Category Archives: Hand Crafts

A Hot Month For Linus

Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of The Linus Connection, which means this is the day of the month where I gather all the things in my house that have been accumulating to take to Linus for donation. The quilt above made from the leftover pieces cut from a Storm At Sea quilt that was set on point. It’s the same quilt I call Electric Amish. I’ve been hand quilting it for an interminable number of years now, and I sometimes wonder if it will ever be finished. Completing this toddler version with the leftover pieces of Electric Amish is a small victory and it gives me hope to finish the mama quilt some day.

This next quilt I’ve dubbed Stash Monkey and is made from what I have left from the Log Cabins For Linus collection I held in the earlier part of 2010. There are still a few orphan blocks in my bag, and I hope inspiration will strike again and I will come up with a quilt that’s just as fun as this one! Made from orphan blocks and scraps from my own stash.

Brand new in my life this month are quilts quilted by me on a long arm machine! Dianne, the owner of Honey Bee Quilt Store, where I have my day job, very generously allowed us to use the store’s HandiQuilter to finish up some Linus quilts. Not bad for a beginner! I also quilted the Baby Storm At Sea.

This granny block ghan is made from the very last of the donations from Go Get Granny (the yarn half of Log Cabins For Linus). All of these blocks were donated. I joined them all together and wove in the ends. As you can see here, I’m experimenting with hanging afghans the way I do quilts. It works…sort of. I just love photos taken in natural light, but afghans are not a fan of being hung. Shared in this TTMT.

This gorgeous quilt was made from a top donated by the ever lovely Laci. She sent this to me some time ago and it ended up going to a professional long arm quilter that donates her skills to Linus. It’s all done now and the quilting is just lovely. It was featured in this Talk To Me Tuesday (sans binding), where you can see the beautiful quilting close up.

My very last offering this month is my final Carpool ‘Ghan for the 2009-2010 school year (also featured in the video linked above). Both of my kids are musicians and honor students, which simply means they carry a ridiculous amount of stuff to and from school. I drive them back and forth, as well as taking them to music lessons, rehearsals, etc. That leaves me sitting in my little car all by myself more time than I care to count. What’s a girl to do? Well, if she’s crafty, she brings something to work on! I make afghans for Linus when I’m waiting, keeping a bag of yarn and a crochet hooks in the car just for that purpose. You’d be amazed how much I can get done sitting in my car every day! It’s a good thing I finally finished this one, seeing as how the new school year for my kids starts on Tuesday!

The Linus Connection meets the third Saturday of every month at St. Phillip’s in Round Rock, Texas. Check out the website for more information.

Happy Crafting!

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Way Back Craft: Recycled Binder

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In thinking about Back to School season, and the accordian file that I upcycled last week, I thought about a project I did for my daughter a couple of years ago. Then I realized, while I posted a photo of it in a collection of other upcycled/recycled projects, I’d never really talked about it here on my blog.

Here is the story the way I told in August of 2008, on craftster:

This craft starts with a story. My 13 year old daughter’s middle school is huge. The kids have less than 5 minutes to get from class to class and they don’t always have time to go to their lockers. Many of them carry large binders so they can have multiple classes worth of work with them all the time.

Last year, we bought this binder for her, in an attempt to give her a place to keep all her things. Within a few months, the rings in the binder blew out. The handle is on the back of the rings, so the weight of the contents pulls down on them, causing them to fail.

So, time for a redesign. How about a binder cover/bag that has the weight in the opposite direction and that can have the 3-ring binder changed when needed, without losing the rest?

I think this may be one of the coolest things I’ve made and I’m ridiculously pleased with the way it turned out! It holds a 3″ 3-ring binder, which cost about $6 at the office supply store. Everything else was recycled or I had on hand.

Outside back – the binding was hand stitched on the outside. There was just too much stuff going on inside to do it the opposite way. Cool sparkly fabric was a gift from hardhatcat.

The other side, standing up – the strap is recycled from the old binder. The strap clicks onto a large split ring. The bits of ribbon were from a sheet of samples someone gave me. The denim was cut on the bias so it has give. Oh, and the denim was leftover from a project that a friend of mine did. She gave me her leftovers!

inside – the accordion files, back mesh pocket & zipper are all recycled

The accordion file, recycled from the old binder. It was a bit hard to stitch around, but I managed by moving my needle over to the far left.

