I heart fabric wreaths

Is anyone else missing Christmas? Everything looks so bare, and I miss holiday crafting. Up next on the calendar for things-we-can-decorate-for is Singles Awareness Day. Er.....Valentines Day. I say that jokingly. I heart Valentines Day (see what I did there?). I know it's supposed to be a manufactured Hallmark holiday and blah blah blah...I might agree with that if the colors were anything other than red and pink. If it was purple and gray or something I'd be all "Meh. Whatever."  But it's pink and red. And white. And there's usually sparkles involved. I always felt my mother should decorate for this day with the same vigor as she does Christmas, but I'm willing to admit this is unrealistic overkill.

Sheesh, I'm rambling. One of my favorite things I've seen and made recently is the tied fabric wreath. Easy, pretty, and simple to customize according to taste and decor. So that's what my first craft is for the holiday. I started off with this:

A 10 inch hoop (as I couldn't find a heart that wasn't Styrofoam), some plain wooden hearts (as I couldn't find something to hang in the center of the wreath that I liked), and 3 half-yard cuts of fabric.

I cut the fabric from selvage to selvage in one and a half inch strips. I then cut those strips into 7-inch lengths (though I'm thinking 8 inches might have been better). I used my rotary pinker to minimize fraying. And then I just tied and tied and tied. Then I smooshed and tied and smooshed and tied until I couldn't squeeze a single thing more on that hoop. I could have left off some of the strips but I was determined to use each and every one of them.

I was hoping to find a cute decorative thing to hang, but I have not been able to find a single thing that I liked or that matched just right. I asked sister Alicia to paint me a heart to hang instead. She did a double-sided heart, and I can't decide which I like better:

So then I put it all together, and this is now on the front door:

From a bit further away it almost looks like a flowered wreath the way the colors kind of meld together, but closer you can see that it's not.

This is so easy to make and I think it's so adorable that I want to make one for everything. Have a few more looks:

And that, said Bee, is that.

Have a swell Monday :)

A place for everything...

Every year around this time I get this overwhelming feeling of "Oh I have way too much stuff! I must purge!" Last year I was very successful at this, and I hope the boxes and boxes I gave away have found good homes. This year, however, my fabric stash was preying on my mind. I tried to organize it doing the old fold and stack method, but I never wanted to touch it for fear of toppling it, so I just kept adding to it. I don't know why, but I was getting this overwhelming feeling of "Gah!!! What am I going to DO with it all?" and so I avoided it.

Now, I don't have a sewing room. My stash is mainly on some shelves in the spare bedroom. And in a big plastic storage tote. And in some dresser drawers. Or, I should say, WAS. A few weeks ago, I read a stash-changing post here. And this past snowy Saturday I made a thermos of tea and committed myself to organization.

I had myself a grand old time (fabric addicts will understand, others will quietly mumble "Weirdo." That's ok--I get that). There was something soothing about unfolding and refolding my fabric and making mini-bolts and pretty little stacks of things. My mumsy helped me for a bit (she feigned excitement nicely) and my sister helped with comments like "What are you going to do with it all? What possessed you to buy all this? Did you ever even use most of these? You could totally sell this." All valid comments, but lacking in fabric addiction understanding.

So here are my pictures--these are taken after I bagged up of a lot of things that I will never, ever use and don't even know why I bought. My stash that seemed overwhelming now seems manageable and more inspirational. My stash was minuscule in comparison to some I have seen, but there was enough to make me realize I'd better start using some of it. ANYway, here you go:

I tried to organize more by color but I have several that don't fit anywhere. On these bolts are cuts a half yard and above. I taped the ends with blue painter's tape and wrote the length on that.

 This is my "sizable scrap" box. It holds fat quarters and odd large cuts of fabric. With most of these there is enough to make some decent sized items, but it would have been ridiculous to waste a board on them.

This big bin holds things that I have patchwork ideas for. It's almost full so I'd better get moving.

 This one holds zippers. And nothing else. There must be almost 100 in here of every color. I will probably never use these in my lifetime but will buy more anyway. Because of every color I have I am lacking in black and white, the two I use most.

 The pink bucket holds all of my sets of wooden and plastic bag handles. I can't take anything out though, because if I take one out it's all coming out there are so many in there. The jars in front hold buttons, assorted D-rings and bolt snap hooks and lanyard hooks.

