Zeus on the Loose with Me!

It’s my turn!! Yeah!! Have you ever played Zeus on the Loose?? We love it! It’s basically a counting strategy game. That description doesn’t do much for it, but take my word for it. It’s fun!

Originally I wanted to make a notebook cover for my son, but my Improv Lightening Bolts kept being too big, so it turned into a pillow! It was really hard to get it as small as I wanted it to be!

I went through a few plans of projects to make this year. Usually I know exactly what I want to make. Not this year. Then I remembered our new favorite game. But what to make?? At first I got my Greek Gods confused and for a minute I was designing something with a trident… Um, hello, my to ‘I minored in Ancient History’ self…. Zeus and tridents do not go together. Lightening Bolt my friend!!!  Then I was all over it!

I’ll give you a super quick idea of how I made it! Since it’s improv, there are no dimensions or anything to go with! To make the Improv Lightening bolt is simple!

First, cut out a ‘leaning’ triangle, then sew on a thin layer of the ‘bright light’ fabric and then a thicker layer of the background fabric. So that you end up with two ‘leaning’ triangles. And you want them to both be leaning in the same direction!

Next, I folded over the top of the triangle to get an overlap. Once I liked where the overlap was, I ironed it flat. This ironed line is where I sew-ed it together.

And then I trimmed a quarter inch seam. Repeat these last two steps over and over until you have each side of the lightening bolt how you like them. then sew the two halves together!

Add in the rest of the background fabric for the shape you need for either a notebook cover, a pillow top or quilt blocks…. And quilt away!

I thought it turned out pretty cool. And once I got my husbands seal of approval, I knew it was pretty cool! (yes, he’s very honest and has no qualms telling the truth about his feelings on my work! Usually he likes it, but not all the time!) I think it’s going to be loved, along with it’s inspiring game!

 

 

Sept 9th- Liz and LiZ  from Simple Simon and Co

Sept 14th- Stacey from Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts

Sept 16th- Narelle from Threadistry

Sept 19th- Debbie from A Quilter’s Table

Sept 21st- Louise from I’m Feelin’ Crafty

Sept 23rd- Al from Shaffer Sisters

Sept 26th- Michelle from Factotum of Arts

Sept 28th- Ashley and Emily from Frances Suzanne

Sept 30th- The Recap!

 

 

 

Spring Flowers

I’ve become the one in charge of updating our PTSA bulletin board at school and I wanted some paper flowers for Spring Break. My friend passed on a tutorial she’d used and I fell in love!

I’m warning you though… These are super addictive!

The tutorial is from Ash and Crafts. And it’s so easy and makes such pretty flowers!

You technically don’t need the pattern, but I think it makes it easier. You can download the pattern on her website.  She recommends 60lb paper, but I’ve just been using 20 or 24lb and it’s working fine. The 60lb will probably last longer, but…. So you print the pattern, cut the paper, roll it a little and add a little hot glue and that’s pretty much it! Yep! You’ve got to try it!

The Making of a Nursery- Part 1

Last year a friend of mine was having a baby and asked me to help her personalize the nursery with some custom pieces. She picked out the fabric and together we grouped the fabrics to make curtains, a rag quilt, a ruffle bed skirt and a teething rail for the crib.

Today, let’s talk about the curtains and the rag quilt!

The curtains are yards and yards of fabric! They are almost 8′ long and lined with a black out fabric. Yep, long hems!

I love the purple flocked pattern. We wanted to use it in other pieces, but were concerned about the flocking comign off and into a baby’s sweet mouth. So the main use of this fabric is the curtains.

LIke I said, I lined the curtains with black out lining. I cut the lining a bit shorter and narrower than the curtain fabric and then folded the hems over on the lining to secure it place. So, for the width, I cut the lining 2 inches narrower than the curtain fabric to account for the 1/2″ hem on the sides.

Same thing for the bottom hem and the top hem.

And the rag quilt! This was the first rag quilt I have ever made!

A rag quilt is a perfect project for a beginner quilter. And it’s super soft! Stayed tuned this week and I’ll show you how I made it!

