Tuesday, June 17, 2014

HALLOWEEN STITCHING!!

Hello all of you cross-stitchers in
blog-land!!
 
Welcome to my blog.
 
This year I started earlier than usual, so I hope
that you like my 2 new Halloween pieces.
Take your pick. Either do one of them or
both of them.
 
This first one is called PUMPKIN PATCH. I
used 14ct Aida. You can use whatever you wish.
This one has an orange and green frame around it.
Pumpkin Patch has 6 witch pumpkins in the green
grass.
 
Grid Size: 100wX100h
Design Area: 6.43inches X 3.86inches
Stitches: 90X54
 
The second one is called WITCH-KINS. There is
not a frame around this piece. Witch-Kins has 7
pumpkin witches.
I have not stitched this one yet.
Grid Size: 100wX100h
Design Area: 5.14inches X 4.14inches
Stitches: 72X58
 
Please adjust your fabric sizes. And always cut
your fabric bigger.
 
ENJOY!!!!
 
Thank you for visiting me.
Conny


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

From Potholders into Sewing Scissors holder

Hello Everyone!
 
I have been busy but I came across these
2 potholders at a thrift store. These
potholders are the kind that children/adults
used to make on their small looms.
 
Do you remember them? Perhaps you have made
some of these.
 
This potholder was made from those stretchy rubber
band type thing-a-ma-jigs on a small loom.
I decorated this sewing case with a small orange
button. Maybe it could be used with my
Halloween stuff!
 
Do not pass up these type of potholders. They can
be used also.
 
Here are 2 potholders. As of yet I have not made
the potholder on the left. Although that potholder
has a minor flaw - it does not matter. Always turn
the flawed side to the inside and sew down like I
show you with a needle and matching thread.
 
Directions are the same as with the other potholders
that I have made.
 
When you have sewed down the inside, then fold
over the right side and stitch it down. This little
sewing case holds a small pair of scissors.
 
Thank you for visiting me. Have a nice evening!
Hopblogger
 


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

I have been quilting!

Hello everyone!
As usual I have been so busy. So much
to do at home and with grandchildren.
Well - I must tell you my good news!
My granddaughter is going to have
my first great-grandchild. Due  the Fist of December!
 
I am still in shock, somewhat. However
in the next few weeks I must get busy
making baby blankets and other stuff.
 
I have made a few cross stitch patterns,
but I am at a loss as to what to do since
Picnik closed! I need to find something
similar to this to name the patterns.
Does anyone know of one that is FREE!
 
Also, I have a problem with Google!
It is not allowing me to follow anyone.
I know there are plenty of people that
are also having this problem. I have
tried to follow 8 people so far and I
am getting frustrated with Google
not letting me follow.
I am beginning to wonder if perhaps
being a follower on Pinterest and
those other nice things is creating
the mess-up!
I never had any problem until I started
doing this.
Perhaps I will get off of all of this
stuff and see if that is the problem!
 
Anyway, I thought that I would show
you the FLYING GEESE quilt that
I have been hand quilting. This is an
old quilt that I started about 5 years
ago. Pep has also helped me to quilt it.
 
I am working on the pretty blue sashes
and then after that I will quilt the navy blue
borders. I have been taking my time
hand quilting it.
 
 
Thank you for visiting me and listening to my
Google troubles!
Take care, Hopblogger
 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

PILLOW SHAM SEWING MACHINE AND SERGER MACHINE COVER

Hello Everyone!
 
These sewing machine and serger machine covers
are super easy!!
 
I made a set for Catherine and forgot to show you
what they look like. Catherine's covers were
Shabby Chic. These that I made for my sewing machine
and serger are a country patchwork.
 
These are SUPER SIMPLE! One pillow sham gives
you a front and a back. I can use either side that I want
for the front side. I sewed lace on the bottom of both
edges. I had a pink silk bow with a matching silk
flower that was in my craft box. I had taken these
from a dress that I cut apart many, many years ago.
The pink silk bow  is safety pinned on.
 
The other side of the pillow sham has the pink silk
flower on it. I did not sew this one either - just pinned
it on there with a large safety pin.
 
I have had these ties for eons. They came from
shopping store bags. I am glad that I was able
to use these here.
 
I wonder though if I should have kept
the blue strings together and the white
strings together. Nah - I think that I like
this look.
See how fast this cover was to make!!
 
This is the serger machine cover. It is also
reversible. I am not sure if I like this look or not.
I will have to think about it. Perhaps I open up the
sides and add more ties on the sides. I am looking
for a flower or something to dress it up some.
 
