Easy 10 Inch Square (Layer Cake) Scrap Idea

 Hello friends and happy Thursday!

Perfectly Seasoned

I had approximately 20 layer cake squares from Sandy Gervais' Perfectly Seasoned collection in my stash.

In case you're not familiar with the term "layer cake", it is a collection of fabric by a designer measuring 10 x 10 inches square, usually 42 squares in the collection. Moda Fabrics coined the term "layer cake", but other fabric companies sell similar bundles naming them differently.

Perfectly Seasoned is an older collection, no longer available, featuring beautifully whimsical fall prints.

I didn't have a pattern in mind but wanted to create a new table runner and placemats.

Below isn't a tutorial or pattern, basically I'm just telling you how my mind works when sewing on the fly 😄

Cutting

Cut 10 of the squares into 4 - 5 x 5 inch squares

Cut the remaining 10 inch squares into 4 - 2.5 x 10 inch rectangles

Sewing / Assembly

I sewed 24 of the 5 inch squares together to create the center patchwork of the table runner.

I then took the 2.5 x 10 inch rectangles to create borders around the center, making sure that the corner rectangles were the same fabric to make it more visually appealing.

The pictures above show a strong contrast between the corner square fabric and the border fabrics, this is what I meant by visual appeal.

The table runner measures 19 x 40 inches.

With the remaining squares and rectangles I made a set of two matching placemats.

I found a beautiful set of rust colored fall napkins at Hobby Lobby that complemented my newly created table runner and placemats.

While at Hobby Lobby I purchased a package of small wooden pumpkin cut outs and some small fall stencils to create napkin rings.

All in all I'm happy with the results and especially happy with the reduction in my 10 x 10 stash storage container!

Until next time craft the life you love ❣

DIY Wall Art - Craft Stick Hexagon Shelf with Embroidery

 Hello friends and happy Wednesday!

I'm really enjoying home decor DIY projects, I find inspiration everywhere, not everything turns out as planned but the joy is in the journey.

Today I'm sharing a project I just finished that combines crafting and machine embroidery.

Our home has high ceilings and most of the time I have wall quilts hanging. I wanted to spice up the wall near the desk in my craft room.

My husband is a retired engineer who enjoys geometric designs, I was challenging myself to come up with something that would please both of us. Recently, I made this set of hexagon shaped placemats using black and white Kaffe Fassett prints.

Hubby commented on how much he liked the placemats....I had one of those aha moments and I knew what I wanted to make!

Hexagon Shelf - Craft Sticks

I did some online research on hexagon wall art....there was lots of ideas out there, and I got real excited when I saw this video on youtube.

This is one completed unit....

I actually didn't do a great job with this one, I was watching TV and didn't realize my mistake until after the glue had dried.  Lesson learned...I moved on!

After I made 4 and stained them....I began to think what next?  I wanted to add something other than a plant or candle to the shelf unit.  With fall coming up I picked four of my favorite fall designs from Embroidery Library. I traced the back of the hexagon shelf to determine the size needed for the embroidery.

After stitching the designs, I trimmed the fabric and a piece of adhesive felt backing into the hexagon shape then glued them to the hexagon shelf.

Here they are hanging on the wall above my desk area in my sewing/craft room.

And a close up of the designs themselves. I selected fall designs that only used one color (thread), the maple leaf and pumpkin design are blackwork designs with really cool stitch patterns.

They aren't perfect but I'm super happy with the results. I learned a new technique so next time I'll be better!

Until next time craft a life you love ❣

Decoupage with Fabric

 Hello there and happy Tuesday!

I hate throwing things away, I'm always wondering how I can upcycle or repurpose them into other projects. This is especially true for my scrap fabrics.

Decoupaging with fabric is quick and easy way to spice up glass bottles or cardboard boxes instead of tossing them into recycling bins.

My first project was to decoupage the cardboard box shown in the above photo. I started by trimming loose threads on my scrap fabrics and ironing them flat. The scraps were all very small.

I then applied a thin layer of Mod Podge (a glue sealer and finish) to sections of the cardboard box and began sticking scrap fabric pieces onto the areas with the glue, overlapping when necessary to cover the entire box.

After the box was completely covered I applied another layer of Mod Podge. Once the box was dry it had a sheen that I didn't like. Although the label on the bottle read "matte" it was clearly a glossy finish!

After all that work I decided to wrap the box with macrame rope, to hide the sheen. I then decorated the box with the word blessed, wood cuts on each side, added floral foam and faux sunflowers, mums to create a beautiful fall planter for my office.

I repeated the same steps using an empty whiskey bottle. The bright colored fabrics make this repurposed bottle/vase shine! 

The batik fabrics give the vase a lovely texture and looks great with the fall cattails I added.

I'm so happy with my repurposed projects!  They were so fun to make!

Will you try fabric decoupage?

Until next time craft the life you love ❣

Quilting for Fall - Part 3

 Hello there and happy Tuesday!

Today is the last installment of my series Quilting for Fall .  You can find the first post here and the second one here.

Mug Rugs

Making mugs are great scrap busting projects and make great gifts. Mug rugs are larger than a coaster but smaller than a placemat - perfect for a drink and snack. I tend to make my quilted mug rugs 6 x 9 inches or 7 x 10 inches in size.

When possible I try to make a mug rug, using the scraps after finishing a project . Sometimes I include a mug rug as a thank you gift to my customers when they purchase an item from the shop.

Bonus half square triangles and quarter triangles were used to make the following mug rug/coaster sets.

Mug Rugs with Embroidery

I am always happy to include embroidery in my quilting projects.

Below are a few fall mugs I made for the shop, all were made with scraps from the table runners, table toppers and mini quilts I mentioned in my earlier quilting for fall posts.

The embroidery designs were purchased from Planet Applique and Hug A Bug Applique.

Until next time craft the life you love❣