A small project completed

 

 Just popping in on a Saturday with a little story about a recently-completed project.   Many years ago,  I spotted the gorgeous fabric above in our local Ames department store.  It features these sweet vignettes framed in birch branches on a brown background strewn with pine cones, pine sprigs, and holly.  The vignettes (not all visible in this photo) include snowflakes, skis, deer, snowshoes, and a sweet log cabin.  I had no idea what I would do with this fabric -- it was a pre-measured 2-yard piece  and there was not another one like it -- but it spoke to me somehow, the price was right,  and so I bought it.

Over the intervening decades, I came across it in my fabric stash a number of times and mused about what I could make with it.  A few years back now, I decided I would just make it into a simple winter throw.  I bought 2 yards of brown flannel to back it with, then washed both fabrics so I would be ready when the time came.

 I'm sure you can guess that the time never came.  It never does, right?  But in God's timing, it did.  When my hubby and I took a week looking after things at a Christian camp this month, I brought along my sewing machine and fabrics.  At last my dream project, simple as it was, became reality.

 You can see the directions I used here: Flannel Throw Blanket.  The only additional step I took was to top-stitch all around the edge.  

A kindle photo taken in a lamplit room at evening, so not the best.  But you get the idea!

And now ... the throw is at home in our little camp!  Due to an unseasonably warm day yesterday and a fairly warm night for March, we were able to stay over there last night.  I brought along the finished throw and it looks very much at home on the back of the couch.  

It will be comfy for friends and family to snuggle under in any season.  The camp is the perfect place for it to be!

Small projects for a Christmas fabric stash, part 2

As I mentioned in the last post, I definitely have quite the Christmas fabric stash.  In fact, I even have a Pinterest board for my virtual Christmas Fabric Stash on Pinterest  Here are a few more projects to help you use up that stash!  

You can see one of my rag garlands in the photo at top.  And here is a rag garland in a different color scheme, in the living room, holding up some sweet silhouette ornaments made by my daughter out West.  The link is below the photo.  These garlands put very small pieces of fabric to good use.



 Rag Garlands

 I don't have a link for these hot mats (which will protect your dining table from hot dishes), but  they are pretty simple to make.  Just cut 2 squares of Christmas fabric (they need not be matching) whatever size you like.  I usually use 8 to 10 inch squares, but I vary it depending on the size of fabric scraps I have available.  Then cut a piece of cotton batting the same size.  Place the fabric squares right sides together and layer the cotton batting on top.  Pin the edges carefully so the layers don't slip and machine-sew around the edges, using a half-inch seam allowance and leaving a 2-inch area on one side unstitched for turning.  Now turn the mat right side out, using a chopstick or other implement to carefully and neatly poke out the corners.  Press the mat, being sure to tuck in the raw edges (the gap you had left unstitched) inside to neatly match up with the rest of the mat.  Press again.  Then, using a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch all the way around the mat, which provides a nice finish and neatly closes up that gap.  Press again and you are done!

More hot mats

 You can make mug rugs the same exact way, using smaller squares of fabric.

Christmas fabrics also can be used to make beautiful table runners and placemats for your holiday table.  I don't have instructions for these, but this link: Christmas placemats and table runner tells you where I found the pattern.

 Vintage-Style Pillowcases can, of course, be made from any fabric, but it is fun to make Christmas pillowcases to really showcase a seasonal fabric.  Here are some that I have made.

Mug rugs are some of my favorite things to make.  You can get so creative.  The mug rugs below were made using this link as a starting point:
Tea Time Mug Rug

 
 A simple throw is easy to make as well.  The links below tell you how I made these.  The flannel one has a plain dark green flannel on the reverse side.  Just fold it the other side out to use at other times of the year.


Simple Flannel Throw

Christmas Fabric Throw

I used a holly print fabric for the reverse side of this one.

 So there you have a few more projects!  Enjoy playing with the Christmas fabrics in your stash.  I'm linking this post up with Sandi's No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage today.

Small projects for your Christmas fabric stash, part 1

Yo-Yo ornament made by one of my granddaughters

Do you have a Christmas fabric stash?  I sure do.  I find pretty Christmas fabric at a good price almost impossible to resist.   Sometimes I even buy it when I don't know what I'll use it for.  You too?  One idea for using the larger pieces would be a Christmas tablecloth or table topper.  But often I will have scraps left over from other projects. 

If you are like me and want to use up every possible scrap of your Christmas fabrics, here are some links to a few projects I have shared over  in my Christmas kitchen in the past.

 Patchwork-look Coasters

A patchwork-look coaster -- so easy!

Fabric Napkins

Yo-Yo Ornaments

A yo-yo wreath ornament

Soft Fabric Trees

Soft tree displayed in a bathroom on an inverted goblet

Soft tree displayed in a Christmas teacup

Christmas Tablecloths


Foldable Fabric Baskets

A foldable fabric basket

Hope you've enjoyed these ideas.  Have fun with them!  Some would even make nice Christmas gifts!  Today I am linking up this post and Part 2 with No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage. 

A simple winter-themed table topper

This week I was looking in my fabric stash for something and came across some beautiful winter-themed fabric I had bought last summer.  At the time I had no idea what I would do with it for sure, but I just couldn't resist the print because it looked like Vermont to me.

When I found it again in my stash this week, I decided that the only really good use (for the amount of fabric I had) was a simple table runner or table topper.    After debating with myself for awhile as to which it should be, I decided to make it a table topper so I could use the whole piece of fabric without cutting it.    The print is a really busy one, but I thought it best to use the whole piece to get the perspective of the whole scene.  I would simply hem the edges.   So that is what I did!

on the table

It even has mailboxes!   (I love wintry mailboxes!)

