Monday, May 28, 2012

Some of my Favorite Appliques

I was just looking through my little blog here and realized I haven't posted many of the appliques I've done! This is crazy since it's my new obsession, so I'm going to try to fix that now.

My very first appliques!
Alphabet from Planet Applique!

Are you ready for the Fourth of July?
Fireworks by Applique Junkie!

Ayden's 2nd birthday outfit!
Pirate Ship from Planet Applique!

Austin's Sock Monkey!
Valentine Sock Monkey from the Itch 2 Stitch

Cute Burp Cloths
Both Designs by Planet Applique

"I Dig You" by Planet Applique

Friendly Shark by Lynnie Pinnie
*bought 2 pairs of Walmart shorts and used the fabric from one to do the applique!

Ayden's Spring Ensemble - LOL
Caution Sign by Hang to Dry Applique
Dinosaur Alpha & Sports Easter Eggs by Planet Applique

Emily's Birthday Banner
Cupcakes by Big Dreams Embroidery
I modified the candy piece from Embroidery Boutique

Emily's Octopus! How cute is this?
Applique Junkie

Friday, May 18, 2012

Sewing Room Organization Projects!

Like so many other people lately, I’ve become OBSESSED (or possessed, as my MIL would say) with Pinterest. There are soooo many AWESOME ideas on there & I just hope to be able to attempt even a third of what all I have pinned to date! I’ve posted a couple of prior Pinterest projects on here before, but I thought I’d write about my most recent Pinterest inspired creations this time.

I bought a sewing/embroidery combo machine last September and have gone crazy since then! It didn’t take me long to realize what a poor decision I’d made in getting the small 4x4 hoop machine, so I upgraded just before Christmas to a big dawg. I was originally playing in the kitchen so I could be near the computer, but realized that sewing makes a big mess. It’s even worse than the cakes because you don’t have to worry about stuff growing on fabric if you leave it sitting there a couple of days so I’m not so quick to clean up behind myself.

We decided to turn the extra bedroom/my hubby’s hobby room into a combined hobby room. I’ve kind of taken it over, but he does still have his little desk with his recording equipment on it. I think he’s a little bitter… we’ll do better when we get another house! Anyways, the first few months it just looked like a disaster area! Fabric & scraps thrown everywhere; you couldn’t see the floor, the table, and occasionally you couldn’t even find the sewing machine! I’ve been working hard to try to get it more organized. It’s not quite there yet, but these Pinterest projects/ideas are helping get it that way. 

The first is actually a quite simple project. I did see the idea on Pinterest, but I could never get to the link that gave the directions for making it so I kind of winged it. I used a tv table from Target, some quilt batting, GORGEOUS Riley Blake Red and White Chevron print fabric and the handy dandy staple gun. This works great and takes up so much less space than a real ironing board. And the best part is that you don’t have to hear that horrible screech every time you open it up. I think that’s one reason I hate ironing so much! Plus, my ironing board is atrocious so this adds to the “prettiness” factor of the room too!
TV tray Ironing Board

My next project was a pretty thread wall organizer. I bought a super gorgeous frame at Hobby Lobby & got my hubby to cut the wood to fit the frame. I covered the wood with fabric & then used drywall screws to make my thread holders. I really like the way it is now, but I think I’m going to go back and add some additional screws in between the rows so it will hold more than 48 spools. Maybe nails so the smaller spools will  fit. Or I might just leave it just as it is. Who knows!

Pretty Wall Thread Rack (In progress)

Finally, we get to fabric organization. This came from several sources adapted so it would work for me and my tiny space. Since we have a big armoire in the room, I’d originally thought I could use it for fabric storage. But, it was just entirely too hard to keep it nice and organized in there so we had to do something different. I bought several baskets at Michael’s in fun, bright colors and thought I would use them to separate fabric by colors. This worked pretty well for awhile, but still wasn’t exactly what I wanted. So, I went to Target and bought a 9 cube bookcase unit thing and used the baskets in it. They don’t fit exactly, but it’s worlds better than what I’d had so I’m happy! The coolest thing is the mason jars I’m using for scrap for appliqués! It’s really making my life so much easier – and it doesn’t help that it’s pretty too.

Mason Jar Storage & Basket Fabric Storage

Once the room is in complete order, I’ll post real photos. I was just excited to share what I’ve done up to now!