Bicycle Pillows

Stash busting has been slowed down due to "life" happening.  I have managed to make some pillows form an original drawing by Sylvia that I have converted into machine embroidery using the software for my Viking Husqvarna embroidery machine.  I think they turned out really cute with the addition of some freestyle hand embroidered flowers in the baskets.  The additions of the flowers makes each pillow unique.  The linen look fabrics are from my stash, so there is a little bit of stash busting going on.  Now we need to find a gift store near a bike trail that would like to carry our bicycle themed creations.  When our girls were growing up we spent many weekends camping near our favorite bike trails in Minnesota and Wisconsin and riding our bikes so this theme brings back many memories.

Busy Bag #3

They just keep coming around here. This bag literally cost me $1. I got some paint swatches with perforated circles you could punch out. (They are BHG from Wally's). I bought a $1 pack of clothespins and hot glued the punch out onto the end of the clothespin. I also wrote in the names of each color to help with name recognition. It's all tucked neatly in another drawstring bag. We've got a growing collection!

Busy Bag #2

I have another busy bag to share with you. This is a matching pattern/sequence activity. I grabbed some blocks we don't use and set about creating some pattern cards. I made a template and left the colors blank if you're interested in making some cards of your own. You can just fill in with markers/crayons to match whatever blocks you choose to use. Again, I used a simple drawstring bag for storage.

Busy Bag #1

Amidst the craziness that characterizes our life right now, my mind has been turning to the next stage confronting us: Preschool! Eliza is now 3 and a half and we are planning to homeschool. I believe she would benefit from some preschool activities, though, and am turning my attention to that. I've been busy making busy bags the last few days. There are TONS of great ideas out there, and lots of them are at very little cost.

This bag is a number matching one. She gave it a test drive today and it was a big hit. You can download my template here for cards numbered 1 through 12. (I jumbled the numbers so you can print on different colors of paper like I did). We used buttons from the stash, but round pasta or cheerios (at snack time!) would work great too. If my math is right, you'll need 78 to fill all the cards. Obviously, this should be supervised since it contains small pieces.
The bag was made from about half a fat quarter I had in my stash. It measures about 8 x 8" and is just a simple drawstring bag.

Stash Busting

Well I must confess that the stash is getting out of control. 

 So I am going to be engaged in some serious stash busting in the next few weeks.  I don't think it actually qualifies as hoarding since it all in contained with in a closet, well, actually there is a bit of overflow, but it is all contained with in one room.J

Seriously, it seems that if you like to sew and knit you acquire a bit of a stash.  All of those impulse buys for a project that seemed to be calling your name but life happened after you left the store and the project never got finished.  Time passes and now you can't remember what you bought that nice little piece of fabric for.   This is just a view of one closet and not the boxes of patterns in in the other closet.  It is time for some serious stash busting.   I must admit it is kind of fun finding hidden treasures when some inspiration hits and it doesn't cost a dime.  The trouble is without some order it is hard to know what treasure you have.  I will be searching for stash busting ideas along with organizing ideas and sharing some of my finds here so join me; maybe you'll be inspired to do some stash busting of your own.

Another Messenger Bag

I revised the embroidery design for this one, making it a bit larger so the script is easier to read.  This one was a gift to my sister for her birthday.  Not sure which one I like better.  It makes me anxious to try some more embroidery designs. 

Custom Chair Cover

Although the old office chair we had was functional for the sewing room, it really did not match.  I had a fun piece of fabric that matched the room color so well that I thought I needed to use it somewhere so I fashioned covers for the seat and back of the chair and I really love the change. 

I simply cut the pieces a bit larger than the cushion size and trimmed the edges with bias tape then inserted a ribbon for a draw string, gathered the edges to fit and tied a bow.