All that’s left of the original. I used a razor blade to take it apart. Razors are the friend of anyone that recons heavy duty materials, but they take a sure hand.

More photos of the binder cover/tote here.

My daughter loves it, especially the “bag” aspect, freeing up her hands and making it’ll be easier to carry her stuff.

Happy Crafting!

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Way Back Craft: An Edward Just For You

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I’ve been walking down memory lane and plundering my old forum posts. I don’t post much to crafty forums anymore, mostly because I like the “not having rules” part that comes with posting to my own blog. 😉

This Way Back Craft has had some of the greatest comments of both love and hate, including the dubious honor of having once been featured on Craftastrophe. Poor Edward was referred to there as a toilet paper cover. Fortunately for me, I have pretty thick skin and a sense of humor, so I took it with a grain of salt, which is exactly the vein in which Edward Puppet Pal was made.

What I didn’t say in the following forum post is that I also included a list of Edward’s catch phrases, so he would always have the right thing to say at just the right time! See, sense of humor. 😉

You can see my original crafter post here. Edward Puppet Pal was part of the same swap as the Team Edward t-shirt that was immortalized in my first freezer paper stenciling video. You don’t know comments until you post a video on YouTube with the word “Twilight” anywhere in the tags, title or description. Viva la haters!

I made this for silverfisch for the Twilight Swap Round 2 (gallery). It’s Edward Cullen, from Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight, inspired by The Potter Puppet Pals.

He’s made out of felt, with fabric paint details on his face. I really just eyeballed the whole pattern, figuring it out as I went along. I hope you like him!

I made the button on my buttonmaker, with a little help from some poly glitter!

The rest of the swap…

Happy Crafting!

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Upcycled Accordion Folder

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This whole “business owner” thing has a lot of learning curves. Taxes…blech! Legal stuff..blech! Unforeseen storage issues…creative opportunity!

After a couple of months of getting the Sewhooked Shop off the ground, I had a whole tote bag full of receipts, paperwork and odds ‘n ends that I need to keep track of. There isn’t a spare foot anywhere in my workspace for a filing cabinet and, as they say, have laptop will travel. I need to be portable.

After contemplating what to do with the mess of papers and such, I headed to our family storage location for paper, folders and general office/school supplies. A giant figurative light bulb danced gleefully over my head at what I’d found.

An accordion folder. Really? How did I not know we had that? The answer is, I did, but I forgot. It was tucked away with the kids’ school supplies. It’s something I used when both of them were very early in their school careers, before I realized that no mere accordion folder could ever cope with the massive amount of tree carnage that is elementary school.

I think this folder was probably around when I was at least in high school. In another lifetime, my dad was a school supply buyer. The bonus of that when I was a kid was all kinds of nifty and creative supplies! I’m pretty sure that this was a remnant from that time that my mom passed on to us when our own kids were little.

Supplies:

Accordion folder with with a cardboard shell
Fabric Remnant
Batting Remnant
Spray adhesive
Glue Gun
Ribbon
Mailing Labels
Pliers, if needed

So, I find this. Cutesy and functional. I like the functional, but not so much the cutesy!

First thing’s first, tear away the cardboard exterior, doing as little damage as possible.

There’s an elastic band that is used to close the folder. Yank that out from behind and put it aside. We’re going to do something totally different for our closure!

On the opposite side is the button that the elastic goes around. We’ll bend it and wiggle it until we can pull it out of the hole with minimal destruction.

Now, that glue needs cleaning up. We’ll peel all that away.

Much better!

Now, the fabric. How about a remnant from another project? This fabric made the centers of the blocks on my Friendship Star quilt.

Oh no, it’s too short! Ideally, it needs to be a few inches bigger on each side. And, it definitely needs to be ironed!

Not to worry, just add a bit of another fabric to one end. That’ll create a lovely front!

For a touch of magic, spray basting. Because this is a permanent application, regular spray adhesive will work, too.

I think a little padding will be nice, and I just happen to have this bit of leftover lightweight batting from another project.

Now, we’ll spray baste the fabric to the batting. Spray the batting and not the fabric and, of course, we follow manufacturer’s instructions!

Add spray baste to the outside of the decorative cardboard. It doesn’t matter at this point which end of the folder is front or back, as long as we get it even!

Hmm, now about some pretty ribbon? This was saved from a gift The Big Guy gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

There are lots of adhesive options at this point, but after seeing how the folder was originally constructed, I think we’ll break out the trusty old glue gun!

