Sonya Cheney

Writer. Witch. Creatrix.

#makenine2021

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I only just discovered the Make Nine hashtag at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021, but I was so inspired and intrigued by the posts popping up on my Instagram feed that I couldn’t resist doing my own round up.

Picnic Skirt by Gertie Sews // I feel like I’ve had this skirt on my to-do list forever, and now that I accidentally ended up with the perfect amount of fabric for it, I’m hoping to get to it sooner rather than later.

Calico Socks by Morgan Panich // This pattern is just so cute and cottagecore that I have to add it to my sock drawer, y’know?

Ashland Dress by Sew Liberated // Hello, farm girl dress of my dreams. I’ll almost definitely make the skirt a bit longer than in the photo, but I love the bodice shape and think it could be perfect for summertime wearing.

Red Moon Sweater by Born & Raised Knits // I’ve had this beautiful moon phase sweater in my Ravelry queue since last April, and can’t wait to find the perfect shades for my own version.

Gather Apron by Sew Liberated // This is the year we once again add chickens to our (outdoors) household, so what better way to celebrate and prepare for that than this adorable egg-collecting apron?

Oak Hollow by Diana Walla // One of the things that I fell in love with when we found our house was this oak tree in the back, and since then I’ve been obsessed with all things oak tree related (thank you, Brigid). These mitts are irresistible.

The Pippi Pinafore by Jennifer Lauren Handmade // I’ve been dying for some kind of pinafore dress for about a year now, and if I feel comfortable enough by the time I get to this one, I might try to frankenstein it into something with a little more swish to the skirt, but if not–still a cute as heck pattern to add to my wardrobe.

Folklore Cardigan by Amy Gunderson // I mean… Obviously.

Axis Tank by Sophie Hines // Confession: I have had all the pieces to this cut and ready to assemble for about four months and I just haven’t sat down to finish it. Here’s to getting it checked off the list before the end of the year.

To be fair, I’m a huge mood maker–it’s part of why I’ve been scrapbooking so much instead of most other things. I’m excited, though, to try and have a focus in my making this year, and I look forward to seeing what my Make Nine looks like at the end of 2021.

finding my footing in hybrid scrapbooking.

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Target dollar spot glitter; an old Ali Edwards journaling card; handmade mini envelopes

I love crafts. It’s a blanket statement because I tend to bounce around from one thing to another: knitting, quilting, cross stitch, and, most recently, watercolor. I love having options when it comes to expressing my creativity and personality, and sometimes I just want the challenge of something new or less frequently tried. But–I also still adore my computer.

I feel like I’ve always been a computer person. When I was in elementary school and they started putting them in classrooms, I was hooked. I had a VTech personal learning computer when I was small. And some of my closest friendships have been made using the internet. Between, oh, 2006 and–um–last September I would be online until all hours of the night, sometimes watching YouTube, sometimes chatting with friends, sometimes just frying my brain. It’s part of why I love blogging so much, and why I love playing around in Photoshop and InDesign. There’s just something about the keys clacking and the cursor moving across the screen that gives me a dopamine kick.

Last year was the first time I started a scrapbooking project with Finn’s baby book (which I still have two or three months to finish within, but let’s not focus on that right now), and since then I’ve been inundating myself with options, styles, and inspiration. I’ve joined the Awesome Ladies Project and discovered this whole new world of creativity. And now? I’m doing December Daily for the first time. I started thinking about it in September, if not even earlier, and since then I’ve been hemming and hawing over how I want to do it. Fully digital and printed into a Blurb book? Pocket pages like Finn’s baby book? For a while I was set on the idea of just getting a spiral bound mixed media pad and assembling the whole thing within that. I really thought that was going to be the winner. But then, none of these options quite seemed to fit. I loved it all but it didn’t make me as excited as the final answer seems to be doing.

an Ali Edwards 6×8 album; a watercolor wreath I painted; more mini envelopes

That answer?

Hybrid scrapbooking.

I love kits. I love ordering kits and subscribing to kits, but I also know that I don’t always use all of the elements within them. Over the last few smaller projects I’ve worked on (an Art of Noticing book for the month of September and a Halloween/horror movie book for October), I’ve realized what kit pieces I like to use physically and which I can be happy to use in digital form. I’m not a big journaling card user, for example, but I love chip boards, die cuts, and papers. I love the texture and dimension that can come with adding ephemera to a page. I’m also a huge fan of physical stamping; I enjoy a good messy stamped background. If it’s not crisp and clean, I just think that adds character.

With a digital kit, I can include (and even print, cut, and attach) the elements and ephemera I want in a layout without worrying about wasting other pieces that I just don’t love. And can we talk about the typewriter fonts that you can get when typing journaling on the computer? How did I not think of that sooner when I was doing it for years in my zines?

I know; my lack of awareness is mind blowing.

a wood veneer from Elle’s studio; a set of dollar spot gift tags from Target

To say I’ve been obsessing over my December Daily would be an understatement, but to finally realize the best way to make it work for me feels like a nerdy game changer. I am still entirely new to this craft and creative outlet, but the fact that I can use it to combine so many other things that I love–let’s circle back to that recent watercolor endeavor–is just wonderful.

