Storing Technology

As technology  advances, the size of it gets smaller. Now, bear in mind that I am not 100% sure I know what I am talking about, but my husband is converting his computer tools that he has on CD’s and DVD’s to USB flash drives.  I call them “sticks”. He says that it will be great because he will no longer need to carry his big stack of discs in his tool case and instead just use these small sticks. But, now how to carry these 1 1/4″ by 1/2″ sticks without loosing them? This is where I come in. It was my mission to design and create a wallet to hold the sticks. 

I knew I was not going to create the finished project on the first try, so I dug out some scraps and went to work. I sewed the pockets and velcro to the lining, then with right sides together, I sewed the lining to the top. I then turned the wallet and pressed and finished the edge. On this first try of the wallet, I made the little pockets large enough for the stick and the little cord tie to the top of stick and put plenty of space between the pockets to make it easier to get the stick out. I also made it large enough to be found in the tool case. 

Happy with my first attempt, I presented it to the husband, who started to make changes. First, it had to be much smaller. He wanted to be able to put it in his pocket. Next, he wanted to remove the little cords from the top of the sticks, so wanted the pockets to be smaller, only big enough to hold the sticks. Finally, no extra spaces in between the pockets, the fabric could easily be folded to get the sticks out. And, did it need that big of a piece of velcro? But, he did like the orange and white scraps. 

So, back at the cutting table, I reduced the size of everything, including cutting the velcro length wise in half. When I sewed the second wallet together, I tried to leave no edges and sewed very close to the velcro and pockets. I did not even have to show this wallet to the husband because I knew what needed to be changed. The wallet needed an edge so there was a place to finish the edge after turning.
Cutting the velcro in half was the wrong idea too as there was not enough loops for it to stick together. If you close the wallet very precisely, the velcro will hold. But, the orange and white scraps were still ok.

With that, wallet #3 was created. I am far more pleased with the end results, even the orange and white colors, and it seems to be doing its job. These wallets were actually quick to make and I had a fun time designing and creating them. I am now ready to make more as technology demands. 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. These new usb memory sticks can even survive in the washing machine. Trust me, I tried it myself. 

The Work Shirts

Well, they started out to be work shirts. My husband needed new shirts with his company logo embroidered on the front. I went to the stash and found many pieces of fabric I had previously purchased to make him shirts. I then let him pick out which pieces he wanted for work shirts. He really did not like the green fabric, but thought it would be ok for a work shirt, and the blue piece was just blue. I cut both shirts out at the same time. Sewing went pretty smoothly, just the usual fight with the collar and tab. Although, each time I make one of his shirts, even that seem to go a little bit smoother. I have his shirt pattern down pretty well.  But, when it came time for the embroidery, he changed his mind. He decided that he no longer wanted these shirts for just work shirts.

 

 

 

The Coke design was digitized a while back, just waiting for the right shirt to come along to be embroidered on. In my opinion the green shirt was just the right shirt. I like the design on the shirt and the brass buttons add to the design. It reminds me of an old time gas station attendant’s uniform. Even though my husband was not that fond of the green fabric, I think this will be one of his favorite shirts (after Buzz of course). 

I embroidered a design from a Smart Needle pack on the blue shirt. I found the Smart Needle website one day while playing on the internet. I just love their designs. They are so clever and unique. The gallery of pictures has so many fun ideas that I can’t wait to get creating projects to embroider designs on. Smart Needle’s designs are also priced right. Plus their designs come in both 4X4 and 5×7 sizes. I am saving my money so I can purchase some more designs from them. I put the 5X7 shark on the blue shirt. The shark makes me smile whenever I see it. 

So, now I guess my next project will be to go through the stash again and look for more fabric for work shirts.

P.S. The spot in the pictures was on my camera lens,  not the shirts.

Crocheting Results

Or a better title – Why does my little boy’s blanket have a ruffled edge? Boy, have I learned a lot about crocheting. I decided that the best way to learn was to just do it and here are the results.

As you may remember from previous entries, after finishing the Star Wars blanket with Mom’s help, I started an edge on a baseball print blanket. I had picked up the fleece in the remnant bin at Wal-mart for cheap. By cutting it it half I have two orange baseball print blankets to work on. On the first blanket, as pictured in the previous blog, I single crocheted twice in each hole, just as Mom had me do on the first blanket, for the first row and then chain 3, skip a stitch for the second row. It did not quite turn out like the Star Wars blanket. The yarn that I picked for the baseball blankets is heavier that the black yarn of the Star Wars blanket. So, my results are ruffled. My loving husband says he likes it, but I don’t know yet. 

