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December craft ,sewing, knitting, everything creative thread

Melissa in Australia

By Melissa in Australia,
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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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I am in the midst of making simple scarves for all the adult kids, including the honorary adult ones we have accumulated. These are just long, flannel scarves, nothing special, that go in their stockings. I made matching one for each set of couples.

In this photo, book themed for C and our daughter in law. And the freshly cut flannel for P who wanted something that represented all the critters he took care of as a farmhand in his teen years. Also featured is the fabric I am just about to cut for camping boy, A. 

This afternoon I need to cut the magic/fantasy themed purple flannel for R and M, and R and A. Those two couples have some of the same passion, DnD, Harry Potter, Magic. Then the green snowflake flannel for C and E, followed by dog print fabric for A and T. When I get that done, I still have a simple, lap quilt to finish.

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TechWife

TechWife

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I made eleven 10 inch 3D snowflakes to hang in the sunroom and one 20 inch for the mantle in the same room. 

I’ll probably do some fancy gift wrapping whenever I get around to buying gifts.

I also made five ornaments for a dining room table centerpiece. I held my breath and used acrylic glitter pain inside two of them. It worked out okay - the mess was minimal as far as glitter goes. I may be slowly accepting a small amount of glitter into my life. Or not. 

Please excuse the candle that won’t come on. It has a battery stuck in it. 

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wisdomandtreasures

wisdomandtreasures

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My hands gave out after the knitting marathon from September to November (in that time I knit 6 hats, finished the last 3/4 of a baby sweater, knit 3 more sweaters, and started a sweater for my mom 3 times but gave up because I kept messing up, and am about 1/3 finished with another sweater for my 9yo). So no knitting for me for a while. 😬 

The hall closet doors were always left open and being crashed into so my husband took them down and I am making curtains for them. I made one and hung it but need to fix it. It's too short and too wide so it sags. I'll rotate it 90° and fold over the top so it's a pocket curtain.

Speaking of the hall closets... One used to house all our homeschool supplies (each kid had a basket with their books, notebooks, pencils, etc). Over summer my husband and sons turned the garage into a homeschool room so the closet was mostly empty. I just cleaned it out, painted it, added a swivelly stool so my back doesn't knot up (it spins like a normal stool but I can also do the Spongebob "Bring it around town!" move on it 😄 edit: Here's  a video of it) and turned it into a little art nook. You can see the curtain on the side. 🙂

 

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Edited by wisdomandtreasures
My math was off
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pinball

pinball

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1 hour ago, wisdomandtreasures said:

I want to know how many times you said it and what led up to being able to use it. 😄😄😄

I said it a lot.

”Where is my swivelly stool?”

”Did someone move my swivlley stool?”

”What do you mean, ‘You don’t own a swivelly stool!’?”

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Melissa in Australia

Melissa in Australia

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Last month I decided to make patchwork quilts for my sister's children. She has 10. I am hoping to get them all finished by the end of this month. I am doing simple patchwork. Things like  Chinese Coin,   scrapy strip, and Nine Patch patterns  Her children are a bit on the rough side, I mean rough on belongings. I have so far 5 completed 3 tops pieced and one at piecing block stage

Edited by Melissa in Australia
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Melissa in Australia

Melissa in Australia

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Has anyone here put binding on a double wedding ring quilt ? specifically how to do the part where the 2 circles met.

I understand the theory of how to do it.and have read up on it but thought someone might have some advice  from experience. I think I  will be hand sewing it on . All tips most welcome

 Thank you

Edited by Melissa in Australia
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Malory

Malory

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On 12/2/2023 at 5:59 PM, Melissa in Australia said:

What are you working in this month?

So happy to see your cute creations! I wish I were not so intimidated by my sewing machine. Anyway, you seem to have come a long way since those terrible days in the hospital. I hope your health is back to a great place. 

