DARE TO BE CREATIVE!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Crazy Old Ladies Christmas Quilt Top

Here is the quilt top made from the three blocks I posted yesterday.  The pattern is from Crazy Old Ladies.  I used my Christmas fabric stash to make this little quilt.  I am planning to use red and white polka dots for the backing fabric.  Hopefully I will get the backing, batting, and quilt top pin basted this evening while watching the Diamondback game on t.v.  Fun little quilt.  I found a number of Christmas fabrics with blue and may make one of these with blues and use a blue snowflake fabric for the outer borders. 

I did  purchase the white background fabric at Jo Ann's.  My white stash has been depleted this year.  All other fabrics and backing are from my stash.  I'm so pleased that I have been able to make many projects this year from my stash.  Don't worry, I still have yards of fabric to choose from. 

"P" is for PUMPKIN

This is my October quiltie for the Alphabet Quiltie Swap on Fabric in Altered Arts 2.  The theme for October is "pumpkins".    I had the pumpkin fabric left over from a previous project and spied this candy wrapper on the side table.  Left there by my DH who loves marshmallow and chocolate treats.  I thought it would be a perfect embellishment for my pumpkin quiltie.  Foil was easy to sew through.  I them added a pumpkin border with my Janome 11000.  Edges were finished with a satin stitch.  I think this made a cute little quiltie.

Today I will mail all my October swaps.  I completed my Fall Intrigue Basket Swap and Countdown to Christmas Matchbox Swap.  Since I will be in and out most of October I've been working to fulfill all my swap commitments.  Fall is a fun time of year.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Crazy Old Ladies Christmas Blocks



Yesterday I stopped by Scrapbooks, Etc in Mesa while the dog was being groomed.  Don't get to that part of town much since we moved to downtown Mesa.  They now have the most wonderful fabric in the shop and patterns.  I could have purchased many of the patterns but settled on two.  This is one of those patterns.
The pattern is "Which Witch?" by Crazy Old Ladies.  The small Christmas pattern is the Bonus Pattern.  I rushed home and went through my Christmas fabric.  This afternoon I completed the three blocks for this mini quilt.  Tomorrow I will add sashing and border.  Don't you just love the cute legs and shoes.  The Halloween quilt features 9 of these blocks with a strip pieced border.  (Maybe next year)

Wild West Tag Swap


I recently participated in Paula Clare's Wild West Tag Swap.  Here are the two tags I received in the swap.  The cowgirl tag was made by Paula and the cute little cowboy tag was made Michele K.  Paula also included the little horsehead finger puppet.  Below are the two tags I made for the swap.


Sunday, September 26, 2010

HALLOWEEN BANNER



I made this Halloween banner for our front porch.  It is hanging above the large window at the front of our home.  (Please ignore the dirty windows)  It was very simple to make.  I had originally thought I would use vintage ephemera on the banner but when I started I fell in love with the simplicity of the flags.  The flags are made from black and orange card stock (probably will fade in the sun)  I found the letters on line and sized to the appropriate size on my printer.  The original letters didn't have the bold outer edge or black details on the skeleton.  I did these with a black Sharpie (most time consuming part of project).  I cut a template for the flags.  Orange and black flags were cut front he same template but I trimmed the edges of the orange with Fiskar edging tool.  As a final touch I glued ball fringe to the top with Ultimate Glue.  I used a hole punch to punch a hole prior to attaching the ball fringe.  A black and white checked ribbon was threaded through the holes. 

It looks perfect on the front porch over my white four poster bench.  At present a basket of fall vegetables sits on the bench with a pot of gold flowers.  Later this week I will add some Halloween decorations to the bench and front porch to accompany the banner.

I've been asked to provide tutorials for some of my craft projects.  If time allows, I will post a tutorial for this project.  You can always email if you have questions.

Friday, September 24, 2010

SMOCKINGLY PINK

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY

Today I'm sharing a "Smocking Pink" Post.

I found this lovely little pink gingham apron at a local thrift store.  The waistband of the apron has been smocked.  Instead of a grid of dots, the maker used the squares of the gingham as her smocking guide.

When the waistband was smocked, larger pink squares were created.  Isn't this a beautiful smocked waistband?  Smocking is defined as a method of gathering fabric and you can see the gathering in this photo.
I found it interesting that the pocket on this apron was placed on the outer edge.  Not sure it is practical to have it there.  I love the hemline of the apron.

More vintage smocking
I found these vintage patterns for smocked pillow covers.  The McCall's pattern is dated 1962 and the Simplicity 1963.  I've never attempted smocking but I may try making one of these beauties one day.