We’ll make it extra pretty by gluing each corner down first.

Glue and repeat!

Nice, all four are in place now!

Now, we’ll fold the four sides and glue those in places. This bit might be tricky because we want it taut, but not too tight.

Lots of glue is necessary to make sure all the layers stay in place.

With all the seams glued, it looks so pretty!

It’s all ready for ribbon now!

The ribbon cut in half and glued in the center of each side is just the ticket! Gluing it directly to the cardboard gives it some extra durability.

Both sides are in place, so now it’s time for the final steps!

Let’s put the accordion back in the folder! We’ll sit it right in the center.

Let’s get it all straight so that we don’t have a weird end sticking out or anything! Start at the bottom and swipe the glue back and forth just like it was originally. Be fast, the glue dries quick!*

*Do not, repeat, do not glue the bottom of the file to the outside cover! It needs to be able to expand and contract, or, ehem, accordion. 😉

For extra security, we’ll add more glue up the sides and around the top.

Squish the side hard!

Keep smoothing it until it feels like it’s set. We want the bonds to be nice and firm! With all the glue in place, we’re done! Wow, that was quick.

We’ll change the categories up with some leftover mailing peel and stick labels. A couple of the originals still apply!

Isn’t that nice?

This is a file folder I can travel with. I might even bring some crayons.

Happy Crafting!

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Free Pattern: Simple Kites

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Four Patch Kite

One of my most rewarding past times is volunteering for The Linus Connection, so when a friend asked me to design a simple paper pieced kite that would be easy to incorporate into quilts for Linus, I eagerly accepted.

Simple Kite

Of course, I couldn’t create just one pattern! Having more adds variety. When I was done, I had the Four Patch Kite and it’s reverse and the Simple Kite and it’s reverse. Each block prints at 6″ x 8″, so it’s easy to make a nice large block by adding sashing, or, keep it as is and sprinkle a kite here and there through your quilt!

Please do take print these patterns and use them for your own non-profit group, or make a sweet summer quilt for a child that you love!

Shop Sewhooked and help keep the free patterns free!

Add your Sewhooked-related photos (that includes my patterns posted to Fandom In Stitches!) to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!

Happy stitching!

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Floating Mariner

TTMT #67 – Way Back Crafts

Fabric Friday…Mmm, Fairy Frost!

5 Minutes of Paper Piecing

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On July 10, 2010, shaebay5 posted a video that was 5 minutes of real time cross-stitch. Her idea was inspired by the crafty Penny Nickels who said:

I think I’m going to start another Tumblr blog and all it’s going to be is 5 minute videos of me or other people weaving, knitting, spinning, embroidering, sewing… whatever. If you can’t sit through 5 minutes of mind-numbingly boring ass handwork, then you don’t get to whine about how much it costs. Because we have to do this shit for hours and hours and hours and hours. Not even like 6 hours, more like 50 to 100+ hours. And really, it’s just as boring for me as it is for the viewer. It really is.

Granted, my video is not handwork, but paper piecing is still a very tedious process. I love it, and I love the results, but it takes time. Lots of time. Over the years, I’ve been asked for quotes on how much I’d sell this or that quilt for. To date, not one person has taken me up on the amount quoted. Craftiness takes a lot of time. Skill is worth paying and getting paid for.

Post your own 5 Minutes of Video and show everyone some real time action of you crafting!

Happy crafting!

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Earring Hanger V2

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You may remember my earr i ng hanger that I posted some time ago. No? Well, go check it out, then! It’s fun and easy to make.

What do you do when you have a teenager with way more earrings than the hanger can hold? Make a new one, of course!

While rummaging around my supplies looking for a spare frame, I came across an extra piece from one of those wire cube storage widgets. This thing has been hanging around forever in my pile of “you never know” craft supplies.

Today, it found it’s purpose!

It’s as easy as pie to put together (and definitely takes less time than pie!).

All you need is one piece of a wire cube storage set, or some other wire-frame widget, some zip ties, a piece of plastic canvas and some of those awesome 3M Command hooks. All of these things were in my craft supplies, left over from other projects. Total cost… $0!

The piece of plastic canvas fit perfectly across, leaving two rows at the top for the earrings that won’t fit through the smaller holes.

Hey, wait a minute! Some of those earrings are mine…. *grumblegrumble*