 You may think this one holds plastic bags, but it holds an obscene amount of magnetic snaps (seriously, what is WRONG with me?) as well as oodles of purse frames, both straight and curvy. I'm keeping them wrapped so they don't scratched so it's not the greatest shot, but trust me. It's embarrassing.

So there you have it. I seriously got rid of so much that I think it'd have taken me an extra day if I hadn't. The only other spot I have fabric is in that big plastic storage tote--it's home dec type stuff and some bits of flannel and linen that are still of a usable size but didn't fit with the rest of my cottons.

I seriously feel much less overwhelmed with it all. It's easy now to scan what I have and have an idea of how much there is. It's easier to try and pair things up because everything is accessible. And it beats the landfill-sized pile of plastic bags that half the stuff was in, as well as the leaning fabric towers I had constructed.

Over Christmas I organized my sewing corner. I bought one of these wheeled-drawer plastic thingees and put everything from my sewing table in there. The bottom drawer is all patterns. The top drawer is threads, bobbins, machine feet, and other things I want quick access to. The middle drawer are things I use fairly frequently but can be a bit more buried. I have so much more room on the table now and there aren't a gazillion boxes and bags overflowing with stuff.

I feel so much better now that everything is in its place that it's almost like that feeling you got after you gave a speech in history class or something and realized you were all done with that angst-inducing experience.

Happy Friday!

Vanilla with a splash of color

There is a blanket of white outside right now. It snowed all night, but didn't leave us with a huge amount of snow (I have mixed feelings about this). I love looking out the window when snow is covering everything, making it all look pretty. But, because I'm me, I like to liven up plain old white with color, so here you go (click the photos to go to the host site):

I'm oddly excited that this is Pantone's color of the year. I love this shade of pink! And I've got a good bit of it or something similar in my stash....

How adorable are these cake cup flowers with lollipop centers from Skip to My Lou? 

An Amy Butler 'Soul Blossoms' quilt from Red Pepper Quilts. For some reason I see her fabrics and am not in love...but then I see things made out of it and think "I want that fabric!"

I had to fight with myself at the craft store yesteray not to buy pom-poms like these...seriously (from Noodlehead).

I have no idea what I'd do with the things made from this book, but I want it anyway because it's flipping adorable.

Hope you're all staying warm. There is snow on the ground in 49 states (Florida being the only hold-out). Even Hawaii has it!! Pretty cool.

One Second Needles

Have you darlings seen this? Someone at work was telling me about it and graciously sent me the link. I don't do much hand sewing as we don't get along, but for those who do quick sewing jobs (buttons, hems, etc.) or (GASP!!) hand quilting, this might be a nifty little gadget (especially if you're like my mom who's been known to say "If someone threads the needle for me...").

A couple o' clutches

On my "to-make" list for some time have been these gathered clutches from Anna over at Noodlehead. They're cute and easy, and don't take much fabric or time to put together. They're essentially an amped-up version of the classic zippered pouch, so if you've made one of those you can easily make these.

I had bought a roll of fat-eighths at Joann's months and months ago; they were perfect for this project as they were already coordinated and would match no matter which I chose to use. Otherwise you need about 2 fat quarters (but you have plenty left over--that's why I think it's a great scrap project). Anyway, here's the first one I came up with (and it's pink so yay!):

The busy fabric conceals the gathers a little bit so here's a major close-up:

And here's the inside:

I think it took me longer to cut everything out than it did to sew this together. It would be a great thing to make for a gift in a pinch, and if you buy the pattern instead of using the tutorial you get a few extra tips and a limited commercial license to sell (and the price was so reasonable I couldn't not do it. I know, double negative. I'm tired. Forgive me.)

So then I decided to do the flip version of this and make the background flat and ruffle the strip (so I could use my ruffler of course. It was the idea I had that I mentioned at the end of this post--very creative, I know. I hope I didn't blow your mind with that one). I don't think I'm pleased with the results. I love the main fabric I used, but I don't think it's a fabric issue. I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm not sure if I should have gone for a looser ruffle, or a less dominating color than red, or what exactly it is. Look:

See what I mean? It's cute and there's not a thing wrong with it, but there's an...offness to it. I love the yellow and red fabric, but I think my flip-it version falls a little short on the cuteness scale.

