A Couple of Quick Gifts

Start with to store bought fleece blankets (with blanket stitch edge), a little cotton yarn, and some felt.

Cut out 3 inch squares out of 4 colors of felt and 3 inch triangles out of the same colors. Then sew the squares on with a straight stitch 1/8 inch from edge of felt in each corner of the blanket and the center place the triangles.

On the other one Double crochet, chain, in each blanket stitch bar around the edge of the blanket and then finish off with a slip stich and weave in ends.

I made both of these in under 1 1/2 hours. They were very quick and easy to complete.

A new promise to myself

I have been looking at how much I spend on crafting stuff, whither it be yarn, hooks, paper, stickers, and I really need to start using what I have. So for the next month or two I will be using what I have to creat all of my gifts for the holidays. If you saw my studio you would know why I will be able to do this. The only way that I can get new items is to swap. I will be posting things that I will be willing to swap with a list of things that I would like to get in return.

Fabric and Yarn Dolls
Here are a couple of finished objects that me and the girls made together. We got the idea from the show "That's Clever" on HGTV. I had the items on hand that we needed to make it so we made a couple. I have now made another one but I forgot to take a picture of it yet.

Shae really likes blue so we picked fabrics with a lot of blues in it and yarns that were mostly blue, I have a small amount of Noro left over and that is what the doll is wrapped with. I like the way the color changed for yellow to green.

This it the one Anastasia made. Her favorite color is pink and so we used various colors of pink. We wrapped the dolls body with a light and fluffy pink yarn and the hair is scraps of yarn that was trimmed from the skirt to neaten it up.

The supplies for this project are:

• An old white t-shirt, men's size XL (makes 3 dolls from one shirt)
• Florist wire (silver color is easier to cover and does not show like the green wire does)
• Scrap fabric
• leftover yarns
• ribbon
• Your choice of embellishments

How-to, to follow.

A week of work ahead

I got my final grade from my last class of the quarter today. I got an A on my Final which brought my grade up to a B so I am happy. I plan on using my week off from school to set up my New Etsy Shop. I have been working on alot of products ready and I have not wanted to show them here until the shop opens.

I have handbags, tote bags, coasters, hair clips, pins, and more . . . I have been enjoying making these items and I hope that you all enjoy the items. I hope to have a little more time to work this this week and I have my screenprinting supplies set out and I am working on a couple of new designs to have on my handbags and maybe a few t-shirts. (The picture above is one of the screenprints that I am working on. Here is the blog that I created to showcase new items for my shop. Curiously Kate

Log Cabin Pillow #2

This is pillow number 2 and I have added a new twist to the back of the pillow. Instead of just a simple patch, I added the intial of giftee to this one. Here is a link to Log Cabin Pillow #1. I love the colors in the first one better because I was using my favorites for it and I was making this for Anastasia's Teacher so I used colors that she liked, which are blues and greens.
She is taking it in to school in the morning so I wanted to get a picture and get it posted prio to gifting it.

An Update

I just thought that I would give an update on what has been going on lately.

I feel that I have not been crafting as much as I would like. I have still been making at least 1 to 2 FOs per week but they have been small 30 min to one hour projects.

Today I cut strips for another Log Cabin Pillow, this will be a gift for one of Anastasia's teachers. I am making it in shades of blues and greens. I am trying to figure out what other color I am going to add to give it that touch of flare.

I have a small piece of fabric that was left over from an apron that I made a few months ago, it has blue, green, orange, yellow, & teal with a black background. I will try to get a picture in the morning and update the post with it.

I really hate to write a post without a picture so here is one of the girls and their friend Blake at our Walk For Jesus cleanup event. They decied to give the kids the extra t-shirts and they were so big I might have to re-fashion them to make them down to gowns so that they can at least sleep in them.

I would like to thank you for reading my sometimes boring posts, the class that I am taking now has me at my wits end, and I fell I need to post something so that I don't forget about this place.

Here is a few cool links that I thought you might like.

Fontaine Maury

Halligan Norris

Indygo Junction

The Vintage Workshop

Curious Sofa

I hope that you enjoy these links as much as I did.

