Wooden Alphabet Letters

My Grand daughter,Leah,is ten,as I write this, and is beginning to take interest in personalizing her bedroom a bit.It is an upstairs room in an old house, and none of the family have ever been enthused over the two kids sleeping up there, especially since the parents have remodeled one of the ground level rooms for their own bedroom.The thought is always there,what if there was a fire. A few years ago,we purchased them a set of those special fire alarms that call out the child's name over and over,until they awaken,but to this day, I am not sure they were ever installed.Go figure.Nevertheless, the children have continued to sleep in the same big room on the ground floor,where the parent sleep.With their jobs as they are, and the kids both in school now,there is some one sleeping at all times, so the remodeled bedroom was a must.

With Leah growing into a young lady faster than we would like,she is taking interest in having her own space, more and more.I feel that is" a good thing."She picked out the fabric for new curtains for her room, and I had  them finished in a day or two.A few stumbling blocks kept me from putting them up before the next weekend, so I had time to make her a throw pillow to match the curtains, and if all goes well, and she likes the curtains, she wants a quilt to match.I love seeing her so excited about decorating her room. I hope this crafting thing rubs off on her, a little.anyway. I,myself, love doing these kinds of things.

When I finished the curtains, the tie backs, and the pillow, I was so excited over it all, I was on a roll. I ran across a wooden letter L,among my wood pieces, and decided this would make a great piece to hang on her wall.I rummaged through my craft room and came up with a few items to dress it up. Paint,glitter,butter fly and flower stick-ons. I could just see it in my mind.The above picture does not do it justice, but I am so pleased with the finished product.So much so, I have decided to make more letters in this way.You never know when you might run across a little girl who would like to have their own initial on their wall.

My Americana Mini Quilt Revisited

Remember this little mini quilt I worked on last winter? I had spoke about making it reversible, but never got back to it until now. I went on line and found a couple of patterns for appliqued leaves. Then I rummaged through my fabric stash and found a couple of pieces of fall colored fabric.I don't mess with this sort of thing that much, but thought I would give it a try. Not sure if I'll be able to pull it off, but this will be my project over the next few weeks. I'm sure it won't be my only project going, since I get bored with trying to do something that does not come easy for me, and this definitely,falls under that category

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The blue back ground is not  the best choice for a Fall mini quilt, so I may play with that a bit,too. It was handy at the time, and matched the color in the place mat which I was using for the center piece,so I used it. Now that it's time to hang it up, I am not happy with it. Hopefully, I will find something a little more Fallish to put in it's place.

I'll make a few tabs along the top of my mini quilt, to hang it from my recycled curtain rod,which I posted on my other blog just this week, but I may paint the rod a different color for the Fall season.If all goes well, I'll get this project finished and post it before Fall ends.

Pincushions Revisited

Every now and then, I fall back into my pincushion obsession. It seems whenever I am at a time and place where I must be confined for any length of time, I pull out my trusted pin cushion supply box and I am content.I keep lots of pretty swatches of fabric,numerous colors of thread,straight pins,needles,and trimmings of all sorts in the supply box.Oh yes, the stuffing material. I don't like to waste anything, as you may have heard me say once or twice before, so the stuffing I use is woolen fabric. I have plenty of that, and who uses wool any more? Not me, that's for sure.I inherited a huge supply of it, so I cut it in narrow strips, and roll it up to fit the pin cushion I will be making.I collect bottle caps of all sizes. Usually from milk jugs,medicine bottles, drink bottles.Most any size cap will do.I use caps for other things,too, but first and foremost, for my pin cushion bases. 

I roll up the woolen fabric strip,really tight, then I place it in the cap. I cut a circle of my pretty fabric,just large enough to cover the woolen fabric with enough edge left, to cram down into the cap with my scissor point.Some times I use the hot glue gun to secure it into the cap, but that's not always necessary.

 I cut a similar circle of fabric,the same color or something that matches the original piece I just used .I proceed to hem that circle of fabric and pull it with the thread like a drawstring bag(yo-yo style)then I set the cap, down into the little draw string bag and begin to draw it up tight,pinning it in place until I can tack it shut with coordinating thread.I use to glue a magnet onto the bottom of the cap,before this step, but not always, since many sewing machines are computer driven, and magnets and computers don't mix.Now I am applying Velcro to the bottom of the finished pincushion.Not always,but occasionally.

After the two fabrics have been secured to suit me, I rummage through my stash of pretty ribbons and lace,etc.,and find something suitable to cutesy it up a bit. I love making these cute but simple little pincushions out of materials that others most likely would throw away.

Now how's that for an hours work, or shall I say pleasure.
The pincushions that I am making lately, are so small at times, they need to be secured to something,so as not to get lost. Usually the sewing machine is a great place to stick one,although I have one stuck in every room.You never know when you'll need a quick needle and thread.

