So much potential in just a few pieces! I like the necklace, but rarely wear them. With a little snip of a link, it will become a bracelet. With some extra hardware, it will make three more!
By combining the large jewel beads and the crystal rosary pieces, I made this fantastic blinged out bracelet. Now I just need a party to go to…
The citrine pieces from the broken necklace were pulled off the pins on the chain segments. There was enough to make a bracelet on .7 mm elastic cord.
Glue time! These lovely pieces need a pin back glued on to them.
This bracelet is mostly intact. One gem needs reattached with some cement or glue. It also needs an o-ring to reattach the sections.
This bracelet has elastic in fantastic condition. Most of the missing cabochons were in the huge parts bags. Glue time!
What progress are you making on your latest project? I love hearing from you!
I am adding a new category to my blog…jewelry! I have been making jewelry for more than two decades. I don’t make jewelry often, but I do enjoy this as a hobby, too.
I like to fix pieces of jewelry so that I can continue to wear some of my favorite pieces, usually bracelets or earrings. Harbor Freight sells a set of 6 jeweler’s pliers to make this easy. Lots of big box stores carry findings for making earrings, bracelets, etc.
Last year, when our friends came to visit, I discovered that my friend enjoys making jewelry, too. I started stocking the cabin with jewelry making supplies, too.
I found a yard sale that had HUGE bags of scrap jewelry…parts, pieces, some unusual, but functional pieces. Again this year I bought another HUGE bag…I sorted for two days! I wish I had taken a picture of the huge bags…I probably only paid about 50 cents per pound! Here are a few pictures:
The table in the cabin seats six! It was covered with parts containers and all sorts of bits and pieces. I love using repurposed tackle boxes for parts containers. The lids close tight enough to keep the contents in the divided parts…no resorting required. I have four large containers: glass beads/shell beads, wooden beads, and assorted beads, and one for findings. Seed beads are bagged and kept in a separate box.
This bin contains jewelry that is usable as is…no fixing required. In a future post, I will lay out the pieces in categories, like bracelets, necklaces, etc. to share with you. Some of these I will gift to friends/ family…or wear myself…or donate to charity.
This is the small bits container before I sorted it. It contains all sorts of beads, findings and cabochons (things that need to be glued onto something else). The baggie to the right contains pairs of parts suitable for earrings.
The container in the picture shows larger beads that were once upon a time rather large and chunky bracelets. One bead at a time, with smaller beads to make up most of a bracelet, these will be beautiful.
Behind this container, to the left, is a silk flower pin. It has a glued on center made from seed beads. That flower now decorates a basket in my sewing area. It was too gaudy for me to wear, but looks great on a basket.
This pile has an interesting bunch of bits…some of them are clip on earrings. Look at those amber ball creations…and those silver “horseshoes”! Woo-wee! There are also blingy thingys that I will be turning into pins.
This basket is full of things that need a little bit of TLC (tender loving care)…a little glue here…an o-ring there…as good as new. I will post pictures of these reformed pieces later, too.
This is full of pendants…anything that can be put on a chain or choker. Look at that fabulose gold pendant. It is as big as the palm of my hand! There are some others buried under there, too.
These bags contain several other sorted items: Rings, button covers, tie clips, purse hangers, cuff links and a watch! I will picture these in a future post, too. Some of the rings are right out of the 1970’s. Oh, baby!
I also have a bin that I did not picture above. It is full of things to take apart and repurpose. I plan on decortating my world with all of this “junk”. I will share my repurposing adventure with you later, too!
What “new” craft or hobby have you tried recently?
After months of working on four of these quilts at once, the first one is finally assembled into a top! This is our son’s version.
In this quilt, Sweet Childhood Memories, designed by Pat Sloan, each block has a theme. I chose fabrics from my stash to represent the given theme of each block. Here is a detailed look at my fabric choices:
My son’s favorite color is red. I used as much red as possible.
Block 1: Fairy Tales
I also included legends and other stories in this fairy tale theme. This block reflects a love for the story of Robinhood. The fabric has a forest theme: browns that look like bark, green leaves, and snowy cold nights.
