Summer 2011

This is going to be an obnoxiously long post. Since I have not posted one thing since the beginning of the summer I feel I should play a little catch up. Even though the summer felt very short alot sure went on!

First....I fell in love with my plants. I have never had or pretended to have a green thumb but this summer I felt I needed a little greenery in my bedroom to brighten it up. Enter my succulents....very easy to take care of....very hard to kill...PERFECT!!





I wrote about this little guy in an earlier post here. He was part of my nana's Christmas Cactus. Well look at him now!

 
This is why I love succulents so much...you can get soooo many out of just one plant! I hope it gets as big as my nana's one day. It has stopped growing since it started getting cold out but hopefully it will get bigger in the spring!

Then we have this guy. I am not sure what kind of succulent he is....but I love him too =)

 
I am talking about the one on the left. The one on the right died unfortunately =(....leave it to me to kill a nearly impossible to kill plant! But the one on the left is doing very well!


 
Look at how tall it is! Haha I also love how the colors changed too. And last but not least it seemed like a no brainer to have an aloe plant in the summer...being that I am such a beach bum!


 
I don't have a good "after" picture of this one, but it is much taller and has branched out a bit. It has actually started to out grow its pot so I will have to find a new one soon!

Sewing

There was alot of sewing this summer, especially with my new sewing machine. It is crazy what a difference a little speed control can do to your confidence! I have a lead foot....both when driving and sewing so that feature has pretty much been the key to my success since I no longer lose control of the fabric! Here are just a few of the things I have made. Description are on my flickr page found on the side bar =)




























 
So that is the bulk of it. There were a few more zippy bags that I made but I gave them away without taking pictures lol...oh well...I need to stop doing that! I love sewing so much! The instant gratification is really awesome for my crazy craft ADD haha! Don't get me wrong I am still in love with knitting and spinning, but it can take me a LONG to time to complete a knitting project and only a few days for a sewing project so when time is tight (which is alot more often these days) I like the sewing.

Other then all that I went to the beach....

 
Went to Disney with my Robert and his family. It wasn't a very good trip (we also went with his siblings and you can imagine how that can go) but the Christmas store has alway been my favorite! Weird that this painting says 2010 though.


 
Made corn hole bean bags for my Robert. He built his own Bruins themed boards this summer! We went to the parade and he was feeling inspired haha


 
And finally my favorite part of the summer. I recieved this beautiful Pandora bracelet from my Robert....just because =


Well that should do it for the summer. I am sure I have left alot out but if I need to back track I will haha. Tomorrow I will finish up the fall months and hopefully be completely up to date with my posting! I love getting caught up =)

Happy Monday!

Still Around

Wow it has really been over 4 months since my last post?!?! Ugh... I was trying really hard to be good and post at least 3 times a week (time allowing) but it seemed to get away from me'. Oh well I am back now!

Lots has been going on in life lately.... Lots of crafting and sewing... Not much knitting but I am still working on those socks... Yes I know it has been 4 months since I finished the first one but I have been lazy lol.

I have been going through my pictures that we're intended for the blog and oh man! There are a TON of things to share!! I am going to be posting alot the next few days since there is alot of material haha, I kinda love that! I also discovered the blogger ap for my iPhone so that will make things a little more convenient I hope :) most of my pictures are taken on this thing so it should be good!

For now I have decided to show off my new sewing machine!!



This has been the reason for all of my productivity! It is a simple Kenmore machine but it has speed control, need drop down position and adjustable foot pressure! Perfect for my beginner quilting and other fun projects!

Hopefully I will be able to have another post tonight. But if not tomorrow.. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Christina's Socks

Christina's Sock, a photo by dragongrl4 on Flickr.

Whooo hoo!! Finally finished the first sock! ( I actually finished it last month, but I finally saw Christina to model it for me....my feet are toooooo big!)

The second one is about a quarter of the way done and knitting up fast! As long as I stick too it she will have them in now time =) Ahhhh I do love this yarn and pattern!