Stay tuned for more nursery fun!

Sewing Room Updates!

I don’t have a beautiful bright, airy, white sewing room like I see all over the internet… But I have a great space despite not having windows!! And now it’s even better!

A couple of weeks ago a friend posted her ironing board set-up on IG. I knew immediately that I had to copy her idea! So as genius as this is, I can’t take credit for it!

When I saw it I knew it was the perfect Mother’s Day present for me! So I asked my husband if he had gotten me anything…. Luckily, he hadn’t! So I told him what I wanted. He was fine with it until it registered that what I wanted came from Ikea! That’s part of the present, I told him! Taking me to Ikea! hehehe! And he must love me, becuase he went there with me. First time I’ve ever seen him even drive near an Ikea, much less venture in the front door!

I hated my ironing board and all the stuff that would pile up on it and under it! And then to get to my shelves behind it, I had to move everything, then slide the ironing board and hope the iron didn’t fall on my head. I guess I could have moved the iron, but hey, we all need a little risk, right?

And the bookshelf we used is basically the same size as the ironing board! A few inches longer, but not much! So it doesn’t take up much more space at all!

It all starts with an Ikea book shelf…. I’m in love with this one, becuase I like all the different sized holes. We have 2 others for the playroom already! My friend used the one with 8 holes. The other thing about this one, is that it’s a little wider, or taller once you turn it on it’s side. I like a tall ironing board!

Then the dear husband made a trip to the hardware store for a piece of wood. We got a shelf that was the exact same depth of the bookshelf. He cut it to the right length. I got the ironing board cover fabric and cut it down to size. and a piece of fabric. This fabric is actually a lovely sheet fabric that I happened to be hoarding! Then he helped me staple the ironing board fabric and the cover fabric around the board.

We added locking wheels. 6. Maybe could have used 8, but I think the six work fine.

I just dropped the top right on top. So far I haven’t secured the top to the shelf. But it’s pretty heavy that I don’t think it will move around too much. I haven’t had a problem yet. I was also thinking that I might add cutting boards under the ironing board for a really long cutting surface…. But I haven’t done that yet!

And it’s just an inch or two higher than the counter, but it’s at a height that I can actually sew standing up. That will be really nice when I’m doing a lot of little pieces that need sewing, ironing, sewing, ironing, sewing, ironing….

Now, I don’t have all the piles under the ironing board. I have a spot for all the stuff that used to sit on top of the ironing board, so I have a full length ironing board again. I can easily roll it out to get to the fabric behind it. I can roll it out to let the large fabrics slide over each side as I iron! And when it’s in it’s spot, the room actually feels much bigger! Nice!

Thank you very much, golddogmom, for the inspiration! And to the family for helping get it and put it all together!

 

 

The Long Over Due Super Easy Chair Revamp Tutorial

I don’t know if I should really share this. At least not the before pictures. But I will! 

Recently I redid our horrible dining room chairs. I’ve been putting it off for way to long! Hence the name of the tutorial! I put it off for too long and it is so easy! Silly me! I keep saying we’re going to buy new chairs, but we can’t find ones we want… So for now, a little bit of fabric and and some batting and it looks so much better!

So that’s what I needed! I used about a yard and a half of fabric and a bag of batting that I had sitting around from another project I didn’t do. You’ll also need a screw driver, a hammer and some scissors.

 

First step, easy! Just unscrew the seat from the chair frame.

Use your hammer to pull out the nails (or staples are used sometimes) from the cushion to remove the existing fabric. Under the bad fabric we had, I found another layer of fabric. I just left that layer.

Cut! Cut out the batting about the same size of the seat and the fabric the same size of the fabric you removed.

Take all those little upholstery nails you took out before and start hammering them back in! Start on one side, then the opposite, pulling tight. Then again on the other two sides.

Lastly, screw the seat back into place! See! Super easy!! You can do it too!

I’m still not in love with the chairs, but I’m so much happier with them now! I can hold out for a little longer! Or what do you think about painting the chairs??? I’m thinking I might try that! What’s something in your house you want to redo?

