Anyone Can Quilt

Bunting and buffet....and more fabric...no kidding.

I finished something!  I started painting this buffet a few months ago.  I took off the doors, sanded it, and primed it.  Then it sat.  And sat.  Sat sat sat.  So this weekend I decided to put on my big girl panties and finish it! 

Now take a close gander and see what else I have to finish.  The wall is painted 3/4 of the way up.  The paint has been stripped from the window sill.  See at the bottom of the wall there?  Yup, the baseboard is missing.  We are in the slow 'do it yourself' process of renovating our little home.  It's a small craftsman cottage, built in 1934.  I love my house.  I don't love renovations.  But we are making slow and steady progress.  We have refinished all of the floors, my husband has replaced all of the electrical wiring and plumbing.  He also gutted and rebuilt the bathroom and kitchen.  They are now beautiful.  I really wish I could have seen the original kitchen.  When we moved in it was an unfortunate 1970's type remodel.  And not in a good way.  Anyhoo, this is a little nook inbetween the living room and the kitchen.  Mr. Precious has claimed his sunny spot. 

It's too bright!!  Look at his eyes.  Doesn't he look eeeeeevil? 

His kitty feet don't look evil.  I love kitty feet.  Except when they track kitty litter onto my couch. 

A view from the living room.  The blinds in the living room were closed so it looks super dark in there.  But the nook is shining!  Here is the bunting I made for my little K's birthday.  We decided to leave it up for the summer.

And now my dear friends.  I'm just going to lay it all out here for ya.  Prepare yourselves.

If you've made it this far without throwing up....I thank you.  I'm about to put you over the edge. 

Yes, these are bolts.  Please forgive me, I know not what I do.  Let's all stop what we're doing and have a moment of silence...... I feel better don't you!?  Now, I'd like to share the pain.  So I think a giveaway is in order!  Come on, everybody's doing it!  So please say hello in the comments section and I'll enter you to win a stack of lovely Amy Butler fat quarters from this stack of bolts.  I'll give you all a couple of days and choose a winner on Thursday morning.  Now go out and buy some more fabric for your stash, it'll make me feel better. x

It's a tea cozy!

So sorry this post took so long by the way....  But here it is!  I kept changing my mind about what to do with my little yo-yos.  I really thought a little cushion would be sweet, and I started sketching.  My yo-yos became little teapots, so I decided a tea cozy was in order!  Now I realize my handle and spout stitching is a bit funky.  That's what I get when I freehand the whole thing.  But I can be impatient... If I do this again, I'll be sure to plan it out better.  I made it small to fit my little 'brown betty', she's just a two cupper. 

And here's little betty, she's quite the reflective little thing... look carefully and you can see me in my pajamas hiding my noggin... you should thank me, I have crazy morning hair at the moment... and sorry about the dust.

I think my cozy is happy with her new friends, my thrifted sugar bowl and creamer.  They're not a matching set, but both have that beautiful robin's egg blue that I looooove.

I thought I'd share with you this picture.  I drew this from a photo of my Grandma Marlys  when I was 15.  It was a birthday gift for my Mother.  My Mom has always had this old photo of her Mother hanging in her home, and I knew how much she loved it.  It was also one of my favorites because I always thought it still looked just like her!  She always had those same kind blue eyes and sweet expression.  So I decided to surprise her and draw it for her birthday.  She was so exited as any Mother would be.  Four years later my Grandma passed away after a short and painful battle with ovarian cancer.  She was the most amazing Grandmother.  Now the original picture and this  sketch from it are even more meaningful, as a reminder of how my Grandma blessed our lives, and how much we desperately miss her.

I wish we could all share a pot of tea today and tell the wonderful stories of our Mothers and Grandmothers who taught us so many things.  How to sew, knit, bake cookies, make play-dough, and on and on..... I know I am a better person for just knowing my Grandma.  I sometimes wonder what she would think of all of this craftiness that goes on around here.  My Grandpa often tells me in his old timer Texan accent, "Sug, (short for Sugar, his nickname for me since I was a baby) your Grandma sure would be proud of all of that quilting that you do."  I think we would have had so much fun sewing together!  Will there be quilting in heaven?  I hope so! x

What could it be?

Last night while the girls played, my husband played his guitar, and the Mr. Precious and Rosie reenacted a WWF wrestling match in my living room, I got a little stitching done.  It's not perfect as I decided to just wing it.  I should have drawn it out on my fabric so I'd have a bit of a guideline, but of course, I did not.  I have to admit it's still looking pretty cute, wonky bits and all.  What is it you ask?  I'll reveal the finished project later in the day.  Hopefully....

I'm so happy that my tulips finally bloomed!  They showed their lovely faces last week on a sunny day.  Then I heard we were to have a bit of snow....hugh??  I don't know what's going on with the weather this year.  But, I decided to clip some of the lovelies to enjoy indoors.  I got the best pictures I could on my kitchen table on the dark no sunshine day.

