So now that all the gifts have been received...

...and opened, I can show you what I've been sewing and crafting. 


First, for Kade whose birthday is December 23rd. 

This play mat was inspired by several pictures that I found on Pinterest. I then took the best ideas from each and designed this play mat to be about the size of a standard placemat with pockets to hold 6 matchbox cars. 

For Ruth ~ 

This quilt pattern was originally drawn up by my husband. He wanted a quilt that reminded him of a Norwegian sweater pattern. It was a bit more complicated as it included many snowflakes. I simplified it to make a table topper quilt. It finished at about 32" square. I love the pretty snowflake fabric for the backing.

For my SIL, Mike ~

For Rio ~

Sorry for the dark picture but the dark green yarn was difficult to photograph.  The knitting pattern makes a nice 2-sided scarf.

For my DD1's puppy, Ole:

Isn't he adorable?

A tug-o-war toy made from t-shirt yarn. 

For the home and ornaments:

My DD3 had this decorating idea using vintage glass ornaments from my grandmother. She framed them in 2 of her vintage white framed. They hung above our fireplace. See them here.

I made this mimi book ornament for my DD2 and SIL for their first Christmas as a married couple. This book is about 1 1/2" x 2". 

Part of the table decorations at their wedding was book art. 

One of my family traditions is to make and exchange Christmas ornaments. These little drums are made from the tops of aerosol containers...like hairspray, etc.

Yarn wrapped glass ornaments...knitting needles made from wooden skewers and wooden beads.

3-D paper star - made from left over scrapbook paper cut into 1/4" strips - 4" long. Here is the tutorial for making this star.

Well that's about all for now...I also did lots of Christmas baking of cookies and my cranberry coffee cake...and I received some very nice packages in the mail...I'll share another time. 

BLock-A-Palooza finish & more

Last week I finished quilting and binding my Block-A-Palooza quilt.  Although skeptical at first, I like the way it turned out.  It feels good to have a finish!

I like the back almost as much as the front!

And a few binding pictures...love it!

The quilting is an all over stippling.  

I also finished the flimsy of this quilt but no pictures yet. I need to sandwich and quilt it.  

In between sewing on quilts, I have a need to work on other projects whether it is stitching, knitting, crochet...These projects are hand projects that I can take in the car or relax and watch TV.  One of my latest is T-shirt yarn as mentioned in a previous post.  Here is the finished bath mat that I knitted for my D1's apartment. 

T-shirt yarn is fun to make knits up fast. Try it!

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! I'll leave with a few pictures...

P.S. Just linked up to Charming Girls' Quilt Club over at Kelly's.  Hop over to see what everyone's been up too!

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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