Use your stash challenge Archives - Page 2 of 9

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Spring Break Progress!

Last week was Spring Break for our house and home school. While the college kids were home the first week in March, we did not take off school as we did last week. I am sure that you noticed that I have been missing the past two weeks. I did write blog posts but we were busy doing fun things. I did get so much sewing done last week and it was great. I have a few photos of new items that were on the To Do list a long time. It was good to get them finished as they are also on theÂ Use My Stash Challenge items. They were also on my To Do List, so I am quite happy about last weeks progress!

I finished these baby swaddling blankets. They are reversible with white flannel on one side and the chevron on the other.

I also finished a fox blanket that was sitting around waiting to be stitched. So it counts in the total. I completed two of the red blankets, one blue and and the one fox blanket. So these would be numbers 18, 19, 20 and 21

I also sewed up these cute baby burp cloths.

I completed 8 baby burp cloths total; 2Â in the red chevron, Â 4 truck burp cloths with chenille on the backing, and 2 truck burp cloths with the diaper backing. They sure look cute. These are numbers 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28.

I also completed several capes that I bought fabric for two years ago. They are definitely sewn out of my stash fabrics. The capes are reversible. Â There are several different color combinations. My boys would have loved them when they were little. I finished about 4 of them total. I have several more that just need the finishing touches. These are numbers, 29, 30, 31, 32!

The baby items will eventually find their way to ChocolatesBabyShop.etsy.com and the capes are for an event later this summer.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Use Your Stash Challenge…14 – 17

I know that you are probably wondering where I am in the Use Your Stash Challenge! Have I been hiding, or have I simply forgottenÂ aboutÂ the Use Your Stash Challenge 2015! The truth is neither, I have been hard at work on this challenge. Here are some new things that I have made using supplies that I already had on hand.

This giraffe is number 14

His friend is number 15.

This is number 16.

This baby blanket is number 17.

So, I have been working on it but the items are more complex and take more time! It is great as they also use up more supplies! This is the last post I made in the challenge.

I have started a couple ofÂ new blankets but it is taking longer than I expected to get them finished.

I have been looking at some ideas that will use up more of my fabric stash. The Use Your Stash Challenge is making me think about what I can do to use up what I already have. I feel a bit guilty as I bought some yarn yesterday in order to work on a new crochet blanket idea. Â I gave myself permission to buy if needed. The purchase is within the rules I set.

Here are some cool ideas I found on Pinterest.

This i

Use Your Stash Challenge — http://thesewingloftblog.com/create-scrap-binding/

This is a brilliant idea and while I found it on Pinterest I am not pirating any one else’s idea. I can use my scrap binding on anything I want!

http://www.howdoesshe.com/easy-diy-road-for-toy-cars-made-out-of-your-old-jeans/

This is also a brilliant idea. I would add hook and loop tape to the back since we have carpet on our floors.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5d14f8180102dt0k.html

These are wonderful. I used google translate and the meaning is never quite right but I think the photos are enough direction to be able to make these scissor keepers.

This pot handle pocket is along the same line and just as simple.

These bunnies are so cute and a perfect Spring time sewing project.

http://733blog.com/2014/03/scrap-fabric-bunny-softie-tutorial/

Just a few ideas to get your creativity flowing! Winter will soon be over in my part of the country. Well, at least it will be in the 70 degree range next week. We do have ice and some snow forecast for this week. We still have snow in the yard from this weekend.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Log Cabin Quilt

Taking a quilting class can be fun. It can be educational. It can be both if you take the class with friends. I have never really quilted. I decided to use my scraps as it would be a great way to use up scrap pieces. This was not a great idea. It has been really hard and I have ripped out more than I care to admit.

I set out the fabrics to see if my idea would work. Â After taking all the squares apart and putting them back together about 4 times. I have learned some things.

When you take a quilting class for the first time. Buy exactly what they say. If it calls for 1 1/2 yards of color A then either have 1 1/2 yards or buy 1 1/2 yards of one fabric.
A class is not the time Â to vary from the instructions in any way. There is a reason why they want you to do the work a specific way.
Buy the gizmos and gadgets that they list in the instructions
It is stressful to the teacher for you to vary greatly from what everyone is doing. She worries that you won’t get it done, or that it will reflect badly on her.
It takes time away from the other students, if the teacher spends her time working with you on your crazy project.