Thanks for visiting my blog on Pink Saturday.  Stop by Beverly's How Sweet the Sound for a list of other participants.



Fall Table Top



With my fall leaves finished, I decided to dress the table for fall.  The table runner is one I made last spring.  It is a table runner of the month from Fat Quarter Shop.  My GDs game me the lovely creamic pumpkin and I picked up the plant at Safeway.  Everything came together nicely.  Now I'm ready for fall (if it would only feel like fall!). 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Sunset - Moon Rising



Another wonderful sunset but this one was accompanied by a rising moon.  In a previous post I shared a sunset looking West from our home.  These photos were taken at sunset last evening.  Instead of facing West, these photos were taken facing East.  The moon was so huge and bright.  Couldn't resist getting the camera and snapping some shots.

Hope enjoy these photos.

My Countdown to Christmas is Complete


My Countdown to Christmas Match Box Swap is complete.  I started working on the little boxes quite awhile ago but just completed them today.  The top shows the outside of the boxes with embellishments.  The bottom shows the little surprises I have included in each box.  They aren't necessarily in the same order that they will go into the covers.  I have not tried to match the surprise to the outside cover.  They will be assembled randomly.  Items include game pieces, buttons, vintage jewelry, erasers, brads, and small Christmas decorations.

In December, I will post each box and it's contents along with the box I receive and it's contents.  What a fun swap this will be and it will last for 25 days.  My boxes will be packed and mailed next week.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

My "New" Thrift Store Horn Sewing Cabinet



Earlier this summer on one of my trips to visit my favorite local thrift store, I found this sewing cabinet.  It was hidden under another piece of furniture but when I saw it, I thought sewing cabinet.  I got one of the guys to remove the furniture on top.  When I opened the top of the cabinet, much to my surprise I saw a Horn Collection label.  On closer inspection, I found that all the drawers open and closed easily and the lift system was working.  Entire cabinet was in near new condition and was still filled with someone's sewing supplies.  The price you ask?  $30.00

The employee loaded the cabinet into my Honda and I carried my find home.  My DH inspected it closely and determined that it needed new rollers.  He went to Home Depot and purchased six new rollers for less than $20.00.  He installed them and made a few adjustments.  Now I'm the owner of a Horn sewing cabinet for less than $50.00.  I think it is about 20 years old based on information I found in the cabinet.  I looked on line and similar ones sell for over $1000 today.  On the new models, the sewing box and mirror top have been replaced with a fold out that extends the cabinet space.  But for $50.00 I'm so pleased.

I had intended to take the cabinet to our vacation home in Kentucky this fall so it's been in the garage waiting for a ride.  However, we probably won't be driving to Ky this fall in the motorhome and I decided to see if it would fit in my studio.  I already have a Koala SewMate which houses my Bernina embroidery machine and serger.  After rearranging. the Horn fits perfectly in front of my design wall.  My Memory Craft 11000 now has a permanent home. 


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fall Leaves from my Embroidery Machine


I made these leaves on my Janome 11000 embroidery machine this week.  Aren't they lovely.  Today I experimented with using metallic threads on the leaves.  Most worked but I did have difficulty with the Sulky Sliver Metallic.  However, the Sulky Holoshimmer worked great. 


These are made with John Deer's 3D Effects Fall Leaves.  The designs are embroidered on a sandwich of two layers of sparkle organza and Sulky Untra Solvy.


I trimmed the designs with my applique scissors and then traced around the edge with a soldering iron.


The last step was to remove most of the solvy and air dry.  I think they are quite realistic.  I made 28 leaves and will use them in my fall decorations.  A fun project and it allowed me to experiment with various threads.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Salsa Themed Kitchen Towels


These kitchen towels were made for my college roommate's birthday this month.  I made these "Salsa" themed kitchen towels using my Janome 11000.  The wonderful machine applique design is from Hatched in Africa.  The towels were purchased on a shopping trip to CA and were prefect for the Salsa towels. 

I also made fall leaves with my embroidery machine this past week.  I'll post pictures later.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Last Pages from Halloween Book


I'm back to posting some of my projects.  I'm hoping to show you some of the things I've been doing for the past two weeks when I had no computer.  (Well actually I did use the laptop from the motorhome to check emails but not much else)

Here are the last two pages of my Halloween Altered Book.  I continued to use vintage witch images and pictures of the two GDs.  I found the little trick or treat bags at the thrift store some time ago.  I knew I would use them in my altered art.  The bags worked perfectly on these two pages.  I also used some twisted copper wire to embellish the pages.  Gold Stickles was applied to the pumpkin's face.  Button is from WalMart.  This was a fun book.  Can't wait to show you the fun book I made today in a class at Paper Vineyard in Chandler. 

