UFO ROLL CALL- APRIL 2012

UFO Roll Call

During the first few days of each month in 2012, I will open a new Linky party post.  It will be open all month long to make sure everyone gets the chance to link up and share their new handmade creations.   

Please plan to join in on the fun by linking up posts and sharing images of the sewing and quilting projects you've been working on during the month.  This is a great opportunity to finish up all those UFOs and to start new projects too.  I plan to complete one project each month and the UFO Roll Call will be where I go to post my progress and look for ideas. 

This blog party is open to both quilting and domestic sewing projects and is a great place to show off your next homemade apron, your blue ribbon quilt, and to post that new flannel quilt tutorial.

The winner of the March UFO Roll Call Challenge giveaway is submission #2 and it was posted by Michelleof Michelle's Little Piece of Heaven blog.  


The link is titled "Finished Apron" and it takes you to a post featuring Michelle's first full length smock apron, a gift for her friend Marian.  It's a beautiful apron Michelle, and what a nice homemade gift for a friend.  I just know Marian will love it.  If you haven't yet had a chance to view Michelle's blog, please go NOW and check it out.


Michelle is a wife, mother, crafter, homesteader and she has a barnyard full of animals.   She is taking on a huge challenge this season as she is more than doubling her vegetable gardening area.  Michelle is a wonderful cook too, she can take an established recipe, tweak it and make it hers like no other.  She is currently perfecting a homemade vanilla recipe.  I can hardly wait...  Thank you Michelle for sharing your talents with the rest of us.  I always look forward to reading and viewing your posts.   Thank you all for participating and for sharing such fun projects.

Mark your calendar!  

Let's get this party started!  We're having a GIVEAWAY at the end of the month!  All you have to do to enter is LINK UP one handmade quilt or sewn project YOU made during the month, before midnight on the last day of the month.  

Let's get to work on our next project to share with our sewing & quilting blog friends.  I'm feeling crafty and I hope you are too. 

I am linking this post to a few of my favorite hops-

Deborah Jean's Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Amy's Homestead Barn Hop (on Monday)

KarenLynn's The Ole' Saturday HomesteadingTrading Post

& I will be linking to Lisa's Made from Scratch Blog Hop (next Saturday)

Occupy YOUR sewing room

http://catpatches.blogspot.com/p/occupy-your-sewing-room.html

A big thank you to Kathleen of Rose Prairie Quilts for tipping me off to this awesome sewing inspiration by Barbara of cat Patches and her "Occupy Your Sewing Room" project.  What a fabulous idea.  I am late to join in the fun, having just found out about it today, but I am going to make the most of it during the next few days and I invite you to join it too if you can wing it.  It seems like a great way to finish up some of my UFOs.  

Thanks for visiting, I hope you stop by again. I like comments.

Virtual Christmas Ornament Swap- Get a few new ideas here

     This is just a reminder, for those of you that have not yet heard.  Like the button above says, we're having a VIRTUAL Christmas ornament SWAP and YOU are INVITED to participate!

It's a BLOG HOP designed to allow you to show off your creative side by sharing an image and tutorial or story about a Christmas ornament you like to make and swap OR have received at Christmas.

     I am a Christmas ornament junkie.  Over the years, I have made and given away literally hundreds of angels, snowmen, santas, and the like.  I LOVE making and giving them away so I will be sharing quite a few of my own ornaments.  I encourage you to share your favorites too.  I hope to see gingerbread houses and gingerbread men, santa claus, reindeer, candy canes. sugarplums, elves, snowmen, and who knows what else. We era only limited by our imagination.  Happy crafting.

