No More Cold Feet

These are easy to make and sooooo very warm. After seeing this post about knitted slippers http://blog.craftzine.com/craftprojects/easy_house_slippers/ I knew I had to make some.  I had some wool yarn (wool of the Andes from Knit Picks) just waiting for a felted project.  I went to the crochet version

http://www.mommyknows.com/easy-norwegian-house-slippers-the-crochetted-version-by-mommyknows/

because I crochet faster than I knit and I was impatient.  It has gotten cold here and I needed to warm up some toes.  The hardest part is folding them into a slipper.  You might need this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKMFEkSKGHg  I did.  It took 3 wash cycles to get them felted down small enough for my feet, but they are now PERFECT!  I stopped the machine before the wash water drained out and re-set it to the beginning twice.  After they were rinsed and spun out I put them on wet to form them to my feet, getting a custom fit. 

 PERFECT!

CUP COZIES



rolled for storage



I am sending  these latest “creations”  to special friends.   We use them to keep our hands cool when the drink (coffee) is extremely hot and also to absorb condensation when the drinks are iced or frozen.  They fasten with a button and an elastic loop that also holds it together when rolled up for easy storage in your purse or desk drawer. 



cup cozy



Harvest Quilt



 fall toile fabric
I like the horsey



flimsy done

 Quilt made entirely from "stash" fabrics.  I don't have a backing for it, so it will have to wait for now. 



orphan block from another experiment,
maybe I'll use it on the back
with the label



 This art quilt will be exhibited and auctioned off at The 2011 Red Ribbon Dinner and Great Art Auction. This is a fundraiser to benefit TPQC formerly known as AIDS Project Quad Cities. TPQC/APQC, a 501-3(c) non-profit service organization, providing support to persons living with HIV/AIDS as well as their families. Their mission: To enhance the quality of life in our community by providing advocacy and care for those living with HIV/AIDS with case management services and education for those at risk by offering a variety of prevention and education programs throughout the community to reduce the spread of HIV. TPQC/APQC provides services to more than 260 HIV+ participants and their families in 11 counties in Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa each year.  More than 1,000 residents of this area are provided with HIV screening, prevention education, counseling services and advocacy.  Every day, participants struggle with issues like poor access to health care, limited or no health care insurance, homelessness, lack of transportation, social isolation and difficulty in navigation of other social service programs and services. Participants range in age from 8 to 72.  Government funding does not begin to cover their needs or pay the full cost of delivery of these critical services.  The balance is covered by donors at events like the Red Ribbon Dinner.  It is my hope that this art quilt will not only raise funds for TPQC/APQC but also raise awareness for the need to support not only individuals whose lives are affected but also the research needed for treatment and prevention.

In 2006 my brother volunteered me to make a quilt for The 2007 Great Art Auction at the Red Ribbon Dinner fundraiser for The Aids Project Quad Cities (now known simply as the Project or TPQC /APQC). I have been creating and donating items to the auction each year since. It seemed like the natural choice for my Craft for a Cause entry to be the art quilt planned for the 2011 auction. AIDS Project Quad Cities is a non-profit Service Organization providing support to persons living with HIV/AIDS as well as their families and friends in Iowa and Illinois. Their mission, to enhance the quality of life and reduce health disparities by providing a full spectrum of services including: advocacy, care, testing, education, counseling, referrals and other health care services for individuals who are living with, affected by, or at risk of contracting HIV/STI/AIDS is honorable. It is a huge undertaking for a small local grassroots program to financially support this undertaking. I am honored to be able to use my talents to help raise funds.  Government and private grants do not begin to cover the needs of this organization. This year’s project incorporates a scientific image related to research into the development of an AIDS vaccine that intrigued me. It is printed on fabric and embellished with stitching and traditional quilt squares. The image, an atomic-level picture of a key portion of an HIV protein as it looks when bound to an infection-fighting antibody published in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease’s (NIAID) newsletter, stems from research into an AIDS vaccine. (image credit NIAID) 

 http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2007/pages/b12antibody.aspx

Pink Post Card

Ashley ran a 3-Day--60 mile--adventure benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research and this is the little quilty postcard I sent to congratulate her.

An apron for Tigger

When I saw the "Tigger" overalls in a thrift store I was sad that they weren't the right size for my favorite Tigger, but then remembered the apron. A couple layers of ruffles,a tie, and some yo yos and ta da a September birthday gift for my niece. 

Reuseable & Recycleable shopping bag

I made this reusable shopping bag  patterned after the brown paper bag and added handles. (next time I'm adding some padding to the handles)  It can even have a brown paper bag for a liner.  Using a paper liner means you don't have to launder the cloth bag as often.  A recent segment on a morning news program discussed the cleanliness issues of using reusable shopping bags, laundering and lining them are a couple of solutions.  We usually have some of these brown paper bags because when we forget our reusable bags we always ask for paper (where available) because I recycle them in the garden (more on that in a minute).  Now they can be reused as liners first and then off to the garden .

Paper bags in the garden:  I put them down as a weed barrier and scatter some mulch on top to hide them.  They decompose nicely after they do their job and we use less mulch this way.  

