As a Mother’s Day gift for my Mom, I made her a little quilted wall hanging that explains the story of her relationship with my step Dad in three easy steps: Where he’s from (NM), where she’s from (WV) and where they live together (TN). I was never a fan of math in school, but it makes sense to me.
Hopefully I’ll get this off in the mail after work, on it’s way to my friend Jacqui in England. Years ago we used to send each other decorating magazines, so they were the first thing to pop into my head when I felt the urge to send her a little gift. Then I remembered that I can sew now, a skill I didn’t have back then, and thought I’d make her a little something, too. My “little something” morphed into this roomy Tote of Many Colors made with part of a Michael Miller Cotton Couture charm pack and a yard of fabric I bought while shopping with my Mom in Tennessee. (That’s the lining and straps.)
The little tag was so much fun to make, I’m sure I’ll end up making more!
Diego watched me turn the bag right-side-out when I was done sewing, and I swear his eyes lit up when he realized that was something he could crawl inside. He followed me around until I set it down for a picture and he tried to see if it might be a good place for a nap. Yep, I’ll be packing it up right away. (I’m trying to keep the cat fur off it, Jacqui!)
He is such a quilter’s cat.
I have a friend who is doing poorly lately. Years ago we used to trade decorating magazines, so my first thought was to get that girl some colorful magazines. And now that I can sew, I should make a pretty little tote for them, maybe with a personalized tag. I’m using Michael Miller’s delicious Cotton Couture solids — I can’t resist the colors! I’ll show you more when it’s done.
Did you know that if you iron a piece of fabric to the waxy side of freezer paper, then cut it to regular paper size (8.5″x11″), you can put it through your computer printer? Well, it worked for me with my Kodak printer anyway, although I did learn to keep my hands on the fabric to steady it as it feeds through after my first attempt jammed inside. The result is a little grungy looking, as you can see little stripes and smears of ink here and there. As that’s kind of what I was going for, I’m pretty happy with the look.
These are a couple more of the organizer wallets from my last post. They are addictive little things, and I’ve found that I enjoy them even more if I get a little creative with the covers. Having an easy way to incorporate writing makes me that much happier with them.
Being able to print on fabric opens up a whole new world of crafting ideas! Think about how you can personalize gifts with a favorite quote, scripture or even a private joke, so the recipient will know the gift was made just for them. If you are working on a handmade Christmas this year, I hope this helps!
I made my Mojo shirt last night! Man, it’s hard for me to take pictures of myself sometimes. This was taken in the bathroom mirror, but hopefully it’s good enough to at least give you an idea how the shirt turned out. (It’s actually centered well on the shirt, in spite of how it appears here.)
This shirt was made with a phone picture altered to crop right around Mojo, then made black and white. This was done partially because you could still see the green grass around his toes, but I preferred how it looked anyway. I bought T-shirt transfer paper and just printed the picture reversed on a full-page. It was easy to iron on to an old tank top I already had, and within minutes I had my very own Mojo shirt. The transfer is a little “slicky”, but the instructions promise it will feel softer after it’s washed.
Mojo was very excited about the entire process, but he’s excited about everything, as puppies are. The real test was when my husband saw it, smiled and asked me to make one for him, too!
CoopCrafts 