 

Fabric Bunting Tutorial

Today I am working hard on projects to get done before we head out on a spur of the moment vacation, so I thought I’d bring home another tutorial I did last year for Go To Sew! I know it’s a repeat, but I’ve got some other fun things in the works to share so just bear with me!  A fabric bunting! Quick and easy! A sweet thing to hang in the house or give as a baby gift (or any sort of gift for that matter)!

I made a bunting a LONG time ago and I made it too big! But this version is a smaller one with a little something extra. Quilting! Recently a colleague asked me to make one, so I did! And I thought I’d tell ya how I made it so you can make your own!

The materials you need… You’ll need fabrics for the bunting pieces and fabric for the binding, a cutting tool, pinking shears, and batting. And if you’re wanting to add letters you’ll also need something like heat and bond (two sided fusible adhesive) and your letters. The pattern for the triangles is here.

step 1- Cut and cut and cut! Your fabric and your batting into triangles.

step 2- Stack your bunting pieces. Lay the back side right side down, then your batting and then your front side right side up.

step 3- Sew the three pieces together on the two long sides. You don’t need to sew the top side.

step 4- Trim the two sewn sides with pinking shears.

step 5- If you’d like to add letters you can here. Iron on the interfacing to the back of the fabric you want the letters cut out of. Then trim the fabric to the right size of the letter. remove the backing from the interfacing. Then iron on the letter. Depending on the interfacing you use, you can stop here if it’s a no sew interfacing.  If it’s a sew on interfacing, topstitch now.

step 6- Now for the binding. You could use premade binding if you’d like. Or you can make your own. I cut two inch strips, sew-ed them together at an angle and then folded it in half and ironed. Then folded the sides in again and iron again. And lastly, sew it to the flags.

And you’re done! See? Simple! What fabrics would you use? What occasion would you make one for? Enjoy!

Envelope Pillow Tutorial

Like I mentioned in my post last week for the Stay Put Scarf, I’m bring home some of my Go to Sew posts from the last year. And I’m starting with some that I think would make great last minutes gifts. So today, I’m sharing the envelope pillow tutorial!

I made quite a few of these in the last week for holiday gifts! (more will be coming on the random pot holder in the picture)

The A is an antique mall find that I remade into a ‘Bama gift pillow! I made a grey and red striped background and then sew-ed the A on top!

I was doing a little shopping at CB2 and I saw these pillows with white and silver and red. I loved them! And I knew I just happened to have some fluffy white fleece and some silver vinyl. So I went to town making the pillows. I made three for myself and then I made four others for a handmade FB swap I said I would do in January! Their $30 ones look fabulous! But I am also pretty proud of how my ‘from my stash’ ones turned out as well!

So here’s the easy peasy tutorial!

You can do anything with it! You can make your kid one out of one of their favorite shirts that they’ve outgrown… Or did you find some fancy fabric, but if was so fancy you really know you should only buy a half yard… Perfect for a pillow! Or you can do a quick little quilting job and have a baseball inspired pillow!

So what you’ll need is easy… A Pillow! Fabric, thread, cutting implements, and some batting if you want to do a little quilting.

First you cut! Cut out the front roughly a half inch larger than you pillow. For the back you’ll cut two pieces. I cut them to overlap by about three inches. For instance, if you pillow is 14 inches wide, I’ll cut two pieces 10 inches wide. If you’re going to be quilting, cut a piece of batting and a cover for the batting, both the same size as the front piece.

Hem the edges on the back two pieces.

If you’re going to do quilting on the front, go for it! Then cover the back of the quilting with you extra piece.

Stack them all together! Back of the quilted piece, right side down. Front of the pillow, right side up. Then stack the two back pieces, right sides down.

Hem the edges on all four sides. I like to back stitch over the overlapped back pieces. You’re going to be pulling at it here when you stuff the pillow in, so a little extra stitching helps!

Then trim the corners.

I like to trim the edges with a pinking shear. Or you could use a serger.

Turn it right side out. (yes, my back is not even, like I mentioned above, but it is overlapped like I mentioned.)

