Halloween Goodies

Starting to get in the mood for the holidays.

Decided I wanted to make some Halloween jewelry.

And these are what I ended up making.

Then I spent the next day sorting, organizing and putting away the supplies.

Obviously it was much needed!

After finishing with the jewelry

 I made up a few fun fans.

More on these to come.

Place Mats (or making a daughter smile)

Completed.

The last of the kitchen accessories requested by my daughter.

I told her I would make these quilted place mats

but would need to machine quilt them

with straight lines.

No fancy machine quilting here.

But when it came down to it

I could not put straight lines on these lovely swirls!

So I designed a quilting pattern

and made a template

And this is how it came out...

 

This backing is actually black but the flash washed it out.

And this is a close-up so only a corner.

I much prefer doing hand quilting on a hoop/frame

 but did not have anything to accommodate this size

 and had put enough time into this project.

Not to mention it is not easy with Carpal Tunnel.

Besides as you can see

the quilting really doesn't show on the front.

But she will be happy.

And that is what a mother wants most.

Cause for Paws

This past Friday I stopped by my local quilt shop

to help support a fundraiser for

a no kill animal shelter.

Last year they raised more than $20,000.00

from selling donated fabric postcards

sent from people all around the world.

The shop provided the machines and all materials.

All I brought was a little of my time.

Literally!

Because I had never made these before.

I had never sewn on any of these new machines.

So this was a win win win for everyone.

Wish I would have had more time.

Maybe next year...

Then again maybe I will make up a few during the year

to bring with me next time.

Now that I know how.

But here is what mine looked like.

Not terrific photos but hey, aren't cell phones wonderful little gadgets?

A Fan for August

My daughter is thinking of having some friends over one evening and we have been crafting for that.  One of the projects that I took on was fans.  Now the original pattern I could not get to work with the supplies I had so I came up with one of these old style fans.

It was easiest to make the front and back the same but in the middle of one I ran out of adhesive in the Xyron and since I did not have any paper to spare with that pattern I used another for the back of one.

It would be easy to add a sticker to personalize it for particular events.

In fact when my future daughter-in-law spotted these in progress

she made the same connection and went home and whipped up a box full,

to be used somehow for the wedding.

The wedding will be in March so they have to be for decoration not to keep cool. 

At any rate a quick and easy and fun little project.

Caught in the act

I keep finding things knocked over in my yard

and have long suspected that my poor dog

was being framed.

Well, today I caught the culprit in the act.

His buddies were having no part in this.

I guess I better not let the feeder run out next time

so he won't be so ornery!

Fidget Quilt

Recently I learned about Fidget Quilts.

Simple lap quilts with do dads added,

which are appealing to the fingers of dementia patients 

as well as victims of stroke and head injuries.

I was so excited I got out my stash and whipped up this top:

Then I added some texture with beads and fringe and crochet.

A little ribbon and bias tape.

And of course tied it using buttons.

I am going to give it to my mother. 

I hope it will occupy her fingers.

I cannot imagine what it must be like to forget how to crochet.

It isn't the best work I have ever done and I like to hand quilt but I had a deadline

and imagine she won't mind.

New blue tropical blouse

Finished this blouse yesterday.

I try really hard to keep saturdays mostly for me.

Sometimes I just nap and read.

Sometimes I sew.

I try to sew as normally I enjoy it and find it relaxing,

plus I often end up with something to wear.

I love this fabric.

Most tropical prints are green based and green is not often a good color for me.

So this fabric was a treat to find but took me a year to make the time to sew it.

Now more than ever I am dreaming/wishing for a new sewing machine.

I need one that makes good button holes!

I want one that does some embroidery!

Mine is over 40 years old and while it has the cams for the decorative stitches,

it is so out of whack that I cannot use them.

Yes, taking it in for adjustments might fix that.

But it has never made good buttonholes.

I decided after this project that a new machine has gone from the realm of want

to the realm of need.

Does anyone have a machine that they love or hate?

Any suggestions?

Plarn Day

Yesterday was the first Remembrance Run locally, hosted by the Coast Guard.

It was an incredible tribute to fallen Coasties

and a terrific fundraiser for those spouses and children.

My family and many friends were happy to join them  and look forward to next year!

One of my daughter's friends, who remembers my late husband, even flew in from Chicago for the weekend to join us in this event.

Knowing we like to craft she mentioned wanting to learn to crochet using plastic bags to make mats to donate to the homeless to go under their bedding.  

Makes great sense to form a moisture barrier and the materials are free.

Well, I had heard of this and even filed away some directions and patterns for bags so today before her flight left I went over to my daughter's house and taught her how to crochet.

Here are the plastic bags being cut into strips...

Here you can see where the strips, which of course are actually loops now

are knotted together to form plastic yarn or plarn.

The plarn has then been wound into a ball and the lesson began.

She is a very quick study!

Meg got a great start to her first mat and we sent her off to security assuring her they would allow a large ball of plarn and a plastic crochet hook!  

(I sure hope we were right)

What fun!

I got to 'hook' a new crocheter, try out a 'new' material, and who knows how many homeless will benefit all from one fun filled couple of hours!

So what did you do for Armed Forces Day/weekend?

Accessories

After I finished the latest outfit here,

I decided I needed a bracelet to match and had been wanting to try out one I had seen so...

I bought some dark green beads but the holes were too small.

I went back and bought some light green beads that worked just fine.

The bracelet was so fun once I got the hang of it that I just had to make a couple more.

At that point they just called out for some earrings to match.

That involved getting out some jewelry findings and tools that I had to pack away

a couple of years ago when I closed my jewelry business.   Long story short version, I had to clean the garage to get to the boxes I needed!

Fortunately we have been enjoying the very best (read - record breaking low temperatures) weather in our area so it was actually a pleasant job and I am enjoying the results of that as much as I am the new jewelry!  

Inexpensive beads, leather lacing and buttonhole thread combined with some buttons from the old button jar and bits and pieces from the jewelry supply boxes and I have some fun new accessories to wear with my new outfit.

  (The blue set will work well with the next top set I am making)

These have been a long time in the works with other projects intervening but worth the wait.

Getting popular

I had another visitor on the fence this afternoon.

I haven't seen many cats in quite awhile but all these birds and squirrels are very fascinating.

She is a pretty thing but my dog really was not amused and definitely not intimidated!

I am enjoying all my company this spring.