September Crafters! Come tell us all about it!

[DawnM]

Starting a monthly running thread where we can share what we are working on, maybe share some photos, get inspiration, share ideas, ask questions, brag, ask questions, etc....

Tell me what you are working on (or what you plan to start!) and any other info you want (what you are making it for, what you plan to do with it, or just anything!~)

I will post when I get home from work.

All crafts welcome!

[Carol in Cal.]

I am tickled to death to have happened upon a UFO and finished it.  It was in a cabinet for so long that I forgot all about it.  It’s a baby blue knitted scarf in heavy, dreamy soft baby alpaca yarn.  Kind of narrow, suitable for wearing hanging down from the neck with a suit jacket for just a little extra warmth without too much bulk.

[Annie G]

Yesterday I finished piecing the quilt on the left- it was a year long Block of the Month program and it took me a bajillion hours to piece it. It’s for the guest room our grands will sleep in when they visit. I’ll quilt it on my sister’s long arm machine. Usually she does it for me but I have moved close enough that I can visit and learn to do it myself. 

The shoes will be painted to be my game day shoes. I put the gesso on the canvas today and roughed in the drawing/lettering.  Luckily the opening game is an away game so I have more than a week to finish them. I’m not a painter at all- I have no drawing or painting talent. But thought it would be fun to try something new. 

Can’t wait to hear about projects everyone is working on. I’d love to try some new crafts!

Edited August 28, 2019 by Annie G

[mumto2]

I used to adore knitting and haven’t done much lately.  I found a partially completed baby sweater and have been working on that in the evenings.  No idea who it’s for or was for! 😀

Quilting,  starting to make the quilts I have planned for this winter.  One of the first up will have pumpkins because I have a good start with several strip panels of oranges already assembled from a different project.  Not sure how much I will do but need to make a table cover and some mug rugs because.......

Dd and I are planning to decorate a bit for Halloween and she is planning to knit some of Alan Dart’s Halloween Hamsters https://www.alandart.co.uk/product/all-patterns/halloween-hamsters/for our display.

I bought my background fabric yesterday for an animal alphabet quilt that has been sort of existing in my head and needs to get put together😂. No other way to describe my design process.......I made an alligator yesterday that will lie across the top of the quilt.  Not sure what letter will be next!  

[MysteryJen]

I am trying out some crochet patterns for scarves. Finished one and am about a third of the way through another.

I am cutting blocks for a scrap quilt.

I have some garment sewing to try as well.

[TheReader]

Yay, Dawn, thanks for starting this thread!! 

Annie, that quilt top is amazing!!! Love it! 

mumto2, I design much the same way. Your animal alphabet quilt sounds great!

All of you knitters, crocheters, garment sewists.....I'm in awe. I can make quilts. I am very deficient at making 3D objects (bags, clothing, etc.) w/o a lot of help and a lot of mistakes. And I *love* knit/crochet stuff, I just have never tried to learn it. 

My list for the month....
...just finished DS18's graduation quilt
...have a small house collage to finish up details & then quilt (Laura Heine's collage pattern)
...just bought fabric *today* for my next Round Robin project - in a group of 4 or 5 women and we'll each create the center medallion of our own quilt, then pass to the next person for the next border, until it's gone through everyone (and we've each worked on everyone else's) and we get back a finished quilt top. Went in a different direction than the vague idea in my head, b/c the fabric I found took me on a different path. I'm excited to see what it becomes!
...Friday is our "Friday Night Sew-In" at the local quilt shop; I need to take my oldest niece's quilt pieces/block pieces to work on. It's very long overdue to her. 
...also this month I need to at least get started on a butterfly quilt for a sweet little girl (ideally, I will have her whole quilt done by Christmas-time)
 

There's (always) gobs more on my "to do/one day" list, but that's enough for September, LOL! 

[Annie G]

11 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Wow, that is a very intricate quilt!  I am so intimidated by quilting lol.  

It’s SO not my style but it taught me a lot and I’m glad to did it.  Don’t be intimidated by quilting- some of the most beautiful quilts are simple blocks. And quilters are a friendly bunch. 

[Annie G]

2 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

For the moment, I am much more interested in making simple clothes for my kids than overcoming my quilt intimidation 😁

Ok, dinner is in the crockpot, I am going to go start on my sewing room!

