Repurposed!

Do you Recycle, Reuse and Reduce?  

Being 'green' is very fashionable these days...and for good reason!  We need to take care of the Earth and the resources we have been blessed with.  

A newer term for being green is repurpose...taking something that you no longer use, or want and finding a new purpose for it.

I've been having fun repurposing [if that is a word].  Here's an easy peasy project to do...take a envelope that you no longer need...extra from Christmas cards, junk mail, etc.  Cut off the corner [about 2 1/2 or 3"] on a diagonal. Carefully open it up and trace the shape on the back of a fabric scrap. 

Cut out the fabric and spray baste it to the envelope corner. Stitch around close to the edge then glue closed. It is a great book mark...and pretty too...say goodbye to dog-earred corners in your books.

Another project was a challenge on Jenny of Elefantz blog.  She challenged her blog readers to take a skirt and repurpose it into an apron!  Although I didn't know about the challenge in time to be a part of it, I thought it sounded like fun.  So off to the resale shop where I found this skirt with 3 rows of ruffles.  I started by taking out the side seams and zipper...now I have 2 pieces! From my stash, I made long apron strings...attached them and finished the sides. 

My favorite project is T-Shirt yarn!  

I have made several balls of yarn from cast off cotton t-shirts.  

Here's a brief how to...there are many good tutorials online to follow...my favorite being  here. 

Lay the t-shirt down flat on your cutting surface...smooth it out...then just under the arms or under the picture/saying/words, cut straight across and again at the hem.  I used my rotary cutter and ruler.  

Keeping the 'tube' flat, cut 3/4" strips...But don't cut all the way through...leave about 1" along one fold. Once all your strips are cut, carefully open up the fold [uncut] and cut diagonally from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, etc. 

This spiral cut will result in one long piece of t-shirt fabric.  

All you do is pull the fabric in both directions...the fabric will roll creating 'yarn'... increasing in length. Wind it into a ball and it is ready to knit or crochet!

I'm knitting on large needles...making a bath mat from my D1's apartment.  

 Sometimes I just need to try something different...more on what I've been quilting on my next post!  

Join in the fun next Friday for FNSI! 

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The last 2 blocks...

for Block-A-Palooza were released this week (Monday & today)! I have been really good at keeping up and here are the last 2:

Next week we will be putting it all together!  I think I may remake a block or 2 as I'm not completely happy with a few.  I didn't take a picture of all 16 blocks together yet. I'll have to do that soon as it always helps in seeing how they look together.  

I also finished my March block for the Birdie Stitches BOM.  

Isn't it cute?

Back in the early part of February, Cara over at Cara Quilts sponsored The Basics Charity Challenge.  You can read about it here.  There were several prizes for incentive but the challenge was an easy and not expensive act to do.  Although my DH and I volunteer at our local homeless center, I accepted the challenge and went out to buy some twin size fitted sheets and dropped them off at the center.  

Just last week, Cara notified me that I had won one of the incentive prizes, Bari J's new book Inspired to Sew! I love it...it has beautiful illustrations and I can't wait to try a project.  I especially like Bari's Chicago connection...my hometown! 

I have been thinking of ways to repurpose things and here is one that I recently made.  

Instead of dog-eared corners in my books to mark my place, I now have these easy to make corners.  They remind me of photo corners and neatly fit over the corner of the page.  And they are much prettier! 

What do you think?

Do you remember my extreme wedding dress makeover?  Well, I promised to make the bride her wedding veil.  She wanted a simple, single layer veil.  I used some lace from the original dress to cover the comb.  

I leave you with another challenge.  Rachel over at p.s. i quilt has joined Moda in their Just One Star challenge.  They need 1800 star blocks by May 1st.  Rachel has challenge us in making just one star this week...in the mail by Monday! Quilters Unite! We can do it! They are so easy to make...I made 2!

{name blurred on purpose}

Have you made yours?