Bear Paw Quilt Being Tied

Back in January I finished piecing this Bear Paw quilt top. It has been sitting on my table since then needing to be finished. I'd really like to have time and skill to machine quilt it, but decided to be more practical and tie it, so it can be used. Sunday I used scraps from the top, and some yardage I had to make a pieced back. When I was finished I had just a small pile of tiny pieces left over, and didn't have to buy anything fabric.
I brought in a folding camping table from the garage, and now am set up in the middle of the family room, so I can add a few ties whenever I have a few minutes. I started tying using embroidery floss, but it didn't look right with the flannel fabric. I ripped those ties out and started over with a skien of variegated yarn in warm fall colors. Emily Rose is even helping me with the tying. I sure appreciate her help. The yarn colors are perfect for this quilt. I hope to have it ready to bind soon.

For more Sew Crafty fun, see Shereen's blog.

Sew Crafty Friday - A Quilt of Tiny Squares

I have taken on the challenge of the quilt of tiny squares and have made some progress. It is the most challenging quilt I have ever worked with. Even adding the borders seems daunting, but I'm going to press on and complete the top, maybe this weekend. My daughter is thrilled that something is actually happening. It will look pretty on her bed and in her room.

If you'd like to see more Sew Crafty Friday entries, take a look at Shereen's blog.

Sew Crafty Friday - Bear Paw Quilt, Vintage Dress

After having so much to post about last week, I thought I wouldn't have much this week. But thanks to a big snow, I was able to sew quite a bit this week. Last week I showed you the following photo of a tiny pile of little quilt blocks that had been languishing away on a shelf.

Well, on Sunday when I looked at my sewing options, I remembered the advice of my watercolor teacher. Start where you think you can succeed. I knew that the tiny bright blocks of my daughters quilt would really challenge me, and I didn't want to start a new project, so I grabbed the bear paw blocks. And I'm excited to say that it didn't take me that long to turn them into a queen sized quilt top!I got the pattern out of an Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine, Volume 8, Number 4, dated from 2001. So I think that I must have started this quilt in about 2002 or 2003. I thought up the inner border of rust and green blocks myself so I could use up the remaining rust and green fabric. I love how the middle border of the background fabric really makes the pieced border stand out. I also like the contrast of the wide outer border of the dark rusty red leaf fabric, hanging off the side of the bed.

Now comes the challenge of how to finish it. I don't even know how many quilt tops I have that aren't finished. Paying for machine quilting in my area is way too expensive. I've heard there are less expensive places in other places, but don't know where they are, or if they are trust worthy. I would never finish hand quilting a queen sized quilt. I resist tying quilts. For some reason it just doesn't seem as nice. It seems that it lowers the artist level to more utilitarian and practical, but this quilt may just have to be tied, so it can be used. I do long to snuggle down under it's cozy warmth before I'm too old. I'd be open to suggestions if anyone had any for me.

The second project I'm going to show you is one that I haven't done yet, but I'm excited about. It looks rather shapeless on the hanger, but seems that it must have had an interesting past. At the same estate sale where I got the partially complete green and blue plaid skirt, I found this vintage dress. It has only 2 of it's twelve buttons, but other then that it is in good repair. The dress has really cute sleeves. The is lace trim on the sleeves and collar. The fabric feels lovely in my hand. It is a light silky smooth cotton. I am going to replace the buttons with some white pearl ones of similar shape and style, then I think it can take it in just a little on the sides to make it fit well. I think this would be really fun to wear at home in the summer when the temperatures soar and I want to be cool and comfortable. I am wondering if any of you might have any ideas of the time period of the dress, and if it really is a dress or night wear or something else.

Sew Crafty Friday - Quilts, Bags and a Skirt

You would think that from the looks of my blog that all I can think about now is wildflowers, but that isn't true. It is winter here and not gardening weather, so I do have time to work inside. I have been doing some sewing over the last few weeks.

