How to Reuse a Starbucks glass bottle

I've been keeping my Starbucks glass bottles and recycling them for my craft area. I'll post those pics soon too. However the other day we had a small friend over and to keep the kids entertained I had them help me make the dogs some treats from scratch (great way to use up that peanut butter at the bottom of the jar that no one wants to eat). Well, of course, we had to have something cute to put the treats in, so I took one of the jars and we made it a treat jar. Check out the "transformation."

I also have to say that the overall idea was not mine. Jennifer, Heather, Sarah, Lisa and Cindy all gave me various ideas and direction in changes the bottles up for my needs. Thanks ladies!

4th of July

The latest Tie Dye Mickeys

These were made for my friend Kim for her trip to Disney in August. I think they came out really good! I almost wanted to steal them for myself, but I handed them over.

Bags

I've been working on a few bags for some friends and thought I'd post what I've finished with.

Morgan's bag was especially difficult because there was a liner inside the pocket.  My machine did not want to stitch directly onto the bag, so I created a patch and then stitched that onto the bag.  It was my first time doing something similar to appliqueing and I think I did pretty good.  I'd like to practice on some other items so I can better get the hang of it.

Towels for Babins

The Vine Quilt

I finished the quilt for The Vine last Monday and it auctioned off at the Spring Sing on Thursday night.  I was really wanting one of Cam's teachers to end up with it, and Ms. Haley ended up winning the bidding (well, her dad did!).  Anyhow, here's some pics of me piecing it and then the finished product.  

I did use 2 new products (new to me) when I was putting the quilt together.  I had purchased a walking foot from Sew Contempo earlier this year with the anticipation that I could use it on this project.  Oh my goodness, what a great purchase.  I highly recommend it for all of you!  It was so beneficial in keeping the material, front and back moving together through the machine.

The second new product I used was blanket binding.  This made my job so much easier because there was none of that having to reverse the piece once I got the outer edges sewn together.  I did everything from the outside.  

And I have to send out a very big thank you to my Aunt Beth for giving me all of the primary colored fabric.  It was a blessing to not have to go on a hunt to find the solids!

My Craft Space

Okay this is so long overdue it's just sad. Chris helped me put together a craft area in what is supposed to be our breakfast nook. We never used the space, so I took it over for just me! He painted, put up new blinds, and of course we bought some storage solutions from IKEA. It's amazing how all of my stuff fit in the space. I had projects, papers, ideas, and so forth stored all over the house. When I piled it all onto the floor I thought "No way is this all going to fit." The only thing that is not stored in one of these cubbies is my batting, which is huge and hard to store anyway. At least it's only one thing in the linen closet, versus the whole linen closet.






Well, I've been using the space a lot since Christmas when he started putting in all up. I'm in the middle of making a hooter hider, a quilt, and embroidering a project for a friend and another for my nephew. It's so very nice to have space to spread out and create on. Which I must say is probably why my blog has been so neglected of late. I would much rather be in my craft area then stuck on the computer. However, I hope that I will be abel to balance both better moving forward.