Friday, September 17, 2010

A PINK SUNSET




HAPPY PINK SATURDAY!

A few days ago, I looked outside and saw this beautiful pink sunset.  I took my camera outside and snapped a few pics.  The pinks were so lovely against the bright blue sky.  I especially like the outline of the palm trees against the sky. 

It is good to be back in "blogland".  My computer fell victim to a sinister virus two weeks ago.  According to the tech, this first thing this virus does is disable your virus protection software.  It then proceeds to infect your computer's files.  I was lucky that I turned off the computer as soon as I realized I had a virus. 

Happy Pink Saturday to all.  Check our Beverly's How Sweet the Sound for a list of participants. 

I did take pictures of my projects while the computer was out of commission.  I hope to post some of the projects this weekend or next week.


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

More Pages from My Halloween Altered Book



These two pages are of my oldest GD.  She was 1 in the top photo and 2 in the bottom.  These were before she had a little sister with which to share Halloween.  The top picture shows her dressed as a Arizona Diamondback cheerleader.  I remember the evening that her Daddy bought the little outfit in the team shop at the ballpark. 

I love the little princess dress in  the bottom photo.  She was two and so cute in her pink dress with the crown.  She is now in second grade and will celebrate her 8th birthday this month.  My how time flies. 

As with the other pages, I embellished with vintage Halloween Witch postcards.  I added glitter glue to the postcards,  the background stars, and the crown.  Other embellishments included three dimensional pumpkins and black and white ribbon.  I also added some black ball fringe along the bottom edge. 

As you can see I had fun with these pages.  I'll post more later this week.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Halloween Altered Book Pages




As promised, here are the first two pages of the Halloween Altered Book.  The two beautiful fairies are my GDs.  They were sitting on a block wall surrounded by their carved pumpkins.  As you can tell from the photo, Halloween in Arizona is very warm (not your typical Halloween weather.)

 I added falling leaves and a vintage witch on each page.  I found the copper wire in my studio and decided to add it to the pages.  More pages tomorrow.  Ballgame this afternoon.

Finished my Halloween Altered Book


I finished my Halloween Altered Book yesterday.  I'm so pleased with the little book.  I used the theme of witches throughout the book.  On each page I put a vintage witch image and a photo of one of my GDs.  I used copies of vintage Halloween cards and vintage images from Dover.  I'll share a few pages later today but for now I'll show you the front of the book.  Another fun project using my stash!

I WON! I WON!!!!!!


I won this lovely pack of goodies on Linda's Blog.  She is having a Count Down to Christmas Match Box Swap.  You can check out her A Swap for All Seasons blog  here.  I've completed 15 of  25 match boxes.  I covering the boxes with vintage Christmas music sheets and then adding embellishments.  Each one will be different.  Inside each I have tucked a small gift.  This has been a fun swap (collecting embellishements and little gifts).  I did have to buy the match boxes but everything else is from my studio. 

I'm so excited to receive the the Deck the Halls give away.  Can't believe that I actually won something.  What fun!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Pink Saturday









I'm back for Pink Saturday this the first week of September.  I haven't blogged much this summer.  It has been a busy summer.  We spend time with the GDs and enjoyed every minute.  They are back in school and I'm hoping to blog more.

I found this wall pocket a few weeks ago at a local thrift store.  Price was 99 cents.  Even though I'm trying to pare down my planter collection, I couldn't resist this little treasure.  I love the colors.  It is so vintage.  The pink and blue remind me of my first home after college graduation.  The little place had a pink bathroom and blue appliances in the kitchen.  This wall pocket would have been perfect there.

I especially like the hobnail blue bottom of the lamp.  The wall pocket is in perfect condition.  The spots you see on the back are paint from the wall where it was displayed.  (Probably lead based!)  I'm planning to display it in my studio with the vintage prints I featured on Pink Saturday earlier this year.  They will look great together.

A special thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturday.  Next week I'll have a favorite blog to share with you.

I've been away




I've been away for the past week.  My DH had total knee replacement surgery last Friday and I have been busy driving between home and hospital.  Now that he is home, our house is a busy place with physical therapists, home nurses, and well wishers.  We're hoping for a quiet weekend before the visits start again on Tuesday. 

He is doing well.   Doctor released him to drive yesterday only 1 week after surgery.  He has driven on two short outings (one yesterday and one today).  His surgeon feels it is very important to get out of the house ASAP.  We're so grateful that so far his recovery is going so good.

The flowers and balloons are from a dear friend and her mother.  Such pretty fall colors.  Just another reminder that fall is just around the corner even if it is 100 + here in the desert.