School Auction - It is QUILTING time again

It is that time of year again. My children's school is preparing for the largest fundraiser of the school year. As I think I have mentioned before, my children attend a very (very, very) small private school. Along with the all of the benefits of a private education, comes the work involved to sustain a privately funded school. A few years ago we started a low country boil and auction. The auction includes a little bit of everything, trips, gift certificates, and household items. I believe that is one reason we have been so successful. The big draw for the parents is the classroom art, in our case QUILTS. The quilts, which include the student's artwork, are put together by parents.

This year the auction will include seven quilts, featuring the art of nearly 70 students! I thought this blog would be a great place to share our ideas! Let me start this post by saying that I am not a quilter, by any means. I am certain that I break every quilt "rule" known to man. No sewing circle would ever have me & I only learned to thread a needle 5 years ago! But we HAVE raised A LOT of money!

Each year our school director chooses a theme...we try to incorporate that theme in our Christmas play, parade floats, fundraising, etc. This years theme is GO GREEN. Great subject, great lesson for the kids, & so many, many ideas! I plan to post pictures of each quilt in progress and the finished projects.

The first quilt, kindergarten & first grade, is entitled "Save the Oceans". It was inspired by a project I found online. I wish I could link up to the owner, but I have no idea where I found this fantastic inspiration:

Which leads me to our version. I am working on the background "water". Sewing the curves has proved to be a little harder than I thought! I found a very user friendly tutorial at http://www.equilters.com/. ( Here is the link http://www.straw.com/equilters/library/techniques/sewing_curves.html) And now our work in process !



The children have made sea creatures, sharks, jellyfish, dolphins, using a glue batik method found at http://www.familyfun.com/ to create their artwork. (Here is the link http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/glue-batik-banner-785331/ ) I'll be sure to post some more pictures when we are finished!

Off to the sewing machine to work on another.....

Funky Side Table

Thought I would share this fun project I finished a few months ago. This whimsical little table needs a home, just not mine. I loved making it, just not sure where to put it! I originally purchased the table base with hopes of using it for a night stand in my daughter's room. But (sigh) I did not measure & it was way to big! My partner in crime found this great clock...hmmmmm. I removed the clock parts and attached the table to the base. I also added black stain to tone the yellow down a bit. Not sure why I thought a table with a clock on top needed to be toned down, but what the hey. I don't think the clock face would withstand the elements, or this baby would be on the porch! Isn't it fun?

Sweet Scarf

I think the rain has finally ended in GA, the kids are sleeping, and the washing machine is humming...perhaps I can finally get a few things done? I don't feel like a got much accomplished this weekend. I did, however, finish a sweet little scarf using left over Amy Butler fabric from a charm square pack. I used most of the squares to make a darling skirt, which my sweet girl refuses to wear! #$%^&@


Onto the scarf. The back of the scarf is remnants of a chenille bedspread that was slowly falling apart. (The remainder of the bedspread was turned into pillows!) I simply sewed a length of the squares together, added pom-pom fringe scraps, cut a length of chenille for the back, sewed right sides together leaving a hole for turning...and there you have it! Upon completion, I realized that white may not have been the best choice for a scarf. I am certain, that if Maggie ever decides to wear it, it will become a giant napkin? Oh well, it looks good on my porch post ;) !

Updated Blog & Etsy Store

I just got a new blog banner, Etsy store banner & avatar, and business cards! Everything "goes". I am so excited! I read a lot of blogs and I am always so impressed with the photos/graphics/creativity. I am a blog NEWBIE....so all of this is extremely foreign to me, but I am learning!

How did I accomplish this amazing task you ask? Well I did not! I simply placed an alchemy request on Etsy & received a lot of bids. Ultimately I chose a really great store with tons of cool invitations, business cards, etc., etc., etc. Really great price, easy to work with, and very, very fast! Can't beat that! Here is the link to her shop: http://http//www.etsy.com/shop/Deidamiah I am very pleased with my order...check it out!

I guess all of this good news means I need to get back to my sewing machine and get some items on the shelves of my Etsy store! I cleaned everything out after Thanksgiving & Christmas...time to get sewing!

Kitchen Cabinets

If you happened to read the last post, the felted wool purse was hopeless. My daughter is now using it to cart around the cat. Not sure if the cat or I are very happy, but my girl is...!


Onto this post, my cabinets. Once upon a time they were a VERY ugly "mapley" color, with a darker stain in the routed out bit. The wallpaper back splash was white with yellow flowers! Antique brass hardware and light fixtures. UGLY!


Well I had to redo on a budget & something I could do on my own. New wallpaper backsplash in tan and hunter green check, new light fixtures in antique rubbed bronze, and new cabinet hardware did the trick. That & the paint job!


Here is what I did:

*Sanded and cleaned all of the doors, drawers, and surrounds
*Let my kiddos go wild with chains, and a meat tenderizer (probably wasn't one of my better ideas)
*Gave each 2 coats of a cranberry/red paint (the cabinets, not the kids)
*Sanded, distressed, and cleaned again
*Rubbed, splattered, and dry brushed black stain on top of the red paint
*2 coats of poly


I probably spent $300 on the entire project. Not the choices I would have made with $15K, but hands down better than the before!

MY OOOPS Felted Wool Purse

So I went to a craft show & saw the cutest felted wool purse. But I had a cheap moment and said to myself, "I can do that!, There is no way I am paying $20 for that!" The original purse was not lined and was very flimsy. So I decided to line mine and add iron on stabilizer to the lining material. I also added denim from an old pair of jeans to the handle for stability.

Well, I am here to tell you that purse was probably well worth every penny!!! I tried to make my own. What a mess!!! I have read that all you do is wash the wool item, sweater in this case, in the hottest water possible & dry on high heat. Perhaps I bought the wrong kind of wool sweater? I had lint EVERYWHERE!!! Tons of it, what a mess!

Anyway , the "felting" part worked even though it was messy. The material was easy to cut, did not fray, & was easy to sew. I think the flower turned out cute. I'm not sure what I did wrong on the rest of the purse...the top is curling...it may because I top stitched around the opening of the bag to close the hole I left to turn the bag? Perhaps I should have hand stitched the opening? I have the bag lying under a stack of books for the evening, maybe it will look better in the morning?