Still rolling............... day 3.....

Did I tell you I'm making more placemats? I don't think I did! Well I am... that'll be another day of "show and tell". Today... I wanted to show you what I made a few weeks ago, probably after Valentine's Day when I got finished with my Valentine's Day cards and Hello Kitty mini albums (in my Etsy shop). 

These cards were just pure fun.. and I made them for no particular reason, other than I just felt like it.

We have a local store called The Outpost, which is kind of like a Big Lots store. It has this 'n that and large quantities of things (food, paper goods), etc., and it's always fun to go in there and see what new things they have in their little crafting corner.

The owner used to have a lot of scrapbooking supplies, paper pads, albums, etc. but she has pared down and she hasn't had paper pads for a couple of years. But when I went in a few weeks ago, I was so happy to find she had an entire shelf of scrapbook paper pads! I would have bought one of each if I could have. I limited myself, and bought one little pad of these pretty bright spring-like papers, which also had some stickers and paper flowers with it.

So.......... I did some heat embossing with gold emboss powder, and made various sentiments.. then cut them out using some of my dies and Sizzix machine... and started to work play.

Here's what I came up with.....

I used my gold Stickles to add some glitter to the circles.

I made a pretty paper bow and added more gold Stickles to the flowers.

I LOVE this paper!

I had these white paper "doilies" which I used behind the sentiment label.

I just love all of these. I left the insides blank so I can write whatever I want on them. I think they got me into the spring mood!

ON ANOTHER NOTE:

I wanted to make something special for my older sister's birthday that was on February 28th (well really, the 29th, as she's a "Leap Year baby"!! I had sent her a card and gift certificate, but it got lost in the mail (and never has shown up again). Someone got a gift card I guess. 

So instead of sending a regular card, I decided to make a little quilt postcard. You can find videos on YouTube on "quilted postcards" or "fabric postcards". I actually bought a book years ago on how to make them, as I thought it was a really unique idea... to send a little mini quilt through the mail! I didn't do a whole lot of quilting on mine, just some fancy stitching.

I printed the "postcard" side onto some fabric, and used some really heavy duty interfacing, almost like cardboard.

You make a little "quilt sandwich" using your postcard backing (printed on fabric), your interfacing, and then on the top, a pretty fabric that you've decorated or quilted or stitched on. I have this darling fabric that has some adorable quilt or life sayings on it, so used that.

I added the black strips on the sides and did some fancy machine stitching. Then I did a satin stitch all around the edges (twice) to protect it from raveling.

The interfacing is really thick...

The postcard ends up very sturdy and like a piece of cardboard.

I sent this one through the mail... it cost me 71 cents. 

I drew the lines with my permanent marker.

My sister loved it! I know I'll be making more of these and I'm going to do more quilting on them, like little strips of fabric and more fancy stitching.

I have a couple of more projects to show you but that'll be another day.....

Hugs to you all.

~Marilyn~

Rolling on............

Hi again! I talked yesterday about the roll I was on with my sewing., and showed you my "jelly roll" strips placemats. Here's a new project I tried that I've NEVER done before and I think I do love it.

What is this you say?????? Can you guess???

I've heard of these, but never thought I'd make one.. didn't like them too much and sounded like too much work! I just didn't like the "look". But..............  our minds CAN be changed! While I was sick, I came upon some many videos by Darlene Michaud. She's a quick and easy quilting maniac! I absolutely love her and did some binge watching of her videos (and I still am).

Did you guess?? It's a "rag quilt"!!! And kind of a funny name, as it really doesn't look raggy or like a rag at all. What it IS is soft and fluffy and pretty and different. Darlene's video 1 hour rag quilt is for a 1 hour rag quilt, no cutting blocks. Wow! to make a quilt in an hour? No way...... I just had to try it.

Instead of cutting out tons of smaller blocks and sewing them together, and then "ragging the edges" (by clipping all the seams), she made her quilt with just two big pieces of fabric! She used flannel with no batting inside. I used some flannel I got from my neighbor's mom. I needed something for my great nephew's 4th birthday, and thought this little lap quilt would just be perfect (and easy to mail).  Aren't the trains just perfect? It's a pale yellow but looks almost cream in these photos.

