Projects for a New Year

A NEW LOOK FOR 
AN OLD CHAIR

I've had a platform rocker for a while and I was tired of the old brown fabric.  I finally got around to reupholering it and it really didn't take me too long.  

The old fabric...

The new fabric...reminds me of a Monet painting.

Looks like a different chair.  Next I have to start work on the sofa.  Now that will be a project!

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A NEW LOOK FROM 
AN OLD PURSE

I have a hard time finding a purse that I like.  I don't carry a lot of stuff and don't want a huge bag that hangs off my arm.  I like them small and prefer a shoulder strap purse with lots of compartments.  So...

I cut my old purse apart......

And used the inner pouch, zipper and shoulder strap and added cardboard and another zipper to denim and a blue plaid...

And now I have just the right size!

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A NEW LOOK FOR AN OLD 
DRESSER SCARF

A while back I found this dresser scarf at my favorite thrift store and got around to embroidering it.  The only thing I didn't know what to do was the edging. 

Well....when I had our girlfriend weekend in October at my friend Teresa's house I brought the scarf and thread and was going to have Teresa show me how to crochet a simple edgding.  There was no way I was going to be able to replicate what she was doing, so she kept it and finished it for me.  Whew!

I think she did a lovely job on it and when she got it back to me I didn't work on it right away.  So this past week I grabbed it and sewed it on.

Thank you Teresa!

Now it's ready for its place on my dresser with my Korean jewelry box and apppointment cards stuck in the mirror.  You can also see in the mirror my Thanksgiving cactus is still blooming! 
 
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I've really slacked off on sewing last year, too many doctor appointments, but I'm back in the groove again.
  
Thanks for visiting,
Cinder

Baskets and Tea Towels

WEDDING BASKETS

When I was visiting with my brother and sister-in-law in Hawaii, I spied a few of my baskets that I haven't seen in a long time.  

 The larger of these was for my niece, the flower girl, in their wedding.  It is made out of grapevine, willow and cattails.  The green ribbon around the handle was their wedding colors.  The smaller basket has a handle from an old embroidery hoop that was my great grandmother's.  I wove it with denim and reed.

This wall basket has a beautiful grapevine handle and willow ribs.  I wove it with reed and tapestry fabric.  The flowers in the basket are from their wedding. 

It's like seeing old friends again!

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 I haven't been idle.  Here are three tea towels that I've finished up.

 

Right now I'm hand tying a quilt for my sister and finishing up an old vintage quilt that was given to me.  I love all my projects.

Thanks for visiting,

Cinder.

Aloha!

FUN IN HAWAII

I had the opportunity to take a trip recently and I chose Hawaii.  My plan is to change jobs by the end of this year, if possible, and I wanted to use up my vacation days.  With my current job I have a lot of flexibility when I go and how long I can be gone and so I said "What the heck!" and bought a ticket to Oahu where my brother and his wife live.  Actually 2 tickets - my son went with me.  We had a very lovely time.  Here are some pictures:

We stopped at a scenic beach/picnic area.  There were always clouds in the mountains.  This was the view in one directions...

And this was the view in the other.  The island is called Chinaman's Hat.

A Portuguese Man of War was laying on this beach.  I thought it was sooo cool until later in the day one stung me.  It turned red and blistered up but barely stung.  I think it was my initiation onto the island!  Cool!

Morning sunrise...

Beautiful color of the water and I love watching the waves crash on the lava.

Little did I know that my brother lived by a famous landmark.  Gillian's Island!  Also known as Coconut Island.

We did a lot of snorkeling and I was lucky enough to see a sea turtle or Honi as they call them there.  We also toured the USS Missouri Battleship, the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Bowfin Submarine at Pearl Harbor.  Took a stroll in Waikiki and visited the Bishop Museum. 

An then there was gift buying...

       Shirts for my grandson's.  I didn't want anything too flowery!

 

       Sarongs and flowers for their hair for the granddaughters.

           For me: an over the shoulder tote bag 

 and a beautiful purple dress.

We had a great time and both got sunburned.  

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Three of our granddaughters came to visit over this past weekend and we made a trip to the Renaissance Festival.  I made a dress for the youngest.  She was a lovely Princess in her sparkly beige dress with pink under sleeves and pink ribbon.

 Later that day we made jewelry with the shells and coral I brought back.

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I wanted to thank my brother and his wife for putting up with us for the week, so I made them this green and beige rug for their house.  The colors fit right in.

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I have been doing a little sewing and will show my projects in my next post.   

Mahalo (Thank You)

Thanks for visiting,

Cinder

Dresser Scarf and Quilt

DRESSER SCARF

I saw this lovely pre-printed dresser scarf at the thrift store and just couldn't pass it up.  I have really enjoyed following Yesterday Embroidery and Stamped Linen Embroidery's wonderful needlework.  You lovely ladies have inspired me to return to my first love, embroidery.

I choose variegated purple for the lady dress, umbrella and bonnet.  I used 2 different color browns, light and dark, for the fence and a lovely scattering of colorful flowers.  This was a fun project and will look well on the wash stand in the spare bedroom.

 Now I need help.  How do I finish the edges?  Do I cut along the perforated opening?  Someone help me!

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QUILT

My husband wanted a lap quilt that was long enough to cover his feet when he is napping in the recliner but not too wide.  I had a mixed batch of small squares and I added 4 large blue one to break it up.  

 I used a diagonal pattern and worked around the large blue squares.  I had to pay attention to make sure that I keep the pattern going, but I obviously wasn't on point all the time.  In the upper right hand corner I mixed up the brown and off white square.  I was told once that quilters always make a small purposeful mistake in their work.   Has anyone heard of that?  Well it seems, I have done that several times, but not on purpose!

 For backing material I bought the same brown check that matched a few of the squares.  I hand quilted using some parts of templates that I made years ago for another quilt.

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Hope you're enjoying the summer,

Cinder