Thursdays Threads

My favorite thing to do is sew. I think in front of a machine is where I am meant to be. My daughter is also quite a seamstress. We both find it very relaxing. Lately we've been trying to use up the multitude of scraps that every seamstress accumulates. It seems endless some times and the scraps range in size from half a yard to one inch pieces. Believe me when I say there are piles and containers and bags of them. 

I used a lot of red pieces of reclaimed sheet and one inch pieces to make this quilted library bag for my younger daughter. She likes a bag for holiday time. The lining is also remnants as is the cotton batting used to quilt it.

My eldest daughter made these sets of up cycled fabric napkins over the holidays. They are listed for sale at poetcharms.etsy.com. You can stop by and see all the wonderful items she makes. These were made from reclaimed fabrics and linens and they are 13 inch square. I'd show you the piles and bags and containers, but it is a bit overwhelming so I stay away until I have time to work. It is our goal to keep using and sharing the bits and pieces throughout 2015 so stay tuned for updates. For now I've got to go take care of conversation threads. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Wow that was a fast week. To say time flies when you're having fun is not totally the truth. Let's say time flies when your busy. To start from the townhouse this week I've gone back to seriously baking and cooking. Doing what I can to eat better, but still enjoy food and life. I've gone back to baking my own bread. I've tried a lot of new recipes floating around on the Internet, but I'm going back to my good old Betty Crocker recipes I got as a teenager in the sixties. I just like the result, taste and I like the kneading. I know it's easy to let the machine do it, but when you've spent so much time doing something a certain way it's hard to let go.

I like home made bread better for French toast. I can slice it to the thickness I want and when soaking in the egg mixture it holds up better. Doesn't that look yummy? It certainly was.

I also make this ahead and keep it in the refrigerator so my daughter can take it to work for breakfast. I never did this when the kids were younger, but now it works great for her. 

Another task this week was cleaning the recipe files and papers. Over the years I've accumulated so many books, papers and clippings that I could never find what I needed when I needed it. I got a good start, but there is more to do.

This is some of the before. Can't believe I let it get so out of control, but...

look how neat the after is. I found recipes I thought were lost and would never find again and I can now just go to the right spot and get it. I put printed recipes in plastic sleeves to preserve them and can just pull them out of the notebook and wipe clean if they get messy. 

From the sewing and craft room this week I used a few scraps to make a candle cozy for 4th of July decorating. I don't do a lot of decorating any more so I'm keeping it simple with a holiday candle.

Sewing projects listed on the store have already started selling. There were pillows and napkins.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192554082/hand-made-16-inch-black-cotton-pillow?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192563409/hand-made-16-inch-teal-pillow?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192564741/hand-made-screen-printed-buddha-pillow?

The pink napkins have sold, but the green napkins can be found here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192558851/set-of-4-double-sided-13-inch-napkins?

Well I guess that's why the week flew by. I harvested parsley and basil from the garden this week and dried it for my soup mixes. I also took some clippings of my peppermint plant to start a new one and it's already rooting. Everything is growing nicely. It's small and mostly herbs, but it's my bit of earth. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Linking to: We Call It Junkin

Up cycled vintage sewing and what's on the sewing table this week.

Our sewing and fabric addiction is showing it's face. It all started with an apron last week. This past week my daughter got some of her "unfinished" projects out and "finished" them up so we can continue to grow and clean out here at The Craft Zone. Here are some of the up cycled ladies tops made from vintage reclaimed sheets.

These tops have long sleeves and short sleeves finished with elastic. There are elastic necklines and yoke necklines. Some are belted for a fitted look and some are just loose and comfy. They are made from vintage patterns that, yes, she has found at thrift stores throughout the years.

When you sew there are always mounds of scraps. Strips, squares, circles and trims. Everything from new to vintage scraps. Why not put them to use. This past weekend she experimented with Easter egg shaped mug rugs. These seem to be the new coasters and personally I like the idea of a larger coaster. I like to set out a warm plate, but have always used pot holders. Why didn't I think of mug rugs. Dah!

On the sewing table now are all the items made from the remnants of the apron. I've managed a quilted table runner from two inch strips, an oven mitt, two pot holders or mug rugs and then from the remainder of the two inch strips I am sewing them together for another pot holder. I promised myself it wouldn't go back to the works in progress bin and it didn't. I ordered bias tape from eBay because I didn't want to edge them with white and there weren't enough remnants to make bias tape, so as soon as it gets here they will all be finished. Thank you everyone who stopped by and left comments last week. I hope this week is a great one for everyone. 

Thrifting, sewing and spending time with family

"The most important things in life are not things." I have loved this statement ever since I heard it quite a few years ago. Last week I got to spend some special time with two of the most wonderful boys in the world. The two boys are my grandsons and we cherished the time we had together. They will be back in school soon, playing football and studying and the time we have together will be less. I am grateful for Facebook so that we can stay in touch.

We did some thrift shopping and flea markets together with my daughter (Auntie) and they found everything from sports shorts and sweat shirts to video games, board games, and books. We ate out, walked parks, saw movies and played video games. I didn't take pictures of the clothes and things they found, but they are getting to be great thrift shoppers. It's fun to just let them go and grow.

