Holiday Weekend Wrap-up

I think I have end of the weekend-itis! Jeff and I found out that the contract we put in on a house we just adored was rejected, so we are very bummed out. Other than that, I had a pretty good weekend. I wanted to do a quick update before bed.

Here is the suitcase I mentioned in my last post that I scored for $3 at a local thrift store.

I love that it's beaten up and has labels taped on it from the previous owner that say "Winter Pants" and "Long Johns". I considered removing them, but thought they added a big of vintage appeal to them, so I left them. Still no clue what I'll do with this, but Jean and her husband went antiquing in Virginia this past weekend and she saw the exact same suitcase for $65 in one of the stores. Makes my $ seems even better!

I wanted to share a few projects from the weekend. The first is my new fabric holder. I found this cute little metal basket at the thrift store and added some green paint to it. I love how it looks holding rolled up fabric.

I also finally completed my inspiration board. Using a frame I bought at a yard sale for fifty cents, fabric I picked up at a thrift store for a dollar and a piece of foam core board, it turned out pretty cute. It sits behind a bunch of my thrifted items that I have painted. (Obviously I'm not too inspired right now because it's empty!)

The last thing I worked on this weekend was a little stuffed bear head. I wanted to make something for Little Jimmy when I got see him and I was inspired by a picture I saw on Flickr. I made my own pattern and had some issues with it, but he came out okay for my first attempt.

His ears are made from a vintage sheet and they are super soft. Today I made another one, this time I made a pig pillow. I haven't had a chance to take a pic of her yet, but will post one when I get a chance. I'm hoping to perfect these little guys and add them to my future Etsy shop. (I know, I know I keep saying that!)

That's it for now. If anyone besides my sister is actually reading this, please comment and let me know what you think!

always,

K

Still Crafting!

I have been so busy looking at houses and purging the clutter around here, I haven't had time for an update! I promised myself that I would do one today so here goes.

Last Saturday, Jean and I spent the whole day checking out the local thrift stores and flea markets and we found some really cool stuff.

My favorite find was an antique Samsonite suitcase. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but I will soon. It wasn't priced, so I took it to the register thinking maybe $10 or even $15. The cashier charged me $3. Score! I have no clue what I'm going to do with it! If anyone has any ideas, please pass them along!

I also got a really cool cake stand and a teal polka dot plate that I just love.

I scored some really cool things to paint too, so I will post pics once they are done. (Right now, I have lost the paint that I was going to use on two of the things and am tearing the house apart for it. I mean, I just bought the paint 10 days ago, it couldn't have gotten that lost, right?!?)

When we got home, I began working on another "Hi Honey, I'm Home!" apron. It turned out okay but not as well as I hoped. I added a pocket to this one, and I'm not sure I like it. What do you think?

I used a vintage sheet for the floral panels and the rest is fabric from my stash. I don't know, it's just something I look at like "meh, it's alright".

Today, after I paint some stuff, I'm going to spend lots of time sewing. I found a site called Fat Cat Patterns that has the most awesome free applique patterns and I plan to work on one or
two this weekend. If you have a chance, check out this site and thank God in heaven that there are still people like Sindy who offer things for free!

Before I go, I must introduce one and all to my brand new great nephew, Jimmy. He was born Wednesday and I can't wait to meet him in person! He looks just like my nephew-in-law and I only wish that my Mom could be around to meet him. I had a nice long crying jag yesterday over this fact and my friend, Kelly (we call her Little Kelly or Kelly Kelly), was kind enough to point out that Mom had probably already met him. She knew him in Heaven and gave him a hug and a kiss before gently pushing him off a cloud and into this world. Isn't that just the sweetest sentiment? Love her!
I plan to be back later today or tomorrow to post more pics and updates!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

always,

K

Hi Honey, I'm Home!

Another busy weekend has passed. Overall it was a very good weekend. Jeff and I decided to put a bid on a house we saw (cross your fingers!), I hung out with Jean a bit on Saturday, I spent time with my sister, Jan, today as we went to the cemetary and then to lunch and I took a little time today to work on a new apron!

Thanks to Jean, it is displayed above on my new dress form. Jean emailed me a link last week to a Craigslist posting for a dress form and I immediately emailed the seller. Jeff and I picked it up yesterday and it's perfect! It's not the antique one that I was hoping for, but it's clean and will fit perfectly in my new studio when/if we move.

