A New Toy

I have been debating for some time about getting an e-reader, smartphone, tablet or something of that sort and finally decided that a Kindle Fire would suit my needs the best. I really haven't had much need to store my new gadget because I've been playing with it almost constantly since I brought it home, but I thought that it would be a good idea to have a case for it just the same.  I stitched some selvages together, added velcro and a polka dot binding and voilà...a envelope case for a Kindle Fire!

Good To The Last Scrap

Sometimes you just need to add a little color and fun to your life and this little Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt does just that with its bright colors and fun selvage scraps. This quilt will soon be for sale on the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative's website.

Have you ever purchased a Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt?  If so, Ami Simms is inviting you to participate in Facebook Foto Friday.  Just post a photo of the Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt that you purchased, include its name, maker's name and why you love your quilt on the AAQI Facebook page.  If you haven't purchased a quilt as of yet, you can buy one at www.alzquilts.org/quiltsforsale.  Remember...profits from all sales and auction purchases fund Alzheimer's research!

Finished!

Somehow my design wall has become a space for me to display unfinished quilts rather than a place to design quilts.  A couple of weeks ago, when I was cleaning my sewing room, I decided to take everything off the design wall and complete the pieces that were on it.  This pink and brown selvage wall hanging (circa 2010) is the first to be finished!

Selvage Coins

Another wall hanging is finally off the design wall and completely finished!  I started this quilt in May 2010.  Yes, that's 2010! This 19"x15" selvage coins quilt has been pinned to my little design wall all that time waiting to be finished.  Shameful, isn't it?  I love everything about this little quilt.  I wonder what took me so long to finish it?

Selvage Cup Cozy

Here's another quick gift idea...a cup cozy!  I based my cozy on the tutorial found at House On Hill Road.  I did make the template a bit larger and I pieced together selvages instead of using a solid piece of fabric, but other than that I followed the directions as written.  Now I just need to add a coffee shop gift card and maybe a few cookies and I will be able to cross another gift off my list!

DPN Cases

I normally keep my double pointed knitting needles in the original package that they come in, but the two sets that I bought at the craft sale a couple of weeks ago were not in their original packages and I wanted something a little nicer than a rubber band to hold them together. The answer? Double Pointed Needle Pouches from Kathryn Ivy! These pouches work up fast and the needles fit in them perfectly. The only thing that I didn't like was that I couldn't tell what size needles were inside the pouch. I was just going to mark the size on the pouch with a sharpie marker, but then it came to me that there are numbers on selvages! You guessed it...I fussy cut the appropriate number from a selvage and fused it to the pouch and now it's easy to tell what size needles are inside!

Selvage Coins

My selvage coin quilt top is all together! At first I thought I would use a bright pink for the background fabric and it did look nice, but then the color consultant at my local quilt shop directed me to this green. Even though it doesn't look it in the photo (the lighting isn't the greatest here this morning) the green is perfect! I think I will do some simple straight line quilting, add a binding and call it done!

Sidetracked By Selvages

I think selvages can sidetrack me faster than anything! Saturday morning I saw a little Chinese Coins selvage quilt that was made by Krista Hennebury of Poppyprint featured on the Selvage Blog. I tried telling myself that I had enough projects going on and UFO's to finish, but I couldn't resist and by Saturday night I was sewing a few selvages together for my own Mini Chinese Coins selvage quilt. After all, it's just a small wall hanging. It won't take long to finish. It will just be a minor diversion...right?

Weave, Little Weaver Bird

One thing that I saw at the AQS Quilt Show that I absolutely fell in love with was the woven fabric baskets that were being demonstrated by one of the vendors. (I apologize for not having the vendor's shop name...in my excitement, I forgot to write it down!) These baskets are similar to the It's A Wrap clothesline bowls and baskets where fabric is wrapped around cotton cording, but instead of sewing the coils together on the sewing machine the fabric is woven back through the cording to hold it all together. The demonstrator at the show was using 1 inch cording and 2 inch fabric strips to make her basket, but unfortunately she had sold out of the cording. (I don't think the vendors were expecting the large crowds either!) I happened to have some clothesline leftover from the last clothesline bowl that I made, so I thought I would try the technique using that and a few selvages. I really liked the larger baskets, but I love the look of the selvages with the smaller cording!
If you would like to make your own woven fabric basket, the basic instructions can be found at FamilyFun.com.

The Best Things In Life Are Free

Yesterday Barb from Bejeweled Quilts By Barb made a great point about my new selvage bag...it cost next to nothing to make! That thought hadn't occurred to me, but because I used selvages, scraps and a zipper that I already had on hand, it was basically free. For that reason, I thought I would sew a selvage change purse to hold all the money I saved!

Mama's Got A Brand New Bag!

Bright and early Friday morning I will be getting on a bus headed south to the AQS Quilt Show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania! Naturally, I couldn't go without a new bag to hold my camera and most importantly my cash and credit cards! With a few selvages, a zipper and a little imagination, I came up with this simple shoulder bag which is just the right size to carry the few things that I will need while at the show.

Fleece Selvage Dust Mop Cover Explained

I have had several requests for a tutorial for the Fleece Selvage Dust Mop Cover, but because there are so many different shapes, sizes and styles of dust mops it would be difficult to show a tutorial with proper measurements for each kind of dust mop. However, I am happy to share the technique that I used, then all you have to do is adjust the measurements to fit your particular dust mop.

