Family is coming to visit...

My family is coming to visit this summer!  YAY! That said, whenever family is here, one of our constant needs is laundry - doing it and keeping everyone's clothes straight. I decided this year that I would make laundry bags for everyone, and then, in a flash of inspiration, I decided to personalize some mesh lingerie and bra bags, too! I used clothesline as the drawstring, and when I cut it, I discovered the inner threads are rainbow colors, so the end tassels go perfectly with every bag.

Rather than make the mesh and bra bags, I bought some online, since the prices were so good that I couldn't make them less expensive. The links are for a quantity of 6 bags each. Both bags usually run $4-5 each in stores. The quality is very good, too. Here are the links to what I bought:

Bra Bags
Lingerie Bags

Here is the link to the laundry bag tutorial (also note in the photos of mine that I took some liberties with measurements). Each laundry bag is fully reversible and I used 3 fabrics for each one.

Laundry Bag Tutorial

 This is the first set of bags. I chose fabrics based on each young lady's favorite color. I cut the tab off the bra bags, and sewed a coordinating fabric tab on them. I cut the brand name off the mesh lingerie bags, and sewed a strip of coordinating fabric bias tape across the top of each one. The laundry bag is fully reversible and has a drawstring and a tab handle to carry it.

This is the second set of bags. The pink and green on the left is for a little girl, no need for bra and lingerie bags for her. :)

This set of bags is for the young ladies who already own bra and lingerie bags, so didn't need any.

I also plan to make some camo laundry bags for the men who will be visiting, too. 

Stashbusting:

3 partial spools of thread

Half a spool of clothesline

About 5-6 yards of stash fabrics

Tayla's Quilt...

The horse fabrics are leftovers from the wedding album I made for my niece's wedding 5 years ago. She has since had a baby, and I found the leftover fabrics again. I thought it'd be neat to make a quilt for the baby out of her parents' wedding album fabrics!

The quilt measures 49" x 52" - a good size for a toddler to haul around.

The back is made from a scrap of coordinating horse fabric with the blue and brown sewn on to extend it's length and width.

Stashbusting:

3 -1/2 yards of leftover fabrics

1 spool of thread

Sewing small projects...

 

Working on some small projects by request. My daughter wanted some pretties for her kitchen, in various colors and patterns so she could change things around when she felt like it.  She bought two fat quarter bundles (5 fabrics) and this is what I came up with.

 

The Southwest fabrics. A variation of the 10 minute tablerunner. Bowl cozies and potholders, too!

This green and pink bundle is to match her Jadeite and LaCrueset pieces. I sewed the squares in the tablerunner together, not realizing that I got 3 rows backwards! I had to take most of it apart and re-do the sewing. GRRRR! I had the brilliant idea to make round potholders...forgetting that I abhor curves. Yeah, those potholders got taken apart, too. At least the bowl cozies went together fast. 

Stashbusting:

1 partial spool of pink thread

1 full spool of white thread

1/2 yard of navy backing fabric

1/2 yard of green batik

1-1/2 yards of leftover batting

Quick Baby Boy Quilts...And A Baby Girl Quilt, too!

A week or so ago, someone commissioned a baby boy quilt, no preferences.  I had some boy fabrics in my stash, but still ended up needing to buy some yardage to finish.  Fortunately, I bought an entire roll of Warm And White batting at the last sale, so I have plenty of that!

I'm not sure why the colors didn't come out true camera-wise. This quilt is navy, red and gray, with the focal print the anchor fabric. The top strip is gray, not that muddy greenish look! I've had the anchor fabric for about 2 years, taking up room in my stash. The back of this quilt is white.  In real life, this quilt is very striking.

 The plane fabric has been in my stash for about 2 years.  The red stripe has been in my stash for about 15 years! I picked up the other fabrics to finish the quilt, the top strip is a pretty, soft taupe, not that same muddy green! (Hmmm. the camera may be losing it's ability to discern color at the top of the lens).

The back of the above quilt is the remainder of the plane fabric and the chevron fabric. 

I had cut the center panel and the two white strips for the plane quilt above. Then I realized I'd made a mistake in the length. So had to remove it, re-cut, and then re-sew. When I finished the other quilt, I took the remaining fabrics and put this little quilt together, too.

The back is white with a strip of the remaining stripes fabric.

 I also finished a baby girl quilt that I'd started ages ago with a 5-set of tropical colored fat quarters I've had laying around for years. The white fabric edging is an old stash fabric.

 The back of the baby girl quilt - 2 pieces of leftover fabric from other quilts!

Bought fabrics to finish each quilt:

8 yards

Stashbusting:

5 yards fabric

2 spool of thread

1 40 X 40 piece of batting leftover from another project.

More small projects...

I've been working on small projects right now. 

 

I made some dryer balls from some wool roving, and they unraveled while I was felting them in the washer.  So I had to re-wrap the dreadlocks they became and felt them again! They still work the same, just not as pretty!

 

I also made two terrycloth pillowcases and 14 flannel washcloths someone requested. 

Stashbusting:

1 spool of off-pink thread

1 1/2 yards of flannel fabric

Starting The New Year Right...

As always, when the New Year rolls around, I think of all my unfinished projects and make resolutions to complete them all. Despite my best intentions, I never actually do complete everything. And this month, I've been sick for several weeks, so nothing got done.

I did give away three large bags of scraps from the last clean-out.

But today, I made some double flannel washcloths for someone with sensitive skin. YAY, me!

Stashbusting:

2 yards of flannel (12 washcloths)