Upcycled Girls Denim Jacket

For my Pink Saturday post this week, I am featuring a little upcycled pink fabric and denim children's jacket.  I will be listing this little denim jacket in my Etsy shop next week.  I purchased this little child's jacket at the thrift store.  Once it had been washed, I added vintage rick rack to the collar and front panels.  Lace was attached to the bottom of the sleeves  and jacket.   I added a panel of 1930's reproduction fabric to the back of the jacket.   I will make a great little jacket for a sweet little girl somewhere don't you think. 

Thanks to Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for hosting the Pink Saturday event.  Check out all the participants.

Thrifting Finds - Vintage Necklaces

A few weeks ago there was an article in the local newspaper about some of the thrift stores in the Phoenix area.  Saturday morning, my sister and I headed out to visit the ones located in the Tempe/Chandler area.  With GPS to guide us, we  visited three of the stores.  One of the stores had just put out a great selection of vintage jewelry.  Both my sister and I love vintage jewelry.  Today I am sharing two of the pieces I purchased.  More photos will be shared next week. 

The first necklace is a vintage hollow silver bead necklace.  I think it is probably 70s.  I love it.  I brought it home and did a little cleaning.  (Not too much, I didn't want to lose that vintage look).  It even has two of the squash beads.  Not sure of the value but know it's more than the $4.00 I paid.

The bottom necklace is marked Hong Kong and some of the beads are plastic.  I love the color.  Reminds me of turquoise.  The cost of this beauty was $2.00. 

We found a number of other pieces of vintage jewelry, vintage sewing supplies, and a few other items.  To see more vintage items check out  Vintage Thingie Thursday click here.

Valentine Fabric Postcard

This month on Fabric in Altered Arts 2 we had a fabric postcard swap with a Valentine theme.  This is the postcard I made for Amy.  The photo doesn't show the shimmer and glitter on the organdy that is used as a topper for the postcard.  The hearts and letters were made on my Janome 11000 embroidery machine.  I received a lovely fabric postcard from Amy this week.  I'l  post the photo later.  This little group is one of my favorite Yahoo groups.

Today I will be machine quilting the 1930s reproduction fabric quilt.  Spent last night and this am basting the top to the batting and backing.  I'm all set up at the machine and it's time to quilt.

Another Fabric Heart

I just had to make another of these fabric hearts.  For this one, I added a layer of lace on top of the batting.  The lacy fabric is from a top I bought at a thrift store on Saturday.  The cost was $1.00.  When I saw the top hanging on the Dollar Rack, I knew I could use it in my altered art.  So I bought it and brought it home and washed it. 

It was the perfect color for the batting hearts.  Other embellishments are from my stash.  I think I'll make a few more as Valentine's Day gifts for friends.  See yesterday's post for more info on the Smitten class or click on the link to the right.



Vintage Heart

This is the vintage heart I made for this week's Smitten class at Sugarlump Studio.  Click on the link to the right for more information on the class.  I am really enjoying this class.   The base of the heart of batting.  Heart is embellished with snippets of vintage lace, seed pearls, buttons and vintage image.  The image is from my collection.  I posted the photo a few weeks ago.  What a fun little project this was.  Background in photo is a quilt top pieced by my greatgrandmother in the 1930's.    

Kanzashi Flowers

I recently took a Kanzashi Flower Making Class at Cutting Edge Quiltworks in Tempe.  It was a fun class.  Here are the sample flowers I made.  I used my new Accuquilt Go (a Christmas present from my MIL) to cut the squares used for making the flowers.  I think they will be fun to make.  I like the smaller flowers better than the large ones.  I'm seeing:  hair "pretties" for the Granddaughters, embellishments for altered art projects, matching flowers for fabric totes, .............

You can find how-to-videos on line by Googling KANZASHI. 

Love Potion Bottle

I signed up for an online class called "Smitten".  It is offered by Sugarlump Studios.  The first project was a tag.  I'll post a pic of that later.  This week our project is to make a Love Potion Bottle.  This is the one I made.  The image is from Design Originals.  The vintage lace and ribbon are from my stash.  I put glitter around the edges of the image and added a piece of vintage jewelry.  I really like the bottle.  Can't wait for my AZ sister to see it.  This is just the type of thing she loves.  Maybe I'll make her one.  This one is going in the Pottery Barn glass front cabinet in my bathroom. 

I'm linking this post to Pink Saturday.  Hope you enjoy seeing my Love Potion Bottle and visit How Sweet the Sound for more Pinks.

Button Fairy

I made this button fairy for a trade on FAT (Fiber Art Traders).  I haven't participated in one of their trades for quite awhile.  This one sounded like fun.   Today I made her wings using my Janome 11000 and a butterfly wing design.  The thread is Holoshimmer by Sulky.  It can be difficult to do machine embroidery using metallic threads.  I didn't have any trouble because I sat and pretended to be a thread guide for the entire time.  It really helps to have a great distance between the machine thread guides and the spool.  It helps to keep the kinks (I guess that what they are called) from reaching the needle. 