I’m intimidated by garment sewing! I did a little when middle Dd was young...30 years ago...but I really had no idea what I was doing.  I’m always in awe of people who can sew garments!

[MercyA]

I'm not a crafter, but I LOVE CRAFTER PICS! More, please! 🙂

@Annie G, your quilt is amazing and those shoes are so fun! 

[Guest]

Well, thanks to @Homes’chool (oh, I give up on trying to tag her!) thread about painting-by-numbers, I bought a kit and started it today. 

I also just drew some carrots from my garden a few days ago and I’m happy with how that turned out. 

I have a video for loom-knitting a poncho and bought some purple yarn at Sheep & Wool, which I intended to use for the poncho, but I got it irredeemably tangled. I bought new yarn. But I like the new yarn slightly less than the jewel-beautiful yarn that tangled all to heck. So I have not started the poncho. I am on the fence because I don’t want to put in thirty hours knitting a poncho when it’s not really the yarn I wanted. 

[DawnM]

Wow.....if you start it, they will come!  I love it!  

So, here are my goals (and really, I should break it down by month):

1. Find all my sewing stuff and get it all into one place

2. Order an ironing board

3. Pull all my fabric together and see what I have/need

4. Order some quilting items (rotary cutter, cutting squares, etc...)

5. Get everything set up/prepped

6. Do a small practice quilt/squares

[Annie G]

Oh Quill, your carrot drawing is lovely!

[theelfqueen]

All of you needlecraft ladies are amazing! That quilt upthread is awesome!

I'm a scrapbooker and paper crafter. 

I finished this album for DS2 today

 

 

[alisoncooks]

@Annie G - I love that quilt so much! So cute!

Not really crafting, but DDs and I have become interested in painting "kindness rocks." (You leave them for people to find; our town has a hashtag/FB for sharing them when you find them.   Youngest and I got started, but I finished quickly (simple image). It's not an original image, lol, but it made me smile. (Sorry for the huge pic.)

Edited August 28, 2019 by alisoncooks

[theelfqueen]

Love seeing a variety of things! Paint by number and stone painting, the shoes, quilting, sketching! So fun! 

[Laura Cook]

I love seeing what others are creating! Right now I am focusing on trying to finish this quilt top so it can be quilted before Christmas. This was one of those projects I started without a clear idea in mind and so it’s far from perfect, but hopefully nobody will care once they are snuggling under it come December. 

I started teaching myself how to knit this summer. I’m working on a scarf but I’ve messed it up so now I’ve got to bring it to my mother, who actually knows what she’s doing, 😆 and see if she can help me fix it. No pics of that. 

I also need to go through all of my sewing and crafting stuff and reorganize it so that I can find and use it all. My daughter loves crafting so she is constantly rummaging through it and it’s a disaster. I might recruit her help this weekend to put it back in order!

[Annie G]

1 hour ago, alisoncooks said:

@Annie G - I love that quilt so much! So cute!

Not really crafting, but DDs and I have become interested in painting "kindness rocks." (You leave them for people to find; our town has a hashtag/FB for sharing them when you find them.   Youngest and I got started, but I finished quickly (simple image). It's not an original image, lol, but it made me smile. (Sorry for the huge pic.)

My older grands would love to do this. Do you seal the rocks after painting? Do you buy rocks? If so, suggested source? These are so cute.

[alisoncooks]

12 minutes ago, Annie G said:

My older grands would love to do this. Do you seal the rocks after painting? Do you buy rocks? If so, suggested source? These are so cute.

This is our first batch of rocks, but I've been told to seal them with something for outdoors. Lots of people use found rocks, but I wanted a smooth, white surface, so I bought them off eBay. They're called "Capcouriers White Painting Rocks" and it was ~$18/12 rocks. (I'm sure I could get a better price from a landscaping business...but I was impatient.)

[Carol in Cal.]

4 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

This is our first batch of rocks, but I've been told to seal them with something for outdoors. Lots of people use found rocks, but I wanted a smooth, white surface, so I bought them off eBay. They're called "Capcouriers White Painting Rocks" and it was ~$18/12 rocks. (I'm sure I could get a better price from a landscaping business...but I was impatient.)