What kinds of crafts do you love? Do you scrapbook? How do you prefer to do your storytelling and memory keeping?

dilettante.

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I’ve been dabbling in photography off and on for years now. It’s one of my eight million and one hobbies that I never quite seem to practice consistently, which I’m mostly okay with at this point. Maybe I should focus on just one to become exceptional, but I like dipping my toes in a little bit of everything. I don’t have the attention span to focus on one. The only time this tendency becomes an issue is when I’m writing because I can’t seem to finish a long-form project, but I try to stay optimistic about that despite my past shortcomings.

Anyway.
Photography.

I made it a point to ask for nothing but a new camera lens for my birthday in March, an auto focus 35mm. I’ve been using a manual 50mm for years now because, generally, the older manuals are more in my budget–which is why I asked for the auto as a gift. Boy, has it already made a huge difference. I’m not sure if I just have bad eye sight or what exactly, but my photos feel so much clearer and, honestly, I’m having more fun. I finally figured out how to use my camera remote and even got my tripod out of storage to start adventuring into selfie territory outside of the front facing camera of my phone. My interest in the craft has been reinvigorated, and with every sunny day that we’re blessed with, my enthusiasm grows even more.

Sometimes the pictures are mundane–the ladybugs that have claimed our new house as their own, or a lunch smoothie, or a knitting photo for my Ravelry projects page–but that’s fine. Not every photo has to be an artistic masterpiece. None of them do. To be honest, I don’t think any of them really are. Photography is another item on the list of creative activities that bring me joy through the sheer act of creating, much like knitting or scrapbooking.

The last time I fed my sourdough starter, I decided to try my hand at timelapse photography. There were some hurdles–figuring out how the setting worked on my camera and the battery dying before I was able to finish capturing the growth cycle–but it was fun just to try. I already have so much in mind for my next attempt as far as improving my skills, but I’m still excited at my own effort.

As I branch out and push myself deeper into the arts that make me happy, I find myself being inspired by the following quote:

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Samuel Beckett

(As it happens, this quote is also very on point as far as anti-racism work goes…)

Because there will always be failure, but it shouldn’t keep me–any of us–from trying something we thing seems interesting or fun. I don’t need to know everything or be perfect to practice photography or witchcraft, cooking or knitting, gardening or home decor. Theory is a good way to learn, but sometimes practice is the best–and practice includes failure.

There are few things I do anymore in an effort to make money or become some kind of professional–and even in my writing, money is far from my end game these days. Austin Kleon has written some great words (and linked to others’ great words) regarding monetizing hobbies, and I recommend reading them. I’m grateful to have started shifting my mindset to focus more on hobbies for the sake of my soul rather than my wallet. (No shade to anyone whose hobby is also a side hustle, of course.)

Even with my plans to publish two books in the next year and a half–my essay collection and YA novel–I’ll be doing it all DIY just to put them out in the world. I don’t expect much if any return on investment. I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m doing these things because I love them, pure and simple.

a quilted christmas gift.

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About a year and a half ago now I started learning how to quilt thanks to my friend Lydia, and for this past Christmas I made my third completed quilt as a gift for my friend Katie.

One thing I love about quilting is the creative opportunity that it presents. Each quilt that I’ve completed so far has started with the same general idea, the half-square triangle, and each one has turned out completely different in the end. Learning that approach alone creates so much possibility for design, and half the fun for me is in sitting down with a handful of HSTs and moving them about like a puzzle to create a design that really jumps out at me for the current project. It’s just so cool! And it’s beyond satisfying when I find something I like and stick with it.

I actually haven’t used a pattern to make any of my quilts yet, and on the one hand that is so much fun because I get to put my creative muscles to use–but I’m also looking forward to the day that I find a pattern I love (or that I think someone else will love) and trying my hand at something more than winging it. The funny thing is that I’ve been knitting for years and have never made a pattern of my own from scratch. I’ve never really had the patience or the desire for it. But with quilting, I haven’t much bothered with patterns, besides the occasional bit of browsing, because it’s an entirely different kind of satisfaction when I’m quilting without that kind of guidance or restraint.

So much of this quilt came together as I was working on it: the square patterns, the addition of the black space, the quilting pattern. I even chose the quilting thread in the middle of the project, debating between black or purple for the top. When I went to Joann Fabrics to browse thread colors, ultimately deciding I’d be choosing a purple, not only did I get a purple but I got a variegated thread with beautiful shades. It added such a cool dimension to the quilting design that I never would have thought of if I hadn’t given myself the freedom to just browse thread colors halfway through the project. (And, no surprise, I am now more than a little obsessed with variegated thread.)

I see so many more quilts in my future–I’m pretty sure we’re going to be buried under throw blankets in our next house. If at some point you no longer hear from me, just know that I went in one of the best ways possible: comfortably wrapped in an endless blanket burrito.