This Week's FOs and a pattern

This was one of the first FOs of the week. I made 5 of them with leftover sock yarn. I also made a couple of them with buttons for a gift and I gifted them without taking a picture. These were very fun and easy and a great way to use up those little marble size balls that you have been hanging onto and did not know what to do with.

PATTERN:

I used a 3.5 hook and chained 5 joined in a ring and then then 10 sc in the ring then join with a sc . Next row chain 4 sc in next stitch, repeat around and then finish off. Cut yarn and weave in ends.

This pillow was so much fun. I had seen so many of these around blog land that I just had to have a log cabin pillow of my own. I am not very good at throwing away even the smallest pieces of fabric. I got a few Denise Schmidt's fabric pieces in a swap and so I incoorporated a few of the pieces in and I love the way it turned out. It is now sitting on my couch. My daughter wanted it for her room, but I had to have it for my seat.
I had to put something on to decorate the back so that it would still look cute even when the pillow is on the wrong side. I also made the pillow form for the inside. I am a member of the April Fools Swap on Swap-bot and you had to make a handbag that is whimsical and cute so I made the bag out of some fabric from my stash and a few buttons that match, the ribbon is vintage and I sewed a flower with yarn on the front to add too the whimsey. This was very fun to make with the buttons that match perfectly.

In like a lion. . . . . and more

March has truly come in like a Lion, and now a river runs through my yard. It has rained all day and I have one child that has been home all day and one that after school has had a fit because she cannot go outside. So I got here to help me make dinner and a special treat of Brownies. These pictures are from yesterday when Shae and I made her a pillow. She got to choose buttons from my button jar and lay them out (with a little help from me) and we glued them on with Fabri-Tac.

Quilted overnight bag

Quilted overnight bag
Originally uploaded by many layers of kate.

Here is the FO from Friday that I promised to post. I can't believe that it has been so long between post. I love the way that this turned out. I now have to make one for my mom. She wants a smaller bag. Let me know what you think.

Inspiration

I just had to post these because they inspire me so much. I love the colors of the fabrics and the way the patterns play on each other. These are from the Ikea Blenda Collection. I know the way the combine fabric is not always the way I would but I thought that these would make a great quilt.I really love this pattern it reminds me of saucer plates with the concentric circles.

This fabric feels a little retro to me with the large white spaces and bright colors and cosmic shapes. The small mofits of this fabric makes it great for an accent fabric or the border of a quilt.

I wish I had a set of dinner plates with these patterns on them. I love the mix of colors and the unexpected use of dark colors with the pastels.

Adding this to the combination adds an unexpected twist to the mix. From a distance it could almost look like a solid with dots because of the fine lines. I think that the pattern adds a whimsey to the over all look of a very simple quilt.

When I first looked at the collection as a whole I did not really notice the pattern of this fabric I just look at it as a check, but after looking at it on its own I really thought that this would be a way to make the pattern of the quilt pop because if used as the border or main background fabric it would change up the whole dynamic of the quilt.

I would love to use this collection of fabrics to make the Simply Squares Quilt from Denise Schmidts, Book : Quilts.
I hope that this inspires you the way it has inspired me. When I find something that just makes me want to create, I just have to get my hands on it. I guess this means that I have to plan a trip to my local IKEA.

Fabric Notebook

Fabric Notebook
Originally uploaded by many layers of kate.

I have seen this idea in a few places, (a japanese Craft book and in the current issue of Craft) so I decided that I had to try my hand at it. I used a scrap of recycled prequilted fabric and I emblished it with blanket stitches. I also finished the edges with blanket stitching. It was a very relaxing project and I think that it will be very useful to have it in my bag. I consider this a WIP because I have not finished all of the embelishment that I plan for this book I would love to be considered for the Reform School Prize also.

Refashioned Outfit

refashioned outfit
Originally uploaded by knitknat1021.

The skirt was given to me by my neice and was a Micro Mini Skirt so I used fabric from my stash to add length and a belt. I was a gifted this hand-me-up twinset and I made a flower pin out of the left over length of the belt that I made.