Pick you out some pretty shams that you are not using.
I have had these for years.
 
Turn the pillow sham to the inside and either
machine sew or hand sew it closed.
 
This is what mine looks like. Now you are finished
here. Just add your ties and decorate the front and
back!
I hope you enjoy doing this project!
Thank you for visiting me
Hopblogger


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Cutlery Boxes made into Sewing Boxes or whatever!

Hello Everyone!
 
Today I am talking about Cutlery Boxes.
We have all seen them, used them and
then disposed of them when we finish of them.
Because basically
our styles change or we just tire of
them. Or maybe they broke.
 
Well, these are nice sized boxes. I took
the pictures of these wooden boxes
back in 2009 with the intention of making
something out of them back then. I completely forgot
about these boxes until about a month
ago when I found them again. Anything
can get lost at my house.
 
You can make these boxes into anything
you desire. I happen to love sewing boxes,
thread boxes, any kind of a box really.
These boxes can be purchased at thrift
stores or perhaps you already have
1 or 2 of them hanging around in your
attic. Oh, another thing - some of
these boxes have a cardboard bottom.
That is okay, some boxes are all
cardboard.
Should you get one of these boxes
just be careful when you paint or
strip stain from the bottom of the box
because
of the cardboard. Some of these cutlery boxes
are stained in nice colors.
I have 3 of these cutlery boxes and 2 of
them have cardboard bottoms.
No biggy!
 
The pictures you see is one of these
cutlery boxes made into a sewing
box. I made this Shabby Chic box for my
friend Catherine. I made it so she
could put it beside her sewing machine and her
Serger machine to hold scissors, threads, pincushions.
These things would be within arms reach and hopefully
would look nice on her table. But really, Catherine, you
can use this box for whatever your heart desires.
You should be
receiving it soon. This is part of her surprise.
I did put other things in the box for her, that I
am not showing, hope she likes it all!
 
So - now start looking at those
cutlery boxes!!!
 
 These cutlery boxes are about 14 to 15 inches wide,
10.5 inches long and 3 inches deep. Both are different
colors. The top one is a reddish color while the bottom
one is an old brown color. My 3rd box not pictured here
is a pretty brown. All of these boxes will be painted or
papered inside and out.
 
Look inside of these boxes and strip out all of the
dividers and or felt that you see. Clean her up!
 
I have painted this one white with ordinary craft
paint.
 
Here is the front of Catherine's box. I used empty
thread spools for the feet. I wrapped white lace
around each spool and topped it off with some sheer
pink ribbon. The box is papered with
shabby chic scrapbook paper that I downloaded
from the internet.  This paper is so pretty! It is one
of my favorites.  The good thing about having
feet on this box is that it gives her a place to store
some cross stitch leaflets for future projects. Or she
can store her sewing machine books there.  I glued
a cute pink sheer ribbon with a ribbon rose in the
indention of the box on the front.
 
To decorate the top of the box -
First, I glued down
another shabby chic paper and trimmed it with lace.
I put 4 pink sheer bows at each corner.
Second, I dyed some cheesecloth with
Kool-aid in pink and blue, mixed in some
white cheesecloth and glued it to the top of the box. 
Third, I used 2 cream colored cherubs that hang
on the wall! Included with them was the pretty
flowers that you see here. They are so
sweet but a little heavy. They are glued down good, but
still be careful when opening the box.
Fourth, after letting the cherubs dry and that took
about 4 days to do so. I then added some craft pearls and
bunched up the cheesecloth around the cute cherubs.
I also added little pieces of cheesecloth here and
there between the flowers.
The pink sheer bow you see has a white button in the
middle of it. 
I cannot even begin to tell you how
pretty the top of the box is. It turned out lovely. I am
pleased with the overall look of it.
 
Here is the left side of the box.
 
I thought that this was the right side - but it is not.
I must have thought that I was looking at the right
side. Sorry.
 
Here is the back of the box where the hinges are.
 
This is what the inside of the box looks like. Catherine
loves pink, white and red. I did not use anything that
was red. I used a pink flannel to
line the box and then put lace around the sides
on the top of the lid and the sides of the bottom half
of the box. All of the lace inside and outside of the
box are the same lace.
 
I glued on white pockets from Aida cloth and
glued on sheer pink bows. These pockets are a
little tight. I forgot to give each one a little slack,
so please be careful if you put something in them.
In one of the pockets I gave her a cherub magnetic
needle holder for her cross stitch.
 
