Owl Mouse Pad

I’m sure most people don’t even use a mouse pad anymore. Kids under 5 probably don’t even know what a mouse is. But I’m a bit old fashioned and still have a corded mouse (gasp!) next to my computer keyboard. It is a cheap Dollar Tree mouse pad, just plain black and boring.

I just went through my fabric stash and kept some of my favorite scraps for those someday sort of projects. Well, someday was today. My desk was just crying out for a very cute and stylish owl mouse pad. So I made one…

Super easy to do! All you need is some Wonder Under fusible web (I buy mine by the yard at the fabric store), some fabric, a mouse pad, a pencil and an iron.

First trace your mouse pad onto the paper side of the fusible web. Cut it out as close to the edges of your tracing as you can.

  Place your fabric upside down on your ironing board. Preheat your iron according to the directions on the fusible web.

Lay your fusible web on the fabric where you would like it to be paper side up. (It’s very nice that you can see through the web so you know where your pattern on the fabric is.)

Iron fusible web onto the fabric according to the directions.

Cut it out and let cool completely.

Peel off paper back and lay on top of your mouse pad.

Iron the fabric to your mouse pad according to the directions on the fusible web.

 

Now you’re ready to click away on your stylish new totally old-fashioned mouse pad!

Woodsy Baby Girl Quilt

I started this quilt before WAY before the holidays and finally decided it was time to get it off my to-do table…

I used my favorite, go-to fat quarter pattern from Two Little Banshees. I love this pattern! Quick, easy and so fun to make it unique!

I decided to appliqué this brightly colored quilt with some woodsy little cut outs. I also love the way the yellow gingham binding looks on it!

  Quilting inside each block with a 1/2” border is just as easy but more visually appealing than stitching “in the ditch”.

I think I want to try a boy version of this quilt someday…

Recycling Sweaters

I made a trip to the Goodwill Outlet (aka – The Bins) with some friends last Saturday. Sara and I filled up a cart with all kinds of cool treasures! I figured (from the Goodwill tags still on the items) I got about $350 for $30.80!

I picked up these three sweaters while I was there to make the sleeves into leg warmers.

I forgot to take the “before” picture until after I’d started cutting

I followed the directions on this blog but already knew what I was going to do and turns out I was right!

But I hated to let all the rest of the sweater go to waste. So I cut off the collar and shoulders, finished off the cut edge and made two infinity scarves. Then I cut the striped one into pieces, sewed them back together and made a traditional scarf, too.

Here’s how they turned out…

And here’s what they look like on…

Now I just need some winter weather…

Basting Spray

I have to confess that I had never heard of basting spray until one of my FB followers told me about it when I complained about hating the layering part of quilting. But it sounded so intriguing that I took my JoAnn’s coupon down to the store the next day and bought me a bottle…

First lesson learned: I am glad I laid down a vinyl tablecloth. I wish I had thought to pin it down before I started. :o(

It was a WHOLE LOT FASTER than the traditional pinning but I will probably need a bit more practice before I have it down.

 I have to say that I was glad to have an easier way to layer it together because I had put a little more work into quilting this one than I have been lately. I normally have just been going to the “stitch in the ditch” method.

 

I really like the way it turned out!

 

Puffy Jar Lids

We got several jars of applesauce for Christmas from my husband’s aunt. Her lids were so nice, with just the perfect amount of “puff” to them.

I finally opened a jar on Sunday and discovered how she did it…

Round cotton cosmetic puffs. They are just the right size to sit on top of a wide-mouth canning jar lid!

Then cut out a 4-inch circle of fabric and lay it on top of the pads…

Screw on the band and you’re done! Super easy!!! Thanks for the great idea, Cyndi! 

Raggedy Circle Quilt

I had a whole bunch of leftover circles cut out from when I made round casserole cozies a couple of years ago… I know! I meant to use them before now, I just never got around to it.

Well, I took all those circles and wondered what they would look like as a quilt. And since I had just had a raggedy quilt class at church, I gave it a try…

First lay out your pattern.

Then lay the two circles on top of one another with wrong sides together and right sides facing out… I did all of the back in the same print. It makes it so much easier!

Then press them. Lay a 6” square, cut out of cardstock, in the center of the front circle.

Then press the edges over the square.

Your circle will look like this…

Next, sew an x in the center of each “square”.

Now you can start sewing the rows together…

Sew them together with the seams facing towards the front. Sew right along the creased side of your “square”. You will have very large rounded seams in the front of your rows.

Attach each row to the other the same way; wrong sides together with the seams facing out and sew along the creased lines of the “squares”.

Once you have all your rows sewn together, sew all the way along the edge on the creased lines.

Now you need to get rid of all those extra big rounded seams between each block.

I folded each row flat and cut off the edges for a 1/2” seam allowance from the sewn seams. I also did each block individually so it would be more even.

  Using a pair of scissors with a very sharp tip, clip the seams almost to the seams (DON’T CLIP THE SEAMS!!! You’ll be sorry!!!) about every 1/2”.

Wash in cold water and a short cycle and dry on medium heat. I’ll warn you now, you’ll have a lot of pretty colorful lint when you’re through.

You’ll also have a very pretty blanket!

Hawaiian Quilt

While in Hawaii celebrating our 20th anniversary I saw so many gorgeous and elaborate quilts! The appliqué was so intricate and I knew I would NEVER make one… I fell in love with the pineapple design that we saw everywhere!

these quilts were at the Dole plantation

We did all our souvenir shopping at the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. Talk about bargains! I was able to get a pineapple motif pillow for only $10!

But my greatest and favorite find was a huge stack of pre-cut squares in Hawaiian prints for only $3.50!!! Yes, I said $3.50! There were nearly 300 squares in the stack!!!

I took my favorites that all coordinated with each other and laid them out…

Then I did it again…

 

Then I posted pics on FB and thanks to everyone’s feedback I came up with this…

It took a while for me to finally finish the whole thing up, but I finally did it!!!

I added an orange Hawaiian print back and decided to go with the no-binding method.

Now it’s ready to snuggle under with my honey while watching movies or reading in front of the fire with a cup of hot tea!