Meghan's Material World

I'm here!

Once again, time has just flown by!  Apparently, I am not so great at time management, because for some reason, I never seem to make enough time to blog.  I think it needs to have a higher place of priority on my "to-do" list.  But enough about my not posting....on to the good stuff!

In my last post, I mentioned a Craftster meet-up that I went to last Sunday.  A bunch of local (Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Lebanon area) crafty women (we met on Craftster) coming together for good food (we all bring some sort of delicious treat) good crafting (a different type of project each time) and good times (how could a day of crafty camaraderie NOT be a good time?!)  We have decided to do a crafty get-together every month.  When we got together last Sunday, we did decoupage.  This is a new craft for me, but I think I really like it!  I have finally come up with SOMETHING to do with all of those magazine pages I ripped out a few weeks ago.  See the cute little box I did on Sunday?  I think that next time we meet, we will be doing embroidery.  That should be pretty fun, too.  I can't wait to get together to play again, girls!

I have continued to work on the quilt for my brother and his fiance, and it is going pretty well.  I am going to need to haul all of the blocks with me to the shop in order to have the space to lay it out.  This is the part that should be really fun, and challenging, too.  Hopefully, I will get a chance to do it this week...It would be good to keep the momentum going.  I have also been working on a new gifty goody to give away here, on my blog.  My first attempt didn't work out so well...I ended up with the wrong size!  So, now I am trying again....So, keep your eyes peeled on the blog for your chance to win a cute little something from Me very soon!

Plus, the best news of all, the quilt is out of the frame!  I have actually got the binding sewn on, now I am doing the hand stitching of it towards the back.  I took today off from work (I haven't been home on a Saturday in goodness-knows how long!), so I am hoping to get most of it (if not the whole thing) completed this weekend!  Of course, it is so beautiful outside I may take a little trek to the garden shop to get some great inspiration for my own yard....not that there is enough time to ever get anything done out there!  It is still nice to imagine what it could be...

Well, I am off to do some more stitching on that pretty pink binding!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Where does the time go?!

Yes, I know I haven’t posted anything in over a week!  It hit me yesterday, when I was driving home from a Craftster meet-up, and I happened to be behind a car with the license plate BLOGGER!  I took that as a not-so-subtle hint from “somewhere” that I need to give my little space the attention that it deserves! Believe me, I have had the desire to post many times over the past week, but I haven’t been able to find the time!  You would probably like to know what I was doing with all of my time, and to be perfectly honest, so would I!!  I know I felt like I was extra busy last week, and I don’t mean just with the shop, but in my “real” life, too.  But now that I am thinking about it, I can’t figure out why last week left me so drained…Perhaps it is the change of seasons messing with me…Yes, that has to be it!  (we will blame it on that, anyway.)   

I did snap this picture on Tuesday, the first day of SPRING – See, I really was thinking about my blog – I found it to be quite ironic that there was so much snow on the ground that morning.  And yet the daffodils were still determined to make an appearance, too!   So there was snow (on the ground) on Tuesday, and then on Thursday, the temperature reached a record-breaking high for the day in

Lancaster

!  (It was 72 degrees – the previous high had been 69 degrees…I can’t remember what year it had been set, though) 

I have been spending most of my free time (at home) working on a quilt for my brother and his fiancé.  It is my wedding gift to them. I am making the Spice Market quilt by FunQuilts (Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr) featured in the April 2007 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. I love that the fabric is called Mendhi, because of the wedding connection….If you aren’t’ familiar with the art or tradition of Mendhi, you may want to do a Google search.  I am not an expert on the subject, by any means, and that is why I am passing the explaining off onto Google! I have shown it to his bride, because I really don’t want to invest the time into making a quilt (king size, at that!) just to have it go into a closet, because it doesn’t suit their style.  So, I made sure it was okay before I got too far into it, and now it is coming along quite quickly. It is certainly simple, maybe too simple…I am getting bored with it already!  Not the fabrics, or the finished quilt (I really love the finished piece!), but the monotony of sewing strip after strip after strip is starting to drive me batty!  I only have 15 more strip sets to stitch together before I can start cutting and arranging!  Since the cat is out of the bag, anyway, I will be sure to show you all some pictures of my progress soon.

