached a ribbon to my small scissors to hang for easy access. I made a loop for my large scissors. I even made some extra pockets for miscellaneous supplies for whichever project I'm working on.


I'm really excited to see how it works for me. Hopefully it will help keep my supplies a little more organized, so I always know where to look for them.



*I apologize for the lousy picture. I don't quite remember why I am looking so blah there.

An honorable mention!

The competition I mentioned in my last post has contacted me. Check out the letter below.

* I've crossed out any contact information for the person who contacted me.

Another contest...

Jason found another contest for me to enter a while back.

This is what I entered:

It's a sewing machine cover I started a while back. Neat, eh? I used the tree method I took a class on a while back and used my thread to draw branches and give a lot of texture. It was a lot of fun.

Want to see the other entries? Click here.

Some series projects?

We have been make a list of some possible project series to sell on Etsy lately. The idea was to do some coordinating projects. Like maybe use the same or contrasting fabric for things in the kitchen. Maybe we screen print the same image on several different items. The series ideas we came up with are:

Series 1: Kitchen gifts

• Casserole covers


• Pot holders


• Placemats


• Napkins


• Aprons

Series 2: Baby products

• Burp cloths


• Toys


• Blankets


• Changing pads


• Diaper covers

Series 3: Baby clothes

• Appliqued onesies


• Shorts for boys


• Skirts for girls


• Hats or bonnets


• Shoes or booties


• Diaper covers


• Screen or freezer paper printed onesies

These are just a few ideas we tossed around the other night. I've started working on the kitchen series. I found some awesome fabric at JoAnn that I've started two different "collections" with. I'm excited to see them all completed and next to each other.

Our Prizes Arrived...

As I mentioned a few posts ago, my mom and I won the 4th Quarterly Challenge at allpeoplequilt.com. Here's a few photos of the prizes we won.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to participate in this challenge and are so thankful for the wonderful prizes that we were awarded. Thanks to All People Quilt for hosting this competition!

It's official!

I have been contacted by All People Quilt. The results for the challenge my mom and I were entered in have been calculated.


We are the winners! I've sent my paperwork in, so we should get our prizes soon I would suspect.

A quick review...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took a few Fridays off in the month of January and have now extended it through the month of February. I did this to build my inventory to open an Etsy store in March. I wanted to post a little review of what I've been working on.

My first Friday off, I worked on some tissue packs and a baby hat. I absolutely love the baby hat, but it took quite a while to complete, so I don't think I'll be making another one soon. And if I do make one soon, it won't be to sell because for the amount of time it took, the price I would have to charge wouldn't be anywhere near reasonable.

My second Friday off didn't go quite as planned. Jason and I work together, so it really hasn't been a problem for us to share an office key in the past. On that Friday, we forgot to pass my key over to him, so I spent a good chunk of my day trying to get the key down him at the office. Usually, this wouldn't be a big issue, but that day it had snowed. There was an accident on the highway I usually take to the office, so it ended up taking a lot of weaving through town to get to him. So, it was lunch time before I made it back home and could start working.

I worked on some casserole covers. I started with the brown pair. I think they turned out pretty cute. They work awesome for keeping food warm when taking a dish to mom's house or wherever. They're quilted on the bottom (which wraps up the sides when you put a dish in and tie it closed) which creates little heat pockets.

Jason and his brother went up to Nebraska to pick up 1/2 a cow from one of the grandparents. I had all day Saturday (minus a chunk in the middle where I went to a salsa dance class) to work on stuff. I made the blue house pair of covers. I think they're adorable. Don't you think these would make a good house warming gift, casserole covers made with house fabric? *Only one of each pair is shown.

Last week I made some potholders. I'm not very happy with them, but I'll work on that.

I also made a few aprons recently. They match the potholders and casserole covers. I'm having fun working on things.

I can't rememeber exactly when I did these, but I think they're cute. They're burp cloths. The front is cotton and the back is a soft pink flannel.

So, that's what I've been working on my last few days off. I don't quite have a plan yet for this Friday.

The polls are open for Round 2!

It’s official. My mom and I won the All People Quilt’s 4th Quarterly Challenge!

We’re now entered into the next round which gets us each an embroidery machine and some other sewing supplies. Wish us luck!

You can help us win by voting at http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/quarterlychallenge/index.html. You can vote once per day per email address, so feel free to vote with all the email addresses you have every day. The voting continues until January 30, 2009.
Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to vote!

We bought a new camera!

I'm so excited. Now I can actually take nice photographs to post! We've been waiting for BestBuy to put this on sale and finally they did. Yay!

We went with a Canon EOS Rebel XSi. I'm so excited! It's a huge upgrade from our other camera, so look forward to some awesome photos in the near future.