IKEA has smallish granite river rocks (maybe 3-4 inches across or so) for sale sometimes. I think that people sometimes paint them white and then draw over that.  I have been wanting to try it.  When I first started seeing those rocks here and there, I thought it would be nice to ‘plant’ some outside at our cabin, which is in the Sierra where granite is the basic soil structure, LOL.  I drew on them with supposedly indelible Sharpies, and found that indelible is no match for Sierra sunshine.  So I started looking into how to do this right, and wow there is a lot to it.  One of these days I’m going to try it ‘the right way’.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Fifiruth said:

Earlier this summer, I finished four Christmas stockings that I started sewing a year and a half ago! I’m now working on a button down blouse that I cut out a year or two ago (see a pattern of procrastination here?) I’ve been a bit intimidated by it, but I powered through today and got a good amount done.

 

I love this! It’s adorable! 

I made a cross-stitch Christmas stocking for my firstborn and it is still her stocking that she uses every year. My second child...ugh. I was making him one, too; i even came pretty close to finishing the cross stitch but I got mad at myself and I think I threw it away, along with a hummingbird cross stitch that was languishing half-done. I’m sorry I did that! I should have struck forth and just finished it and made it into a stocking! 

Both my boys have had purchased stockings these many years. 🙄

[alisoncooks]

@Carol in CA - great tip about IKEA. I go about 1x a year, haha, but I'll add that to my list of things to look for.  I painted the rock with a paint pen; it was my first time using them. 

[happi duck]

I have purchased smooth white rocks at Home Depot

[DawnM]

58 minutes ago, Quill said:

I love this! It’s adorable! 

I made a cross-stitch Christmas stocking for my firstborn and it is still her stocking that she uses every year. My second child...ugh. I was making him one, too; i even came pretty close to finishing the cross stitch but I got mad at myself and I think I threw it away, along with a hummingbird cross stitch that was languishing half-done. I’m sorry I did that! I should have struck forth and just finished it and made it into a stocking! 

Both my boys have had purchased stockings these many years. 🙄

 

Dh's grandma made stockings for all her grandkids, then for weddings she made their spouses stockings and then when kids were born, they got one as a gift.  

So, 4 of us have matching stockings.  Then we had our 3rd child (5th family member) and she was too old to make it anymore.  So his is mismatched.  I wanted to try to make him one, but I could not find the pattern anywhere.

[DawnM]

Question for quilters.  Does it matter which rotary cutter I get or which block measuring board/square I get?  Are there any you just love?   I have a cutting board already.

[PrincessMommy]

Everyone's creations are so inspirational.  Thanks for starting this thread Dawn

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

Question for quilters.  Does it matter which rotary cutter I get or which block measuring board/square I get?  Are there any you just love?   I have a cutting board already.

I would buy the square in the size you need for your planned project.  That way it will be exactly the right size at least once!😉Seriously,  I always want the new gadgets but rarely buy them so it is impossible to pick something that will be perfect universally.  Make sure the markings are clear and easy to read and you should be good.

 Buy a rotary cutter that has replacement blades easily obtainable.....I have to order the ones for dd’s cutter which is a pain.  Beyond that I don’t think it matters.  My favorite one was an Olfa and I just replaced it with a duplicate after 25 years!

[DawnM]

7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I would buy the square in the size you need for your planned project.  That way it will be exactly the right size at least once!😉Seriously,  I always want the new gadgets but rarely buy them so it is impossible to pick something that will be perfect universally.  Make sure the markings are clear and easy to read and you should be good.

 Buy a rotary cutter that has replacement blades easily obtainable.....I have to order the ones for dd’s cutter which is a pain.  Beyond that I don’t think it matters.  My favorite one was an Olfa and I just replaced it with a duplicate after 25 years!

 

I was looking at this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E64JYNE/?coliid=I1HNBSQKBMAVOA&colid=2PEI3E41N5Y8G&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

Thoughts?

[Guest]

7 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

Everyone's creations are so inspirational.  Thanks for starting this thread Dawn

Can you put up a photo of a weaving you’re doing? 

[DawnM]

Guys, I am getting pretty excited.  I am making this T-shirt quilt for my son and there are three shirts I wanted to include, but he still wears them!  I looked online and it looks like I might actually be able to order them still, all but one of them!  His high school theater group seems to have extras!  I will gladly purchase them.  I will use the front AND the back since his name is on the back with the rest of the cast for each performance.

I have sent an email to the Booster Mom for theater and am really hoping what I saw was accurate, T=shirts still available!  