Vintage Sheet Quilt - The Beginning

I have begun cutting for my vintage sheet quilt! I am not doing anything fancy, just a simple patchwork quilt so the colors and patterns can all be seen nicely. I absolutely LOVE the sheets I got from etsy! They were all different patterns and colors, perfect for what I want this quilt to be! Since I don't want more then 6 squares of the same sheet in the quilt I was only able to get 99 squares so far and I will need about 16 more sheets to finish. In other words I will be scouring thrift stores this weekend for more! I love the hunt!


I estimated I will need about 192 for the size I am hoping for which about 60" x 80". The are 5.5" unfinished and 5" finished. I think they are going to look super pretty! Might do a small border too, but we will see how it turns out.


Sorry for the dark pics. It was about 11 at night when I finished cutting them all! The batting has been purchased so all that is left to do is collect more sheets and find a good backing and binding! This is so exciting!

Goings On

Alot has been going on around here. Baking, thrifting, shopping, plants, puppies and fabric. Notice I didn't say sewing haha. I am having a very hard time finding a new quilt project. I want to do a big one! What I think I am going to do is use vintage sheets. They have plenty of fabric and all kinds of pretty colors to use. I bought some on etsy this afternoon so I can hopefully get the ball rolling soon =) I bought these a few weeks ago. Hope they go well with the others!




I have also decided to change the name of the blog to just "Crafty Mushu" instead of "Crafty Mushu Knits" since I have been taking on alot more crafts then just knitting and I want to share those more. For example: cross stitching.




My new hobby! I love it now =) It is very relaxing (and inexpensive). I bought this pattern at The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. They have the cutest little patterns! I am working on the May Fruit of the Month right now, how cute is this!?




I bought all of them so far, think I am going to try to make some kind of a calender out of them =) If you like to cross stitch you should definately check them out!

Other then that it has been alot of family get togethers and fabric shopping which might not be a good thing since I can wrap my brain around what it is I would like to sew. Hopefully I will have a good update about that one! Right now I will leave you with pretty pictures of some Moda Fandango by Kate Spain charm packs I plan to cut into something!

Pyrexia

Pyrex Collection, a photo by dragongrl4 on Flickr.

Yes I have it and I want more!!!! I have become 100% obsessed with Pyrex and I can't wait to add more to my collection! Thrift stores are my new best friends =)

Spring has Sprung

I am a little late with the spring has sprung post but it has been a very busy couple of weeks. I did some sewing and things of that nature but I have also been working alot which has made me tired and grumpy so the happy spring post had to wait. But here it is!

I love spring, the colors are amazing, everything is blooming and the smell in the air is enough to make even the grumpiest person smile =)

I love when the trees bloom...it always makes me happy to see it =)

My goofy co-worker even bought us all flowers to celebrate spring! It was so nice of her and she knows my favorite color is purple =)

My mom even gave me a piece of her Christmas Cactus that belonged to my nana so I can have my own! Pretty huh?

My mom grew this one from a small piece too. I hope mine ends up looking like this eventually though I know it will take years! It blooms twice a year and is absolutely gorgeous. As of today mine has two little roots, few more weeks and I will be able to pot it =)

In sewing news I have discovered the addictiveness of hexagons.

Went a little crazy this weekend and made about 45 of them! I couldn't stop! I was all cozy in my bed watching TV and before I knew it I had a ton! I love them...they're cute and easy and you can make some really nice patchwork projects with them. Not to mention they are great for scraps! Now whenever I have scraps from a project I am going to make a few of these babies and hopefully end up with something big in the end!

And the grand finale! The most exciting thing that has happened in my life these last few weeks.

My quilt is bound and FINISHED!! I could not be happier with how it turned out! In all honesty I thought that I was going to get bored with it and never finished it before I even started, but it was fun and interesting and I never once got bored! I want to make ten more! I am already trying to plan my next one...looking at all kinds of pictures for inspiration. I was going to make one for Robert but the colors he would want are a little dark and for my next project I want to use bright warm colors! So I just need to make a decision and pick out all the fabric then we will be on to quilt #2 =) It will certainly be alot bigger then this one, more of a snuggle on the couch size I think.

So that is what has been going on. I also found a few new pyrex pieces last weekend but it was too dreary to take pics. I will try to take some tomorrow ( I think the sun is supposed to come out...ahh spring in Boston!)

Happy Wednesday!