We cut some pretty bright white string. My hubby
screwed each string into the box on each side
so the lid could stay up and the box not topple
over because of the weight of the cherubs.
I gave her some surprises on the inside of
the box which I hope she likes!
Have a lot of fun!!
Thank you for visiting me.
Conny
 


Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Sewing Machine cover made from Pillow Shams!

A GIFT FOR MY FRIEND!
 
I made my friend Catherine
over at "I Love To Stitch", a
sewing machine with a
matching serger cover!
 
I really do like how it has turned
out and I hope that she does also.
 
Let me tell you how this is made.
 
This is EASY PEASY!!!
AND IT IS MADE IN MINUTES!!
 
MATERIALS NEEDED:
2 Shabby Chic full size Pillow Shams, a little
bit of lace, ribbon ties, 3 buttons and
a little bit of flannel for the letters!
Further down I tell you how to make it.
 
This is what the first pillow sham looks like as
a finished Sewing Machine cover, without the pink letters
that say the name of her blog. you can see the pink
letters on the 3rd photo. This sham was not
cut in any way. The sides were not sewed together.
They remain open with just pretty sheer pink
ribbons to tie it on. Neither did I hem any of the
lace on the sides. Again hope for it to look shabby.
 
 I did not cut any of the second pillow sham. The Serger Cover is
stitched up on both sides. I was not sure of the height
of her Serger so I am including some of the lace so
she can stitch it to the bottom, just in case it is
a little short. I think that the width of this cover is
okay and should fit her Serger.
 
I hope Catherine likes this. I tried to make it
Shabby. I just drew out the letters on paper and cut
them out. Then I traced them onto fabric and pinned
the letters where I wanted them. I want the letters
to eventually fray to make it more shabby.
 
Here is a picture of what the pillow shams look like.
Hold the pillow sham up against your machine and
see which side looks best against it. If you need more
width then just turn the sham lengthwise. Otherwise
just fold the sham in half and there you have a
front and a back. Choose which side you like
best to be the front side.
 
Turn over the pillow sham and give some small
stitches to stitch down the inside opening. I hand stitched
this closed because I did not want any machine
stitching to show on the front side of the sham. I
like how this gives an automatic lining to the covers.
I hope that you are able to see it.
 
I hand stitched the lace to the backside. Add lace
or ruffles to give the sham height.
I have not shown you where to stitch on the ties.
That is left to your discretion. I placed my ties
about halfway down and hand stitched them on.
Adding multiple ties on each side, would be so cute.
After the ties are on - then decorate the top
of the shams if you wish.
I forgot to take a photo of how the shams look
on a sewing machine and a serger. Perhaps
Catherine will show you. However I did
place the sham on top of my machine to
make sure it would hopefully fit her machine.
 
I have a couple more full size pillow shams. Next week, I will
make them up and show you what those look like
on my machine and serger.
 
Catherine - I hope to get these in the mail to
you later this week. There is an additional
surprise coming with these covers!
 
I sure do hope that you will use this idea!
Thank you for visiting me.
Many smiles, Conny
 

Saturday, February 8, 2014

A Gift from my friend

Hello everyone!
I just gotta show you what my friend
Catherine from "I Love To Stitch"
sent to me.
 
OMG!!!!!!!
I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!
I am still looking for a place to
hang this lovely cross stitch.
 
If you want to visit Catherine's blog,
then click here.
 
 
 Thank you Catherine for this lovely gift. I will treasure
it always!!
 
I adore this card. This card keeps me in stitches!
Pink curlers in her hair, pink robe, a nice cup of
coffee and a cake doughnut! What a Wonderful
morning she is having!
 
I hope to start back on cross stitching in a couple
of months or so. Things have been hectic here at
home and it has thrown me behind in the things
that I want to make.
 
Thank you for visiting me!
Hopblogger

Saturday, January 18, 2014

My New Sewing Room!!

Hello Everyone! How you doing?
Great, I hope.
 
Finally after 20 years, I got a sewing room again.
Yahoo!!!!
My former living room is or was the biggest
room in the home that we live in now.
14X12 is not saying much,
but hey I am happy and that is all that matters.
I am now able to show you what the room looks
like at this point.
I am still not finished. I need to straighten up and
re-arrange more but I am getting there!
So bare with me.
 
Walk through the dog gates into my
Sewing Room. We will enter and go to the
left side, from there work our way to
the right side.
 