This T-shirt quilt will be his high school years on a quilt.

[mumto2]

19 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

I was looking at this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E64JYNE/?coliid=I1HNBSQKBMAVOA&colid=2PEI3E41N5Y8G&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

Thoughts?

Looks good to me......it gives you plenty of choices for sizes.

Your T-shirt quilt sounds wonderful!  I can’t wait to see it in progress.  I have never made one but have been plotting the how to in my mind as Ds has stacks of T-shirt’s!

[Annie G]

10 hours ago, DawnM said:

Question for quilters.  Does it matter which rotary cutter I get or which block measuring board/square I get?  Are there any you just love?   I have a cutting board already.

Rotary cutter- go by how the handle feels to you. If it’s for casual use any of them would be fine. I use one w a 45 mm blade. I have a gingher and an Alex Anderson one and never reach for the Gingher, though it works perfectly fine.  Olfa is probably the most widely used.

Rulers-  the most important thing is how well you can see the markings against your fabric/cutting mat.  If you’re buying one that is exactly the size you need to cut your shirts, markings won’t matter. But if you plan to use it on other projects make sure you can see the lines easily. 

It’s awesome that you can buy shirts from past shows! I hope you post pics of his quilt. I just love t shirt quilts and the stories they tell. 

[PrincessMommy]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Can you put up a photo of a weaving you’re doing? 

I've had a project sitting on my loom for nearly 2 months.  I haven't even started the weaving portion.   Before that I had a project that took months to finish.  I've been here nearly 2 yrs and that's all the weaving I've done at home.   I took a weaving class last spring semester hoping it would help me get my mojo back.   It hasn't worked.  😞 

[purpleowl]

What I'm working on at the moment is a little "I can finish this quickly" quilled birthday card for my mom. I should get it done today. (I'd better get it done today. It has to get in the mail!) 

My current bigger quilling project is a "Lucy looks into a wardrobe" scene. I have snow-covered trees done and am working on the wardrobe itself now. 

I've also promised my girls that I'll make each of them a dress, so I need to get working on those. Might do a bit on that this afternoon.

[DawnM]

Can you guys give me some ideas? 

Middle son is my T-shirt kid.  He was in things in high school and has T-shirts from all sorts of activities(theater, scouts, church, missions' trips, etc...) and then he always got a T-shirt from every vacation/holiday, etc.....I have more than enough T-shirts and have decided to limit this one to just his high school years/memories.

Now, what to do for the other two kids who aren't as sentimental, or are, in their own ways.  Oldest has Asperger's and once  he is DONE with something, he is DONE.  He doesn't want to think about it, etc.....so I want to make him a quilt, but am hesitant that he will not use it or want it.  I could just make one for ME and tell him if he doesn't want it, I will keep it, but I am hoping for something for HIM.  

He is an artist, and I thought of getting all of his recent work together, taking nice pictures, and having them put on fabric (how do I do that?)   I thought of just making him a college quilt with his school's mascot as the theme.  I thought of doing some sort of shadow box (but of what?)  I am stumped for something to MAKE for him.

Youngest doesn't have T-shirts other than scouts, which he quit.  Otherwise he is just very stylish and buys T-shirts with no sentimental value whatsoever.  He does have his 7th grade trip Tee and his 8th grade trip Tee, and some old scout ones, but honestly, he wouldn't want a quilt made out of those.    I do have a baby Tee that was given to him by his foster mom with his name in Chinese on it, and some odds and ends of things he "came with" (for lack of a better word, he was adopted at 2.5 from China and I have some items that were given to me when we got him) and i thought of making him a nice shadow box with those items, but done in a fancy/nice way.  If you have done a shadow box with baby things or with sentimental things, can you post a picture?

I want them each to have some sort of memory item made by me this Christmas.

[Beth S]

12 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Can you guys give me some ideas?

I love making photo projects.  You could make a collage, or album or mug, etc.
Walgreens, Shutterfly, & other companies have lots of suggestions, which spark the imagination.

[TheReader]

Dawn, you may consider a regular rectangular ruler at some point; a 6x18 is a good length/width because you can cut across a (folded) yard of fabric to get the width strip you need, then you just rotate the strips or mat by 90 degrees and cut the other dimension to create whatever size pieces you need. 

I like Olfas rotary cutters but they have many -- the Splash, the ergonomic one, and....maybe one more. I use the Splash just 'cause that's what I started with;  a lot of people like the ergonomic one where you squeeze the handle to use the blade and it automatically retracts when you release the handle. I do not. 

My *favorite* mat & ruler set, but the ruler works fine with any mat, is Quilter's Select non-slip rulers. They really, truly, don't slip. BUT, the set you linked above, those little non-slip rings they are adding? Those do work great; you can buy those and apply to any ruler.  The Quilter's Select mats are nice b/c they're reversible -- one side is dark w/light lines, the other light, with dark lines; when cutting some fabrics it can be nice to have contrast between mat & fabric for better visibility. But any regular cutting mat is fine. 

T-Shirt quilts, make sure you are using an interfacing to stabilize the t-shirts before you cut/sew them. (You can cut, then fuse on the interfacing, or fuse the interfacing, then cut, but you want it on before you try to sew them together or they will stretch/be very wonky). You may have already come across that info, but just in case. 

And, it's wonderful you can get the t-shirts still!!! I hope so. I have a small pile of some from my late uncle that I was gifted, to do with what I please....I really need to work on that soon. One of the shirts in there......a theater shirt from his high school days. ❤️ 

Show us pics when you get going on this! It will be so fun!

 

[Beth S]

10 minutes ago, TheReader said:

Dawn,

T-Shirt quilts, make sure you are using an interfacing to stabilize the t-shirts before you cut/sew them. (You can cut, then fuse on the interfacing, or fuse the interfacing, then cut, but you want it on before you try to sew them together or they will stretch/be very wonky). You may have already come across that info, but just in case.

Yes, I'll agree that you need special interfacing.  I loved finding/using fusible tricot interfacing, which drapes nicely.
This interfacing's fabric is not rigid--it's like the fabric of a woman's slip.
I found it at local fabric stores, then bought 10 yds on ebay, so I'm ready to make a LOT of Tshirt Quilts!
Tshirt Quilts are fun projects-- you get to reminisce while you plan the layout, & sew.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Beth S

[TheReader]

15 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Can you guys give me some ideas? 

Middle son is my T-shirt kid.  He was in things in high school and has T-shirts from all sorts of activities(theater, scouts, church, missions' trips, etc...) and then he always got a T-shirt from every vacation/holiday, etc.....I have more than enough T-shirts and have decided to limit this one to just his high school years/memories.

Now, what to do for the other two kids who aren't as sentimental, or are, in their own ways.  Oldest has Asperger's and once  he is DONE with something, he is DONE.  He doesn't want to think about it, etc.....so I want to make him a quilt, but am hesitant that he will not use it or want it.  I could just make one for ME and tell him if he doesn't want it, I will keep it, but I am hoping for something for HIM.  

He is an artist, and I thought of getting all of his recent work together, taking nice pictures, and having them put on fabric (how do I do that?)   I thought of just making him a college quilt with his school's mascot as the theme.  I thought of doing some sort of shadow box (but of what?)  I am stumped for something to MAKE for him.

Youngest doesn't have T-shirts other than scouts, which he quit.  Otherwise he is just very stylish and buys T-shirts with no sentimental value whatsoever.  He does have his 7th grade trip Tee and his 8th grade trip Tee, and some old scout ones, but honestly, he wouldn't want a quilt made out of those.    I do have a baby Tee that was given to him by his foster mom with his name in Chinese on it, and some odds and ends of things he "came with" (for lack of a better word, he was adopted at 2.5 from China and I have some items that were given to me when we got him) and i thought of making him a nice shadow box with those items, but done in a fancy/nice way.  If you have done a shadow box with baby things or with sentimental things, can you post a picture?

I want them each to have some sort of memory item made by me this Christmas.

You could do art on fabric for your artist son; there is printable fabric you could buy and print at home, or you could upload the pics to something like Spoonflower and have them print/create the fabric for you. For that you might need to first create the photo collage you want and upload the whole thing....not sure. I did a quilt for oldest that had a center panel of the comic strips he'd made up as a kid, but I just printed at home. There are tricks to that -- you want to tweak the printer settings to over-saturate the ink. I will try later to dig up a tutorial I used on it, if I can find it.......eesh, it's been years. 

However. Hmmm, maybe I am projecting my own life & ability to use time wisely, but it may be ambitious to try and accomplish all 3 of these very precious projects into the space between now and Christmas. Especially if you go with a quilt for the artist as well. Perhaps if you don't already, you could get some of his artwork framed nicely...? Or, if you wanted to do a shadow box (would he display one?) you could choose one favorite art piece, have that as the background to the shadow box, and include some of his art tools that he might be done with. Paintbrush, partially used up charcoals or pastels, a mini-easel with a mini-canvas that gives the info on the piece, when he made it, how old, etc. (do you have any saved up from when he was young? Would he enjoy something like that? My semi-Aspie does have a bit of nostalgia for his childhood and would love something like that, but maybe yours would not...?). 

For the shadow box of baby things, same thing, use a favorite photo from that time as the backdrop, or included on a mini-easel inside. You could string decorative cord as "clothesline" across the back and hang the tee from it with mini clothespins, then include maybe some photos on the same line, add the other items below....Something like that. 

Perhaps instead of a quilt for your artist, unless he already has/does this, a photo book with images of his artwork, images of him painting/drawing, if he has inspiration photos (for ex, our son drew our peach tree, so I might include a shot of the tree in bloom, an image of his painting of the peach tree, and maybe a photo of him at work drawing/painting, or him out in the yard with the tree, or....and then caption/put a text box about that piece; repeat for however many images/artworks I wanted to include). Maybe he'd like that better than a quilt as he could use it as a portfolio.....?

Or maybe a calendar, that way it has a definite "end date" and he knows he doesn't have to keep it forever. Use his artwork as the "picture" for the calendar; mark important family dates on the calendar pages (Picaboo, and probably others, let you do this and it comes with the dates printed on/the info printed on the dates). 

Hope this helps! 

[Beth S]

I'm working on a Princess Leia outfit for my granddd's American Girl doll.
There are lots of ideas online, & it was easy to find a pattern to download.
This is the one I'm working on:
https://www.etsy.com/in-en/listing/267177625/space-princess-american-girl-doll

The gown has a hood, plus a belt and boots made from silver vinyl squares (like thick scrapbook paper).
I'm loving this project, & hope to do others like it in the future.

[DawnM]

23 minutes ago, TheReader said:

 

T-Shirt quilts, make sure you are using an interfacing to stabilize the t-shirts before you cut/sew them. (You can cut, then fuse on the interfacing, or fuse the interfacing, then cut, but you want it on before you try to sew them together or they will stretch/be very wonky). You may have already come across that info, but just in case. 

 

 

I have an embroidery machine and used to do that a lot, so I am hoping i still have some stabilizer I could use for this project, but if I don't, I will just buy some more.

There is one performance they no longer have T-shirts for (at least online) so I may embroider something in a square and put the dates of the performance in embroidery on it.  I just haven't found an embroidery pattern for it yet.  It was Little Shop of Horrors.  If I can't find an embroidery pattern, I may just buy a generic T-shirt with it on there and use that.

But I have never made a quilt before.

[TheReader]

23 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

I have an embroidery machine and used to do that a lot, so I am hoping i still have some stabilizer I could use for this project, but if I don't, I will just buy some more.

There is one performance they no longer have T-shirts for (at least online) so I may embroider something in a square and put the dates of the performance in embroidery on it.  I just haven't found an embroidery pattern for it yet.  It was Little Shop of Horrors.  If I can't find an embroidery pattern, I may just buy a generic T-shirt with it on there and use that.

But I have never made a quilt before.

You can do this! Aside from having to use stabilizer, sewing a t-shirt quilt should be relatively simple, all straight line stitching, etc. If you get into difficulty, find out if you have a local quilt shop, quilt guild, quilting bee that meets at a civic center, etc.; those ladies will love to help you. Even a simple class at Joann's or something if you get in a real bind. 

[purpleowl]

I've done quilts before, but never t-shirt quilts. Good luck, Dawn!

 

I finished the birthday card for my mom. The design idea is not mine - I imitated Isil Pinarbasi's Instagram post. I like how it turned out! (I'm putting a Starbucks gift card for her inside the card. She loves Starbucks. Like, we have family jokes about how much Mom loves Starbucks. 😄)

[TheReader]

That's adorable, Amanda! 

[Carol in Cal.]

