• Blog

    A second look: Recycled Clothing Ragtime quilt

    SecondlookSince it is April and we’ll be honoring Earth Day as well as Elizabeth’s birthday on the 22nd, I thought it was fitting to take a second look at one of my favorite recycling projects.

    The original post was from September 18, 2008. Incidentally, this quilt is still in use on the boy’s bed even though all 5’10” of him no longer fits underneath it.

    Lets take a second look at the post…

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    I finished sewing the quilt yesterday morning. I would have been done on Tuesday night but first I put the bobbin in wrong then broke a needle and then put the new needle in backwards so it kept breaking the thread. It was very frustrating. I knew then that it was just time to be done for the day.

    After the sewing, I had to clip each seam allowance every half inch then wash it so it would fray after washing. The nylon stocking that serves as my filter on my washing machine outlet had a large fist size ball of frayed denim and flannel in it. Then the dryer lint trap was even more full of fluff. I would have taken it to a laundry mat but we don’t have any around here anymore. It’s a 20 min drive to the closest one.

    There are several things I love about this quilt:

    1. All the flannel is from my maternity tops and my boy’s flannels from when he was very small.
    2. The denim is from both mine and my hubby’s old jeans. Together we’ve lost about 50lbs!!
    3. The “batting” I used was scraps of polar fleece that I got for free from someone’s “project gone wrong”
    4. This blanket is fairly heavy! This provides good sensory comfort for my boy. He needs/loves heavy blankets to help him sleep through the night.
  • Blog - Crafts

    T Tuesday: collage card edition

    I totally missed T stands for Tuesday last week. T stands for Tuesday_200I can’t even remember what I was doing other than not being on my computer.

    I do know what I was obsessively making on Thursday though…collage card

    I turned on some music, grabbed my scraps and began piecing together collages. I think I was inspired to make more after writing an article about my process. I’ll give you more of a heads up on that when it’s about to be published. 🙂 Honestly I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say about it until it comes out so that’s all I’m saying for now.

    I’m such a tease…I know.

    Today we are expecting a snow storm but we haven’t seen a flake so far. If it’s as bad as they say, Little J’s concert may be postponed tonight. In the mean time I’ll be working around the house. Exciting, huh?!?

    So…what are you doing today?

  • Blog

    Darn it!

    Don’t you hate it when your favorite pair of socks gets a hole!

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    I decided to do something about it. I searched through my old sewing box filled with goodies from the past and found exactly what I was looking for.IMG_0080

    A darning tool. Keeping old skills part of the present is a passion of mine. Yes I embrace technology and all that goes with it but there is just something about handwork that really makes me feel accomplished. Or perhaps, closer to my roots.

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    I set to work stitching and weaving as I have seen in pictures with the darning tool holding the sock firm and providing a surface to drag the needle across…ie: not my fingers.IMG_0083

    Given the fact that I was pretty much winging it…I don’t think I did too bad. I learned some things for next time which will likely be soon since the other sock is getting very thin.