Her face is cut from an Old Maid card and the buttons and bead are from my stash.  A fun little project for this afternoon. 

Images from the Past

Recently I was searching my vintage photo collection for a vintage image to use on a collage. As I searched through these images, I thought some of them would make a great post for Vintage Thingie Thursday. So here are a few of these vintage photographs.

 Feel free to use them since they are my originals and are not copyrighted.  I purchased many of them a number of years ago from Ebay.  The seller had purchased a box of these images at an Estate Sale.  When I purchased them, I told her I planned to use them in my altered art projects.  She replied that she had never heard of "altered art".  Guess that's a good thing or she might have kept them for herself.

To see more Vintage Thingies look here. 

Custom Order Jacket

This is a jacket I completed today for a custom order.  Barbara has purchased a similar jacket last year as a shower gift from my Etsy shop.  Barbara contacted me last week to ask if I had another infant jacket in stock.  My Etsy shop is on vacation due to my DH's health issues and stock is limitied.  I didn't have a infant size jacket but I did have this size 2.  The jacket she purchased last year had an applique on the back.  The jacket I had in stock did not.  Barbara asked that I add an applique to the back of the jacket.  I finished the applique this am and it's ready to mail to Barbara.  The shower is the middle of February.  It's always nice to hear good things about your work and to have orders for more.  Thank you Barbara.

School Photo????

Do you think this could be a school photo?  Is  the teacher the lady in the back middle?  Could the building in the background be the dorm or school house?  So many questions.

I'm working on a Winter collage and needed a vintage photo.  I found this photo in my collection of vintage photographs.  I'm not using it in the collage but decided to share it with you.  A few years ago, I purchased a box of vintage photos on Ebay.  They were from somewhere in New England and included some really neat old photos.  This is one of them.   I selected a different photo for the collage.  

Don't you just love the hats and the clothing! 

Fabric Valentine Cards

 We are exchanging Fabric Valentines on the Fabric in Altered Arts 2 yahoo group.  We are to make three cards and we will be assigned three mailing partners.  This is the outside of the card.  I haven't decided whether to stamp a message inside or leave blank and add my own greeting.  The cards are Photo Frame Cards from Strathmore.  I made a little mini quilt (batting and fabric).  I quilted around the hearts and then placed inside the frame.  Quilt was secured with a decorative multi-stitch zigzag.  I continued the stitching to the back of the card.  The only requirement for the swap was that we incorporate fabric.  Fun swap and thanks to group leader, Cathy, for hosting the swap.

Our Kentucky Home

The best way to view our vacation home in Kentucky is via pictures (not so cold that way).  My cousin posted this picture of our backyard taken this afternoon.  If you look closely, you can see the side of our home in the top righthand corner of the photo.   Pond is frozen with snow on top of the ice.  Think we will wait here in sunny Arizona until spring.  My cousin was visiting her dad (my uncle) and snapped these pictures from his house.  We are so lucky to have him living close by to keep an eye on our property. 

Breakfast with Champions

As most of you know I usually post  art related projects on my blog but yesterday my DH and I had a wonderful experience that I wanted to shared with you.  We had the privilege to attend the Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Championship Breakfast.  As most of the sports world knows, Phoenix is hosting the National Championship game on Monday.  The game is between Oregon and Auburn.  Our friends purchased a table and asked us to join them.  My first time to attend but DH has been a couple of times.

What a wonderful and uplifting event.  The entire Auburn team attended.  Oregon had approximately 10 players at the breakfast.  One of the assistants from Oregon and Auburn head coach spoke concerning Christianity and sports.  Very moving testimonies from both and then three athletes from each school answered questions about their Christian beliefs and how it influenced their lives both personally and in sports.

The keynote speaker was hall of Fame Coach Bobby Bowden.  The second most winning coach in college football history.  He was entertaining as well as inspiring.  It was a delight to see athletes and their coaches attending a Christian event and sharing their beliefs.  We hear so much bad about athletes and sports. It's good to see some of the good.

Fabric Postcards and Pink Saturday

As I was browsing through my files this week.  I discovered my Fabric Postcards and thought they would make a great Pink Saturday post.  Each of these fabric postcards was mailed through the USPS.  Some I place in a plastic sleeve purchased from Walmart, put a first class stamp on them, and drop in the mailbox.  I do reinforce the edges with clear shipping tape.  I have never had a problem.  If they have thick embellishments, then I put them in a padded envelope and mail at the PO.

Each card above represents a different technique (from top to bottom):  machine embroidery and enclosures;
fused applique silhouette and stamping; needlefelted fibers and angelina;  needlefelted fabric pieces and yarns; and paper piecing and stamping. 

