Meghan's Material World

I am AMAZING!

I never fail to impress myself with my uncanny ability to sabotage my own work and projects....

The perfect example of this skill would be yesterday's Mixer Massacre.  These beaters got a beat-down from a metal serving spoon, which, sadly, did not make it through looking any better!  While normally this incident would be unfortunate, it certainly would not be a tragedy.  Of course, I had to allow this spoon/beater altercation to occur just weeks before I need to prepare icing for a wedding!

Now, I must admit that I have been hinting around to my Hubby that a new Kitchenaid Mixer would make me one very happy girl.  And, while this is true, I can assure him, and the rest of the world (or at least anyone who reads this blog), that yesterday's tragic kitchen appliance catastrophe was completely unintentional!  But, since now I NEED to get a new mixer, which color do you think I should go with?  I was thinking the tangerine, or the pink, or ice, or even pistachio....There are so many pretty colors!

In case anyone else is keeping score, I have successfully destroyed the following appliances in the last 6 months....1 toaster oven and 1 stand mixer.  Watch out microwave, your next!  (I'm KIDDING, calm down dear Hubby!)

I can't think of a title today....

Despite the fact that I can't think of an appropriate title for this post, I am going to write anyway.  I am still working on the 7 weird things about me for Dy.  That will come later....this is just a quick bit to say hi to everyone who is still reading (thanks!) and to update you on a few of my projects.

I realized that I haven't even mentioned the yellow quilt is in the frame (it has been for a couple of weeks now!), and we are working on it whenever we have a spare moment.  The girls even work on it during their lunch breaks and before and after work! Here is a picture from early in the quilting process.  We were going to do stars around the border (since the other quilt has hearts), but when we saw these bows, the overwhelming consensus was to use them instead.

Now we are working on the last 6 blocks.  Hopefully they go fast.  I think they will, since it is mostly just straight line quilting.  Soon this lovely quilt will be all finished!  I will be so relieved when it is.  As much as I have enjoyed doing these quilts, and as much as I felt I NEEDED to help with them, I also feel like we are going too slow, and that everyone is waiting for us to just get it done.....Then I feel like I haven't spent enough time on it because of all the other projects that need my attention right now.  I really feel like I am being pulled in about 100 directions right now!  I can't tell you how thankful I am for the help of all the girls in the shop....without them, I can guarantee that I would still be working on the border!

While the girls from the store are helping with the quilts, I am lucky enough to have a bunch of crafty pals who were kind enough to help me crank out some more roses for the centerpieces! Here is one that is finished...what do you think? My Craftster group got together on Sunday to help with wedding crafts!  And with as much as I appreciate all the help they gave, I know that my brother and his fiance were even more appreciative of the help! I know I had a great time, and I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves, too. See how much we got done?   

There is still a lot of work to do.  But there was some major progress made this weekend (thanks everyone!) and I am feeling a LITTLE less stressed about getting it all done in time.  June 16 is coming up really fast!  Please keep your fingers crossed that I can pull it all off! 

Again, because of the massive amount of work, and loads of projects I am trying to get finished, I don't know when I will be posting again.  Thank you to everyone who is still checking in....after this marathon of wedding mayhem, I will be back to posting more regularly again. 

Still Busy, Busy, Busy!

I just wanted to let you all know that I AM still alive!  I have been so very busy with work, and the weddings, and life in general, that I have not taken the time to post on my blog.  Lately, by the end of work, I really just want to come home and take a nap!  Unfortunately that hasn't been an option....Of course, if I did feel that I had the time for a nap, my mind would be whirling with "things to do" and I wouldn't rest anyway!

I have a ton of projects for the wedding half finished.  I have the expectation of completing them all around the same time....that is the plan, anyway.  You may be wondering why I don't just do one thing at a time....sometimes I wonder that, too!  If I keep it mixed up, I don't get bored as easily, and I actually get a lot more work done in less time.  But then, there is the issue of not having any one thing FINISHED.  It would feel so nice to cross SOMETHING off my list....soon, very soon. 

You have seen the centerpiece bases, so here is a look at the flowers.  What do you think?  Do they look okay?  This is obviously not a finished piece...it is just flowers I stuck into a block of foam as I finished them.  In case you were wondering, yes, the roses are made of paper.  Coffee filters, painted with watercolors, actually.  These happen to look quite orange in the picture, but they are really a very pretty pink.  Really!

Now for some eye candy.  These are images of stuff I have made for swaps recently.  They were all shipped out before my last post, so I have not been "wasting" my wedding craft time with swap projects, for anyone who would question WHY I would do that to myself.  To be honest, it has been very difficult to stay away from any swapping for the past few weeks!  I keep reminding myself that it is just a little while longer before I can swap again....just a little while longer....

I made this as an "angel" package for the Tea-Time Swap at Craftster.  That means that the person who was supposed to send my partner a package, didn't.  So I volunteered to put something together for her, without the expectation of getting anything back.  This one was a lot of fun!  The tea cozy is reversible!

