Little Patchwork Bags

Here is what I’ve done with the pieced fabric squares – made little drawstring bags!

I have about 4 completely sewn up and about 10 more in various stages of production. I’m going to be in a craft show in town in late November that benefits the local nursing home. (A portion of the sales goes to help fund their fieldtrips and such). Sooo, what do you think? They are lined in a cream fabric. I tell you, this is also a really good practice exercise in piecing squares. Getting all those little squares to match up has been a challenge. Makes me wish I’d been a little bit more careful when cutting the fabric!

Here’s a couple more -

Have a good weekend!

Random Patchwork

Well, I’ve recovered from all the excitement over the weekend. Don’t you love leftovers?!! Last night we enjoyed some leftover pork tenderloin and cake that was delicious and made to order by our friend Rocky. I sneaked the last little plut of potato salad from the huge bowl that my mom brought. Grant ate the rest of the beans my mom brought especially because he requested them. Shanna’s oriental salad topped it off. Yummmm!! Now I have to cook. The leftovers are gone. Supper is such a pain. My idea of a perfect supper is a bagel and cream cheese with a little something on the side. My family’s idea of a perfect supper is meat, veggies, and a side dish. Cooking isn’t really the problem. Trying to think of what to cook is the problem.

Anyways, remember this post? When I cut up all the fabric squares? Well, I’m using them. Not how you might think though – here is a peak -

I’m trying to piece them together randomly. Again, random is hard for me!! I keep wanting to match things and have a pattern. Well, hope to have something finished soon. Happy crafting!!

Thank You!

Yesterday was the big day! Abby has been going to confirmation classes at our church for the past three years to be able to be confirmed.  Abby was confirmed – confirmation to us is an affirmation of baptism. It is also now a public affirmation of your faith in God. I am so glad I didn’t have to stand up in front of the church when I was being confirmed, and give a speech like the young people today have to. I would have died on the spot. But the young people today have been prepared very well and even though you could tell some of them were very scared – they all did a beautiful job.

Now, as most of you know Abby is special. Abby has special needs. Abby cannot talk. At. All. Abby will be a young person for her whole life. Abby is a light into my heart. My feelings for Abby run so deep that I rarely let them come all the way to the surface because I get swept away. Well, that happened yesterday. Pastor Paul asked the confirmands to come up, one family at a time. We were sitting in the front and got up and stood in the isle to wait our turn. I turned around to make sure our families were coming with us and I saw everyone coming up and I lost it. This huge group of people was making it’s way to the front of the church - my sisters, my brother, my parents, Grant’s mom, my sisters-in-law, my grandparents, and more… just everyone… I thought “All these people are here to show their love for Abby – she’ll never be alone”. Special. Abby. Sweet. Abby. Pure. Innocent. Abby. My feelings came all the way to the surface and I started shaking like a leaf and I started to cry. Apparently I started a chain reaction. We are an emotional family. I tried as best as I could to contain it but sometimes all that love spills over. I remember putting my hand on Abby along with a lot of other hands, and the people who couldn’t reach her put their hand on the person in front of them and we blessed Abby. I felt that love of God and family come through me to Abby. It was amazing.

Then we had an open house at our home. My wonderful friend, Julie, had stayed behind to get everything ready so I could just come home and visit with the family. My wonderful friend, Carmen, stayed to help me clean up. My wonderful friend, Mona, made some amazing food to share… It was a great day. I am surrounded by awesome people. Who love Abby too. Everyone came together to celebrate Abby. Geez – excuse me while I go get a tissue - and God Bless all of you. Thank you.

Side note: Our confirmation program is such a wonderful program. Our kids are influenced by so many things in the world today that it is sometimes hard to get our point of view across to them – we have to be heard through the noise of computers, friends, MTV... Well, confirmation helps tremendously. It is a couple hours a few times a month and they learn about God, our doctrines, and being a good person. They are not going to forget it. They will carry, if not the exact lessons learned, the feelings of church for the rest of their lives. Ach – it is hard to explain.

Making it work. . .

