i think i found my chi

so after a pretty productive day, i wanted to take a crack at my sewing machine again.  i was ready for war, basically.  "tonight", i thought, "i WILL sew."  well, i was still having the same problem as the night before.  i was on the verge of tears.  hubs suggested that maybe i should buy a better machine--i got this one as a referb from overstock.com.  i quickly reminded him that a new machine would cost too much, and we just don't have the extra cash flow.  still almost in tears, i rolled my chair back over to my menacing machine.  this time, as i started sewing, i just gave the thread a little tug in the back..."holy crap, that worked?!?!" flew out of my mouth, and once again i was in my happy place. 

i've been a crafter for as long as i can remember, but nothing really holds my attention.  at one point i was crocheting--like the rest of my family--and all i could manage to turn out were some blankets for the kids.  meanwhile, my aunt and sissy could crank out these masterpieces that i could never dream of doing!  and my mom likes to make blankets for the kids, its kinda her thing.  so i moved on to knitting.  while i got the hang of it, it didn't seem to flow how i thought it should.  i'm just going to blame that on my sausage fingers though ;o) 

after i had the kids, my dream was to make them each a quilt out of old baby clothes and blankets.  well, i needed to learn to sew if i was ever going to do that.  just before christmas, i decided to bite it and i bought the machine with all the fixins!  i was hoping that it wouldn't be like other crafting kicks that i get on.  i buy up all the supplies, make a few, then completely lose interest(ie:scrabble tile pendants, beaded jewlery, scrapbooking--you get the idea)  since i have started, i've completely fallen in love.  i now describe myself as a "fabric whore".  i just can't stop looking @ fabric!!  i sit on etsy while david naps, and just scroll through the beautiful yards of colors and patterns. 

i think i was so upset the other night at the thought of not sewing!  it took me all this time to figure out what i love, and now i was going to have to give it up because of my stupid referb and lack of pocket change. 

after a big sigh of relief, i went on to finish the kids' tote bags(which will be birthday gifts).  i started these things a while ago, and was getting so aggrivated because i couldn't finish them.  first it took me three walmarts and a michaels to find interfacing(i refused to pay for shipping to by it online!), then i couldn't find magnetic snaps-so i scrapped the idea all together, then there was the whole "incedent" a couple of nights ago.  i was starting to imagine more crap that i wasn't using just sitting in the house!  after my "ah ha" moment last night, i zipped through the second tote bag, and got them finished.  it felt so good!

i used this tutorial from the moda bake shop.

i left off the crayon slots-the kids would NEVER use them, so really, what's the point?!

ok, moral of the story?  it may take a few tries(and supplies, and time, and money...) to figure out what you really love...but its so worth it in the end.