Since I am on the subject of my brother’s upcoming nuptials, I will mention that on Saturday, after working in the morning, I attended his Love’s bridal shower.  It was really fun, and she got some lovely things….I never had a bridal shower, or a “real” wedding (Hubby and I did it at the JP’s office) or any of the other fun (?) involved in planning and having a wedding, and I must say, the only regret I have, is that I missed out on all the GIFTS!  I am constantly having to go out and buy myself all of those little kitchen-y gadgets and other home-keeping goodies that so many brides are given as gifts.  It can get pretty expensive when you realize you don’t have enough serving dishes (or spoons, or trays, or wine glasses!) for the Christmas dinner you are preparing for your and your hubby’s entire families!  Lucky for me, I have a wonderful family (and my Hubby has an equally wonderful family) and they don’t require me to have an entire set of matching anything!  (Although I certainly wouldn’t mind if I did!)

Speaking of matching sets….Did I mention that I got the Yellow Quilt from Patricia?  It is so cute!  We have picked out a border design to use…we originally were thinking stars would be good, but ended up with a cute bow pattern.  And, progress on the pink quilt has been continuing….everyone in the shop has spent a lot of time on it…The girls have been working on it during their lunch breaks and whenever we are all caught up with orders.  There is only one block left to be finished, and then I get to bind it!  I can’t wait to get them both done so they can be given to the Kim girls.  One thing is for sure, a lot of love has gone into these quilts, and you can see it. 

Thanks to everyone who is still reading my (poor, neglected) blog!  I appreciate it!

So much to share!

First, a winner has been drawn from the hat - for the bag and fat quarters.  Karen of Baby Goin Places was the lucky one this time.....but don't fret too much, I have a feeling there will be another chance to win something fun real soon.  I am truly overwhelmed by the number of emails and comments that you all sent my way!  I am slowly, but surely working my way through them all (I got over 125 messages in response to the Jello/free bag post!), so that I can respond to each of you.  I don't have the focus to sit and type emails for hours at a time (okay, I can't even focus long enough to type 3 emails in a row without taking a break!), so it may take awhile before you hear back from me....but trust me, you will!  I am just hoping to be through all of these messages before Easter! 

So, does anyone know what happened to Spring?!  Two days ago I was wearing a t-shirt and driving around with all the windows rolled down....It was a pleasant 64 degrees - just perfect!  I suppose it was just some sort of cruel joke, because it sure didn't last!  Currently, it is 30 degrees, and snow, sleet, and freezing rain have been falling for most of the day.  We are supposed to have 6-16 inches by tomorrow morning (there are slightly conflicting reports about the totals....it is still more than I wanted to see!)  The roads, especially the "back" roads around the shop are terribly icy, and quite dangerous to be driving on.  So, Mom and I are having a sleep-over at the store! 

Before you get too concerned that we are hunkered down in the warehouse, let me assure you that we are not "roughing it" at all!  The store has everything we need to have a super-fun, snowed-in, sewing-all-night, slumber party!   I have one of my sewing machines here (Carolyn, I had brought it for you to use when you were visiting! - we miss you!) - and we are whipping up some super-stylin p.j's....oh yeah!  We have been sharing it (the sewing machine) quite well, so far.  We haven't had to use the timer to "take turns" with it!  And there is a kitchen, fully equiped with all the necessary appliances, and an adequate amount of food.....including cookie dough...I didn't say it was HEALTH food!  Heck, this IS a slumber party!  Plus, there is a quilt in the frame that we can work on, too!  Oh, we are having some fun, now!  And, when the fun ends, and Mom and I start to drive each other insane (it is inevitable, people) we have separate bedrooms to which we can retreat...in fact one of them has my bed from when I lived at home!

That quilt that is in the frame....that is the pink beauty that we started on Wednesday....we still have a bit to go.  I did manage to snap a few pictures while we were working on it.  Remember how I mentioned that I had never done any hand-quilting before?  Well, I may never do it again!  I am so disappointed in my stitches....they are much larger than I expected or wanted them to be, but they are even, and I know that is important, too.  So, how are you supposed to make small stitches?  I think that the frame is too tight to make them any smaller than I did...but I may just be making up excuses for my lack of skill!    I have plenty of quilting left to do on this piece, so perhaps by the end, I will be more impressed with myself....I must say, that over-all, the quilting on this is very beautifully done - thanks girls!

I hope you all have a wonderful, warm weekend!

Commence Quilting!

Some of you may be aware that I had volunteered to do the quilting for the Quilts for the Kim's project that was organized by Shanna and Patricia.  While I was originally planning on doing them on my machine, Mom brought up the idea of doing a bee.  We thought that it would be more fun to share the experience with all the girls in the shop, and our customers, too!

We are ready to start quilting!  We got Sabine's quilt into the frame and, and it is ready to be quilted, now (quite literally NOW).  I will share more pics and tell you how it went, later.....This is my first attempt at hand-quilting.....wish me luck!

