Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Needlework Tuesday

It's been a busy crafting week at Green Acres.  After an hour-and-a-half of cleaning and sorting to get Christmas fabrics put away and supplies stored where I could find them again, my "studio" (as I call my corner of the basement) still looks disheveled, but I'll work on new shelving and storage later. 

Right now there are projects that HAVE to be done.  Like finishing 200 mini quilts.  I have over 150 cut out, and about 50 of those have tops assembled, but still a long way to go.
There are also projects that I WANT to do.  I have been itching to get back into sewing garments, something I haven't really done for since high school home-ec. class.  I recently saw a request posted on Facebook by Dave's cousin, asking for donations of "frilly" dresses to be sent with a missionary to Uganda.  When I asked for details of "frilly", she said that all donations were accepted and needed, but the young girls really like receiving dresses with ruffles and frills.  I can't resist the chance to make adorable pink dresses.  So I purchased a pattern labeled "Easy to Sew" and a variety of girly fabrics/trims.  I have one dress started, but the verdict is still out.  I'll let you know next week. 

And for a craft I could do while watching Denver win the AFC Championship (Go Broncos!),I discovered spool knitting. (Great tutorial from CraftyPod)  I didn't have a wooden spool, so Dave created a couple by drilling a hole through a piece of dowel.  It's a fun craft, but I'm not sure about the usefulness of a pencil-sized knitted tube.   A Barbie scarf?   I found ideas for making coasters and stuffed animals and jewelry.   Anyone have experience with spool-knitting or ideas for projects?

Just out of curiosity, I dug through my cedar chest and found a plastic loom that I used for making placemats many years ago and I'm trying the spool-knitting technique on it.   It would at least make a human-size scarf.  Results in a future Needlework Tuesday post.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather at Books & Quilts.  Visit Heather to see what everyone is stitching this week.

4 comments:

  1. Maybe I should lend a hand with some of those 200 quilts?? Fill me in again.

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    1. The mini quilts are for a friend who needs 2500 of them by May for a national church conference she is attending. They are just a 4-patch sewn to a backing square (no batting) and turned right-side-out. A small wooden cross is tucked inside and the opening hand stitched closed.

      She parcelled them out in batches of 200 to friends and family who sew. Some ladies have finished theirs and asked for a second batch.

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  2. wow, lots happening at your place. oh yes, please do re-cap what you are doing with those 200 little quilts. Cute dress pattern. I was looking around for you and found this one: http://prudentbaby.com/2013/05/baby-kid/easy-summer-muumuu-house-dress-tutorial-and-free-pattern/ looks fairly easy. there are some helpful comments as well. I've done the corking and had the same question of what to use them for. you could coil and stitch together to make hot matts.

    Thanks for linking up for Needlework Tuesday.

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  3. 200 mini-quilts? What are you making those for?

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