When I took this photo of the refurbished bird on top of the fridge I realized the top of my fridge looked just a little sad…

I didn’t show you the entire top of the fridge cause I had painted a terra cotta pot and it didn’t turn out. Not everything turns out, and I just hadn’t gotten around to fixing it. ha ha! Well, since fall is here and I will be having a lot of company this weekend I grabbed some burlap from my stash and wrapped the pot up. Then I gathered a couple other plants from the kitchen that, sadly, were still in their original plastic pots and wrapped them up too! I tied the fabric on by wrapping some jute around the tops – take a look -

Just remember to put a large bowl on the bottom of the pot to catch any water that might run through! Oh – do you like the Halloween paper cutouts? You can find the templates here! I made these last year and had them stuck in our jack-o-lanterns.

Curtains!

I made my daughter some lined curtains the other day. These curtains were a labor of love and a blessing/curse kind of a project. However, I really like how they turned out – look -

Here’s how it started out. . . I had the lovely patterned fabric in my stash. . . but not enough for the entire curtain. . . so I decided to use a repurposed sheet for the bulk of the curtains. . . (that’s the solid light blue – looks white – but is light blue). . . sewed the bottom panels on. . . held it up and realized there were HOLES in the sheet!!!. . . decided to appliqué some butterflies over the holes. . . decided to add rickrack to the butterflies (not the most fun to work with but by the time I was done I’d now consider myself a pro!). . . realized there were more pin holes. . . put the polka dots over those. . . all told after starting, feeding the kids lunch and supper, cleaning up, thinking about how to cover the holes, designing the butterflies, etc. . . it took 10 hours! BUT, if there wouldn’t have been holes in the sheets the butterflies wouldn’t have happened. I think it is really cute with the butterflies -

I did want to embroider antenna on the butterflies but frankly – by that time I was done. Can always do it later. . .

Happy Crafting!!!

What I do with my bits and pieces. . .

I’ve been making lots of different things lately. Can’t wait to show you – in time. (Can’t spoil Christmas surprises!) Anyways, there is always some scrap of a supply left over that I just can’t get rid of. Or even – the templates for the mice that I cut out? Well what do you do with the pattern? I just can’t throw it away! I might want to make another! Well, I've been making some of these – picture and directions via Leo on the loose – Thank you!

I haven’t actually used her templates or anything – mostly I’m just using the idea! Frankly, mine don’t have to be cute. And they aren’t. I just cut some little folders to fit a shoebox and then I organize my heart out! It is a great way to use up that cardstock you bought and now wonder why – cause it’s ugly and nothing you’d really ever use! ha ha! You can validate your bad purchase with these! heh heh!! But, if I do need cute ones – these are the ones I’m printing out!!!

Have a good weekend and happy crafting!!!

Art. . . ?

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This just tickled my funny bone! Couldn’t tell you why – but it makes me giggle.

Before and After

Another website I like to browse is Design Sponge.  I especially like to see the befores and afters. Go look! Ever wonder what your paneling could/would look like painted? Well you’ll see it there. It’s just another reminder that what is perceived as “junk” or “out of date” can be completely transformed. Here’s an example -

and. . .

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Isn’t that amazing! I get inspired every time I look.  So what is going on around my house? Well. . . I sewed curtains for my daughter’s room. It only took me 10 hours. Really. Long. Story. I’ll tell it when I get my camera back and can take some pictures. Next week. Then I decided to just “whip up” a bag with the scraps. Another. Really. Long. Story. That involved swearing and seam ripping. I’ve played with my felt and made just a little something. Really little. I’m going to tackle another curtain tomorrow or the next day. I’m a little scared. But, you gotta get back on that horse right? Or, in this case, get back in front of that sewing machine. Well, have a good day and happy crafting!

This is supposed to inspire. . .

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Holy Smokes!! This is so beautiful!! If you’d like to read about the journey Jeffery Rudell took to get to this paper magic just read here. I would so love to make a paper chandelier – but this is a bit beyond me. I will be looking for a simpler version – I’m anxiously waiting to see what A Little Hut will come up with!

Don’t blow things out of proportion. . .