I bought a second hand jean skirt last summer. It fit really nicely in the store, but when I washed it, the waist band shrank several inches. I was amazed. Nothing else shrank on it. I tried to give it to a couple friends, but it didn't work. Then I got the idea of using it to make bags. It was a nice rich color, didn't look worn out and had lots of cute details. I cut the skirt in two and started to sew. It was great fun! I had never made something like this before. I had just the fabric for linings. The first bag has been come my regular "purse."

I sewed the bottom closed, adding a couple pleats to make it more full inside, and I squared off the corners. I laid the bag on my lining fabric, and cut around the outside using the jean bag as a pattern. Then I sewed together with pleats in the bottom and squared off corners. I put it inside the jean bag, and then hand sewed in the lining, so it started just below the waist band, with a blind stitch. It turned out lovely. Then I made a handle, and belt, and sewed in giant snaps to hold it closed. Those giant snaps are really fun to sew in an use. I think this purse would best be made out of a small size of jean skirt, or the purse might be too wide.

The second bag was made out the bottom section of the skirt. I sewed the slit closed and trimmed it to a size I thought would work good for a large tote bag. I made reversible handles out of the denim and lining fabric. I cut the lining fabric to be exactly the same size as the bag. I gave them both deeply squared off corners. I sewed two big pockets one side and a one bigger pocket with a divider in the other side. It turned out great. I have used the bag several times now, and love it's solid sturdiness, and yet feminine fabric details. I'm going to make some more of these when I find another skirt needing a new life.

I sewed two big pockets one side and a one bigger pocket with a divider in the other side. It turned out great. I have used the bag several times now, and love it's solid sturdiness, and yet feminine fabric details. I'm going to make some more of these when I find another skirt needing a new life.

Several years ago I made my son a quilt for his bed. I gave my daughter the pretty bedspread I used in college. But then decided I should start a quilt for her too. I had been eying a quilt pattern in a book that looked interesting, so I let her choose the colors. It uses strips of fabric sewn together, then sliced up to make strips of little squares. It sounded easy enough, but I had never worked with such tiny squares before. I soon got confused as to which strips went where. I made a couple mistakes, got discouraged, and put the project away. Sadly this project has languished way too long. It has been begging to be finished, but I wasn't sure I could do it. I had put a lot of money into the fabric, so I really couldn't abandon the project forever. And Emily Rose still doesn't have her own quilt yet.

I have now worked on this several evenings. I have figured out my mistake, and corrected it. I have all the smaller pieces into the larger sized blocks. And next I can start working on putting the strips of squares in between the blocks. Somehow I have come up short three of the large blocks. I have no idea where they are. But I am going to press on with the 9 blocks I have and figure out how to make it still work for a twin bed with extra borders. I think I have enough fabric to do that. If I ever get it finished, I'll be sure to share it with you.

I have pulled out another quilt that needs to be finished. It is made of quilter's flannel and is the perfect to color to put in our family room. (The room I gave a brown wall last summer.) This is a bear paw type quilt. Thankfully I got the squares pretty far along before I gave up. I stopped working on this because the machine I had didn't make consistent 1/4 inch seams. The blocks didn't come together as good as they should, but I am going to figure out some way to make it happen. I have a better machine now. I worked on this a little while last night while my husband read stories to us all. Yes, everyone gathered in my sewing area for story time, instead of up on the couches. One kid was drawing and one kid was coloring.

The final thing I'll write about is a skirt I made. I found the partially made skirt at an estate sale, complete with lots of extra fabric. The fabric is a wool of high quality. I am wondering if it might even be Pendleton wool.) The six panels of the skirt were cut and sewn together, except for near the top of the skirt. It appeared that the original seamstress fell into problems. It appeared that it might have been too small for her and she was trying to take out the seams to make it fit better, but it wasn't going to work. It was never completed. I took it home for almost nothing. (Everything we bought there, including a cat carrier, a set of sheets and some books and things for the kids came to a total of $2!) It didn't take me long at all to sew up the seams. The waist band was missing, so I had to create one myself, but that wasn't hard. I hemmed up the skirt so it is like a long walking skirt from the turn of the century. I have worn it to church twice with black button up boots. It isn't a modern style, but I like it very much. It feels classic and feminine to wear. And there is enough fabric left that I think I could make a skirt for my daughter, and maybe a vest for my son. If I can find time with all the other projects I'm working on.

