New Year, New Stuff in the Works...

It's been a while since I posted anything...life got very busy once school started.  I've been almost completely overwhelmed with papers to grade and curriculum to develop, as well as a bunch of changes at my school that have taken some adaptation.  Add a rambunctious, immature bunch of sophomores to the mix, and well...you get my work day.  I've also had a lot of medical stuff going on with my daughter, who has been in and out of the hospital since September 7.  She's back in again, but this time, we were successful in solving the problem that we tried to fix in September!  I won't tell you how many tries we've had. 

I've had a lot of projects to work on--Christmas, and all the gifts to make, etc.  I never did finish the Fairy Princess Pumpkin House, although I did get most of the interior work done.  I lost momentum mid-October, and never recovered.  However, I think I'll easily finish it this summer.  I will have to post work-in-progress photos this summer. 

In the meantime, I got to work on a small project this evening that has given me some of that "instant gratification" feeling, and I'm in the mood to share, in spite of the fact that I need to go to bed, and I'm tired.  So...I'll keep it short!

I was browsing crazy quilting online the other day, and came across a list of quilters on Vintage Vogue's website (http://www.vintagevogue.com/).  So I explored different peoples' pages for inspiration--I love to see what other people are doing!  In my explorations, I came across another Blog:  Blossoms & Lace.  http://blossomsandlace.blogspot.com/  What intrigued me was her crazy quilted tin box--it looked to me like an Altoid tin, and the idea stuck in my head.  I use Altoid tins for needle cases and holding all kinds of little things, and this was a great idea.  So...tonight, in the solitude of the house (my husband is at the hospital with our daughter tonight), I plugged in an audiobook ("The Seduction of the Crimson Rose" by Lauren Willig) and began stitching. 

I didn't make a specific block for this project--I actually took one that I'd started before and was very unsatisfied with the corner of it I had previously worked on, so I cut off the end of one side, and thus had my patches. 

I embellished them in the early evening (I'm not happy with the way the first one turned out--too messy and cluttered), and was pleased with my second patch.  So...feeling that I wanted to put it together, I got out some fabric bits and trims, and decided to cover one of several empty tins I had floating around. 

I used Warm and Natural quilt batting as my padding--a single layer on the bottom, and several layers on top.  I used my favorite glue--Fabri-Tac--to glue the batting to the box first, then the actual fabrics.  I had to cut some ease into the curves at the corners to accommodate the bulk of the fabric (I made the block many years ago, before learning to trim while piecing), but the bottom piece was easy to squish into the glue around the corners and keep it flat.  I applied the fabric directly to the tin, gluing evenly as I went (short sides first, then long sides, then corners).  After I had all the corners down, I added trim. 

Inside, I decided I wanted a functional box, so I made a little pillow of shot silk dupioni as a pincushion on the bottom, and a single layer (fray-checked around the edges) of the same fabric on the lid.  I cut a small piece of Warm and Natural batting as my needle fabric, and glued the bottom edge of it into the tin lid.

I can't wait to show my Crazy Quilting group next Saturday! 

Until later,  keep on crafting!