Anyway, how cute is this apron?!? It's called "Hi Honey, I'm Home!" and I found the pattern for free on Robert Kaufman's website - it was so easy to make! Jean's last podcast was all about aprons and I've been itching to make a new one. I still have to add the ties onto the apron, but that shouldn't take too long. I have some other ideas for a similar apron that I want to make for my future Etsy shop and hope to work on that next weekend.

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

always,

K

Owl Be Seeing You

Just a quick post to show a new work in progress. I made this log cabin block with an owl transfer to be embroidered last Sunday.
I hope to get the embroidery done this weekend. I'm not sure if it will become a pillow or a wall hanging.

We have a busy weekend looking at a couple of houses today and picking up something I bought from someone on Craigslist. (I won't say what it is, because I want to blog it later, but it is something I have wanting for a long time!!)
Have an awesome weekend!

always,
K

Busy, Busy!

The last week has flown by. Jeff and I decided last weekend that it is time to move from where we are to a new place. We rent a townhouse next door to the one I grew up in and for many reasons, it's time to go! So if posts become a bit few and far between, we are in a flurry of cleaning and looking at new places.

Anyway, I have lots of projects to share today, so here goes.

Last weekend was another weekend dedicated to painting things with bright colors and a bit of sewing and reorganizing my studio.

My first painting projects for the weekend were of two old colanders I found. I love colanders for some strange reason and I have seen them painted and selling for $8 and more. This first one I think I paid $1.50 for at a thrift shop by my work. I love that its deep. It started out as an eyesore, but add some watermelon paint and presto-chango how pretty is it now? I will use it to hold some yarn or other odds and ends.
Next came another colander. This one was more shallow with a star shaped pattern of draining holes.


I added some celery green paint and made it into this:

I also painted a candlestick that I've had forever. I haven't used it because it was just blah before:

But after adding some ocean blue paint, I know just where it's going to go!

My last painted project was my thread holder. Jean gave me this when I first got back into sewing and it was just plain wood. I can't say I'm entirely thrilled with the result because the yellow paint was much paler than I wanted, but I plan to buy a brighter yellow and repaint it soon. It still brightens up my studio a bit though.

In between coats of painting all of this stuff, I got some sewing in. One of my favorite blogs is Cluck. Cluck. Sew. Allison posted a tutorial on how to make a camera strap cover. I have been tempted several times to buy one of these from Etsy, but hesitated to do it because, as a sewer/quilter, I always think "I can do that!". I was determined to try last Sunday.

Let me just say that Allison's tutorial was awesome. If I had followed all of the directions I would have had no problems. Unfortunately, when I was about halfway through, I started thinking "I got it! I don't need no stinkin' directions." This is where things went downhill. Please, I beg of you, if you try her tutorial and are like me and get all confident about halfway...check yourself. READ THE DIRECTIONS!

Basically, I didn't leave enough wiggle room in my strap (because I conveniently forgot that it had to go over the little clippy things that attach the strap to the bag) and it was extremely difficult to get it on. But I am a determined woman. That cover was going on. I didn't care if every seam I had just carefully sewn ripped out in the process, it was going on.

Finally, it did go on. Thank you, Jesus!

This was just my test strap that I did for my Nikon Cool Pix camera. Last Christmas, Jeff got me a new camera bag for my Canon Rebel and I will be doing a strap cover for that next. This time, I'm making sure to follow the darn directions to the letter!

My other project is still a work in progress. Jean and I bought a bunch of flour sack towels to embroider and I have been working on one. I did the embroidery on one end but I still want to embroider the opposite end and add a fabric strip along the bottom. So far I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.

I will post the finished product when I get it done!

Lastly was organization. Last week I posted the link to the fabric folding method I'm using. I spent a lot of time folding fabric last weekend and I'm still nowhere near done. But here is what I have done so far. I still want to organize it by color, but this is a good start:

Trust me when I say that this shelf will be full when I'm done folding all of my fabric and I will still have tons of fabric that won't fit! God Bless my Mom for all the fabric she left me!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It's rainy here, so no painting this weekend, but Jeff and I are making a quick trip to drop some stuff off at the dump and then to look at a few houses we saw online.

always,

K