Peek through Toy Bags

I made these peek through toy bags from a tutorial on the Sew Can She blog.  They are quick and easy to make and so cute when they are done.  I think these will be quite useful.  I can't wait to make some more.

Therapy (Rice) Bags

I've been pondering making these for a long time.  They look easy enough but I thought what's the point if they aren't useful.  Since my husband recently had foot surgery I thought he would make a good subject for testing it out. So I searched online for some free tutorials and found so many it was difficult to choose.  There were big ones, small ones, square ones, rectangular ones... I could go on and on. I picked some pre-washed flannel (all flannel in my stash is pre-washed) from my stash and got started.

I decided to make one based on the ice bag my husband received post-surgery.  It seemed logical to make a size that I know already works.  So I purchased some tea tree oil from GNC then headed to Sam's Club for 25 pounds of rice (it was $8, much cheaper than a much smaller bag from the grocery store).  The tutorial that seemed close to the size I wanted to make called for 4 and a half cups of rice.  I wasn't exactly what that meant in pounds and I figured if it didn't work out, we could always eat the rice.

The next problem was how much tea tree oil to add to the rice. I knew it couldn't be much, since it smelled so strong out of the bottle (it smelled so soothing yet a little medicinal). Back to my online tutorial that said to put about a teaspoon into the 4 and a half cups of rice.  That was a bit much so I added another 6 cups to make a large batch.  It seemed perfect.  So I stitched up the bag and filled it with the rice and put it in the freezer.

After a day of being on his feet, my husband was ready to try it out on his sore foot.  He couldn't believe that rice would stay cold long enough but he wrapped the soft bag around his foot and leaned back in his lazy boy. 20 minutes later he was amazed.  His foot felt better and the bag was still cold! So it's a winner. I proceeded to make six more for the craft fair this month.  I hope everyone likes them as much as he does.

Completed Closet Makeover

Just an update on the custom closet my husband built for me.  While he was starting construction on my sewing table I thought I would take the time to really organize my stash right. So here is all my fabric, organized and ready to go.  I absolutely love how it turned out and it is so easy to use because it is so conveniently located and in plain view.  It's a dream come true.

Fabric Stash

Since my husband was working on my custom sewing table this weekend, I thought I would take the opportunity to sort/organize my fabric stash.  As I piled all the fabrics onto the dining room table, I felt a little ashamed for my hoarder-like tendencies when it comes to fabric.  On the other hand, I also thought I needed more yellows. Anyhoo, I got it done. I sorted, trashed, gave away, then folded the fabric that was left. It felt really good to get this accomplished. 

Mug Rug

This is my first crack at a mug rug.  I checked out many images online and chose to use ths pattern because it seemed like the best way to showcase the fabric.  The back of the mug rug has matching fabric with crosses on it (so religious) and I think these might be good sellers at the church's craft fair.  I can't wait to make many more, it was a fun, quick project. I think I can come up with a few other designs to enhance the religious theme.

Sweetwater Bags

I got the birthday bag pattern from Sweetwater last week and I thought it would make cute Easter baskets.  So I cut up some spring colors and made a few of the bags.  I made up some tags using a font called Casual. It had nice thick lines to make great colored tags.  I taped a piece of fabric to cardstock and ran it through my printer and got some nice results.  I think I should be able to sell them at the Spring Craft Fair.

Sewing Room Addition

Today my husband installed a wall mount swivel unit to hang my tv.  It's nice to have the top of the file cabinet back and to be able to swivel the tv to any direction that I want. Plus it's on a wall that would otherwise be wasted so it's not taking up any prime real estate like my design board does. My husband is a perfectionist so he will come back to tuck the cables away so they cannot be seen but  I am happy with it the way it is.

Solstice Star Series: Ribbon Star

I've been following the Fresh Lemons quilt blog and I came across a post for a quilt series called Solstice Stars.   The first tutorial was for a block called the Ribbon Star.  It was pretty and simple plus I could pull fabric from my stash so it seemed like a good way to spend a cold, wintry Saturday afternoon. I pulled out some bright, happy colors and started the series.