Now you know what I learned this week. It has been incredibly stressful and I spent several nightmare days ripping out sewing and then doing it again wrong. I can easily say that this has been the single more frustrating thing I have ever done, and I brought it all on myself. I persevered and got it done.

I almost have the blocks finished. I have two left to rip out and sew again. That will give me 13 blocks and allow me a spare for the layout process.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Log Cabin quilt class

It has been a week of struggles here in Tulsa at the Studio.Â My back is still giving me some problems. I am doing all the right things and it just takes time for it to heal.

The weather has been odd, somewhere between blizzard and Tahiti. Which is pretty typical for Oklahoma this time of year. I never know whether to take a coat or not. So, I end up over dressing and then leaving the coat in the car. I have some huge snowballs out in the front yard and more sleet is projected for this week. My college kids come home this weekend for Spring Break which starts a huge round of days offish.

I’m starting my quilting class this week and here are a few of the fabrics I have been considering. Â I am trying to use my stash for the Use My Stash Challenge.

It is a log cabin quilt. I am going to make a twin sized quilt instead of a lap quilt as I already have so many crochet afghans around. The last thing we need is another lap quilt. It has been really stressful to figure out how much fabric I am needing to take to class. I really didn’t want to take all of my stash fabrics with me. The ones I did take needed to be ironed! So I finally sat down and figured out what to do. After calling both my Mom and my good friend Dawn. She quilts, regularly… as in all the time and Mom has made a log cabin quilt before. I Â knew that they would be able to help me or at least listen to me while I talked through Â it.

I hope to show you some photos tonight after class. I hope we do more than cut strips out, tonight. My back is not going to like that.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Karen Stewart

2 Crochet Baby Blankets

I seem to be on a roll these days crocheting baby blankets. I started this blue and white one before Christmas and then moved on to this grey one. They are both beautiful but I have to admit that I prefer the blue and white one. I have no idea why, well, it might be because I was using a new pattern with the grey one and had to frog it back 9 rows a couple of times.

I do like the almost houndstooth print of the this grey blanket. I also like that it could work with either a boy baby or a girl baby. This makes it a perfect gift for someone that doesn’t know which gender they are having. Â They are both crocheted out of soft acrylic yarn and will wash well. You will be able to find them at ChocolatesBabyShop on Friday of this week!

These are also crocheted out of my stash and will make items 16 and 17 for the Use Your Stash Challenge. So I did make progress last week and things are marching on with the challenge. I also spent some time carefully cutting out some quilt projects. I was being careful of my back so I didn’t get much sewing done but I am working on other projects.

I started a new baby blanket yesterday and I have made good progress. I hope to get it finished this week as well. It is in shades of purple. If you are following me on Instagram you have seen that it looks like this.

The colors are a bit off as I took this photo with my cell phone after dark. Which really changes how the colors look.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Baby Giraffe

I spent some time last week trying to figure out what I could crochet. I had hurt my back and I felt burned out crocheting baby blankets. I have recently finished two blankets and I was wanting to do something completely different. I ran across a really cute pattern on Pinterest. It seemed to hit the right chord and off I ran. I actually was able to use up some bits and pieces of yarn and I love the end result. These two cuties do fit with the Use Your Stash Challenge as I used up some small balls of stash yarn.

I showed you the arms and legs on Instagram and then quickly added the bodies.

Here they are together as they are already best buddies. The colors in the lower photo are a bit darker than they should be.

Perfect for babies or big sisters and brothers. The faces are embroidered on with yarn and the bodies are firmly sewn on. They sure are cute and were fun to make. You can make your own if you crochet. I will be adding these to ChocolatesBabyShop on Friday. The pattern is available on Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-giraffe-2Â

So this would be 14 and 15 on my Use Your Stash Challenge! I love these and I will make some more Amigurumi. They are easier than I thought they would be.

The snow is continuing to fall today. It started looking like this at about 9 am this morning.

