Wool Felt Goodness

As I've already posted, I made a lot of stuff to give as Christmas presents this year.

Two things I made that I now have photographs of are a Spring table runner for Marian, and a felt tea cosy for Marian's birthday on New Year's Eve.

The table runner was designed by JB, so I'm very proud to showcase it here, because I think that JB is very talented and was thrilled that he was inspired to do this. It took two months from start to finish, and it felt good to complete it. It is all handsewn and creating the pattern with proper dimensions took some time. The flower stems themselves took three hours to sew, if you want an idea of how long it took. So no, I will not make one for you, no matter who you are! :) It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing (famous last words), but I may make the pattern printable/sharable. I may even try to sell the pattern, but really, who wants to spend nearly two months sewing a runner?? It's worth a try:


We even got really creative and made the tongues be the dirt, with the bulb flowers having bulbs, and the other flowers having roots:


Earlier this year Marian saw a cool wool Jan Constantine tea cosy in a British magazine (love that British style!) and I tore that magazine page out, thinking I could make her one. I mean, I could have bought her one: for $164!!! No, not sixty four. ONE HUNDRED and sixty four dollars. But that's a little out of my price range.

I checked out her website and JB was really interested in her Americana ones, so we did a hybrid version of two of hers and came up with this (we didn't use pure wool, because that's where part of the $164 comes from):


which Marian loved.

And then demonstrated how it is not a hat, contrary to the popular story!




So now I'm kicking around making things to sell on Etsy, such as cool felt tea cosies. But not this one. Because it's probably considered a Jan Constantine rip off and if she can charge $164 for one tea cosy, she probably has enough bankroll to fly her lawyer across the ocean to pay me a visit.

I have one original pattern idea up my sleeve. However, I have also declared this year to take my "crafting sabbatical." Not Quilting sabbatical (because who in their right mind would give that up?) but Crafting. So the only sewing I wish to do this year will revolve around quilts. This means no homemade Christmas presents. Sorry, guys. Mama's tired.

This means that I'm not sure when I'll make these tea cosies for Etsy. But one day, when my faithful unemployment runs out, it may just happen...

Christmas Part II

We put a lot of miles on my Grand Prix in order to celebrate Christmas Parts II and III. Olivia was not pleased. She broke down in the car twice, sobbing so hard that she was choking. JB thought she really was choking on something, but I told him that she was just that upset. Poor bird! We had subjected her to several days of parties with no down time. I don't think we should do that anymore.

On our way to Berkley, we stopped at MSU to exchange the sweatshirt that I had gotten, as it was too small. Are college students shrinking or something? I do appreciate that the women's clothing is slim fitting, as to look feminine, but we do need room to fit our bodies into the clothes, people!

So we ended up buying more MSU gear. Our old stuff was 10 years old and ratty.

But even more exciting than that was having lunch at Pancheros.

Best. Burritos. Ever.

JB and I love burritos and have gone to several burrito restaurants. None compare to Pancheros.

Then we hit the road for Berkley, where my Aunt Carol was hosting a Fraser get-together. There were seven people 6-years-old and under there, and it was quite entertaining watching the kids open their presents. But the best moment did not come until Granny was opening her giant gift that everyone went in on.

A little background on Granny: She saves everything. And she loves cardinals.

And her mega-gift was covered in cardinal wrapping paper.

Each piece of tape was carefully pulled away, so that she could keep the glorious paper. The Frasers are used to this. That's why Granny opens her gifts last. My brother has often said that any gifts for Granny should be wrapped using one piece of tape, so that when she removes that one piece, the paper will fall down around the present and her work will be done. No one has perfected that strategy yet.

Well, my cousin's daughter Pepper, who is a few months older than Olivia, was feeling sad about something. As she walked by Granny and the cardinal paper, my Mom suggested, "Hey Pepper, why don't you help Granny open her present?" in an effort to cheer her up. But Pepper was not interested. The two boys, Rex and Ivan, did not hear the part where Mom was addressing Pepper. All they heard was "...why don't you help Granny open her present?"

They roared with excitement and pounced upon the present. We were all laughing our butts off except for Granny, who was not having it. Here is a breakdown:

Ivan and Rex, roaring, roaring, grabbing at the paper: "Aaaggghhh!! Raaaaah Raaaaah!!"

Granny, swatting, "No! Stop! That's MY present!"

Audience members: "Ivan, Rex, stop! Granny wants to open it herself!"

Other audience members: "Go on, help her! You can do it!"

Aunt Carol: "Mom, I'll give you the roll of cardinal paper!"

Granny won the battle in the end (has Granny ever NOT won a battle?), and resumed careful unwrapping of her new large flat screen HDTV.

I think this is her first new TV since the Carter era. Seriously. Her TV is one of those old floor models without a remote control. Uncle TJ said they were taking bets on whether Granny will get a new TV stand or just set the new TV on top of the old one. I gathered that they got her the new TV because she was having trouble with the digital conversion. Aunt Carol told Granny that she won't have to throw her converter through the cable company's window now, but Granny said that she's still gonna do it. Granny kicks ass.

And I didn't take a single photo because I was too busy visiting with people. So you'll just have to take my word for it!

ED Day +3

So I'm going to try to post on this every day until baby comes so that readers can rest easy--if I've posted a blog entry, I'm obviously not in labor! :)

We have received so many wonderful gifts for our child--it's overwhelming how generous people are! As I got the baby room ready this last weekend, I decided to take a photo of some of my fav things that baby H will get to enjoy.

There are homemade items (like the blankets), unique used things found in a second-hand store or something (Seuss book and Kittens book), and bitchin' clothes.

Most of the homemade items are on the left. I would like to give props to the people who made something, as I understand the time and love that went in to them:

• Pink and white blanket: Andrea
• Green and White blanket (Go STATE!): Heather P.
• Yellow blanket: Beth's mom
• Pink knit hat: Grandma Hunt
• Striped bolero sweater (isn't it the bomb?!???): Lizzy from London
• White sweater: Mom Marian
• Pink bibs: Sarah D.
• Burp cloths with blue and brown ribbon: Jess F.
  

Thank you to all who have helped us get ready for this kid. We couldn't have done it without every single one of you!!