Quilted "Headboard"

I've been wanting to do this for awhile and finally found a cheap curtain rod I liked. I spent 4$ on a set of new curtain rods at the thrift store. After some measuring and drilling I was able to hang this quilt above our bed. This will be our new headboard, as we don't have one now and aren't likely to get one anytime too soon. The quilt itself is just folded and pinned so it will hang on the rod. Now this quilt can be displayed instead of living in a closet.

Wine Cork Mat

Sick of making cork boards and trivets from recycled wine corks? How about using them for a bath or kitchen mat? Inspired my this, I wanted to make my own version of the wine cork bath mat. I cut all the corks lengthwise using my regular kitchen knife (and only cut myself once). The corks are then hot glued to a non-slip mat which I had sewed the fabric border on the edge. I had originally made this mat without the border but it didn't quite look right so I added the edging. This isn't the sturdiest thing ever so using it as a welcome mat may not be the best idea (unless you want corks disappearing as people trample over it and ending up all over your house) but I think it'd work great in a kitchen or bathroom.

Recycled Sweater Cat Bed

So Audrey loves to sleep on my sweaters. It seems if its wool and warm it belongs to her. So I felted some thrift store sweaters (washed them and shrunk them). Then cut them and assembled them into this kitty bed. She has slept on it, but it seems that now that I want to post this on here she refuses to like it. I have been unable to take a picture of her napping on it. Please notice the picture without the cat, the picture with the cat after being bribed with cat treats, and the picture of the cat sleeping next to the cat bed. Oh well, I suppose one can't win every time.

Plastic Bag Rug

This is a rug made out of plastic grocery bags (plastic bag yarn or Plarn!). The first step is making the yarn. This is crochet using only the crochet stitch. I am still a newbie crocheter that doesn't like to follow patterns so I made this "pattern" up as I crocheted. This is a work in progress that I've been crocheting off and on for a few months now. At one point I ran out of grocery bags (we try to mostly use cloth but forget fairly often) so I had to put this project on hiatus for awhile. My goal is to make it dining room rug sized (such as under your table), but I may get sick of working on it before I actually get this far. (please note skinny cat used for size reference) Due to the nature of the plastic material this rug will flatten if books are placed on top of it, so if my crocheting curls a bit it doesn't really matter.

From Drab to Fab

I found this ugly box by our dumpster. Sorry there are no before pictures but it was "tannish," dirty, and essentially very hideous. But I still saw the potential. It had a mirror and a cool locking mechanism. I decoupaged the top and interior with some wallpaper I had laying around. Then used a Glidden paint sample to paint the bottom. The only part I paid for was the wallpaper, which was maybe $3 at a thrift store ages ago and I still have almost an entire roll. I've been using this for my embroidery thread stash but I think it is destined for something else; that mirror calls out to be used, so perhaps for my makeup? Or perhaps to a special someone who actually likes pink? I'm not normally a fan of pink but it really seems to work here.

First Quilt Top Ever is Finally a Quilt!

I started this quilt back in... college.. I think sophomore year so at least 5 years ago I think. Technically this would be my first quilt ever but I never quite finished it until now so not really. This was made from a bed coverlet blanket thing, curtains and old denim jeans. I remember needing another 5 squares or so of denim and asking Nate if I could have a pair of his jeans that were slightly stained and worn out. We hadn't even been dating that long but he still let me cut up a pair of his jeans . (must have been true love ;) ) I ended up using two sheets for the back and an old comforter for the "batting" so this is almost 100% up-cycled.

Twiggy Bag

This was a pattern from the book Last Minute Fabric Gifts. This book has several great projects in it, although I think this is the first I have actually made. I have lots of post-it notes in it though for future projects/ideas. The best part is everything included is really quick to make. This bag only took me an afternoon to make. Next time I want to use interfacing to make it a little sturdier but its still a great bag. I love the vintage floral fabric I used to line this. (Please ignore the ugly cat that insisted on being in the picture. I think she's just trying to enjoy the only sunshine we're going to see for awhile.)

Magazine Bowl

I recently turned some unused air miles that were going to expire into magazine subscriptions. Now I have a few too many magazines hanging around. I do recycle them, but it still seemed like a waste. Inspired by some coasters my sister made me awhile back I used the magazine pages to create this bowl. It has a slightly oval shape and is pretty large. I don't really need anymore catchall fruit bowls so this will probably be some lucky persons Christmas present this year, but I'm not telling you whom.

