Covered in Dust

114/365

There on a desk in my room sits a machine. It's covered in dust and buried behind (partcipation) soccer trophies dating back ten years and yarn dating back a few months. Yet, this machine, and the art that comes with it, has somehow made its way into my brain for days now. Maybe this will finally be the summer I learn how to use it. I've got blouses, bags, and blankets (quilts, really, but I had to keep up the alliteration) that I'm itching to try my hand at.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Picnic Quilt from Nana

Last night, a couple who are good family friends (we even call her Nana!) stopped by as they passed through town. We hadn't seen them for a couple months, so it was nice to catch up a little bit, and hopefully we'll be able to hang out for a longer period of time when they pass through again in a couple of weeks.

One of the reasons they stopped by our house, though, was to bring me a graduation gift! My Nana made this quilt for me! It's a picnic blanket quilt, so hopefully a year from now I will be able to take it out to Millennium Park in Chicago for a picnic with people from school. It's a big wish, but you never know. 

First, I love all the food! Even just looking at the pictures makes me hungry! Second, look at all those cute ants! They're not only the border, but most of the back and she had them quilted in! We joked that when I do take it out I won't be able to tell if there are ants on the quilt or if it's just the ones on the pattern. (; Third, this thing is huge! It's gotta be at least 6'x6'! This is my first quilt I've ever had, so I love that it's a big one! 

And, of course, my favorite part is knowing that it was a labor of love. She told me that she spent hours the last few days hand sewing the binding. How awesome is that? I feel so blessed to have her in my life, even if they live in Arizona now instead of across town. That's just motivation, though, to go visit them one of these days. (:

- rl

Starting a Jean Quilt

The idea of being able to quilt has been attractive to me for a few years now. I like the idea of being able to make something useful, like a quilt to keep you warm. Last year I kind of helped a lady in my life with making a jean quilt made of squares. We got together, figured out a plan of sorts, and cut. She did the actual quilting, so I was more support than anything else.

This time, though, I want to make it on my own. Yesterday I watched TV for a ridiculously long period of time, so I worked on cutting, and I finished! The pile of jeans that has sat in my room for a good year is now gone. I kept the long jean sections and the pockets and threw away the rest. 

Now I don't know what I want to with them! Thanks to Pinterest, I've got a couple of ideas (one, two, three, four), but I haven't really decided on one yet. And then there's the whole, "wait, how do I do this?!" part of me. 

- rl