A LONG TIME

OK, it's been a long time since I have been around. I took a break from the crafting bit for a while, had baby #2!, and am now coming back! I have a few projects in the works- will post more when they are finished.

shelves

I have been browsing lots of blogs as of late and fund lots of inspiring things. My husband is starting to think I am crazy because of some of the things I say-like:hey I could use that dirty old broken box for decorating!
So when I we sold a pile of these at an auction I was really excited. There were a few good ones, and several that were REALLY dirty and a little broken. The good ones went higher than I wanted to go, but no matter, I like the broken ones just as well! So I got 4 dirty old boxes and a few "crazy lady" looks for just $1!

I brought them home, cleaned them, and put them in my guest bedroom as shelves!(I saw something like this on a blog somewhere. I'm sorry I don't remember where but If you do let me know!)

I have been making one of the bedrooms upstairs into a usable spare room because my sister and her family are coming to visit this summer. this is how one of the corners looked before:















This is how it looks with the shelves...


These were taken after I put the shelves together but before the room was finished so please forgive the other "stuff". I was pretty excited about how they turned out. I have never been a fan of doilies but have inherited some and gotten others at auction in a box. I just kept them around and never really used them until my recent inspiration from the blog world! Now I am really glad I have them!

Quilt tops

(Sorry for the bad pic...too late to go back and get a better one.)

I tried quilting a few years ago with my mother& sisters-in-law and was only able to completely finish the baby blanket for my son and some pillows for my mom! So 2 years ago when I decided to do a home-made Christmas kind of thing I pieced together a little quilt top and sewed it onto a fleece throw and voila'!You have the blanket above! Then I thought-using a fleece throw is great! It's small enough that I didn't loose motivation, the back is done already, AND it's small enough I made my own pattern without much issue which eliminates the sometimes daunting task of taking an extra hour trying to read and follow directions-PERFECT!I finished it up just in time to send it out to my sister in Utah, even better!

So the next year I decided to try it again, this one went to a sister in Idaho...

This time I did start with a quilt block from another project(again, too many little details and I lost interest...maybe I should work on my patience). I thought this worked out nicely as I had a good block to start with which also made a central focal point.

I love this black and white fabric!

So, what I learned from this is that sometimes you don't have to follow directions. I am DEFINATELY not taking away from the hard work and the absolute BEAUTY of following patterns-I completely admire those who accomplish such quilts, but these worked out for me because I have no patience. I want to get a project done quickly so I can see how it turned out and start another one!
I also learned a little about color schemes....I'm terrible at choosing them. I hope my sisters don't hate them bc of the bad color schemes but liked them because they were made with love:)

I plan on making more, I have lots of unfinished quilts I can use the blocks from.

A Few Items

These are just some things I have tried in the past. I was never a crafter as a youth.... or as an adult for that matter- until recently. After I got married and moved to Missouri I started scrapbooking and sewing with my in-laws. This first one is a quilt top I made for my sister and her family as part of their Christmas present. I bought a 50x60" fleece throw and put the quilt top on. I have collected fabric from auctions and grandma and whatnot, so it's kind of retro.I am still learning, be kind.

 Sorry for the bad pic's. These were also part of my sisters Christmas present. I was going for a home made theme, a new resolution I have. Anyhow, my sister said her children love puppets and this is what I came up with. Styrofoam ball, toe sock and googly eyes with some extras thrown in!(These were taken right after I finished-:) you can see my pile of fabric in the back.)

These pillows were one of my first projects! I like things that can be finished quickly, it gives you that boost of "I can finish projects, and look how cool they are!" So as I was having a hard time getting a full size quilt top finished I was discouraged. My niece made pillows in her class at school and I thought- here is a project I can do quickly and easily, get that boost and finish my quilt top in no time!Right? Wrong! I had no idea what I was doing. I saw a pattern for these adorable sunbonnet Sue and overall Bill and wanted to try them on my pillows. So I pieced together these squares, then made up  house, sun and moon squares to go along with them. Then I couldn't figure out a good way to make a pillow out of them! for two years!! Enter my friend from church a.k.a. *Expert Quilter. She saved my project, taught me a TON, and helped me finish my pillows so I could FINALLY give them to my mom and dad for Christmas.

The beginning

OK, so my plan is to post anything I want! So far it will be sewing, framing, pictures, home renovations....maybe some recipes.... and more. I will do my best to give credit where due, but lately I have been completely obsessed with surfing all things craft on the net so If I can't remember where I saw something specific I will still let you know I saw it somewhere.