This week is a get it done week for me. I am finishing up the handwork on Anne’s Butterfly Quilt. I want to have it done by the end of this week so I can show it to my mom who is visiting next week. I am so excited about her visit because it means that I am going to my first military ball AND I get to spend my second mother’s day with my mom. I got to spend the first one with her too. This will only make the day that much more special since my hubby, daughter, mom and dad will all be together to celebrate.
In anticipation of our move next month I have started a deep cleaning of our house. Due the the fact that we live on post and are “renters” there are very strict guidelines on the condition the house must be in when you turn your keys in. I do not want to get charged any cleaning fees so I am getting a jump start on the project. Yesterday I attacked all the mold on my windows and today I am going to work on my baseboards.
And by hookers, I am of course referring to those of you who CROCHET!
Stand up and testify: “I, Melissa D, am a hooker”. I say it with pride. My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was 7 years old. The first thing I ever made was a pot holder and it can’t hold a candle to the one my grandmother made that day (I have both). When she passed on I inherited all of her crochet hooks, plus all the hooks from a dear friend of hers. Now those hooks in addition to the ones I already had…well it was like my hook collection had followed the Lord’s Command “be fruitful and multiply”.
I have been storing them in this cute little vase, but it isn’t so convenient when I’m traveling, so I decided to whip myself up a pretty carrying case!
Happy Earth Day 2011! My parents met on the very first Earth Day back in 1970 and the rest is history! This Earth Day I have decided to share what I am doing with my craft library to lessen my carbon footprint.
I buy, read, and SAVE craft magazines, mainly for knitting but also for sewing and quilting. Three months ago I cleaned out about 1/3 of my stash and recycled a lot of my magazine. My husband and I believe that recycling is perhaps the easiest thing we can do for the earth and for our daughter Anne. It is time for me to clean out my craft magazines again in preparation for our move at the end of next month.
At least for the most part they are organized
Except the ones that are just floating around my hous
The first and most fun thing I am going to do is a magazine exchange with my bff. We will go through the magazines we both own, figure out which ones have patterns or projects we actually PLAN on doing. Those are the magazines that we will keep. The ones that do not have patterns we plan on doing we will trade with each other.
If we run across magazines that neither one of us wants then we will be donating those magazines. Here are some great places to consider donating to: your local library, your local Children’s Museum, local schools, and local art programs. All of these places usually accept all things having to do with crafting.
Here are some other fun projects that I found on the web that you can do with your magazine stash:
This is a great tutorial I found to turn your old magazines into gift bows, and I actually followed this tutorial to make hair bows for Anne when she turned one!
I made the bow, my bff made the hat and embellished the onesie!
I think this project is particularly cool because I have seen these little woven purses in boutique stores being sold for anywhere between $20 and $40. Why spend that kind of money when I can make it myself! Check out the tutorial and make good use of your stash!
This magazine bowl project is awesome and uses half of a magazine according to the tutorial. It is for a magazine bowl that can be used for just about anything that isn’t wet! I love this one because when we move I will have my very own sewing studio and I think a couple of these bowls would really bring some personality in my studio!
These magazine coasters are a quick and easy project that could easily be done with young children (just make sure that an adult is yielding the glue gun!). They are stylish looking and could easily jazz up your coffee table and keep that coffee table safe from cup rings at the same time!
This is an awesome tutorial on how to make paper beads! This idea has totally fascinated me and while I have not done any jewelry making to this point in my craft life it definitely gives me ideas if I decide to venture into that craft.
I thought these ornaments were amazing and I would love to make them myself for our Christmas Tree this year! I think they would also be beautiful strung together as a garland and depending on the color scheme you make them out of you could easily use them to decorate for other occasions as well!
So what are you waiting for?!? Get out your scissor and glue guns and get crafting!!!
How are you celebrating Earth Day? Is it a teachable moment for you and your family?
I have decided to enter into the Pillow Party that is going on over at Stitched In Color. I haven’t entered anything I have made into any kind of contest since I was 15. This is a huge leap for me, but I figured…why not?!?
As you all know I made a beautiful Butterfly Quilt for Anne. It is going to be for her new room, on her big girl bed when we move at the end of next month.
I happened to have one extra square so I made her a matching pillow too!!!
The pillow was so simple to make. I just pieced my last square together and added borders. Then I basted it together with a square of my quilt backing that I had left over, added an invisible zipper and voila! Instant Pillow!
Here are a couple more pictures with the quilt!
Back of Quilt – Front of Pillow
Front of Quilt – Back of Pillow
My inspiration for both the quilt and the pillow was the story “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. It is a book that Anne and I love to read together and I just knew she was going to love the quilt and pillow too! The first time she saw the quilt she tried to pick up the butterflies! It doesn’t have a home yet, but when we move into our new house and Anne gets her big girl bed they will both live on her bed, which I am really excited about…well not about having to already move her to a big girl bed, but definitely about getting to make her bedding!
The techniques I used to assemble the pillow were Fusible Web Applique, Machine Applique, and installing an Invisible Zipper for the pillow case itself. I have to admit I went to a couple tutorials to figure out how big my squares should be and then ignored them completely and decided to just eyeball it! I think it turned out great and Anne loves it!
So wish me luck over at the Blogger’s Pillow Party and if you have a pillow that you have made in the last three months you should consider entering it into their contest!
Is it hump day already?!? Woohoo! That means the week is almost over and Easter is just a few days away. Now that I have finished with all my Easter presents and mailed off the ones for my nieces and nephews, I am back to finishing up the Butterfly Quilt.
For those who are new to the blog, the Butterfly Quilt is the first quilt I have ever designed and it is for my daughter Anne.
Last night I worked on the free-motion quilting aspect of the quilt. It took me about 3 hours but I was able to get it done and it turned out GREAT!
I practiced a lot before I actually had the nerve to try on the quilt. Here are some pictures of my practice piece.
For some reason Blogger and Picasa are not playing nice and will not let me properly rotate my pictures 🙁
I practiced a lot before breaking out the quilt itself. I tried stencils and free motion and decided that as a novice at free-motion quilting, for this special quilt I would stick with free motion curly-cues.
Here are some pictures of finished butterflies:
I machine quilted only the butterfly outlines, not the squares that were machine appliqued and I really do love the overall effect. Next step taking off the extra backing and batting, then binding and handwork. Wish me luck!
