Kids sewing

I came up with my own pattern for this little apron for a 3 year old. It turned out adorable.

I saw this teabag idea on pinterest. I made them for the same 3 year old.

Navajo Code Talkers Quilt

It's coming together.

All the blocks are done. 

More Navajo Code Talkers strips

I really like the triangle and postage stamp strips.

The bottom is a basket but I didn't put the handles on. 

Navajo Code Talkers Quilt

As soon as I saw this pattern in the Keepsake Quilting catalog I showed it to my husband and he liked it. I ordered it immediately.  I went to my annual retreat in March and started working on the strips.  

The pattern was disappointing because it was not very accurate. It said to just add fabric at the end of the strip to make it fit. 

I love this fabric line. It's called Snowman Gatherings. I bought a jelly roll and added a few of my own fabrics and made this Triple Irish Chain quilt that was a free pattern from my local quilt shop. The blocks are 14 inches square. 

It only has 2 blocks for the entire quilt.

It turned out quite large.

The center squares were all the same and the outer squares are random.

Pineapple quilt

Keep looking at this...you are getting very sleepy. It is somewhat hypnotizing. This one has been sitting around for at least 6 years. 

Finally got it quilted.This was not that hard to do at all. But it is not one of my favorite finishes. 

This is a floral fabric that I used for the binding. It is not one of my favorites either but it looks great as a binding for this quilt because it has all of the same colors. Flannel fabric on the back.

Valentine quilt

This is another one of those quilts that have been laying around unfinished because I am too lazy to piece the backing together.  I took this one to the long armer and I thought I had the back pieced together but she said she had to do the piecing. I was so embarrassed that I just took her the fabric.  She said it was no big deal.  She did a great job.

This was a new design that she just got. Hearts and swirls. It turned out great. I had it in time for this past Valentine's day. It's one of my largest quilts so far. 

This is a photo of the back of the quilt which is flannel. The binding is black with red lips.

Joey's quilt

I finally gave Joey his quilt that has been in the making for many years. The quilt top was a mystery quilt that required only 2 fabrics. I used 2 flannels. I had the top done very quickly and it just sat for years until I got the backing together and took it to get quilted. I am working on getting tops quilted. I aim to have them all done soon. I guess the worst part of a quilt is sewing the backing together. 

Baby Quilt for Barrett

Close up of name quilted into border.

Lucy's Crab shack fabric line. I used one jelly roll plus extra for border and scrappy binding.

I straight stitched a quarter inch on each side of the seam.  FMQ kite tails in border. 

Chalk board greetings

I bought this chalkboard at Hobby Lobby for about $7.00. I've been wanting to try my hand at sign making. I saw this saying on Pinterest and It just made me laugh.  I used my Silhouette machine to cut out a stencil.  It is really hard not to drag your sleeve through it after you draw.  I screwed it up twice so I had to chalk the background in to smooth out the flaws. I used a tiny small dry paintbrush to remove the chalk to make a shadow. It worked like a charm.

I love how this turned out. I took it to a party for a gift exchange. So now I want to make another one for me. I am going to use a board and paint for my next one so it doesn't smear.

Chalk painted baskets

I painted these baskets that I have had for years. First I painted them Graphite. Which is almost black. I wasn't crazy about the color so I painted over them with a dry brush in Provance.

You can see the black showing through here a little bit.

 

This is the bottom of the basket which is a natural rattan. This was the before color.

 

Christmas Pillowcases

I made these flannel pillowcases for my son's girlfriend because she loves zebra print. I had to add a little bit for accent. I love how they turned out. I will give them to her early so she can use them before Christmas.

From dark ugly frame to distressed driftwood.

This oil painting has been hanging in my laundry room for at least 15 years. I got it at an art show in my little town. Isn't the frame gross? I wanted to throw it out for years.

I took the picture out of the frame and washed it down with a TSP solution to remove the varnish. It also took some of the dark color off which I wasn't expecting.

I painted it with the Provance color of Chalk paint. Then I clear waxed it and buffed it. It looked great. It had a nice sheen to it. Then.....

I decided to try another coat of wax mixed with Old white Chalk paint. It was actually too much white for me. I really had to rub it good to remove a lot of the white. So here is the finish with the picture back in. I really like it now. What a difference.

Amazing mirror transformation

Before view of Gold mirror and Old white Chalk paint being applied.

Here is the mirror after it was painted white. I flipped it over at this point to try and get into all the nooks and crannies.

Here is the mirror after it was waxed with clear wax and then distressed with dark wax. Then buffed to get a lot of the dark wax off.

Here's a close up of where I rubbed off some of the paint from the bead detail so some of the gold showed through. I think it turned out amazing. I just have to clean up the mirror. I may turn to mirror over and use it as a chalk board.

Do you see this gold mirror? It has been up in my attic for about 10 years. It used to belong to my father-in-law. I think he got it at one of the casinos that closed. He would go to their closing sales and pick up gaudy stuff. Well I took an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint class yesterday and you will be amazed at the transformation.

 These are some of the sample boards from the painting class that I took. The idea is to distress your project. Super easy to do. No pre sanding required, just slap the paint on.

Halloween pillowcase

Here's one of a set of pillowcases that I made. This set is more for a boy.

Halloween Pillowcases

I made 2 sets of pillowcases for 2 of my nieces who are in college. I sent it off to them with a bunch of other goodies in a care package. These are super fast to put together. I hope they like them.