to new beginnings... and old comforts

I think I've always been interested in crafting... but never really knew what direction to take it in or where to learn new things. Inspired by my aunt, I decided in late high school that I would make a quilt. Starting with innumerable blocks measured & cut with a paper pattern and a normal pair of fiskars scissors, I (slowly) created a quilt on my parent's living room floor. With stacks of blocks set aside in stacks whenever they got tired of fabric being strewn about the house, it was a very slow process. About two years later I finished the quilt while home on a Christmas break from college. I finished the back off with an old "flower power" sheet that my mom no longer wanted, and sewed buttons on each navy blue corduroy square to secure it to the batting. It was a HUGE accomplishment for me, and I dragged it across the country back to school, sleeping under it most nights in the dorm. Now, it's losing buttons periodically, but it's still on the back of the couch in our small apartment, ready for easy cuddling on cold nights.

Since then, I've experimented with bags (some of which have been dismal failures!), embroidery, counted cross-stitch and needlepoint which I learned at my grandma's side long ago, Photoshop and Illustrator (i.e. the banner at the top of my site), miniature elf shoes based on this tutorial, and many other handcrafted items. I am now fully sold on the idea of crafting rather than buying... even when I'm yelling at my hand-me-down-still-belongs-to-my-mom sewing machine or stuck on a particularly hard part of putting together a pattern.

I have works-in-progress strewn about the house, which has been driving my dear husband crazy for the last year (although he'd never admit it) and am constantly starting on a new project, regardless of if I've finished my previous ones or not. After reading craft blogs for the past year, I'm starting to think that attribute comes with the territory!

So like my last post said... here I go. I'm committing myself to this blog -- to document what I'm doing, to learn from others, to showcase my creations, and to pursue new avenues. Come along with me and we'll see where these roads take me!

Happy Fall!