Day 6 Spring Break

                                                                                                                                                            

Well, I finished the t-shirts for Living with Punks.  It was such a great idea to make appliqued t-shirts for the children in Japan.  I'm not used to appliqueing this way.  I've gotten so spoiled with my embroidery machine.  I'm not exactly pleased with how they turned out.  But hopefully some little girl and boy will be happy with them.

Go to the website and look at everyone

else's submissions.

 

I've got a few more projects to work on tonight before going to bed- baby bibs and a baby pillow. Hopefully I'll have time to post more tonight.  See ya!

Day 4 Spring Break

I feel my motivation faltering but I did get somethings finished.  1st- I finished sewing the logos on Melissa's shirts.  She may be sending more business my way.  Yay!  (I think.)

2nd- I worked on the next step or 2nd day of the Living with Punks sew-along to make little Japanese children an appliqued t-shirt.  Tomorrow I think we will attach the appliques to the shirt. 

Then finally I prepared some packages for mailing.  I'm participating in a web-site called whoopdwhoop.  You post your handmade crafts and swap for other people's crafts.  I had 2 swaps in one day.  1st was a zebra mousepad and the other was my deer hunter's whiskey flask.  Pretty good, I think.  I'm going to save up my swaps.  I saw this neat little crocheted baby bloomers I think I want.  Who knows I may see something else later.  Lots of good stuff on that site.  And all you pay is shipping- pretty neat!

  Then I finished the last of 6 granny squares.  This website is called swap-bots. When I finish with the 6 rounds, I'll have enough squares to make an afghan.  On swap-bots, you can choose among all kinds of swaps- books, postcards, crafts, poetry, and more and more.  Check it out!

Boy, that seems like I did a lot.  Tomorrow won't be as much.  Going to Macon for an Ortho appt and am gonna check out Michaels, Hancocks, and more!  Yippee!

Day 3 Wall Hanging for a bride and groom

On Day 3 of Spring Break 2011, I finished a wall hanging that I'm making for a couple who are getting married this Spring.  It's made from an off-white prequilted fabric.  I embroidered a sampler pattern and added "Est. 2011" below.  It took a while to find fabric from my stash to match, but I did. 









Then I had to figure out how I was going to place the border around the sampler.  I think I did OK.  In fact it looks pretty neat how the squares are cut in half and the opposites are across from each other.  I made loops out of some scraps and sewed the backing, turned it inside out and top-stitched.  Get the dowel cut the right length and I'm done.








I also started day 1 of the http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/2011/03/japan-sew-along-day-1.html . It's a blog called Living with Punks that created a challenge for sewers and crafters.  We are all going to make a shirt for either a little Japanese girl or boy or even both.  We'll send the finished product(s) to her and she will ship them all to Japan where they are needed most.  I think it is a great project!   Today is the 1st day and I chose my fabrics and got all of them cut out.   I'm ready for tomorrow.  I'll post more pictures then.

Spring Break Day 2

I'm going to try to finish something up each day of this Spring Break.  I through in an extra project when I remembered a little friend's birthday.  It didn't take too long once I figured out what to do.  She was having a Justin Bieber party.  So I got some fabric transfers and put Justin's face on one along with a few hearts in her favorite colors- pink and purple.  I added some ribbon and rick rack and embroidered her name along one end. Add a colorful ruffle and stuffing and it was good to go.  All that work and unfortunately I misspelled her name.  I couldn't stay to see her open presents (party was in its 3rd hour).  My daughter was supposed to offer my apologies and an IOU if necessary.

It's soooo cool to me, and I'm envisioning Taylor Swift and some of these other famous people that can be sewed on to a pillow.

Day 1 Spring Break! "Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design Challenge"

http://www.lilblueboo.com/

I found out about this contest about a month ago.  I've been following a number of contests and have found my designs to be very simplistic.  So I decided to ramp it up. 

I combined tie-dyeing, embroidery, and sewing into one beautiful diaper bag.  I wanted something sunshiney (since I have gotten tired of winter and cold weather) and springy.  So I went with blue and yellow tie-dye in the middle of my kitchen floor and created a design with quilted cotton for the outside and with regular white cotton for the lining. 

After that I considered many designs but went with a tree.  I've seen so many on other sites mostly attached to baby room walls in some way or another. I found this brown batik print in my stash that would make the most perfect tree.  Using wonder-under I created my tree and ironed it on the quilted front piece.  Using my sewing machine I zig-zagged around the tree and then chose a stitch that looked kind of rugged to be my simulated bark.  I added the little birdie and nest with "Rock-a-bye Baby" along one of the branches. 

There are 4 pockets on the outside back for easy reach.  On the inside, there are 3 smaller pockets and 1 deep pocket just right for a bottle or a diaper. Plenty of room for that mom and baby on the go!

Recycled BDU

One of my coworkers and best buddy's son is in the Army stationed overseas. She wanted something special for her daughter-in-law.  She presented me with her son's BDU and told me she had seen totebags made from these.  So, I decided to begin planning the best way to use the shirt to make a totebag.  For the outside, I used material from the shirt. The flag patch from the arm was added to the front. 

One of the pockets on a sleeve was added to the back along with a black grosgrain ribbon. The lining was a coordinating solid. 

 

She was so pleased, I was pleased (and a little proud) and so was her daughter-in-law.