Penny Rugs

I am really enjoying making penny mats. I love the way I can watch my favorite shows while blanket stitching. I would like to show you my latest penny mats I have finished. This rust one is done with wool from a coat that I cut and washed in hot water. The pennies I purchase online.  You can buy them really inexpensive rather than spend the time to cut them. There are a many nice shops that carry their own wool and sell them already cut. This way you can purchased a good amount of pennies to do a few penny mats for a low price. You also receive a nice color selection. The crow can be easily designed cut and blanket stitched.  The other is done with gray wool. I purchase wool felt sheets in colors to design and cut out rose buds. I added a penny in the middle. This mat can be added to any décor. I hope you have as much fun as I am having making them.

Learning blogs are great!

 

Thanks for stopping in. As you can see I haven’t been writing post for a while as I have been learning how to quilt.

I wanted so much to quilt a table runner.  I thought I could just cut squares and triangles and put them together easily. Let me tell you it is not easy without some help.  I began to see that you had to have the right measurements to put squares together and sew them precisely. I had to learn how to place batting on and sew it so that the squares would set nicely. Borders also have to be cut right and sewn the right way.    I decided to get some help.  I could not begin to show you all the blog links I found that where so helpful.  The first blog was this: http://befickle.blogspot.com/   which  helped me then took me to this one http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/ which basically answers my entire questions.  I want to thank both of them and all bloggers that give craft lessons.  Since then I have made more and love it. However I still have so much more to learn. This is a picture of my first quilt runner.

Make a E Reader Case

Recently I   purchase an E reader but I didn’t buy the case because I wanted to try making one. I ended up making a few different styles since. These direction are for the first picture.   I am still trying new ways to make them in different colors and styles.

 Using a scrapbook blinder with a spring that was the right size for my e reader I took all the inside scraping papers out. I then open up the scrapbook and measured two pieces of material  adding 5/8’s around. Now I layered my e reader on the right side of the fabric and measured where the elastic would be place to hold the reader.  Now that I have the elastic cut and stitched to hold the reader I then  added batting and stitched the material right sides together with batting on top.  Then leaving the bottom open a little for turning  I  slip stitched the bottom closed. I then took a piece of material to wrap around the case and enclosed it with elastic and finished it off with a cute button.

There is so many ways you can make your own.  When making your e reader case just remember when adding card broad  add batting or form to make it soft and safe for your e reader.  Here are some ideas:  Use material corners instead of elastic. You can add a pocket for a cleaning cloth. Have  fun designing your own.

Cloth Doll

Lately I have been leaning more to making dolls then painting. When I am making dolls my adrenaline starts and I became anxious to finish them. Once I have the body done it’s simple to design her clothes, but when it comes to the face it is a touch and go, because it is so easy to make a mistake when painting the eyes nose, and mouth.  This time I used colored pencils first and then painted over them. Doing this leaves a shaded appearance around the eyes almost like eye shadow. Creating soft body dolls is so much fun especially when you see your finished product. The doll below was a creation that I started about a month ago as I like to do other crafts in between.    She is listed at http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftfrommyheart,

Snowman and Rag Doll

Happy New Year! I hope everyone is enjoying creating again after the holidays. I have been busy sewing. Here are a couple new items that I have recently finished. As you know I love to make my own designs in doll bodies and clothing. This snowman was created using wires for the arms so that they could bend. Some of you might have your own way of adding wire. I use floral wire, but not the one that is green as that will show through the white.

 Here is how I used it in the snowman. Sew and stuff the arm. Bend a long enough piece of the wire and tape the ends.  Now insert the wire into the arm leaving an inch down from the top so that you can stitch the end of the arm without hitting the wire.

The rag doll is another original of mine. One way to make perfect shape eyes is to look for eyes that you like and draw one on to tracing paper.  Now cut around the eye then trace that eye on to the tracing paper again. Cut the two out and place them onto your dolls face with pins. Take a pencil and draw around the eyes.  Paint your eyes. You can find both of these items at http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftfrommyhearthttp://www.etsy.com/shop/craftfrommyheart

Christmas Tree Skirt

Are you  ready for the holidays? I love to decorate and make new items for my home and Christmas is another favorite for me. As you have seen in my pass post I have shown you crocheting rag rugs.

 I wanted to make a Christmas tree skirt as I have so many Christmas print fabrics. Crocheting a Christmas tree skirt is really simple and if you follow the directions in my past rag rug post you can make yours in a couple hours. The only different is to make a center opening to fit the tree.  To do this just change more stitches before you connect and make the circle.

You can find this one at my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftfrommyheart

Decorate For Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times to decorate the yard because the weather is cool and the sun is shining. I wanted to share this with all of you. If you have your child’s yard wagons or trucks around you can use them to make your yard a centerpiece for fall. My boys are grown up so I don’t have toys around anymore. However that doesn’t mean I won’t be happy to find something in a yard sale or on the road side on trash day. I can’t believe I found this wagon in the trash. It is one of the type of wagons that was use to pull a child around. Being a crafter I always try to use what I have handy to decorate with. I had my husband drill a few holes in the wagon so that it would not fill up with water. A few weeks ago I had purchase these lovely mums of $3.99 each. Now I didn’t want to go out and buy hay for 5 or 6 dollars so instead I just took some craft straw I had and tucked it in between the wood. I have had these scarecrows for a while. Since I haven’t bought pumpkins yet, I use a fake one.