WandaLandQuilts
Making Memories Through Quilts
Personal Post – Gathered Drawstring Bag
Oh my goodness! Once you make one of these bags, more will follow, I guarantee it.
What gal in her right mind wouldn’t love one or more of these? Or maybe even kids. If it could help them keep their toys rounded up – I’m all for it. Especially legos. Those are the worst to step on in the middle of the night! Anyway, these would also make a great gifts with a special gift tucked inside.
Be well,
Wanda
Personal Post – Lawn Chair Bag
This is summer and I love to be outside in a lawn chair in the shade. One problem is there no where to put stuff – you know like a book, magazine, or a phone. So I made a small bag to fit onto one of the arms of the chair. It works perfectly! Now, I need to make a few more for family and friends.
These can be made from a couple fat quarters of fabric or some scraps. Based on the kind of chair you have, you may need to make a bag with velcro straps or even ties.
Be well,
Wanda
Personal Post – Dish Towel Apron
My grandmother wore an apron. My mom wore and apron. And I wear one, too.
This is a picture of my sister, Janet (on the left), and I wearing our aprons. These are made from dish towels so they are super simple to make.
I realize this is Christmas fabric, but I wanted to show how wonderful these would be as gifts. Just something to think about.
Be well,
Wanda
Personal Post – Handled Baskets
Check out these baskets! My sister, Janet, makes a lot of these baskets and gives them to friends. I admit, I made several myself. They are so handy and can be made in different sizes. I use them all over the house to catch all those loose things that seem to clutter up the kitchen counter, the desk, and the coffee table. They can be made from scraps to hold scraps! How cool is that?
Be well,
Wanda
Personal Post – Bookmarks
Does anyone still read books? I mean a book book – as in like printed pages? I do. So in that case, I need bookmarks. These were made from pieces of wool with embroidery added. These are just too darn cute! I also have friends who read book books and have given away several bookmarks. These make great projects to take along on car trips and don’t require a lot of fabrics. So fun to make and share!
Personal Post – Hanging Bags
This is something I made for my mother-in-law, Luann. These bags, a set of four, hang from a dowel rod that we attached to the front of her bathroom sink. If she is sitting in her rolling walker or in the wheelchair, she is able to use them to store her cosmetics in. They are at just at the right height. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of them hanging with the cosmetics in them, but I do have these pictures.
The inside fabric is a jungle print (she loves giraffes) and the outside is blue jean material. The different sizes were also nice. I found the pattern online somewhere, so if you wanted to make some it should be pretty easy to find.
Be well,
Wanda
Personal Post – Teddy Bear
You are never too old to want and have a teddy bear.
This is a teddy bear I made for my niece, Ashley, from a quilt I made her many years ago. The quilt was loved and used until it was nearly used up. I was able to cut out a few of the undamaged sections to make her this lovable bear.
This particular pattern has only two pattern pieces, two for the front and two for the back. It’s pretty quick to sew up and lightly stuff. This pattern makes a kind of floppy bear, it’s not tightly stuffed like some stuffed animals, so it makes this one particularly huggable. I did not add the eyes and nose to this one and just let the used quilt be all it needs. I gave this to Ashley on Christmas and she just fell in love with it. Note – I love it, too!
Personal Post – Hair Bows
Girl stuff! It’s fun to sew girl stuff. Check out these fun hair bows! They are quick and easy to sew a few and use up some scrap fabric.
T-Shirt Quilt
Making t-shirt quilts is always an adventure. They are all different because everyone has a different selection of shirts to work with. Every once in awhile I get to make this style of t-shirt quilt – all the logos are about the same size so the blocks can all be cut to the same size.
This means the quilt goes together pretty quickly and then it’s onto the quilt frame to be quilted.
I do love the quilting on this t-shirt quilt. Just look at the back of this quilt.
To a non-quilter this picture probably doesn’t look like much, but I’m sewing on a hanging sleeve. You may be able to see it on the picture of the quilt back. So, rather than using this quilt on the bed it can be hung on the wall using a curtain rod. It’s a wonderful way to show off all those wonderful memories!
Be well,
Wanda
Wordless Wednesday
I know that “Wordless Wednesday” isn’t supposed to have any words, but I feel like I need to add a few.
I was having trouble with my website with my posts not actually posting. The staff at WordPress helped resolve the issue. Guess what? User error, no shocker there. So, if you see several posts appear or receive several emails (if you are a Follower – and I hope you are), this is because the posts that have been queued up just got posted. Hopefully, the posts will appear correctly now. And I believe this picture may have been posted before, but let me tell ya – you can never be too organized!
Be well,
Wanda
Mini Marathon T-shirt Quilt
One of the challenges a quilter faces when making a t-shirt quilt is that all the t-shirts are the same color – in this case – white. So, just border each t-shirt with some of her favorite colored fabric. Look how pretty these shirts are now!