Then stuff that pillow in and enjoy!

See? Super simple! Quick and a sweet gift! I made mine for a friend that wanted a St Louis Cardinal pillow…

I’m not much for using fabrics with team logos and such, so I took their colors and logo and made mine.

What do you think? Does it say St Louis Cardinals without literally saying St Louis Cardinals? I hope so! I didn’t do a bird. But I did baseballs (don’t look at the basballs too closely, it’s my first time doing little bitty circles!), the yellow bat and the blue outline…. Crossing my fingers that she likes it!

A Ghostly Garland DIY

Boooooooooo! Today I wanted to share a project we did for Halloween! We made a Ghostly Garland!

We started to doing this project with the idea of making large ghosts, but as we were going along the idea popped up to make little ones for a garland! So we finished up are big ones and moved on to the garland!

One thing to keep in mind, if you live anywhere with moisture (like the PNW) you will want to keep these guys inside. I learned the hard way by putting our big ghosts outside and the starch didn’t hold up against Mother Nature’s moisture!

First we gathered our materials: shear fabric, wax paper, scissors, balloons, tape, starch, ribbon (or a thin rope or bakers twine)

For the little ones you’ll want to raid your recycling! We used a varaiety of sizes of recycled items. So barely blow up your balloons nad tape them to the tops of your recycled items. Set these pieces around on top of a piece of wax paper.

Next you’ll need to cut your fabric. Fold the fabric in half and then in half again. Cut a curved edge along the not folded over edges. Make the folded sides about the same as the height of your balloon and recycled item. For these you don’t want the fabric to touch the table.

The third step is to soak the fabric in the startch.

Fourth, drape the fabric over the balloons. And leave them here until the starch dries. I set them up on wax paper, so as it drips, you can also clean it up to save the for the next ghost! The little garland ghosts fabric shouldn’t touch the paper below, remember!

I don’t know what happened to my picture for step 4, so even those these are the big ones, you can see how we draped the fabric over the balloon! (In this picture I forgot the wax paper and my ghosts stuck to it.)

For Step 5, once all the ghosts are dry, draw on the eyes!

Next you’ll want to poke a hole in the side of the ghosts head and pull the bakers twine through all the ghosts.

And lastly, Hang the garland up! Yea!

A little secret is that we made these last year, so in the picture, the kiddo looks so little! But so happy! We had a great time putting this together and hope you do too!

Fabric Bunting Tutorial for Go To Sew

This month I thought I’d share a project that I made ealier this summer! A fabric bunting! Quick and easy! A sweet thing to hang in the house or give as a baby gift (or any sort of gift for that matter)!

Be sure to check out Go To Sew for the full tutorial!

A Vertical Starfish Garland DIY

Don’t be too sad, but I hate to say it…. This is my last Christmas present post! Yes, February is halfway over and I’m still chatting about Christmas!

This was a gift for my mom who loves everything beach inspired. And who reads the blog, so I couldn’t write about it before Christmas!

I saw this picture of the vertical starfish garland in Coastal Living in the December issue and pulled the ‘ole, ‘I can make that!’ I immediately tore the page out so I wouldn’t forget. And yes, I do subscribe to Coastal Living. On accident! It was also a present for my mom last year, but I accidentally got my mom and myself an issue. Instead of canceling, I’ve really enjoyed it! Now to decide if I resubscribe??? I already have some more DIY ideas for the beach house (or my mom…).

So off to work I went in my little Christmas workshop! I had the rope left over from our pirate party and some starfish still left over from our wedding. I had given most of them to my mom to decorate her house, so I did have to ask her to bring some back for me to make her present! HA!

Originally I was planning on using just one piece of the rope, but then realized a little more simpler approach! I measured out the length I wanted between the stars and then hot glued the one long length of rope to the back of the starfish. Then I went back around each one and wrapped the rope around the top of it. So it looks like one continuous rope, but… It’s not!

I wonder if she’ll hang it at her house or the beach house??? hmmmm….

It would be fun for an Under the Sea party, too, Huh??? Just a little something different than the typical garland!

 

Shared with these Link Parties!