Bird Feeder

This was my find of the week. I found this bird feeder for 25 cents at a tag sale. I washed it up, put a light wash of paint on it, replaced the plexiglass with real glass and added a glass bevel with pretty paper & a saying to the opening.

Old Window Re-Do

I had a little bit of fabric left from my projects last week so I decided to use it up on this old window panel. I cut cardboard to fit where the glass use to be. I wanted to make some of the windows with frames for photos, and some where I could hang photos or momentous on the outside of the cardboard. I covered all the cardboard with bit & pieces of materials and then glued them onto the frame. I would love to use all of this weeks projects on a restored camper!

Fabric Covered Chest

This was my favorite project using the Cori Dantini "Beauty Is You Girls In Bloom". I found this chest for $2.00. It sat outside for 2 weeks before I could figure out how I wanted to use it. My husband and I have a deal that he can throw away my treasures if I leave them sitting outside for more than 2 weeks. That being said, here is how I went about this project. First I sanded the chest down. I sprayed primer on the outside and inside bottom of the chest. Then I painted it with Varspar satin/Lunar Tide paint. I used a peel and stick flower paper on the inside top lid. I'm not sure if it will hold up, but we'll see. Then came the fun part! I took a piece of of a quilt top I had made last summer, and I sewed one of the "Girls in Bloom" onto it. I added a piece of an unfinished Dresden Plate quilt block, and used a piece of the Bloom fabric for the center of it. I sewed some more scraps and embellishments onto the quilted top, and backed the piece with quilt batting. To finish the top, I will sew a decorative stitch around the edge and adhere it onto the top of the chest.

Star Quilt with Cori Dantini "Girls In Bloom" Applique

I have had this pieced star for at least 30 years. I thought the piecing was amazing except it did not come together correctly in the center, and it would not lie flat. Then I saw a quilt that used 1/2 of the star, and so I thought that was how I would use the piece. So I cut the star in half. Well, come to find out, I really needed more than half of the star for the quilt. Long story short, I put the star peices away. Then I wanted to do one last project with my 'Girls In Bloom" fabric. I wanted something with a little pop of red in it. I started going through my unfinished project boxes and there sat the star pieces. I also found a linen bed cover. Now the wheels start turning and I got all excited. I layed out the bed cover, put the star pieses on top, and realize if I put fusible webbing on the "Bloom Girt", I could hide most of the star's imporfections! Now comes the work! I hand stitched the star back together in the center of the bed cover. I fused the girl onto the center of the star, and I am delighted! I am hand quilting this piece, so it will take a while, but I think it will be so pretty when I'm done!

Tablecloth Using Cori Dantini "Girls In Bloom" Fabric

I found the cutest fabric by Cori Dantini. It is called "Beauty Is You Girls In Bloom". Each yard has 3 images of girls with flowers. I couldn't wait to start creating new sewing projects with it. Today I will share the table cloth I embellished with one of the images. This was the easiest of the 3 projects I started. All I did was apply Wonder Under to the back of the image, cut around the flower girl, peel the backing off and iron it onto a vintage tablecloth. I will stitch around the image when I have more time. I ordered this material from www.annagriffin.com. There are many beautiful fabrics and ideas on this web page.

Baby Quilt

I found this baby quilt at the thrift store. I thought it was so adorable! It had a lot of hand quilting done on it, and it looked like it was never used. The reason I am writing about this is because I often make baby quilts for teachers, family and friends when they are having babies. When I was pregnant with my son, two ladies at work made a quilt for my baby. I cried when I opened the gift. I still have it to this day. I know I am very sentimental, but I hope when I give a quilt to someone, it will be loved and used up. Throw it on the floor, make a fort with it, curl up in it on a cold night, but use it, because that is what it's for!

Recycled Junk Box

I felt like playing today, so I recycled a xerox paper box. I covered the box with brown packaging paper. Then I glued some strips & pieces of pages from a book onto the brown paper. Next I took some acrylic paints and brushed different colors around some of the torn paper pieces. Then I grabbed a few rubber stamps and put black acrylic paint on them and stamped flowers and birds here & there. When that dried, I took a stencil and sharpie and wrote words on the box. I love to use these boxes to mail packages to family, or just to store stuff in them. They look great out in the open, and it's recycling to boot!