I've finally been sewing again! Made a gift for a friend's birthday. From left to right: Table runner, apron, embellished towels with snaps, and at the bottom middle, bowl cozies. 

   

 

The inner fabric on the table runner and as embellishment for the other items is really lines of Scriptures from the Bible with birds, butterflies and flowers scattered across it. The other fabric is a soft polka-dotted teal with dogwood blossoms in varying shades of pink. I bought new fabric for this project - 2 yards of the teal/blossoms, and 1 yard of the Scripture fabric.The towels are bar mop towels, I cut 2 inches off the top of each one to lessen the bulk when I sewed the snap flap on.

I stuffed all the items in this pretty can as a wrap. Just need a card and some ribbon, and the gift is done! 

Stashbusting:

1 yard of leftover white fabric as liner for the apron

1 yard of leftover batting for the bowl cozies

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

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.

One down, one to go...

I'm making two of these for a friend's grand-nieces.  She gave me the bear panels, the rest is fabric from my scrap box. The backs on each quilt are flannel for snuggly-ness.

 

 

Stashbusting:

2 yards of various scrap fabrics

1 spool of thread

A crocheted afghan backed with fleece...

One of my kids is learning to crochet so I helped put together the squares after they were finished.  I then backed the crocheted "patchwork" with fleece so it'd be extra warm.  

Camo and pink for a little grand-niece. 

The fleece back. 

Seven Tote Bags...

My sister asked if I could make her some tote bags to use as gifts.  I had great fun searching the web for various free patterns.  Each bag is different, I tried several patterns and I also altered every one of them to suit what she asked for - outside AND inside pockets. 

Each of the wide bands across the front are pockets - but there is a matching band on the back, with more pockets! Some don't have inside pockets because they have several outside pockets.

4 outside pockets.

6 outside pockets and 1 inside pocket.

4 outside pockets.

4 outside pockets, 1 inside pocket.

6 outside pockets.

4 outside pockets.

6 outside pockets, 2 inside pockets.

StashBusting:

About 6 yards of fabric

2 yards of lining fabric

4 yards of fleece

2 spools of thread

From Chef's apron to more...

So I made my sister a chef's apron a few year ago, and she asked me to cut it down to a half-apron.  I did so, then I used the leftover fabric to make her a microwave bowl cozy, and a small table runner.  To make the table runner more absorbent, I used an old microfiber towel as batting. 

 

The "new" apron, a microwave bowl cozy and a tablerunner.

Stashbusting:

1 yard of assorted scrap fabrics

1 microfiber towel as batting.

Sewing small things again...

The new, black and red kitchen set for my daughter. 

2 embellished towels, 2 microwave bowl cozies, and 2 potholders.  

And even more baby sewing!

Still sewing things for the baby.  The baby's room is camo and pink.  The bed set is regular camo with pink accents.  It came without a crib skirt, so I made one to match. Due to miscommunication, I had thought the baby's room was done in pink camo, so I'd bought fleece and flannel in pink camo! The parents thought it was great, and like the idea of mixing and matching the camos. So I went ahead with the sewing.

The top row is flannel washcloths, I was experimenting with flannel backed with flannel and flannel backed with terrycloth. The green ones are flannel/flannel, the pink camo ones are flannel/terrycloth.  I cut a 10 inch square and just sewed the right sides together, left an opening, turned and sewed around the edges on the outside. 

 

The middle of the crib bed skirt will not be seen. The dimensions are 53"  X 29" and the skirt drop is 14 inches, including the 1 inch pink trim.

Stashbusting:

1 spool of black thread

53" X 29" cotton fabric from an old curtain

More Small Gifts...

I've been working on Christmas items - I can't mention what they are because they're gifts for someone who reads my blog.  However, I have made 8 "things" and intend to make 10 "things" for each person who will receive the "things." for Christmas.

 

This is leaving me with scraps of fabric that are odd sizes.  So I decided to try a little project I found on a blog that was written in Spanish.  I didn't translate the blog, but followed the photo tutorial...changing the centimeters to inches, too. 

 

Here is a little pocket tissue holder:

 

 

Stashbusting:

 

About 4 yards of various fabric remnants for the "things"

160 inches of various remnant trims

2 partial spools of thread

 

Making Kitchen Things...

I've been making kitchen things! Gifts for a friend...

 

 

 

Microwave bowl cozies, square patchwork potholders, Prairie point embellished towels, Hexegon potholders, Large hot pad, Dishmat, Potato bag

 

Stashbusting:

 

1 yard of assorted scrap fabrics

1 yard scrap batting

1 spool thread

 

 

Clothing Hanger Dust Cover with Accessories Pocket

When you live on a dirt road, dust gets everywhere, including in closets.  It often settles across the shoulders of hanging clothing.  Oftentimes, I can just brush it off. But when it settles on clothes I don't wear much, rather than brushing it off, I have to actually wash the clothing because the dust/dirt has settled into the fibers. 

 

I searched the net to find a pattern for dust covers, and in so doing, discovered another item called a "clothing safe." It is a clothes hanger covered in fabric in which there is a pocket to hide valuables.  You hang your clothes OVER the fabric, thus hiding your goodies. It didn't suit my purpose - I wanted to hang my clothes UNDER the fabric, to protect from dust.  

 

However, a lightbulb went off in my head.  (Stop laughing).  Why not combine the two, and make a dust cover AND a clothing safe, or even better, use the pocket for accessories? How many of us have belts, or a brooch, or a scarf, or special jewelry that only goes with one outfit?  And how many of us can lay our hands on all those accessories at a moment's notice?  And what about packing?  Wouldn't it be great to simply take an article of clothing along with it's accessories and pack it all at once? 