There's Always Room for J-E-L-L-O!

I really want to make some new kitchen curtains.  I have been fighting this overwhelming desire to redecorate ever since these fun prints came into the shop a few weeks ago.  I adore the retro kitchen theme, and the colors are light and Spring-y, and then there are the Jello molds.  What can I say?  I think they are FABULOUS!  I haven't done a great job of hiding my obsession with these fabrics (and the Jello molds!), so look what Mom brought in for me to have with lunch the other day! It is a tiny Tupperware Jello mold!  Only my mother would have an entire set of individual serving-sized jello molds AND know where to find them on a whim!  I have discovered that it is not so easy to get the gelatin out of the mold.  The first one I tried, ended up in big chunks, half of it was stuck inside the mold!  Here is a picture of my second try....  I think the hot water I used to loosen it from the mold was a bit too hot!  The gelatin came out in one piece this time, but there was also a lot of re-liquefied jello, too!  I was so giddy when Mom showed these to me....yes, I really am that easy to please!  I have decided that these are fun, but I certainly would not attempt to serve them at my next dinner party!  Mauled gelatin desserts - yeah, that sums up my culinary skills pretty well....Hmmm....as I was typing this I had a thought....are you supposed to make finger jello (you add the extra plain gelatin) when you use a mold?  I am thinking that the extra firmness may be the key to successfully removing the jello from the form.....anyone know?

Now that I have made it painfully obvious that I am quite clueless in the kitchen, I am hoping to redeem myself by showing off some of my sewing skills.  I must admit that I am not usually very good at following a pattern, if, and when I use one at all.  But, I thought it would be a good idea to try out one of our new patterns, so I made a real effort to read and follow the directions the whole way through! I made the Original Scrap-bags pattern.  I am proud to report that the only change I made to the pattern is using a button in place of the magnetic closure.  This is partially because I didn't have a magnetic closure, but MOSTLY because I have a computer machine.  In case you don't know, magnets and computers are not a good mix...kind of like bleach and ammonia, it just isn't a good idea.

This pattern was really easy....I whipped this up in an afternoon.  This pattern is the perfect canvas for all sorts of embellishment techniques!  You could make 100 of these, and not have two that are the same (unless that is what you want!)

I am pretty happy with the one I made.  What do you think?  Would you carry it?  You could!  I am going to be giving it away to one of you!  And, well, because an empty bag is sort of sad, I am putting 10 fat quarters of yummy Amy Butler fabrics (from her Lotus Collection) in the bag, too! 

You know what to do....Leave me a comment, and you will be entered into the drawing for the bag and the fabrics.  I will be choosing a winner on Friday (March 16).  Good luck to you all!   

Pretty Pink Piggies!

I recently did a swap with a talented gal from Craftster.  I had commented on the cuteness of an adorable crocheted pig she had made, and she offered to do a swap with me.   Chrissie sent not only one, but two piggies for my desk!  Aren't they amazing?  They are really small, too.  I am so impressed with them - chrochet is one of those crafts that I haven't been able to "get" yet. 

For sharing her awesome chrochet skills with me, I sent a couple of goodies to Chrissie, too.  I made an Amish Puzzle Ball Pincushion out of purple hand-dyed wool felt.  I also sent her a little ornament/pendant.  It is a piece of vintage eyelet sandwiched between two squares of glass.  I included a couple of pieces of fabric....one she had mentioned she liked, and the other had PIGS on it....so I thought it was appropriate.

Chrissie is the proud mother of 3 little boys, so I couldn't send a package without including something for them, too!  I got each of them a Little Golden Book.  Personally, I can think of no better gift for children than books.  Aparently, her boys really liked them, too!  She told me that her middle boy has even insisted on sleeping with his book! 

Thank you so much for such a fun swap, Chrissie! 

I got a fantastic package from another talented Craftster pal, too.  But more on that later.  Have a great one all!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

When you are located on a road called Muddy Creek, there are some things that are to be expected every once in awhile.  Like when the snow melts, and rain is falling, that creek can get pretty high!  Yesterday when I left the store, the creek was right where it belongs....by the time I got back to the shop this morning, it had risen over it's banks.  As you can see in these lovely photos that I snapped from the parking lot, it is slowly creeping towards us!  Do you see all the trees in the water?  They normally aren't IN the creek!  I have never seen the creek this high before. The road is flooded over in areas, and the water is expected to continue to rise throughout the day.  Don't worry, though, the fabric is safe (and dry)!