The polls are open

As I mentioned in a previous post, my mom and I entered a partner competition a few weeks ago. We have made it into round 2 and now we need your votes. The image for my entry looks like this... I'm not sure why, but my mom's ornament disappeared in this round and the only one we have to vote on is mine.

So, to help my mom and I win a new sewing machine (each!) go to this link to vote for our ornament. You can vote once a day, so don't hesitate to vote more than once.

Lucille (my machine) locked up last night and the wheel won't turn, so I could use a new machine right now. I'm breaking out the spare until she's fixed (luckily Lucille still has a warranty to cover her, but it's still an inconvenience).

We appreciate you helping us win this competition!

Sewbot's Laboratory: A Rough Plan

My goal with the lab is to supplement our income. This is not a long term goal. For the long term, I hope to not have to leave every morning for "the office." In the long run, I hope that both Jason and I can stay "home" to run the lab. I say "home" because someday it would be great if we could combine the "lab" with the "shop". I'd love to own a shop with fabric, beads, paper, and thread. I love supplies.

So, in the short term, I am going to work on my inventory for Sewbot's Laboratory. By March 1st, 2009, I will have a minimum of 21-24 items listed in my Etsy shop.

I have discovered that the only way this plan will ever work is if I try it; so that's exactly what I am going to do. I will be busy working on projects and improving the quality of life for my little family.

*I wrote this rough plan a few nights ago and it's really been pushing me to go for the things I want. I wanted to share it with you in hopes that it might get you thinking about all the things you can do.

An exciting step ...

Yesterday, I spoke with my boss about my plans for Sewbot.

I'm going to start in the month of January by taking Fridays off to work on Sewbot. I'm not starting tomorrow because I know with having today off for the holiday and spending probably half of my day with Jason's sister, I won't really work on anything today. So, tomorrow seemed like it would be an extension of the holiday and I would rather go be paid to work at the office than take it off and turn it into a holiday.

So, I'm really excited about this. I'm planning on getting up like I normally do, but just staying in the studio instead of heading to the office. I'm excited to see what I can accomplish in a day off.

Gingerbread Contest 2008

I apologize for the lag in my posting these. Christmas was now nearly a week ago and I am just writing this blog now.

This year was the second annual MacDonald Family Gingerbread Contest. I don't want to call it a gingerbread house contest, since there was only 1 house built this year, so I'm leaving off any house reference.

The rules for this year's contest were simple.

1. You must use gingerbread in your entry.
2. All pieces of your entry must be edible. (Except the tray you build it on.)

*We decided after the contest to add a few more rules to next year's contest. They are still being considered, but some of them will probably make it into the "rule book" before next Christmas. Next year's rules could turn out to be something like this:

1. Everything (except the tray) in your entry must be edible. If you are willing to eat it, you can use it.
   
2. You must use gingerbread in your structure. It must be part of your main element.
   
3. You can work on it as long as you like, but all entries must be completed by dinner on the agreed upon date. Your entry must be able to stand throughout the meal without help to be in the judging.
4. When you say, "I'm done." You can't touch it anymore. It has to stand on its own.
   

The voting this year went like this. We each got a piece of paper. We lined up all the gingerbread structures on the dining room table and each was labeled A, B, C, D, or E. The categories we voted on were:

1. Overall favorite.
   
2. Creativity.
   
3. Craftsmanship. This is where it's good if your roof didn't split in half, your structure stood by itself, and you don't have excessive globs of icing.
   
4. Design elements. This was a new category this year. The design elements that we rated are a little more difficult to explain. I guess you could say that they are the parts of the entry that stand out to you and are worth noting. The way you would vote on them is Katie has 3 and mom has 8, so mom wins my first place vote.
   

• Take my Santa's Workshop for example. The design elements on my tray are my:
• trees
• curtains inside
• roof
• flower boxes
  

• The elements in Jason's Train Station would be his:
• floor
• train
• tracks
  

• In my mom's Barn, her design elements would include her:
• pig (that sadly I don't have a good picture of)
  
• farmer
  
• hay

• My dad's elements would be his:
• hockey players on the ice outside
• trees

• In Katie's Gingerpunzel's Tower, her elements would be her:
• tower
• people
• horse

The way we voted was we took our sheet of paper and for each category, we wrote down in order which entry we thought was the best for the category. For example, in the overall design category we may have WXYZ. We couldn't vote for our own. After we had voted, we assigned a point system to the votes. Each 1st place got 4 points, 2nd 3 points, etc. The person with the most points took first place.

I indeed was the winner. In a close second was my dad's little house. So, what do we do with these when we're finished? Well, we leave them out in the garden for various people to see and creatures to eat. Last year they caught multiple people checking them out from the alley.

Isn't that a fun way to get rid of them? Set them outside in the snow in a little village for the birds and neighbors to enjoy.