More aprons...

A restaurant owner commissioned me to make some more aprons. She asked for ruffles and "maybe some denim."

 

The two denim aprons. The denim was donated to me, the print fabric of the top apron was bought for this project and the ruffled lace was some I've had for years, leftover from another project.The tie on the top apron is a ribbon, doubled over. The top apron also has three pockets made with the print fabric. 

 

Made with some leftover fabric, some new fabric and ruffled lace.  The anchor fabric is three pockets.

 

Made with all new fabric and ruffled lace. The blender fabric is three pockets.

Stashbusting:

1/2 yard donated denim

1/4 yard print fabric

2 yards ruffled lace

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.

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)

Another bear quilt finished...

This is the second quilt I made for a friend's grand-niece.  She gave me 3 bear panels, and I worked the 9-patch quilt around the single panel. The back is flannel for extra snggly-ness. :)

 

Stashbusting:

1 spool of thread

2 yards of various scrap fabrics

Six More Quilts Of Honor Tops...

I finished six more Quilts Of Honor tops.  Off they go to the volunteer long-arm quilter, then to the woman who will bind them and then on to the military veterans1 YAY! 

StashBusting:

1 yard of fabric (the rest was donated)

2 spools of thread

Scrappy Quilt Of Honor

There were still a few scraps leftover from the Quilts Of Honor so I made a sort of log-cabin block and then surrounded it with some fabric in my stash. This quilt will be donated to QOH, too.

Stashbusting:

2 yards of fabric from my stash

Partial spool of cream-colored thread

Quilts Of Honor

I've been pretty busy lately, and part of my time is going towards our local chapter of Quilts Of Honor. A kind soul donated a bunch of patriotic fabric panels and some yardage.  I've been putting borders on my batch, getting them ready to quilt. Another QOH member will be long-arm quilting them, and yet another member will be binding them. I've finished the six below and have six more to do.

 

 

Stashbusting:

3 spools of thread

About 5 yards of my fabric donated to the cause

The 2nd Quilt Of Honor...

This is the 2nd Quilt Of Honor I've made for the organization.  I wanted a random, scrappy look to the half-square triangles. All blues on one side, all reds on the other. Only the blue fabric was bought, the rest came from my stash. The organization will provide the batting and the long-arm quilting.

Stashbusting:

About 3 yards of various fabrics

2 spools of white thread

Quilt Of Honor...

Found some red, white and blue fabrics in my stash and made a Disappearing 9-Patch Quilt Of Honor top for a veteran.  I passed this top on to the organization's chairman. It will be long-arm quilted by a volunteer and donated to a veteran recipient.  

Stashbusting:

3 yards of assorted fabrics

4 flat sheets and 5 muslin curtain panels given to the Quilts Of Honor organization 

for backings for this, and other quilts.

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.

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 Baby Sewing...

I've been doing more baby sewing using my Featherweight.

The breast pads and washcloths are from the previous sewing session, but I made more.  I am experimenting with baby washcloths - 2 sides of flannel, OR one side flannel/one side terrycloth.  The burp cloths are one side flannel and one side terrycloth.

Stashbusting:

about a yard of flannel

about a yard of terrycloth

various colors of thread on old bobbins

New sewing for babies...

Making more breast pads and some washcloths.

The breast pads are 3 layers of flannel and one layer of fleece.  The fleece faces out when in use. 

The washcloths are 2 ply - flannel and terrycloth, then topstitched.  I alternated machines by sewing with my Kenmore 19000 and the Singer Featherweight.

Stashbusting:

Multiple bobbins of various threads

About a yard of flannel

About a 1/2 yard of terrycloth

Around age 16, I got into making things with a needle, learning to do embroidery, crewel, bargello, burlap weaving, etc.  I couldn't afford to buy kits, so I made do with what I had.  I did a lot of embroidery on denim pants, jackets, and muslin squares that were later made into quilts.  At one point, I made myself a wall-hanging with the Serenity Prayer.  

My sister saw my wall-hanging and mentioned she'd love to have something like that.  So here it is - a replica of the one that hangs in my kitchen.  I drew it  freehand with a #2 pencil, and then embroidered with a straight stitch. It is lined, has binding and a sleeve on the back to hang it from a rod if she chooses.   

I also cut made one of her shirts into a short sleeve shirt, and repaired a quilt for her. 

StashBusting:

About 1/2 yard of muslin

Leftover blue binding from another project

Assorted leftover embroidery floss

I finally finished the Christmas quilt I started on June 5, 2014.  It is the Disappearing 9 patch block done with scraps of Christmas fabric leftover from other projects.

I bought fabric to finish the back, but still had to piece it after miscalculating the size.  :(

I stitched in the ditch around all the blocks and the bindings, and then stitched and X over each block.  The binding is folded over from the back.

Stashbusting:

2 yards of various Christmas scrap fabrics

2 yards of polyester batting (given to me)

2 spools of white thread

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