C'est L'Halloween!

Well, it was two and a half weeks ago anyway. What? I'm busy!
I've gone from zero to sixty this year in the costume production department. Buddy Systems hosted what may be the first annual Halloween Buddy Ball so there was no way my Kroquasian costume could make a repeat performance. So...I'd like to introduce you to....Squirrelly Temple!

A bit high-concept? Perhaps. Eerily close to a furry outfit? Most definitely. But the costume was a ton of fun to make and even more fun to wear.

The dress was from an actual pattern (I'm sorry I don't know what!) that I shortened A LOT and widened the boob ties. I whipped up a matching pair of puffy underpants/diaper cover (no, there was no diaper). The tail has some big ass heavy duty armature wire inside along with some fiber-fil. The wire is JB Quiked into a piece of 2x4 which is screwed to a nylon work belt from the hardware store. It was surprisingly not uncomfortable yet not surprisingly awesome to wear. And of course, the icing on the cake was a pair of tap shoes, ordered off Ebay, originally sent as two left shoes, I kid you not.

Some other notables:

Harv (as a Green Bay Packer) and I.

Imposter Harv (our friend Ethan) and genuine Harv.

And last but so far from least, the masterpiece known as Sexy Stay Puft.

More Buddy Ball pictures here.

Make a young boy's dreams come true!

Okay, not so young but you can help him just the same! My husband Harv is a finalist in a commercial contest for Penske Trucks and the Green Bay Packers. The winner gets to watch the last home game of the year from a box suite with 17 of their favorite Packer fans. Now, I should mention that at least 40% of Harv's brain is devoted to the Packers at any given time, much more so the closer it is to Sunday. With this contest going on, it's probably up to more like 80 or 85.

So if you're ever in the mood for some cute stop-motion, hop on over and cast your vote. The voting lasts for a loooooo-oooonnnnnggg time and you can vote everyday so don't be shy!
The contest is here, Harv is commercial number 5. Thanks for listening, you all are the sweetest!

Here she be.

I here by vow to try my very derndest to get these babies out on time from now on. This is June's (oops) Common Threads quilt block for Melissa.

I used this stuff for the first time when pressing this.

It's a starch alternative that I got at JoAnn. I dig it. I think I'll be using it frequently. I don't know what you more experienced quilters think about this sort of thing but my seams need all the help they can get. They're not always what you call "straight."
So July was my month and I've received two awesome blocks so far. I can't wait for the rest to roll in!

You look thirsty.

Let me get you a drink.

Oh, I'm so sorry, you're glass is sweating! It is horribly hot today. Here, have a cocktail napkin.

What's that? Why yes, I did make them, thank you for noticing!

Oh, it was quite easy. I could show you if you wanted.

Really? Okay then, let's!

For each napkin you will need

• two 4.5" squares of fabric, either the same print or two complimentary patterns
• 20" of rick rack
• a good stiff cocktail (I find a vodka tonic works well)

1. Cut the rick rack into four 5" pieces and lay them out on each side of one of your fabric squares, right side up. How close it is to the edge depends on how wide your rick rack is. Mine was the regular size and I lined it up with the raw edge of the fabric. If your's is jumbo it may have to overlap the edge.
2. Lay your other square on top, right side down and pin together, making sure to catch the rick rack with your pin. I only pinned the corners but you can do more if you like.
3. Sew a 1/4" seam around all four sides, leaving a 3" gap on one for turning.
4. Trim the corners and turn right side out. Poke out the corners and press. Sew a seam close to the edge of the fabric all the way around the napkin, closing the gap.
5. Have a drink and admire your work.
6. Optional: Make a drink for a friend and ask him/her to admire your work.
   

Checking Stuff Off

I'm going back to work in a week and a half and there is much yet to be done. I have squandered my hiatus. I will admit it! But for the rest of my time off I'm going to make an effort to be better. I have a to-do list! And there are already things being crossed off of it. I even got my hair cut and went to the dentist this week. Not only that but I also finished my first Common Threads quilt square! Late, I know and for that I am truly sorry. Sorry Rebekah, I'll try to be better in the future!

Yesterday I decided to buckle down and do this thing. I drew up a little plan and here you go.

Kind of boring? Maybe. I was trying to keep it from being too busy because it is just one of twelve blocks in a quilt. I wanted it to blend in. This was kind of hard! Rebekah sent out red, black and white fabric but my bundle only had red and black. She didn't say anything about using additional fabrics so I stuck to the hand I was dealt. Definitely a little out of my element. When I finished I thought it was a little "ugh". But I reminded myself of my original intention. This is not a stand-alone piece, it's part of a much bigger whole and I think that it will blend in quite nicely. I hope Rebekah thinks the same!

And the winner be...

Claudia takes all! Congratulations, lady!

The cutting table is newly cleared and I am ready to sew. Aside from slippers, I have to take care of the little matter of May's Common Threads quilt square (sorry Rebekah!) and some curtains to sew for the much maligned but newly reinvented Winnebago. I will keep you posted!

It's hot! Why not get some free stuff?