The boy's mom (my younger daughter) referred us to a recycle shop in town an we took the time to go look. I found some things I could use.

First I found a barrel full of bubble wrap. The shop charges by the bag so I proceeded to fill this $3.00 bag. All you can fill in the bag for yes, $3.00. They have different size bags, but I emptied the barrel and kept looking around. It was all hit and miss, but it was worth it.

I also found a bundle of plastic bags that I can use to package my fabric once it's been listed on the stores. They also fit in the $3 bag.

I found a bag with all of these hooks in it and it also fit in the bag. I really didn't have use for them, but I knew I could list them on my store. butterflyplace.etsy.com.  These also fit in the $3 bag. It doesn't look like a lot, but at the cost of bubble wrap and plastic bags to me it was the ultimate find. The hooks are already listed for $3 so hopefully I will recover the money spent to go back in a couple of weeks. 

My daughter found thrift items for our apartment and they are very colorful.

She found two yellow hand towels and two orange wash clothes for our totally orange and yellow vintage thrifty bathroom. The bathroom doesn't have a window, so we needed to make it bright. I know we succeeded. She found two lime green Pyrex bowls to add to her aqua and green kitchen and a yellow Pyrex dish to brighten things up. Her colors are aqua, green, orange and yellow. So far from my primary colors. She found many other items too and we will be working on taking pictures and listing them on her store, poetcharms.etsy.com.

Last but not least for today's blog is the finished product from the cutting table. Cowgirl pot holders. Couldn't believe that I got the pattern to work, but here they are and they are already listed on the store. I love spending time sewing. I think that's where I belong. 

Until next post I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Vintage table cloth being re loved.

ON THE CUTTING TABLE

 

I just couldn't do it. It would have taken a life time to soak the stains out of this well loved vintage table cloth. I'm usually good at soaking items to give them new life. Even things everyone else would have thrown away years ago. My success rate has been great with soaking. This, however, I couldn't do. Instead I used it as a cutter for new projects. It was my goal to give myself time to get back to some sewing and I finally did this past week. There was so much that I salvaged from this table cloth.

 

 

The four corners of the table cloth were in almost excellent condition and I attached them to white muslin and cotton batting to make four place mats. I backed them in yellow checkered gingham. I had recently reclaimed a bed skirt for the eyelet lace trim and saved the 100% cotton fabric from it. From this I managed one dozen twelve inch napkins and just simply appliqued salvaged fruit pieces to them.

 

 

I made two fry pan handle pot holders and there will be two round pot holder/hot plate pads. So far that's twenty new items from this table cloth. I went through my stash and the two new curtain panels I found a couple of weeks ago with a bright colorful trim will be turned into aprons. I searched through my stash of fabric and found some fruit print fabric that I'll use for pockets and ties.

 

 

These items are not going to be sold or given away. They are for me. The next rebuild in my life is to get back into traveling and these will go in my camping, glamping, trailer or may I just call it my dream chest.

 

There was a trip to a neighborhood sale and I found two items. I spent all of $4 for both. I also got to the thrift store and found a few items. I know I took time for myself this past week and the stats on my stores show it, but it was a great mental health week and I did something green and kept stuff out of the landfill. It's back to work today and I would love for you to stop by and visit my stores and visit my Facebook page and check like to see my future updates. Have a great week.

 

butterflyplace.etsy.com

butterflyplace.storenvy.com

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheCraftZone1

 





Christmas ornaments from scrap fabric.

For those of you who follow my blog you know how addicted to fabric I am. I just love it and yes I sell it and yes I sew with it, but there's always those scraps. These are made from reclaimed trim and a yoyo and bead in the center. All of these are about four inches in diameter and required fabric no longer than 18 inch strips or eight inch squares or circles.

Yoyo's are easy to make and these became ornament bells with a jingle bell to finish them off. A star can go on the top to make it a small tree also, but I like the bell.

 

Inspired by Kumiko Sudo (Flower Origami) who is a fabric origami artist,  I folded these pieces of fabric to make these ornaments and added the bead to class them up a bit.

 

 

Also origami folded fabric, just a little more folding. These are my favorites and the red and white one's looked the best on a green tree.



These are also folded fabric but a log cabin pattern. I found the direction in a booklet I bought in Lancaster PA. I have been fascinated by folding fabric for several years now.

I added some folded origami to my Christmas stockings and made them look better than just plain white and green. This is how I use my scrap fabric and I hope to be semi retired to do more of the things I like some day. Scrap fabric is always for sale on my stores. butterflyplace.etsy.com and butterflyplace.storenvy.com. I hope everyone has a great week and a wonderful holiday.

Scrap Quilt

This is just a quick blog update. I feel some times like I am losing ground with the things I love doing. I'm trying hard to stay on my goal of one quilt a month for charity. I have piles of scrap fabrics to work with. This is the latest addition and is made of ten inch by twelve inch squares with a four inch border. Needed to do something quick so that I felt like I could keep up with my goal. I just love bright colors. I already have the next quilt planned. Hope I can keep up. The year is coming to an end so quickly. Where has this year gone?