With my little wintry cake dome and 30¢ Walmart plastic placemats

My wintery scene in the cake dome still works with this topper.

 A few minutes' work at the sewing machine and I have a new wintry table topper.  My creative side is very happy!

Thrifty craftiness

Image from The Graphics Fairy

Like many of us, I enjoy visiting thrift stores.  When in Nevada, I always like to visit some of the local ones because they have great prices and the things I find are often quite different from my finds here in New England.  On this visit to Elko, my daughter and I took a few hours together to visit several of their local thrift stores.

Most of the buys she found involved children's clothes, books, games, and other kids' items.  Interestingly, most of mine involved crafting in some way or other.  I had taught Emily a couple of simple crochet stitches while we were out there, so when I found a bundle of crochet hooks in one store, it seemed meant to be.  In another store, I found a barely started plastic canvas kit with a horse design, so picked that up for one of the boys.

But I also found some fun things for myself.  This pretty pillowcase, adorned with hand-crocheted lace trim, was either 25¢ or 50¢, I forget which.

Pillowcase is folded in the photo.  It doesn't do justice to the beautiful lace.

 I noticed later that it must have had a hole or a small tear in the seam, because it has been carefully and beautifully darned in one tiny spot.  It was a toss-up whether I would decorate with this pillowcase or simply use it, but after washing and ironing it I noticed it was made from the tubular pillow case material that used to be so prevalent with home sewers.  This typically produced skinnier pillowcases that don't work so well with today's pillows.  It's so beautiful, though, that I will display it in some way.

In the same store, I found these pretty embroidered handkerchiefs.

I apologize for the wrinkles ... think these must be linen.  They were very hard to iron.

I think they aren't really all that old, but the embroidery reminds me of those gorgeously embroidered baby clothes that used to be imported from the Philippines and were almost too pretty to use.  I will use the handkerchiefs in some project eventually.  I paid only $1 for the two of them; I found them in the same bin as the crochet hooks.

And I saved the really fun buy for last -- a bag of sunbonnet girl quilt squares, hand-appliqued and embroidered.

I took the top square out of the bag to get a better picture.  The pattern was even included!

Just a few of the vintage fabrics contained within the bag.

When I picked up the bag (it was $3), my original interest was in the vintage fabrics it contained.  But I will definitely sew the completed squares together and use them for something, possibly a table runner.  I couldn't spread out all the squares (there are at least 20) to take a photo, because as I was looking them over after buying them, my daughter noticed a good bit of pet hair sandwiched in between some of the unfinished ones.   I don't want to get that all over my house.  I'm going to keep the squares contained in the bag and sew them together quite quickly, then wash them before proceeding.  I will throw the unfinished ones (complete with pet hair) away, and wash the print fabrics before storing them.  I'm hesitant to wash the squares before sewing, because they look as if they are made from flour sacks and seem rather fragile.  It will be a fun project to work on, though.

On another day, we also visited Jo-Ann Fabrics so Emily could help me spend part of a gift card I'd won in a giveaway.  She had fun buying beads, yarn, and a wonderful crochet book for kids.  And while we were in Ely, we happened upon a needlework shop that was going out of business and everything was 50% off.  There, I bought mostly yarn.  So there was lots of thrifty craftiness going on this vacation, for sure!

Fabric Giveaway at Cotton+Wood!

(The fabrics pictured below are from my stash and are for illustrative purposes only.  They are not the fabrics being given away at Cotton+Wood.)

I made coasters (seen below)  from some of my stash fabrics!

I love fabric; it's an established fact.  Years ago, my family gave me a magnet reading "I'm a Fabric-holic!" and it was quite true.  Even today, my daughters know that a sure-fire gift for me is a selection of fat quarters or half-yard pieces of a variety of fabric.  But I think I can probably now say that I'm a recovering fabric-holic.  I tend not to buy fabric unless I have an idea of what I will use it for.  And I've done a fairly decent job of using up fabric from my stash.

Still, I must admit that my heart beats a little bit faster when I see some wonderful fabric online or when I read about a fabric giveaway like this one:  Fabric Giveaway at Cotton+Wood!.  Maybe you too would like the opportunity to win some new fabric.  If so, head on over to Cotton+Wood and get in on the fun!

Show & Tell Friday for June 12

I had a lovely morning with my friend Lynne and so did not get a show & tell posted yet. For today, though, I decided to share some interesting prints from my fabric stash.

Here is the oldest one (in this group). I think my great-aunt gave me this. The print is vintage red and green, but is not in the least Christmasy. In fact, the motifs are rather summery.

This flocked daisy print was a remnant, I think, from something one of my daughters made. I love the fuzzy daisies.

I used this fabric for a cookbook cover one time, and made a neat hot mat from it more recently.

My daughter gave me this fabric with a French street scene. Sorry I got the fabric in the scanner a bit crooked. There is much more to the scene, but this gives you an idea.

This Alexander Henry print reminds me of the illustrations in Dick & Jane books. I purchased this at Keepsake Quilting.

This woodsy, wintry fabric is one I've had for a long time. Each little vignette (cabin, skis, deer, snowflakes, etc.) is framed in birch twigs. I hope to use this fabric in some way when we redo our living room.

This nifty soda pop-bottle print was one I recently found at a local thrift store. There's only a small amount of it, and I think I will eventually make some cloth napkins from it.

That is my simple Show & Tell for today. To see what others have shared for Show & Tell Friday, head on over to There is No Place Like Home.

Happy Show & Tell Friday!