The Nut Doesn't Fall Far....

Recent posts have showcased my swirl through the world of crafts, sewing in particular. In my lifetime I have attempted many different types of crafts and been pleased by most results.

My husband, D., has a talent working with wood.  In the early years of our marriage, mainly due to a tight budget, most of our furniture was rebuilt and refinished by D.

This weekend he took two old end tables that were becoming rickety and scarred renewing them with a screwdriver and can of spray paint.  L., too, has proved to be quite crafty.

He has been an avid gamer in many mediums.  Currently he is a supporter of board games, especially games still in development. Most of the games he purchases from Kickstarter and are played with cards, many, many cards.

There are a few 'card carriers' available for these enthusiasts but it is early in their own development leaving much room for improvement. L. stepped into this void with some help from the internet.

A trip to Hobby Lobby brought a painters box plus red felt.  Home Depot had the hard board and stain.  Dad stained the box and cut the hard board for dividers from L.'s measurements.  L. glued all the inside pieces together and used a wood burner to etch the game title on the lid.  I glued the felt inside the box.  For under $36 we created this personalized card box.

Clearly, the nut does not fall far from the tree.

Sewing Presents for Christmas 2013

Fraternity T-shirt Back

Fraternity T-shirt Front

On the previous post which highlighted the college t-shirt quilt I hinted at a creative use for additional
t-shirts.  Online there is no difficulty finding many neat ideas for reusing favorite t-shirts but I've never before seen pillowcases.



I work for the Student Ministry at a local church and t-shirts are ordered for multiple events every year.  By Christmas there remains a large selection of leftovers.

Graphic T's Front

Graphic T's Back

After seeing my previous t-shirt quilts one of our youth interns was interested in having a quilt made out of his many graphic t's.  We struck a deal in which he cut the squares and provided the backing and I constructed the quilt.





With t-shirts on my mind and so many at my disposal I wanted to make a quick gift for all the interns.  In retrospect I did make a t-shirt pillow case many years ago with some left over Christmas fabric and a white t-shirt.  The idea popped up again and with a dip into the many wonderful remnants I am still working through I went to work.

Front/Back with added fabric
top and bottom.

For the youth staff I sewed a pair of pillow cases out of 4 different shirts.  I did a slightly different style on each but on every pair I added stability by lining the inside of the opening with the coordinating fabric.

Decorative stripe with inside lining.

With this style the neck was retained filling in with fabric from the sleeve. The shirt was a large which was wide enough to reach the standard pillow case size without extra fabric therefore coordinating fabric was used to decorate the outside of the pillow case as well as inside the opening.


An extra large shirt was too big for a standard sized pillow case.  On this design I cut more fabric off the sides and made the pillow case to size with the coordinating fabric.  This design also retained the neck.

The neck was retained and filled in with fabric from the sleeve.

The quilt I'd made for our intern had enough remnants to create matching pillow cases out of yet another shirt.

I expect these pillow cases will be used at times when a pillow may get thrown around on the vehicle floor, into a tent or out by the fire.

 Situations where you don't want to mess up a "good" pillow case, which makes them perfect for anybody on a road trip, school trip, family trip or at scout camp, summer camp, church camp or on any kind of overnight adventure.

If you make a pillowcase I would love to see it, please post a link in your comments.

Happy Holidays, Happy Sewing!!

Out of Sync Birthdays

L. turns 21 today.  December 7th, within the UT college calendar falls at the beginning of semester finals.  This is L's third year at UT, so as in the two years past we planned to celebrate over Thanksgiving break.

We drove down to Austin to pick him up but he was booked to fly back the following Sunday.  This required taking his gifts with us as there were some big boxes and all needed to end up in Austin.

Circumstances such as these puts a birthday out of sync.  Instead of being a problem I see these as opportunities to make a week, or month, celebration instead of only one day.  On November 27 we celebrated in his dorm room as he opened gifts.  On November 29 we celebrated with cake and candles at home.  Today he is back in Austin celebrating with friends and I get to cyber-shout out, one more time.


One of the large gifts was a UT
 t-shirt quilt.  It is the first full size quilt I have 'quilted' on my home machine.  The backing is that ultra-soft minky material and although it shifted slightly the adhesive spray recommended to aid in the quilting process worked great.

Quilting a full size takes patience and practice.  The process and result went so well I've decided to make baby size quilts to practice and improve my patience and machine quilting skills on.

L. was thrilled with the new college quilt, which takes the place of his high school quilt.  There were many other shirts that didn't make the cut for this gift.  Watch for a future post on the creative end found for those
t-shirts.

Here on Pearl Harbor day we wish L. a Happy, Happy 21st Birthday!

Quilt Number ??

Three years in and I am losing count on how many quilts have been completed.  It would seem safe to say I found a hobby and the counting can cease.

There is never a lack of ideas or patterns to choose from when, along with the rest of the techno-savvy public, web surfing has become a frequent past time.

In the process of getting Logan settled for his junior year at UT he gleaned through his closet and we ended up with a stack of jeans he could no longer wear.  Initially they were headed for Goodwill until I tripped over a Denim Circle Quilt that mimics the Cathedral Window pattern.  Now with plenty of denim conveniently in stock I had my next project.

The prints are from the fabulous stash R. gave me months ago.

