Monday, December 19, 2016

More pillows


Why not Dale Earnhardt? Surely a ham bag pillow with a NASCAR king's name on it is worth a little something, right?

If not, a Smokehouse Brand ham bag will do the trick.

Always sewing something!

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Christmas Projects

I've been a little obsessed with fabric folding lately. I've been here before - Styrofoam, pins, fabric squares, and Elmer's to put on the tip of the pins when I place the fabric on the form. I started with two egg shapes this year. I covered them with two Christmas fabrics, cut off the bottoms so they sit flat, and added cording to the bottom to tie together all the colors. 
 
Then came the wreath. Oh my, the wreath. I had a lot of 1-1/2" strips of Christmas fabric a friend had given me, so I cut them into 1-1/2" squares and decided to do fabric folding on a wreath form. This took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I finished it and it is indeed on my door! (I want to redo the ribbon at a later date, though.) There are approximately 1600 applique pins and 800 squares of fabric, along with the red ribbon and a small wreath that my sister had, which I hung in the center to give the wreath a more completed look. 
I will fold more fabric, I'm sure, but my second obsession has been making ham bag pillows. I've made 6. Now what do I do with them? Here are two:
The second on is actually a vintage sugar bag, but it's the same concept.  

I'm sure there will be more sewing and fabric obsessions in the year ahead. I'll be decking out a new sewing area and that means organizing fabrics again, and again! Which ones will spark my creativity? 

Oh yeah, I did make a pair of slacks in between projects. 

There's always more to sew.

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's hoping Santa brings you lots of fun sewing stuff!

Last year's Christmas pillow made from a Christmas skirt I had made for an ugly sweater party the year before. See what I mean? One thing leads to another! 




Sunday, December 4, 2016

Just a few sewing quotes to which we all can relate

"A good use for me is to let me go away with my sewing machine and come back with some really new stuff."

Betsey Johnson



"I preferred sewing to bossing little children."

Mother Jones



"I remember an old Singer sewing machine at home that belonged to my grandmother. It had a pedal. My mom taught me how to use it when I was 12 years old. I used to find it so intriguing, how a flat piece of material could be made into an object that had so many uses."

Bibhu Mohapatra



"When I moved out of my mom's house at 18 I was almost as sad to leave her sewing machine behind as anything else."

Beth Ditto



"My mother had a sewing machine. I was never allowed to use it, but I was so fascinated by this little needle going up and down joining fabric together that I'd use it when my mother went out to feed the chickens."

Philip Treacy




You can find these and more at BrainyQuote.com 

Monday, October 17, 2016

100 Bags for Child Development Resources - Done

Pink Sponge Bob x4, Care Bears, teddy bears, Blue Sponge Bob, Bullwinkle x3

Green Sponge Bob x2, Lion King, Hawaiian x2, Golf x2, wacky colors x2, Butterflies

I hope the kids served by Child Development Resources enjoy their library bags. The note enclosed also suggests they can use the bag for toys, clothes, or whatever.

As for the de-stashing that comes along with making 100 tote bags, I used approximately 44 yards long x 20" wide fabric, including pockets and lining. As well, 3600" of webbing for the handles was used, some of it donated. I went through several spools of thread that have been hanging out, and that's a good feeling too.

I highly recommend taking on a civic project. Set a goal and just get it done. Why not?

Next up? Who knows. I think it's time to focus on sewing for me again.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

CDR Bags 61-80

Dang - only 20 to go!
Snakes x2, dog bones, stars x4, rainbow Pooh x2, and rabbits.

Puppies and kittens x2, Raggedy Ann and Andy x4, sky and clouds, and lizards x3.

Hard to believe I'm almost done. My next post should be just before I donate them to the organization!

Saturday, September 10, 2016

CDR Bags 51-60

On the back side of 50!

Rodeo, doll panels x3, sundaes and doughnuts x2, deer, puppies x2, and an upholstery remnant bag with doily attached to each side. 

The project continues as does the stash busting.

40 to go, most of which I've already cut out. 

