I Have Been Bitten.....

I have been bitten by the Pinterest bug. Sorry I haven't posted in a while....it can be addictive. I finally figured out how to link the Pinterest button onto this blog. It's in the upper right corner. Just click on it and it should take you to my Pinterests. Pinterest is sort of like a big scrapbook that you can share photos with others. It is mainly pictures with explainations of what the picture is about. I found this site to be very helpful in organizing all of my pictures that I have collected from all over the internet. I did have them stored in My Pictures file on my computer but they were not very well organized. Now they are!
Have a great day,
Holly

Autumn Fever

I love applique quilts. Last year I started the free applique quilt pattern from Bunny Hill Designs. It is so adorable. I only have one more block to finish (I believe there were 12 blocks). About 1 1/2 wks ago I started "Grandmother's Apron". It is a very adorable quilt all hand appliqued using the needle turn method. I had not tried that type of applique yet. A few years ago I used the fusible applique method and then you would stitch down the edges with a sewing machine stitch. I really didn't like the feel of this (was too stiff) or the look (you could tell it was a cheater method when you look close). With the Bunny H pattern I used the "paint on liquid starch then iron" method. I really didn't like the look of this. The applique looked too flat. I guess it was all that starch and ironing. The needle turn method is so much prettier and not as time consuming as painting the starch. It is not hard at all! I was so surprised. I thought it would be very difficult especially with the sharp corners.  

Above: Isn't this just adorable? This is a Bee in My Bonnet pattern. When I finish it I am going to hang it in my stair well and hang old kitchen utensils around it. I may even add a shelf and put some vintage kitchen stuff up there. I will show you a photo when it is finished and hung.

Above: I love the embroidery part of this quilt. It says " I remember grandma's" and the word "apron" is appliqued on the bottom (see first picture).

Above: My Hoosier. The old mixer is my grandmothers (and I just love it!!). The sifter is one I picked up at an antique mall for $6. I had been looking at them for years and didn't want to pay the normal price tag of $10-$20, so I patiently waited. The red and white pot holder is one that D#1 made when she was little, maybe 7 yrs old. It just oozes kitchy. The pastry blender and wooden butter mold/press are two more things that I purchased at the antique mall.

Above: Fall leaves on antique pie safe. See the tiny quilt. It is from the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club that I joined last year. This is the only one I made. I have, I believe, 9 more to make :) I plan on using my new/old Featherweight to sew them. See the plant in bottom left corner? Son won it during an FFA (Future Farmers of America) party. They were giving away door prizes and he won the plant. Go figure, can't imagine why they would have plants as door prizes for a bunch of high school boys. 2 liters of Mountain Dew or NOS (energy drink) would have been more up their alley. But I was tickled when he brought it home to me and said in his teenagery almost manly voice "Look what I won for you, mom." I loved it and told him that was the best door prize ever and he just kind of looked at me, not sure whether to agree (because I am is mom, therefore I am always right) or laugh (because his mom was so giddy over a dumb plant). 

Above: Buffet with Dept 56 Fall houses. This is in the Living Room to the right of the fireplace. Little Pip managed to get in the picture. She follows me everywhere and I usually crop her out or get her to move if she is in the line of fire.

Above: The mantel. Photos of family members, President Lincoln and Custer. I love vintage photos!

Above: This is the display on the other pie safe. The garland I found at Hobby L, it is lighted. Vintage bowls and vintage butter molds. The two vintage mason jars with zinc tops are from mom.

Above: My scarecrow. This year I wanted a cute authentic looking scarecrow. It is always so much trouble to fill his pants and shirt with straw or newspaper. I had Dear Hubby and Teenage Son built me a wooden "T" form for him. He has such a sweet face that the crows aren't scared of him.

Today it is very cool and Fallish feeling. It's wonderful!

So...have a great weekend and go make something crafty!!!!

Holly

My Mug Needs a Rug....

I am now into "crunch time mode". I need to mail off my craft items on Saturday to my sister in Kansas City. The Craft fair is the weekend of the 24th, so I am fast-ly approaching my deadline. My sister and her friend H, have been working so hard and planning forever for the Craft Fair booth. I know it is going to be a lot of fun!! Hopefully they can sneak in some photo ops and blog about it :)

Have you ever heard of a mug rug? No....well it's just like a place mat but smaller (mine are 9"x6"). It's a cute "place mat" for your mug of coffee, tea, cocoa, java, cup of joe, oj, dr. pepper and a nice little "pastry". So much fun and if you google "mug rug" there will be a wonderful variety of rugs. I appliqued my rugs and hand embroidered them. If you are new to mug rugs, the embroidery tells you which side is for the drink and which side is for the pastry. 

Above: The two on top have a place for the pastry and the bottom one doesn't. You can still put something to eat on that one but I just didn't designate a place for it. It was the first one that I made. I am only making these three. I have run out of time. I think that I am going to sell them in my Etsy store soon along with a crocheted mug cozy. Fun stuff!!

Above: I just love putting faces on stuff. These are not finished yet, they still need to be quilted and the binding sewn on.

Above: Remember this mystery pic? Well look below to find out what I made.

Above: Yes, a sock monkey. What's a Craft fair without a sock monkey? I had planned on making 6, but my sweet D#2 decided that she needed the socks more than I needed monkeys. I only managed to swipe 2 socks from her. The other monkey is aqua. As soon as I put a face on him, I will show him to you.

Have a wonderful day!!

Holly

What's Fair is Fair.....