I hope you have enjoyed my little "Fabric Postcard" show.  For other Pink Saturday posts visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Shiny Snail Quiltie

This is my "S" quiltie for the alphabet quiltie swap on Fabric In Altered Arts 2.  Can't believe we will finish this swap later this year.  It has been so much fun.  This month our hostess, Penny, gave us the theme of "shiny".  I looked around my studio and found the shiny decorative trim.  I think someone sent it to me as part of a swap.  Then I remembered the gold snail that I had purchased at the thrift store some time ago.  I was saving the beauty for just the right art project.  S-Shiny-Snail  This was the right project.  The pink hand dyed fabric is from my stash.  I finished the edges in gold thread to add some extra shine.  The metallic thread was no problem for my Janome 11000.  Now it's time to mail the quiltie to Penny.

Paint-by-Number and VTT

Did you ever do a paint-by-number picture?  I can recall doing a few many years ago.  I found these two paint-by-number pictures at the local thrift store.  They were in simple oak frames and priced at $1.99.  I brought them home and took them from their frames.  The boat scene is currently displayed on a shelf in my living room but I think I will replace it with the snow scene for a few weeks.  I love the colors in both these paintings.  Someone spent a great deal of time and effort painting these little vintage treasures.  I'm so glad I found them..  I am sharing them on Vintage Thingie Thursday.  You will find more vintage thingies here.

Crazy 30's Quilt Top and Burlap Wreath

During the holidays I had seen a segment on a local show that featured these burlap wreaths.  I decided to purchase some burlap and make one.  I followed the instructions they game and after two trys, decided to do it "My Way".  I used the ruffler foot on my Janome 11000 to gather the burlap and then attached it to the foam wreath that had been wrapped in burlap.  I like the way it looks with the ruffles done by machine.  The first two just didn't seem full enough to me.  Once I had finished the wreath, I needed some embellishments. The left over fabric from my Crazy 30's quilt (show below) was on my machine cabinet.  The ruffler was on the machine.  So I decided to see if I could make a few flowers from the scraps.  Here they are.  I'm quite pleased with them.  They are attached with pins so I can change the embellishments easily.  Probably will go on the front door now that Christmas decorations are back in storage.  I have burlap left and it may become a little ruffled burlap tree.  I saw one on a blog some time ago and I found a wooden candlestick to use as a base.  Just need to buy a foam tree.

I'm also liking the Crazy 30's quilt.  The top is finished.  I've decided to follow the vintage theme and use a yellow and white gingham for the backing.  I just happened to have a large piece in my stash.  I'm thinking that I will finish the edges with a black binding.  So far so good.  I'll save it for my quilting project next week. 

Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long

I have decided to participate in a fun stitch-a-long.  You can find out more info about the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long here.  We are to save our Old Ratty Threads, thread clippings, etc.  I sharing the clippings from my Crazy 30's quilt today on the first new moon of 2011.  These clippings were all over my studio after I trimmed the squares for my Crazy 30's quilt.  Too small to do anything with so they are my contribution to TUSAL.  Happy STITHCING!!!!!!!!!!

Crazy 30's Quilt

My first quilt of the new year is on my design wall.  I call it Crazy 30's.  It is made from reproduction 30's fabric and the pattern is Simply Crazy by Karia Alexander.  I have purchased the border prints and will add them as soon as I get the blocks sewn together.  

 I purchased a needleplate for straight stitching for my Janome 11000.  I used it for the first time while sewing these blocks.  It really makes stitching quilt pieces a lot easier.  It is also recommended for free motion quilting.  I purchased a special bobbin case and foot for free motion.  I plan to use them when quilting this little beauty.

  Now I'm off the JoAnn's.  I ran out of white cotton thread just as I finished these blocks. 

Teapots in the Flower Bed

I haven't shared my garden teapots.  The blue flowered one was a Christmas gift for my AZ sister.  She had visited friends in CA and they had these teapots and cups in their garden.  We had already made the teacup bird feeders (with the help of DH) in the summer but hadn't thought of adding the teapots.    Again my DH came to my rescue and drilled holes in the teapots.  I had found an old towel rack at the thrift store.  I took it apart and we were able to use the parts as rods to hold the teapots.  I plan to have silk ivy climbing up the rod but just haven't gotten around to it.  I purchased both teapots at Dollar Days at  Goodwill.  I found a funky bird teapot at the Salvation Army Thrift Store last week and plan to make a garden teapot for my friend Corri.  Just have to wait until DH recovers from his heart procedure. 

 My flowers continue to bloom but I did have to cover them the past few evenings because we had a freeze warning here in the desert.  Strange weather.  Warmer in New York Time Square on New Years Eve than at the Fiesta Bowl Block Party in Tempe. 

No Resolutions Just A Word for 2011

I have decided to select a word for 2011.  The word I have selected is "REJOICE".   The dictionary defines rejoice as "to be glad, take delight".  I resolve to "rejoice" in the wonders that each day brings.  Today I'm so glad to be blessed with wonderful friends.