Log Cabin Table Runner

This is a table runner that I made using upholstery sample scraps that were left over from making valences for the windows at my daughters house (She is doing the lodge look at her house).
I made 7 log cabin blocks and cut 3 of them in half diagonally. I used the one's that I cut in half to set the others on point. When it came time for finishing, I had to do the quilting on the machine since upholstery fabric is just too thick to quilt through by hand. It has one layer of batting, and is backed with a pant weight twill fabric. I think it turned out nice. I will use it for dinners when all the family gets together and there is a lot of food on the table. The thickness of the table runner will protect my table from any damage.

Re-Cycled Jeans Pillow

Another way to use old jeans is to make decorative throw pillows. You know what they say "jeans go with everything". Well I believe the same is true for these throw pillows made from recycled jeans. I cut 16 squares and layered them 4 deep with all right sides facing up, sew across in 1/2 inch increments on the diagonal, cut thru three layers in between seams and then run them thru the washer and dryer to make them poof up. Then sew the blocks together so that the sewn lines form a concentric design. I put a denim back on mine to make a pillow, but the same idea could be used to make a tote or beach bag.

Lone Star Baby Quilt

I think this is my favorite quilt design. This one happens to be a baby quilt that I made to enter in the Boone County Fair, but it will ultimately go to my Granddaughter Lucy. The theme for her nursery is Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. What better way to illustrate that than diamond shapes put together to form a star. I tried to pick colors that are present in flames so it would look like a flaming star. It is quilted by hand, and I made the binding out of the same colors as the star cut on the bias.
When I was a kid I used to watch my Grandma quilt. She had a quilting frame that my Grandpa made for her out of 2x4's that he split and it was held up with tomato cages that he also built. I grew up thinking that you had to have a frame to quilt. Since I didn't have one, or the room to put one up, I had resigned myself to thinking I couldn't quilt by hand. Then one day (I think it was in 1998) I say an episode of Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson where she talked about lap quilting and the techniques of hand quilting. It was like a light bulb came on over my head. I got some scrap pieces of fabric and batting, layered them together and started practicing her techniques. OK, at first I was terrible, but it didn't take long before I got the hang of it. I made only small projects at first, and gradually worked my way up to larger and larger ones. The first Queen sized quilt I finished by hand was my chicken quilt that took over 2 years (half of that time was spent embroidering the chickens). With practice I got a lot faster and now I can complete a King sized quilt from start to finish in about 45 days. I know a lot of people don't want to invest that much time into a single project, but the feeling of accomplishment you get when you are finally finished is out of this world. Thanks to Alex Anderson, where ever you are.

Re-Cycled Jeans Hand Bags

What can you do with your favorite pair of jeans once they are too worn to wear, or just out grown? I hate throwing things away. I am like those hoarders that they are making TV shows about that have piles and piles of stuff that they just can't get rid of. My husband and I live in a three bedroom house and two of those bedrooms that are supposed to be for guest rooms are in fact rooms to hold all the things that I keep, thinking someday I will find a use for that and I will be glad I kept it.

A few years ago I decided to try to use up all the things that I have kept over the years to cut down on the clutter, and maybe make money in the process. I started making these handbags out of the old jeans that I will never get small enough to wear anymore. I sell them for $15.oo each, or give them as Christmas or birthday presents (which saves money too because I am not out any cash for the present).

I use scraps of fabric left over from other projects to make the lining. Pockets can be put on the inside if you like, but I usually don't because there are plenty of pockets already on the jeans. On the two bags shown in these pictures, I decorated them by felting flowers, scrolls, and hearts using loose wool (that I carded and dyed myself) and a felting needle. The belts and shoulder straps can be done in a variety of ways. Sometimes I use old belts of mine and sometimes I make them using the pant legs that were cut off. Macrame shoulder straps (not shown) also look nice and sell pretty well.

Use pants size 12 or smaller, anything bigger just looks like you are carrying around a duffel bag. Children's and baby jeans work great. The larger ones can even be used for diaper bags. Bottles slide down in the front pockets for easy access.

