Beauty in a button

I thought I'd share this little piece with you. Again, it's not really sewing or stitching, but it is done with scraps.

I was lucky enough to get ownership of my mother's button box. In it are buttons that were bought, came with sweaters as an extra, came off of bathrobes or blouses, and various and sundry others. I remember as a young child sitting on the floor and playing with the buttons in the button tin. I have no clue how many hours I sorted, matched, and in general played with the bits of plastic, wood, and metal.

One day, I was looking through the button tin recently and decided I needed to do something with some of them. I found a frame that I wasn't using, took out the cardboard, and glued a nice piece of recycled denim on it. Then I scoured through the hundreds of buttons for just the right ones. I settled on 9 that may or may not go together, depending on your eye at the time you see it. I know the white one in the right upper corner is from a bathrobe. The others, I'm not sure. I used a fabric glue that dries clear to put the buttons on, and let it set overnight. The next day, I put the frame back together (including the glass cover) and voila - a nice piece for the sewing room.

Got a button box? A frame? Some denim or other background fabric? Sit down by yourself or with your kids and make a fun piece or a pair.

I'm not sure why, but I sure like the way it looks.

Life, quilting, and scraps of thought

A lot has happened in my life lately, much of it in the realm of life-changing events. My best pal, Lindsey, pictured on the left, took ill and ended up being euthanized a few days later. What we didn't know was that she had cancer all throughout her body. My companion of 11 years is now resting peacefully, and we're still sorting through the loss of our "empty nest dog." The same night, my husband's mother died in her sleep. She had been extremely ill for years and though it is not easy, we were prepared. That event put a lot of activity in motion, culminating with her funeral a week ago. Prior to all of this, I had knee replacement surgery on January 19, and have been recovering beautifully. That includes a lot of at home therapy followed by outpatient physical therapy. To say the least, it's been a busy time.

Part of what I have done to maintain my sanity through this all is to sew. I've mentioned before that I'm making a hexagon scrap quilt. It will be about 2000 pieces when it's done, each one hand sewn. I'm in my second year of working on it. I tend to pick it up when life gets too busy and I need to rest my psyche. I've done a lot of that lately. Every stitch is combined with a thought or two, every pairing of hexagons is filled with a moment of my pondering, and the whole of the project is filled with wistfulness and love. The making of this quilt will span two knee replacements, the passing of friends and family, and other memorable events. When it is completed, it will be seen as something that keeps you warm by most people, but by me, I will be taken back to this time in life in happy and not so happy ways. I should call it my sanity quilt, but I'll come up with something more uplifting at another time.

Life's short, my friends. Get out there and sew something, make a memory, or just relax a bit with needle and thread and your own outlet. Turn a batch of scraps into something beautiful or something to wear or something with which to decorate your walls. That unfinished project won't get done without its most important "ingredient" - you.

Live and be grateful.

ScrapStitching is coming back online and I hope to bring more projects and ideas  your way. If you have anything you'd like me to sew or to try, let me know and I'll do my best.

Short hiatus

I spent this morning hemming sweat pants to 3/4 length rather than full length, adding a touch of embellishment, and cleaning/organizing my sewing area. I'll be away from sewing for a while, probably two or three months. 

I'm not really going fishing, though. I just love the concept. I'll be getting my knee replaced. This is a good thing! But there is a long road of rehab and recovery ahead, so I won't be updating the site during that time.

Think of it as sitting by the ocean with a line in the surf, and throw back all the fish you catch so you can wile away more than a few hours.

See you when I get back!

Wow - MIA much or how the Scrap Stitcher does holidays!

Happy Christmas season everyone. As with every December, I've been busier than I care to admit. I had planned on coming in and doing oodles of Christmas sewing projects with you and tutorials about how to this and how to that, and lookie here... I didn't! Trust me, it would have been a blast. Okay, so maybe I stretch the truth a little bit there. But I have indeed been making Christmas stockings using my instructions, pot holders, placemats, and even a few items of clothing at the sewing machine. I've done very little sewing on the hexagon quilt, but I'll get to it. I refuse to allow it to be a UFO forever!

Today began the cooking/baking phase of Christmas. My tree is done and most of the ingredients for goodies are purchased. We have a nice steak dinner for Christmas and I went to the high end grocery today to pick the steaks themselves up. This week, I'll pick up the rest of the food and anything I've ordered from the gourmet shop. I have family coming Saturday, Sunday, and Monday next week! That means at least two meals, maybe more. It'll be great.

