Closet cleaning

I really should clean out the closet more often. I found all kinds on terrific stuff in there. I also found a bunch of junk I have no idea why I didn't just throw it always instead of storing it in the closet. This closet is one I hardly ever go into so many things got stored there and forgot about. Since my church is having a free yard sale I thought is was a good opportunity to clean this closet and get rid of some craft supplies that I am never going to use. All my kids are grown so I know I will not be doing Boy Scouts or 4H again. I was able to clear out a huge pile of stuff to take to the yard sale and I hauled about 4 huge garbage bags of junk to the trash can. I still have some more work to do there but I wanted to share my finds. I did not know I had these things. I think they belonged to my grandmother. I found about 25 vintage crochet and knitting books from the 40's and 50's. These are a few of my favorites. The red book in the front is much older than 1940's but I couldn't find a date on it. I want to try some of the pot holders and gifts. Some aprons and table mats and these cute tumbler jackets.

This book is from 1975 and it has the cutest

things in it. My favorite is the Ribbon skirt. I am going to try this for sure. I saw a Lily Pulitzer dress made out of ribbons like this.

And check out this beer can hat. Who can I make this for?

I love this bird design. This would be so cute on a towel or an apron. I will think of something to put this on.

Shopping and friends

I had the best time shopping with my friend Mary on Saturday. After getting something to eat we hit the local Antique Mall. It is more like a thrift store than antique store but sometimes you can find some treasures. Mary and I each found some buttons and we both think they are treasures. I found 3 plastic bags of buttons and Mary found one large bag. One of my bags had the buttons on cards another had many old shirt buttons and mother of pearl buttons and a rather large wooden button that looks much like an egg. The last one had some old coat buttons and one partial card of white buttons and some old hook

and eyes. And I almost forgot about the lovely crochet gloves I found. Aren't they pretty. Maybe my daughter will wear them to her next dance. (not)

So I need to clean up the buttons a bit most of the loose ones have the thread from whatever garment they came from still attached. I am thinking I may do some kind of button art for Christmas with the white buttons. Maybe a button wreath or a heart. Now if I ever get that accomplished is another story.

After the Antique Mall we went to The Goodwill Store. Not much to find there but we each came out with a couple of books. I bought 2 books, Quilts, Patchworks, and Samplers and Guideposts Christmas Celebrations. The Christmas book has a couple of angel crafts inside. I joined a swap over at http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=319590.0;topicseen for Christmas Stocking. My partner is a big angel fan so I thought these angels would be something I could craft for her.

Next we headed over to Tuesday Morning. They just opened about a month ago and I had not had a chance to check it out yet. They always have some wonderful things to look at in there. I picked up a bunch of beads, two knitting books , a crochet book, and a book on beading. I got some very pretty point protectors for my knitting needles and a whole bunch of thimbles. I also bought a set of clear letter stamps and little ink pads. I am just getting started in stamping. Actually I haven't done anything with it yet except buy the supplies. That is the way a lot of my crafting goes. I wasn't going to take a picture of my books but my camera decided to take them anyways and the surprise picture wasn't that bad at least as good as the one I try to take. Picture taking is not really something I am very skilled at. The books are The Yarn Girls Guide To Knits For All Seasons, Pretty Knits, Hooked On Crochet, and Quick and Clever Beading. How could a person resist getting those titles.

Next stop was Joanns Fabrics were I picked up several button cards for 25 cents each. And they had Butterick patterns for 99 cents so I got one for a tunic top 5390. And Vogue Patterns were $3.99 so I bought 8273 a handbag pattern.

After that we had to have some ice cream so we stopped at The Old Towne Creamery for a treat. All in all I would say it was a very good day. We had a blast.

Honey buns and jelly rolls

I received my order from http://www.fatquartershop.com/ the other day. I just love those cute little jelly rolls and honey buns. They come wrapped up so cute I don't want to unroll them to see the fabrics. Well I got 2 of the honey buns called Wonderland and the fabrics are adorable and I couldn't resist opening one up. As soon as I opened it I wanted to make something out of it. I found a free tutorial for a sweet little bag. http://www.fatquartershop.com/Free-Quilt-Patterns/files/fp_sweet-treat-bag.pdf I decided I needed to whip one of these babies up. You can make 4 bags out of one honey bun and they are all lined and enclosed by machine. This is my kind of project quick and easy. And they are oh so cute too. These would make a great gift.