Block: Best Friend
This block is for Henry. Henry makes the best chili con carne in the world. He and Jeremiah also brewed homemade beer at one time. Chili and beer colors are represented in this block.
Block: Bedtime Routine
All four of these quilts have newspaper print for the background in this block. Everyone reads or has been read to at bedtime in our family.
The water fabric represents bath time before bed every night in this block. I modified this block with a maroon sashing because I cut the squares incorrectly for the half square triangles…oops!
Blocks (from top to bottom): Easter Sunday, Favorite Outdoor Game, and Summer Break
The Easter Bunny was a crazy creature. He one time brought a swing set. Another time he brought a turtle sandbox…represented by the cross fabric. It looked like a turtle shell to me. He loved dyeing eggs. After Easter we always made a big batch of pickled beets and eggs to enjoy…and to use up those hardboiled eggs.
One of our son’s favorite outside activities was riding his bike. He also mentioned playing a game that was similar to Lord of the Flies. I don’t even want to know.
Ahhh! Summer break was always a great time for our family. As teachers we had time to spend traveling, etc. The red and blue fabric represents favorite popsicle flavors. I used the bullfrog fabric because we used to sing “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog”.
Block: Ride a Bike
Jeremiah had two bikes that I remember. The first was a push bike…the kind you push with you feet. He rode that up and down the sidewalk of our little fenced in yard for hours. It was orange and white with some black highlights.
When he graduated to a full size bike, it was red with white pin stripes.
Blocks (from left to right): Books, Sing a Song, and Movie Time
I was not surprised when he chose The Land Before Time and/or Jurassic Park as his favorite movies. He has always loved dinosaurs. The background fabric has dinosaur footprints and skulls.
Blocks: Nursery Rhymes on the left, Fun School Memory on the right
Jeremiah couldn’t think of a nursery rhyme that he absolutely loved. He did think about a song: “Cats in the Cradle”. Songs are poetry set to music. I love the cat fabric in this block!
The tulip colors represent parachute day in gym class as a favorite school memory.
Block: Childhood Home
The house that we lived in had red T111 siding. It looks a lot like a barn. (red fabric) It is a wooded setting. (green leaves) We also used a firepit and fireplace frequently. (red-orange leaves look like flames).
Blocks: Toy Box on the left, and Favorite Teacher on the right
The red blocks were the closest thing in the fabric stash to lego blocks.
Jeremiah’s favorite teacher was Lisa Wright as Musselman High School. The fabric was chosen to represent her cultural heritage.
Blocks: Favorite Bedtime Toy on the left, Holiday Memory on the right
Can you see the Gloworm colors in the block on the left?
The fabrics in the Holiday Memory block represent the legos that my son got as Christmas gifts for many consecutive years. Life was easy then!
Block: Something You Learned
Jeremiah shocked me when he said: “You were right” can prevent a lot of problems. He is sooooo right, but that is a difficult thing to admit sometimes.
I love the fabrics even though they do not really reflect his answer. The blue fabric has some cool tatoos: eagles, skulls, etc.
We have an ongoing family discussion about toilet paper. Some like it soft like a fuzzy bunny, others of us like it like sandpaper. I had just enough of this fabric to work it in as a background. I found it as I was getting ready to cut this last block.
I am happy to finally assemble one of these quilts after months of work. Hopefully, I will have another one to show you soon! I hope you enjoyed this quilt narrative.
As you know, I am working on the blocks for the Sew with Me 2023 by Erica Arndt. I am slowly getting caught up on this sew along. This is only block #2 and #3. I have decided to use purple and red as my main colors for these blocks.
There are now 5 patterns available. Remember…She also has YouTube versions of these blocks to help or to keep you motivated.
What ongoing projects are you working on today? I would love to hear from you!
I told you a couple of weeks ago that I would share my participation progress in some sew alongs. To find this block of the month, google “Quilting Life 2023” or click here. This block of the month is run by Sherri McConnell.
Blocks for this year are available in 12 inch and 6 inch. So far, the pattern is on one page (for those of us who like a paper pattern to look at). Video tutorials are also available on YouTube.