Â (I know that this isn’t much snow if you are further North than we are but it happens infrequently enough that it is a pretty big weather event for us!) I live in Colorado for several years when I was a child, so I know this isn’t much snow!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Repair a tear in Skinny jeans

My daughter has these jeans that she loves. Our loving dogs jumped up on thisÂ brand new pair and put a lovely three corner tear in the leg. The jeans are so skinny that I couldn’t get to them to repair them. I know that holey jeans are the thing, but she doesn’t like holey jeans. So, I had two options: throw them out, or find a way to repair them. I decided toÂ repair them. Here is the process I used to fix her jeans. It is one I learned a long time ago when the boys were littleÂ and used to put the knees out on jeans.

Supplies:

a free arm sewing machine,

thread to match or contrast as you choose

pins

scrap piece of denim

scissors

seam ripper

Here is the tear on the outside of her jeans.

There are a bunch of extra threads and I didn’t wash the jeans before repairing. I would if I were patching the whole knee as I did when the boys were small. This tear is little and she has just put them on so they are relatively clean.

Step 1. Turn the jeans inside out. See how skinny these are.

2. Cut the serging on the edges of one side of the jeans. This is the opposite side of the decorative top stitching. You do not want to take out the topstitching. It is a hassle to replace and matching the thread and stitch size can be a real issue.

Here I am sliding the point of these scissors up under the edge of the serger stitching.

3. Cut the straight stitching and take it out as well.

A seam ripper will help you with this.

4. Cut a patch out of a similar weight fabric. It helps that the fabric has been washed and dryed about the same amount as the jeans you are patching. In this case I cut a Â square bit about two inches bigger than the tear.

5.Pin the patch in place. Checking on the inside that the patch is smoothly pinned and not wrinkled or wadded.

6. My sewing machine is a free arm machine. Which makes it easier to put the opened up jean leg under the pressure foot. You need to make sure that the patch is smooth under the jean leg.

Using a thread that matches the denim as close as you can get, straight stitch all around the Â tear as close as you can get to the actual tear. Use a small stitch length so that it really holds the patch fabric down.

You could use a contrasting thread color if you want to add it as a decorative element.

7. Then using a zig zag stitch. go over the edge of the tear. I chose to use navy thread.Â

Yes, you can see the stitching. but the hole is repaired and I think with boots no one will noticed the repair.

Here is the inside showing the patch and the stitching.

(Yes, my bobbin threads are purple.)Trim your threads on the inside and outside of your jeans. Then trim the patch down.

Sew up the leg with the straight stitch in the same place that the other stitching was. You want to back stitch at the start and end and be sure to stitch over the original stitching a bit at the start and at the end so that these stitches are well anchored. You don’t want your jean seams to open up while you are wearing them!

I also added a zig zag stitch on the edge of the jeans to keep them from unravelling.

This is the stitch I used.

Here is the finished product!

Yay, her jeans are repaired and now she has a pair for yard work, without the gaping hole that they would have in short order.

My back is a little better but I am not sewing much these days. I have been crocheting quite a bit and I will show you a few of my new projects in the days to come.

talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Use Your Stash Challenge-2015 Numbers 8-13

It has been a really busy week, I have been working on the Use Your Stash Challenge-2015! I have gotten several projects done and I might even be out of the single digits.

#8 I have finished this scarf/shawl combo.#9 I made four of these for a friend. Since they used stash yarns I am counting them as one item.

#10 This crib springs recycle to wall storage. I know it looks half finished but it is ready to hang and painted bronze.

#11 I finished this baby blanket.Â #12 I also sewed up about 20 cup cozies but I am only counting them as one. I have tons to sew that are already cut out. I am going to call a group of 20 cup cozies as one item for the challenge. I will get them all sewn that way and I won’t have them sitting around as WIPS. Here they are at the half way point.

#13 I also sewed some child sized reversible superhero capes. These two are blue and silver. I have a ton more to sew and it is just a matter of time to sew and the willpower to see it through.

This is what is next on my list of things to do.

Â Baby bibs: 6 done, 2 in the photo and 1 in the mail and 3 others.

Â Baby blankets ready to iron and do the top stitching: 3 sewn and complete, 1 left

Â Finish quilting the striped quilt!
Â Put the binding on the stripe quilt
Â Cut out and sew Â more super hero capes
Â Sew cup cozies that take red thread
~~Â Deconstruct some jeans so they are ready for cutting.~~
~~Â Pack some orders~~
Clean the studio

I have some fun things planned this weekend and the weather is promising to be rainy. This is good, it will encourage me to get some serious sewing done. I have so much to do. I will need to get some more navy thread, but I can sew with other colors until I get a chance to pick some up.