Rules-

1. Any medium, any style- sewn, quilted, glued, painted, beaded, WHATEVER! So long as it's a Christmas ornament.

2. Please grab the button and post it to your wall so more folks can see it and be inspired to participate too.

3. Link AS MANY ORNAMENTS as you like, the more the merrier.  I love new ideas!

4. Have FUN and get your workshop hopping!

I have linked this post to Deborah Jean's Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

& Homestead Revival's Barn Hop

& Esther's Hearts 4 Home Thursday Blog Hop

&

Christmas Tree Ornament

Who doesn't like making yo-yos? I love em.  They're so cute in any craft project.  I have made yo-yo doilies, yo-yo covered quilts, a yo-yo vest, even a yo-yo ornament. it's so cute and it could not be easier to make.  This is a true beginner ornament.  Just make and string together seven or eight different sized yo-yos on a strong thread like pearl cotton, I usually start with a bead for a trunk and finish with a button and a small painted wooden star.  Knot it off and leave some thread for a hanger. That's all there is to it.  I started out with a few rows of 3" finished width yo-yos and decreased a 1/2 inch or so every two yo-yos made.

This post is lined up to the Virtual Christmas Ornament Swap HERE!

My Chilly Snowman

     I am posting a series of my favorite handmade Christmas ornaments to my two blogs, White Wolf Summit Farmgirl & My Simple Country Living.  I only have a few followers on my new WWSF blog, so I am sharing my favorite snowman ornament to BOTH blogs today so everybody gets a chance to see and make him.  I have made dozens of this little guy over the years, he's always a great gift for a teacher or for a friend's Christmas Tree.  I sew using 1/4 inch seam allowances.

BODY- Make his body by drawing a triangle with a 3 1/2" base and a height of 4 1/2" from an 80/20 quilt batting. You can either sew the entire triangle closed and cut the top off to turn and open, OR- cut the top off before sewing and just sewing the two sides and base, leaving the top open for the head to go through.  Either way, you will need to have an opening at the top that's wide enough for the head to fit into.
   
HEAD- Make his head by drawing a rectangle about 1 1/2 " wide by 2 1/2" long.  Round the corners to shape him a bit.  Sew. Turn. Stuff firmly with Polyfil.  I pin and machine sew bases. I insert head into body and add a few beads of hot glue or whipstitch head to body to secure.  If I am making WIRE ARMS, I attach the head AFTER I have inserted and secured the wire arms.

STOCKINGS- I draw stockings about 2 1/2" long with a high contrast fabric and sew.  I leave top open and stuff.  Leave top edge raw, do not turn under.  Attach to body with a few hand stitches.  Loo at my examples below and you'll see I have attached a few to the front of the bodies with cute buttons for fun and I sometimes attach them to the back with no adornment.

ARMS- I have tried many things for arms. I have used tea-stained muslin and black floral wire (I like it because it ages and rusts a bit over the years). Both look great.  To make muslin arms just draw 2 1/4" long arms and cut and sew them from the muslin, turn and stuff.  I keep the top edges raw again and sew to body. To make the wire arms, I just try to shape them like branches and then run the wire through the side into body and twist a small circle inside to hold it tight.

SCARF- I use homespun plaids for the scarf.  I cut them 1" wide by 5 1/2" long and I fray an 1/8" edges by pulling out a few long threads.  I wrap the scarf over the raw edged arms, dabbing as bead of hot glue over each arm to be sure the scarf does not slide away from covering raw edges.

HEAD COVER- For earmuffs- Hot glue a thin ribbon and small pom poms to either side of your snowman's head for these cute earmuffs.  For hat- cut small wool or acrylic circle and sew it to his head. Attach button or foliage for embellishment.

FACE- Micron Pigment ink pen, a dot of white acrylic paint inside eyes, and blush on a Q-tip for cheeks.

NOSE- I paint a toothpick bright pumpkin orange, cut the tip off, and hot glue nose to face.

Other EMBELLISHMENTS- I sometimes tea-stain the cotton batting and muslin.  I stain them by soaking for a few hours in hot tea steeped on my stove, and hand drying and pressing the fabric. I don't press the batting, just try to flatten it before it dries.  I also sometimes add a few small square "patches" to the snowman's body using a cure plaid and a heat n' bond or wonder under.

     I look forward to seeing what YOU can do to spruce him up!

Thanks for visiting, I hope you stop by again. I like comments.