Yesterday

I was feeling better yesterday morning and I had to return something to a store so I decided to go ahead and go. My mother had the girls and my DH was out riding a horse. Well after doing my return I stopped at Borders and picked up a copy of the latest issue of Craft and Sewing Today Magazine, I was parusing the sewing books and I happened onto Simple Sewing with a French Twist: An Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes and Home Accessories with Style and I just had to have it. I could not believe it when I started flipping through the pages and I had to laugh when I realized the Japanese Zakka Books seem to be just like this French Sewing Book. I got home and picked up the Zakka Book that I have and a lot of the illustrations are the same in style, and the Zakka book even has a picture of the Effiel Tower and a map of France in it. I will post some pictures as soon I start to feel better.

I started feeling bad again last night on the way to take my youngest Shea to the Children's ER in Atlanta. She had a fever of 101.5, a sever cough, runny nose, and a headache. We were there from 7:30 pm until 1:30 am this morning. They gave her a triple shot of meds to get the cough stopped and then a breathing treatment because they said her breathing was strained. She finally had a good nights rest last night. She is asleep right now in her daddy arms, and I am sitting in bed trying to rest and get over a head cold

Edited to add this cool movie:

Purse Organizer

Purse Organizer Filled
Originally uploaded by knitknat1021.

I made this on Sunday or Monday (days seem to be running together this week) and I love the way that it helps me keep my purse neat I got the Idea from The Giving Flower Via Craftster I think I seem to lose track f where exactly I find my links as I surf the blog world late at night most of the time. I will get the link and include them as soon as possible. I am posting Via Flickr and I am unable to post more than one picture at a time, and I cannont seem to get the links to post correctly.

CONTEST (not mine) and more. . . .

Go Over and check them out and sign up for this contest. I also got a very good deal on fabric today. I was able to get $155.00 worth of Fabric for only $14.00 at Joann's. They have all of their clearance fabric for only $1.00 per yard. If you have one near you, I would run as fast as I could to get some wonderful fabric. I will post a picture of the fabric and the pattern that I plan to use.
In the whole provide for ourself mindset I am putting this link out to everyone and you might want to grow your own, Victory Garden.

Jean Jacket Re-fashion

My girls wanted a jean jacket that they saw at the Limited Too and I took one look at the price tag ($42), and said, "I can make your look just like that or better". So I used my Bejeweler Heat tool and put on crystals along the pockets and the collar.

This was very easy, it took about 45 min with heating and cooling so that I could change the tips. I used three different sizes of crystals (5mm, 4mm, & 3mm). I love the way it turned out and Anastasia looked so cute in it. I will have to take a picture of her wearing it.

Wardrobe Refashion '07

I, Kate C. , pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!

Signed Kate C. .

Join with me here.

A view into my studio

I have had my current studio for about 4 1/2 months now and I am still trying to get everything where I want it. I have rearranged about 100 times it seems. Over Christmas I had an open house to let people see where I teach my classes. So I had it arranged for that, so I decided to arrange it for classes and for me to be able to work better.

Here is part of my ribbon collection on the bottom is my vintage ribbon and seam binding and the white on the top is also vintage and I have some of my new ribbon. This is on top of a old dresser that my aunt gave me, someone had started to refinish it and only removed the paint from the top and so I decided that I liked the way it looked so I have left it that way.

Here is what is sitting on my desk.

I also made a couple of baby comfort blankets with ribbon tags.

I Want This Book

I want this book. I am drooling.

I found this one Kitty-Craft and I thought I would love to make a few of the items found inside, I really love the bag on the cover.

This book cover is just too cute.

And this bag would be a great knitting bag.

Another late night post

I have been making the Coffee Cup Cuffs from Art Quilting Magazine and I have been using pre-quilted fabric for a quicker project. I have now made about a dozen and I am planning on giving them out at the school to some of my favorite PTO and office workers. They were very easy to make and I think that I will make a few more because I have a lot of pre-quilted fabric that is just small sample size pieces and I can make a few of them. I also have figured that you can get 4 out of 1/8 yard of pre-quilted fabric and this would be a very inexpensive gift to start making to add to my gift closet.

I have been making kits for the presentation that I am doing at My Daughter's school and I hope that I will be able to sell some of the supplies that I have put together. While I was doing this I thought of an Idea that I might use for a home party idea.

I also have my resume out at 7 places now and I hope that I wll hear from one of them soon.