Week 6: Buying Fabric

This past week I ventured out to the Walmart Super-center. My mother came along with me to buy other groceries such as clothes hangers and cat food to keep the Muri homestead thriving. The top of my grocery list was getting materials for my project.

Picking the right fabric that fit me was easy. There was not much variety in the fabrics I planned to make my blanket from, but that did not matter to me because the fabric I chose looked sleek and was very soft for an unbeatable price. My original plan was to travel to Billings or to the amazing fabric store in Glendive to get my materials, but I wanted to make a ginormous blanket and did not want to plunge myself into debt for top line fabric. In this case I picked quantity over quality. Although, I am pleased with my choice. Prices can run up when you are purchasing five yards of fabric.

I will not be posting pictures of my fabric so I can keep it somewhat of a surprise to my peers. I have enjoyed my time so far, and even the blogs are growing on me. Kaden said earlier that he needed a button fixed on a pair of a pants, and possibly he would let me sew it back on so I could keep practicing. These weeks leading up to Christmas could very well be a struggle, but I am very eager to begin.

Week Five

My dearest friends, the time has finally arrived upon us. Phase One of my project is complete. It is now time to initiate Phase Two, that being the blanket. Phase One of my project was just covering the basics of sewing. That ranges from sewing a button on to learning the pattern of sewing. I believe I can do the simple tasks of sewing efficiently, which gives me confidence going into the making of my blanket.

The calm before the storm is referred to a period of unusual tranquility or stability that seems likely to presage difficult times according to an online idiom dictionary. "The calm before the storm" sums up the past couple weeks to a T. The longer period for this stage of my genius hour would have been perfect to start the blanket, but it did not fit my plan I created at the beginning of this venture. Instead, I used this time to watch videos and research how to make a blanket from two pieces of fabric. 

My mom hails from a family somewhat notorious for sewing. Sounds goofy, but it is true. Most of the family lives in Three Forks, Montana. This is where my mother lived the first twenty years of her life. The population of Three Forks is about 2,000 people, so everyone is familiar with each other. My Aunt Tanya is amazing when it comes to a needle and a thread, so much in fact that when people in Three Forks need something fixed or made, they turn to her. She's even in a quilting club that meets once a week, so you could say she is pretty invested.  All of this background knowledge may seem pointless, but it shows my resources available for the material I am covering. Having my family as a resource for this project is extremely helpful as I do not have to get every piece of information from videos and articles. This makes learning the subject so much easier and I am very thankful. If I ever get stuck in a rut while making this blanket, I know exactly who to turn to :). 

Week 4 Sewing A Button Myself

Greetings, fellow bloggers. I have finally tackled the task of sewing a button on by myself. It was fairly easy to do once I got the hang of things, although I did have my struggles. It sounds silly, but I had trouble threading the needle. It was a small problem, but I could not seem to be able to get it the first couple attempts.


My second struggle of three was messing up on threading through the wrong button hole. It only happened a few times, but it still was a mini battle that I eventually conquered. Failing during this project has just made it more enjoyable for me oddly enough. The feeling of completing these sewing projects will be so much sweeter knowing how much I have improved in an area I knew nothing about.

My final hiccup was tying the knot. No, not marrying but actually tying the knot on the button after the cross pattern was formed. Sewing a button may not excite the normal crowd, but it does excite me. I am inching closer and closer to starting on the final phase of my project, and I'm very excited to begin.