Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Another Plastic-bag Bag

Crocheting with plastic yarn is fun, and a neat way to recycle grocery bags!
Here's one of my latest ...


I like to line some of my smaller bags so so there's less worry about little stuff falling out between the crocheted "holes" ... So this one's lined with one of those plastic mailing bags. (You know, those "indestructible" rubbery-plastic bags that companies ship stuff in. I figure, if it can handle being a shipping container, it'll last a while as a bag lining.)





Monday, October 29, 2012

The Blue Pine Straw Basket

After making the pink pine needle basket, my older son suggested that I really should make something that's not pink. No problem, son; can do.

Handmade Pine Needle Basket

I already had the next basket in mind. It started out like this: 

Making a Pine Needle Basket

And turned out quite nicely, I think.

Handmade Pine Straw Basket

This is curling ribbon again, smoothed out (curl it with scissors, then "uncurl" it by doing the same on the other side of the ribbon) so that it doesn't stretch at random later ...

Tiny Pine Straw Basket



Saturday, October 27, 2012

Raindrops on ... Spiderwebs

Fun to see on a misty day ~

Raindrops on Spiderwebs

Raindrops & Spiderwebs

Raindrops & Spider Web

Raindrops on a Spider Web



~-~-~
All things
were made by him;
and without him
was not any thing made
that was made.
~-~-~





Friday, October 26, 2012

Crossword Puzzle Quilt still in the works

Progress is happening on the Crossword Puzzle Quilt that I've mentioned before ... (Check the "Crossword Puzzle Quilt" label in my sidebar to see all the posts on this topic.)

Crossword Puzzle Quilt Letters

I finished all the dozens of letters I needed to make. So fun! 
There was a bit of a dilemma figuring out how to make the little quilt look crossword-puzzleish without looking boring, or being impossible to sew.

Crossword puzzle quilt letters sewn together

I decided to stitch a tiny, folded piece of black fabric between letters. I ended up taking a 3/4" wide piece of fabric, folded so that it's 3/8" when folded. I just stuck the folded piece between the two letters that were being sewn together. Since I needed something that would make a line between letters, but not add width to them, this worked out fine. It's so tiny that I can just press it flat to the side, and it barely sticks up.

Crossword Puzzle Quilt background

I had a couple black print fabrics, along with the black dot fabric I used for the letters, plus a black pinstripe cut from a shirt ... So I'm using those for the black background-space. I want it to look crossword-puzzle-like, so these mostly-black fabrics work well. But I also want this to look patchwork-quilty, so I'm pleased with the look of the fabrics together.

Still just showing sneak-peeks of this one, since it might be a gift, if it turns out the way I want it ...

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pine Needles! Who Knew?!

I recently learned that some people make baskets out of pine needles. (There are oodles of pictures and tutorials online if you search Google for "pine needle basket".)

So, always up for a crafting challenge, I had to try it! 

Pine Needle Coaster

I made a coaster, wrapping the pine straw with brown nylon thread. Then, I decided I should try curling ribbon instead of thread. (This was in lieu of the customary raffia ribbon that the online tutorials said I should use. I DID stretch the ribbon so it wasn't still its usual crimped texture, since I don't want it stretching at random later.)

Pine Needle Basket Closeup

Not bad. Not bad at all. 

Pine Needle Basket - Pink Ribbon

And, since my backyard is full of pine needles, I might make some more ...

Pine Straw Basket - made with curling ribbon!

Pine needles. For baskets. Who knew?!

Pine Straw basket - closeup



Wednesday, October 10, 2012

I've been cutting shirt fabric ...

... into usable pieces for sewing.


More pictures of reclaimed fabrics later, but for now ...


... a few pictures of the dozen or more that my middle daughter took while I was cutting ...


It's a bit of tedious work, but worth it for the cute little stacks of fabric I've got!


Saturday, October 6, 2012

Cosmos!


I think I have always loved cosmos flowers. Somewhere, in the pictures from when I was very little, I have a picture of cosmos growing among rocks in the southwestern desert. My mom must've grown them in the yard where we lived when I was very small.


And I remember growing cosmos at different times in other yards & gardens we had growing up ...


I love the variety of variegated pinks, deep reds, and the occasional white cosmos. The simple variety of colors. 


