Needle Minder Time

I don't know, I've been sewing a long time and have only just heard about needle minders. Maybe it's because I'm spending all my time writing, but really, where have I been? They're all over the internet.

Now, I have never been the type of person to just buy something. I want to make it. In fact, the Mister just suggested to me that I need to go into blacksmithing. Uh, yes please. Let's just add it to the list of all the other things I want to learn. Glass work, knitting more better, refurnishing furniture, tailoring (I might have to practice making vests), sashiko embroidery, tomato grafting... it just keeps going.

But, as soon as I learned of needle minders I needed one.

So, I busted out my button-maker, aida, thread, needles, a couple rare earth magnets, and some sturdy craft glue.

Then, I cross-stitched a cute little something. Turned it into a button. Glued one magnet to the back of the button. Let it dry.

And finally, using a second rare earth magnet I affixed the needle minder to the back of my work and hopefully the days of stepping on lost needles are gone.

My mama's needle minder

And this one is mine. In action. I've lost my mind and am making a millefiori quilt. Why? I thought I needed something to do while the girls are at water polo practice.

Thanks for reading!

How hard is it to make a &*$#@ vest?

Due to the emotional trauma suffered in the making of my daughter's Annie Oakley vest expect few pictures. In fact, you get only one.

I fancy myself a decent quilter. That means I can make anything I want, right? Wrong.
I've made pajamas and a Little Red Riding Hood cloak. That means I can make a vest, right? Wrong. Well, right, because I made it, but wrong in assuming I can just waltz in and make anything and have it work out seamlessly. Ha! See what I did there? Sewing humor.

I chose to make McCall's pattern M7416 F. Why? I knew my baby would get a kick out of the swingy fringe.

There were words like: understitch, dart, lining, and most horrific of all band facing. This pattern broke me. The part where I needed to "open out lining" sent me straight to the bottle. Luckily, after copious amounts of googling, crying, and hair pulling I figured it out.

But in the end, it turned out pretty great. Fudged bits and all. And she made one heck of an Annie Oakley. Never again, though. Never again. Alright, you know that's not true. Like childbirth I'll forget the horror and try something I'm unqualified for and soon, no doubt.


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It's a Deadpool miracle

Last post I threatened to stop making the Mister sweet treasures. This caused sadness and tears, as you can imagine. Well, loving wife that I am I gave him one more chance.

The Mister has decided, erroneously I might add, that Deadpool is the coolest superhero flick (it's actually Kingsman). As a result of that conversation a Deadpool/perler bead inspired mug rug was born to much gladness and smiles.

Imagine all the itty-bitty 1 inch squares. Yeah, 1 inch!

Full disclosure, that's actually my mug posing on the mug rug. The MOM might give it away. But I wanted to show you the mug rug in action.

Now, the Mister is the envy of all geeks, I'm the hero, and I can see in his eyes that he will love every homemade item I make him from here on out. Feels pretty good. Sweater uni-suit coming up.

Thanks for reading!

p.s. It's that time again. If you're at the farmer's market and come across gooseberries grab 'em and make this Gooseberry Pie