Tis the Crafty Season

I have been in the crafty mood lately.  

Here are some of my projects.

I went to a sewing class & learned how to make "wristlets."

I would call it a clutch purse.

I liked it so well I decided to make a couple more.

I gave the two "pink" ones to my sister for two of her granddaughters.

I will use the other one myself!

I started working on my granddaughters Christmas stocking.

We are going to visit her in November, so I have to have it completed by then.

I have made Christmas stockings for all of my family.

Most of them have been kits, but I freelanced 

my grandson's stocking & my granddaughter's stocking.

Here are the other stockings I have made in the past.

I resumed making yo-yos.  

 My mom showed me how to sew my first yo-yo 

while she was undergoing one of her chemo treatments.

My sister & I spent many hours sewing yo-yos while we waited for mom

during chemo treatments.  

My mom had started making yo-yos for a quilt many years ago.  It takes thousands of yo-yos to make the quilt.  It is a project that you work on in between other projects.  It is also a very portable project & it was easy to carry with us when we went to appointments.

We have all the yo-yos done & one of my sisters is sewing them all together to make the quilt.  Both of my sisters & I have contributed to the quilt so we decided we would pass it around between the three of us when it is completed.

I am sewing two different size yo-yos to make a cover for my cast iron skillet.

It has taken me a couple of years to be able to sew any yo-yos.

It brings back so many memories of my mom.

I attended a Dichroic Glass Fused Jewelry Class recently.

It sounded interesting & it required no previous experience.

I was a little disappointed in the class because there really was no instruction.

It turned into an "on your own free for all." 

Despite my disappointment in the class, I did end up with a beautiful necklace & earrings.

I picked up another old project that I had put aside months ago.

Two years ago when we were cleaning out my parents house that they had lived in for almost 50 years, I came home with hand sewn quilt blocks.  

My grandmother (my mom's mother) had sewn the blocks.

It was the type of thing that you couldn't donate or trash.

I told my mom I would figure out something to do with them.

I decided on a sampler quilt.

I would applique the various blocks to solid color background squares.

My first block attempt did not turn out well, so I put it aside.

After some research I discovered Heat N Bond Lite.

It was perfect for holding (no pucker or shift) the quilt block to the background block while I sewed.  I am really pleased with the results!

Here are the first four blocks that I am working on.

The last project I have worked on has been a bulletin board/chalk board made from an old painting.  I got the painting from my youngest son when we were cleaning out his house getting ready to sell it last summer.  He also supplied me with the bulletin board & the chalkboard paint.  I had to wait for it to cool off a little bit in FL, because I would be painting in the garage & I didn't want to be dripping sweat while I painted.

I forgot to take a picture of the painting before I started the project.

Here it is in process with the frame & background painted.

The completed project!!

That's all for now.  

I'm tired!!