Of course, I also love that look of orange cosmos on those seed-packets of orange cosmos seeds ... seems like I've tried growing the orange ones, but never had any orange cosmos to show for it ... I guess I'll have to work on that sometime.


I planted some cosmos this year among the zinnias next to my backyard storage shed. Bright and cheery.






And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you,
That even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe
the grass of the field, which to day is,
and to morrow is cast into the oven,
shall he not much more clothe you,
O ye of little faith?

And, for some reason, the verses above remind me of these verses a few chapters later ...

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
and one of them shall not fall on the ground
without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore,
ye are of more value
than many sparrows.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Fun books on eBay

I've listed a few fun craftsy books on eBay (plus some other books!), if you know anybody who'd enjoy these ... Links to the listings are below the pictures ... 

3 Singer Books, Hardback, from
ProsperityStuff on eBay

3 Singer Books, Paperback,
from ProsperityStuff on eBay

The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting,
from ProsperityStuff on eBay

The Shirt Quilt Top

I'm really pleased to have finished The Shirt Quilt Top!

The Shirt Quilt Top - ProsperityStuff

I've mentioned this one a few times, including here and here

The Shirt Quilt Top closeup - ProsperityStuff

This has been a fun one to work on ... The inspiration came from those awesome foundation-pieced/string-pieced blocks that make such neat quilts. But, since I wasn't in the mood for any foundation-piecing (paper-, or otherwise), I opted for a different process (described somewhat in the previous posts here and here) ... It was lots of fun.

I love the way it's possible to sew something together, then slice it up, then sew it together again! Talk about transformation!

Making Quilt Blocks out of shirts - ProsperityStuff  Trimming Quilt Blocks cut from shirts - ProsperityStuff

I love the "diamonds" look, and how each diamond is unique, and how the "stripes" in each row of diamonds point a different direction than the ones in the next row.

Quilt Top made from men's dress shirts - ProsperityStuff

I also love that this quilt top is made out of 8 or 10 shirts. Men's shirts from the thrift store. (Remember my posts about my favorite fabric designers? Tommy Hilfiger, et.al.? Yep, favorite designer fabrics in this quilt top!) 

The only fabric in this quilt top that's not from a shirt is the narrow sashing between the diamonds ... The light-blue-and-white stripe was a bit of yardage I found at a thrift store, so it goes right along with the thrifted shirts, and it even looks like it could've been a shirt. I love it!

Shirt Quilt Block Sashings - ProsperityStuff

So, as I'm typing, I'm smiling at this quilt top that's draped over my couch. The quilt top is 69 inches by 79 inches, and it pretty much covers the couch! Not that it's staying there ... I'm just impressed that the quilt top turned out this big!

Quilt Top made from men's shirts - ProsperityStuff

I'm still not sure what I'll be doing with this quilt top ... either quilting it myself, or passing it along to someone else who wants to quilt it ... but for now, I'm enjoying having finished The Shirt Quilt Top. 

Since it's Friday, and since Amanda Jean at CrazyMomQuilts has started back up with her Finish It Up Friday link party, I'm looking forward to seeing some neat quilty finishes there. And I'll be linking this post to this week's Finish It Up Friday.

Also ~ I'm linking this post to this week's Sew and Tell Friday at AmyLouWho's blog ~ it's another fun group of quilty projects ...


UPDATE: I quilted this quilt in November 2013! To see the finished product, see the post entitled "I Quilted the Blue Shirt Quilt!"

Thursday, October 4, 2012

More Quilty Letters

I've written a post or two (maybe several) about sewing fun, quilty letters using this neat book ... And I've been busy.



Not giving too many details here, since this project will probably end up as a gift. But, let's just say, this is the "A" section of the project, so, the letters are small, but there are a lot of 'em ...



Oddly, even though I've already made literally dozens of letters, and even though I have another couple dozen more to go, I'm already brainstorming an amazing "next project" with quilty letters! I can't help myself!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Green T-shirt Rug

I've been meaning to share the rest of the pictures of this T-shirt rug I made a few weeks ago ... 


I really love the thick roundness of T-shirt yarn - it's really great for bulky crochet.


This 29" x 17" rug is for sale on eBay for a little while - see this listing, or browse my eBay items ...


I have a very similar rug in my kitchen, and I love it! I'm hoping somebody will love & enjoy this rug!


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