Faux Chenille Blanket

Ever since we learned of my injury I have had this strong desire to make a quilt. I decided that this summer was the time to do it and, now that the summer is here and already two weeks underway, I knew that I had to get it done SOON! I was yearning to make it and just could not settle myself completely until it was underway. You can ask Jim- I was antsy with anticipation!

Well, I did not end up making a quilt with batting and the whole nine yards because much earlier this year I saw a tutorial on one of my favorite blogs, MADE, and saved it for a time when I could reteach myself how to use the sewing machine. The tutorial showed how to make a "Faux Chenille Blanket" and I simply fell in love.

Dana Willard, the author of this blog, writes directions that are so explicit that even this sewing novice feels comfortable attempting to gather the resources and set about creating! She has many incredible tutorials and her three children are super cute models. Her blog is also where I found the Chevron baby blanket I made earlier this year.

Anyway, on Sunday I went to Joann Fabrics and chose my fabrics. I'm crazy about batik and so I went with that for the back fabric and then pulled the other three colors out of the pattern.

Then I set up my grandpa's drawing table for the project ahead and I sewed line after line after...uh.... line....

If you look very closely, you can see the twist-tie I rigged to help me sew my lines 1/2 inch apart. That was a project-saver!

 Listening to some good music helped the somewhat tedious steps go by :)

And then I snipped and snipped...

 Leif was a great project buddy. He barely left my side and NEVER got in the way.

 After cutting the corners into rounded edges, I added the satin border.

 This is what it looked like before heading into the washing machine:

And this is what it looked like when it came out of the dryer! They say that the frayed edges just get better and better with each washing.

 Next time I will try to make my lines closer together- you live and learn!

 It's about 45" x 45"- a fairly good size.

 I couldn't walk back inside without snapping a shot of this beautiful lily!

We hadn't planned on putting this blanket on the couch, but we both think it brightens up the room. Little did I know that the pillows I sewed last summer would actually match this blanket. Let's just pretend I had that in the plan all along, shall we? I'd prefer that over the fact that I am stuck in an interior design rut :)

What a fun project this was! It definitely satisfied my desperately yearning crafty side (for now!). Perhaps next time I won't have to teach myself how to thread a bobbin all over again and one day I WILL make a quilt ;)

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I've been on three slow hikes with lots of breaks in the past three days! Woohoo! Life is good.

The Woodsman

This week we received a HUGE and unexpected gift. A gift that Jim appreciated much more than I ever could. A gift that served as a leisure and study break, as well as a source of warmth in days to come, and an opportunity to buy new toys tools.

Yes, this week our landlord decided to take down a massive oak tree right next to our house. And, when asked, allowed us to take the fallen wood for ourselves, as long as we split it ourselves.

I came home to my husband grinning from ear to ear. He brought me outside like it was Christmas morning and showed me his new ax and his new splitter. Mind you, this medical student was in the middle of two weeks of finals, but this did not stop his drive to chop all of the wood. (It helped that another neighbor was vying for the same load of wood, too ;)

You wouldn't believe how many pictures I tried to snap of this man cutting wood. He never stopped moving, they're all blurry, and none of them catch the childish grin pasted on his face.

One day he came inside and said, "I don't know if I'll be able to move my hands in the OMM (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine) practical tomorrow." He yearns for hard labor and exercise and opportunities to use his tools to complete a necessary task. Never seeking to something impractical or to spend extraneous money, he is known to go to some extremes. Nothing would stop him from enjoying the cutting of this wood and splitting of kindling. And, let it be known, his practical went without a flaw.

Another extreme has to do with his search for wooden pallets. This summer we went to the school board office so that I could sign my contract and Jim waited in the car while I went inside. When I got back in the car there was a pallet of wood from a parking lot across the street. He used this to make us a beautiful three-drawer dresser for the bathroom. I say beautiful, yes. That's definitely how I would describe this pallet wood furniture because he sanded it and chose pieces with a beautiful orange and blue tint. A new and prized furniture item in our house.

But most of the time he gets his pallets from the dumpster in a parking lot of a company on his bike ride home from school. It's free and it assists him in his passion for woodworking on a low budget!

This man is also finishing a dog house for our dogs. The house is made out of MANY things and all of them haven't cost us a cent. Well, all except the $6.00 straw bale I picked up from Southern States. It's made of straw, sawdust (from my school's wood shop), wooden pallets, cardboard (many, many of our old cereal boxes, shoe boxes, and whatnot), wine bottles, dirt, and mud.

To go with the theme of this week we attended the Highlander Festival in Radford, VA yesterday morning. It was a true treat to walk around the Scottish, Irish, and Celtic craft booths, hear the bagpipes, and watch the athletes in kilts compete in throwing a 17 pound rock the largest distance. Back to Jim's Scottish roots and back to his love for hard, rough tasks.

All while completing two weeks of finals. He knows how to balance. Never ceases to amaze me.