4 posts tagged “crafty”
Today I finally finished my mini quilt. I started with sewing selvage strips together. I sewed many 10x5 inch blocks. Then I cut them in half to make 5x5 inch blocks. Then I cut some solid & pattern fabric 5x5 inch squares. I sewed them all up then made disappearing 9 patch blocks. Then I sewed all those together. Once the quilt was pieced I cut two fabrics for the backing and sewed them together. Then I sandwiched it all together and machine quilted a crazy wavy pattern all over it. I have a really simple & tiny machine so this took awhile. Then I machine & hand sewed the binding around it. I finished that today. It was a fun quilt to make. It took 8 hours and 15 minutes over 5 days to complete. I can't sit and do one thing too long so I did this mostly in 30min-2 hour sittings. It is 19 x 25 inches.
I've already started on another one!
I've seen these unfinished bird houses in Micheal's lately and I kept being tempted to buy them. I love birdhouses. I think it's because my dad would make birdhouses with my brother & I. Then we would paint them and hang them in the trees. We still have them. So the other day I finally got one. I picked out one with a cute green aluminum roof for only $5. They have a huge selection of them, all cheap.
I used acrylic craft paint, but it probably won't last long being outside. I need to get some of kind of sealer. But I first taped around the roof so I wouldn't get it too messy. Then I painted it an antique white, painted some grass & flowers, and a crow. I think crows don't get enough good attention! My dad gave me a box of trinkets and it had some wooden letters. I had an "H" and glued it onto the side of the house then painted the rest of the letters to spell home. Tiny wooden clothes pins were in the box too. I got some string and cut little fabric triangles out then glued them onto the string. Then I glued the clothes pins onto the birdhouse and hung the string to it. I also added some buttons to the front. Then I tore fabric into tiny stripes and put it inside the birdhouse. I hung it on the neighbor's tree against our fence. There are some cute birds always in that tree so I'm hoping they will hang out in the new nest so I can get better photos!
Here's some photos I took of a cute bird in that tree
I met Andrea in Photography Club at my previous college about three years ago. She ended up moving back home to California over the summer and became pregnant! Well her little girl arrived early and Andrea asked me to make a quilt for her. I was more than happy to. I really enjoy sewing, but I love it more when it is for someone else. I know it will get used and appreciated. She asked me to make little Emily's quilt in primary colors but keep it girly. I looked through my fabric stash and sent her some examples. She picked out nine fabrics: three of each primary color. I decided to do the Disappearing 9 Patch block (which became my favorite during week one of Sew Mama Sew quilt month).
So, I planned the quilt out and started putting it together. I decided it needed to look more girly so I embroidered one patch and added Emily's name to it. Once the top was done I thought it needed more red so I added a red bordered around the top. The back is done in very soft cuddly red fleece. Then I stitched it all together. I loved the way it turned out and hoped Andrea did too. She sent me an email this morning saying it arrived and she loved it. Whew!
As many of you know by now, I want to adopt. In the meantime I've been trying to find a way to help the children of china. Well I came up with an idea. I have the ideas figured out, the website done, and now i am just trying to get people to get involved. I've emailed 24 62 amazing crafters so far. I just hope some of them will donate their art. Visit Craft For China's website to see what I'm doing: http://www.freewebs.com/craftchina
I really hope this is a success. I'm hoping to sponsor two children for foster care and one or two to get education.