Clown Fish Baby Quilt

For this quilt, I cut nine 12 inch squares of white fabric. I drew the templates for the fish from looking at a coloring book that one of my Grand kids left here. Of course they aren't meant to look like actual species of fish so imagination is the only limit. I had quite a few scraps of brightly colored polka-dot fabric to make the fish. After appliqueing the fish, I embroidered around the edges to give more definition to the details. I also embroidered their eyes, mouth, fish hooks and worms.

I sewed the blocks together, and used a small bowl to mark and cut scallops around the outside edges. Then I appliqued it to the top of the background fabric. The background fabric shows thru just enough to make it look like water. On the white portion, I quilted in wavy lines, and on the background I mimicked the scalloped edge.

Mother Goose Baby Quilt

Old Mother Goose, when she decided to wander, would ride through the air on the back of a Gander

This is my version of Mother Goose. I saw an old iron on transfer (I think from Aunt Martha's Transfers) on EBay that said it was first printed in the 50's. Well, they wanted $16.00 for it and I didn't want to pay that so I enlarged the image on the screen so I could see the details, and drew one that I could turn into a applique pattern.

After getting all the pieces appliqued in place, I used embroidery thread to fill in the details such as the facial features on Mother Goose and the Gander, the hand details, the waives on the skirt and the wings of the Gander.

Her hair is loose wool that I carded myself and felted in place with a felting needle.

The ribbon on the hat, at her neck, and around the gander's neck is silk ribbon.

I tried to applique the shoes and socks, but the pieces were just too small for these big clumsy fingers of mine, so I wound up doing them totally in embroidery.

I cut clouds out of blue and white in various sizes. To give the picture some dimension, I placed the smaller clouds in the background underneath the top layer of fabric, and the larger clouds in the foreground appliqued in place.

I used the edge of a plate to make the scalloped edge of the border fabric.

I quilted wavy lines, closer together in the background and slightly further apart in the foreground to make it look like she was flying in the jet stream.

Applique on Recycled Jeans Skirt

The skirt was made from a pair of size 6 children's jeans that my granddaughter got too tall for.
I cut them off at the knees and opened up the inside leg seam, and both side seams below the pocket. I used the bottom portion of the legs that I cut off to cut four triangles (two large for front and back and two smaller ones for the sides). The crotch area on the front and back has to be cut back to form a relatively straight line from the waist band to the bottom of the leg. Insert the triangles. Put a ruffle on the bottom of the skirt.

Then I appliqued flowers to look like they were coming out of the pocket on the left side, and across the front.

I put a butterfly on the right side just below the pocket.

I put a bow with long streamers on the back between the pockets. When I insert the triangles, because of the thick seams on jeans, the top of the triangles are not always perfect, so I put the appliques in these locations to hide any imperfections.

Brown bagging in style

Everyone is trying to save money these days and taking a lunch from home is one way to do that. This is a lunch bag that I made totally out of scrap upholstery fabric and left over pieces of fabric that I made some curtains out of.
I used the upholstery scraps and made two log cabin blocks set on point for the front and back. The sides and bottom are corduroy. The inside is lined with green plaid, and I used the same fabric to make two matching napkins. I crocheted around the edge of the napkins to make it look nice. I made the bag large enough to hold two Glad sandwich containers and two drinks.
Since it was made with scraps, it didn't cost me anything to make and no one will ever pick up my lunch by mistake.

Cupboard Wall Hanging

I saw a picture of a cupboard wall hanging in a magazine one time that looked so nice I had to look twice at it to see that it was a picture rather than the real thing.

This is my version of it. I chose blue to make the dishes because my dishes are blue and I wanted it to look like it fit in with the rest of the things in my kitchen.

For the hutch, I chose shades of brown. I gave it dimension by mitering the corners of the shelves and side pieces, and set some of the dishes forward on the shelf and some of them I set back. All the applique was done with the needle turn method. The quilting is done by hand. I quilted around the dishes, then for the hutch I quilted 1/2" apart in the direction I thought the grain of the wood would go (if it were wood). The back of the hutch I did in 1" square set on point to distinguish it from the sides and bottom of the shelves.

The backing I cut about 1" larger than the front all the way around, and used it to make the binding. Finally, I put a sleeve across the top of the back to run a dowel rod thru for hanging.

