Oh, Good Gravy!

Mending I'm alright with, I am terrible at making do.
By now it should be fairly obvious that my family doesn't hurt for money. We're not rich by any stretch of the imagination and my husband works an extremely demanding job in order to provide us with what we do have... which is plenty. However, I really wanted to try to stop my extra spending on crap we simply don't need and I'm going to be honest with you: I'm not doing very well.
Oh, sure, I went to Fantastic Sam's and got cheap hair cuts for myself and the boys and I have always colored my own hair (which is back to auburn). I'm not thrilled with my cut. It's just not the same as when I go to Tasha and spend $50. It's not. I don't know why, but there's just something not quite right.
So there's that.
My boys had a birthday party to go to the other day and what did I do? I got the kid a present, then got one for each of my kids. FOR NO REASON! Don't get me wrong, my kids do stuff around the house for me when asked and are generally good, kind kids who follow the rules, but they didn't do anything extraordinary to earn these toys. I will say, however, that they have played with them quite a bit. At least they aren't laying in a heap of dust. Yet.
Tennis shoes. I needed new tennis shoes. I went to Famous Footwear so I could get some name brand shoes on sale instead of Target cheapies, which make my (already busted) knee really hurt. Besides, my old tennies were about a year old and I wear them nearly every day.
I went online and purchase some fleece fabric today because I got an email coupon for Hancock Fabrics and my boys want me to make them extra blankets for the camper. I got enough to make one for myself, too. I made one for my husband, why shouldn't the rest of us have extra blankets for the camper? Even though my husband and I share his. Well, okay, mine can stay at home. I picked out the fabric to go in our living room.
Isn't this pathetic? I can come up with what is to me, perfectly logical reasons to spend money. It's probably an illness. First World problems.
As I look at this now and realize that I need to stop. I honestly don't NEED anything now. I have the new shoes. I got my hair cut, however badly. My kids have a couple of new toys that they are playing with, at least. I have good music to listen to in my car, I have books to read, I have classes to attend.
This will have to be a better wake up call than my just saying I'm going to do something. I'm really more aware that I was when I left the house this morning to run errands. Besides, if I stop getting all the extra stuff, I can go back to Tasha and have my hair done RIGHT.

Ouchie!

Several years ago, I injured my left knee while in rehearsal for a show. My costume included platform boots (think Herman Munster) and when I went to do a turn, my body went, but my foot didn't. Ouchie! I was still able to go on, so I didn't go to the doctor or anything.
Yeah, I probably should have.
In the past, oh, two years or so, my knee has been reminding me that I should have done that. Now that I'm practicing shiatsu on a nearly daily basis, it's REALLY complaining. So, I finally made an appointment to see the doctor about it. I have a feeling that I may kneed surgery. (See what I did there?) I'm hoping I can put that off for a while so I can finish school, but the pain has been so bad, I don't know if that's going to be possible. Also, my knee cracks (and by "cracks" I mean THUDS) repeatedly throughout my shiatsu sessions. It's kind of embarrassing. It doesn't hurt too much while it's happening, but afterwards, holy cow!
So, there's that.
On the other hand, I'm passing my classes (even Traditional Chinese Medicine, which I don't get at all) with flying colors. I was a little worried about my shiatsu practical, which doesn't happen until next week, but we did practice runs in class yesterday and I did much better than I thought I would. I do have a few things I need to remember, but over all, I feel ready.
Artistically, I've been working on another quilt top. Very basic, simple blocks, but I started with a set of fat quarters I picked up at JoAnn's. The colors are very Autumnal; burgundy, olive, gold, purple. I ran out of the fat quarters and went to Hancock's to find something that would coordinate. Don't you know I forgot to take a swatch! I decided to go with my gut and came home with four fabrics (including a solid burgundy and purple to break up all the busy-ness) that totally coordinated! I added those to the mix and decided that I still needed a bit more for the complete quilt top so I went back to JoAnn's to see if I could find any more of the original fat quarter set. I found two tucked in the back of a shelf and grabbed them both. I also found two fabrics that will work just in case I run out of the ones I have. I've taken a break from sewing while I've been studying for the mid-term exams, but I'm ready to get back to the sewing table. I'll post pix soon.
Oh, yeah! I made enough money on www.Spoonflower.com to purchase some samples of designs that have been laying in wait to be released. They are especially colorful and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. One of the best, newer options on Spoonflower is that you can order swatches on any type of fabric they have instead of just the plain quilter's cotton. I'm so happy they have that option now. Some of my designs simply look better on some of the other fabrics. I really like their performance knit. The colors come out so vibrant! (You know how I LOVE my colors to be vibrant!)
By the way, Optitz Outlet, mentioned in my last entry, has a website, www.opitzoutlet.com, and they're on facebook.

Mission Accomplished: Part 1!

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I was going to go through all of my UFOs and try to get them done. Well, I finished one today! Huzzah! I made a pair of pajama pants. Several years ago I worked at a local Hancock Fabrics and I bought some really cute Hallowe'en flannel with little witch kitties on it. I had it sitting with its pattern and grosgrain ribbon for the drawstring for, Oh, let's go with 4 years. No. Really. FOUR YEARS.
I realized as I was laying out the pattern that I probably needed a half yard more for full-length pants, and since I didn't want flannel shorts, I decided to make them cropped pants. Clam-digger style. I'm wearing them to bed tonight. Yes, yes, I am. I know it's January. I'm still gonna wear them.

Cute Witchy-Poo Kitties with cats-eye glasses and, though it's hard to tell here, skull tags on their collars.

I'm so excited to wear these, you have know idea. It's like I've finally gotten a pony for Christmas.

I also made a skirt out of a pretty woven plaid I picked up last summer. I lined it with fabric left over from a costume I made when I lived in New York City in the 90s - fuchsia satin! I don't have a pic of the skirt yet, because I still have to put in the zip, but I'm going to take that to Sewtropolis and see if someone there can give me a hand with it. Plus I used thread from a different project that happened to go with it, and I ran out. Of course I did. But I saved the spool so I can take it along for matching.
I had enough scraps of the plaid to have a little fun. I've wanted to make little stuffed animals for a while, especially orangutans (I'm a huge orang fan). So I took a sheet of card stock (left over from a calendar packaging instert) and traced out a pattern. I also have a bunch of cotton circles cut out from when I made a Dresden Plate quilt a couple of Summers ago. I used one of those for the face and used fabric pens to color the face on. That way there aren't any buttons to come off.

I'm not entirely happy with it, but I don't hate it, either. I know how/where I'm going to change up the pattern but I figured, as long as I had some extra supplies, it wasn't going to cost anything to try.

I have this sort of fantasy where I'm making a bunch of these (or similar) for the baby orangutans in the nursery at Orangutan Outreach. I know they give stuffed animals to the babies and I hope they would like them, especially since they're typically orphaned and alone. I think it would be wonderful if there was a baby orang who wanted to hang on to one of my stuffies. Nothing would please me more! I'm currently looking for someone who might be able to help me with this dream project, so let me know if you're interested. 

So there are three, count 'em, three of my UFOs completed! I have no idea what project I'll tackle next, so stay tuned...

Assignment: Have you been going through *your* UFOs? No? I'm beating you? You aren't going to let li'l ol' me get my projects done first, are you?