Mini Collage Quilts

I have tried 3 times to make this post.....so here we go again.  I am just going to  type and add the photos and not try to move stuff around cause that just isn't workin for me.


I have had the idea in my brain for a while and decided to experiment on a collage quilt.  I have used a variety of mediums; fabric, paper, ribbon, buttons, lace doilies and old keys and some old jewelry.  I think there's a name for that...maybe mixed media.   I really like the look, a little vintage, a little retro.  The one with the spoon was really fun to do.  I love the little vintage hangers.  I found these online a long time ago, not knowing exactly what I would do with them.  Now that I came up with this idea, I am having trouble finding them.  The website I got the first ones from no longer carries them.  So I e-mailed the wholesaler to see if they had them and ask if I bought a dozen, would they give me a discount.  Well, it turns out they only had a handful left, but they sent me what they had at only 3.00 each (I paid 4.00 for the first ones).  They are trying to find a manufacturer in China to make them.  They told me a scrapbook company wanted to order 6000 of them if they ever find someone to make them.  I hope they work it out!   I will be selling these at a craft show I am doing at Clear Fork School on November 14th.  I will also have aprons and purses to sell.  I'll leave the big quilts to my three "sew sisters", and I'll stick to these little ones!

Lincoln Highway Route 30 Garage Sale

The first part of August my sister in law Vicki and I went looking for goodies on the Lincoln Highway.  We started in Crestline, Oh and made it just past Upper Sandusky.   I got a few of my favorite things...buttons, jadeite, scrabble games and some books.  Vicki scored a really cool vintage crochet set. At our last stop here is what I found and was my best buy:

Jadeite salad plates...there was a $5.00 price sticker on the top one...I assumed it was per plate.....No....$5.00 for the whole stack....there are 18 of them people!!  Can you say SCORE?  I have a pretty good collection of Jadeite, but not in this pattern.  It's called Lotus Blossom.  I put a set of 4 on Ebay this week and Wahoo, they went for $32.00!!!  I think I may have to list another set.

Sisters Sewing Soiree

Back in June we had another meeting of the sisters sewing get together in North Carolina.  Me and my 3 older sisters tote all our sewing machines, projects, fabric to my sister Diana's house.  She has a studio behind her home that can accomodate all of us and right outside the door is a swimming pool....so its all good!  This year we invited my sister in law Robin to come along. We call her our "sister from another mister" !  We had a blast!  Lots of sewing, a little wine, lots of laughter, and it would not be complete without a trip to Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC.  We also brought gifts for each other, it was just like Christmas.   I'll share some of those later.
 We refer to the get together as TBASSS.  Which stands for The Broke Ass Sisters Sewing Soire.  There's a little background story to that name. When were in the planning stages 3 of the 4 sisters broke something.  Diana - ankle, Charlotte- ankle,  Janee- ribs (like 6 of them in a car accident).  I must be an honorary member...I just had a broken heart cause all my sisters were in a bad way.  But all is mended now.

Diana's studio is awesome. She had little work stations set up for each of us with power cords and little ironing stations right by our sewing machines with a built in pin cushion.  I will be adding some of our projects later.  We all pieced french braid table runners.

Where in the Heck have I been?

Well as you can see it's been April since my last post. Well the idea when I started this blog was that I would have time to devote to it since I was going to be retiring in April.  Well things have changed in the household and it turns out I am not retiring.  It's really a bummer, but I'm getting used to the idea.  At least I can talk about it now without crying, so I'm making progress.  So I will try and keep updated with my projects and thrifting, but I won't be able to devote as much time as I had hoped.  Thanks for stopping by.

Sew Sweet Singer

Hi all, just wanted to share a pic of my little Singer Featherweight that I picked up at an auction a couple of weekends ago.  This was the consignment auction that  I got my set of Jadeite dishes at 2 years ago.  There was lots of sewing stuff there, so me and Hubby and my brother and sister in law made a day of it.  There were 3 Featherweight machines up for bid.  Hubby tried to buy me one 2 years ago at this auctions, but I made him quit bidding at $345.   I got mine for $170.00 ..SCORE!!  Robin got one too, its a little nicer, it had attachments and the box it sits in...I think she paid $260.00. So that was my anniversary gift from the hubby.  It is so cute...took me 2 days to figure out I had the needle threaded wrong, but I finally got it sewing.  There were 12 or 15 boxes of feedsack fabric there, these had maybe 10 or 12 pieces each in them and they went for $100 to $210 a box...can you believe that...and the same lady got them all!  There was also a ton of vintage fabric...I was willing to go $40 for the box I wanted.....it went for $90....bummer!  It had such cute fabric in it...all retro and kitcheny...we got no fabric that day....it all went high.  But we are happy with our little machines and had a fun day.