Measure your mop head to determine the size for your cover. Cut your selvages at least 1 1/2 inches wide (2" is even better). It is not necessary to sew the selvages to a foundation, but a fleece foundation could be used, if desired. Sewing the fleece selvages together for this project is done a bit differently than sewing regular cotton fabric selvages. It is important to leave the rolled edge in tact. (It's this rolled edge that gives this dust mop cover it's "exceptional cleaning ability"!) As shown in the above photo, place the rolled edge of a selvage piece next to another rolled edge and stitch the two pieces together. Continue in this manner until the piece is the desired width. Trim the ends of the piece to length. Now you need to decide how you will attach your cover to your dust mop. I suggest that you use the original cover for your mop as a guide for how to attach your fleece selvage cover or you can just add fleece selvage ties on each end as shown in the smaller photo. Simple as that!

A Use For Those Fleece Selvages

Remember those fleece selvages that I couldn't part with back a couple of weeks ago? If you need to refresh your memory, you can find the post HERE. Anyway...I found a use for them! The credit for this idea goes to my sister, who suggested making them into dust mop covers! Have you ever noticed how your fleece jammie pants attract every thread and pet hair within a 50 yard radius? Fleece is the logical material for dust mops, not those flimsy "specially treated" disposable dust cloths. This cover only took minutes to make and the rolled edges of the selvages are perfect for picking up and trapping those unruly dust bunnies! When you are finished cleaning the cover goes right into the washer and dryer and can be used over and over!

A basic "How To" for the Fleece Selvage Dust Mop Cover can be found HERE.

Another Kind Of Selvage

I think I need professional help. Last week I trimmed the selvage edges off of a yard of fleece and found that I just could not bring myself to throw them away...they are selvages after all! I have no idea how I would use these selvages. I would imagine that they could be stitched together just like cotton selvages for a neat effect. They could also be braided or crocheted into a rug. Fleece selvages also tend to roll a bit, so maybe they could be stitched into something like the wrapped fabric bowls only without the clothesline. It seems like there could be a lot of uses for fleece selvages! Do I really need another tote full of scraps taking up space? Do I really need another project? Should I call a therapist? Maybe I should just throw them away after all!

Another Selvage Bag

Several years ago my sister-in-law gave me a quilted wallet/purse for my birthday and I literally loved it to death. It was just the right size to hold a checkbook, cash, cards and cell phone and all of the pockets and zippers were "in the right place". It could be tucked inside a larger bag, but because it had a strap, it could also be carried alone. I have had several other wallets similar to that one over the years, but none that I liked as much as that first one. I recently came across that old wallet and decided that I could use it for a pattern and make another one just like it! It wasn't that hard to make, but I now understand why Vera Bradley bags are so expensive...just working at minimum wage, labor alone would be more than $50 for this wallet! It would have been faster and maybe even cheaper to buy a new quilted wallet, but Vera hasn't discovered selvages yet!

Welcome Selvage Blog Visitors!

I am honored that Karen Griska, author and selvage guru, has featured my latest selvage projects on the Selvage Blog today! If you are here visiting from the Selvage Blog...welcome! You can see all of my selvage projects and find links to most of the patterns used by clicking HERE.

Selvage Stash

Yesterday Karen Griska of the Selvage Blog asked that her readers show their selvage stash and tell how they store their precious selvages. I would like to say that I store mine in something a little more creative than a paper grocery bag, but then again, maybe selvages are best hidden away in a plain brown wrapper!

Road Trip!

Monday night Anya was kind enough to share a big bag of selvages with me. She said that it was well worth giving up a few selvages if it would keep me from digging through the garbage. Who could ask for a better friend?
With my selvage shortage taken care of, I decided to make a full size quilted selvage wallet. I used this quilted wallet tutorial from that*darn*kat. It has lots of room for everything...cash, cards and checkbook. The tutorial is well written with clear instructions and it's perfect to make with selvages!
Now that I have all of my selvage bag accessories completed I'm ready to try them out and the Quilters' Heritage Celebration is the perfect place to do just that! Tomorrow a few of my quilty friends and I will leave bright and early for Lancaster. This quilt show is always spectacular and never disappoints me! There are hundreds of gorgeous quilts to drool over and enough vendors to max out all of your credit cards if you're not careful, but what usually gets me in the most trouble is all of the inspiration that I find there! I always come home with so many things that I want to try and at least one new addiction. At last year's show we saw a beautiful Dear Jane quilt and before we even got home we had decided to form a Dear Jane group and make our own Dear Jane quilts. I wonder what new projects and ideas we will come home with this year???

I Need Help!

I need help. Oh boy, do I ever need help! Saturday the Selvage Blog featured a fantastic selvage wallet from A Spoonful of Sugar. I tried to resist, but by Sunday morning I was rummaging through my sewing room trash can for bits of discarded selvages, so I could make one for myself. Yes, I said rummaging through the trash for bits of selvages! What is to become of me???

Notice A Trend?

Yes, it's another selvage project, but did you notice that my selvage projects have gotten smaller as the week has worn on? There's a reason for that...I have just about depleted my selvage stash while on this stitching binge! It's not like I can run down to my local quilt shop and buy selvages, so I guess the only thing for me to do now is start collecting again. Which means lots of "plain old" sewing and piecing before I can get another selvage fix. Of course, there is another option...I could seek out a selvage dealer. I might be able to find one in the back ally behind Needles Quilt Shop or if I haven't already convinced you that you need to be sewing with your selvages you might consider helping to feed my addiction by sending them to me...in a plain brown wrapper of course!