Phoenix Quilts

A few months back I came home to find 2 quilts hanging over a chair in my dining room.  Upon inquiring I discovered that my brother had dropped them off.  He had been using these "old rags" for years to cover up furniture out in the barn.  Having come across them again while cleaning out and getting rid of said furniture he wondered if maybe I would like them.  If I didn't want them he would find other uses for them.  I kept them. 

I would hate to think that for all my hard work (and I'm using a ruler, rotary cutter and a sewing machine) my quilts ended up being used as cushions for people to haul or store their belongings.  I would much rather they were used, loved, even dragged around the house as a favorite, treasured item. 

I think of the hand stitching that was done on these two quilts, the material possibly cut from articles of clothing when there was nothing else around.  Did some famous person sleep under this that we'll never know about?  Unfortunately there are no names on here.  But I gave them new life by washing them and although it doesn't look it I did manage to remove some stains. 

E-readers

As a writer I am interested to know how many of you own e-readers?  How often do you download a book?

3rd Bracelet

For my third bracelet I had a hard time finding a plain metal bracelet to glue the finished work on to so I decided to just make it with some stiff liner and thick ribbon as the background. 

2nd Bracelet

The second bracelet I decided not to fill in so much as I wanted the fabric to show.  I got out some antique fabric to use that I had bought at a Trunk Show.  Added beads, and ribbon.  I found an unusual shaped bracelet and glued it on to that.  

 

Beaded Bracelets

I took a few on-line beading classes some years ago and really need to get back to it.  I have all the makings for a brown, beige and yellow bracelet that I need to get out of my head and on to fabric.  

I started the first one when cleaning out my mom's jewelry box.  Only one earring.  That became the center piece and I worked around that.  

Water Color Paper Jewelry

Recently I came across some jewelry that my daughter and I made when she was in grade school (many, many years ago).  Her teacher even asked us to come in, do a demonstration and have the kids in her class make something.  

These were made using items we had around the house.  The watercolor paper my mom had being an artist.  Children plus jigsaw puzzle equals missing pieces so what to do with the ones left over?  And of course, plenty of broken crayons to melt.  

I still have the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and recently found where my watercolor paper was hanging out.  And I have a big bucket of crayons . . . somewhere in the house.  I'm actually thinking about doing this again.  They were fun and quick to make and I have plenty of beads, fabric, ribbon, buttons, etc. that I could add to them.  

This idea came from a magazine that I lost a long time ago.