Want to Waste Time?

I'm really into this--Exuberant Color--has the best ways to clean up your time wasting habits!!  Was glad to run into their blog to find these ten (10) ways to give you more time in the studio while you are quilting--

Time Waster One--disorganized fabrics--oh YES!  

my fabrics are all over the place--look how neat this

stack above is!

Time Waster Two--cluttered working area!

You bet!  mine looks terrible; just making your

working space less messy, you will find it is more desirable

Time Waster Three--wrinkled fabric scraps!

Mine look like you'd never use them at any time!

I think all these are absolutely perfect for any type of 

fiber work--check out the blog to read what the other seven

time wasters are--you'll be surprised how you can clean up

your studio to work more efficiently!

Recycling?

 May moons ago, I was weaving constantly!  I do mean constantly!  I wove many yards of fabric--most of that yardage went into my 'secret' stash bin.  Just recently, I was rearranging the closet where
the bin set--thought, why not see what's in that bin?  it was yards and yards of handwoven fabric!

Why not do something with all this lovely fabric?  

I turned them into dish cloths--that's what I did!

Some were cotton--like this one with slubs of color;

most were plain weave structure

some were linen

this was 10H weave, when I had that loom--it is

 structure drafted from my last name--cotton

I also found handspun (warp and weft) indigo dyed cotton yardage that I used for my

costume when I worked at 1790's plantation--some of my

very first handspun cotton too--not such a great job--

it was effective for what I used it for.

I've been hemming these towels for the past few days--

thinking about those days when I treadled away!

do I give them as a gift?  Use them myself?

Anyway, I've recycled from one stash bin--

to another!

CatchUP!

Not been much in the mood to sew, or weave, or knit or spin!

Just being lazy--but it's time to motivate myself--besides, it

is September!  Cooler weather, shorter days, more gatherings (

that's lots of motivation!)

Pat Sloan's Out of this World BOM for August!

Here is my version with sunflower fabrics

These are setting blocks—only one more block to finish. 

Or yes, I'm a sucker for anything fall, pumpkins, leaves, etc

this fall mystery came from Fort Worth Fabric Studio

with 2019 Spooky Halloween Mystery--each week a different

block--Here is the first block

It makes me feel cooler when I'm working with these colors!

Fort Worth Fabric Studio has the final free steps for you!

Look for another SAL with upcoming Christmas theme

Potholders............................

I bet your potholders look better than mine!  No matter how often I wash them--there is always that faded look and I get tired of seeing the same ones over and over again--I know, that's not a big deal to some.

here are the ones in my towel bin now--

I love. love the ones I made from this pattern and usually if I give

a gift it is using this pattern and I make it from handwoven fabric

This one was a gift from a dear friend--it has been

used so much but every time I use it, I think

of her.

I decided I needed some new hot pad holders!  I've been

thinking about all those 'orphan' blocks I have--

than that light bulb went off in my head--

those could be used to make some really neat

hotpads!  

I found this tutorial--yep!  

These were orphan blocks--the mittens were from an exchange 

that was done about 20 years ago--one on the left was hand stitched

motif that I didn't know what to do with--problem solved!

 another orphan star block--turned into a nice size potholder!

These two were handwoven pouches that were used for

name tags--always wanted to use them--found that

potholders were the perfect answer!

in each potholder, I used two layers of this teflon shield

fabric--works well along with two layers of cotton batting.

Yes!

My grandson is getting hitched!  We're excited for sure!  The bride is lovely too!  The bridesmaids have planned a bridal shower in early January-- I'll be invited--that's a given!  What gift should I have for her??

Recently, one of our expatcher gals shared her lovely placemats made from four fat quarters!

She made these Christmas ones and a set for Fall--oh, joy!

This is what my gift will be!

You can find more information here--

and then when I went to seek out more placemats, I found this video using 

charm packs!  I have those too!--We're off to the sewing machine

to create an unique gift for that special bride!!

I've had this charm pack forever!!--finally, a use for them!

These are going to be some bright and cheerful placemats--all

from one charm pack--well aged!

National Jelly Roll Day!

Today is the day!! 

It's project Jelly Roll Day!  This is the third year for this Moda

national event!  Check out the five free jelly roll patterns

Ruby Star Cascade--50"x60"

Made with three Ruby Star Society Junior Jelly Rolls (20 strips in each

Check out your local supplier for other free jelly roll patterns

Break out those jelly rolls and start stitching!

Weavers' Delight

It's September!  Which means our first WSW weaving gathering--

always a delight to be with these gals--makes my head swim

with so many ideas and techniques I should try!

Of course,  there was a summer of learning with

new workshops.

Fern took a felting class couple months ago and

made this adorable rabbit!

He's so cute with his big ears 

and funny toes

She even did some needle felting with a new found friend--

Another workshop she did was silk painting--using

unusual materials

The surface is made with bubble wrap and underlay is

using plastic cleaner bags

The trim was done with shaving cream soap and stencils--

what fun!

Connie loves to stitch so she spent her summer

using needle and thread to stitch grids on her

linen fabric--then pulled up the threads before

indigo dyeing the fabric

Such precision to get such fine lines with her thread

She was also doing clamping techniques on

these linen/cotton towels

Nice lines and creative design

Pat showed her eco-dyed linen--asking for suggestions

on what to do next--we suggest some embroidery work and use

the fabric for a pillow

Penny was a sole weaver this summer!  She had natural colored

cotton on the loom to produce several hand towels--the handle

of the towel is so soft--these will go on her sale table.