A little something for myself

I've been trying to use up some of my fabric stash, sort of taking a break from making greeting cards. I've made a few pillows as gifts, a t-shirt quilt from my father's old t-shirts and most recently, a purse.
The pattern is from The Stitching Scientist (ok, so this Blogsy app won't put the link there, but you can find her at http://thestitchingscientist.com/2014/05/oval-messenger-bag-with-free-pattern.html) and was uber easy to follow. The fabric is from the Joel Dewberry Ginseng collection that you can see online at http://www.joeldewberry.com/pages/ginseng-spice. That's all for now. It's Saturday morning and time to head out on a quest to find clearanced flowers and plants looking for a good home! Ta ta for now!

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Upcycled seed sacks become waterproof tote bags!

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, even had saved bird seed bags in my garage. It wasn't until I saw someone selling them on Etsy that were made out of horse and chicken feed sacks that I decided it was time to get to work. Only thing was I didn't have any horses or chickens! Well call in the reinforcements.... tada!!! My daughter asked around at work and found someone who had these nylon bags that she couldn't burn and VOILA! I absolutely LOVE them!!! These three were donated back to my daughter, the lady who knew the lady with the bags and of course, the lady with the bags. They've promised to be my guinea pigs of sort to test them out before I try selling them. As I was struggling with my standard sewing machine my husband walked in the sewing room to ask how things were going and I mentioned that the long-arm sewing machine I'd been talking about would come in very handy for this new project. We'll look around, probably check out the special sales at the State Fair in September. Any suggestions for types or brands would be helpful. In addition to using it for tote bags I also have plans to do t-shirt quilts and other "normal" quilts that need the extra space.

Kombucha and Kefir, altering clothes and other projects

What is it they say about the best laid plans? Well I am happy to say that I did manage to get a few things done today, just NOT in my craft room YET. I still have two more hours before bedtime, so will head in there as soon as I post this slide show. Just a few words to explain the pictures. First I show you my new batch of Kombucha and Kefir. I got starts from someone on Freecycle and thought I'd give them a whirl. I used to make Kombucha tea all the time, but haven't in quite a few years. I've never tried Kefir, so anyone with hints please pass them along. Next I show you what I call my dungeon. It's my sewing room and is a horrible mess. The projects that I show hanging up are clothes that I got at the Salvation Army. The pants are all too short, so I needed to lengthen them. One shirt needed the cuffs cut off the too-short sleeves and the other needed stitch-witchery ironed on the front sections to keep them from folding back on themselves with each washing. I discovered that by "welding" the facing to the fabric I wouldn't have to iron the front every time I washed the shirt. Oh the last project is a repurposed towel I want to use to clean my stamps. Baby wipes are great, but they tend to fuzz up too much. You'll also get to see two of my dogs, Libby and Katie, who were hanging with me down in the dungeon. Enjoy!