Project of the Month - February 2013

I wanted an easier project this month that my daughter could help me with.We made a trip to Michaels and did a little wandering through the store until we found something that caught our eye.

Here are the supplies that we picked up. All the supplies were on sale the day we were there. It cost us approximately $15 for everything to make both kinds of barrettes.

We used a glue gun, a pair of scissors and some small pliers to make these cool barrettes!

The pinwheel ones with the butterflies are for my daughter. We used hot glue to glue the clips to the backs and the butterflies to the center of the ribbon pinwheels.

The beaded barrettes are for me and I made a set to give as a gift. I glued the set of beads, strung on a nylon string, directly to the barrette.

They all turned out really great and my daughter and I had a wonderful time doing these quick and easy projects together.

Mason Jar Pin Cushions

 

 I have wanted to try a project like this for quite awhile but have always used my canning/ mason jars for making jams and preserves and never had any jars to spare.

I was gifted 2 boxes of old canning jars without lids. The jars were in great shape and I figured that they would be perfect to finally make this project. I found some lids with the centre seals for the jars at a local hardware store.

I also wanted to make a thank you gift for the ladies of the Rimbey International Historical Quilters Guild. They hand quilted a quilt for me and I wanted to give them a little something to let them know how much I appreciated it. I filled the jars with little chocolate bars from the local wholesale club. They looked great and made a wonderful gift. All the recipients were thrilled!

Click on the link for materials and instructions to make your own Mason Jar Pin Cushion

Project of the Month - April 2012

I was searching for projects for my friend who had a baby last summer. We both have extensive collections of fabric scraps and we were looking for something simple to make as a scrap buster project and that would be fun for the baby to play with.

I found this great tutorial for Fabric Beach Balls from The Purl Bee. We thought it would be a fabulous project and we were right!

I made 3 medium sized Fabric Beach Balls out of various fabrics that I had in my stash. It took about an hour for me to make all 3 balls, including cutting & stuffing time. My daughter helped me put the stuffing in and she had lots of fun making sure that they were the perfect shape and size.
I did leave off the fabric circles on both sides. I liked the way the intersecting seams looked.
The tutorial was simple and easy to follow. I think I will make them again the next time I need a baby gift for someone!

 

Project of the Month - February 2012

This is a quick and easy project of the month for February. 

We went to visit my husbands family over the holidays and I was inspired by a project that my sister-in-law had completed during the summer.
 

She bought the pattern in a quilt shop in Saskatchewan and made both the 24” and the 18” gum drop pillows. She showed me the 18” pillow that she made in a 2 decor weight fabrics in pinks & greens, a floral print & a plaid stripe print. The pillow was gorgeous and seemed very durable as well. The kids had a lot of fun jumping on it and playing with it. The 18” pillow is the perfect size for a chair for kids or a footstool for adults.

 

I promised that I would make one for my daughter as soon as we got home. It was a very fast project - about 60 minutes from start to finish. The pattern was very clear and easy to follow. It was a great project - very fun and easy to do. I can see me making more of these as gifts for friends and family.

I used a paisley corduroy fabric that my daughter picked out. We made it a family project and my daughter help me put the stuffing in it. We used a whole bag of stuffing that we bought from Wal-Mart.

 

The info on the pattern is on Amy Butler’s website and it is available to purchase on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Butler-Pillows-Ottoman-Cushion/dp/B001762PUY

You can also buy it at independent quilt & Etsy shops. Check Amy Butler’s site for Where to Buy information.

 

Placemat Cosmetic Bag

I love it when I find something great and get that bolt of inspiration that fuels me and keeps me creating.


I was wandering around a shop in town and saw these fabulous placemats. It was love at first sight, but we don’t use placemats on our kitchen table. Instead, I had a vision of something fabulous and useful instead, a new cosmetic bag. My old one has been with me for more years than I can remember and is in a very sorry state. It needed replacement and I was inspired - what a great combination!

I bought several placemats made with all kinds of different fabrics and interfacing. I found the easiest ones to work with had lighter interfacing in them, otherwise it makes it too hard to get the zipper in.


Here is an easy tutorial to make your own cosmetic bag from a placemat. 
Placemat Cosmetic Bag Tutorial

Leave a comment & let me know how yours turns out.


If you love the way they look but do not want to make your own they can be purchased in my Etsy shop too.

Personalized Applique Bath Towel or Beach Towel

My daughter was invited to a birthday party for a friend of hers this weekend – a little boy.

She wanted to get him a present that she knew he would love and something that was unique and “special just for him”

Something that he would love – no problem – he LOVES Thomas the Train so she picked out a train for him.

Something unique and “special just for him” was a little tougher to find so I turned to my sewing machine and made a personalized bath towel. I made several of these towels last year for my daughter and some of her other friends. I figured out how to do them based on trial and error. There were quite a few errors before I got it right!!

These personalized towels are great to take to the beach, swimming lessons and on holidays. You always know which towel is yours at a glance.

This is an especially great gift for those people with unique names.

Depending on your choice of towel and fabric these can also be a very economical gift. They do take time but supplies are not very costly and should be easy to find. Make your fabric choices based on the person the towel is for, OR use it as a stash buster project and use up what you have on hand. The small amount of fabric needed makes it pretty easy to do both.

My daughter picked out the fabric for each of the letters in this example and kept me company while I sewed it. She was very excited to give her friend a special, personalized gift and she said that he was very excited to receive something with his name on it.

Here is a quick and easy tutorial on how to make a personalized appliqué bath towel.

Supplies:

1 bath towel (We used a large bath sheet but you can use whatever size you want)

HeatnBond iron on adhesive

Assorted cotton fabric scraps for letters 

             (You can experiment with different types of fabric if you want, BUT cotton washes really well)

Scissors, pins, iron, marking pen & thread

Decide what size and type of letters you want – I photocopied some from an old craft book I had at home. You can draw some freehand or find a template on the internet to use.It is easier to sew larger block style letters than small, swirly ones!

Cut pieces of fabric slightly larger than the size of the letters you want to use. I cut my pieces in squares.

Follow the instructions on the HeatnBond to attach the fabric pieces to it.

Basically, arrange the fabric pieces, right side up on the HeatnBond. Run your iron over them to activate the adhesive on one side. 

Once the pieces are all secured to the HeatnBond – trace your letters onto the fabric and cut them out.

Lay the towel out and find the middle. Mark it with a pin so you know where it is. 

This name had 6 letters. I positioned the letters 4” from the top of the towel, with 3 letters on each side of the centre line. I put these letters all in a straight line but you can space yours out any way you want. Make them wavy, diagonal, curved, whichever way you want.

Once you have the spacing figured out, peel the back off the letters. Recheck your spacing to make sure that it is just the way you want it.

Iron the letters to the towel. Make sure that they stick well so that it will be easier for you to sew. If you don't secure them well here they will move when you begin sewing around them.

Once all the letters are ironed down your towel should look something like this.

The next step is to stitch around each letter to seal the raw edges and make the letters stand out a bit. 

It is best to go slowly to make sure that the stitches are even and neat.

This is the time consuming part, especially if the name is a longer one. 

I use a basic zigzag stitch with a stitch length of 2.5, and stitch spacing of 1.0. On my machine it makes a very nice satin stitch. I recommend you try a few test runs to get the setting right BEFORE you start stitching on the towel. 

Stitch slowly around each letter, covering up all the exposed edges.  

Once all the letters are stitched around, clip any loose threads and VOILA!!!

Here is the finished towel.