I made these for the From my Hand to Yours swap on Swap-bot.  I haven't heard from my partner, so I don't know if she got it, or likes it, or if it has been eaten by bears or some other horrible fate has befallen it.  This is what I sent, anyway!

Ah, and here is something that I GOT!  This is what I received from my partner in the 24 hour swap.  I love it so much!  I felted it, and now I want to line it with fabric so that I can have a zipper pocket.  You see, my bags have a tendency to fly off the passenger seat onto the floor, and if I don't have a zipper pocket, there is junk scattered everywhere!

I will be sure to show you when it is all finished....whenever that may be....

I must get back to work now...Hopefully I will post again soon, but please don't hold your breath....It could be awhile before I make time to do it again....but then again, I could post tomorrow....we'll see!

Busy, busy, busy...

I want to thank you all for leaving me such wonderfully sweet comments!  I get such pleasure from reading all of your lovely messages that I really wish that I could send each and every one of you a gift!  However, at least this time, I had only one gift to give, and Joyce was the lucky recipient!  If you were not as lucky as Joyce, don’t worry, there will be more goodies to get in the future.

What a crazy week!  I didn’t figure that THIS week would be the one that was so busy!  After all, the quilt show was last week.  So, the shop has been doing very well…Thank you all!  But it isn’t only the store that has been busy….my “real” life has been jam-packed with craziness, too! 

I have had a major toothache all week….not fun!  It isn’t just a toothache because it has been the cause of a headache and an earache, too.  Basically I am miserable!  On Thursday, I decided that it wasn’t going to get better on its own, so I have scheduled an appointment with the dentist on Tuesday morning.  Hopefully, I will survive that long!

Despite my desperately pitiful condition, I have been surprisingly productive.  I finally figured out a centerpiece idea for my brother’s wedding!  Do you like it?  Pretty, huh?

This is the dollar-store centerpiece by Meghan….a candlestick holder with a clear glass plate on top.  Both have been decoupaged with a glittery tissue paper in a very light shade of the bride’s color.  This one isn’t completely finished…I still have to clean up the edges, and the base needs another coat of paper to fill in the patchiness.  But you get the general idea. 

These will have a floral arrangement with little twinkle lites on top.  They will also hold the table numbers.  So they are very multi-functional.  I am very happy with them, and the lovely bride-to-be was as excited as she gets (she is a very calm, rational, person – I don’t get it!) about them, which makes me a happy girl!   Now, only 19 more to go!

Progress on my cake decorating has not really happened this week.  Who can think about cake when they have a toothache?  I did, however, do one cake early in the week that was fun, but not really a wedding idea.  It was more of a “playing with fondant” thing.  I LOVE that fondant is so much like polymer clay.  Not that I am a spectacular example of a clay artist or anything, but I do enjoy doing little projects now and then. I have always liked doing/making canes, so I wanted to see if the process would work with the fondant…and LOOKIE, it did!  This one was fun to do, but it isn’t something I would want to attempt for the wedding.  It was way too much work! 

With all the wedding activity, and the busy shop, I decided I needed to do something for myself last weekend.  And, because I LOVE to do swaps (I like the challenge of creating something for someone else, and getting mail is always a pleasure, too!) I signed myself up for the 24 hour swap on Craftster.  You sign up, and have 24 hours to create and mail out a project for your partner.  When I got the info on my partner, I discovered that she likes bags (okay, who doesn’t?!) and is particularly fond of paisley (again, who isn’t?!).  It took all of 2 minutes to decide what fabric I was going to use….Kaffe Fassett Jungle Paisley…But then it took me about 3 hours to decide how to use it CREATIVELY.  I didn’t want to just make a straight-up tote bag….where is the fun in that?!  This is the final result.

Of course, if I had more time, I would have added a zipper pocket to the lining, and I also would have added some sort of closure, too.  But, for the limited time, I think it turned out pretty nice.  In fact, I must admit, I had a tough time letting this one go.  I could really use a new bag myself, and I really liked this.  But guess what?  I got an equally, if not even more, great bag in return.  And, it is something I could not have done (easily, anyway) for myself.  It is crocheted!  Obviously, with only 24 hours, my partner didn’t have time to crochet and felt it in time to send, SO I get to do the felting myself.  I am excited to try it out….It will be my first time….My only real concern is that I will ruin all the work my partner did!  She seems to think I will do just fine.  I hope she is right!  I will be showing off the lovely thing once I have it felted.  I am hoping to do it today.  Everyone cross your fingers that I don’t screw it up! 

Oh, there is so much more to show you, and tell you about, but if you are even still reading this post, you deserve a medal!  I am even tired of it, and I am the one doing the writing! At least now I know I have something to write about next time, right? Well, I think it is time to take some more aspirin!  Have a great one, all!