Quilted Tree Wall Hangings

May 14th, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Quilts | Sewing - (Comments Off on Quilted Tree Wall Hangings)

This year for Christmas presents I really didn’t have any money to spend on presents for anyone. I know the spirit of Christmas is supposed to be about giving and cherishing your family, showing people appreciation and love. To me the best way to do that is to make something for the people you care about.

I was really fortunate this year to be able to make gifts out of things I already had in my stash of stuff. Overall Christmas cost me a total of about $7. Which is really quite incredible for the gifts I did this year. Grandma’s quilt, quilted wall hangings, and some scarves. I do have to say the quilt was impressive but the wall hangings were by far my favorite finished project.

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Creating Disaster By Cleaning

May 11th, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Cleaning and Organizing | Tips - (Comments Off on Creating Disaster By Cleaning)

So at some point during the sewing and cutting for the green quilt I decided it was imperative to CLEAN! It was hard to find some things while I was sewing, things were just put haphazardly everywhere and none of the fabric was put in a place where I could actually see all of it.

I also knew I was going to be taking on some wall hangings for other gifts that would take even more green fabric and have smaller pieces that might be harder to control. So I started looking through my closet and finding as many fabric pieces as possible and just piling it on my sewing desk.

Fabric Pile

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Broken Zipper, Oh No!

May 6th, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Sewing | Tips | Wearables - (Comments Off on Broken Zipper, Oh No!)

This was not the thing I wanted to have happen one cold and wet morning. The loud clang bang I kept hearing from the dryer was making me rather nervous. Usually when I put the coat in the dryer it would make a bang and clang because of the zipper but this time it just sounded different.

Different in a bad way.

Broken Zipper Pull

I was really not happy to find my zipper pull detached from my coat, especially since I didn’t have another warm AND water-proof one.

Keep in mind this coat was a couple years old, pissed me off, and was only around $10. It pissed me off because the zipper would get caught in the little flaps it had to cover the zipper. It had a invisible zipper thing going on, and had more flaps on the inside to keep the zipper off the skin. But those flaps just kept getting stuck!

I had to fix it.

Why fix something you hate though? Well there is that thing called money that you need to buy a new one… Yeah a little short on that front. Plus this was the first coat I found when we first moved here to the Pacific North West that would fit and keep me warm from the snow.

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Green Quilt

May 3rd, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Quilts | Sewing - (Comments Off on Green Quilt)

It felt like it took me forever to finish my green quilt. It turned out the way most of my other quilts turn out. I started making it because I felt the need to make the quilt and it slowly evolved into Grandma’s Christmas present.

A lot of my projects I’m going to be posting soon are older ones from Christmas and maybe a little before. It was a rough end of last year and even rougher beginning of this year, so trying to recover from life explosions take time.

And sewing.

Green Quilt

All of the green fabrics for the quilt top were leftovers from another quilt I had made for my sister several years ago. I’m on a kick of getting rid of my stash of stuff, and finding ways to use all the bits from other quilts while making sure they don’t look the same.

Green Quilt Back

The greatest thing about this quilt is how much Grandma loved it. She’s getting older and not really wanting to collect a lot of things that she really doesn’t need, so I figured the quilt would be a great way for her to have a nice gift and have it also be useful. It was nice seeing her use the quilt one of the other nights we were staying with her, being cozy while watching TV.

I love quilts as gifts.

Pins And Needles

April 30th, 2010 | Posted by Michelle in Quilts | Sewing - (Comments Off on Pins And Needles)

Sometimes when I look at a quilt or something else I’m working on that is just filled with needles or something else sharp, my inner toddler starts chanting “I’m just on pins and needles with excitement!”

Pinned Quilt

Yes I have an inner toddler, I can’t help it.

I also decided that the next quilt I made would be green. More on that later.