The above quilt is with all the seams sewn. You lay the flannels wrong side to wrong side, sew up the seams in two directions, forming the look of blocks. 

The back of the quilt is plain, but looks "quilted". I happened to have this one piece of flannel that I've hoarded for YEARS... and it was just the right size. See? You have to save everything right? It WILL come into use at some point in your life.

Here's a close-up of the seams before they were snipped. You make at least 3/4" seams to allow lots of room for the snipping. I mean.. the sewing of this little quilt took less than an hour!  NO batting to fuss with, no sewing squares together..........

One downside is: you have to clip all of those seams.. little snips about 1/4" to 1/2" apart on ALL of them! It took longer than sewing the quilt together.... and my hand got a little tired, but not bad. A good thing is that you even snip the outer seams so there is no binding on this quilt.  You just sew around all of the edges with a 3/4" seam and then snip it all. (sorry.. no pictures of the snipping process!).

Now for the "after".......... and this was AFTER I washed it. That's where the magic (ragging) happens.

The seams turn all fluffy and curly looking.. but not all ravelly or anything.. just soft and fluffy and fun to touch.

The back looks nice, even after washing... so very soft.

The finished lap quilt was about 36" x 45"...... perfect for a child. I'm really thrilled with it. The one "not so good" thing about making a rag quilt is that after you wash it, your washer and dryer are FULL of all the lint and strands of fabric, since you left the seams unfinished. And then............ it's even worse when  you go outside and try to shake off all of the lint that stuck to the flannel! 

I was a mess from head to foot.... little bits of lint and strands of the flannel ALL OVER me! I'm still finding pieces on my socks, pants, top and even a few in my hair! 

Oh well.. it WAS quick... took a total of about 2 hours. (and it's already in the mail for my sweet great nephew in Florida).

What do you think?

I'm still on a roll........... more tomorrow...........

~Marilyn~

I'm on a roll...........(jelly roll that is)........

I don't know when this happened, but for the last few weeks, at least, I've been on a REAL roll with my crafting and sewing (mostly sewing)! My mojo has returned full force, even while I was sick with the diverticlitis (well.. I had to take a few days off!).

What is this you say?

I'm in the MAKING MOOD. I know some of you get like that, as I've read your posts where you make things over and over and over again because you are addicted to it! That's me lately. I haven't sewn that much in years.. but lately... I just WANT....TO....SEW!

I mean... I've made a few cards (will show those later), and in my mind I want to make some more sweet and unusual mini albums, but the sewing machine has taken first place for now........

First up...........placemats. Why? I don't know. (Well I think I may know..... I watched so much YouTube while I was sick, that I saved TONS of things I want to make and watching it reminded me of things I've made in the past - that I want to make again!).

I think I happened upon some "easy placemats" on YouTube, and they were using some jelly roll strips, so I just had to try them. I have had an old jelly roll (42 strips of coordinating fabric, cut 2-1/2" wide) laying around for years.... have been hoarding it as so so pretty.... but decided.. why not? Use it up and enjoy it!

Here's what a jelly roll looks like (not mine... as mine is totally desecrated now!).....

To make the placemats, cut a backing fabric (from my stash)...  cut the batting...... sew the strips on, through the batting and backing fabric, and  you've already quilted your placemat! So fun! I used two large pieces of fabric from my stash for the backings.... 4 yellows with roses, and 2 yellow with tiny tiny roses on it. The strips are all uneven and stick out over the edge...........

 So once done sewing them on.. you "square up" the mat and trim off all the strips and then make the mat the size you want. Mine are 13" x 19".

Pretty already, right? Just love the pinks, lavenders, yellows and touches of green.

Next...... cut some for 2" strips (I used mostly strips from the jelly roll) and sew them on for the binding. I didn't take any pictures of sewing on the binding but it was fairly easy. I followed a YouTube video of a different way to sew it on, using the machine rather than finishing it by hand. Here's a link to the video: Easy and Fast Quilt Binding.

