Baby Steps

OK, so in a post a bit ago, I had decided it was time to reorganize my stash. To be perfectly honest, my entire sewing room was in complete disarray. There was garbage on the floor, nothing was put away, and the drawers for all of my crafts were a wreck.

I decided to tackle the giant. First, I got the room looking as if it was clean on the outside. Then, I decided to start small (the fabric stash just seems too much still!).

I realized that I had bags and bags of yarn and partially finished crocheting projects that needed to be dealt with if I ever want to achieve the perfection of a clean craft room. Time to attack the yarn. Here is what my yarn collection looked like before. I had to pull the drawer completely out of the chest because it was so bad!


I have never been a yarn "baller" always preferring to just leave it in the skeins it comes in. I never really saw the point in rolling the yarn into balls. Let me tell you, I get it now. Check out this ball of yarn's before and after pictures. The space saved is amazing!

Before:

After:

After I balled this first skein, I was sold. I methodically turned the rest of my yarn stash into tight little (or in some cases big) balls.


I am VERY proud of the final product!

Quilt Festival - Spring 2009

I was excited when I found this post about an online quilt festival. What a fun idea! The difficult thing was choosing my favorite quilt. The sad part was realizing how much I have made, but never took any pictures of. Ugh! Lesson learned!

Well, here is my favorite quilt that I do have a picture of. I made it for my brother-in-law one year. I LOVE the fabric because it is all done in faux suede, and as a result it is super soft! I tied it because I wasn't sure about quilting that type of fabric, and I just love the balance of the weight, combined with the softness.

For this quilt, my husband chose both the pattern and fabrics, which was super-cool!

Don't forget to check out the Quilt Festival!

Denim Quilts

One of my favorite types of quilts to make are denim quilts. I particularly like them because they are so cheap. I have let all of my friends and relatives know that when their jeans wear out (hole in the crotch, ripped belt loops, etc.) I would gladly take them off their hands. So, the only fabric I have to buy is the backing. (These are so heavy, you wouldn't really want to put batting in them). I usually use fleece for the back, but I know some people who like to use flannel or corduroy.

To get started, I first cut the hem off of the lower pant leg - this makes it easier to use the rotary cutter.


Next, I cut squares out of the pant legs. I have found that to make my life easy, I just make my squares the width of the ruler. My ruler is 6 inches wide.

I can usually get 6-10 squares per leg. The beauty of pant legs is there is a front and a back that you are cutting simultaneously, so each pile here is actually 2 squares.

Once I have collected enough denim, I lay out the squares either randomly, or in a pattern and sew them together. I like the fringed look with the seams facing out. To accomplish this, after I piece the quilt, I snip the edges about every 1/4 to 1/8 inch. I then add the backing and tie the squares at the corners with yarn.

Here is another one of my finished projects:

A Bummer Wednesday

Well, this week, no one came to crafting night. Some just no showed, and others were dealing with last minute tax stuff. I was planning on using the down time to organize my fabrics, but I just can't seem to bring myself to deal with some of the ugly things I have managed to collect.

Like this beautiful fish print I got somewhere:


I mean, what do you even do with a fabric that looks like this? Suggestions anyone?

And then, there is the dilemma of the mess my fabrics have become. When I'm in the process of choosing for a quilt, or whenever I get some new fabrics, I have a really nasty habit of just tossing them in a pile 'to be sorted later.' Then the pile grows into a monster like this!


Maybe by next week, I'll be writing to say that I pulled myself together and actually got organized. Then I can show you a neat picture of all my organized drawers of fabric. (Yeah, I've been saying this for months now!)

Getting Started

Every Wednesday, a few girlfriends and I get together to do some crafting. Right now, I am teaching a good friend how to quilt. Quilting is a great way to get started with a sewing machine. If you are interested in starting quilting, here is what I recommend.

1. Start with something small! A baby quilt or small lap quilt is a good choice.

2. If you are unsure of fabric choices, consider getting a kit where all of the fabrics are chosen for you.

Here are a few kits you can find at Joann's Fabrics:

3. Choose a pattern that is made entirely of squares. (Squares are easy to cut and easy to sew, so great for a beginner).