Valerean

In my thrifted Vera Bradley lot were two small bags that had no issues at all. I'm using the smaller wristlet bag as is as a first aid kit for my purse. The larger pink velvet bag is the perfect size to hold my crochet hooks, but it needed a little more color. I used a quilted tag made by 14carrot to embellish the bag of the bag, and then added some buttons. These small bags are very easy to sew and upcycle. I think the buttons add a little fun. And here's the back. :)

Sometimes a project you mean to knock out quickly has other ideas. Such was the case with a market bag I decided to make out of blue scraps from my bin way back on May 18th. Once I pieced it I just knew it was going to take longer than a night, which had been the original plan. I began seeing lighthouse spotlights, and wanted to interpret that in embroidery. Since my arthritis has curtailed my hand stitching that created a time management problem for me. I'd have to work on it when my fingers allowed me to. Very often such complicated artistic choices happen out of the blue (forgive the pun) for me. I don't know why. I become obsessed with something and I can't rush the process. I take it on despite my limitations. I cannot be persuaded to abandon such projects, even when I get sick and tired of them. I worked on this for a short time almost every day since I took the fabric scraps out of my bin. It often frustrated me. It really challenged the ab...

During our travels at the end of summer we visited a few brick and mortar thrift stores. Often I find things that I want but I'm unwilling to buy new at these, with the bonus of being able to examine them in person. Here's one little haul: a brand-new-looking mini muffin tin for $2.75 (this exact one is $10.00 at Wal-Mart); a low-carb cookbook from 2005 for $1.00 (new it runs about $8.00; the cheapest I could find it used online was $1.92), and a two-sided plastic container stuffed with interesting ribbons and trims for $6.99 (really a steal; the case is $9.99 new and there's about $50.00 worth of supplies in this.) While I show you the cool ribbons in the case, which opens on both sides, let's do the math. Paying retail for everything would cost over seventy dollars. I spent $10.74, which went to Goodwill and a hospice center thrift store. I still pay retail for other things. Example: I spent forty dollars on new books at Writer's Block in ...

I'm starting to acquire slow stitch pieces like this flag quilt tag as inspiration for my own textile art, but also as a little collection. All of the pieces pictured in this post were made by 14 carrot from Etsy. I love her style and I've been a customer of hers for years. This kind of small project is also a great way to recycle old quilt pieces. I think these two are definitely going to become a journal cover. They're also quite quick to make as far as projects go. A few patches, buttons, charms and some straight stitching, and you've got a lovely little work of art to add as an embellishment to a bigger piece or just display on its own.

I didn't do a lot of quilting last month, thanks to being distracted by a renewed interest in other arts. I'll blame this silk velvet pumpkin I made from a kit. I did finish this slow stitched beach bag from my summer projects. I'm still struggling a little with not embellishing everything to death when I make a bag, but I think I did better with that this time. Helps if I put the bead box somewhere difficult for me to reach. I obtained two beautiful vases for a song from Goodwill and made some fall decor arrangements for the house. I'm quite proud of how well these turned out while using mostly thrifted supplies. Crochet got its claws into me again when I decided to make some slippers in hopes it would loosen up my stiff fingers. I was happy that I still remembered how to follow a pattern, although dismayed at how lame my execution was with this pair. Investing in some scrap yarn from a professional maker allowed me to make a couple...

Finished the beach bag. With this project I tried different ways to anchor the raw edges of the fabric elements and prevent or at least slow the inevitable fraying. Although I was very tempted to add the usual mountain of beads I restricted myself to a few seed bead bubbles for my button fish, some crystal montees for a little sparkle, and some abalone. I had a Picasso moment here with the shell bits. Like all my projects it is imperfect, slightly crooked here and there and not entirely as I imagined it. I think I might change the lining fabric in the future. But as always it was fun, and I feel ready to start on my holiday gift quilts now.

I found this dinged gift box while I was cleaning out a bag of supplies. It's nice and sturdy, and I like these for holding specialty embroider threads for projects. So I decided to rehab it. I found all I needed to do that among the bag of supplies, too. Making a little quilt to cover the top was a fun, one-night project, and I saved the box. :)

To test the oldest thread from my recent haul I took apart, embroidered and sewed back together a cheap little muslin bag with the vintage sage Coats thread. Worked great, still strong. I've been tidying up around the house and found this little tin I altered, and I couldn't remember what I'd saved in it. Buttons and beads, of course. I was briefly tempted to add the buttons to my linen quilt, but I'd rather stick to just needle and thread for that project. Another tin I found. I'm like a squirrel these days.

I think I already own most of the crazy quilt embroidery how-to books, but I've been hoping to learn some non-traditional techniques, and decided to invest in Embroidered & Embellished by Christen Brown. It turned out to be a very good buy. The book is divided into four sections on traditional, silk ribbon, raised/textured and bead embroidery, and offers eight small projects to do as well as step-by-step stitch illustrations. This would probably work as a good guide for a confident beginner, and an inspiration and refresher for an advanced stitcher. The author also has some excellent tips, including one way to thread a needle I've never seen before now. I've been wanting to do more 3D embroidery, so I'll be studying this section of the book and perhaps try one of the related projects.

Despite taxes and lots of work for the day job I was fairly productive with my sewing and quilting in April. At the beginning of the month Blogger locked down all my blogs because of the spool art embroidery project I finished at the end of March. I got them back, but I still have no explanation why they would object to my stitching. Kat came home unexpectedly for a friend's funeral, during which time I made and embroidered two practice pieces with scraps leftover from piecing the linen quilt. This is the one I worked on while waiting to find out if her flight home landed safely. You can almost feel the worry coming off the stitches. On Easter Sunday I put together this little silk piece. Okay, I admit it does look a bit like an alien one-eyed spider creature that wants to eat your face. But I'm (slowly) getting over my aversion to pink. I also batted, backed and pinned the linen quilt, which took six hours. I am not getting any faster at this in my ...

The front of one cutter quilt piece had been stained, but the back looked great, so I cut it in half, embroidered both back sides and made it into a tiny tote. I was also able to add a tiny length of beaded ribbon I've been saving because it was too short to use on anything but too pretty to toss. Anyway, it'll be a nice way to present a gift card to someone this year. The back, with different embroidery. The variegated perle thread I used was also leftover scrap. I also successfully hand-washed and dried the bigger piece of the crazy quilt piece -- again, never do this to anything you want to preserve -- so once I piece them back together and turn it into a rectangle by adding a bit to the smaller piece I'll have a nice-size and clean cutter piece to make into a journal cover.