I have found a website that really tickles me. Check out Bits & Pieces, that is where this cartoon came from. Fall usually doesn’t bring out the best in me although it is my favorite season. Although when spring is here you’ll hear me saying that spring is my favorite season! ha ha We usually just have so much going on in the fall – school really gets going and the homework gets harder. Thanksgiving. Christmas. The sun seems to be hiding almost every day. I want the house to be clean for Abby’s confirmation. I have so many projects that I want to do – and keep getting hung up on the projects that I have to do, by putting them off. . . and not getting much done at all. Anyways, time for an attitude adjustment! I think that a little humor helps and this website fits the bill!! I won’t have my camera for the week so I’ll share with you bits and pieces of Bits & Pieces and other random stuff that might tickle you or inspire you.

How a sewing machine works -

This has been floating around the web for quite a while – finally figured out how to get it to the blog – it could put me into a trance if I look at it long enough. Isn’t it FASCINATING!

Halloween Decorating On A Budget

All of these are made from paper cuttings. . .

I got one of the mouse templates here, and I really can’t remember where it came from? Maybe One Pretty Thing? Anyways, aren’t they cute! The other mice templates came from Martha Stewart’s website – she has so many good templates free to download. The witch came from somewhere? If anyone recognizes it let me know – I like to give credit where credit is due.

Bird rescue

I got this bird at a garage sale for pennies. It had been broken and glued back together badly. But – I really liked the “lines” of the bird -

See it’s poor little legs? I sanded down the one on the right until it was smooth to the touch. No ridges.

Then I painted it -

And put it on top of the fridge – love the bird!

Fever induced sewing frenzy

I haven’t been feeling very well. I swear I’ve had a fever cause I’m running hot and cold. And I’m not sure what else could have made me tackle this sewing project. ha! Truthfully, I have a love hate relationship with sewing. I love sewing something up and having a unique finished product, but I hate cutting things out. I hate measuring… I hate it when stuff doesn’t turn out. I’ve been wanting to make new curtains for the bathroom forever – but I’ve been lazy and putting it off -I’ve had the fabric for months. But I don’t have a big cutting table – (gotta get the basement done and use that ping-pong table – anyone know how to put a removable cutting surface over it?) With Abby’s confirmation coming up I guess it was just time to tackle it. I also decided to try my hand at rick rack. I’d never worked with it before. I called my mom and asked for advice, and she told me, and it made sense, and then I hung up the phone and couldn’t put anything she said together in my head. (I think it was the fever.) So I went online for a refresher course and I thought this tutorial was good. The first couple bands of rick rack are far from perfect, but the last couple bands look pretty good. I also lined the curtains with some plain white fabric for more insulation and to keep the sun from fading them too fast. Have a look!

   

 

 

I think I have to topstitch across the top and bottom for a more finished look – we’ll wait for the next fever! Happy crafting!

Tablecloth Redo

My mom came to visit a while ago and gave me this tablecloth – saying “I don’t know – maybe you can do something with this?. . .” All kinds of ideas came to mind! I could make napkins, placemats, aprons, towels? I went with towels – mine are in BAD shape – I needed some. This tablecloth was perfect as it had been washed many times, and was 100% cotton. Yeah! So, I cut it into nine towels. No measuring –I just kinda eyeballed it and used a good sized towel as a template (I like a good sized kitchen towel)  gotta love a straight plaid!! Then I hemmed the edges. Nothing fancy – just straight line stitching.

Then I decided to try my hand at freezer paper stenciling. If you’ve never done this before you HAVE to try it! It is instant gratification and so easy! I thought this tutorial was really good – check it out if you want to try. The hardest part was deciding what design to put on the towels. For one I went with a bird – and for another a flower.

I LOVE my new towels and I’m looking for more ideas to stencil – I’ll keep the others unstenciled until inspiration strikes!

Here’s a close-up of the stencils – you can see what clean lines you get – no smudging!

Happy crafting!!

Felt

Here is one way I’m using the felt. I got this blanket at a thrift store and thought it needed a little somthin somthin – so I started cutting out circles and leaf shapes and stitched them on with embroidery floss. Easy peasy. I’m just showing you a couple corners. I’m thinking I might just work my way all the way around the blanket and then back it with some nice flannel. Warm! I’m looking for some green wool yarn to use as a vine. Just gotta keep my eyes open! Happy crafting!