It was a cold and rainy/snowy day, but the tulips inside made it a bit more cheerful.  It was a perfect day to catch up on some of my favorite blogs and do a bit of yummy desert baking.  See my laptop next to the stove?  That's mostly where I keep it.  I'm standing there at this very second.  I really like to look up wonderful recipes and have them right next to me on my laptop while I cook.  And of course the wine fridge is strategically right below......  Sorry about the ironing board, I had to iron my pretty vintage sheet table cloth!

This next picture is of the bridge that goes over the bay in Newport.  I love this bridge.  It's a great part of my little community.  I took these pictures the other day when I was driving home from the girls dance classes.  It is such a routine thing for me to drive over and under the bridge.  I don't always stop to think of how beautiful it is.  This post is turning into quite the hodge-podge!

And now, last but not least....I mentioned above about the chubby cat and the baby dog wrestling.  They are getting along now!  Almost too well at times.  They constantly wrestle.  I'm glad they're having fun but sometimes I have to separate the two so they don't get too carried away!

New friends...

And it starts...

Soon it will be a flurry of brown and black on the floor, giving me heart palpitations......Lord help me....

Two ways to make a yo-yo

Let's make yo-yos!  They are quick and fun and too cute.  I recently found a neato new tool to make y-yos.  I am going to show you the new way first, then we'll make them how grandma did. 

This is the new yo-yo maker, by Clover.  They cost $5-$6,  and come in a variety of sizes and shapes.  They have the classic circle, flowers, and hearts!

Here's what you'll need.  Fabric, yo-yo maker in the size of your choice,  (I think this one is medium.....or was it large...?  I don't remember and I threw out the packaging....it says 45mm on the back and it's the orangey-yellow one), needle & thread, and scissors. 

This yo-yo business is pretty fun.  With the new yo-yo maker, you just insert your fabric, trim around the fabric, and stitch in and out of the little slots in the back.  The directions show you how to do it step by step.  Once you get the hang of it, it's very easy and fun. 

The yo-yo maker comes in two pieces, the 'disk' part, and the 'cup' part.  At least that's what I call them.

First you make sure you put your fabric in correctly, and line up one of the lines on the disk, with one of the little bumps along the edge of the 'cup' part.  The wrong side of the fabric faces the 'disk' part.

Then you trim around the little fella.  Leaving approx. about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fabric all around.

Then you make a knot in the little flap of fabric you see here.  The best way to make a knot on these is to knot your thread and take a stitch.  Then take another stitch, but don't pull your thread all the way through.  Leave a little loop, and pull your needle through that loop.  Do this a couple of times in the same spot and you'll have a nice sturdy knot.

Now you stitch down through the holes in the 'disk', and up through the slots in the 'cup'.  Down and up and down and up, all the way around.  When you get to the end, you stitch once through the first stitch you did.

Once you're done stitching, you remove your fabric from the yo-yo maker.  And puuuulll the thread.  It will gather up and look funky.  So you have to shape it with your fingers a bit.  Then it will be beautiful.  Once it's beautiful, you make a knot on one of the middle folds somewhere.  Try to make it down in there a bit so you can't see it easily.  Use the same knot we used in the beginning.  If you know you'll be sewing it onto something where you won't see the back, you can poke your needle through the middle and make the knot in the back.  I won't judge you. 

Voila!  A perfect yo-yo.  Now if you want to make one right this very minute and you don't have a yo-yo maker, don't get all panicky.  Take a deep breath and grab some fabric, a needle & thread, scissors, a pen, and a round object like a small bowl, or saucer, or as I did, the lid to your new sugar bowl you bought at the thrift store yesterday.

Now, trace around your lid on the wrong side of the fabric.  Hey look!  A yo-yo turtle!

Now cut it out on the line you just drew.

Now you simply fold over the edge you'll be working on, just a little at a time as you stitch.  Make a knot as we did above, and stitch 1/4 inch long stitches all the way around.

Then pull to gather, reshape, and knot!  I took the easy route and made a knot in the back of this one. 

There!  An 'old fashioned' yo-yo.  Both are easy and fun.  I do like using the yo-yo maker though.  It makes them the same each and every time.  And there is no accuracy or tracing round things involved.  But if you're a purist, the old fashioned way is wonderful too!  I love making these out of 30's reproductions.   You'll have to check back soon to see the project I have in mind for these......I'll try not to take too long, I promise!

Happy yo-yo making everyone!

Wonderful quilting book.

I recently purchased this little book.  I think every quilter should have it.  It covers soooo much!  From traditional piecing, to paper piecing, to hand applique.  It is a great well rounded book for those just learning to quilt, and a great reference guide for well seasoned quilters.  I also love how it has the formula for making side and corner square triangles for any size block,  (for when you're making a quilt with it's blocks set on point).  Darlene Zimmerman is known for her great feed sack prints, and her pictures in the book are great.