For me to make SIX placemats and actually finish them... a true miracle! Here's the finished product and I'm very ecstaticly pleased.... and I'm going to KEEP something I made for a change! (NOTE: these were not hard to make, but they were quite time consumming).

See the center mat? It is turned over to the pretty yellow cottage rose side.

The binding on this one matches the backs of two of the mats.

I'm SWOONING over that fabric 2nd from the left, that is white with the soft pink roses on it... wish I had yards and yards of it.

Here's the pretty backing on 4 of the mats. They are all reversible so I can use either side. I have hoarded this fabric for years!

Isn't it funny how when we finish something, and love it.. that we take WAY TOO MANY photos of it? I'm guilty of that..........

These are the two mats with a different backing. I really like it too and it matches pretty well. On these two, I used different colors for the binding.

Ta da! All six FINISHED placemats!

Now that's just a start. Should I show you more now or wait for another post????????????????

Think I'll wait......

Hugs to you.. 
~Marilyn~

Flowers.... food.... birds.......favorites......

I've been under the weather for a few days. Has anyone ever had diverticulitis?????  It HURTS!......... so to pass the time, I've been browsing my old blog posts and the photos I've used on my blog for the past few years. 

And then I started looking at pictures I've put in "my favorite things" folder... and then I started playing with fotor.com to make some collages of my favorites. A little bit of this and a little bit of that..........So here they are!

Enjoy the show....... I really enjoyed it. I think I'm yearning for some color in my life right now since it's been so dull and gray here.

Loved these yellows and purples from 2013 and 2014.

Pinks and purples and wildflowers - around 2014.

Way back in around 2010 at our house in SW Washington. Even the strawberry plant has such pretty little flowers for a short time.

More from our house in SW Washington - such beauty.... and LOVED my garden gate!

Oops, not just flowers here, but...... pink, lots of pink!......cards, and a wool radiant star I made, and of course, the vivid colors of flowers.

My "what not" shelf on the left (above). My mom always had one, with all of her most favorite miniature things. Each sweet item on this shelf has a very special memory for me. And on the right, my Red Wing pottery collection (part of it), and the Corvette car from my son when he was 12 years old... and dogs that were part of my mom's dog collection.

Pottery items - this was my mom's Victorian House cookie jar that my kids loved dipping into over the years! On the right..... every gal needs a shoe shopping jar right?

China  plates..........these were mostly my mom's... I have TONS more!

More china/pottery. The gorgeous lamp on the upper left was my mom's and her mom's.... an old clock that my mom had since I was a little girl......... a tiny creamer from England that my mom gave me... and another fabulous antique "vase" that was my aunt's.

Here are some pretty pink things..........

Can't leave out the food!

Banana bread, cinnamon rolls and oatmeal raisin cookies - all gluten free of course!

Ceramic birds...... I love them all.

Real birds! Pretty hummingbird I captured around 2010 in our garden in SW Washington..... chicadee a few years ago (blue)..... winter bird "barn"....... two quail I caught on camera back in about 2013.

Have you tried Meyer Lemon tea? It is the GREATEST if you love lemons! A friend had this Meyer Lemon candle and I raved about the tea so much, she gave me the candle!  And my wonderful fairy and unicorn which is a new addition to my "favorites family"....and a sweet little pitcher that my hubby found for me at one of our local thrift shops. Love the saying on it.

I love this quilt that is hanging on my wall in our bedroom......no I didn't make it.........sweet lamb given to me by my bestie... and the sign that says "Love more and worry less". This  little vignette just struck my fancy and I didn't even plan it. 

That's what I've been doing to pass the time. I'm feeling a little better today. Haven't eaten much for 4 days now.... living on yogurt, canned pears (whoo hoo... lost 4 lbs... but I'm sure I'll gain it all back). 

More than the joy I found from looking back at my photos... all of the bright colors have given me a real uplift.. .which I needed.

Hope you all are WELL!

~Marilyn~