On the left of coming in an old china
cabinet that belonged to my husband's
mother.
 I still need to get this china cabinet out of
here, hopefully soon it will find a new
home in some other room. Oh yea, that
is zip lock bags on top of my "Gone
with the Wind" figurines. A cheap way
to keep the dust off. You weren't suppose
to see that, but now that you did, I felt
the need to explain. Lol's
Anyway I want a tall bookcase to go in
this space.
 
 Directly against the china cabinet is an iron quilt
rack that you cannot see. It is holding some vintage
quilts that I eventually want to show you. These
quilts came out of my bin that was stored in my garage.
The quilt with pink squares is a basket quilt. The other
quilt with green is a star. This quilt is similar to the
purple quilt that I made a long time ago that is
already on my blog. There is a door behind this
quilt rack that stays locked constantly.
 
You can see the window. I used to have thick floor length
red curtains that blocked out the sun, with checked
shades underneath. I kept the shades. I was not
looking for anything fancy in this room, at least not yet.
So, I took an old quilted king size
blanket and made the curtains that
you see here. One entire side of the blanket made
me a 17 inch deep valance. The valance goes across
the window and the door with very little gathering.
The shades just hang to the floor. This room is
still cold!!
I had to use the printer box to hold my printer to get
it off of my desk. I hope to remedy that this summer
and put a tall shelf there so it will hold computer
paper and supplies.
This is the sewing desk that was upstairs in my sewing
room. Boy, that desk is heavy!!! My hubby and I
scooted, pushed and shoved on towels down the
stairs to get it here in this spot. The boxes on top of
the sewing cabinet hold beads, beading in
one box. Another box holds upholstery trims.
Another box holds pincushions etc.. Much
storage in those boxes. Now I can swing
around in my chair!! hooray!
 
Well, I was wondering where this photo got off to!
Here is a close up of the quilts that were in the
garage. After they are quilted, I will wash them.
 
I have designated this spot in front of the window
as my cross stitch table. I will have to keep this area
clean if I want to stitch here. The plastic green Wal-Mart dresser
bins hold ribbons, lace and just a touch of cross
stitch in the bottom drawer. This room gets cold so I have
a little space heater to keep my feet warm. To the
right is a little white plastic bin. It holds stuff for
my sewing machine only.
 
My monitor always displays my miniature scenes.
I change them every so often. This particular
screensaver shows the gowns that I won from Felma's
giveaway!
 
I still have a small box on the top of the desk to sort
thru. Sabrina the witch is keeping an eye on it for
me. I have been sorting thru getting rid of things
again, so now my shelves are looking a little bare.
But don't worry - I have plenty of stuff to put up there.
I have been stitching on another little miniature quilt.
See it to the right of Sabrina's head. It is a Grandmother's
fan. Yes it is a cheaters, but I work hard on those little
quilts.
 
I meant to take photo's inside the plastic bins but
I forgot. What can I say. I have been going through
these bins. Look one bin is empty!! One bin holds
the television remotes. One bin holds only pincushions.
And yes there are plenty of them in that one bin.
Another bin holds just cutting scissors.Scrapbook
papers are hiding in one of those bins. The bins
still need cleaning out. Hopefully I get them cleaned
to show you on the next post.
It is nice to sit here, quilt or sew and watch a little
tele. My fireplace in the corner.
 
This space is beneath my sewing machine. these bins
need going through also. That plastic bin holds
trash. Maybe it is time to empty it.
 
Here is a little spot for my doggy's. Ira likes the
brown bed. Little Kane loves the blue crate. And
curry keeps scooting his blanket towards my feet.
I keep moving him back cause I am afraid of stepping
on him. Time to get Kane a new bed. And Curry
needs a bed so he stays in one spot. Love my boys!
 
It is hard to believe that my poor over-worked attic
once held all of this fabric. But it did! This was
15 bins that I emptied. I was quilting on my
9patch quilt and washing fabric as hard as I could
just trying to get this room up to par. I was up
many hours. The more I washed fabric, the more
I stitched!
I have tried organizing these
shelves. It is hard when you have so much. The very
top of both units will hold my quilts when finished.
At least I hope it holds all of them. Below that, I
call this section MY SHEET SHELF. This
section holds just twin, double, queen, and king sheets
and pillowcases. I even had some new ones in here!
I use these sheets for blocks, sashes and backings.
Once you start quilting a lot of this fabric does get
used very fast!
The next shelf holds only white sheets and a few
others that will not fit on the sheet shelf. And then
starts the fabric shelf.
 
This next shelf is my QUILT TOP SHELF. Quilts
waiting to be hand quilted. These quilts have waited
20 years for me to look at them. They certainly have
waited long enough.
The bottom shelf are 2 cloth bins that hold a lot of
applique blocks that me and my momma worked on
in the 80's. It was a thrill to open them. I will show
you them in the next post. So much stuff was packed
in those bins.
 