Friday, September 2, 2016

CDR Bags 41-50

Been sewing, I have. Here are the fruits of my labor:

Soccer x2, cows x3, school x2, fire department x2, and a Charlie Brown bag. 
Halfway done!
50 to go. 

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

CDR Bags - 31-40

Almost halfway there! Bags 31-40; 60 to go.
Soccer, cars x2, motorcycles, flames, fire and rescue x3, another soccer, and Teletubbies.

It has been fun going through my stash to find kid-friendly fabrics and use them up. I'm ending up with smaller pieces that I can donate to someone doing craft sewing. I've already started on 41-50. I sew every day and usually make a bag or two when I can. 

Here's hoping the kids of CDR enjoy their library bags!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

CDR bags update, 21-30!

Police, hippie x2, cats, dog paws, lizards, pigs x3, and strawberries. 

30 down, 70 to go.

Are you sewing anything for your community? I'm loving de-stashing and making something that someone else can use. I have a bag to collect the stash pieces that are too small for this project, but ready to be used for something else. That will be gifted via Freecycle when it's full. I suspect I'll fill up more than one bag!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

CDR Bag Project, Bags 11-20

4 police department bags, 5 dog fabric bags, and 1 more wacky stripe bag.

20 down, 80 to go!
I keep thinking now that when the 100 bags project is done, I just might keep sewing and give bags to the local library for kids to use. Who knows? Right now, I'm on a roll!

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Alicia's quilt - from fabric to precious

Alicia is a friend of my daughter's, and therefore, a friend of mine. That's the way it works, right? I made a simple pinwheel quilt for her baby some time ago. He's been born and growing like a weed. Ivan is his name. She posted a picture on Facebook today showing Ivan sleeping on the quilt. This is why we sew. From fabric bits to a peaceful baby sleeping. So beautiful.


This is a cute dog/cat fabric. It was a perfect fit for Alicia. 

A couple of rows and then: 

Yep, that's why we sew. 

Saturday, July 30, 2016

100 bags - Bags 4-10

10 down, 90 to go.
2 snakes bags and a grapes bag

This is my favorite so far. I used the border of a Daisy Kingdom fabric. I will make 2 more police bags out of the non-border of the same fabric. All 3 have German shepherd dog pockets inside. 



Wacky hippie fabric. 

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

100 Bags - bag 2 and bag 3

I'll try not to post so few in a day, but got bags 2 and 3 done today! One is a pizza and toppings bag and the other is pinstripes and M&Ms. 3 down, 97 to go.


For this one, I double layered and stitched together the M&Ms ribbon to make the handles. 

I have some grapes, snakes, and orange fabric cut out and ready to go. Now to find the cowboys, cars, firetrucks, soccer, and other fabrics!

Monday, July 25, 2016

CDR Bag Project - 100 bags!

Child Development Resources provides services for local at-risk infants, toddlers and their families, be it socioeconomic, physical, mental, or a myriad other reasons. They were there when my twins were born premature and provided assistance and support to me and mine. For that, we will be forever grateful. They also provide literacy support for the kids and often give books for the families to take home. In my opinion, those books need bags and those bags need a pocket to hold a library card for future reading!

And so, I've begun a 100-bag project. I will make 100 totes with pockets for the children and families of Child Development Resources, Early Head Start, and whatever program they'd like to use them for. Today, I completed number 1. They'll all be the same size and will be made with colorful novelty fabrics. Number 1 is a bag made with banana fabric!

The fabric is cut in 2 14x"x16" rectangles. The pocket is cut in 2 4"x5" pieces, then sewn right sides together and turned, then attached to the inside of the bag. These bags are not lined. I did serge the 1/4" seams. I basted the handles 2" away from either side of the center, then came a piece of bias tape (you can use any fabric you like) to sew right sides together with the bag, turn under, and machine hem. The handles are caught in the seam of the facing and bag. Easy, right? 

Here's what number 1 looks like without all the dimension stuff written on it. I think they're going to work out just fine.

What is your project of love? 99 to go for me!

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Robin's mom's quilt is done

A few days ago, I posted that I was working on a friend's mother's quilt and showed you the back. I finished it today. The binding is done!
That's me peeping over the top. It's hard to see the detail of the handkerchiefs, but it is beautiful in design and heart. I'll be handing it over to my friend tomorrow.

