Thrifty Thursday

Another pillow.

Hope you're not too tired of my trash to treasure pieces!

:)

Seems I've been on a ROLL with this kind of thing!

This pillow began with an ALREADY cut up embroidered UFO.

I have NO idea why it was already cut into!!

 

I cut a big piece out and surrounded it with green fabric.

I still have a small area to be used!

Wonder what I'll make with it??

Before stitching up the opening I stuffed it.

 

With what???

Batting scraps....

and little bits of fabric from my TRASH bin!!!

 

I got the idea here.

 

Just.....Another FRUGAL day around here!

LOL!

This pillow is for ME!

 

I'm keeping it.

 

Caps for Christmas!

Every year I tell myself I'm not going to make gifts for everyone.

 

I think it takes the pressure OFF to say I'm NOT going to do it.

I'm really o.k. with not making something for everyone.

And THEN...

I get an idea in my head...

and It won't go AWAY until I DO SOMETHING about it.

Until I MAKE something for EVERYONE!!!

Last year it was little zipper bags.

One year it was holiday hexagon table mats.

Another year it was casserole carriers!

 

This year....

It's HATS!

Some with little braids attached.....

Some without.

 

I found a simple pattern here.

This one is super WARM.

It's going to my son who will be leaving in January.

He's heading off to the cold, cold state of Iowa!!!

 

For this hat I used an old sweatshirt

and a THICK fleece.

The pattern calls for fleece...

but of course I have to DO MY OWN thing

and I've been experimenting with ALL kinds of fabric.

 

This one is lined with some leftover Stretch KNIT.

See the litte kitties peeking out?

This is the pattern.

I've learned I can use old fleece jackets.

This one had a broken zipper and I KNEW I'd find a use for it someday!

I bought these VERY inexpensive fleece throws at walmart

to help me out with this project.

The fleece WAS inexpensive...($2)

but definitely not QUALITY material.

You get what you pay for!

It's going to be fine for lining some of my caps...

but I wouldn't use it for much else.

:(

I had an old wool sweater I'd been saving.

After felting it.....

I cut it UP!

AND did some creative piecing!

;)

If look closely at the hats above...

you'll see the seam I had to add in front.

This fleece IS quality!

I LOVE the thick fluffyness of it!

Using up old clothing works GREAT for this project!

I also used an old fleece throw

made for a baby.

There are LOTS of fabric SOURCES

when you start thinking OUT of the box!

;)

I now have a nice BIG stack of hats.

Ready to GIFT in a couple of weeks!!!

There's a PARTY going on!

One REALLY nice thing about parties is that...

You get to meet NEW friends!!!

Nupur sent in a couple of blocks.

Aren't her houses FUN???

The other nice thing about parties...

is catching up with OLD friends.

Kim sent in this super cute wonky kitty cat house!

Love that polka dot SKY!

 

This NEIGHBORHOOD party has started!!!

Woo hoo!

Send in a house block (12 1/2"x12 1/2")

(you might WIN a set of houses for your own!)

and, if you like, another one for a charity quilt I'll put together.

 

Let's celebrate this great neighborhood "BLOGLAND"

with a few QUILTS!

Finding Treasure

Thrift stores are DANGEROUS places.

You walk in with nothing particular in mind...

and then...

you find something that needs to be RESCUED!!!!

This unfinished needlepoint SCREAMED my name as I walked by.

All it needed was some framing...

some backing..

and some stuffing.

It met some of my vintage corduroy when I got it home.

It is a MATCH made in heaven.

And they lived HAPPILY ever AFTER!

Friday Finish

I'm not sure there's ANYTHING better than a scrappy quilt.

Except... MAYBE.... the birdy fabric that surrounds it!

This scrappy quilt is ALL from my scrap bag.

My scrap bag is VERY full....STILL...

Three pretty pink pieces of fabric from my stash

came together for the backing.

The longer piece on the right is VINTAGE.

A precious piece of fabric I almost didn't use!!

It's sometimes HARD for me to use the old,

beautiful, sweet fabrics given to me by dear friends.

 

I had the best time cutting and sewing.

Puzzling and piecing.

Digging and trimming.

:)

 

This quilt measures 61'x62"

Almost square!

When you're using scraps...

It doesn't always come out PERFECT!

Hah!

Does any quilt end up that way???

None of MINE do.

 

 

Zoos and Bags

 

When I woke up today

I had NO IDEA I'd be sewing a Panda bear.

I knew I had two little friends coming over for the day....

I knew we were going to the zoo....

I knew we'd have some FUN!!!

We saw REAL animals at the zoo...

but we also saw the FAKE kind.

;)

This little bag was spied!

 

"I THINK I can make something like that", I said.

 

We came home and...

I pushed aside my quilting...

 

Ironing little pieces on....

Using a sketch as my guide.

Someone wanted a panda bear

and someone wanted a tiger.

"A WHITE tiger please".

A zipper on the bag

and a white strap completed the little bags.

 

They are not quite like the ones in the store...

they are better!

They are HOMEMADE!!!

 

The stitches are not perfect.

The lining is not super smooth.

The zipper is not perfectly straight.

They are HOMEMADE!!!

So much BETTER!

 

Why spend money when you have ALL the supplies you need at home??

The only thing I'm low on here is Zippers!!!

Two happy customers!!!

Leftovers

I just finished a  new table runner.

A wee bit late for

Thanksgiving dinner.

;)

It's already time to CLEAN up the fall decor.

But that didn't stop me from making a

FALL colored table runner.

I'm going to call it my LEFTOVERS runner.

 

Kind of like making turkey soup with the leftover meat.

These are the scraps of fabric

leftover from my quilts.

 

At least fabric scraps don't go BAD!!!

They are ALWAYS good to GO!!!