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Showing posts from 2009

Patchwork backpack made of old Jeans

This summer is not a craft summer for me, I spend a lot of time in my front and back yards. Only after sunset, mosquitoes occupy the yards, I go back to my sewing room and do some craft. I'm quite pleased with this scrappy look backpack, it was made of an old jean and some 11/2"squares. inside look applique the square stripe onto the jeans make a flip cover

Cupcake Apron

Yesterday, I spent the whole day on making this apron. It's quite easy-made. I cut two pieces gingham,sewed together along the shoulder part, then added ruffles along the edges, added 3 pairs of stings on each side, tied the strings together, an apron was done. I made a mistake when cutting the second piece, it was 3" short. I didn't have enough fabric left to cut another piece, so I added another piece and sewed a decorative piece to cover the seam. A cupcake was made of cake, butter cream, and a cherry

Spring in the front yard garden

This is a very busy spring. We finally manage to make a new front yard garden. Hunting for plants, stones and rocks, planting, replanting according to bloom seasons, heights, colors, I found it's quite similar to what I do for a quilting project: hunting for fabric, design blocks... This difference is gardening is really labor work, every night, I slept like a baby. It's worth all the sweat. isn't it?

Prepare for Summer

Summer's coming, and I'm ready to go. Since we took out our tent from its original bag, it has never been packed into that small bag again. It stays in a big plastic bag until now. It's quite roomy, with all those stuffed in, I think it can hold at least 2 more bath towels. I've been planning to make an emergency kit bag for a long time. Although I thought about it carefully, I still made a few mistakes. This is the one I couldn't figure out a way to fix without redoing it. The zipper should be inserted between the two layers like sandwich. I designed the inside part first, many pockets and elastic bands. inside look, still some room for tweezers, Q-tips, etc. Oh, the appliqued running ambulance, isn't it cute?

cross-stitch sachet

I haven't done any cross stitch for a while. Last week, I found a heart, an unfinished Valentine card. I stitched another piece and made a sachet. It was stuffed with dried lilac buds which were collected from my back yard last spring. Opposite side, the same

Heaven Or Hell

I heard a cross stitch joke: A cross-stitcher was very naughty in this earthly life and didn't go to heaven. At the gates of Hades, she was met by the Devil. "Welcome," he said, smirking at her. "Let me show you around your eternal home." The Devil led her to a large room that looked uncannily like a large needlework shop. The stitcher blinked her eyes, wondering if what she saw was an illusion. No, it was true. The most wonderful needlework shop she had ever seen was right before her. Still unbelieving, she asked, "Is this real?" "Of course," murmured the Evil One. "Reach out and touch it." The stitcher was worried that she would be zapped by 1000 volts, but reached out anyway, unable to help herself. IT WAS REAL! "May I look around?" she asked excitedly, all the while thinking, This can't be Hell! This is too good! "Of course," said the Devil. "This is your eternal reward." The st

Four seasons slippers

DIY is like weeds, when it starts, you can't stopping it from spreading. My slipper-making career started from a single felt oak leaf I cut when watching TV. It looked nice, so I started looking for a place to put it. then I saw my old slippers: after decorating, they were going to be nice. But when I tried to glue them, a new idea came up: I could make some new ones. I ended my slipper-making career by two more fluffy ones.

Fabric tulip Tutorial

Here comes the tutorial for the Fabric Tulips. Hope you'll like it Supplies: fabric: pedel-shaped : 3 leave- shaped 2 wire 20gauge 14" flower tape 13" fiberfill Tools: Glue gun Pliers Note: I drew white lines to show where to sew. Procedures: Step !: make the stem A. Stretch the tape gently, after stretch, it becomes a little sticky, B. Wrap the tape around the wire, starting 1/2" from one end, don't worry about the unwrapped part, it'll be hidden inside the bud. C. Use pliers to make a loop at the unwrap end Step 2: make the bud A. take 2 pieces of the pedal-shaped fabric, right face together, sew one side only, leave 1/4" seam allowance B. Sew the third piece and the piece made in step A together, right face together, it should look like this C. Turn inside out Step 3: Make the leave A. Sew the 2 peice of leave-shaped fabric together, leave the bottom open B.Turn inside out C. Sew along the edge Step 4:Assemle the tulip A. Fold the raw edge of the bu

Tilited Windmill--- A short cut

Here is the short cut to make tilted windmill, no need to work with triangles. All the measures are good for 5" squares. If you want to see larger pictures, you'll have to click on the picture. 1, make a template like this A. draw a 3 1/4" square on carton (or paper), you can cut it out now or later. B. Find the center of the square by draw 2 diagonal lines, the center is where the two lines cross c. draw a line parallel to borders, passing the center D.use a protractor to draw a line 57 degree cross the line drew in step C, passing the center E, draw a line perpendicular to the line drew in step D. F. clean all lines except the last two lines, and of course the borders if you haven't cut the square off in the first place. (G. Cut off the square if haven't done) 2 sew all the 5" squares you want to use together. I don't have any 5" square left, So I draw the assembling on a paper in order to show how to use the template. 3, use template 4, the bloc

Tilted Windmill Tablecloth

Finally, it's done!!! I've never thought it still took so long, since it was machine-quilted by my small home sewing machine. I wish I had a long-arm, it was hard to manipulate when the room was limited. Anyway it's done, I'm reasonably happy with myself and my sewing machine. I learned something from this project. Not love yellow very much, I rarely use this color. I don't have much yellow fabric either. But looking at how this area is lightened by the yellow windmill, it goes very well with red, blue and green. I'll buy some yellow fabric next time definitely. It looks retro, isn't it? Red windmills are actually less than both green and blue ones, but when looking at the whole picture, it appears there are more red ones. Red is more dominant, says any basic color book. Now I remember it. And I've been lazy, has anyone found it? I didn't quilt the border part. It's all right when looking at it, but in the photo, it's really showed, I g

Winter

Winter here is long, almost half the year, white and cold, at the same time, fun and beautiful. I can't tell how I feel about it. Sometimes I love it, but sometimes I hate it. You wonder why people hate winter? Yes! they were cars parking on road. And you wonder why people love winter? You wonder why people hate snow? It was our driveway after a snow storm. Our Kitchen door And you wonder why people love snow? The last rose in my back yard, it was beautiful, isn't it?