Christmas Cards

Happy New Year.

I am finally posting pictures of Christmas cards.  I received several comments this year that all are variations on a theme.  If I stop making homemade cards, I will have a riot on my hands.  I seem to have created a monster.

Most of my cards use recycled items or repurposed items.   These all include gift tags.  Some used, some new.

These include bits of Christmas cards.  I now have people that save their cards for me!!

Last summer I was gifted fabric and notions from my aunt.  She is a bit of a saver and has concluded she won't live long enough to use up everything she has.  So I happily took some goodies home.  This is what you can do with white buttons and tiny rickrack.

Cindy Walter showed this idea at a demo in Houston.

And then there is the circles I cut from a UW mailing that ended up in a card.

And of course I am still using the panels from cracker boxes as my base.  After using them for several years, I don't know if I could use a substrate I actually have to pay for.

Have a good day.
Nancy

Thanksgiving Cards and More

I didn't remember to scan any of the Halloween cards.  I did get some chuckles over the
"Do You Drive Stick?" cards.  I did remember to scan some of the Thanksgiving cards.

They are all done with Inktense pencils on fabric.  The first picture is one where I put heavy thread in the bobbin and sewed on the backside.  I like that technique, I just wonder how much practicing you have to do to be good at it.  

The following two cards I made during the summer when I took a class at the Chicago Quilt Show.

I have done some sewing.  I just don't have anything completely done to show you.

Nancy

Stealing From Mom's Scrap Pile

In March I went home for my sister's birthday.  No, I can't believe the little kid is 50.  Hey, she's still little.  Halftime on a basketball game didn't hold my attention one night and I started mindless sewing off of Mom's scrap pile.  One of the two pieces I started ended up as a baby quilt.  Everything is from Mom's pile except the red and white stripe and the blue check.

Who knows the fabric might be well aged!

What's mindless sewing?

Well for me it is taking leftover strips of fabric and sewing them together and then slicing the resulting piece.  In this quilt it ended up as random rectangles around the central teddy bear.

More Cards

In November I like to go to Houston to the International Quilt Show to ogle quilts.  They have a history of giving the folks that participate in the classes a bag. This year the bag was made of burlap.  So I tried some cards with the burlap.  All I accomplished was relearning that burlap shreds and leaves icky fibers everywhere.  Oh and a handful of cards.

Thanks for stopping.
Nancy

Easter Cards

This year Easter cards came in two flavors - Easter Eggs and Butterflies.  The butterflies are from paper napkins.  I tried satin stitching around the image cut from a paper napkin.  Don't ask me why that works.  I certainly didn't expect it to work.  I expected the satin stitching to perforate the paper and not hold together.  The bunny is a stamp I picked up in a $1 bin sometime during the year.

The Easter Eggs are a combination of painted papers, a paint covered baby wipe and junk mail.  This one is created with painted papers.

This is the one with the Easter egg cut from a baby wipe used to clean paint brushes.  It is the one in the center.

This one includes junk mail.  I was looking for a way to make some quick Easter eggs and a fancy booklet from the Milwaukee Ballet sat on the counter.  It makes nice eggs!!

Part of the reason I like making Easter cards is that it lets me pretend spring is around the corner.   I don't think I could live further north.  Winter is long enough in Milwaukee.  I'm always anxious for green grass and being able to leave the house without a winter coat.

Thanks for stopping by.
Nancy

One person's trash...

My friend, Patty, picked up some drapery sample books that she found set out with the trash.  Some of the fabrics are really nice, but they are backed with heavy paper.  I chose a collection of fabrics that went together and cut them into rectangles.  I then attached the rectangles to a base fabric with one of my favorite tools - Elmer's glue.  I chose a contrasting cotton fabric to outline the drapery fabric and bind the table runner.  There is no batting and no quilting.

I like the contrast of silk materials with the other heavier, textured fabrics.

I made another card using kraft paper (really a grocery bag) as a base.  This one is based on something I saw in a magazine where someone used a button card to create a building.  Of course I had a stray button card around!!

Have a good day.  Nancy

Another Baby Quilt

It has snowed almost every weekend this winter.  That means I have finished another baby quilt.  This one started out as a simple use up some old fabric.

Then a mailing envelope of trims somehow turns into a set of cards on paper from paper grocery bags.  I like how this one turned out.

Thanks for checking out what I have been up to.

Another Quilt Completed

When I go to Florida at Christmas, I get to sew.  This year I stole scraps from Mom to make all of the center Dresden plate blocks.  I like how this one turned out.

Cotton fabric has significantly gone up in price.  It is not unusual to find quilting fabric at $11/ yard.  This quilt is 66 in x 90 in which needs 4 yards of material for a backing material.  I managed to find a twin sheet that worked and cost $12.00.  Worked for me!!