I have been working on some craft fair stuff, so I have been busy, busy, busy! Sweet D#2's birthday is today, it kind of snuck up on me. We will be having her favorite dinner tonight. She requested: "Birthday Pizza", cake, ice cream and salad (mom's idea, not birthday girl's, gotta get those greens in). I will share pictures this week of her opening the gifts that we got her. D#1 won't be here tonight. Missing College classes for a Birthday party is not a good idea, even if it is your little sister's. She will help us celebrate it soon.

Anyway, here's some crafty things that I have been working on. I am not sure what to price them at, this is always the hardest part for me. I don't want to price them too high, but I don't want to price them to low.

Above: The little fabric bags. Great for storing yarn, cross stitch supplies, sewing supplies, stationary,  your latest WIP (work-in-progress), or really anything that you can think of. The first red handle bag has a crochet flower, the next bag has a yo-yo flower and the last bag (on right) has a crochet rooster-he is like a fridge magnet. So fun! I had forgotten how much I like to crochet. Maybe I need to keep one of these bags for myself to put my yarn and hooks in.

Above: The last three from left to right: 3 yo-yos, crochet granny square with a shell button in the middle and lacy rose with 3 pearls in the center. The strawberry pincushions are stuffed with wool and I have 4 more to make.

Above: Tiny little tomato pincushions. These are actually scissor fobs that double as a pincushion. The are also stuffed with wool for keeping those needles clean and rust free.

Above: The scissors fob/pincushion. A scissors fob is very useful. It "marks" your scissors. This way when you are at quilting class, sewing class, needlepoint class, sewing with sisters class, or any other type of class that involves needles, scissors, thread and fabric, you can keep up with your pair of scissors. This is especially handy if someone has the same exact pair as you do. No more going home and blaming the other sister for stealing your good pair of scissors, because she always cuts wire with hers and you definately don't want to end up with those scissors. Not that I would know anything about that......

Above: Almost finished dresden plate hot pad.

Above: What's this? Guess what I am going to make with this stuff. I'll show you as soon as I finish it/them :D

Have a wonderful day! and keep crafting!!

Holly

Ye Olde Fashion Yo-Yos!

Head on over to my other blog Prims n' Pins for a yo-yo tutorial. No fancy schmancy tool needed. Just a good old trusty needle and some strong thread and a few bits of fabric.

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and go ahead and try your hand at making a few yo-yos! They are super fun, I promise!!

Holly

I *HEART* Large Plastic Cups with Cute Coozies

I have a fun little project for today. It's a cup coozie (cozy, coozy, koozie, etc). I just love those clear plastic tumbler cups that are all the rage now. You know the ones. They look like a fast food drink cup, but are a lot more durable. I (heart) mine and use it all the time. The only down side, they are so boring to look at. I know that with some of the cups you can unscrew the top or bottom and insert pictures, scrapbook paper or cute fabric. Not mine, just a plain old cup. I needed a cup coozie. One big problem: I had a hard time finding a pattern online. It seemed that everyone started with the little paper sleeve as a pattern. I didn't have a Starbucks paper sleeve, but no problem, I would just make my own pattern. Ummmm....there is a reason that everyone uses the sleeve pattern. It took me about an hour to get my paper pattern just like I wanted it. The first pattern the top edge was too sharp and the bottom concave was to deep. The second one: the sleeve was too short and so on for the next hour. Finally, just right.

Above: I sewed strips of fabric together. I like 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" strips, but any size will do. 

Above: Here is the back. It looks very interesting.

Above: I place my pattern on top of the fabric strips and then cut around it, Adding 1/4" seam allowance. I then cut out thin cotton batting and a backing fabric.

Above: Here it is.

Above: I used 2 elastic pony tail rubber bands and 2 big red buttons to keep the coozie wrapped around the cup. If you google quilted cozy cup, there are tons  around. I liked the ones with the elastic loops that hook around the buttons. Have fun!

This particular one was a gift for a special friend. Now I am going to have to make me one. They are so cute.

Have a wonderful night,

Holly

Happy Little Plate

I have always loved the dreamy Dresden plate, but it looks so complicated. I finally couldn't resist it anymore. I have this sweet little ruler, just for making Dresden plates of all sizes. Wouldn't a little 4 1/2" Dresden plate look adorable? Well, actually the spokes are 4 1/2", the plate ends up being 11 1/2".

Above: first step: cut out wedge using ruler, then cut out 19 more using different fabrics.

Above: Then fold the top of the wedge in half and sew (the top is the longer side).

Above: I like to chain piece them, actually I chain piece all the time! It saves thread and time. Chain piecing is just a continuous running of the fabric through the machine without cutting the threads.

Above: Chain piecing. They look like tiny little flags. I then snip them apart.

Above: The one on the left has been ironed (process a) and the one on the right has been inverted and ironed (process b).

 Above: Now, after you have finished both process a and process b, it's time to join them. I started in groups of two, then after all of those were finished, I made them into groups of four and then added the fifth wedge. Now I just have to sew one group together and the other group together. Finally I sew the two groups together to make the plate!!

Above: Here she is almost finished. I am making her for a craft fair that my sis and her sweet friend will have a booth at. I am a partner, but unfortunately I am not going to be attending :( 

 Above: Look what finally arrived. My cute little Singer Featherweight, all the way from England! I finally saved up enough $$ to get her. It took me about a year of saving (not because she was so much $$ but because I was saving pennies! not really dollars, so it took about a year :)

It is very fun to sew on. I can't wait to start making my Jo Morton quilts on it or my Civil War reproduction quilts. I will be sharing all of those projects on my other blog Prims 'n Pins. That blog is sorely neglected. I am going to make a Fall resolution to start blogging on it at least once a week (?).

This weekend has been beautiful. A little cooler, maybe by 5 degrees, but I can tell Fall is in the air!!

Keep those fingers happy, go sew something,

Holly