i'm too crafty for my own good.

whooa. - oh yeah. it's me. and, if anyone is even following this blog anymore (which i suspect is no one), i'm sure you figured i'd fallen off the face of the earth. i've come close (not really), but, no, i actually am still here, on the face of the earth. truth be told, i've been just really, really busy. busy crafting, and busy procrastinating. i can't tell you how many photos of different projects i've taken over the past few months - okay - nearly year - with the intentions of showing off my handiwork on my blog. but have i? noo...of course not. but i had intended to, and well, that's all that matters.

since my last post months and months ago, i've discovered a new crafty thing to get in to. what is it this time? quilting. i actually took a quilting class at this quilt shop on halsted at the end of the summer, and, i've been hooked. my first quilt was a quilt for my boyfriend, to surprise him on his 30th birthday:

and, as for my second quilt, which essentially was a super-sized queen version of this quilt, done in more "girly" (think: pinks, greens, yellows) fabrics, well, that's still sitting on my ottoman. it's almost done, though, all that's left is to stitch the rows together - the worst part, in my opinion - but, i'll get around to it one of these days. you know, after i finish the baby hat that i need to make for a baby shower the 2nd week in january, and let's not forget the baby quilt that i need to start also for around that time, so i have time to send it out to get quilted.

speaking of quilting - okay, see, i thought knitting was an expensive hobby. which it is. but quilting? whoa...that's a whole different story. sure, i could use the $1.00/yard walmart fabrics, but, do i really want to? naah. that's why i spend about 10x (no exaggeration) that. and the final kick in the butt? after you spend all this money buying the fabric for the front, you then need to buy all this fabric for the back. and on top of that? it needs to be sent out to be quilted. i really can't complain, because after making the $170 quilting mistake that i did the first time, to quilt and bind my tiny little 50x60 quilt - i've researched and researched and found that sending it out is much more practical. sure, i have to box my quilt top up and get my butt to the post office, but the cost savings is more than enough to justify me being a little less lazy.

so my boyfriend told me a little something funny the other day. he said that "...the general perception of making gifts is that it's quicker and cheaper...but now i know from you, that it's not either of those." that's right, honey. i went all crazy and made my entire boyfriend's immediate family gifts this christmas - a wreath for his mother, those banded towels from amy butler's in stitches for his sister, and a knitted hat in this fabulous bulky charcoal grey donegal tweed yarn for his father. oh - and let's not forget the most impressive gift of all - the i spy quilt for his nephew! it's truly darling. i've actually got photos of all this stuff, but, since my camera ran out of batteries the other day (and with no charger to charge it with - that's another story in itself), i'll post them next time.

next time won't be a year from now, i promise.