I'm tying my hexagon quilt when I have time and working on a denim quilt of hexagon flowers for myself. In the meantime, I have my eye on a culotte's pattern I want to try and will probably make a coordinating top to go with.

I'm not retired. I still work, but maybe 30 hours a week. It's been great to rediscover my sewing projects and to complete another one is just magnificent.

My next big project will be making 100 tote bags for the parents and children of Child Development Resources. I have been trying to figure out how to destash without just giving away yards of fabric again and the parents can use the bags with their kids for trips to the library. I did this one time in the past and look forward to my stack growing. I have SO MUCH fabric! 100 16"x 18" bags might make a dent! By the way, their the best and if you ever have a dollar to spare, they can always use donations of any kind, be it money or time or whatever. Okay, enough shameless plugging.

Keep sewing!

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Sewing in June

I've had a couple projects going for a while - a friend's mom's quilt and one last quilt for myself. They're still in progress, but I'm ready to share some of it with you.

My friend's mom approached me toward the end of her life and asked me to "help her finish" a quilt. She wanted to make one out of handkerchiefs she's received over the years, some of them from her aunt. I said, "sure, let me see what you have." Out came a hat box filled with handkerchiefs sort of pinned together. Right about there, I asked if I could just make it for her. It took her 2 shakes of a monkey's butt to agree. We were visiting her in Florida at the time and I said I'd take them home with me, find a complementary fabric to go with the handkerchiefs, and get started. She asked me to give it to her daughter if she was not around to see it. On the drive home from Florida, I asked my friend if we could stop at Walmart on the way home, knowing that I had seen some sky fabric that would be just perfect there. So we did and I bought it. They didn't have much, so I wrote to the manufacturer and they sent me some more.

I've been doing a quilt-as-you-go method for this one and yesterday, put on the last row. It's ready now for the hand stitching on the back I have it pinned and should get that done in a day or so. The back is not a pretty sight, but it is what it is as they say.

Today, I made the binding and got it all rolled up. I do not use bias binding with quilts as there are no round edges to navigate. This is a 3" wide binding and I'll hand apply it as well.

I suspect in a couple weeks, this one will be done and delivered! I'll show off the front when I'm done.

As you might already know, I'm addicted to hexagons. I like to have a portable sewing project, and they fit the bill perfectly. I'm working now on what I deemed to be our last quilt. Yeah, right. I've made hexagon flowers with the same fabric for the centers, 9-patch denim squares (using 4" squares), and will be using a 2" spacer between the blocks. I'm not very excited to match up corners and with the spacer/sashing, I don't have to. Here are some in-progress pics:
Hand stitched flowers using English piecing.

One flower attached to a 9-patch with sashing attached. 

A couple of squares sewn together to begin a row.

Stack of 9-patch denim squares ready to embellish.

I have a beautiful piece of fleece for the back and will stitch the rows one at a time onto that as I go. This is a great way to use up old denim regardless of whether you do a hex flower on it or not.

So, that's my sewing for June. I hope you all have something going on as well. Sew on, my friends!

Friday, May 20, 2016

Busy!

It's been a busy time in the sewing room. It seems like there's always something to mend or to create or fabric that just needs to be looked at one more time.

My sister recently moved in with us and the sewing room is filled to the brim with boxes. Two days ago, I mentioned to my husband that I needed to create a path to the sewing machine and ironing board, that I was having withdrawal! We spent a productive 15 minutes moving things around, and voila! I was in business again.

I finished some brain and blood spatter potholders:

and started to work on a denim project I have going.

I took a quick inventory of my UFOs hanging around - a quilt for a friend's mother, a vest I've been designing; and some items recently finished - a doll outfit and vest made of M&Ms fabric, and realized I need to step it up!

There is always sewing that needs to be done. Or is there sewing that I want to do? Is there a difference?

The bottom line is that I'm glad I have access to my machine and have 1,000 ideas of what I want to put together.

Here's hoping your spring is filled with sewing ideas!