craft fairs, Christmas, quilts, and more.

Just because I let the blog go for a little while, doesn't mean by any extreme that I haven't been crafting! I did a few odds and ends things through the summer, and finished my first ever clothing item, which was an exciting feat. I have to say, Chic & Simple Sewing: Skirts, Dresses, Tops, and Jackets for the Modern Seamstress (which that skirt is made from) has to be one of my new favorite books. There are so many patterns for clothing that I would easily pick up in the store this weekend and wear until it's completely worn out! Now I just need the talent to make all of those clothes :)


October brought the idea of participating in my first craft fair, which led to many late nights of making various patchwork coasters and reversible table runners! It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun, and by the time I finished that weekend, I had agreed to participate in the annual craft fair held at my work as well, which was actually far more successful than my first!

December brought Christmas, which, as I'm sure a lot of you know, means making presents and figuring out what particular presents and fabrics fit which particular people. Fun none-the-less, but a little stressful :) After all, I'm still in the process of working on two different stitcheries that were intended for last Christmas. One of these days they'll get done! ;)

As a result of the Christmas projects and finishing up coaster sets, I have leftover Christmas fabric, which has inspired me to make a Christmas quilt. I'm still debating between a few styles, but I'm excited about the prospects!

In any case, I just wanted to check in and make sure you guys knew that I hadn't completely deserted you! I'm still here, and still crafting as much as ever. Hopefully I'll find the time to be posting here more frequently as well. You're more than welcome to keep me accountable :)

On one closing note, I'm looking to find a book that can act as my "mentor" for sewing questions when I don't have a physical person to turn to. While a book could never replace a real live person, it's a good resource to have around the house as well! So I've found these two books:

Complete Photo Guide to Sewing - Revised + Expanded Edition: 1200 Full-Color How-To Photos (Singer)

New Complete Guide to Sewing (Readers Digest)

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery? If I'm going to spend the money on a book like this, I really want to be sure that I've found the right one, and unfortunately, our library system is closed for a few weeks due to funds, so I don't have anywhere to check these books out in the meantime, since neither of them are at the local bookstores right now. In any case, I'd rather have real-live advice from you guys out there than the few (very contradictory) customer reviews on Amazon. So I'd appreciate any input you can give! Or... if you have another book that seems like a better fit, recommend away :)

Thanks, friends. Hope to hear from you soon... and I hope that I haven't lost all of you faithful readers during my hiatus from the blog. :) Catch you all later.

-Mary

p.s. props to my dad who took the new photo in my banner :) i get my photography skills from him ;)