I had plans for this one.  Better design... better binding... hand quilting... y'know, a proper quilt.

My son had other plans.  Did I mention he never sleeps and has to be right in the middle of all sewing projects?

I finally realized that if I wanted to use the thing before he starts school in oh, 2013, I would just have to slap it together, tie it, and be done.  (I am quilting in individual squares when I have a free moment--I tied at the corner of each block, but it still shifts more than I'd like).



It's cheerful, though, and it used up a bunch of scraps from earlier projects.  Used bamboo batting, which is warm enough, but super light.  It's not a standard size--I had an old utility quilt from my great-grandmother which was the perfect napping-on-the-sofa size, so I cut this one to the same dimensions.  The backing is the same red cotton as the binding.

Closeup of some of the squares.  The prints make me happy.

My somewhat clumsy take on the cassette-tape coin purses that everyone's doing.  Made this for my brother-in-law, who's a bit of a tech geek.  I think he's actually using it to corral his flash drives.

This was fun!  Although stuffing the final point is harder than it seems.

Modified this free pattern http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/celestine_crochet/celestine_crochet.html

(used larger hook (F) and cheaper yarn--Sugar & Cream, base chain of 25 instead of 35)




Apologies for the drool-- my product tester is teething.

Yeah.  Started this as an entry for a Lion Brand contest, then realized halfway through that NJ residents were ineligible.  Finished it anyway, even though I'm not too fond of working with acrylic and even though Sprocket doesn't really need another Roman solider outfit.   

I'm trying to write down a pattern for the helmet and pteryges and will post it when I'm done, if there's any interest.    They're easy enough, but the construction's a little weird, because I hate sewing bits together and try to crochet as much as possible without breaking the yarn.



ETA: I'm adding the pattern in pieces, as I get it worked out.  See Page 2!

My little Roman!  Sprocket unfortunately didn't get to wear this on Hallowe'en, since he had a cold and wasn't in the mood to humor me by wearing dumb stuff.    But at least I got some pictures beforehand, so I can still embarrass him.    The cuirass and pteryges are felt, and the helmet is freeform crochet. 

Floor shot of entire costume

About 2 seconds before he tried to eat the pteryges....

I did convince him to stay in the helmet for a while-- here, having a power breakfast.

Thanks!  Glad you all like it... and very flattered by the tutorial request. 

The original was foundation pieced on muslin, because I was using rather small scraps.  It's more efficient to strip piece, especially if you're making multiples.  I don't have the patience right now, but I think it would be fun to do a whole group of crazy-quilted animals and hang them as a mobile!  The only caveat is to choose an animal without too many irregular, pointy, or narrow bits.  Fish are a nice simple outline, as are turtles, pigs, elephants...



Step 1: Pattern.  Draw a nice fat fish!  Try to keep the fins and tail relatively wide, as they're a pain to turn.  This fish is 7" high at the fins and 10" long.  Decide how many stripes you want and measure width.  (4) 2.5" stripes for ease of calculation, here.

Step 2: Iron and cut strips 1/2" wider than width on pattern and 2x taller than pattern.  Cut one EXTRA strip from muslin or other white fabric.  This goes on the wrong side of whichever strip will be the fish's head.

Step 3.  Sew strips together with 1/4" seam allowance, making sure to sew the muslin along with the head strip.

Step 4.  Press seams open, fold, and cut out the two sides of the fish.



Step 5.  This is the only weird part.  Cut a diagonal slash into ONLY the colored fabric of the head, on both pieces.  Fold under so that a wedge of white is showing, and press.  Make sure the two sides match.

Step 6.  Zigzag over edges of colored fabric, securing the mouth to the underlying muslin.  The stitching looks like teeth, if you don't want to embroider them later.

Step 7.  Add eyes (for a baby toy, as here, either safety eyes or embroidered eyes)

Step 8.  Put wrong sides together, matching smile wedges, and sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving the space between the bottom fin and the tail open for stuffing.  You'll see that on this one, I added a ribbon loop into the tail, so I can attach the fish to a binky clip later.

Step 9.  Turn, press if needed, and stuff.  I stuffed the fins and tail first, very lightly, and then topstitched them for durability and to prevent the stuffing from shifting back into the body.  You can add cellophane, bells, or rattly bits to the body when stuffing, but a toy will be washed frequently, so any extras should be waterproof.  Blindstitch the opening.

Step 10.  If desired, add more embroidery or other details. 

Not very exciting, compared to all the cool stuff you guys produce, but it was a fun quick project and used up about, oh, .05% of my scrap fabric stash. 



I embroidered the eyes, around the mouth, and went over a couple of the seams with either embroidery thread or yarn (fuzzy neck ruff on a fish?  hmmm...) just to add some textural interest.

I think Sprocket likes it. 



TUTORIAL LINK: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=275204.msg3113101#msg3113101

Made this last fall to deal with all our yard and garden waste:



It's a pretty simple design.  The front of each box has slots where you can drop in additional 1 x 8 boards, depending on the height of your compost.  Makes it easier to turn the compost from one bin to the other and to rescue the finished product.  My husband saw something similar online for about $200, plus shipping, plus assembly, so naturally I had to try to make it.  Constructed from 1 x 4 's, 1 x 8's  and hardware cloth, with 2 X 4 footers (which you can't see in the picture).  It's about 3 feet by 3 feet by 6 feet.  I built it in panels in the living room and then assembled it on the patio (because that's where the outlet was for the drill...) This was a ROTTEN IDEA, as I then had a miserable time moving it to the corner of the yard.  It's waterproofed with about six coats of linseed oil and is holding up well to the elements.

Now, if I could just convince the maple tree in the back yard to keep its roots out of my compost...

This isn't my craft-- I just wanted to share it.  My father made this Scrabble board 20-odd years ago.  He used to say that Scrabble was the key to a happy marriage-- he and my mom played almost every night for 47 years.  After my mom died, Papa and I played regularly on this board.  Although I no longer have anyone to play Scrabble with, I HAD to have the board when Papa died-- it has decades of good memories associated with it.    He was very proud of the design.



The case is made from 1 x 2's and thin plywood, glued and bradded together, hinged at the back and with a swing latch at the front.



The most tedious bit of Scrabble is flipping all the tiles.  With this design, at the end of your game, you merely close the board, flip, and shake a bit, and all the tiles are automatically upside down and shuffled-- ready to go again.

The pieces are held in place while you play by a woven grid of nylon twine. The board colors used to be a bit brighter-- he painted them on with acrylics and covered with polyurethane, which has darkened over the years.

I apologize for the giant pictures-- I only recently got a digital camera, so this is my first project post, and I didn't realize they'd be so huge.

DH kept complaining that all Sprocket's clothes had very un-masculine ducks and bunnies-- so I made the little guy some pants.  They're a little long, but they fit fine with the cuffs turned up.  DH still hates them-- apparently he thinks babies should wear little business suits.  Sprocket thinks they're cool, though.



Detail of robot patch:



Alien patch on bib:



As you can see, my machine doesn't zig-zag very well.  Time for a tune-up.

I wanted an action shot, but Sprocket's got a cold and isn't very cooperative.  I'll try again after his nap. 

Ah, here we go.  He wasn't that gracious about it, but hey:


And another pair of pants (same pattern, but I tapered the leg more and did shorter cuffs).  Sort of a biker vibe: