Major Knitter

Upcycled Mittens

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.  That's one of the sayings that I learned in Scouting. So I think it's fitting that for my upcoming fundraiser for Scouts, I should create something that incorporates all three.  I'm making Upcycled Cashmere Mittens.

I opened the sweat shop last weekend - over the Easter holiday - and worked my fingers to the bone.  I cut, sewed 24 pairs of fleece liners; cut and sewed 24 pairs of cashmere outer mittens and tonight I started finishing them with the hand stitching of the cuff and embellishments of buttons.  I might even do some needle felting or embroidery.  Now I'm going to stage the photo-op for each pair of mittens.  

Here's the first pair - Plantation Mint and Lemon Lift.  I dug through my button jar and found these two light green buttons to embellish the cuffs.

The fingertips are a yellow cabled wool sweater.  The back of the mitten is a cashmere light green.  The palms are white cashmere.  The cuffs are white wool.  The liner is fleece.  These are a women's small.

I'll be selling these at the June 1st Mad Hatter Tea Party as a fundraiser for Scouts.  100% of the proceeds from my crafts will go to support my local council. Isn't that perfect?  The saying I learned in Scouts will come full circle and I'll be recycling and reusing these sweaters to support Scouts.  

 

 

Finishing Friday - An Epic Project

Do you remember when I dipped my toe in the quilting pond about 18 months ago?  I took a class with my knitting group.  When we went to check out the store and the class, I was attracted to the Dr. Seuss quilt and fabric display at the store and quickly bought enough to make three quilts (even though I didn't know it at the time).

  It was my first time making a quilt - so I made it up.  While there are a ton of newbie errors - I'm still pleased with the quilt and I learned a great deal along the way. 

I used Dr. Seuss Minky fabric for the back - so what's not to like?  It's so soft and furry.  Secundogeniture felt this and asked "Why don't all quilts have this fabric?"  Good question son.  Good question.

I quilted the main section of the quilt with nearly straight vertical lines.  It gave it an interesting texture.  I didn't worry about making them perfectly straight (maybe I should have?) - but it works.  On the border, I did free-motion quilting and had fun zig zagging around the blue puffballs.  I had so much fun, I was surprised when I had done all the blue balls and was back at the very beginning.

I was even more surprised when I heard someone coming downstairs only to discover it was Secundogeniture.  

"Did you get out of school early today?" 

"No, Mom.  It's a normal day."

"What time is it?"

"3:00 o'clock"

Oops!  I had been quilting and lost in the rhythm for more than four hours.  My how time flies when you're having fun.

But I'm glad I got lost in the mojo.  I finished the quilt that took me 18 months... just in time for our weekend guests.  Nothing like a deadline to get a project finished.

 

 

Missouri Star Quilt Co Inspiration

I was trying to figure out what to do with some new lovely fabric I bought.  I've been stewing on it for a few weeks.  I had an idea in mind to make some pennants or zigzag design when the weekly quilt tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co arrived in my inbox this week.

 

 

 

I needed the quilt to be a solid stripe of colors, rather than just the color on top liking bunting or pennants.

This is what I created using the Tribal Nursery material I found on ModifiedTot's Etsy Shop

Thanks Jenny from Missouri Star Quilt Co - you saved the day!

My Favorite Little Secret from IKEA

I love IKEA.  I have loved it since I first discovered it 25 years ago.  When I was mobilized to the Washington, DC area after 9/11 for a year, I furnished my apartment in 100% IKEA.  It was then that I discovered this amazing little secret.

The IKEA sewing kit is the BEST.

While it's changed quite a bit since I bought one 14 years ago, it's essentially the same.

For a small investment of $15, you get a lot of basic sewing items.  My favorite item is the large pair of IKEA scissors.  While these aren't quite my lovely Gingher sewing and craft scissors, I must confess they're a really great pair of scissors for cutting material.  Plus you get a seam ripper, a funky needle threader, and some ergonomic clippers.

But that's just the first side.  On the other side of the kit you get a box of straight needles, various sizes of safety pins, sewing needles, measuring tape, two thimbles, a stencil kit (in case you're in college and need to identify your things from your roommates) and a curious little hemming contraption along with some pink tailor's chalk.

And it zips up into a tidy little compact kit for storage. It's perfect for the college student heading out in life - ready to face the world, sew on buttons, fix minor sewing issues, rips, or hems.  So of course, I bought this one for Primogeniture.  Because I think every child - male or female - should know the basics.  

And my other favorite IKEA item is the three-pack of scissors for having around the house.  These are great to have in the kitchen, office, (older) kids' rooms, bathroom, etc.  At just $1.99 a three-pack, you can afford to buy a few of these and let everyone have their own pair of scissors.  Plus you can keep these separate from your sewing scissors.  I was always taught not to use your sewing scissors for paper and other household cutting.  

So there you have it.  My plug for a trip to IKEA to enhance your craft room supplies for under $17.00.

 

 

 

 

Hi I'm Jennifer and I'm an Outlander Addict

I *might* be slightly obsessed with Starz Outlander based on the books by Diana Gabaldon.  But you knew that already.  I'm having way too much fun.  I decided my American Girl Doll needed a green plaid outfit to match her new Rent Collecting Shawl.  I vowed I would NOT purchase any green plaid material, but if I happened to find some in my basement fabric stash, I would see what I could do.

Guess what?  I found a few scraps of green plaid.  SQUEE!

I cut a piece approximately 48 x 14 inches.  I folded a 1' hem on the top and bottom of the fabric and sewed it.  I left an opening at the top to pull the drawstring through.  My finished dimensions are approximately 48 x12 inches.

I ironed the skirt and put a safety pin on the 5-foot long ribbon to pull it through the draw string opening.  I pulled it tight and had a nice looking pseudo pleated arasaid.  OK - go with me on this.  We're playing dolls here.  Imagination is half the fun!

Ta da!  My AGD has her very own plaid.  I thought about making a green plaid bodice, too, but I knew that would take more creativity, sewing skills, and time than a simple rectangular drawstring skirt.  Maybe later.

Add my Rent Collecting Shawl and it's not bad for a tribute to Claire.

You can call me Sassenach.

Now I just want AGD to make a line of Highlanders.  I'd love to dress up Dougal, Angus, Rupert and oh yeah, that Jamie character.  ;)

There you have it.  Since I don't have daughters, I have to play dress up dolls by creating little patterns and having fun myself.  Hehehe.  

 

Time for a Makeover

My house is still brand new in my mind.  BF built it twelve years ago.  So I'm still surprised when things break, grow old or need to be replaced.  I keep thinking "but it's brand new" - and then I realize, no actually it's 10+ years old.  Getting ready for next week's Mad Hatter Tea Party caused me to look around with a critical eye.  What needed to be cleaned, repaired, replaced or renewed?  

 

These once vibrant colors have faded, the material is aged, damaged and looking a little sad.  In fact, I don't even like this outdoor screened in porch.  They're nice in concept.... but in order to sit out and enjoy it for my morning coffee, I'd have to spend four hours each week just cleaning the porch.  That doesn't make a lot of sense.  So I never use it.  Except when my sister Ellen comes to visit.  It's her favorite room.  

I was going to have the cushions recovered at a local spot I found that does a fantastic job.  But they charge $100 a cushion... and there are nine cushions... and $900 seemed like a lot of money to me for a room that I don't even use.  So being a creative soul, I decided to learn how to recover them myself.  I went on YouTube and found this video to be the most helpful.

 

Then I went on Fabric.com and searched for "red outdoor fabric" and selected the Richloom Solarium Outdoor Alinea Floral Pompeii Red fabric. Whew!  That's a mouthful to say.

At less than $8 a yard, I could recover the entire outdoor furnite ensemble for less than the price of sending off one cushion to be redone.  OK - I don't know how to do the piping... but I still think I can do a decent job.

Voila!  Here's my finished reupholstered outdoor patio chair.  Hmmm.  Maybe I'll sit outside for a bit today.  

I love having an event and a reason to get things spruced up again and looking good.  

Register online at www.ctyankee.org/teaparty

Finessing on Friday

It's Friday and I wish I had a Finished Object to share with you.  That's not the case.  But the green Minky fabric arrived last night for my camping quilt, so today I worked on that project.  I sewed the strips together that I started last week, cut the Minky for the back and made my quilt sandwich.

Wilma is not impressed.

 

Happy Camper

I found myself alone this evening with nothing on my schedule.  No husband.  No kids.  No Boy Scouts.  No meetings.  I decided to piece together a camping themed quilt that I've been meaning to make for several months but just haven't had time to give it my undivided attention.

After about an hour of making up my pattern, I came up with this.

The squares are 7.5 inch squares for the sole reason that the size of the whimsical camping themed blocks were that size.

This fabric was just too cute to pass up.

Hopefully, I can finish the entire quilt this weekend.  

 

And the Verdict Is...

The Shout Color Catchers did their job!  They caught so many different colors that the end result was a sort of brown.  But it was so dark and overcast I had to wait until this morning (and the big snow storm) to take a picture.

Primogeniture helped me hang a rope in the fall on the hooks that are permanently hung under our back porch.  These hooks were originally installed to hang red, white and blue bunting for patriotic holidays.  I never imagined I'd be getting more use out of them as quilt displays.

Once the quilt was in place, I had to tromp through the 12+ inches of snow from the last few days to get to the right position to take a picture.  The snow almost came over the top of my rain boots.  I guess I was too lazy to go to the basement and dig out my uber-snow boots!

Look how bright the white portions of the quilt are.  No bleeding of colors here. Not one drop of red anywhere except where the red is supposed to be.

I used a black and white checkerboard for the binding.

And voila - my finished Dr. Seuss - Cat in the Hat quilt is complete.

My friend Shanti says she puts a box of the Shout Color Catchers in the gift bag whenever she gives a bright colorful quilt away.  What a brilliant idea.


 

Finishing a Quilt

I've had most of this quilt done for some time.  All that was left was making the binding, attaching it, and then washing the entire quilt.  

I was a little afraid to wash it with all these bold and bright colors on the front.

Even the minky fabric on the back was quite colorful and it caused me some concern, too.

My quilting expert friend Cyndy shared her trick with me.

So I purchased a few boxes of Shout Color Catcher and put four (yes 4!) sheets in the wash in a cold water cycle with my very colorful quilt.

I don't think that Cyndy actually recommended that I cross my fingers (and toes) and say a lot of prayers - but that's what I'm doing.