Handmade Thank You Gifts

Busy day yesterday!  I'm trying to get the Spring cleaning on the inside of my house done so I can get outside and do some work out there when it warms up a bit more.  I have all the windows and curtains done now so the next project is to clean my 4 ceiling fans.  Anyone want to come and help me?  I have cookies and iced tea here?  LOL!!!

In between the boringness (I make up my own words) of doing windows and curtains, I've managed a little bit of stitching.  First, my little crazy patchwork pillow with a red poppy:

The poppy is a vintage handkerchief.  It's so much fun to use old things in my stitching projects!  I don't normally work in red but it's so cheerful!  I think it's time to expand my rainbow a little bit, don't you?  I mean, I do know that there are other colors besides pink, purple and green!  Ha, ha, ha!  Can you find my little red spider?

Okay, now back to purple and green, this is my current project.  A door hanger pillow with violets:

The violets are also from a vintage handkerchief.  I have little velvet violets that I'll be adding next.

Last but not least for today, and speaking of vintage handkerchiefs, here's the newest addition to our shop:

Awhile back, I found a vintage handkerchief at a flea market with the words Thank You on it.  I bought it and gave it to mom and this is what she made from it!  The blue fabric is from another vintage hankie!  Anyway, what an awesome Handmade Thank You Gift this is! 

Okay, that's my Boutique Commercial for today!  I'm off to stitch for a little while before I tackle those ceiling fans.  If you have nothing to do today, you're welcome to come help me!  LOL!

Welcome New Baby Pillow

It looks like Mom has been doing some stitching and sewing!  Here is one of her latest embroidered hanging pillows:

A cute gift for a New Baby!

I've been working on some new crazy quilt pieces so I'll have photos of those soon!  Have a great Sunday everyone!

Embroidered Pillow Lilacs and Roses

March came in like a lion and it looks like it's going out like a lamb.  The lion didn't stay very long!  It's been exceptionally warm up until a few days ago.  Spring came early and I'm okay with that!  Right now, I'm looking out my window at the woods across the street and all the trees and bushes have that green haze on them.  The tiny leaves have popped through and it's quite lovely to see!

I finished up my little embroidered pillow with the lilacs and roses:

Speaking of Spring, this is very Springy!  A perfect gift for mom for Mothers Day!

I was poking around on Etsy yesterday and found a cool little shop that has all sorts of things that would great to sew on crazy quilts.  TWPMango has tons of little crocheted flowers, buttons, appliques and other fun and unique little craft supplies. I ordered some little satin flowers and some sequined butterflies.  Do check that shop out!  I've found some other fun Etsy shops too so I'll share links to them periodically.

New Door Hanging Pillows

Although getting to stitch is pretty much what gets me out of my bed everyday, I do try to keep up with finishing my pieces into useable items.  The finishing is not my favorite part of the process but if we don't finish what we make into something useful, it doesn't do us or anyone else any good! 

I usually wait until I have 3 or 4 projects all ready to sew together and then I take a day and do them all at once. Here are 2 of my latest crazy patchwork quilt door hanging pillows:

I love both of these but that pink and yellow one is so bright and cheerful!  Just looking at it boosts my mood!

ORTS And Birds Nests

I spent my day yesterday finishing up on my latest projects.  Here is my Bunny Pillow all finished:

I'm so pleased with this!  The little basket was a pin that I had in my stash.  I don't know where I got it.  Maybe at a flea market in a bag of bits and pieces!

My other projects are all sewed up too.  I stuffed them last night after dinner and just have to sew the little butts shut on them.  I'll have photos of those soon!

In the meantime, my ORTS jar was full!  If you're not familiar with ORTS, it stands for "Old Raggedy Threads".  Basically, I toss my short pieces of thread into a jar rather than just throwing them away. 

I actually save all sorts of my cutoffs in my ORTS jar.  Bits of satin ribbon, silk ribbon, tiny pieces of lace and some of the scraps of sheer and fancy fabrics that are too small to do anything else with.

So what do I do with these little scraps? 

Well, this time of year, I put them out for the Robin's to use in their nests!  Using my cutting board and my rotary cutter, I chop them up into teeny, tiny pieces:

I do mean teeny, tiny!  I don't want the birds feet to get all tangled up in threads and fabrics that are too long.  I try to cut them so that everything is 1 inch or less.  It's a lot of chopping! 

I put everything back in the jar when I'm done:

And then I sprinkle it around the lawn in my backyard and I wait for the Robin's to come and take it for their nests!

In previous years, I've seen the Robin's take my little scraps.  Imagine baby birds, all soft and warm in their nests made with these tiny throw away pieces of fabrics and threads!

I think I'll use my next jarful to make some fabric sheets for my crazy quilts.

Helpful Hint:  to clean your cutting board, use a lint roller or some making tape.  That'll take those "left behind" pieces right off!