Personal Life Update

I have not fallen off the face of the Earth! My husband has accepted a job across the country and we are making our very first move after 11.5 years of marriage and three kids. I am a tad bit overwhelmed with sorting, arranging things, complying with the homeschool laws of a different state, selling the house and looking for a place out there. All I want to do is sew and relax but that’s on the back burner for a while. I am so excited to get settled after the move in five weeks so that I can start sewing and blogging again.

Thanks to all those who are hanging in there with me and patiently waiting for new posts. I’ll see you all in a few weeks!

A Little Break

Due to technical issues with my computer I won’t be able to upload pictures for a week or two.
I will be sewing though and I already have two finished projects to post as soon as the photo issue is resolved.
So please excuse the quiet around here for a bit and I’ll be back as soon as possible!

Retro Baby Quilt

Flashback!

I’ll be posting some things I’ve made over the last few years that used to be on my old blog. That blog is lost forever now so the pics are moving here!

 I actually made two of these quilts for my niece. She wore out the first one! I used vintage floral fabric and a black stripe border and machine quilted it. I don’t have a walking foot for my machine so the quilting turned out a bit bunchy and crooked but my niece didn’t mind one bit!

Buttons!

Anyone collect buttons? I have three big spice jars full along with a baggie of old buttons on cards. 90% of them are nothing special and 100% have no value at all except to me.

 But I love retro looking shank buttons. I also love real shell buttons and opaque buttons in 1930′s or sea glass colors.

 Looking through my buttons is sooo relaxing! I plan to make a button sampler “quilt” as a wall hanging sometime this year so I can keep my beauties on display.

Here are some of my favorites:

Recycled denim slippers

Here’s a pair I made from a pair of stretch denim shorts, sweat pant shorts and scraps from a quilted coverlet that I used for window quilts.
Materials:

And the finished slippers:

That weird looking splotch was just the camera’s imagination because it’s not on the slippers.
I’m wearing them now and they are warm and toasty and should hold up longer than simple fleece ones. Although I’ve got to say, I wore the fleece ones nearly constantly since I made them and I haven’t worn holes in them yet. I really expected that to happen within the first day or two.
Next up, mukluk/boot style slippers for the kids and hopefully tutorials for both styles.

My Sewing Space!

Imagine, if you will, a 5 ft X 8 ft corner of an eat in kitchen. Now imagine that space were occupied by 2 ceiling high shelving units, stuffed full. Imagine about a dozen large plastic totes stacked around the shelving units. Imagine cardboard boxes and gift bags and storage bags all stacked around in complete and horrible disorder.
Congrats! You have imagined the sewing space I had last year. Of course it really wasn’t so much a sewing space as a craft supply storage area. And a this and that storage area. In fact, it was just a dump zone for whatever didn’t have a home.
I spent a year purging and organizing, working on the area whenever I could. As part of a challenge at Frugal Village I managed to finish the area yesterday! (Ok, it’s 99% finished. I decided last minute that the corkboard idea wouldn’t be as handy to me as a wall mounted bookshelf and eye hooks for a hang-able clipboard. So I need to purchase and install those items.)
So, without further eloquence…Drum-roll please……..

The red unit stores lesser used kitchen appliances and gadgets. I have very few cabinets. :/

I made these two bags yesterday. they’re 12in X 24in X 24in with drawstring tops. I’m storing the clothes I keep to recycle in these.

The white cabinets are my pantry cabinets. Like I said, not enough cabinets.

I just love the view while I’m working in my space. It’s absolutely thrilling to have  everything always set up, easy to find and  coordinated! I haven’t had that since I had my own room at 14 years old.

I’m pretty happy right now. Can you tell?

2 Days Left!

I’m just two days away from my ‘deadline’ to complete work in my sewing area. As a procrastinator I can tell you that I still have much to do to meet my goal. I want this done!
As extra motivation I’ll announce here that I’ll be posting pictures of the tidy and coordinated space on August 1!
Ok, now I have to get to work…

Bookmarks

I know that everyone over the age of 5 knows how to make bookmarks but these turned out so pretty that I had to share them here!
Before:

After:

Disc Golf Accessessories Part 2

I made these washcloth sized towels from pieces of an old bath towel in my stash. I wrecked 3 grommets trying to attach the eyelets. Good thing they were free.
I made mine with a scap of coordinating fabric and hubby’s is plain.
FYI: these are tied to a disc golf bag strap and used for drying sweaty hands or wet or muddy discs during play.

My Machines!

I decided to post pictures of my machines for fun and information purposes.
I’ll list them in order of acquisition.

First is my Baldwin. My dad got this for me when I was 10-ish. It sewed a straight stitch about 25% of the time. The other times it made me practice my hand sewing techniques while my dad tinkered with it. As you can see, it needs a good cleaning.

My parents figured I should have a better machine so they gave me a new machine for my 14th birthday. This thing is a workhorse!

Third is the serger I bought last year. I was completely shocked how many stitches per second that this machine produces; it’s incredibly fast. My sewing machine is a Sunday driver comparatively!