The Mint Needle

Our little redbud tree in bloom. The days of April seem to be passing along, promising sunny days and warm breezes. Everything is waking up and turning gorgeous shades of green. As many sewistas are taking advantage of Autumn fabrics to get ahead on sewing projects, I'm opting for staying in the moment and sewing with some beautiful shades of summer.   I've been wanting to make Art Gallery Fabric's Spectrum Quilt for some time and I finally did it! What a fun quick sew! If anyone is looking for a simple project, this has to be it. I've been thinking about doing a second one in black and florals. Could you imagine? The contrast would be stunning! The only thing that that the free pattern was missing was how to sew the strips together. There was no emphasis on placing them a 1/4 inch off to make up for the seam allowance. My first row was a mishap and ended up being ripped and restitched. Well, you learn something new every time! And since ...

What do you do with those adorable clothes your kids have outgrown? Make them into pillows of course! The moment I saw the top in the " it just doesn't fit anymore" pile, I knew I had to do something. It was way too cute! And what better than to make an adorable pillow she can never outgrow. (And better yet... it's still washable!) All you need are a couple of things: a shirt with a cute design cutting shears cutting matte fusible interfacing a sewing machine straight edge coordinating fabric a good soft pillow :) Start by inserting the cutting matte into the t-shirt to cut your desired size. Next - apply fusible interfacing to the wrong side of your shirt and iron it in place. This will strengthen the knit fabric and prevent it from overstretching while you sew.  Grab some coordinating fabrics and start trimming. I kept my strips 3" wide by various lengths creating a log cabin quilt block. ...

Feel like stitching up something really quick & pretty? How about changing up those coasters for the coffee table? I decided the glass ones I had, needed to be replaced with some bright colors and a soft touch. Take a look! All you need are a couple of strips of fabric all measuring the same length. Stitch them together lengthwise and cut them into equal sized squares once they are pressed. I used black felt for the backing. Sew them together face side down in a U shape. The one side should stay open so you can fold it right side out. Once again, press. Carefully fold the open end inward and topstitch to seal it closed. Continue with the topstitch over all your seams. (My bobbin thread was black to match the backing. Just want to remind everyone to switch that out.) Aren't they cute? This is what I call a great 'in between projects' project! On another note~ Could you believe January has already come and gone??? I've go...

While at Joann's, looking for 'triple thick', (you'll hear about that in a different post) , I came across this adorable panel for a fabric book. I mean, who can say 'no' to Mary Engelbreit?  I fell in love with the little mice, bright colors, & Christmas spirit. It was something I've never done so why not give it a try? After all my panels were cut, I pinned each section prior to stitching because I wasn't so sure how the batting would be 'sew-able' through all those layers. A pleasant surprise, it worked! Just remember to leave a descent size opening so that you can flip it right side out. You can see in the picture below that I left an opening, about 4 inches wide. When it came to finishing, I just pinned through all the layers and stitched the book together. This is such a quick project to make! After completed, I realized how you can really have fun creating your own, unique one of a ki...

A pretty little number for a pretty girl! As some of you might remember, I started this project way back in June. Yes, yes, procrastination is terrible thing. I can only blame other projects (like home renovating) for this one. And I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.   But I need to say that this pattern was so simple to follow, I plan on making another one ~ possibly in a double knit or challis fabric.  (These are just some of the images from the first post in June.) Ta-da! The finished product! My gorgeous niece is modeling the perfect fit, which makes everyone happy, especially me! (Considering the pattern did not come with multiple size choices.)  Another thing I love is that we opted  for the side tie instead of the front, (which is what the pattern cover shows). If I end up doing this in a challis, I might push for the front tie. But, this time, I didn't want it to feel robe like. Ya know?     ...