Happy Independence Day

Hope y'all had a great three day weekend celebrating all the 4th of July means to you.

Special thanks to all who have served, are serving, or will serve to preserve the freedom that is easy for us to take for granted every day.

I'll share some more of the weekend adventures later this week!

Progress?

I've mentioned it before, and I'll say it again.

A good sewing day is one where the garbage can is full.  In my quest to destash and USE the fabric I have, here is the great accomplishment of this weekend:

(if I can figure out how to get the photo off my iphone and into my computer it will appear here...technology, why do you challenge me so?  Hey look!  I figured it out!)

So it's one small garbage can of scraps.  But it's full.  And I have stacks of bib pieces on the cutting table waiting to be put together in addition to the dozen that are waiting for me to turn them inside out.  Progress.

The failing this weekend was in my fancy sewing machine that has the fancy stitches I use to finish off the gems I sell in my shop.  The tension stopped working.  No amount of re-threading or cajoling resulted in a seam with an appropriate tension.  It's a problem when you can just pull the bobbin thread out, right?  So off to the machine doctor we go...I hope I can get out there this week before Thursday!

Luckily I have a back up plan.  My trusty machine that has been with me almost 20 years.  (How is it possible I can write that?  20 years?  WHAT?!?!?)  Thanks, Mom, for the best high school graduation present a girl could ask for.

To Stash or Not to Stash

That is the question.

I listened to a podcast a couple nights ago and the podcaster was talking about sewing thru all her fabric stash. I mean all of it. She had one piece of denim left. She was debating how much stash she felt like she should have. What was the right amount to feel like you could just decide to go sew and have options of what you want to create but not so much that it would feel overwhelming.

I gotta tell you. The idea of walking into my sewing room and having neat, clean, uncluttered shelves sounds like a dream. I would be delighted. But the idea of walking in and seeing just one piece of fabric? That makes me uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable.

I've gotten very used to being able to solve a sewing challenge with whatever supplies I can find in my studio. In fact, I've started to feel proud about not always having to run out to get something (thread, elastic, etc) to finish a project. But how much it too much? How do you know when to say when? How many fabric bins in the basement of things that no longer fit in the studio is too many?

I recently visited a friend who has always been a person where there is a place for everything and everything is in it's place. Always. That's never been me. But it's sooo appealing. Realistically I won't likely ever be that kind of organized, but I'm definitely more conscious about how much might be too much.

So I've started. I'm attempting to use up my stash. If the perfect fabric or notion doesn't immediately make itself apparent, the project goes off to the side. The perfect thing is in there somewhere...I just haven't searched to the bottom of the right tub yet. No really.

Wish me luck. And if you're in the market for some sewing supplies...give me a buzz...I might have just what you're looking for!

Thrifty Finds -- Crafty Edition

A thirty percent off coupon for Savers.  How was this not burning a hole in my pocket?  How did I manage to keep it in my purse until the LAST day before it expired.  How could I not take a trip to Savers just to see if there was anything worth getting "on sale"?  I did.  And it was worth it.

First, for those of you who don't know Savers is a store much like Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  And you know I'm always in for a thrifty store to search for treasures.

In addition to finding a great black short trench coat which I needed to replace the worn out one in my closet and a couple funky scarves for my collection I always check out the crafty section.  I'm a sucker for recycling craft supplies that someone else never got to use, or grew tired of.  Vintage trims and fabrics are one of my favorite finds...some you just can't get anymore and the price is generally right, if you know what I mean.

On this particular trip the great finds were yarn.

How could I say no?  Four skeins of a pinky peach silk and cotton Noro and two skeins (albeit in two colors) of Cascade alpaca/angora blend.  I think I need to start scouring my "One Skein" books to see what gems I can dig up to turn these gems into some fun and functional projects.  I'm certainly up for suggestions.

What thrifty finds have you scored lately?

One More Sleep

Sister,
This one's for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhjTHlui2ws

See you tomorrow!

Treasures

This past Christmas I came home with quite a few treasures.

Nothing particularly fancy or expensive.  But near and dear to my heart.  It got me thinking about the other treasured items which I've already been fortunate enough to have as part of my daily existence.  So I decided to share some of those treasures with you.  Hopefully, this will be something that will prompt me to blog on a more regular basis.  At least for a while.  But enough about me...on to the treasure.

Today's treasure is simple.  A rug.  But not just any rug. One with some history.  My great (great?) grandfather was a weaver of rugs.  The "fabric" is denim that had outlived it's useful life as overalls, coveralls, etc on the family farm.  I've been surrounded by these rugs since I was a kid.  They would come out in the winter to help hold the snow, salt and just plain ick of Iowa winter out on the back porch.  My grandmother would use them in her house just about anywhere you could use a throw rug.  They're machine washable, and practically indestructible.  The loved, used and worn rugs are just as amazing as the never been used rugs.

At some point in the past 10 years my grandmother decided that each of her grandchildren needed a rug as a reminder of this man who is part of their lineage.  I was fortunate enough to end up with two that year--it's always nice when your grandma likes your boyfriend and gives him the family gift too.  :)

This past Christmas I got to choose another rug from the large rough wooden box that houses the few rugs that remain.  Here she is:

Brand spankin' new.  I'm so looking forward to adding the wear and love to this great rug, treasuring it for many, many years to come.

It really is easy, being green

Kermit the Frog was wrong.


It's so easy to be green!

Everyone is brings their own bags into the grocery store, drug store, Target, fabric store, right?

This weekend we to it to the next level.  Produce bags.

I found these great bags on Etsy before Christmas, and bought a couple sets for gifts. AMKDesigns makes a great set of six produce bags with a pouch that holds them all together.  See?

Luckily one of my gift recipients is the guy who goes grocery shopping with me. ( See how that works?)
In addition to using the reusable produce bags, we were at a local "wholesale" fruit and veggie place.  Trying all kinds of new stuff this weekend!

What's your new eco friendly discovery?