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Melissa in Australia

Melissa in Australia

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52 minutes ago, Malory said:

So happy to see your cute creations! I wish I were not so intimidated by my sewing machine. Anyway, you seem to have come a long way since those terrible days in the hospital. I hope your health is back to a great place. 

Don't be intimidated by your machine. The more you use it the more confidence you will feel.

I do just about all my sewing on an old treadle. Just about everything with just straight stitching. I pink the seams on clothing

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Emba

Emba

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18 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Has anyone here put binding on a double wedding ring quilt ? specifically how to do the part where the 2 circles met.

I understand the theory of how to do it.and have read up on it but thought someone might have some advice  from experience. I think I  will be hand sewing it on . All tips most welcome

 Thank you

I have done it long ago, but only on a table topper that was just two rings and I can’t remember anything about how it went, sorry.

 But I’m so excited to hear you are finishing the double wedding ring quilt, that is a bucket list quilt for me!

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Emba

Emba

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0F614F6E-D832-49EE-8F18-7D83EBE7112C.thumb.jpeg.81974037c61e4c7d776b511b9ac820ec.jpegA5E3A261-0219-4866-8863-DA90C9BF7CA4.thumb.jpeg.72f468d273d276937299b621b4003201.jpeg

These are my latest projects. The microwave bowl cozies are 3 of 8 I intend to finish for Christmas gifts.

 The quilt blocks are for my youngest DS’s quilt, which I really need to get in gear on if I’m going to finish it anywhere near his birthday.  

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Jane in NC

Jane in NC

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Let me preface this by saying the color is so off in my photo!  The fabric is a linen/cotton blend (Essex by Robert Kaufman) in "pickle"--not the mint shade that my camera phone wants it to be. The pattern is the Studio Tunic by Sew Liberated. Deep pockets for the art teacher in the family.

Studio tunic.jpg

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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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1 hour ago, Jane in NC said:

Let me preface this by saying the color is so off in my photo!  The fabric is a linen/cotton blend (Essex by Robert Kaufman) in "pickle"--not the mint shade that my camera phone wants it to be. The pattern is the Studio Tunic by Sew Liberated. Deep pockets for the art teacher in the family.

Studio tunic.jpg

That is great!

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Miss Tick

Miss Tick

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This is not a traditional craft, but I want to share with other creative people! This summer we bought a plug-in hybrid car. There is a big, awkward cord that plugs into the wall outlet. In our 1½ car midcentury garage the port on the car ends up in the middle of the garage when the car is parked. So, this week I put together this configuration using the outlet that the garage door opener is plugged into on the ceiling. I love it!

The extra length of cord is coiled against the ceiling, the yellow object is a spring retractor - which is a pulley that can be balanced for the weight of the object it supports, and the blue plug hangs just above dh's head, so he doesn't whack into it.

 

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Edited by Miss Tick
explanation for the picture
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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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4 hours ago, Miss Tick said:

This is not a traditional craft, but I want to share with other creative people! This summer we bought a plug-in hybrid car. There is a big, awkward cord that plugs into the wall outlet. In our 1½ car midcentury garage the port on the car ends up in the middle of the garage when the car is parked. So, this week I put together this configuration using the outlet that the garage door opener is plugged into on the ceiling. I love it!

The extra length of cord is coiled against the ceiling, the yellow object is a spring retractor - which is a pulley that can be balanced for the weight of the object it supports, and the blue plug hangs just above dh's head, so he doesn't whack into it.

 

PXL_20231213_201358303.jpg

Great solution!

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Lady Florida.

Lady Florida.

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I'm enjoying seeing the creative work you're all doing. We've had a busy month so there hasn't been much crafting here. I did make wedge shaped reversible Christmas placemats for our round table. I plan to make a round piece for the center. Even though it's late in the season at least I'll have the whole set ready for next year.