Something to mention at the beginning of a denim project; denim is HEAVY and can be difficult manipulating through the sewing machine. That said, although I love the end product here, it is 'regular' bed size.  I prefer queen size but I was at my limit for wrestling this cover through all the top-stitching.

The bobbin thread was cranberry to match a color on the front and to highlight the top stitching (unable to see here on the back) but it added a nice touch and has me feeling confident enough to try machine quilting on my next project.

Because of the smaller size and the lovely stash of coordinating print fabric I added a 3 inch frame with denim binding. 

My continuous sewing has brought gifts of supplies from fellow sewers downsizing.  I've received several bags of batting which has the ideas churning on how to use them.  If the machine quilting goes well perhaps I can use the batting for baby quilts to test new block patterns and practice machine quilting techniques. 

Hobby indeed!

2013 Fall Back

It has been since the Bear Quilt that anything new has come out of the sewing room.  The machines have not been silent just busy refashioning tops.

In 2010, with the implementation of a wellness program at D.s company, we went on 20 weeks of Weight Watchers with great success.  A total loss of 40 pounds changed my wardrobe over and the 'big' clothes were packed away.

There are a couple schools of thought on retaining 'big' clothes.  A frequent comment was, "You should get rid of those sizes so you don't have them to get back into."  That is an understandable idea but I have some very nice pieces and am realistic enough to know that those boxes may need to be revisited.

Three years down the road and indeed, those boxes came out of storage.  I have regained 20 of those pounds and some of the stored tops refashioned, are a sensible, economical choice.

Don't be discouraged for me, I am back at Weight Watchers for a refresher and expect to unpack the smaller tops that, for the moment, have been stored away.

This pillow has been at the back of my mind since I finished the Raw Edged quilt.  A round pillow was my initial concept but it didn't have the bright blue fabric that popped on the quilt so my intention was always to make another round or square.

My friend S. over at Thoughts From Mill Street sent me the Exploding Pineapple pattern some time ago.  I decided to give it a try and in an afternoon this came together using a small pillow form.  I believe this is a much better compliment to the quilt.

L. is back at UT for his junior year and that seems to be the motivation for getting the sewing room up to full speed.  Already in mind for the holidays; I like to cover the couch pillows in decorative fabric and there is a 'hidden zipper' tutorial to try with the fall material.  As well, Elysium has a wonderful, free Good Deeds dress pattern for small girls I want to get started on.

With Fall at our doorstep what is on your mind?

Google Images:
www.sherv.netrestorativebody.com

Empty Nest Year 3: Getting the Hang of It

L.'s third year at UT began with move-in weekend over the 24th.  Our experience with this has been different every year.

The first year we paid extra and moved in the night before the rush.  The second year L. drove down with out us and moved himself in.  This year his 'stuff' was stored miles from campus and he was moving into a new high rise.

I failed to mention he was on campus the whole summer for classes and a lab internship so the answer to the question, "Are you headed for Austin?" was "You bet!"

800 students were moving into one building on Saturday.  It was controlled chaos, well done, but chaos none-the-less.  We were in the unloading zone at our appointed hour, braved the waves of back-to-school shoppers at Target and Walmart and had L. set up and settled by the end of a long day.


Dorm living has changed.  The past two years L. was in a private dorm that looked exactly like a dorm room. This new set up is more like an apartment. The only thing lacking is a cook top and oven.

A kitchen/living room area shared by two bedrooms that hold two students each with a double sink, shower and stool.

Every visit is celebrated with good food and venues that are pure Austin; high energy, unique and Austin Weird.  You gotta love it.  L. does and so do we but it doesn't make saying good-bye any easier.  This third year is set to be full and exciting and speeding him towards plans post-graduation.  Where does the time go??

D. and I are as settled into our empty nest as L. is into Austin.  We are finding our way with new interests and looking toward our future. The journey, to date, has not always been easy but we have each experienced positive, personal and family growth.

And so we say, "Cheers!" to all new and returning students and the adults that make the college experience possible.

Google Image:
dearkidlovemom.com

Hook 'Em

 Since L. left for college at the University of Texas at Austin I have been an avid UT representative.  When you are connected to a group through regular, large sums of money it seems only wise to support that group wholeheartedly.

This being said, anything with a Longhorn or that is burnt orange I proudly display.  I have the mom sticker on my car, numerous burnt orange t-shirts and lounge wear plus my office is decorated in UT wall art, I use UT pencils, Kleenex and a mouse pad.

It should come as no surprise my support will show up in my sewing.  In the Bear quilt post I mentioned trying my hand at paper piecing.  It didn't take long, combing the internet for free patterns, until this Longhorn pattern showed up and became my first attempt.  This is a 5 inch square and really too intricate for a first try but I wasn't daunted.  It took several ripped seams to get the idea and make a good run at the technique.

A good first try.

Much like paint by number with fabric.

I was happy with the end result but wanted to try this same pattern on a larger block.  Another internet search found how to enlarge a square and I turned the 5 inch into a 10 inch.

Each effort highlights sections to practice and I've exhausted the Longhorn for paper piecing but have another square to try already in mind.  The individual piecing doesn't take a lot of time, putting the combined pieces back together and getting a 'squared' square was my biggest challenge.  Something to continue working on.  What have you been doing this summer?

This Longhorn pillow has a place in the re-upholstered chair.