The Alphabet Walk

2012 Handmade Christmas

I thought this was a cute game my DIL and granddaughter made up for the fabric alphabet letters I had made for Christmas. I hope these will help her learn her letters easily. I read something the other day about the children knowing the large alphabet when they got to preschool but not knowing the small ones. So, I think I need to get started now with the small letters for next year so she will be ahead of the game.

 These are made with fabric, fleece, sewn around the edges and can be thrown in the washer when dirty. I found similar sets on Etsy costing mega bucks $30-$50. Making them is somewhat time consuming. So I can really understand why they cost so much.

I was waiting to publish this until I had a little more to write about. But, my brain isn't thinking clearly lately. So, on with the blog.

Tools of the Trade- Starch

I have decided to write a couple of posts about the tools we as sewers use most often and those that make our sewing lives much easier. Today we have more tools and gadgets to use during sewing than those of our parents or even when some us began in the 60's.

Starch. Do you use starch during your sewing or quilting? I have only just started using starch since I have started quilting. I rarely if ever used it while making clothing or other projects like stuffed animals or dolls. I am not a starch person. It's just one more step I like to avoid so I can keep on sewing.

I am most familiar with canned spray starch. My mother bought Faultless, Niagara, EasyOn what ever was on sale. I grew up using spray starch on clothing after they were washed and dried before permanent press and everyone had a dryer in their home. I even remember ironing my dad's undershirts for work, but I digress. I have found that with canned spray starch it leaves a glossy residue on my cotton fabric and eventually gums up the iron. It doesn't seem to matter as to which brand you use they all seem to gum up the nozzle so it doesn't always spray in a nice even spray but instead squirts out a big mess or foams up all over the can even if the nozzle has been cleaned with hot water. The cost varies from .97 to $1.50 per 20oz can depending on where you by it. While writing this I have also found out Niagara has a non aerosol bottle brand. Might look into it sometime. Next in line is powder starch.

I remembered my grandmother using starch from a bottle. You know the type it's in the coke bottle with an aluminum shaker and cork stopper. It sits in the frig until ready to use. After sprinkling the clothes, she would wrap up the clothes and put them in a plastic bag in the frig to be ironed at a later date. I believe she mixed the starch herself. I found out from a past pick up and delivery job I had several years ago that dry cleaners use 25 lb bags of powdered starch. I have no clue as to how it was mixed and used. I searched the local grocery stores and found Argo Starch a powdered starch that you could mix either by cooking it or mixing it with hot water. I tried the cooked method first figuring the starch would dissolve better in boiling water. I ended up with a rather thick paste that I diluted down and put in a spray bottle and the rest in the frig. It can be diluted to not be so heavy a starch.  I found that it spoils quicker than I was using it as I never returned the bottle to the frig after using it. I tried the hot water method and found that I had to shake it up really really well before using. This method still left shiny spots on my fabric. When looking at the box closer it actually says it's "glossy". I believe this is also the starch she used on her crochet to make the really pretty hats and baskets that sat on the dressers or tables. The cost of this box is about $1.80.

I found Mary Ellen's Best Press non-aerosol spray starch @ 7.95 for a 16 oz bottle. She has several scents to chose from. I chose the unscented brand as everything these days has some kind of fragrance added to it. Sometimes all those smells can be nose numbing and give those of us that are scent sensitive headaches. I like her starch. In fact I have bought it twice. I like it, but geesh it is expensive if you use it liberally and I like to use it liberally. The shiny spots are also minimal and my 15 y/o Rowenta didn't get gummed up as much. I did find that the fabric just wasn't has stiff as I would have liked it to be.

Last on the list of starches and my favorite I have used thus far is Sta-Flo liquid concentrate at $2.92 for a 64 oz bottle. I found this very easy to mix and pour into a non-aerosol bottle. If I want a really stiff piece of fabric I can add just a little more to the bottle. So far the only real problem I have found is the spray bottle I use does not have as fine a spray as I would like. So I end up having areas with no spray on it. Once I have sprayed the spots I missed I let it sit for about two or three minutes. This allows for the starch to soak in to the fabric. I iron my 100% pieces of cotton on high with no steam on the back. That way if I should get some shiny spots or flaking it won't be on the finished side of the fabric. I should mention that since I allow the fabric to sit and soak in the starch I have very little residue left on my fabric or my iron. Which is good because it saves me from having to clean my iron when I am really busy pressing and sewing.

Decluttering My House and My Life

I saw this website a couple of weeks ago that said "40 days 40 bags". It was an older post about a woman decluttering her house during Lent. Well, I know this isn't Lent, but it is the Holiday Season with Thanksgiving just a few days away and  Christmas just around the corner. Now I'm not nearly as enthusiastic as that woman was, but I am eager to get rid of a bunch of stuff that is cluttering up my house, my closets and my life.

I love crafts and doing them. I love to knit, crochet, sew and paint. I just love doing fun stuff. But I have found that I seem to have yarn, paint, fabric and scrap booking stuff all over the house stuffed in a closet, foot stool, cedar chest or storage boxes. I have sewing patterns that are over 20 years old and now to small for me or my daughters who have grown up. I have magazines that are almost as old and books that I never use anymore.