Homemade Christmas Ornament #2 Primitive Angels

     These little prim angels are a family favorite.  They're fast and easy and as yo can see from the examples above, I make them up with what I have on hand.  Who doesn't love using up leftovers?
     To make these little angels, I just draw a pattern for the muslin heads and gunny sack bodies on paper, cut out 20 sets at a time, and sew in an assembly line.
Head- The head pattern shapes were made by drawing a skinny triangle about 5" long and 2" wide at its base.  I shape the top (head) area by rounding and softening it's shape, so it looks like a head and has an obvious neck.  I add a 1/4" seam allowance, sew in an assembly line, turn them out and stuff them with leftover polyfil.  I whip-stitch the bottoms closed.  It will be stuffed into the body "sack" later.
Body- To make the body sack, I just estimate how long and wide I want the body to be and add a 1/4 seam allowance to the rectangle.  I just measured one and it's about 5" tall and 4' wide at its base including seam allowances.  I sew up both sides and the base, but leave the top open and I do not finish top edges, I want them rough.  Turn.  Add a bit of stuffing if you like.  Handsew a running stitch along top about 3/8" from edge and insert head.  Draw thread taught and knot it closed.  I always a add a few more stitches to lock head into body sack.
Wings- As you can see, I use what I have.  Raffia, wired ribbon, hammered copper, whatever medium available.  I attach them either with wire, hot glue, or strong thread, depending on the medium.
Hair- I have used doll hair, raffia, cut up wire brillo pads in the past.
Face- I use Pigma micron thin waterproof pens to draw faces.  They never run.  I also use old cosmetics ie: cheek color and a Q-tip to apply cheek color to angels.
Embellishments- I add cute buttons, ribbons, bells, bows.  I run a pearl cotton thread through head for tree hanger.  They can be scented with cinnamon oil or clove oil too. Enjoy!

This ornament is linked to Deborah Jean's Dandelion House 

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

 & 

the Virtual Christmas Ornament Swap

Thanks for visiting, I hope you stop by again. I like comments.

Virtual Christmas Ornament Swap

     Just like the button above says, we're having a VIRTUAL Christmas ornament SWAP!  It's a BLOG HOP designed to allow you to show off your creative side by sharing an image and tutorial or story about a Christmas ornament you like to make and swap OR have received at Christmas.  

     I am a Christmas ornament junkie.  Over the years, I have made and given away literally hundreds of angels, snowmen, santas, and the like.  I LOVE making and giving them away so I will be sharing quite a few of my own ornaments.  I encourage you to share your favorites too.  

Rules-

1. Any medium, any style- sewn, quilted, glued, painted, beaded, wired- WHATEVER! So long as it's a Christmas ornament.

2. Please grab the button and post it to your wall so more folks can see it and be inspired to participate too.

3. Link as many ornaments as you like, the more the merrier.  I love new ideas!

4. Have FUN and get your workshop hopping!

Handmade Gifts From the Heart Blog Hop!

   
ATTENTION CRAFTERS, BUILDERS, CHEFS, AND MOMS! This post is for you.  When my hubby and I were just starting out, we used to make nearly all of the gifts we gave to family and friends for birthdays and Christmas.  We had to, we didn't have any extra money.  I have to confess, those Christmases were my favorites.  It was so much fun.  I enjoyed the whole creation process. Planning gifts, picking colors, textures, paint, and designing and making everything was a blast.  Our family enjoyed those days so much more too. The look on my Mom's face when Jerry unveiled her new cabinets, or a bench seat would bring tears to everybody's eyes.  There is nothing more satisfying than giving someone you love, something they really want. Likewise, who wouldn't rather have a gift made by your loved one's own hands.  My favorite all-time gifts  came from my husband, my Grandma, and my son Jon; and they were all homemade.
     Homemade gifts are meaningful in so many ways.  My hubby Jerry and I talked about it recently and decided that we will be going "old school" this year.  We are going to make as many gifts as we can.  It's a selfish plan really, I know.  We love making things, our family enjoys homemade gifts, and making things keeps me busy and helps burn some of those excess calories, so it all works out in the end.
     We've made dolls, rockers, quilts, clothes, food-in-jar mixes, painted decorations, garden boxes, and so many other gadgets and goodies over the years, and we like finding new, practical, interesting gift ideas.        
     That's where the blog comes in.  I am going to post and share some of the ideas, directions, and instructions for a few of my gift giving plans and I'd really appreciate it if YOU would link up and share a few of your homemade, handmade, gift giving ideas with all of us here too.  That way, we build a sort of instant "ebook" on this blog hop linky that we can all refer back to for good ideas all season long.