Pretty dresses for a little Angel

I made these dresses out of quilt scraps. I just went through my scrap bag and picked out colors that went together. On this first dress, I made the skirt by cutting out wedges of fabric that measure 2 1/2 inches across the top, and 7 1/2 inches across the bottom. The diameter of the bottom of the bodice is 20 inches so I used 5 panels for the front and 5 for the back.

I did french fold bindings around the neck and arm holes, and with my tube turner, I made tubes and appliqued them in a design around the neck for added decoration. The belt and bow are attached in the front, and I crocheted loops for belt carriers on both sides. The bottom is the wagon wheel crochet pattern in white with sage green on the outer edge.

Here is my little angel wearing it.

This is another summer play dress done in two colors. I had enough to make the gathered skirt without piecing like the one before. The bodice has french fold bindings on the neck and armholes. The bow I set to one side instead of centering. The edging on the bottom is two rows of single crochet, and two rows of shell with rose colored embroidery floss woven thru the second row of single crochet to add color.

HOME MADE LYE SOAP

A few years ago I decided to learn how to do all the things that my Grandma did. The first thing on this list was to make home made lye soap. She was always so proud of her soap. I know she made hers in a great big cast iron kettle in the back yard. Well, I don't have a big kettle like that and my husband (and probably my neighbors too) would think I had completely gone off my rocker if I dragged up some wood and started a big fire in the back yard so I researched methods of doing it in the kitchen. I found a lot of books in the library on soap making, but all of them wanted me to have a lot of equipment that I didn't have and was unwilling to buy since I didn't know if I would like making soap and if it would be worth the expense. Then, when I was about to give up I ran across a recipe for soap making in an old cookbook that I already owned that was published in 1942.
Mix 1 quart cold water and 1 lb. can lye in a stone jar, or granite pot (I had to call my Mom and ask her what a granite pot was and it just happened that I had one of those that I use for canning, but I call it an enamel pot). Stir until it cools. Add 1 TBS washing ammonia: 2 TBS 20-mule team Borax and 5 pounds of any clean grease which has been warmed until it runs easily, but not hot. Stir until it thickens, pour into cardboard boxes that have been covered with several layers of newspaper on the outside. Cover with another piece of cardboard, and towels and let it set for two days.
At that point it should be firm enough to cut into bars. Let it ripen before using (once again I called my Mom to ask her what ripening meant, turns out that it means let it set in a dark place away from drafts for about 2 weeks).
This batch I used plastic containers (that shortcake came in) to make the soap. I made it 2 weeks ago and it is still not firm enough to be removed from the containers. It turns out that cardboard is the way to go because it sucks the excess moisture out of the soap which enables you to remove it from the container and cut it in the appropriate amount of time. I will always use cardboard from now on, and yes I do enjoy making soap and can fully understand why my Grandma was so proud of hers.
Some people ask me why I spend time making my own soap and here are a few reasons. My Dad said that when he was a kid his Mother would wash their heads with lye soap, and when other kids at school would get head lice, they never got them because of the lye soap. A veterinarian told my cousin that washing her dog with lye soap would keep the fleas and ticks off of him. My brother told me that when he cuts up onions it makes his hands stink even after washing with dish soap, or store bought soap, but after I gave him lye soap he washes with it after cutting onions and the smell completely goes away. Is all this really true you ask? Well, I have been making and using lye soap for several years and my head doesn't itch, I don't have fleas or ticks, and my hands don't stink.

PILLOW CASES WITH A PIECED EDGE

This is a simple pieced edge that can be added to pillow cases to dress them up and add to the decor of your bedroom. It is squares set on point. I picked bright colors with a sharp contrasting background. I also only put the squares on the top of the pillow case and just a yellow band on the back. Materials needed for the edge of each pillow case is 9 two inch squares (using multi colors of fabric), 5 three and a half inch squares (for the background fabric), and two strips of background fabric that are 2 7/8 inches wide and approximately 25 inches long.

I use a cutting mat, large plastic ruler, and rotary cutter to make my cuts exact. Several different companies make these, You can buy the pieces individually or as a set. The one I use is made by Fiscars, it came in the three piece set (it's cheaper if you buy the set). You could also cut them individually with scissors. Just be careful to make them as exact as possible. Cut 9 two inch squares.

