Saturday, October 27, 2007

Some sewing, designing and gardening.


With a Church Ladies morning coffee here next week, I am trying to get some more tidying done in the garden. We are also planning a trading table to replace worn Church carpeting so I jave a legitimate reason to sew...if I needed one! I have been playing around with some of this weeks' Op Shop finds and come up with this.....

I took the tab top curtains and i have made 2 large tote bags, here is one. One end of the curtains had gingham and the tab top didn't so the shoulder straps are from the end that did, half the top stitching work was done, I love that!



I had enough fabric left for 2 tea towels, they were a little plain until I added the embellished herringbone tape...recognize it anyone?


I figure I can sew that to something that I am keeping, I like recycling...though I am well aware that the fabric did not come from that company!

There was another Op Shop purchase that I missed the other day as blogger refused to upload it, it was this cot sized teddy panel. It has a good amount of hand quilting done to it and batting was attached. But the machine quilting around the outside border was all puckered and the batting was ripped and uneven around the edges. It was 50 cents so once again i had to rescue it.

I snipped off the border at the puckered quilting and evened up the wadding, added a pre-quilted part of bedspread to the back, used the border as the binding and here is is.

Should be good for the trading table, and easily worth $10 or $15 finished.

I made a few more blocks form my Judy challenge. I think these will pull it up and I like the on point idea, but what do we think of black between them, any better plans I could try?


And, to finish, we have this little helper that flew in to investigate the fuss, I love ladybeetles, we usually leave something floating in our pool so they have an out if they accidentally fall in.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Super sales table items and a clever use of the jelly roll tape :o) you are so thoughtful to those little ladybirds (that's what we call them here in the UK)

loulee said...

Wow, you have been busy. I love the teddy quilt.
Your red blocks look fine on thier black background.

Sweet P said...

Wow! What a great job turning Op Shop urchases into usable items. You have inspired me to check out my local Salvation Army thrift store.

Joyce said...

Love the teddy quilt. We call them Ladybugs here. Funny how the same insect has so many different names. The black looks fine but if it were for a kid something brighter might look nice too.

Carol said...

Loving the bags Tracey, very smart. Surely beats the green shopping bags! I love that you help the ladybugs. That is just the nicest thing, because that's something I would do too.

Doodlebug Gail said...

That tote bag turned out perfectly! Great job Tracey. Love the teddy quilt - how cute. Glad to hear that DD made it to school and gave you some time to sew. Do ladybugs in Australia also stink if you squash them and do they bite? I do not like them at all.

Unknown said...

Just too clever, the bags look great and what a wonderful job you did on rescuing the teddy panel.

Mar said...

Tracey, you are so clever, love the use of moda ribbon.

Susan said...

I think the block design gets lost with the black in between. It mushes it. Maybe a print?

Love the teddy quilt and the bags. Ladybugs are among my favorites.

Libby said...

Tab top tote bags . . . now that's a fantastic idea *s*

Unknown said...

WOW;, you certainly made good use of the Charity shop items. Everything looks great and clever and I hope you can raise a lot of money with them.
I think black is a bit too much too for the in-between blocks, maybe a grey print if it is for a young man? I am sure you will come up with a great idea.
Take care.

Tracey in CT said...

If you want to stick with the solids and keep it Amish looking, I'd try a bright grape-y purple.

Gizmo said...

I just love the tote bags you make and those tea towels too. I'm sure they'll do well on the sale table.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Wonderful items! I love the bags!