You can see what other people are making by going to Shereen's blog. You could even make a post on your blog and share your creativity too.

Sew Crafty Friday - PJs for the Whole Family

So what was I so busy sewing before Christmas that I couldn't tell you about? I was making some special gifts for everyone who was at my house on Christmas eve. I had to ask for measurements, which some were hesitant to reveal, but gave anyway.

Everyone received sleepwear. I had a hard time photographing them. These photos aren't perfectly clear, but they will give you the idea of what I created.

Daddy and son got matching jungle frogs.












Auntie and niece got matching hot flowers and hearts.












Auntie got ladybugs and someday soon her daughter will have ladybugs too.












Grandma, Grandpa, and two grandsons got bears and fish.

Sew Crafty Friday - Quilted Table Runner

I do have one more item for Sew Crafty Friday. I made my first quilted table runner. I've made large quilts that require much patience, because it takes so long to finish. But this table runner took me just part of a day! It was so much fun. I purchased the blue and white snowflake fabrics, and then was able to finish it off with fabrics from my stash. At one point I was ready to make a run to the fabric store, because I didn't have the right fabrics to go with the pattern. But then I decided that I'd rather make do with what I had, and I'm glad I did. I changed the pattern to work with the fabric I already had. It turned out great! It was fun to piece, and easy to machine quilt. I wanted the snow flakes to match the winter theme. But also to remind us of how God wants to make our hearts whiter then snow.

P.S. Yes, after I looked at the pictures, I did find a piecing mistake. Isn't it wonderful that our salvation is based on the perfection of Jesus, and not our own?

Sew Crafty Friday - Camel Packs

There has been lots of things happening here at the house now that we are on Christmas break, and blogging isn't one of them. I've been sewing up a Christmas gift storm, but unfortunately can't show you what I've been making. Someone might peek and find out what they are getting. But I can show you one thing I have finished this morning.
We celebrate the coming of the Messiah to this world every Christmas. I want to do all I can to help my kids remember Jesus, our Savior. It is so easy for things non-spiritual to take over, so I am doing all I can to focus our minds and hearts on real reasons to celebrate. This year I am taking a big steps and getting rid of stockings. We don't honor Santa Claus, so it is probably a good idea to get rid of one more reminder of him. But we do like the idea of having a place to put some small gifts for the children. My friend Sandy told me how she would have stockings out on Christmas morning, and that her kids could open them when they got up without permission from the grownups. Inside would be some small gifts and some kind of food treats to hold them over until breakfast. This way the adults did not have to get up too early. After the adults got around to fixing a nice breakfast, eating it, and then cleaning up, the main presents were finally opened. It worked so well, because no one was still sleepy or hungry, and there was no mess in the kitchen to come back to when Christmas dinner was cooked.

At the Timberdoodle homeschool curriculum website I had read about how they had made some simple burlap camel packs to help them celebrate the gifts of the wisemen. Well, I love the camel pack idea, and decided to combine it with Sandy's ideas, and add a Wise Man's party on Christmas Eve, because, "Wise men still seek Him." Christmas Eve at our house is going to be all about seeking Jesus. I am going to write out the story of the birth of Jesus, in a reader's theater form, so grownups don't fall asleep, and children have to pay attention so they can read their lines at the right time. At the time in the story when the wise men come, the men can slip out of the room and come in bearing gifts, all the gifts. This will be the first time they will be in the living room. This night only one gift can be opened, and the one gift will be from me, but it is still a secret, so I can't tell you what it is yet.


