Archive for November, 2007

Ready for Guests

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

We’re ready for our favorite vehicle-loving guests.

air bed quilt

twin bed quilt

Crackpots, Set Your Alarms!

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

I got my ad for the annual JoAnn’s after-Thanksgiving sale, so if you’re up for some good deals, set your alarms! (Crackpots who have babies under 1 year are automatically exempt from this kind of silliness!) There’s 99 cent/yard flannel again this year, though as Marty and I found out last year, this is not for the faint of heart or for those who arrive at 6:15. But anytime before noon, you can get 50% off one item and 20% off your entire purchase. That sounds a little more sane…

Not such a crackpotty turkey

Monday, November 19th, 2007

The turkey this year will not be as crackpotty an event as in the past few years. And here is the reason why:

Oven

An oven that actually works!

1920s Fashion Statement

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

OK, so Marty at least has figured out that the photo that accompanied my earlier post and which was most definitely not the fabric for Andrea’s baby’s quilt, was in fact a picture of me modeling my latest 1920s fashion statement, which I wore at Prophetstown last week, to general acclaim. I think it is more modern, by 1920s standards, than the three dresses I am replacing because they are pretty well worn out. Note the slightly flapper-esque lines and the generally loose fit. Thanks to Marty’s expertise at pattern altering, it is appropriately loose fitting, rather than gargantuan, which it would have been without the alterations. I am now quite fired up as a 1920s seamstress, and I am eager to see if I can remember enough of Marty’s alteration techniques to try altering another pattern. But first I need to make an apron for this dress. I have a pattern that fits, and I have decided to go for an understated look – just blue gingham trimmed with blue rick-rack. I will be bringing fabric and pattern to the Cute Little House for Thanksgiving, along with my camera, so there may well be future posts of my progress.

Halfway!

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

Andrew’s quilt is halfway quilted! Well, technically it’s slightly less that halfway but I’m close. I have all of the lines of the grid pattern that go in one direction done. Now, I need to do the other direction, plus quilt in the ditch around the border, which is why I’m just a little less than halfway.

We are, by the way, more than halfway through NaBloPoMo, and I think we’re doing marvelously!

Last post about diaper wipes, I promise

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

Okay, so I think I figured out what was causing ink to run on the diaper wipes when I used them on young Master James. It wasn’t the thread at all, it was the marker I used to mark the sewing/cutting lines on the fabric!

Instead of a fancy-schmancy fabric market, I used a regular magic marker (actually, a Crayola kids’ marker) in black. I figured that since these were diaper wipes, for goodness’ sake, there was no need to be all fussy with the kind of marker I was using on them.

Clearly I was mistaken!

Sneaky way to add posts

Friday, November 16th, 2007

I can’t believe I did that! The equivalent of forgetting to include an attachment or enclosure to an e-mail or letter.

OK, Here’s the photo:

fabric for Blanka

OOOOPS!

Friday, November 16th, 2007

So obviously the previous post was not the fabric for baby Blanka’s balloon quilt. Here is the correct photo. A post coming soon will explain what the previous photo was, although Crackpots probably have a pretty good idea.

Input from the Slacker

Friday, November 16th, 2007

So I am the only Crackpot who has been slacking off during NaBloPoMo, and I have nary an excuse – no small baby, no mathematically insistent pre-schoolers, no exhuberant beading project. Obviously I am just a slacker.
So, in the interests of trying to make up for my negligence, here is the first of several posts: the fabric I bought a few days ago at Joann’s for a quilt for Andrea’s as yet unborn baby, little Blanka, the first (I hope) of our Hungarian grandchildren.

P\'town dress

The plan for the quilt is to make five paper-pieced hot-air balloon blocks, using the pattern from one of Nancy’s baby quilt books. The blocks are rectangular, 8×10″, and I will alternate them with plain “cloud” blocks, so the quilt will be a 9 patch. Each balloon is made from 8 fabrics, plus the “basket.” I bought enough cloud fabric for the backing, but I have no idea at this point what I will do for borders. Or for the baskets either, for that matter. After all, if I had it all planned out, it would not be Crackpotty.

The Big Bead Mess–Not!

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Here is the former Big Bead Mess. I reorganized my bead stash so now everything is in the right place. It no longer takes up a goodly portion of the Room Soon to Be Known as the Room Formerly Known as Pink.

OK, so it’s taking up most of the dining room table. It will be moved. Before dinner… Or at least before Thanksgiving dinner…

no more mess

This wonderful organization should last until I start my next beading project. After that, no doubt, it will be the Big Bead Mess, part II.