"Stargazer"

This photo of a Stargazer Lily from the garden was perfect just the way it was.  The only editing I used was cropping it to size.  After printing it on fabric I quilted the surface with 10 different threads. This is my new favorite quilting technique.

"Petunia"

My first quilted photo.  This photo of a petunia from the patio was altered with a photo altering program on the computer, printed on fabric, and free motion quilted.  Thank you Beth Wheeler for the inspiration.  I bought both books after seeing the preview show so there will be more. 

Sailing East

Another little convergence quilt.  Quite different from the first one.  A shout out to Leah Day for free motion quilting inspiration and Ricky Tims, king of convergence. 

Woof Woof #1

The photography is not very good but I hope you can see that the ears and tongue hang free on this paper pieced doggy.  I was trying to make one that looks like Sara (and it does a little). Next, to make one that looks like Bubbles.  finding a black and white fabric for Bubbles' face might be the biggest challenge.  These were fabrics in my stash.  I was anxious to try this new pattern.  The brown is leftover from the back of a quilt and the background was a FQ gifty from my SIL.  I think I'll look at some other options for the tongue while I'm shopping too.  The pattern is by Christine Thresh at http://www.winnowing.com/.  It is called "My Dog Your Dog" or maybe it's "Your Dog My Dog".

I made something for ME

I pulled these shortalls from the rummage sale box and repurposed them as an apron with ruffles and yo yo's. Look for me wearing it at the Highlands Festival in July. Thank you CleverQuilter  for the inspiration.

Owling in Nature's Wonderland

This is my 2nd Convergence Quilt.  I followed Ricky Tims directions on this one.  One square is an owl border fabric and the 2nd square is wonky pieced square with the stars on top and the "trees" on the bottom.

I made this wall quilt as a gift for a friend.  It reminds us of our first outing with the local birding club to see and hear owls.  We had a great time even though we never had even a glimpse of an owl.  We ended the evening at Dairy Queen with sundaes and had a good laugh about Owling. 

One Block Wonder in Blue

I found this fabric on clearance.  I thought the colors were great, but the funky blue roses, yuck!  So taking the advice of one blogging quilter......

There's no such thing as ugly fabric.

If the fabric is still ugly, you haven't cut it in small enough pieces yet.

I wacked this fabric up into little triangles following the One Block Wonder instructions and created my first OBW quilt. 

My first Temari

I have a fascination with all things Asian and love the unique so trying this Japanese craft is perfect.  After a little web searching and book purchasing here is my first Temari.  If you see pulled strings it's because my cat decided it was a great toy, ARG!  (my fault, not the cat's - I know better, she doesn't). 

I took a shortcut and started with a styrofoam ball.  I padded it with strips of quilt batting (don't you love when you can use scraps that you would otherwise throw away), wrapped it with yarn, then thread (a bright yellow that was old and probably never going to get used again) and then started the embroidery using floss and a gold thread (the gold was really hard to work with and not a great idea for a first project, but don't yo love the little bit of glitz it added?)  If they are supposed to be bright and colorful, I think I succeeded. 

Temari てまり (meaning 'hand ball' in Japanese) is a folk craft born in ancient Japan from the desire to amuse and entertain children with an embroidered toy thread ball. The art of temari began as a simple needlework craft, making a mari ball for play. Today the lovely thread-wrapped, Japanese embroidered temari balls are given as tokens of good luck. A stitched temari ball on a stand would be displayed and enjoyed as a striking example of Japanese embroidery. Temari ball craft is unique needlework, an Oriental folk art which is spreading all over the world!
More information and help go here:  http://www.japanesetemari.com/index.html

Fabric Flowers

Trying something new, my favorite thing.  I love origami and fabric and putting them both together to make these flowers was a fun experiment.  Now, what do I decorate with them? I think I need to make more.

Zhu Zhu wedding

And how about a Zhu Zhu wedding.

The little outfits are fun to make I only wish I was there to play, too. 

Easter Zhu Zhu pets

They're Here!!!!  One of the granddaughters has been asking for this since last August.  There are 3 children and 3 critters.  Of course they needed clothes and sleeping bags (that have straps so they double as carrying cases).  the 2 girls were pretty easy, but what does a boy want for his hamster? 

I decided some denim, the logo for his favorite baseball team (Go Cubs), and a red super hero cape,might work with Hot Wheels fabric and flames for the bed/carrier.

sunset & shadows

Check out my latest wall quilt with applique and some elements of Ricky Tims convergence quilts.  I really enjoyed trying some different designs in free motion quilting on this little quilt.  I couldn't get out to get more fabrics so I used some black moleskin for the applique and really like the way it turned out. 

First Leader Ender Project

The idea of Leader Ender projects intrigued me so I tried it.  I was too impatient to wait for a whole quilt and have been wanting to try out this bag idea so this is what I made fom the patches I sewed while working on the Monkey quilt.  More about Leaders/Enders projects here leaders/enders

Monkeys coming together

The Monkeys are coming together.  There was a mid-stream change in the layout.  The original plan didn't look good to me.  Back to the drawing board for borders to get a good bed size quilt.