Currently Obsessed With: Quilting

As busy as things are I always find time to daydream about more stuff I could be doing. And quite honestly if I spent a little less time daydreaming about it and more time DOING stuff then maybe it would happen.

My current sewing project is another t-shirt quilt for my friend. She gave me all the shirts MONTHS ago and I have only made significant progress on it in the last week or so. (Pictures to come when completed). Partially I have problems organizing my craft time but then I also feel like I shouldn't start new projects when I have some in the works.

Thankfully my latest craft obsession is quilting and I hope that this will motivate me to get this quilt done and to start some new fun projects at the same time.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I visited my Grandmother Marilyn. Her town was hosting it's little 'festival days' and one of the events was a quilt show and 'bed turning'. I had been to the quilt show years ago and decided it was time that I went again. My Grandma, Aunt, Mom, and I piled into the car and drove the mile or so into town. The quilt show was probably small by most standards but the wide variety of quilts was quite stunning.

The bed turning was the coolest part. They had a bed layered with 30 or so quilts on top and then at certain times during the day you could grab a seat and one at a time the ladies would hold up a quilt and tell the story behind it. They had quilts from all eras and it was great to see the history of the area sewn with love into these quilts. My Grandma Marilyn had actually worked on several of the quilts there. The biggest surprise was a community quilt that was about 50 years old.

Each square was hand embroidered by a member of the group and then it was all stitched together. Some of the ladies who worked on the quilt were in the audience.

One square caught our family's eye.

This square was made by my Great-Grandma Anna Dempster! Anna is my middle name (named for her of course!) and it was such a lovely way to witness crafting through the generations.

After this trip I have become obsessed with quilting. I went to the library and got a lot of books on the subject (when in doubt-go to the library) and I have been pouring over new found quilt blogs and posts all over the internet. I found Wild Olive's post to hit really close to home (and she includes some excellent links) and I also loved the Etsy's Blog post on the Aids Quilt. So inspiring! I have a hundred ideas for projects running through my head now but hopefully I will now have the motivation to finish that quilt I have started and then to start sharing some of my zany ideas.

Happy Stitching!

Countdown to Halloween

This is pretty exciting! Already September and Halloween is just around a dark and spooky corner. Fall temperatures are finally here and I am all sorts of ready for sweater/layering season.

In honor of my favorite holiday I am taking the plunge and committing to the 'Countdown to Halloween' a month long blog-a-thon. In all honesty I have already started a list of posts for October so it seemed only right to make a real commitment. If you are interested in also doing so check out the website.

They also have some really cool badges up this year that you can use to spruce up your blog! My favorite is this Vincent Price badge.

 

That is some Halloweeny goodness right there folks!

Other things from RubyMarilyn to come include: Food, crafts, decor, costumes, zombies, films, and 'vintage Halloween' posts. 

Happy Haunting!

Vintage DC Sheet dresses

 

Love, love, LOVE! These amazing vintage sheet dresses were made for Comic Con and this would be exactly the kind of thing that I would wear if I ever get to go to the famous convention. Now I just have to keep an eye out for these sheets when I am on my thrifting adventures.

Found these on this website. You should check out her blog/cosplay galleries because Meagan has done some amazing work. She has a whole collection of cosplay sets on flickr. Check it out!

Online lovelies

Have some time to kill? Want some wonderful online inspiration for the upcoming holidays? Then I highly recommend these:


Gifted Magazine

Inspired Ideas: The Christmas Issue

Cherpumple: The "Monster" Pie-Cake

Have you seen this yet? I found it over on the Craft blog and it is blowing my mind. I sort of want to make it but I am a little scared of it!

Summer Pie

Mmmm pie. I love pie. I love summer. I love summery yummy pies filled with berry goodness. Smitten Kitchen always has the recipes that I crave until I end up making them. Her strawberry-rhubarb pie was one of those recipes.

I went to the local farmer's market in the morning to get some rhubarb when I realized there was still an amazing crop growing in my friends backyard! I think she got a pretty good deal- friend comes in the morning and takes some rhubarb and then returns that evening with it prepared in pie form.

I went a little Martha on the pie and used a cookie cutter to add some pizzaz to the top.

And oh was it good! Tart and lovely. Perfect for our summer cookout.

Curious Tuesday 002- Answers

Vincent Price
Originally uploaded by Music2MyEars

Gala Darling has started another fun tradition over on her blog- namely 'Curious Tuesday' in which she asks a few random questions that give quite the insight into someones life. Reading through the comments I feel like I have a sense of what these people are like. I decided to join the fun...

Curious Tuesday 002
1. What are you most excited for RIGHT NOW?

The 'Murder by Death' concert next Wednesday in Minneapolis! It is going to be insane.

2. Who is your style icon? What inspires your look?

I am really trying to figure out my look- but people who inspire me include Dita Von Teese, Auntie Mame, old movie stars, etc.

3. If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would you invite?

Vincent Price, Alfred Hitchcock, Boris Karloff, and Lon Chaney. Dinner would probably have to be in a haunted mansion.

4. What did you dress up as for your first Halloween?

I love Halloween so much! The first Halloween I remember dressing up for my dad was the Cat in the Hat and I was 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two'. I was an only child at that point and so they just attached a circle that said 'Thing Two' to the back of my costume. It was pretty adorable.

5. What are you improving?

Stress management. I have a stressful job and I have trouble letting go of little things that annoy me- but I am trying!

I made it onto the Etsy blog!

I am so excited! I was one of the shops featured in the Etsy Finds: Opening Acts blog post today. Thanks Etsy! The positive response has really made my day. Now I am really motivated to get making! Look for an update super soon...

To All My Single Ladies...

So I am a little obsessed with Gala Darling and her amazing blog. I pretty much wish I could be her. Or at least one of her friends. You know how some people are just so cool it hurts? Yeah that would be a good description for her. Now she has taken things to a whole new level with Date My Friend! Basically she has super cute and awesome single friends all over the world and she is giving us the hooks up! Read the post to find out about these two cuties from London and Minneapolis, MN! As a Rochester, MN girl I got a little too excited about the prospect of a highly recommended single boy so close to home...but I am also a huge chicken and emailing strangers is totally not my style. But if it is your style I suggest you get on that! Let me know how it goes. Also I will hopefully be stalking/ casually running into the cute boys/Gala herself at Soundset 2010. Speaking of Soundset, who wants to go with me?