Oh, the cuteness!!

Scarves for spring and more sewing

Well, I finished my scarf and also made one for the birthday-girl, Amber (my friend who got the secret Margaret Bag), just in time for the warmest day of the year.

Here is mine:

I'm waiting for a photo shoot for Amber's scarf, but here is the yarn I used:

Luckily, we got a little spring-time snow storm yesterday (which I took a picture of with my phone, but I guess I didn't save it - boo!), so the scarves were able to get some use!

I also got to have another sewing session with my friends to make the Lickety-Split bag. I made one of these before for my friend, Lina's, birthday. That's me (well, my arms) on the left.

I made this one for myself for spring!

Here is a sneak-peek at my next project. Hint: It involves a gorgeous felt bundle from felt-o-rama and a c-u-t-e pattern from purl bee. Welcome spring!!

Secret projects and sewing parties!

I had the most fun this week with some crafty friends! We joined forces (Form of a sewing party!) to make laptop/ipod cases. Mine is a project that was meant to be done at Christmas for my sister, which was foiled by no power due to 13 inches of snow. Finally I'm getting my late-present list checked off! I wish we had taken a picture of our sewing area - it must have looked pretty sweat-shop-y to an outsider and if anyone was listening in, I am sure they were offended more than once with the sailor language. We'll photograph (only - no audio!) next time.

For the laptop sleeves we used this free patten, which turned out great! I had planned to have all my pieces cut out before I went, but that didn't happen. Even without my cutting done, I was pleased at how quickly this project went - I started from scratch and left with a finished laptop sleeve - all in about 3 hours! I had my sister send me the measurements of her laptop, so I hope it fits well. I'll let you know when she gets it! We're still looking for ideas for our next group project - any suggestions? The bag is shown with my husband's laptop, which is a little small for it.

I also recently made a top-secret project that I wasn't able to post about (being top-secret, obviously) but now the cat's out of the bag! Well, Amber had her birthday. :)
I was in on the secret with her fiance, Jeremy, to make her one of the Margaret bags. She loved mine so much when she saw it that Jeremy stealthily went out and bought the fabric (which is hard because they share a car!!), delivered it to me and I made the bag. It was so much fun! Props to Jeremy for the sweetie pie idea! Here is Amber's birthday bag:

I also have pictures of Amy's bag from Christmas that I have been too lazy to post... Thanks for sending these, Amy!

My next project is from the book One Yard Wonders and it is a (late, of course) birthday present for my nieces. There are some cute ideas in this book, though I don't recommend the adult clothing pattens unless you like a lot of skin showing...

I also found this sweet tutorial for folding your fabric stash. I think that will be the next day-off project!

Big news, snow days, and WIPs

Hello blogging world! I have been MIA lately because my mind has been elsewhere and the place my mind has been has made me super. duper. tired. I know many of you that read my blog also live nearby and we probably see each other pretty regularly, so you already know why. For my bloggie friends out in the world: Guess what! I'm pregnant! I am planning on posting some baby crafty goodness, but these first few months I have come home completely drained, so not too much has been going on other than napping. I am due in September and I am so excited!

I have my friend Jaime to thank for kick-starting my motivation again. I went over and helped (at least I hope I was helpful!) her put zippers in the cool doggie beds she made. It made me realize how much I miss my sewing and crocheting. I have so many projects that have been in my head for the last 3 months and I've done nothing on them! This is my first pregnancy, so all my info is second-hand from friends and books but from what I understand, now that I'm almost through my first trimester, my energy levels are supposed to be back up. I've pulled out my WIPs and even some projects that are still little ideas in my noggin.

Here's the list:

I *finally* wove in the ends of this scarf I started in December and have almost finished crocheting.

The laptop sleeve that is my sister's Christmas present is going to be cut out and sewn next.

The super cute birthday presents for my nieces (on Feb. 9 & 16) also need to be done soon. (See how behind I am?!?)

Today's project is a pillowcase for the body pillow I bought this afternoon. I have been having trouble getting comfy enough to sleep at night and I was told this will help. I found the pillow on sale, but the cover for it was just as much as the pillow - yeah, right! So, I just finished sewing it from some cute fabric from my stash! I also owe some of this motivation to this winter's billionth snow storm that kept us from school (again) and probably will tomorrow too. It means we will have to attend school on Saturday (boo!!) but hooray for getting back in crafty gear!