Sunday, December 11, 2011

Speed Crafting ~ Holiday Style

Seems like all crafting this time of year is speed crafting. Here's a couple of quickies I did this weekend.
A 20 minute pillow makeover.

I started with these old cushions.



Did a quick measurement (about 20") and ripped into some heavy weight muslin ~ so rip a piece about 20 x 40. (The key to this is no fussy measuring or cutting!) I did a muslin layer first to disguise the brown of the original pillow. Plus, my thought is, after the holidays are over, I'll rip out the seams on the snowflake fabric, and recover in something else.


Fold the muslin in half, seam up two sides and around the corner a few inches opposite the fold. Insert old cushions, and sew up. I did this right on my machine, using my zipper foot.


Another quick measurement on the focus fabric, rip again, and sew up like before. (The fabric is from Ikea, and ripped beautifully along the pattern. 50/50 blend, $3.99/yard, perfect for this project.)



Again, I stitched up the open side using my zipper foot.
20 minutes later, this!


Next, 5 minute dollar store crafts:

Two 5 x 7 frames from the dollar store. Some of my favorite Basic Grey holiday paper. Glittery Christmas trees, 2/$1 from the dollar store, glue sticked on top of the framed paper (so, right on top of the glass.)


One hour, two quick crafts. Love 'em!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Sew, whatcha been up to?

Sew, how ya been?

I've been slackardly of late, in the sewing department. Thanksgiving ran right into Kyle's birthday,then into flood renovations (almost done! Two weeks worth of painters and flooring guys and carpenters. The last piece of the puzzle is carpet, which should happen in a week or so!) Oh, and just for fun, I threw in a colonoscopy (I even have pictures! No, I won't post them. Let's just say they....nope, can't even go there.) Later today, my MIL and SIL arrive to celebrate my MIL's 80th birthday. Tomorrow, we're throwing a surprise birthday brunch here, when the rest of the family, about 16 or so, will arrive. Sunday is the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild's meeting/holiday party, where we'll be exchanging bee blocks and ornaments. And you know those guild gals are going to bring some great food, too. It's been an interesting and busy few weeks, but I'm ready to get the house back to myself for a few days, before the next wave comes.

I do have a few things to show you, though.

These are the bee blocks I did for the gals in the BMQG bee:


Some giant pinwheels, with a bit of strip piecing.

Back in November, when I was hanging out with my MIL, she asked for a table topper for her kitchen. Although it's not meant to be Christmasy (she asked for green and red) it kinda is. Of course, she's Jewish, so maybe she won't notice.


After making this, I had a bunch of strips left over from a moda scrap pack. I paired it with a bunch of leftover green strips. I needed a day of mindless sewing, and came up with this:



Not really sure where this is going. Lap quilt? Cut it up into something else? Scrap it? I also don't know if I'm digging the lighter green bits yet, or if they're a quirky detail. It measures about 50x50 right now. I'm going to set it aside and revisit next week. If you have any brilliant ideas, please share!

Last, this top:



This one, I'm loving! A few years ago, I went to a garage sale and picked up a box of shirting samples (the woman who sold them, her husband was a salesman.) Anyway, I paid $3 for the box. Turned out to be about 20 yards of shirting, all in approximately 8"x20" pieces. Well, they sat in that box for quite a while. Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago. I met up with the gals from the DC Modern Quilt Guild, who were meeting at Capital Quilts. The big draw for me (besides meeting with Kate and all the other gals) was that they had an accuquilt die cut machine. So I hauled out my shirts and they cut out all these drunkard path pieces for me. They went together so easily! I never would have attempted cutting these out on my own. The curves weren't scary at all. Isn't it a sweet baby boy quilt? I picked up some light blue pinstripe flannel for the back, so it will be super cozy. Now I just need a baby boy to come along! And my box of shirting? Barely put a dent in it. Get ready to see a lot more shirt quilts in 2012!

So, that's what I've been up to. I still have a few gifts to sew up, but nothing too major. How's your holiday sewing coming along?