Here is the quilt on the frame. As you can see, I had to add a few extra quilt blocks so they would all fit togetger. As I like to say, “It’s just math.” Need a few extra inches here and there to make it work, just make a few 4-patch blocks to make the math work.
I just love the quilting done on these blocks.
This is a picture of the finished quilt. Beautiful!
And this is the beautiful backing fabric. Could it be any more perfect?
This quilt turned out so pretty!
T-shirt Quilt
This quilt was made for a gal that really loved sports! It shows a great variety of teams and sports. This will provide her with many fond memories.
Organizer Basket
I had some scraps of Oriental fabrics and made this cute organizer basket. I added some inside pockets to help separate items and to keep some upright.
This is just the right size to keep in the bathroom to organize all those small things that seem to collect there.
Now I need to make about a dozen more of these because you know there is more stuff to organize!
Personal Sewing Play Time
Now this was some serious sewing play time for me.
I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making a metal frame clasp purse. I’m sure you’ve seen these. They have been around for ever! As you can see from this collection of purses that it took me several tries before I finally got it right. By right I mean purse #6.
I played with different frames, different types of glue, different batting and stiffeners (iron on and sew in), and different patterns. I read through several patterns (and rewrote several) and watched a lot of videos. In the end I created my own pattern, created my own method, and wrote my own directions. . So, since I used up all my metal frames I had to order some more. When those come in, look out! I’m gonna make some great purses!
As a side note, for the purses I didn’t like, I tried to pull the fabric out of the metal frame so I could reuse it. Didn’t happen. I personally give the three different glues I tried a thumbs up!
This made for a great weekend of fun!
Personal Post Just for Dogs
This one is for the dogs. Literally.
Don’t throw away all those scraps! This is one of the reasons that quilters have been referred to as ‘the original recyclers.’ I have leftover fleece (from making scarves for Christmas), leftover batting scraps (from making quilts), cotton fabrics (also from making quilts), and leftover binding pieces (also from making quilts).
So, what to do with all those scraps? Make crate comforters for dog rescues and shelters. All dogs deserve to have their own little quilt. These are put in their crate to give some warmth and comfort. That’s probably how these got their name! When a dog is adopted, this little quilt goes with them to help ease the transition into their new home. Awww….. how cute is that?
Any shelter will gladly accept these crate comforters made from any of these materials and made in any size. So to all my quilting friends out there, put your scraps to good use and give them to the dogs.
What a fun project!
Monday Personal Post
Here is a fun little project – a mug rug.
I bought a fabric panel that had several of these ‘wine squares’ on it. I couldn’t resist buying it, but then what to do with them? Someone gave me some cloth napkins (thanks Lavon!) and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with those either. So, combine them!
The result is a mug rug, or in this case, a wine rug. If you don’t know what a mug rug is, think of it as a quilted placemat to set your mug of coffee or a glass of wine or your drink of choice and perhaps a snack. In this case, I returned this gift to the giver.
So fun!
Monday Personal Post
On Monday’s I’ve decided to post a personal sewing project that I’ve done. This is just for fun and something light.
These are microwave bowls. Sounds simple enough. They are used to hold a bowl of soup or chili or whatever, then put it in the microwave to heat up, and when it’s done, pull it out and you can hold it by the fabric bowl. Now how awesome is that?! You don’t burn your fingers and you can hold it while you eat.
On a side note, you can use them to hold a bowl of ice cream and not freeze your hand. How fun is that?
And did I mention they are reversible as well as machine washable and dryable? Totally fun!
A Much Loved Log Cabin Quilt
Many, many years ago I made my niece, Alissa, a log cabin quilt. She used and loved this quilt until there wasn’t much left of it. Literally. I won’t post a picture of that because it’s almost heartbreaking. She gave this quilt back to me in hopes that I can do something with it.
It just so happens that I did something with that tattered quilt.
She just got married last month and for her bridal shower present I presented her with this unique gift. I found three different picture frames (from Goodwill) and painted and stained them to give them a worn look. I cut out three reasonably good pieces of the quilt and put them in the frames. This is a wonderful way to remember that beloved quilt. (sorry about the light glare on the center frame)
I’m hoping she’ll love them for many years to come.
For the love of a Quilt Label
My friend, Jill, came to visit a couple weeks ago and naturally we talked about quilts. It turns out she has several quilts, some handed down from her family and some she purchased at estate auctions. Guess what? None of them has a label! Oh this cannot go on! We pulled out my label making box and we made labels, lots of labels.
Now that was fun! I sent her home with a Ziploc baggie of labels and now as she puts each quilt back in her closet (each inside a pillowcase) she will sew a label on each one.
Every quilt deserves a label no matter if you made it, your grandma made it, or you purchased it at an auction or garage sale. Most of the ones above were made from a printed panel that you simple cut apart or you can make your very own. Who made it? Who is it made for? Occasion? Year? Because, who knows where this quilt will end up in 20, 30, or 40 years from now? Every quilt has a story to tell – so tell it.
