5 ways to upcycle a linen jumper

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

The Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild had an upcycle challenge, which was due at the November meeting. The rules were to use 3 different materials that were not originally quilting cotton (fabric off the bolt) and make something from those materials. I thought it was a fun and interesting challenge! Being frugal by nature, I HAD to join in.

I started with a black linen jumper (full length dress) that I wore about 20 years ago. I always figured that I could use the fabric for something....someday. This challenge was just the push I needed to get it done. I had fun repurposing the fabric to make several things!

My first project was to make a leash for our puppy, Lucy. She has a pink collar, so I incorporated a few pops of pink into her leash. I didn't use a pattern, I just made it up on the fly.

Our other puppy, Gigi, has an aqua collar, so she got pops of aqua incorporated into her leash. The hardware came from the shoulder strap of an old purse. I'm glad I saved the hardware because it's heavy duty. I'm thrilled that I finally re-used it! My family was impressed by the new leashes, which was pretty fun! The puppies like to chew on them, so I'd call that a success all around. Ha! 

Since I had so much dress fabric remaining, my next project was a simple two colored zip pouch. I used black linen for the bottom and a fun fabric scrap from Cheryl for the top. (I used this pattern, but added a half inch to the width and a half inch to the zipper length as well.) The outside panels are quilted to batting scraps to add texture and stability. I love how it turned out!

I had a lot of smaller pieces left after making the leashes, so I turned those scraps into a flying geese pincushion. (Pattern is available here.) I like how the bright colors pop against the black, but I don't care for how linty the fabric is after quilting. Oh, well!

I combined a bunch of little low volume scraps with the linen to make a thread catcher. It was quilted as well, mostly by machine, but I added a touch of hand quilting to the top to finish it up. It was a fun one to make, and fairly quick, too! (Pattern is available here, which includes instructions for the patchwork version.)

And the last project, because I wanted to make 5 different things using the black linen, is a key fob wristlet thingy. :) Well, maybe I shouldn't say last project, but last project for today! I still have a little bit of linen leftover and I will probably making a few more things to finish it off. Stay tuned!

Since next week is Thanksgiving, should we have a link up next Friday or not? I'm undecided, so I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'll let you all decide so I don't have to. :)

That's it for me today! I hope you have a finish to share. If so, please link up. Thank you SO much for joining me for finish it up Friday!

wool and flannel pin cushions

The weather has turned blustery in these parts. It's times like these that I am especially thankful to be a quilter...(and part time knitter)! Last week, before the first snow was forecast, we finally started to rake our leaves. We have several mature trees in our yard, so we have gobs and gobs of leaves. I was raking around a tree stump and I thought, "oh! that would be a cute backdrop for a pin cushion photo." Then, I remembered that I had some wool squares hiding in the deep recesses of my sewing room that I had purchased back in 2013. (!!!) I combined those wool squares (along with some flannel scraps) to make several pin cushions. Some are all wool, some are all flannel, and some are a combination of the two.

I was concerned that the wool wouldn't contain the filling (crushed walnut shells) adequately, so I added interfacing (Pellon SF101) to the back of each square or rectangle that I used. (I interfaced the back of the flannel pieces for added stability as well.) I'm happy to report that it worked extremely well. I like to stitch the openings closed with invisible (nylon) thread. It makes for nearly invisible closure without having to stress over perfect hand stitching. Yay!

I've been traveling and speaking a lot this fall, so I've given away a lot of pin cushions. I'm happy to have several more to replenish the giveaway basket! Who can't use just one more pin cushion?

Happy Monday to you!

 

pincushions 21-31, the finale and a blog break

Well, it's the end of July and I completed another month of pincushions!!! Let's catch up, shall we?

 Day 21--simple hand embroidered hearts on "notebook" lines

Day 22--twin pincushions made from a sweet little floral print that I adore. (even if it is polyester. ha!) The tabs are made from a tape measure that would no longer retract. I love re-using things like that!