Share as many homemade gift and craft ideas as you like, the more the merrier.  

I have just a few requests, please oblige me.

1. It would be wonderful if you would place the button for this linky party on your blog. (You can cut n' paste the HTML code from the side of this page.)

2. If you get the chance, write a post about our hop so more people can hear about it.  The more people participating, the more ideas we get, thus- the bigger our bag of tricks will be for Christmas gifts.

     That's it, It's time to get brainstorming.  I know we will all be busy this next week, so I don't expect many posts yet, but think about ideas.  That's what I will be doing alot of (as I cook) thinking up ideas. Get back here and post when you have a chance and check in every few days to see what's new.

I have linked up this Blog Hop to Deborah Jean's Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Prairie Homestead's Barn Hop

and Ladybug Blessings' Handmade Tuesdays

Thanks for visiting, I hope you stop by again.

Special Delivery...

I am so excited. I just have to share.  This afternoon I dragged myself in from the garden (a bit tired) to find a mysteriously adorned package waiting for me...

 Looking at these cute hand drawn pumpkins and colorful fall leaves really piqued my curiosity.

It was addressed to me so I decided to open it and this is what I found inside...

 

 an adorable Harvest chair pillow

 a hand crafted candy corn mouse

 a calorie free gingerbread man...

 something cute enough to crow about...

 pretty seed packet hangers...

 and even a bit of chocolate roca... Yum!

As it happens, this wonderful care package comes from my talented swap buddy R'chelle.  You see, I am a member/fan of the "~Primitive/Country Home & Garden~" group on Facebook and we swap handmade gifts.  This was my first swap, but it's been such fun, I can hardly wait to do it again.  

Thanks for visiting, I hope you stop by again. I like comments.

Easy D.I.Y. Fabric Pumpkins to Decorate Your Home for FALL

Hi all!  I hope this Fall weather finds you happy, healthy, and in the mood for a bit of crafting.  I am!  As the nights get cool and the leaves change colors and fall to the ground, I get the urge to create something bright and colorful inside to enjoy during the cooler weather.  Here's an easy DIY project that anyone can do at home with a few basic staples many of us have on hand.

What you need:

sewing machine (or sew by hand)

Fabric

needle

thread

polyfil, batting or fabric scraps

glue gun

buttons or beeds

floral wire

wool or contrasting fabric for stem and leaves

rice (to weight base- optional)

How To:

First, cut out a rectangle for your pumpkin body.  Any size will do, I make many different sizes.  The sample I am going to make today comes from a fat quarter (18"x22" rectangle) which I pressed and cut into 4 equal rectangles approximately 9" x 11".

Next, fold your rectangle (right sides together) and pin for sewing

 

 sew sides together to make a long tube, but leave top and bottom open.

 

 Hand sew and gather the bottom.

 turn right side out

 

 put scrap of batting inside bottom of "bag" 

 

 like so

then, add a bit of dried rice or beans to give weight to pumpkin. 

  Stuff with polyfil, batting or fabric scraps.

 

 hand sew and gather

 

  Next, cut a length of pearl cotton wrap it around pumpkin like you would a gift

 

top to bottom and back up to the top, pull tight, knot it.

I do this twice for a total of 8 lines around the pumpkin.

 draw a pattern for leaves,
 

cut them from wool or acrylic, then sew veins in them. 

 

 Take another piece of wool or acrylic, sew long wavy lines

and sew into stems

 turn and fill with batting or polyfil

 
You can also wrap thin floral wire around a stick and add a few beads for cute decorations

 like this

 Hot glue it all together

Here they are!  Cute pumpkins that will last forever, or until you get tired of them...

 I have linked up this post to: 

Deborah Jean's Dandelion House

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

&

My Simple Country Living

Fall Harvest Blog Hop
&
Life as Mom's Frugal Friday