Wednesday, January 10, 2018

minor correction for Swan a-Swimming pattern and maybe I should just use a pipe cleaner anyway...

Hello, guys!
You are all awesome, have I mentioned that lately? Well, you are. Vigilant mmmaker Judi (thank you, Judi!) brought a mistake to my attention in the Swan a-Swimming pattern. If you haven't already noticed it, grab a marker and make a note on your patterns:

On step 31 it should read as follows:

Trace this water outline twice on heavyweight fusible interfacing (glue side up), then once (glue side down). Cut them out.



So the mistake was that I had the 'glue side up' and 'glue side down' switched. What you want to end up with is two layers of interfacing on the wrong side of the WATER BACKING and one on the wrong side of the WATER FRONT. Not a huge deal even if you make it with this switched, but it does end up making you feel like you went wrong somewhere. Sorry, Judi! If you've been cheating like I sometimes do by just gluing the interfacing in place instead of ironing it on, you may not have even noticed.

However, I'm re-thinking the whole interfacing thing for this step anyway. The more I store my Swans, the more I realize the water tends to curl on the ends and not stay level. (Do yours do this too?) So I'm thinking a pipe cleaner shaped and glued lightly to the wrong side of the water backing might work better than the 3 layers of interfacing. Feel free to do that instead!


Monday, January 8, 2018

sneak peek of bonus ornament for Lord a-Leaping


On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

True Love is the focus of the last and final bonus ornament, and is really the theme of the whole song, isn't it? This heart design will come included with the Lord a-Leaping ornament, the grand finale of my Twelve Days ornament pattern series. (There is a bonus ornament also included with the first and sixth patterns.) 

The two ornaments you see above are prototypes, but the smaller one will be the final design. I was trying to get the sizing right and Mr On The Left is a bit too large. Mr On The Right is, well...Mr Right. 

It occurs to me that this bonus ornament would make a lovely Valentine as well. Strung in a series as a garland? That would pretty, even without the embroidery. Still tweaking Mr Leaping and he's getting very close. This last pattern should be done and dusted sometime this month for you. I'm so excited about that, and very happy that I took the time to get him just the way I want him. 

Monday, January 1, 2018

happy new year, best nine, Kazakhstan, and a Lord a-Leaping sneak peek


#2017bestnine from my IG feed. The website automatically picks the nine Instagram images that got the most likes and puts them together in this handy graphic, so it looks like the Twelve Days ornament series was a clean sweep. This best nine is in place of my usual year in review blog post. I just realized I didn't do one of those for 2016 either. Oops.

2017 was not a banner year for mmmcrafts blogging, with the remodel/move/remodel/sell that took up most of my spring and summer. Only 27 blog posts this year! A record low. I admit that Instagram has also taken some of my focus off of this blog. It's just so easy to post there from my phone. However, this blog remains by far the best venue for multi-photo informational and resource posts, so I have no intention of giving it up!

Thanks for all the encouragement and support and purchases and likes and comments on all my channels! It really keeps me going. And while I didn't make my goal of releasing the last pattern in 2017 (#goalfail),  I'm getting close. Speakin' of which...


...here's a sneak peek of the nether parts of Lord a-Leaping with his coattails a flyin'. Ignore sloppy sewing, mismatched thread, and my wrinkly ET hands. *sigh* I'm sure a palm reader could go to town on me. Anyway, I'm loving Mr L-a-L so far. Still tweaking his proportions and thinking through the build for you guys. Next step: add pretty embroidery.


And after being only a few states away for a couple short years after she came home from Brazil, my bosom friend Robyn (recipient of the originals of the Twelve Days series and Very Patient Person as she waits for the last ones) is off again on another world adventure to Asia. I'm loving this pretty and heart-tugging dish she sent me, and I'm hoping she and her lovely family are settling in well in KZ. 

Many hugs to you and yours across the ocean and the mountains and the seas, Bob!