A Little of This, A Little of That

So, I really haven't blogged much this month! Or sewn, really. I spent some time after New Year's with my family and friends in Nebraska, and had a great time. Then I drove to Michigan to spend some time with the boyfriend. We had a great time together too!

Fancy dinner (Christmas tradition) and then the symphony! We're so posh.

Now, I'm finally back in New York, and ready for a new semester to begin (well... ready-ish). Thankfully, I have a Tuesday-Thursday class this semester, so I get one more day (today) to prepare! I'm only a TA this semester, instead of an instructor like I was last semester, so that means a good deal less preparation on my end, which is great, since the class I'm TAing is totally out of my area and I know nothing about it. :)

Yesterday afternoon, after unpacking my car (which, after driving halfway across the country and living out of it for a month, looked like a hoarder car) and getting things in order, I made a couple of Valentine's projects I'd pinned on Pinterest. I'm so happy with how they came out!

This argyle heart wreath is my favorite. The tutorial can be found here. I used a 12" wreath form, and 14 hearts that were about 2" x 2". This is a very easy project, though the tediousness of wrapping yarn around a wreath form should not be underestimated. Do it while watching a movie or a few TV shows. I plowed through four episodes of Arrested Development just in the wrapping stage.

Worth the carpal tunnel.

But isn't it SO cute?

I also made the Valentine canvas that Quilt Story wrote about last week. Very quick, easy project! The hardest part was keeping cat hair out of the Mod Podge (in retrospect, doing this on my living room floor was probably not my finest thought.) I made the little one to brighten up my dreary basement office, because we're in the middle of the gray six-month stretch of winter here.

Speaking of the six-month winter, I'm blaming that for the horrid lighting in these. I couldn't get good lighting no matter where I put them in my apartment. Sorry!

Christmas Placemats

This is something I never blogged about! I wanted to make placemats for my grandma out of this fabric ever since I saw it last summer. She's not actually Swedish, but she married a Swede and did so wholeheartedly, and now can out-Swede many a Swede. Of course, I waited until Christmas to do it, and the problems I had with them meant that it was January before I finally finished them for her.

I hate them. They caused me so much trouble! And why? They're placemats, possibly the easiest sewing project on the planet. I initially wanted to bind them, but that was just a horrific disaster for whatever reason. Seriously, I've never had problems binding things, but it just was NOT happening on these. So I topstitched around the edge for the rest of them.

What fun fabric though, huh?

Sigh. I never want to look at them again. But since they're my grandma's, I'll probably have to. :)

Cake Carrier Fail

My birthday is at the tail end of December. I made a cake to take to a New Year's party to celebrate. My mom had stored some leftover Christmas goodies in the oven in order to save counter space and protect them from the dog. She had warned me to make sure I took them out of the oven before I pre-heated it. I said "sure thing" and promptly forgot. And then this happened.

The cake inside was miraculously ok and unharmed. But I did have to buy a new cake carrier for my mom. :) At least she was a good sport, and we got a good laugh out of it!

Linking up this miscellany to Plum and June's Monday link up, which is being hosted by the very sweet, kind and extremely talented Heidi this week. Here's to more actual sewing in the near future! Pin It