On the second baseball blanket, I only crocheted one single crochet per hole for the first row. (I used the skip-stitch blade on this one and loved it. See my last blog post on crocheting for details.) But that was not working out either. Now the blanket was curling especially at the corners. So, enough of just “doing it”. I turned to the experts on other blogs as well as Mom and my sister and learned many helpful hints and new edges to try. The second row on the second baseball blanket is a scalloped edge of 3 double crochets in the the first stitch and then a slip stitch in the next. I like the result much better and it seems to be helping the curling. 

Blanket number 3 is a combination so far of all the things I have learned. The fleece is once again a remnant from the bin at Wal-mart. While cutting the slits with the skip-stitch blade. I was careful to pin stopping and starting points to avoid double cutting. I also cut at 3/4 inch as the instruction for the blade stated. To try something new, I followed the suggestion on the web site for the blades to make a squared corner. In starting the crocheting, I am followed another idea I picked up from a blog to single crochet once in each hole with a chain stitch in between to keep the blanket from ruffling or curling. I am folding the edge over on the back to hide the raw edge. I don’t know how this will work out but we will see. Previously, I just let it fold as it wanted. My sister said she does not let it fold at all. I have not decided what I want to do for the second row or even maybe a third row this time. It remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more!

Sleeper Frenzy

 

With the announcement of more babies on the way, came the opportunity to make more sleepers. I started by digging though my stash and finding this blue terry. The sewing went smoothly and I like the end results of working with terry cloth, but it is sure messy. I had to keep the vacuum by my sewing machine. After sewing a little, I would vacuum the machines, the floor and me, but the little thread are here to stay. I have picked a ton of  little loops of thread off other pieces of fabric in the room. I have not resorted to getting out the lint brush yet, but I keep dabbing things with pieces of scotch tape. I was able to minimize the spread to the sewing room though, hooray. I did not pick the color of the zipper or ribbing until after the embroidery was done. This made the creative process more exciting as the sleepers came together.

 

 

 

 

The Bronco sleeper is for my newest little nephew who will be here in December. His dad is a huge Bronco fan. I made the sleeper with the white pieces so I had somewhere to embroidery the stallion. As I sewed the sleeper together, I thought to myself that this is my least favorite sleeper I have ever made. Yet, as the embroidery design stitched on the sleeper, together with the help of the zipper and the little feeties, the sleeper took on its own cuteness and I like it much better now. I hope that the new nephew’s dad likes it too.

 

 

 

 

 

The red and white Christmas sleeper is for the new nephew too. I have been holding this fabric and embroidery design for many years waiting for a Christmas baby. I debated greatly about the size of this sleeper. Should I make the sleeper 1 inch bigger so he can wear it on his 1 year old Christmas or smaller for his first Christmas?  The latter won and the sleeper is 1 inch shorter than the pattern so it will fit this year. I hope his parent’s like is as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am still quite happy with my revised stripe sleeper pattern. The stripes seem to be matching up. If I altered any part, it would be the width of the arm at the shoulder. I will have to give this some thought though for fear of messing up the stripes again.

The Visitor

Knock, Knock, Knock!

It was 6:30 in the morning when the knock came at the door.

Who could it be? Could FedEx really be here this early?

Nope, no packages, just your friendly neighborhood roadrunner trying to have some breakfast. He was tapping on the glass of the front door trying to scare some lizards or bugs from their hiding places.

We don’t get many roadrunners here because we are at a higher elevation, and as it gets colder in the winter months their food supply dwindles. But this guy has come to visit us before the cooler temperatures prevail. We have seen him almost daily for a week now.

 I have enjoyed watching him hunt for lizards and bugs. I thought about finding something to feed him, but I don’t want him to hang around for an easy food source as the cooler nights come on, and I am certainly NOT gathering lizards in the yard for him. The roadrunner does not like us watching him and runs away as soon as he realizes that we’re there, but we were able to get some great pictures.

 

The last picture is of the sunset’s reflection on the clouds coming over the mountains in my front yard.

I just think it is a pretty picture.

The Quilt

I love going to craft shows and I enjoy seeing all the talented vendors and their wares. I usually end up buying a few things at each show I go to. This time I want a little crazy and bought a quilt. I love this quilt and I think it is beautiful. The quilter sold it for the right price too. It is made of suede and sherpa. The tumbler design adds character to the quilt, much more texture that just a square quilt. The lady who quilted it is a very nice person, and I enjoyed my conversation with her about her talent, were she gets her fabric yardage, and other projects she is involved in. The quit is so soft and warm that I can hardly wait for winter to cuddle under it.