Christmas morning each child will find one of these camel packs stuffed with gifts at their chair at the table. I have decided not to put names on them, because each child will already know where their seat is at the table. They are made out of sturdy brown fabric found for $1 a yard on the clearance table. I lined them with green Christmas fabric that has horns and red ribbons for a little color, to remind us to be joyful for all the gifts of God.
I stitched some bias tape closed, and sewed them on the back of the packs to secure the packs to the chairs. I think different styles of chairs will need different ways of attachment, but this looks like it is going to work really well for us. I wanted to get this posted right away because you still have time to make some too, if you want too.

And since this is Thursday night, I'm going to make this my Sew Crafty Friday post. If you have done anything creative, feel free to link up at Shereen's blog.

Sew Crafty Friday - kid's clothes

The week of Thanks giving I did a huge amount of sewing, but I was too busy to blog about it.
For Emily Rose I made a pinafore and bonnet to match the green gingham dress that I made for her a while back. The pinafore is longer then I expected, so I need to take some tucks to shorten it so the green will show at the bottom.
There has been brown horse fabric waiting (for a couple years?) in my stash for when I could make her some horse pants and vest. I managed to make these without Emily Rose knowing it. She was really surprised and quite happy.

After making Forest the seal shirt I wrote about a couple weeks ago, I made him some matching tan pants. Then I saw there was still some fabric of each color left. I thought I might be able to make a pieced seal shirt for him. So I set so work: a seal back, tan arms, tan hat, the front was pieced from both fabrics with a seal pocket. There was a little more seal fabric left, so I cut out the seal faces and patched the knees on the pants, and backside where a pocket might have been, and on the ears of the hood.

This is how much fabric was left over. This was a really fun three for the price of two deals.

I also hemmed the sleeves of a knit sweater. You can see the tutorial I wrote about it here.

Sew Crafty Friday - Party aprons, fleece shirt

I have been sewing this week. There is another birthday party coming up in our family, and it is going to be an old fashioned tea party. I've never made so many things for birthday's before. Usually I shop at a d*llar store and just buy part favors. This is taking more work, but I think it is going to be more meaningful to the children that come.
With their invitations, each girl will receive a homemade eyelet apron, to help them anticipate the party. They are instructed to wear their nicest dress, and bring their favorite doll or teddy bear, along with their mother. We will play parlor games and make old fashioned crafts. And of course we are going to have healthy treats and tea.

I've finished 4 aprons and have 3 more that just needs a waist band and ties.

One of my frustrations as a mother is finding shirts appropriate for a wholesome boy. Most of those available in the stores are either very plain or covered with evil, violence, fiction, or sports. Forest loves animals, and I would love to have animal shirts for him to wear, but they are hard to find. So I have started trying to do what I can to make shirts for him. I am thankful that one can still find nice fabric with natural themes.

Last year I made Forest three fleece sweat shirts and matching solid pants. Two had tropical fish, and one had puppies. They have been his favorite clothing all year. He has grown and needs some new ones now, but my pattern didn't go any bigger. I had to search for a new pattern, which was difficult, because all the fleece patterns have zippers in them. If there is a zipper, he thinks it is a jacket, and doesn't wear it as much. I finally found a pattern that would work though. It has the required hood. It didn't have a big front pocket though, so I made one from my old pattern, just a little bigger.
The new pattern has contrasting short and long sleeves. I wasn't sure how that would work, but it was easy to just not make the short sleeves. I have fabric for tan pants. And more fleece for a couple more sets. He is going to have a warm and happy winter.

Sew Crafty Friday - bags and a dress

I have done some sewing this week.
I've made some tote bags from garage sale fabric. I just love the batiks. But I have already discovered that I am going to have to make stronger handles for that bag. The strawberry bag reminds me of my friend that loves strawberries.