 Day 23--morning--a tiny Jacob's ladder pincushion

day 23--evening--another version of the Jacob's ladder block, but this time in red and white. I had it in my head all day long, so I had to make another one in a different color way.

 day 24--simple bias solid stripes with a tiny metallic polka dot tab

day 25--fronts--These were made from scraps that were leftover from my friend Mary's fabulous owl blocks that she was working on at retreat.

day 25--backs--the backs are quilted, too, and are made from more scraps from the same project. Don't they make a fun set?

day 26--I showed these on Friday already, but I had to include them in the line up. Fabrics are from my new collection Emma & Myrtle for Connecting Threads. :)

day 27--a simple cube pincushion, again from my new fabric line!

day 28--the front--I really didn't feel like making a pincushion on day 28, but as usual, red and white polka dots were the answer! This pincushion measures about 2 1/2" square. It's tiny!

day 28--the back. I love how the back turned out, too. I'm glad I pushed through and made something, even if I didn't feel like it. That's all part of the challenge!

 day 29--A simple design made from the leftovers of day 19

 day 30--ticker tape pincushion that uses teeny tiny Liberty scraps

day 31!!! And the last one....a happy flower block, inspired by my friend Rene's wonderful blocks. I feel like this was a fitting way to end the month!

Thank you ALL so much for your kind comments and for cheering me on as I made a pincushion (or more!) a day. I appreciate you following along on this crazy journey. It's been a lot of fun!

Here's a picture of them all together:

 There are 44 in all!!!! It wasn't easy to get them all in the frame. Ha!

 And here they are in calendar order. :)

It's been a fun month! Thanks again for all of your encouragement!

It has been my usual practice in the past few years to take a month off social media, and I've decided that August is going to be my month off this year. I'm tired and I need a break! I need to soak up the last few crazy weeks of summer with my kiddos. I also have plans to take a trip with my husband to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! (How can I be that old??) I'm looking forward to catching my breath and returning at the beginning of September.

Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of this. I appreciate it more than I can say. xoxo

more pincushions!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm a week into my one-a-day pincushion challenge in already! I can't believe it! Here are the finished pincushions from the past few days....

day 4-the front, which uses leftover scraps from day 1 (...because I'm crazy like that!)

I pieced and quilted the back of this one, so really, it's two in one!

day 5--an old school knit pincushion in DK weight yarn. (I'm working on a pattern for these little guys, but I'm still in the prototype stages....it takes awhile!)

 day 6--I'm calling this one "for the love of scraps". I don't think I need to say more... :)

This was a bonus pincushion for day 6...another knit pincushion, this time in worsted weight yarn. These remind me of cupcakes, and that's not a bad thing! Much like cupcakes, I don't think you can have too many of them!

day 7--This little guy is precious, isn't he? Originally I machine quilted this pincushion top, but my tension was off and it looked horrible. After I ripped out the quilting, I decided to hand quilt it. I'm so glad I did. It's much cuter this way. Hurray!

If you have any questions about pincushions, such as what I fill them with, please see this post for more details.

My pincushion basket is starting to fill up already and I'm excited to keep adding to it!

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

pincushion challenge revisited

Like I mentioned last week, I've decided to revisit my one-a-day pincushion challenge. My goal is to make a pincushion a day for the month of July. I did this last year and I had a blast! I'm happy to say that things are off to a great start!

day 1--I pulled out a bag of scraps that my friend Jacey gave me earlier this year. The color scheme is one of my favorites! For the design, I went after the first idea that popped into my head and I was thrilled that it turned out pretty close to my original idea on the first try. (That is NOT always the case. hahaha!)

day 2--this pincushion was inspired by the remainders quilt in my book No Scrap Left Behind. The triangles didn't turn out nearly small enough....so I tried again on day 3. I do love the one yellow triangle in this one!

day 3--these triangles finish at about 1/2"! This is what I was envisioning. I love this one so much and I have a feeling that this one will become part of my permanent pincushion collection.

Just to give you an idea of the scale of the triangles from day 2 and day 3....smaller=cuter!

A few things to mention:

1. I almost always quilt my pincushion tops to scrap batting. The quilting adds a lovely texture to the finished piece.

2. I use lightweight interfacing (SF 101) fused to the back of quilting cotton for my pincushion backings.

3. I use invisible nylon thread to hand stitch the openings closed, which I do by hand.

4. I use crushed walnut shells for filling, which are sold as lizard litter. I purchase them at Pet Smart. (25 dry quarts at a time. hahaha!)

I wanted to say a quick thank you for all of you who left name suggestions for my quilt top last Friday. I appreciate the help! There are some great ideas, it will be hard to choose just one!

One question I want to ask of you, do you have a pincushion collection? I'd be curious to know.

Happy Monday to you!

pincushions!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Hey, did you know that I love pincushions? (Hahaha!) This week I finished a bunch of them! I love making them because they are so cute, fairly quick to finish and they make great gifts. I've been giving them away nearly as fast as I make them, which is actually a good thing!