 

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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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6 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

I'm enjoying seeing the creative work you're all doing. We've had a busy month so there hasn't been much crafting here. I did make wedge shaped reversible Christmas placemats for our round table. I plan to make a round piece for the center. Even though it's late in the season at least I'll have the whole set ready for next year.

 

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Beautiful!

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Hannah

Hannah

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On 12/18/2023 at 5:44 AM, Melissa in Australia said:

I have done it, finished the Double wedding ring quilt. I pieced it 20 years ago when pregnant with my youngest. Then put it aside and forgot about it. Early October I joined the circles and started hand quilting. Today I completed the binding.

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Absolutely stunning Melissa!

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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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This isn't crafty per se, but I am going to vent here about it since it is kind of close.

I decorated wide mouth canning jars for Christmas, ribbon/bows, cinnamon sticks, that kind of thing. Then I started making gourmet  hot cocoa mix for all the adult kids and honorary kids. I got a half gallon (two quarts) mixed up and realized that I had switched around the glass containers of French milk solids and corn starch. The recipe is a ratio of 1.5 cups French milk solids to 2 tbsp of corn starch only because of the switch, I had the reverse!!! On top of that, I had it all mixed before I realized it. There is no way to separate it. The cocoa is Navitas, not cheap! None od this is usable as a gift. It will probably make cocoa cement in a cup. Sigh.

French milk solids are not cheap either.

Now I have to go to the specialty bulk food store and buy more French Milk solids. I thought I would have this done today. Each kid is getting a quart jar of dried apples, a quart jar of cocoa mix, a flannel scarf (I posted some of the prints above), and a wooden ornament that Mark has been making on his laser. The two newly married couples are getting customized 1st Christmas ornaments, one son is getting a cool DnD character, one is getting "Make Pluto Great Again" with image of pluto, and the two authors are getting these old fashioned typewriters that have a page coming out that says, "I write, therefore I am."

I was going to take pictures of it all before I made up the gift bags. Now I am on hold. The store closes at 4 pm EST, and it is 3:37 so I cannot get the French Milk solids today.

Sigh.

I need someone to come examine my brain. I should have noticed that the French milk solids are somewhat yellow compared to the cornstarch right away. Nope. Didn't even register.

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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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4 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

10 quilts for my sister's children, plus one for her.

I feel quilted out now

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You are the quilting queen! I did 9 quilts from Nov. 4 - Dec. 17 last year for Christmas gifts. I felt completely done with quilting, and haven't made a quilt since. Not even my Halloween quilt that I truly wanted to get done. Couldn't make myself get started. But, I do feel the hankering again, so might tackle something after the first of the year.

Right now I am tired of my kitchen, and I face a big cooking weekend upcoming. I wish I could get away with a year of no cooking/baking afterward! But I don't think that is going to work out so well.

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kbutton

kbutton

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2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

The recipe is a ratio of 1.5 cups French milk solids to 2 tbsp of corn starch only because of the switch, I had the reverse!!! On top of that, I had it all mixed before I realized it.

Oh, no! That’s frustrating!

I don’t know much about your specific ingredients, but there are some good pudding recipes made with cocoa and cornstarch rather than eggs if that would help you salvage some. I’ve never made pudding with powdered milk, but it would work well, I think.

Anyway, you might be intending to just buy enough to get the ratios right and just have extra, but if you have to toss the batch, I thought maybe the pudding idea might be close enough to try some time on a less hectic day. 

 

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Mona

Mona

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On 12/17/2023 at 10:44 PM, Melissa in Australia said:

I have done it, finished the Double wedding ring quilt. I pieced it 20 years ago when pregnant with my youngest. Then put it aside and forgot about it. Early October I joined the circles and started hand quilting. Today I completed the binding.

17028709876203696394159458528257.jpg

This is beautiful! I’ve always wanted to try making a double wedding ring quilt. I have a pattern and all the fabrics purchased years ago and that’s as far as I got. I’m in awe. 

Edited by Mona
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