I finished a bag made with a pattern from Lazy girl Designs. (Go to their web site and then scroll down to see more about this bag, including a blog entry and a video). It is their Gracie Handbag #118. The directions are good and it makes a nice bag. I am seeing if I like it as my everyday purse. I like the color and design, but I am used to using something as small as possible, so I might need to make a different one for every day.

I finished a green gingham dress for Emily Rose. Now I need to make the pinafore and bonnet that goes with it. It is McCall's 9424. I actually made a good start on the pinafore with some white fabric I got from some unremembered location. I had some misgivings about the quality as the fabric as I started, but tried to push them aside. As I got farther into the pattern, those misgivings grew. It was clear it was not quality fabric as it was starting to sort of pill. I didn't know woven cotton would do that. After I got the facings all in and tried it on Emily Rose, I decided that it was not worth the effort. I am going to pull out some better white fabric and make it nice. She may not wear it much, but when she does wear it, it shouldn't look worn already.

I have a huge pile of projects to work on now, so I should be able to keep posting for Sew Crafty Friday for the next several months. If you want to see what others are doing, or post what you are doing, go to Shereen's blog.

Sew Crafty Friday-Slipper Socks and Dress

It is already Sew Crafty Friday. Since I haven't been on my computer as much this week, I have got some more things done. Though I have to say that the list of blogs I read in bloglines is addicting, I am pulling myself away more often.


Yesterday afternoon I made three pair of slipper booties. The pattern came from The Green Pepper Inc. I found it at the local J*Anns store. It is pattern number F837.
As you can see, it has sizes for tiny children up to Men's size 13 all in one envelope! I found the directions very clear and easy to follow. In about 1 1/2 hours I had opened the envelope, figured out what I was doing, then cut and sewed three pair of slipper socks. And now that I know what I am doing, I think I could make quite a few more really fast. There are only three pieces and four sewing steps. I would recommend this pattern to even a beginner. I had never made anything from this company before, but look forward to trying other patterns in the future.

In other sewing this week I finished a prairie type dress for my daughter. If you haven't read about it yet you can see pictures here, information about the pattern and a story of answered prayer here. And on this page you can read that I was able to make the needed adjustments so that it fit her nicely now.

Thanks to Shereen at Waiting for Him for hosting Sew Crafty Friday. If you have done something creative this week, put a link on her blog so we can go see.

Sew Crafty Friday - apron and bag

This was a busy week, but I still fit in some sewing, because two of my dear friends were having a birthday, and I wanted to give them something special.


Sandy decorates her kitchen with strawberries, so I wanted to make her a strawberry apron. I copied an apron that I have and came up with this pretty apron. I was happy with how the red bias tape accented the center panel and the pockets, which I made deeper and roomier then the ones in the original apron. It only took one yard of fabric.


Sunny loves her kitties. One of her kitties was recently laid to rest due disease. It was very heartbreaking to see him sick. I wanted to make her a special kitty bag. I have been reading a blog by Tiny Happy, who makes wonderful hand crafted items. I got the idea for the design of the bag from her.
I lined the inside of the bag with another fabric and sewed in a deep pocket to hold treasures.

If you have been sewing or crafting this week, be sure to include some photos in your blog. Then go to Shereen's blog and include your name on the list of those who are participating in Sew Crafty Friday this week.

Sew Crafty Friday - Berry Cute Apron

I didn't think I would have time to sew today, but it turned out that I did. My daughter's favorite overalls started to have some irreparable mechanical difficulties. So I cut off the bib, and sewed on a skirt and ties to make it into an apron for her. It didn't take too long, and turned out real cute. The fabric is of strawberries, blueberries, blossoms and butterflies. It came out of my stash. My husband says if I were to make an under dress in a coordinating color, it would work as a real nice pinafore.

We are going to make some bags out of the legs of the overalls and a little purse out of the back pockets. I love the idea of remaking old clothes. I have remade a couple large skirts from the second hand store into smaller ones that fit me. But I've never made one clothing item into so many interesting new things before. It is so neat when things don't go to waste.