Tyson and Megan's Wedding Certificate

I made this for my cousin Tyson and his new wife Megan. (Congrats you two!) I didn't have time to start this until two days before I was supposed to be in Oregon to help with the wedding and actually completed the entire thing in two days. I probably spent about 8 solid hours on it the second day (while watching Supernatural episodes of course). I think this was the first time I was actually sore the next day from embroidering.

I tried to keep the colors simple on this and really like how it came out. I found an interesting feather stitch that I used on the large heart border that I think came out really well. I've finally figured out what stitches work best for lettering and how to include some more decorative stitches in my pieces. Now I just need to find time to market these and sell them...

Ugly Printer to Fabulous Cozy

I have a printer, however I rarely use it (in fact I think the ink dried up so now I need to buy more which sucks, I guess I should print stuff more often). Overall it's an eyesore I rarely use, but I don't actually want to get rid of it either. It has a good home on the lower shelf of an end table and has been collecting dust (literally) for awhile. I've seen sewing machine cover tutorials so I just used that basic idea to make this. I think it took 5 minutes, or maybe 10.

Pink & Purple Button Necklace

Another one!!! It seems that I can't stop playing with buttons.

Button Lamp

So at one point we needed a new lamp. We went to the nearest store and bought the cheapest one we could find. Lucky me, it was red. Unlucky me, it fell and broke a few months later. I glued it back together and we used it with the unsightly crack for awhile. Finally inspiration struck and I decided to glue buttons to it to hide the crack. I ended up adding red paint to the lampshade to tone down the white. This is Nate's lamp on his nightstand and he now complains that I took made his lamp too "girly". Oh well, I still like it.

Button Necklace

As inspired by the book Button It Up I finally made myself a button necklace. I can't believe I haven't made button jewelry before. I need to make more necklaces in different colors and matching earrings!

Funky Bath Towel Quilt Finally Done!

I finally finished my funky towel quilt! It feels like it took forever. First I found/bought the towels, then cut them, arranged them, rearranged them, sewed them together, found a back, sewed that, pinned it all together, then quilted and bound it(half of that by hand, my fingers hurt)!!!!!! I definitely do not recommend quilting towels to anyone. It's a pain to sew fabric that thick.Overall the quilt isn't perfect but I still like how it came out. The back and binding is made from old sheets so its 100% recycled. It's going to make the perfect beach blanket this summer. If only it would stop raining here. The sun came out for my drive home from work, but now it's raining again.
Now I just need to get started on my pink/yellow/red version. Hopefully that will go smoother sewing wise. The colors are happier too. I love the blue/green one, but some of those greens and yellows have a "pukish" tinge to them.

(Yes, I know I need to iron it, but I want to throw it in the wash first [Yay for machine washable quilts!])

Another Soda Tab Bag

This is my second pop tab purse. Its more of a clutch size than change purse this time. I'm slowly preparing myself to make a "real" purse. I just need more tabs again, as this depleted my supply

I'm not sure how long I spent on this. I only worked on it while watching tv though so it didn't seem like that long, but I think it actually was quite awhile. The tabs are crocheted together in a circle and then again at the bottom. I think I finally have the technique down, so perhaps next .time I'll make a mini tutorial. The purse was then lined and a zipper was added.

This was a birthday gift for my friend Sandrine. Happy Birthday! Now I just need to make one for myself.

More Pincushions

I love making these pincushions. It's so easy and I think they're adorable. I think I may have too many pincushions now though! These were funky planters I found at thrift stores with a circle of fabric stuffed and glued inside.

Fruit Towers!!!

I made this at work the other day for the cocktail hour we had for the annual meeting. The two tall pieces are pineapples hollowed and supported by large candle holders. One is 2 1/2 pineapples and the other is 3 pineapples. It took a bit of time to make, but next time I make one I'm sure it'll go faster. Yes, there is going to be a next time. These things made such a statement and were fun to make . All the fruit is held on with toothpicks and some with skewers. I only stabbed myself a few times with said skewers and toothpicks. No pain, no gain right? I'm not sure why the picture is so small, but I don't feel like trying to figure it out right now.