I'm calling these "granny pincushions", which are knit from scrap yarn. I love them so much! I remember my own dear grandmother had a pincushion in this style, but it was rust, teal and gold, if I recall correctly. Personally, I like the updated colors much better. :)

My daughter selected this yarn color combo. It's spot on, isn't it? This one is made from worsted weight wool yarn. (Technically, I finished this one a few weeks ago, but I haven't shared it here yet...)

This is another one in worsted weight yarn...the outside band is leftover yarn from my sweater!

This one uses chunky weight wool and it is all leftovers from two previous projects, both for my daughter. The orange and pink were from a skirt that I knit for her and the cream was from a hat that I made for her when she was just a little one. It's fun to be using the leftovers! It's also nice to have a momento of those days.

The middle ring used all but a few short inches of the cream yarn I had left. I was pretty happy that I played yarn chicken and I won. Barely. Haha!

There is a pattern that is similar here for the worsted weight pincushion if you care to make one (or a hundred) of your own. I'm working on making some in other size yarns and I plan to share the instructions here on the blog after I do a bit more testing. :)

I was cleaning off my cutting table the other day and I came across a scrap of this cute strawberry fabric. It was begging to be turned into pincushions. It IS strawberry season, after all! Hahaha! I like quilting the front panel of my pincushions, almost always, for added texture. I love these three together, but they will be going to three different people. They are just so happy!

The last two pincushions were made from the scrap basket. (As if I only have ONE scrap basket, HAHAHA!) The top one is about 3" square and the bottom one measures about 2" x 6 1/2" or so. I love how they turned out! (All of the sewn pincushions shown in this post are filled with crushed walnut shells.)

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

nine mini nines

Welcome to finish it up Friday! Is it just me, or did Friday come around awfully quick this week? ;)

I carved out some time to finish up the (9!) mini nines pincushions that I started a few weeks ago. I really dislike production line sewing, but having this many pincushions to photograph at once makes it ALL worth it!

I hand stitched the openings closed on half of these while my younger son was getting some teeth pulled, and I finished up the other half of them when I was waiting for my older son's band concert to start. Hurray for portable sewing! :)

I love the combination of the bright solids paired with the natural Essex linen. I'm ALMOST tempted to start another quilt like this.... almost!

One of my favorite parts about making the pincushions is picking the backing. Actually, arranging them in color order has to be the most fun! Picking the backing has to be a close second. :)

There is a tutorial here, if you'd care to make your own! You can see the entire quilt I made from this block here.

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. I hope you have a GREAT weekend!

friday mash up

Hello, hello! Today's post is going to be a mash up of finish it up Friday AND day 5 of the No Scrap Left Behind blog tour. I hope that you were able to finish more than I managed to this week!

My friend, Erin, of Why Not Sew, is the featured stop on the blog tour today. If you aren't familiar with Erin, you really need to go check out her work. She makes beautiful things and she is as sweet as can be! She is sharing the ADORABLE pillow inspired by the mini nines quilt. I hope you go check it out here and enter her giveaway. Thanks so much for following along with the celebration of the book release. I sure appreciate it!

For finish it up Friday today, I had the grandiose idea that I would make a whole passel of mini nine pincushions. Like, 9 of them. (Are you laughing yet?) Late last night, reality set in, as it always does, and I only got the centers pieced. Those blocks are 2", unfinished. Eventually, they will grow up to be finished pincushions....at least that's the hope. :) Although, if I could figure out a way to piece them into a circle, that would be pretty cute, too!

I did finish one lonely little pincushion and I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway to wrap up the week, since this is a celebration, after all. I will be giving away this pincushion....

....and a bundle of scraps, tailored to your tastes. (That is, within reason and within the constraints of my scrap stash.) If you'd like to win a scrap bundle and the pincushion, please leave a comment in this post. In your post, I'd love to hear about your plans for the weekend. (We will be celebrating my baby girl turning 11! Sniff, sniff!) The giveaway for the scraps and pincushion is for US residents only. However, if you are a resident outside of the US, you are eligible to win a digital copy of my book. I will pick a winner for each, so in your comment, if you could please include if you live in or outside the US, that would be most helpful. Thank you!

edited to add: the giveaway is now closed. thanks to all who entered! the winners are posted here.

If you have a finish to share this week, it's time to link up! Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!