A couple of years ago I went through some of my craft and quilt magazines and gave some of them to my DIL and my niece. A couple of months ago when my DIL and son were here I gave her one big box of fabric and a small one with Threads magazines in it and I still don't know what to do with the ZigZag magazines and Sew Beautiful. I still have my school stuff from taking facial and nail classes. Plus I have a year or two worth of Nails magazines.

Today I cleaned out the cedar chest of all my yarn, various loose pieces and a couple of UFO's that I have had for twenty some odd years and never finished. This stuff is in my trunk to be donated to charity tomorrow.  I did however keep all my knitting needles and crochet hooks. That's a small investment over time and I might still want to work on a project or two now and again.

My main problem is I enjoy doing all this stuff and just don't seem to have enough hours in the day to be able to do all them. So I end up with projects half started or not quite finished and have lost all interest in finishing it like this really pretty purple afghan that I started 6 years ago. It's just shy the size of being lap size, but my dog Sadie has found she likes it.

Two years ago I wanted to make doll clothes and sell them. I have bunches of patterns, the dolls to fit them to, the fabric but inclination to do it. I am gradually selling off the dolls and keeping a few to give to granddaughters. They aren't really old enough yet to want to keep the clothes on the dolls. So I will keep the patterns for now and in a couple of years I can make clothes for their dolls. I remember my grandmother making me Barbie doll dresses out of the scraps from her ball gowns.

I have all kind of zippers, buttons, snaps, ribbon. A very good collection from 30 or more years of sewing and crafting. Wow, I am getting way off track tonight.  I still have closets and dressers to go through to clean out clothes I can't or won't wear anymore. I don't have a big shoe collection anymore. I got rid of most of those when I stopped working and having to be dressed up all the time. I know it's going to take me awhile to "Cleanse" my house, but it will be well worth it. I have found that I really liked making the couple of quilts I have made. I plan on just concentrating on doing those and maybe some small quilts to hang up or place mats.

Then maybe I will have some small control over the chaos that has taken over my house.

Tylers Quilt

It's finished! I was beginning to think I wasn't going to have it done in time for Christmas. I have worked really hard on this. I should have taken a better picture of the border and binding. I added my own special touch to the binding. Originally when the binding was cut it was also cut from the same fabric as the border and therefore wouldn't would show up very well. I just happen to have some extra fabric leftover from the backing so I cut it up and used it kind of like putting piping on but without the cording. I hand stitched the binding.

I had quite a bit of extra fabric and squares leftover that I decided to make two pillow case covers to match the quilt.

If I have to say so myself, I do believe I did a pretty good job for my first big quilt.

I have other projects in the works. Time to get them finished in time to send out for Christmas. I also got a new toy that I will blog about next time.

Busy Busy Busy

I've been really busy the last few days working on Tyler's quilt and getting ready for Christmas. I have actually finished quilting the quilt and the borders. I decided to stipple the borders. Now all I have to do is trim the quilt and put the border on. I am thinking of doing a dual colored binding. I saw it on a board in pinterest and I think it will solve my dilemma of the border and the binding being the same fabric.  I have enough of the backing left to put between the border and the binding, kind of like an edge or flat piping.

This is a close up of the stippling on the front

You can see the stippling better here on the back

I dont think I did half bad quilting.  I'm really excited about getting the binding put on and sending this off to my grandson. Since I will have it ready in time it will be a Christmas present for him.

These really werent that hard to make

I am in the process of making Christmas presents for both of my granddaughters. I also saw these Fabric Alphabet Letters on pinterest and went to Etsy to see about buying some. After looking at the price that some people are charging I decided just to make them myself. It only took me a little over a half a day to make the first set.  I think the girls will like them.

Quilting the Quilt

This is the corner with the border sewn on

It's been over a week since logging on here. I have had some family issues to deal with. Now that that is over I am back to sewing on Tyler's quilt. I finally finished putting all the blocks together and put the borders on. I really like the border, but I'm not a real big fan of the fabric texture. It's a little more of an open weave than should be for a quilt, but I think it will work well as the borders.

It should be noted that this is my first time quilting a "quilt". I know I just finished the Princess quilt as you go quilt. But for some reason I just dont consider that being a "real quilt" at least by my standards. My husband reminded me that I have quilted before and I reminded him that those were baby blankets. I guess I just never thought of them as small quilts, but I suppose they were. I have never quilted on a project this large before. I looked at alot of sites trying to decide what type of design to do. I finally decided to do something really simple, just follow the lines of the blocks and do stippling in the border.

This picture shows a closeup of the lines so far

I still have about 3/4's of the quilt left to quilt. I should note that I laid this out on my queen size bed and spray basted it together. It was somewhat difficult to do, but I dont have any floor space in my house large enough to tape a quilt down. Plus my floors are all carpeted and I didnt want to chance getting glue on the carpet. I can wash it out of the bedspread. I did find a site about a lady who used skirt hangers and taped the quilt to her wall, but here again all my walls have something in or on them or not quite big enough to tape a quilt.