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Slide Lamp

This was a father's day gift I made in college. I was cleaning (looking around for cool stuff I could take) around my parents place and found tons of slides that were my Dad's. There were from varied trips, mostly hiking and camping trips and included a lot of great scenic pictures. I had seen lamps and curtains that people had made before using these, so proceeded to create my own. I used bits of wire to link the slides together and attached them to an old lampshade base. Then I went shopping for a lamp to use as the base and put it all together. It's in my old bedroom back home now which is awesome. Now I just need more slides so I can make my own.

Wedding Certificate for Megan

So last weekend I attended a my cousin's wedding in New Jersey. Of course I made the gift, because that's what I do. I had wanted to make a quilt, but changed my mind once I realized I really don't have that kind of time. I decided to make an embroidered wedding certificate similar to the one I made Nate for our 1 year anniversary. I spent a bit of time designing it and fiddling with fonts and searching the net for anyone who may have done this before (apparently no one?). Flickr has some great pictures of similar projects which did give me inspiration however. I finally came up with this: I love how this came out and already have plans for more. I forgot how fun embroidery could be, especially if you make your own design. I used a variety of stitches including the stem stitch, lazy daisy stitch, back stitch, chain stitch and I think the filler for the heart and clovers would be called couching? I think my favorite part are the clovers on the sides.

cup o' tea anyone?

vintage teacup and saucer + fabric + stuffing =

Summer Clothes

Here are two skirts I recently made. Can you tell what the material I used is/was?
I always find Nate's dress shirts super-comfy so I stole a few that were too small on him and converted them into skirts. I need to still fine-tune them a bit, as they are both a little big on me but it's not quite skirt weather here yet so I have some time. (although I do pretend its skirt weather sometimes and regret it)



The other dress is definitely for summer. It was a Mexican muumuu that had amazing embroidery on it but was not very shapely. I turned it into a halter top and added ties in the back (after taking in about 12 inches) so it fits really well. Perhaps when it is warmer I will have an action shot of this. I think it'll be a great cover up for the beach and the pool.

I can't wait 'till summer!!!

new tote bag

Not that I need anymore tote bags but this fabric (actually curtain) was amazing and needed to be a bag immediately. I used canvas webbing used for support in the seats of furniture for the straps and sides making it very sturdy. It'll be a good bag to haul my cookbooks to work or to use for groceries. Mostly I just want to show off the amazing paper crane on the side.

New Quilts (In progress)

Somewhere on the internet I was inspired to make a beach blanket/quilt using funky vintage towels. I've been scouring the local thrift stores for these towels for over a year now and finally decided I had enough to make a quilt. I cut them all into 8" blocks and discovered I had enough to make at least two large beach blankets. I guess I could have stopped buying towels sooner but I was able to split the squares into matching/complimentary colors. I have the green/yellow/blue one already sewn into a quilt top. It is just waiting for some sort of back and is very large. The pink/red/yellow one is still just squares but I needed a break. I love the colors of these, even though they can also have that cute in an ugly way thing happening. Regardless I think these will make great beach blankets. Colorful, absorbent and handmade, what else is needed?

New Bags, A Catnip Mouse and A Button Heart

First of all my new sewing machine is amazing! Its strange not wanted to throw your sewing machine every time you use it. I'll have to get used to that feeling. So far I've made a bag and a quilt top on it and it was so much easier, and faster, and quieter... Why did I wait so long to get a new one?Meanwhile check out my new bagsThe top one was made from a table runner I really liked but never used, which I think was made by someone else. I loved the Seminole patchwork and rickrack. It was a super quick project as I didn't need to line it. The second bag is a crocheted bag using a pattern on the yarn tag. I used too small of a hook so it is a little odd shaped. My crocheting skills are slowly getting better, I can read patterns now and have made several items that were not scarves!

A small project I made was this catnip mouse (I think the catnip has already worn off) This was a quick project to amuse my cats for a few minutes. They already don't like the mouse anymore unless I drag it around the house on a string. Oh well, at least they aren't clawing furniture or waking my up in the morning... oh yeah... they still do that! naughty kitties!


Here's something I made around valentine's day. I originally planned to give it away but fell in love with it and its now hanging on our walls. Its buttons glued on paper and then sewn with pink thread and is one of my favorite button projects so far.