This room fits both of my leather computer chairs.
I will show you the quilt on the back of the chair a
little later. It is a quilt that needs mending. Which is
my next project.
 
This is the other shelving unit. The bottom shelf holds
batting and will hold polyester stuffing also.
The shelf above it is packed with fabrics. The same
with the shelf above it.
 
The top shelf will eventually hold more quilts and
a lace bin.
The shelf below it has a variety of fabrics. This shelf
holds curtains that will get cut up. There is a space for
pillow shams. Yea, I cut them up also. Behind the curtains
are lots of bed dust ruffles. I love these!
I cut the skirts off from the inner section of the dust
ruffles. These sections are white cotton and sometimes
they are paper like. If the inner section is a very
good cotton then I use that for blocks etc..
However, if the inner section is papery, that
is great to use as a foundation block for strip quilts.
Sometimes thrift stores carry loads of these
bed dust ruffles. Most people over-look these,
because they do not know what to do with them,but
there are tons of fabric here to use. Those long skirts
can be stripped for borders or most anything.
These bed dust ruffles sell as little as $1.50.
This is a great buy!
There are also cotton duvet covers behind these
pillow shams. These duvet covers are a great way
to take one side to use in a quilt for blocks etc..
and take the back side of the duvet cover to use for
the quilts backing. That way some blocks on the
top of the quilt can match the backing. Some of these
duvet covers at thrift stores sell for as little as $7.00.
Underneath the white apron is a section for
are some cotton thrift store
clothes washed and dried. Ready to be cut up.
I just finished the white linen apron and hung it.
 
This corner holds 2 plastic Wal-Mart dresser style drawer
bins that have been stacked on top of each other. Each
dresser holds only 3 drawers giving me a total of 6 drawers.
The bottom drawer holds Christmas fabrics.
The next drawer up holds red fabrics only. 2 drawers
hold little pieces of scraps and strips to make the STRIP
QUILTS. The top 2 drawers holds 2.5 inches or larger
strips to sew into blocks.  On top of the dressers are
cotton thrift store clothes. The good thing about
buying thrift store clothes is that they are already
pre-shrunk. So many lovely prints are there. And
shirting's, this is a great place to buy men's shirts.
 
Yay, my ironing board can stay up. It is such
a nuisance to keep putting away an iron and
its companion when you sew.
 
This use to be my fold away cutting table when we
lived in Oklahoma. In the room where it
was located at, it was able to stay open
all the time, but in this house, it could
never be opened. Plus anyone that
ever owned this type, know that it is
not very stable. At least mine was not.
 
This table mat used to be on that fold away table.It
is self healing, but mine never heals?? Anyway I
do not cut on this mat, I use other mats that I
place on top of it to cut my fabrics.
 
I have to show you this island!! I saw it here:
georgiapeachez.typepad.com - new-cu
 
And I just new this was for me!! I am not one
to copy, but this was the answer to a cutting table!!
I am not as organized as her photo's are, but hey,
this works for me. It had added storage!
This island used 4
bookcases that were from Wal-Mart. I just happened
to own these bookcases, and they were being stored in my attic.
They had been up there for years!  This was so easy
to do.
My hubby took the top off of the fold away cutting
table that I owned and placed it here on top of the
bookcases. I then placed that self healing large mat
(that you see above) on top. I am surprised that the
mat did not disintegrate! It had been in the garage
so long.
I absolutely love this idea!!
The extra storage comes in handy. As you can see I
am trying to fill up this shelf. The first 2 shelves hold
Halloween fabrics. This will be moved later. The bottom
shelf is holding some vintage items. Those will be
moved also a little later.
 
This side of the bookcase is towards the shelving
units. The shelf is currently holding quilt blocks
that have been cut out already and in sandwich bags.
Also blocks that need settings. And there are a ton
of 9patch blocks on the second shelf.
 
This side faces my window. These are the only
quilt books, magazines that I own now after getting
rid of 180 books.  The top shelf holds the baby box
that I converted to a sewing box. It holds only my
quilting supplies in that little box. It holds my rotary
cutters, thimbles, quilting needles and safety pins.
Love that little box. Of course I do love boxes.
They come in handy.
 
This side faces towards the dogs. The top shelf holds
my miniature fabrics. Those little plastic bins will
go back in the attic. Then there will be 2 shelves
empty.
 
I hope you liked visiting my sewing room!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hopblogger