Accessories For Sewing

While out shopping the other day I went to one of the local thrift stores that I enjoy rummaging through. I am usually looking for fabric or an old used sewing machine that I just can't do without. I just happen to find a few little sewing items. The lady said they had just put them out the day before. The best find in this picture is in the up left corner of the picture. It is a Creative Feet Satinedge foot worth about 24.95.   I can  hardly wait to find something to sew to be able to try it out. The little blue thing in the lower right hand corner is a very old needle threader. Needless to say the first time I used it the little wire broke. But that's ok because all three of the clover chalks are in good and unbroken condition. I think there might be a holder for the chalk, but just little bit of painters tape helps keep the chalk off the fingers for now.

all this for 2.75

Since we are talking accessories I just have to show off my two tackle boxes that I got from Wal Mart about ten years ago. When I bought my Viking I found out that it had "feet".  All kinds of feet. At last count I have about 25 different feet for my machine and Yes, I have used just about everyone of them on some kind of project or another. There are still one or two I would like to have but for now I am happy using the ones I have.

This is how I keep up with feet and needles for my Viking #1+

This where I keep the feet that are too big to fit in the small  box

This side is very useful for needles

I really have trouble trying to figure out how to arrange pictures and words while doing a post. As you can see I have a variety of different needles ranging from twin needles to wing needles.  

The pictures below are of the box that holds most of my sewing feet. I keep it right in front of me on a shelf within arms reach so I am able to change the feet quickly with whatever project I am working on.

The little slots in this box are a perfect fit for most of the

feet that I have.

 I have tried to place the pictures side by side but they just won't do it.  I am still finding my way around blog land.

Pie Crust Pile-Up / Tyler's Quilt

I have decided to try my hand again at making another quilt. I think I will eventually try to make one for each of my four grandchildren, then one for each of my three children if they want one.

I went to my local fabric store here in town and bought a quilt book with patterns and one pattern. I have decided to try the pattern "Pie Crust Pile-Up" Thick Crust in the twin bed size. I am currently making a conscious effort to stick with making squares for now. As I found out while making Rhea's quilt top just keeping lines going straight and having the rows come out even was a task. Of course that was a queen size top rather large I think for someone to tackle their first time out making a quilt top, which she now has in her  possession and won't let me have back.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I went to JoAnn's on Friday to pick out fabric. I spent about an hour looking through, mixing and matching reds, and blues. The background is white. Just as I was about to leave the fabric department I saw the "bundles". Perfect. There they were three bundles of red, white and blue fabrics. After all that time hunting for the right colors and there they were all along. Next time I shop for a project I will hit the "bundles" first as I am not the best at mixing and matching colors.  I still have to purchase the fabric for the borders, binding and backing. With this being Columbus Day weekend I plan on going back to JoAnn's tomorrow and seeing what I can find and use my coupons. I used JoAnn's coupons on the fabric below and saved a pretty good bit. So with any luck I'll save good tomorrow too.

Finished Dress

Jameslee's pillowcase dress.

Jameslee and Great Aunt Terry

Was just going through a couple of posts and realized that I never posted pictures of Jameslee's dress finished.

The Pics

Ok , so here is the link to where all the pictures are going to be posted so I dont have to post every picture and take up so much space. http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/583404561GLfOoX  This is in webshots. If this doesnt work, will figure something else out.

I got a notice that webshots is changing their name and moving, so the above link may not continue to work. So here are two pictures of the finished quilt top I made for Rhea.

Here are two views of Rhea's quilt top.

Buckaroo Stars

Last night I took some pictures of the pattern book and the fabric that Rhea and I chose for her Star quilt. The name of the book is called "Buckaroo" pattern book by http://www.adornit.com/. It has a number of western oriented projects.

This is the pattern book

and this is the pattern it doesn't look to complicated

 We spent more than an hour looking at fabrics and trying to decide what would be some good choices of prints and colors. http://www.thesewingbasket.com/ This is the adorable store where we got our fabric. The ladies there are very nice, friendly and very good at helping select fabrics that coordinate.

These are the main fabric choices for the squares. The long blue fabric has words on it. It will be where the dark blue fabric is in the pattern.

These are the alternate fabric choices for the squares along with the beige fabric and blue star fabric for the appliques.

I have to add the picture of Sadie laying next to the fabric. She felt she had to be in the picture. I thought it was so cute that I have made it my background pic for now

I am really excited about starting this quilt. I will doing my best to keep this blog upto date on my progress with it. I also have several other projects going on too, on which I will write about later... My paper doll quilt squares that I have finished need to be put together and quilted, also I am doing a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt which is done in hexagons and all hand sewn together.

Starting a Quilt

I visited my daughter in Texas recently. We went shopping in a couple of small towns around where she lives. I wanted to go by a little fabric shop in the town of Salado that I had visited 4years ago while there for her wedding.

While there, my daughter asked me to make her a quilt. Sooooo, we picked out a pattern and fabric to get the project started. I want her to be able to follow along with me and help keep me motivated to finish her quilt.

In the near future I will be adding photos of the fabric and book that will be used and if I can find it, maybe a link to the little fabric shop.