On a personal note, I'll be having a planned surgical procedure in January and may be a bit quiet again, but never fear, I'll definitely be back and will be sewing during my recuperation. Hexagon quilt anyone?

If you have any ideas for projects or something you'd like for which you'd like me to try a tutorial, just let me know by comment or mail.

For now, Happy Holidays to all. Regardless of what holiday you celebrate or if you celebrate none at all, we're all citizens of a wonderful planet. As the children's song goes, "we're all a family under one sky." Keep that in mind as you hang with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving Scrap Stitchers!

You don't have to sew to use your scraps!

This is step 1ish when it comes to making outlet covers. ModPodge, fabric, outlet covers, and some fun fabrics all ready to go. The Sponge Bob fabric had some nice images of Sponge Bob and Patrick on a rainbow and I had to cut it at odd angles, but it worked. The M&M fabric is an all over image, so it goes far with little or no waste.

At the stage in the photograph, I've already roughed up the outlet covers so the ModPodge would do the best job, cut the fabric and stretched it onto a ModPodge covered outlet cover, and applied a first coat of ModPodge over the fabric. (If you look to the top of the image, you'll see some Spnge Bob cutouts that I used to repair the top of the card table too! I don't ditch a card table just because I have tiny rips or tears; nope, I repair that top with what I have on hand - true scrapping!)

I have my work cut out for me, no pun intended, but in three days, there will be 9 outlet covers ready to sell on Etsy. Actually, one of the M&M ones is already sold. These are so fun to make. They take time and precision, but they're great when they're done. I have some Steelers fabric that will be used next. I sort of went nuts and bought 20 covers at Lowes! I better use them up.

On a side note, I saw a lot of outlet covers at yard sales when I was in Phoenix and wish now that I had purchased them and did the reuse/recycle concept, but that will have to be a next time thing!

These are not difficult, but they are time consuming. It's something everyone can do with the right tools. Mod Podge, Exacto knife, paint brushes, fabric, and then later on, some vinyl coating. Get to working!

Scrap Stitching - Free patterns found on the net

I'm not at home, as you know, so don't have my whole sewing room with me, just a wee bit of it, and I'm feeling like sewing. I've been looking around at free patterns on the web and thought I would share a few with you that would go well with scrap sewing.

Here's a tote bag/CD case/glasses case from ClassicsCotton.com that looks pretty simple. What a better way to use up your scraps than to make a bag?

From the same web site, I found a nice pillowcase pattern. Simple and easy, and you can make these as gifts or for holidays at home, or whenever you want for a custom look on your bed.

Here's a nifty apron pattern that includes a pocket. They call it a Funky Kitchen apron. I call it a great way to do a patchwork piece or use up a colorful remnant you have hanging around. This one is from the folks at ClothWorksTextiles.com.

This apron is a bit different. It's got an assymetric halter feel to it. You could almost wear it with jeans for a hippie sewing look.

You can never have enough tote bags. This one looks like it could double as a grocery bag. Just be sure to reinforce those handles!

Here are some lovely pillows to make and some birds to go with them. I love the fabrics they used, but you could use any you like to make these elegant or funky.

Heffalumps and woozles. Okay, no woozles, but some cute elephant patterns for pillows.

Maybe you could use a woozle or two on this bib from UnitedNotions.com!

Classy up your sewing area with a Prairie Flower Pincushion. So cute! It uses paper piecing and hexagons, two of my favorite ways to sew.

Another pincushion to consider is this Eight-Pointed Civil War Buckshot one from Marcus Fabrics.

Michael Miller Fabrics offers this free Christmas tree skirt pattern. It's pretty enough to wear! Use your imagination, though; you're not limited to the fabrics shown.

I've brought you placemat patterns before, but this one looks like fun. It's a chicken pattern! First a picture of it and then the pattern.

Ever wonder how to make these cute little roses?   Wonder no more, for here's a pattern for ruched roses from PBTex.com.

For a long list and to do some exploring of your own, this was my starting point. It's amazing how many people are generous enough to share their ideas and work with us, isn't it? Of course, there's always Google and some tutorials here as well.

Happy hunting!