Cut 5 three and a half inch squares (background fabric). Then cut across catty corner in both directions to make the setting triangles.

With right sides together, place a triangle on top of a square, lining up the corner and 2 sides as seen in the picture. Use 1/4 inch seams. Do one right after the other without cutting the thread in between, this is called flagging and it really does make the process go faster and it keeps you from loosing any pieces.

Lay out your flag on the ironing board with squares on top. Then with your iron set on cotton setting, use the nose of the iron to push the square up. Doing this ensures that the seam lays flat with no puckers or folds. Clip the thread in between, stack them and go back to the sewing machine.

With right sides together, place another triangle on top of the square on the opposite corner as seen in the picture to the left. Sew in the same manor as before.

Press, clip threads, and stack.

Orient your stack with the top triangle pointing up to the left and seams pointing down. Place one set on the machine, flip the next set over from right to left, place it on top of the first set with right sides together, lining up the sides, with the top triangle on top of the square and the top square on top of the triangle. Continue in this manor until all 9 are sewn together. Press seams. Cut 45 degree angles on both ends of the back strip of fabric, making sure that the angles you cut are complementary to the angles on the front piece you just made. Sew both sides. Your overall finished size if this band when laid flat should be 19 1/2 inches (which is the finished width of a standard pillow case.

For the case itself cut fabric 40 inches wide (add 3/4 inch if you are doing french seams) and 27 inches long, and a strip 40 inches by 5 inches (this will be the hem). Sew the bottom and side seam of the pillowcase and turn it right side out. With right sides together and the squares centered on the top of the pillowcase and the solid band on the back, use 1/4 inch seam to attach decorative band to case being careful to sew across the point of the squares, not into the squares.

Sew the ends of the 40 inch strip together making a band. With right sides together and lining up the side seam of the case with the seam of the band, sew hem band to the bottom edge of decorative band. Press seams down, turn up hem band 1/2 inch and press. Turn up hem to cover the seam between the case and the decorative band and blind stitch. There should be approximately one inch of fabric below the decorative band. The over all finished size of the pillow case should be 19 1/2" X 29".

These make excellent gifts any occation. People love them because that added personal touch makes it all that much more special and it really doesn't take that much time after you get the hang of it. I think it took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for me to make each one and I was stoping to take pictures as I was doing it.

Basket made with Recycled Jeans

This is an Easter basket that I made from the flat fold seams of my son-in-law's old jeans. I cut all the double sewn seams off the jeans, including the ones that go across the back yoke that has the little red wrangler tab that you can see in the bottom picture.This basket took two pair of jeans to make. When cutting the seams out, I leave about 1/4 inch of material on both sides of the seam. I also used both waist bands. On one I left the belt loops attached to the top of the waist band and used a seam ripper to rip them loose from the pants before I cut the waist band off the pants with the extra 1/4 inch of fabric.


To start, with the right side of the seam facing up. I pulled a 4 inch length around and butted it up against each other. I Started at the loop end and, using a wide zig-zag stitch, I began sewing the two together. The hardest part is the first turn. Just keep the seam as flat as possible and turn the corner making sure that the zig-zag stitch is catching fabric on both sides. Continue in this fashion, going around both ends until you come to the end of the first piece. Then just butt the next piece up next to the last one and keep zig-zagging until the bottom is as large as you want it. At that point, pull slightly on the piece that is being attached and continue. This pulling will make the sides start to take shape. When you run thru all the pieces of flat fold seams, use scissors to taper the end of the last piece so it has a smooth rather than an abrupt end. Now, put the waist band on. Attach the waist band with the loops (I cut the snaps and or buttons and holes off first)to the top of the basket in the same manor as before, trim to insure that the two ends butt up against each other. Zig-zag waist band together. Use the other waistband to make the handle. First, fold it in half length wise and sew (with straight stitch). Next, fold it in half and attach the folded side to the basket. Then, twist the two like a rope (twist just enough to make the handle hold its shape, if you twist too much, the handle won't stand up) and attach to the other side of the basket. Use hot glue and attach the loose ends of the belt loops to the basket. Decorate with ribbon thru the belt loops and a large bow. Flowers or other decorations could also be used, it's up to you.