 

I figured someone had already made a dust cover with an accessories pouch, so I searched to the ends of the Internet (well, it seemed like it) for a pattern.  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  Apparently, if someone else has thought of it, they've not acted on the impulse. So I had to think on it for a few days and figure out a pattern all by myself (which can be a daunting task!). And by the way, one of the main reasons I hate sewing clothes is because I can never put a zipper in right! So, I had to consider putting a zipper on the pouch (because you don't want anything falling out), too.  I decided I was up to the task.  I wouldn't let a teensy bit of 18 inch cloth and teeth stop me! 

So after I spent a few days thinking on how to do it, I set to work.  Amazingly, I finished it within an hour!  Even the zipper part!

I will be making these as Christmas presents for a few people who travel extensively.  They can not only protect their clothing at home in the closet, but can pack their accessories with the garments they take!

 

So here it is - my dust cover with a zippered accessories pouch.

 

 

The dust cover, embellished with a little lace.

 

 

A scarf hanging out of the zippered pouch.

 

 

Dust cover doing it's job on one of my outfits, and another scarf, hanging out of the zippered pouch. 

 

StashBusting:

 

1/2 yard of leftover fabric

18 inches of leftover lace

 

 

 

I've been gone for a while...

We've been especially busy since the last time I posted in November.  We went to Germany for 2 weeks, came home and had Christmas with the family, and then we left home to spend a few months helping one of the kids pack up and move to a new place.  We helped declutter, packed, moved, and unpacked everything!  It was fun to be there, but now I'm back home and have my own hobbies and and a whole list of things to do!

 

Today I decided to spend an hour sewing each day to get rid of this stash!  So...I looked at what fabric I had, and then found Renae Allen's 10 minute tablerunner tutorial:  http://www.rgadesignquilts.blogspot.com/p/patterns-projects.html. There are two tutorials - one is a pdf you can download, the other is a video tutorial. 

 

I also made Penny Pennington's coasters out of the leftover fabrics.  http://www.equilters.com/library/projectshare/coasterspatt.html

 

 

You want to know how old some of this fabric is?  I bought the Christmas green background fabric and the middle tablerunner's poinsettia fabric when I worked at a fabric store...in 1997. Seventeen years ago!!! YIKES! I'm pretty sure I bought the pansy fabric in the same timeframe.

 

I think I will buy some white kitchen towels and will sew the leftover fabrics on them to match.  I'm hoping to sell these tablerunner sets at the next Swap & Shop down the road.

 

 

Stashbusting:

 

3 2/3 yards of fabric

Miscellaneous pieces of batting



 

More Gifts...

More gifts for other occasions besides Christmas.

 

Soon-to-be-born niece, Vivienne will receive this flannel quilt, which I made yesterday and today using my own tutorial.

A rice bag, a cover for the rice bag and a handkerchief (for me). I used one of my sewing machine's decorative stitches on the hankie, although you can't really see it. 

StashBusting:
 

Approximately 3 yards flannel
1 yard leftover batting from another project
5" by 18" piece of fabric leftover from another project
10 inches of handkerchief fabric given to me by Grandma

This is the quilt I messed up by washing it after it was sewn together, but before it was quilted.  I had to take it completely apart, and put new batting a new back on it.  It is for my grand-niece for her 9th birthday.  She loves butterflies and the color green, so the quilt reflects that - a basic 4 patch with wide butterfly fabric borders. The back was folded over to make the binding.

 

 

 

Machine pieced, machine quilted. 1 spool of white thread, 1 twin sheet for backing and about 3 yards of fabric for the front.

New quilt - Barnwood Scrap...

Still trying to use up leftover brown scraps and yard sale scrap fabrics.

The front. 

6 inch scrap strip blocks interspersed with 6 inch barnwood fabric blocks.

Sashing is a white/gold star fabric. Border is an autumn leaves fabric. 

The back is pieced, leftover autumn leaves, white/gold star fabric and plain white muslin.  Quilt measures 57 inches by 67 inches.

Stashbusting:

1 yard + 31 inches of various fabrics for front

1 yard + 21 inches of 3 fabrics for back

8 partial bobbins of various colored threads

3 partial spools of various colored threads

1 mattress pad as batting

Two Aprons

Mom needed door prizes for a baby shower she is hosting.

So I found some seersucker fabric with cherries, another with citrus fruits, and some red gingham...because red gingham just makes it all look vintage.  They turned out cute. Hope the winners like them.

Aprons Every Month...except one...

For Christmas, I wanted to give my sister an apron for every month/holiday of the year.  I was able to find fabrics in my stash and some in the store, except for January!  I will continue to look for Happy New Year fabric to make her that apron.  I made them all different - some are gathered, some have lace, some have ribbons, some have rickrack, in other words, I had a lot of fun playing in my stash.  LOL

February - hearts and ruffles - Valentine's Day

March - shamrocks - St. Patrick's Day

April - eggs - Easter 

May - flowers - May Day

June was a little more difficult - a month for brides, but she's not a bride, so I thought about it and realized that we have Junebugs...but I don't like insects, except butterflies...and I had the fabric right in my stash. 

July - Fireworks - Independence Day

August - watermelons and strawberries - Summer

September - green leaves turning to brown - School starts

October - pumpkin patches - Halloween

November - fall colors - Thanksgiving

(note that September and November's aprons are the same fabrics, only opposites)

December - Baby Jesus, gingerbread, good food, family, church - Christmas!