B is for Buttons and Bingo and Believe and Bliss

Well I have been working on a few things.  I love these little vintagey wire hangers, so I decided to create a few wall hangings. These will probably end up in my Etsy shop. I did get some of my purse organizers with matching wallets listed.  These are sew fun to make and so handy to keep coupons, receipts and your shopping list right where you can find it.
I can't seem to concentrate on just one project lately,  I just flit from one thing to the next.  Maybe I need a road trip to clear my head.  There is a wonderful antique shop in Lancaster, Ohio that I love.  It is called the Ole Shoe Factory.  I can spend hours in there. Hint, hint.....who wants to come with?  Have a good week everyone!

B is for Buttons



Dinners not quite ready!



Love the polka dot ribbon and the flower button

A little birdie told me

Lookin' good in my red high heels!

Sew Sweet Cupcakes



Can't you just see a cupcake rack sitting on this for a Birthday party...so cute!

 Don't you just hate it when you want to make something and everything just goes wrong?  I was so looking forward to a long weekend...(I had Friday off) and I just could not get the creative juices flowing.  Arggg! I cut fabric wrong..my machine was being a pain, I couldn't find a pattern I knew I had purchased.  I finally just had to walk away.    So, Sunday was a new day and I decided I wasn't leaving that room until I created something cute!  I have had this fabric for a while and decided it would make a cute table runner.  I might have to make some matching napkins or maybe a Birthday Banner. It measures 36 inches long and 12 1/2 inches wide.  I channel quilted the fabric first then added the ruffle and backing. 

I AM SEW ORGANIZED

Thanks to my sisters great idea I have been filing fabric. What a concept.  I still need more hanging file folders. I haven't gotten to the third drawer yet, but two are done. I may change a few things. If they are small pieces, I put 3 or 4 fabrics on one file, which made them kind of thick.  Trial and error I guess, but this freed up 2 shelves in my closet for card making supplies.  I rearranged the whole room, so it's a little more user friendly.  When I am making cards or scrapbooking I always hated dragging out all my tools and cluttering up my work area. So, I moved my table next to the closet that most of my tools are in.  I can easily reach in and get a punch or whatever, use it and place it right back in the closet without even getting out of my chair.  I am lovin' that!  I also finally got my  "S  E  W" letters hanging on my bookshelf.  I love the scrolly design. I got them at Hobby Lobby.....1/2 price..Yeah!

New Button Boutique Stamp Set from Papertrey Ink

I am in love with this stamp set.  It is sew much fun!  So many ways to use it.  My sister in law Robin and I had a play date on Sunday and spent hours creating with it. Here are some of the pretties. Some of them will be listed in my Etsy shop. I used a vintage library pocket to hold the button card....plus a yo-yo of course!

Where this woman creates

Painted sewing cabinet and recovered the chair

This is my sewing/craft space. It use to be my daughters bedroom. I have always loved the wallpaper in there and decided to leave it when I wanted a sewing room.  It is a sweet rose vine print with a  black and pink border.  I painted my sewing cabinet white, recovered the chair and added a few storage pieces. I found the black bookcase unit at a thrift store. It holds most of my button collection, books and storage boxes. These photos were taken right after I finished the remodel....it hasn't looked this good since!  I can only stand the clutter so long and then I have to straighten it up again.  I love having a pretty place to create!

This is a filing cabinet that I covered. It has velcro at the sides and holds my Christmas supplies.

Scrapbook area and day bed

Got this at Hobby Lobby, holds fabric

Cutting table

Bookshelf for my buttons

Fabric closet and a vinyl shoe rack that I store trims in.

Just getting started

Hello ,
So I have decided to start a blog! I am just getting started, so please bear with me. I will be posting sewing projects, card making, scrapbooking, thrifted and repurposed items. I also have an Etsy shop at www.sewbusy.etsy.com. Please stay tuned!