Do you like my little mushroom bird?  The girls and I recently made a few of these little cuties.  We bought the birds, nests, and eggs at the craft store and glued them all together!  I laced some floral wire through the bottom of one of the nests so I could secure it into the potting soil of one of my house plants.  It made my plant look a bit more cheery.  I'm also exited for these  fat quarters that I got on clearance!  Wee hoo!

Look at this little gal close up, doesn't she look a bit angry?

Maybe it's because you-know-who is sleeping right below her.  I'm surprised he hasn't tried to murder her......yet.

Blue rug is finished!... and quilt sharing.

Ok, the blue rug is finished!  And thank you all so much for the nice comments. :)  It is really exiting to know that people have found my blog, and actually seem to like it!  Especially when there are so many amazing blogs out there.  Really, thank you for spending a little bit of your precious time with me. x    sniff sniff....tissue tissue....

Anywho... here she is:

At the end I decided to add a little border around the outside.  I think it made it look finished.  This sucker took just shy of 12 yards!  Two yards for each stripe, and almost 2 for the border.  Sheesh.  But I do love it.  I set this one in front of the sink.  So nice and cushy while I do dishes.  The mangey beast likes it too.

For those who have asked, the monster hook I used is size P (11.50 mm).  You could go up a size or two if you wanted to.  The strips I just ripped at approx. 1.5 inches.  If you have skinnier strips then of course you can use a smaller hook.  No serious measuring involved!  The key is just not to crochet too tightly, so it's not torture trying to get your hook through the loops.  I love these because they are simple and old fashioned, but pretty too.  And you can throw them in the washing machine.

And now for some quilt show and tell.  I made this quilt a few years ago and it's one of my favorites.  The block is called the  'cake stand'.  I'm planning on hanging it in my future sewing room.  Have a wonderful day everyone!

Can't ...stop....crocheting......

I promise to get back to the little quilt soon.  Really I do.  But I just can't stop crocheting me some rag rugs!  I finished my first little circular fella.  I set him up right in front of my stove to keep my feet warm while I'm cooking.  I tried to get a decent picture while I was making dinner last night.  Wasn't working out.  I could really use a new camera.  Mine takes decent pictures as long as it's bright enough, in natural light.  But this will give you an idea.  Oh, and that's frozen pizza in the oven, reeeal fancy.

Here it is this morning in natural light.

I did learn one thing about these rugs.  They take a LOT of fabric.  This little one was probably around 6 yards.  So if you plan on making one, thrifted sheets or really inexpensive fabric is the key.  I did get some $1 and $2 per yard fabrics for the next ones.  Something I would never do for quilting.  The one I'm working on now is in shades of blue.

And here's what will be next.  After I work on the little quilt of course!

Evening stitching...

I recently found this beautiful fabric at my little quilt shop on Main Street.  I fell in love with it!  It's 100% cotton but is very thin and has such a silky texture.  It's so delicate.  It also has a secondary pattern woven into the fabric that shows in the light.  It reminded me of this over at purl patchwork.  When I saw this post I knew I would enjoy making these little hankies! 

These were so easy and fun to make.  The tutorial was great.  The only thing I changed was the monogram stitching.  I decided to use a chain stitch rather than a cross stitch.  I may do some with the cross stitch as well, I just happen to love making those little chains!

I see many more of these in my future.  I think they'd be so sweet tucked into a gift.   Oh, by the way, the fabric is called Summerset Rose, and it's by Moda.  While I was stitching these last evening, my daughters asked me what they were for.  Well, I explained to them that before Kleenex was invented, people would carry a hankie instead of tissues.  That totally grossed them out.  "You mean people wiped their noses with it?!"  They wanted to be assured that this pretty new hankie would not suffer such a fate.  I assured them that I'd only use it to polish my sunglass lenses.  :)

You need to buy this book, seriously.

I have a new book!  I think I have a serious addiction to craft books.  Quilting books, knitting books, throw some crochet in there....And anything beautiful.....My addiction has led me to a membership with Crafters Choice.   When you join you get like, 4,000 books for $1.00 or something.  So that's how they get ya.  Then, every month, or twice a month as I have found, sneaky little bastards, they send you a new book unless you decline by mail or online.  Which I often forget to do.  Then I have to send it back if I don't like it.  Which to be honest, most of the time I don't.  Until this time.  They sent me a set of two books.  Sewing In No Time, by Emma Hardy, and Sew Many Bags Sew Little Time, by Sally Southern.  Oh dear me these books are precious!  Especially the first one.  It has 50 great projects!  And her fabric choices are great.  Have a gander, scroll on down.  I think you need this book.  It's not a matter of opinion.  It will instantly improve your mood.  And we all need that every once in awhile!