If you could leave me a comment with some raw honesty I would much appreciate your thoughts on this one. For easy comparison here's one final shot:

Thanks, lovelies! Have a good Monday (as though my saying it is going to make it happen, right? Ugh. I hate Mondays). Ta for now!

When it matryoshkas it pours

Have I professed my love of Russian nesting dolls to you before? I know I showed you the stall at the Christmas Village, but I'm not sure if I told you that I adore them. Because I do. I have no idea where this love comes from. I remember being about sevenish years old and sitting in the waiting room at the dentist's office (or was it the eye doctor?) with my older brother, waiting for my mom to be finished with her check-up. There was a man and a woman and their young son waiting as well. It's fuzzy with time, but I seem to remember a sort of "ethnic-ness" about them (perhaps they were Orthodox Jews? I don't know). This boy was sitting there playing with a set of nesting dolls. And oh, how I wanted them! I wanted to unnest them and line their painted bodies up perfectly, and arrange them as though they were having a family portrait taken. In my mind, all I had to do was say to this unknown boy "Those are really neat" or something similar, and he would give them to me. So I said it--and his mother sort of clucked to him and told him in some language to come sit with her (I assume that's what she said because that's what he promptly did). I remember thinking how rude it was that she wouldn't tell her son to give this strange girl his toy. Isn't the kid brain funny? Or was it just me? Probably just me.

Anyhoodle, my mother gave me a set of these dolls for Christmas. I was just like the proverbial kid who gets the most amazing toy and plays with the box instead. What can I say--I was probably a deprived child. No, I wasn't. I'm just a nerd. Our tree is still up and I wanted to play with blurry backgrounds and I didn't want to wait until the weekend for sunlight to take these photos because it's supposed to snow anyway so the light wouldn't have been that great so that's why they're kind of low-lit, but I like how they look with the colored orbs in the background anyway. Got that?

So not only are they nesting dolls, they're nesting dolls who are yarn-crafting. Come. On. Adorable!!!

As if that's not enough...I returned to work on Monday from my long vacation. My friend tells me she has a surprise to give me at lunch. I go downstairs and she's telling me that I'll never guess what it is. She was right--I thought she found some novelty fabric or candy or something, but nope. Turns out SHE went to the Village with her husband and  bought me a set, too!

And is there anything cuter than a penguin? Other than my dog, of course...and my nephew.

It's like my own weirdo version of The Brady Bunch:

And if the kids get out of hand you just...take off your head and put them all inside. Easy clean-up!

 Now I can officially say I collect these. Because I bought this one on my mountain trip in the summer:

These definitely do NOT have the craftsmanship of the others but they're still cute.

I fight with myself to not stock up on these (I'm trying to decrease my stash):

 

 All images from Super Buzzy

Don't you just love when your favorite things are given to you by your favorite people?

Coastering into the new year

Hello, dears. I'm still a little "Whaaaaaaat?" that the holidays are over. Everything is packed away but the tree and it's almost like it never happened. My computer tried to commit suicide on New Year's Eve, but my lovely brother in law Matt (who says I never mention his name on here but now I have, so there!) is quite the tech geek (and I do mean that in the best way because I was near tears) and was able to pinpoint the problem for me from some mumbo-jumbo on my screen. A few new memory cards (and some $$$$$ later) and I'm back in action. Not a happy feeling when it happens, but a delightful one when all is well again.

ANYway, I did a wee bit of sewing (other than making ruffly strips of nothing) this break. Flossie Teacakes posted some time ago an adorable little tutorial for quilted coasters. They seemed the perfect project for when you want to make something quick and easy. So I had myself a go at them. The fabric combos worked better in my head, and I had to switch to a walking foot and eyeball my measurements because the 1/4 inch foot was making everything smoosh, but they were fun to make. I'm going to force you to look at them now:

The red washes it out a little too much but I still like the contrast.

 And they're reversible if you like the other side better.

 It looks poofy and bumpy but they're actually quite even and won't tip your drink over.

 I like how the stitching is more subtle on this one.

I used spray fabric adhesive for these, which was much nicer than pins on such a small project. The fold-over binding is very easy, but I should have hand-stitched instead of machine for a more precise look. But they were quick and easy and satisfying--which is just what I was looking for on a dreary afternoon. I am really in love with the square-spiral quilting, and it's great for using up some larger scraps.

That's all I've got for now. Very exciting, I know. Have a lovely week! It's back to normal for me (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Cheers!