This year the Use Your Stash Challenge seems to be more about finishing what I have started. I like it. It is encouraging me to actually complete some things that have been hanging around for ages. I hope I can keep up the momentum and my mojo for getting things done. Â I have some custom orders that are in different stages of waiting so I must get back to work.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Karen Stewart

10 Stash Busting Links to Read

I feel like I have a super slow start to the Use Your Stash Challenge – 2015. I needed some inspiration and I found these lovely links to challenge and encourage me to keep going. My stash just seems to keep growing and growing. I have completed some bit fabric and yarn busting projects but I need something for the little bits of yarn and little bits of fabric. This list is a great place to start when it comes to stash busting those little pieces of fabric and yarn.

1.A great stash busting article from Quilting daily!

2. This lovely blanket from Spincushions

10 Stash busting links — http://spincushions.com/ive-been-stash-busting/

3. Yarn Stash busting idea round up by Making it Home!

3. The cutest toddler sweater by Tricksy Knitter that I have ever seen!

4. A paper embellishments stash busting e-course from A Beautiful Mess Shop

5. Crazy Mom Quilts has some great fabric scrap busting ideas.

She has some great ideas so check out the rest of her blog. Here is another post full of wonderful scrap ideas. I really fell down the rabbit hole in her blog there are so many great ideas and I love her use of color!

6. This Groovy Gahn by JustbecauseIcan on Ravelry would be a great scrap blanket.

7. Â Then there is this beautiful woven fabric basket from MarshmallowsandPickles.

8. For the Knitters…I love this blanket. It is superb. The colors, the pattern, I just like everything about it! It is fromÂ https://cauchycomplete.wordpress.com.

9. Â For the Crocheters, there is this option! It is from Dream a little bigger.

10. A great stash busting quilt is the ticker tape quilt. There are so many options out there. I simply went to Pinterest and searched for ticker tape sewing and came up with so many different options. Here is a great ticker tape style doll quilt. This one is from Teaginnydesigns. She got the pattern from Amanda Jean Nyborg at crazymomquilts.

There 10 great stash busting projects to give you some inspiration for the Using Your Stash Challenge – 2015!

I am not sure what I am going to do right now. I have some blah projects to work on but they aren’t as beautiful as these stash projects. So, I am torn, should I start a new stash busting project or simply use the larger pieces of fabric for the more routine sewing.

Do you have any advice? I sure would love to hear it!

Do you have any stash busting projects or links to share with me? I would also love to see those!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Karen Stewart

The New To Do List

This to do list has so much marked off as I have been super productive this week. It has been good to finish up or get so much done on several of my projects. I am pretty happy about following my to do list. I started work on several super hero capes that I am working on for a show this summer. It is on the To do list as it will use up a ton of satin that I bought two or three years ago.

I also finished these little Valentine envelopes that I crocheted for a friend. She has a booth at a craft/antique mall. So, it was a whole sale order for her booth. These are a perfect size for gift cards.

I finished up this shawl/scarf. The colors are wonderful. I am pleased that it is finished as it only lacked about three rows and the red border.

I have added 8 inches to this blanket and will probably finish it up later this week.

I am pleased that it is working up so quickly.

I still need to work on these items as I haven’t gotten to them yet.

Finish the quilt (there is probably only 2-3 more hours of work.)
Sew 3 coffee press cozies
Sew 20 coffee cup sleeves
sew 3 bibs (already cut just need to be sewn)
sew up 4 flannel blankets (already cut just need to be sewn)
sew 10 more paper pieced quilt squares

If I break this list down into easy to accomplish steps. I would rewrite the list like this.

~~Â Iron flannel blankets and pin~~
~~Iron satin~~
~~Iron quilt cottons~~
arrange sewing by color thread
sew items by thread color: blue, white, red, black and pink thread
cut out capes
~~cut out quilt cottons~~
Press all seams and completed projects for photography

I hope all of this helps. I tend to be easily discouraged by the mountain of work standing in front of me. I am still wishing for some snow. It would be nice to be snowed in for a day or two.

talk to you later,

Karen

You can visit my shop here:Â https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolateDogStudio