Kindle Cover Completed!

After I admitted to Sandra of Sandra Sews that I have been wrapping my new Kindle in a piece of fabric when I take it out with me, she issued a challenge.  By this Friday, I would complete a Kindle cover.  Sandra will be making a baby dress.  I need to be challenged more often.

 DONE!! 

Okay, I did use the simplest design I could possible come up with.  If you are familiar with my blog, you should know by now that I am the queen of rectangle sewing.  This is two rectangles of fabric with a heavy interfacing between.  I sewed around the flap edge, then flipped the bottom up to form a pocket, and sewed those edges. 

 

I probably should have used a Velcro closure, but I just love these new snaps.  To get around the problem of pressing on the Kindle screen when closing the snap, I just need to put it in with the screen facing the back.

The pack of assorted snap colors hasn't failed me yet.  Look at that pretty yellow snap!

Sandra is trying out a new-to-her pattern for the dress.  Okay, Sandra, I'm all set to put the link to that new dress right "here"!

Those Squeezed In Projects

I sometimes feel as though I'm not getting much done.  Then I am reminded of all the squeezed-in projects that people spring on me.  They are always needed NOW and end up leaving the house before I can get decent pics if any at all.  (Consider that an excuse and apology for the crappy photos below.) 

This was the latest "save me" project.  It's just a simple quilt top, but it needed to be in the party "theme colors." The only one of those colors in the stash was the white!  I spent a day and a half coming up with a design, figuring out all the dimensions, shopping, cutting, sewing, and embroidering.  Non-sewers have no idea how long this stuff takes.

It will be a raffle item for a teacher appreciation party.  The blue lines across the white strip with the embroidered lettering are supposed to make it look like school paper. If I had more time, I would have preferred to do these line by hand with embroidery floss to give them more emphasis. 

On my "Thankful List" this week: someone else is being gifted with the quilting and binding. 

What's That New Quilt Gonna Look Like?

As promised and on time!  So unlike me.  Okay maybe I promised more than one block when I posted yesterday.  Procrastinating is what I do best in life, so getting one done when I said I would is amazing progress.  If I had a therapist, s/he would be so pleased with me.

What do you think?  I added some of the stash to the Shades of Black charm pack I won from Quilt Taffy.  I cannot wait to get this one together.

Winning, Recycling, and a Free Online Tutorial all Rolled into One Post

First-- look what I won from Quilt Taffy!

 Lovely little squares of Moda's Shades of Black that will soon turn into a baby quilt with a splash of red.  (Thank you, Quilt Taffy, not just for the fabric but also the regular introduction to so many good sewing ideas.)

So the first thing you do when making a baby quilt is sew up the matching stuffie, right?  Is it just me?

This cute little black bunny was made using Betz White's cashmere bunny tutorial found here and an old lamb's wool sweater I felted.  After reading Pam's (of Threading My Way) post on felting old wool items, I finally got brave enough to actually cut into the sweaters I had felted.  It worked!  The sweater material didn't unravel. 

Tonight I am putting together the first blocks for the quilt.  Shall post them in the morning!  This is so much more fun than the housework I'm supposed to be getting done.

The Shoes at the Door Issue

After tripping my way through someone's front hall recently, I thought I'd post my quick, cheap, and easy solution to  piles of shoes that accumulate at the front door.  It has worked well for a couple of years now.  We don't have a "take your shoes off at the door" policy here, mainly because I'm the one who wouldn't follow it.  Still, shoes pile up there.  So...

There you have it.  It's one of those closet organizers for sweaters and such sitting right in the middle of the front hall closet.  This one came from Target.  It's fairly substantial and has held up to my son's size 13 men's shoes.  There is room for six pairs and another underneath on the floor.  Can you tell there are a few joggers in the family?

While we're in the closet, I'll share our hats, gloves, and scarves solution, too.  The two drawer unit fits in neatly under the jackets.  Two drawers has provided plenty of room for all of us, and it serves as off-season storage, too. 

Now, as for the training required to get everyone to pick the shoes up off the floor and put them in the closet?  I'm still working on that part.

The Continuing Saga of the Fake Veggies

After making the cabbages from coffee filters, I saw these twine-covered carrots on Rachel's  Holy Craft blog.  My cabbages needed some carrots.

I shaved off the sharp edges of the Styrofoam pieces which was messy but not too hard.  Just pressing in the foam a bit helped a lot with smoothing it all out.  I used straight pins with tiny heads to hold the jute in place.  Placing the pins close to Styrofoam so that they are covered by the next round of jute worked out well.

The jute got "dyed" with watered down orange paint.  I'd say that process was semi-successful.  Actual dye might have been brighter, but, I like this dull, mottled look. While I was dying the jute, I also spooned some of the watery paint on the Styrofoam forms, too.  Didn't want any white spots showing through!

This whole mess was left to dry overnight by a heater vent.

After stealing a couple of stems from one of my plastic plants for tops we have some lovely carrots to go with the cabbages. 

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The "I Forgot My Phone" Solution

According to my family, I am the only person who constantly leaves the house or car with my phone still sitting in the charger.  Just in case someone else has this annoying habit, I'm sharing my solution:

I used the lettering on my machine, but there are other ways of getting lettering onto fabric.  I thought about just going with a lightning bolt, but opted for what was easiest for me.

My finished circle is 4 1/2".  As you can see I used my new toy, the low on tech but high on awesomeness SnapSetter from Snapsource.  A button with loop/buttonhole or just Velcro would work in place of a snap. 

I used a medium-stiff iron-on interfacing on both circles of fabric and top stitched after turning it right-side out.  It pops in my purse when not being used.  I'm hoping to get started on making a new bag soon cuz I CANNOT find one that fits all my needs.  This "perfect" bag will a have place where I can just snap this to the lining.

Another project off the list!

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