I have been wanting to try knitting with old t shirt rings, and when DH finally recycled one of his more holey ones I gave it a try.  I did not have my rotary cutter handy so I rough cut it into 2 inch rings with a common scissor.  Then I linked them like a rubber band chain and knitted them up with large needles.  I only used the main body part of the t shirt, but sleeve rings would make shorter sections that might be nice to mix colors.

Results:  Very soft material though tightly knit.  The joins were too stubby to use this fabric as a casual cushion.  Next time I will try cutting more uniformly at about 3/4 inches wide, and possibly not pulling the joins so tight, and I think I will end up with free washable casual throw cushions for chairs used outside.  In the meantime the heavier fabric I did make would work for a rag rug; however, I think it would be more slippery than I’d prefer for that use.  

Verdict—cheap, easy, fast, and generally a pretty good idea.  

[mumto2]

4 hours ago, Beth S said:

I'm working on a Princess Leia outfit for my granddd's American Girl doll.
There are lots of ideas online, & it was easy to find a pattern to download.
This is the one I'm working on:
https://www.etsy.com/in-en/listing/267177625/space-princess-american-girl-doll

The gown has a hood, plus a belt and boots made from silver vinyl squares (like thick scrapbook paper).
I'm loving this project, & hope to do others like it in the future.

That outfit is soooooo cute!

5 hours ago, purpleowl said:

What I'm working on at the moment is a little "I can finish this quickly" quilled birthday card for my mom. I should get it done today. (I'd better get it done today. It has to get in the mail!) 

My current bigger quilling project is a "Lucy looks into a wardrobe" scene. I have snow-covered trees done and am working on the wardrobe itself now. 

I've also promised my girls that I'll make each of them a dress, so I need to get working on those. Might do a bit on that this afternoon.

Please share the Narnia quilt when you are finished.....or in progress.😉

My long term plans include several literature based quilts and I hadn’t thought of Narnia but it’s a great idea.  Hoping to make some Harry Potter quilts for Christmas.......I have patterns for LotR and Alice in Wonderland set aside.  Working on my own Wizard of Oz.....in my head at this point. 

[mlktwins]

20 hours ago, theelfqueen said:

All of you needlecraft ladies are amazing! That quilt upthread is awesome!

I'm a scrapbooker and paper crafter. 

I finished this album for DS2 today

 

 

Is this a Project Life book?  I love your pages!!!  I am behind by 14 years -- LOL!  One day maybe -- when the boys go to college :-)!!!

[Murphy101]

All my knitting/crochet/garden mojo has been hijacked by main staining home school and health.

However I have been working on a large crochet blanket when I can manage the time. I hope to finish it this year. And I need to make a bunch of baby stuff for a BFF’s first grand baby. 

Partial view of blanket I’m working on from a pic I took at the vacation cabin on a rainy day .

 

[Annie G]

Amanda that card is so cool!!!

[astralweaver]

37 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

All my knitting/crochet/garden mojo has been hijacked by main staining home school and health.

 

I know exactly what you mean by this. For years I knit and crocheted and spun and wove and basically fiber crafted whatever and whenever I could. I started having a mental health issue maybe a year and a half ago. It was probably going on longer but I wasn’t aware of it. I got to my doctor last autumn and the meds for it turned me into a zombie and our start to school last year was MISERABLE. Over time we finally got the dosages right for me and this spring I got into therapy and yoga so now, months and months later, I’m finally feeling interested in some of my old stuff. We’ve been doing school for three weeks now, and it went so much more smoothly than last year. 

My mom has been a huge support to me during this time. She’s been encouraging us to switch from paper products to resuables for cleaning so she sent me a basic dishcloth pattern, knowing I haven’t crafted in a long time. So here I am, finally starting something, and it feels both awesome and scary. 

This is just a plain cotton dishcloth in an autumn color. 

[purpleowl]

3 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Please share the Narnia quilt when you are finished.....or in progress.😉

My long term plans include several literature based quilts and I hadn’t thought of Narnia but it’s a great idea.  Hoping to make some Harry Potter quilts for Christmas.......I have patterns for LotR and Alice in Wonderland set aside.  Working on my own Wizard of Oz.....in my head at this point. 

I would love to see your literature-based quilts - they sound very cool!

My wardrobe project is actually not a quilt, though, it's quilling - twirled paper, like the Starbucks card I posted. 🙂 Here's one of my snow-covered trees. The whole project will be about 8"x10"; this tree is about 1.5" tall and 1.5" wide at the bottom.