Hummingbird feeder

The hummingbirds make such a mess on the railing of the porch, I decided I would put their feeders out in the yard. I have a mimosa tree not too far from the porch, so I put the new feeder pole under it. I felt they would like that, since it would not be out in the hot summer sun.We love to watch them in the early mornings while we are sitting on the porch drinking our first cup of coffee.
We have been "scrapping" this last two weeks,gathering up all the scrap metal that had accumulated for the past 32 years.The prices they pay for metals have been up really good lately. While helping Pop with that project, I ran across several tines from an old time hay rake. Pop had used several of the tines years ago to make me a similar plant hanger,but since it was so hard to keep the plants watered and thriving in the heat of the summer, I decided I didn't want to mess with them, and gave the hanger to his cousin's wife.I should have tried it in partial shade,but since I was still working at the time, I simply didn't think about an alternative plan. I just gave it away. I think that hurt Pop's feelings a bit, but he never let on.When we ran across the remaining tines,I thought about using them for a bird feeder rack.It works perfectly. The mimosa tree has not leaved out yet, but the hummingbirds are using the feeder already.It's been cool and rainy here lately,so the sun is no problem yet.
I took a piece of a small metal pipe and drove it into the ground till it felt firm, leaving about a foot above the ground, then placed a larger piece of pipe,about 5 feet long, over the metal stake.Then I poked the pointed end of four tines into the top opening of the larger pipe.They wanted to wiggle a bit, so I drove a wooden stake in the middle of the four tines to hold them snug.Then I painted the entire thing, and hung my four new feeders.I probably should have taken the time to make my own feeders, but that will be a project for another day. These will have to do for now. I paid less than $4. each for the feeders,but they usually last for several years.

From Rags to Riches,From Curtains to Rugs!

From curtain to rug

I have no idea as to how I came into possession of the material I am using to make this little rug, since I get fabric from everywhere. Most usually it has come from a family member, but then I collect things from consignment stores and yard sales and the like. I doubt I would have bought it new, since I hardly ever buy anything new. If I do, it is rare and for something extra special.My family all know that I love fabric, so whenever they have anything they want to part with, they think of me.Then I go through their goody bags and save out the things I want to wear or use in my crafts, then the rest goes to Mom's where the other family members do the same. Whatever is not needed, goes to the church store for folks who have gone through sometime type of crisis and need clothing or linens, etc.
The fabric I am using for my little rug in the picture above, was once a set of home made curtains. I ripped out all the seams, and tore the fabric up into narrow strips.Then I proceeded to crochet my rug. This particular fabric is in several muted shades of pastels and I think it is turning out nicely.Not exactly sure just yet, where I will use it, but it is a bit larger than my usual rugs. I have made  many of these little rugs and have given them away as gifts,but I did fall in love with two in particular and kept them for my own use. I think the colors I used was what prompted me to hold on to those two.They are so nice to have at the entrance doors, and in front of the sink or stove.When they are soiled, just toss them in the laundry with the towels and wash cloths, then lay them flat to dry. They are such a simple little easy to make and care for rug,(if you can crochet any at all,no great knowledge of crocheting necessary).  

I Love Punching!

I have finally recieved a few of the punches I had ordered through the mail. I mentioned before, I don't go out and shop in the Big Stores a lot, so I am so happy when I learn to do some little thing like this. If I had to visit Michael's often, I would go broke. I ordered a few tiny punches off of E-bay,just so I wouldn't have to be tempted to buy,buy,buy, while in the store. I love working with my little punches. The possibilities are endless as to what I can do with there cute little things. So far, I have a heart, a shamrock, a maple leaf, a star, and I have made a few rubber stamps myself with a kit I bought at Micheal's,so I am off and running with my card making and blog posts. I can't express enough how much fun I am having with just these few small pieces. I hope to be able to incorporate many more of my ideas into my blog posts using these few small tools.

Dual Purpose Wall Hanging

I love to work with fabric, but my patience or nerves or whatever it is,I haven't figured out exactly what, just yet, won't let me tackle a large quilt,although I have done just that on a few occasions.I think it's possibly my lack of will power or a short attention span,but that's OK. I've lived with it for 63 years, so as long as I can work with it,around it,and through it, I'm satisfied. I think I am dealing with it about as well as possible without seeking medical treatment or therapy of some kind.  It's not something that keeps me from functioning on a day to day basis.It only rears it's ugly head when it comes to dieting and finishing certain tasks.Like washing the last few dishes or pots and pans,after a big meal..Nevertheless, I started on a small quilt,of sorts.I think they are called snibbles on some of the blogs.The spelling may not be right,since I could not find it in the dictionary,but I think that's the word I've seen,used for these tiny quilted pieces.

The front has an Americana look,the back has a Fall image in the center. I have done some more work on the Americana side since these pictures were taken, and I hope to add more to the Fall side before I call it finished.I am working on a frame for the piece so I can display it on the wall or on an easel.I am playing it by ear as usual, so there's no telling what I'll end up with. 



    I 've hung it on the wall in the basement, just for now, to see how it might look later. Hopefully,I will be making the frame for it soon.(I'll post an up-to-date picture at that time.)