The pattern is available on the first Monday of every month. Please check the website for availability after the fact.
I am making both size blocks.
Progress so far…
I am using as much scrap fabric as possible, especially since I organized!
I also have a few spring pictures to share:
Forsythia in neighboring yardVolunteer white peach blossoms…growing in the compost
Now on a sad note…I am tired of deleting spam for pharmaceuticals, porn, and whatever is being sold or talked about in Russian etc., so I am turning off active comments. Please e-mail me directly. I love to hear from you!
To wrap it up this week, I hope you are having fun making…maybe participating in sew alongs. Hope you weather is making spring flowers appear! What are you working on/ seeing in nature this week?
I finally got the sashings and cornerstones on the blocks to finish the top for a quilt. I used a lovely gray batik. It does make the bright colors of the scrappy blocks pop.
Finished top
…and there is more!
While I was cleaning and organizing my sewing room, I found a box of scraps. This box was given to me by a substitute teacher that frequented the building I taught in. I have had these scraps for a while…since sometime before March 2020 (when Covid lockdowns began).
Scrap box…medium clear box
All of these scraps are around 2 inches…some are a little smaller. They are perfect to trim to 1 1/2 inch squares or triangles to make 1 1/2 inch half square triangles.
Accuquilt dies to trim scrapsLots of pieces…more to come4 1/2 inch star
I now have enough little pieces to string piece bonus blocks between all of my other projects! 😁
Have you unearthed any projects recently? I would love to hear from you!
I am participating in several quilt alongs this year. I will share some pictures and information for all of them here over the next few weeks and months. I am using a notebook and calendar to keep track of my progress in each one.
My notebook is getting full!
This week marks the beginning of the Bountiful Quilt Along for 2023. Fabric suggestions and a coloring page can be found here. New blocks are posted on the first Friday of every month from March until August. This Quilt Along is posted to collect charitable donations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Fat Quarter Shop posts the patterns. There is also a YouTube tutorial available. At the end of the sew along, there is a quilt auction of donated Bountiful Quilts…made by Pat Sloan, Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts, etc. A cross-stitch pattern is also available on the The Fat Quarter Shop site, but I am not interested.
The first block pattern can be downloaded here. This pattern makes two 24.5″ square blocks. It does take a while to assemble the many parts and pieces (98 pieces to be exact). They are large pieces that assemble easily. The directions are well written.
I watched 2 episodes of Midsomer Murders on Prime as I sewed up my blocks. I am using up scrap or fabric that I have on hand for this quilt. I did find a very interesting basket weave fabric. The first pink border looks like a color right out of the 1980’s…it might be…I bought it at a yardsale mixed in with some other scrap fabric. The star in the center of the basket also looks like it crawled on of the 80’s.
Here is a picture of my block(s):
First block 🥰
The center basket star is cute:
Star on basket
This makes a very cute quilt. Won’t you join in the fun?
Normally, my idea of a fire starter is a crumpled piece of newspaper with sticks on top. Apply flame with a lighter, match or torch.
Our wonderful Michigan neighbor, Sheryl , made us some of her special fire starters. Got damp sticks or slightly wet firewood? These are the answer!
They are made using a cardboard, dryer lint, finely chopped up fabric scraps, and melted ugly or broken candles. Combine in layers. I put a piece of foil or a cookie sheet under it until the wax sets, to protect my countertop.
Fire starters in a chunk
To use these, I will simply rip off one “egg cup” at a time. I place this on top of the newspaper…between the sticks, then light.
WV fireplace Michigan cabin fireplace
This is the best use for those garbage fabric scraps ever!
Have you ever tried making or using these? These are the best! I love hearing from you in the comments.
I started the blocks from the Sampler Spree block in September 2022. I finished all but 1 block on January 4, 2023. (That unmade block needed templates…uh, no…never.) Here is the final tracking sheet:
Tracking sheet helped move this project forward.
Here are the final blocks:
And the last few:
I love that little star!
I am planning to use the layout in the book to assemble the top. I am going to sort the blocks a little differently though.