Well, maybe it's not hot everywhere but it sure is here and I know there are a few places out there that could use a little relief from the heat. Guess what I'm wearing as part of my anti-summer defense shield? My summer slippers!

It is that time of year again. Time to let your piggies breath a little while still lounging about in ultimate comfort. In honor of the season as well as anyone who is reading this despite my sporatic and non-craft related posting, I am not only going to make myself a new pair of slippers, I'm going to make a pair for you!
Well maybe you. Just leave me a comment on this post and I'll pick a random winner on Monday morning. The comment can be anything you want, you can even tell me to fug off, I'll understand! You're probably just crabby because your feet are so hot and uncomfortable. Just be sure to leave your email address so I can get your shoe size and address if you win. I'll even let you pick what color slippers you get. And if you don't win, you should really go ahead and make your own pair. Your toes will thank you.
So happy summer, happy giveaway and thank you for hanging around!

What is up.

What is up around here? A lot of nothing, perhaps too much. But also some gardening. Enough to make me so sore that I have to walk straight legged everytime I sit for 5 minutes because my calves are so unbelievably tight. I don't even know how that happened. It's good though. I don't exercise at all so every little bit counts. And is felt. For days afterward.

I'll bet you can guess what I haven't been doing. Crafting! Yes, it's true. I have roughly one month of hiatus left which may seem like a lot to you but I know how fast it is going to go by. My fear is that I'll go back to work feeling like I squandered my time off on hours of surfing the internet and too many episodes of "What Not To Wear".

So I'm blogging outside right now. It's pretty amazing what a difference it makes to poke around the internet from your newly degrossified and beflowered backyard rather than your your much loved but far too dark living room. Look at me, enjoying the great outdoors.

So because I have absolutely nothing crafty to share with you I'm sharing the fruits of my gardening labor. So far I've cleaned out the entire backyard (there was a lot to clean, logs, moldy lemons, garbage from the previous tenants), chainsawed a huge pile of logs and a nasty old picnic table and benches, planted one of the garden beds back there, planted a bougainvillea with a trellis to cover part of the hideous back of our house, put up some reed fence over the old ugly chain link fence at the back of the yard and planted the nice big garden bed in front of the house.

There's more that I want to do but the yard is still so enjoyable at this point. It has gone from a spider infested garbage heap to quite a pleasant place to "chillax". You can see a few more pictures here.

Common Threads

I've recently been asked to join a virtual quilting bee a la "The Virtual Quilting Bee." I really love this idea and I'm very excited to participate in something with a group of quilters who seem to share a lot of my design sensibilities. And speaking of which, I just wrote a long-ass post on the bee's blog all about what I do and don't like in my quilts with little sprinklings of how I discovered my style. Please read and share your own design story, I'd love to know! For many of you it will be much more than you ever wanted to know about me+quilting. But it was really fun to write and interesting for me to put the story of how my quilt style and tastes developed into words. I've found that with many creative endeavors, so much is internal and that you can learn a lot about your process and the way you think by trying to put it all into words.

The "bee" is called "Common Threads" and I will certainly post here about the blocks I make for it. And to anyone who thinks this sounds like fun and is sad they are not participating, please please please, start your own! Email a bunch of bloggers that you like and get to quilting! I certainly didn't think to do that after seeing bloggy ladies join together for the first bee. I just pouted and wished I could join in. But don't be like me! It's such a great idea and really encompasses one of the most appealing aspects of craft blogging which is connecting with other crafters. I have next to zero friends in the real world who do what I do. It's so fun to meet and share with people who have a common interest. But you knew that already! You're smart.

Fabric Fortune Cookie Tutorial

When Sew Mama Sew started their tutorial contest I thought "Great! I will write a tut' and enter." So I took some pictures of the process I use to make my fabric fortune cookies. Then...I let them sit there. And now the contest is over. Which is really okay. The real motivation for me to enter things like this is to share with people who don't ordinarily read this blog, not to win. So in the continued spirit of not winning anything I present you with the "Lady Harvatine Style Fabric Fortune Cookie Half-Assed Tutorial".

You will need:

• a 5 inch square of cotton fabric for the outside of your cookie
• a 5 inch square of felt for the inside
• a circle to trace, one with a diameter of about 4.5 inches (I use an old paint can)
  
• pinking shears
• a slip of paper, about .5" by 2.5" for your fortune

Trace a circle onto both your cotton fabric and your felt.

Cut both circles out.

Lay the cotton on top of the felt, right side up, and line up the edges. Sew a half inch seam around the entire circle. I use my walking foot for this but you don't have to.

Use your pinking shears to trim the raw edge all the way around the circle, leaving about a quarter inch of fabric.

Fold the circle in half with the cotton side together, felt on the outside. Sew about an inch seam down the middle, not sewing to the edge of either side of the half circle. Be sure to back stitch a few times.

Flip the cookie open and adjust the folds until it looks right.

Before you give it to someone be sure to write a fortune on a slip of paper and stick it inside. I like to use pretty origami paper that is blank on the back.

You can also string a piece of ribbon through the center of the cookie and tie it to a gift, like so.

Ok, the end, happy cookie making!