Grosgrain: Poppy Boutonniere Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

Here is a lovely poppy boutonniere tutorial at Grosgrain. I must try this. Grosgrain: Poppy Boutonniere Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

Goodwill sewing box

I found this sewing box at The Goodwill Store a few weeks ago. I thought it was a treasure at least I like several things that were inside. I love finding someones full sewing box and seeing what is inside that someone saved. The box itself doesn't really appeal to me as much as what is inside. Although the box is kind of cute. It is made of twisted straw and some kind of pale pink plastic and it has little pink wooden beads for feet. The inside is pink satin with a pin cushion lid and a clear plastic tray on top. And there were all kinds of goodies inside. I got everything for $5.00 what a deal.

Inside was a few pieces of lace and several hand sewing needle books and a couple of packages of machine needle, several snap cards and some hook and eye cards and a pink metal teeth zipper as well as a blue one.

My personal favorites inside were a little embroidery hoop and some very tiny mother of pearl buttons on tiny cards they look to be old. And to add to my collection of wooden spools this box had 3 of them inside. I also love the little plastic ruler with advertising on it. Back in the day companies gave away sewing notions to advertise their business. The 2 plastic thimbles inside the embroidery hoop were inside the sewing box. They both have adds on them too. The other ones outside the hoop are ones I had collected in the past. The 3 closest to the hoop are plastic advertising thimbles. The one in the front is silver and the second one from the front is bronze maybe. The 2 in the back are newer but I really don't remember where I got them. I do use a thimble for all my hand sewing. I think they are a great sewing aid they really help guide your needle. I also like just collecting them as they don't take up much space and they are not expensive. I prefer the silver ones to use for hand sewing as the plastic thimbles are to thick and the newer ones make your finger all sweaty. The silver thimbles just have a nice feel to them and they don't make your finger sweat. So these are some things I like and they make me happy to see them.

Using every scrap

I picked up this quilt pattern Off Your Rocker Wacky Log Cabin Quilt from Carolina Patchworks. I wanted to make a queen sized quilt which need 49 coordinating fat quarters. I had 2 collections in my stash one with 20 fats and the other with 24. My daughter gave them to me for Christmas. I just had to find a few more in my regular stash and I came up with 50 that went together well enough for the quilt. I really don't do very much quilting but I like these stack and whack quilts because they go together relatively quickly for a quilt. I also love the idea that this was wacky and nothing had to be precise and it had a nice scrappy look to it. Well the quilt top is finished I just have to decide how to quilt it and finish it.
Since the quilt used 18 inch squares and fat quarters are usually 18" X 22" I had fifty 3 to 4 inch strips left over plus all the pieces I trimmed while making the quilt top. I was determined to use every scrap so here is what I came up with. First I used the trimming to stuff a pin cushion. I thought this worked well because it made the pin cushion weigh more than with just fiberfill. I like a weightier pin cushion.

First I made an apron that used 24 of the strips for the skirt and 4 more for the waistband and ties. I cut wedges about 3 inches on the bottom and 1 1/2 inch on the top to make the skirt flair out a bit. I lined it with some fabric left over from another project. I love the way it turned out even though I prefer an apron with a bib too because well I just need more coverage.

















To use up the rest of the strips I made 2 pillows. The round one used half of 16 strips and some more of the leftover brown fabric I used to line my apron. Lastly I used the rest of the strips to make the rectangle pillow. Now all I have to do is finish the quilt and use it and the pillows on my bed. The apron will be used in the kitchen as I haven't yet found a use for an apron in the bedroom.

A couple of new tops

I am getting ready for the fall weather with some new tops with sleeves. This orange dottie one is Simplicity 2690. When I had it finished I thought it looked sort of clownish because of all the dots. But when I put it on I think I like it. I know I like the pattern in general and will probably try another one in solid or more toned down print.

This is New Look 6702 view B. This was quick and easy out of jersey knit. It was a bit to low cut for me so I sewed up more of the front opening above the twist. Now I feel like I can wear it in public,

This one is a tunic style made out of a silky polyester ethnic print fabric. The pattern includes a pair of pants that I made but didn't take a picture of. They fit well and they are a slim cut pant with a side zipper. The pattern is Simplicity 2816 it includes a dress which is a longer version on the tunic that I made, a short jacket and a long jacket. I am considering the long jacket as a project for the future.

contest giveaways

I just came across this quilt site tonight and I definitely want to spend some more time there. There are several give aways here http://needlelittleinspiration.blogspot.com/. Go and check it out.