Mouse Mat and Other Tutorials

I just discovered the Marmadaisy blog. She’s started a Fat Quarter Friday series offering tutorials using fat quarters; there are five in the series thus far.



I decided to try her mouse mat project as mine needed replacing. Everything I used came straight from my stash, even the Mod Podge—I love not having to make a run to the store. This was a quick and easy project.



After making the mat, I started exploring her blog. She has some great tutorials—24 that I found listed. Then I did a quick search for blogs with other ideas on using fat quarters:

• Corkboard/Wall Pocket
• Crochet Hook Roll
• Doll-sized Quarter Quilt
• Fabric Ribbon/Notion Shoe Box
• One-handle Tote
• Origami Purse
• Reusable Snack Pouch

On the Other Side

It’s warming up here in Tucson—very soon we’ll be in the triple digits. This means swimming pool time. I dug out my collection of swimsuits (a whole other story) last night, tried them on, and promptly had a mini-heart attack. And that was just looking at the front of me in the mirror. There’s no way I’m going traumatize myself by trying to see my other side.


Edvard Munch’s The Scream, National Gallery, Oslo

Then I remembered a photo I took of the rhinos at the zoo during my Flat Avery project a couple of weeks ago. Talk about really big butts!



And my friend Donna sent an email with this photo. Don’t look if you’re squeamish!



Suddenly I’m feeling okay about wearing a swimsuit again.

Have a happy weekend and remember you are perfect just as you are right this very minute.

Bringing in the May

Do you “bring in the May”? We do at our house.


Source: Chambers’ Book of Days

“May Day is one of the corner days which fall between the solar festivals of the year (the equinoxes and solstices). The ancient Celts called this holiday Beltane and began celebrating at sunset on April 30th. It marked the beginning of summer, time to move with the flocks up to the summer pastures.” (School of the Seasons)



Each year, I drive across town at daybreak on May 1 to leave flowers on my sister Connie’s front door and then drive away.



I made this little May Pole centerpiece a couple of years ago for our table and bring it out each year now as part of our celebration. It is assembled from a wood dowel and base bought at Michael’s, painting it, and then decorated with ribbons and a small floral wreath.


Source: Winding the Maypole

We have a real May Pole we made for our backyard a few years back. Tucson is experiencing some strong winds right now, so I’m not sure we’ll set it up today for the neighborhood children as it may not be safe. Here’s a video of an actual May Pole celebration.



Have a very happy and joyous May Day!

Salvaging Porch Furniture

My sister wanted to toss her porch furniture because the cushions had fallen apart and the metal frames were pitted and rusted. Connie wanted new furniture despite my explaining it was salvageable.

My husband and I couldn’t bear to see it trashed. We hauled the couch, coffee table, and two rocking chairs home from her house. I got to work on it right away—you can do this, too, if your metal furniture is showing wear and tear.

The cushions were indeed beyond redemption. My husband replaced them with some found at Home Depot. I eventually plan to make new cushions myself, but these will work for a couple of years.

After scrubbing everything clean, the corroded metal was dealt with by sanding every single inch using a metal sanding tool made by Black & Decker which attaches to a drill.

Once all metal pieces were smooth and rust-free, I primed everything and then painted each framework piece a soft fern green twice. I protected the glass section of the coffee table with newspaper and masking tape.

It’s all done now and ready for summer. Connie is not getting this furniture back.

Sashiko Coasters

Sashiko (which means little stabs) is an old Japanese hand-sewing technique originating in rural areas of Japan. It involves a decorative running stitch creating interlocking designs, generally white thread on indigo-dyed homespun fabric. Sashiko is often used in the layering of cloth, like quilting, which adds durability as well as much-needed warmth.

To get a feel for the technique on a small scale before starting my larger project, I tried a sashiko coaster kit found at Bella Quiltworks here in Tucson.



Here are the five coasters I made—I love the white against the indigo fabric. It was problematic getting that rich indigo color to show up well and it looks black in the photos.



The instructions called for simply folding over the edges and stitching them to finish the coasters, but I added a layer of flannel as interfacing and backed the coasters with leftover Japanese-print fabric from my stash.



I bought The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook to learn more about sashiko. It provides lots of great information, a pattern library, and a number of projects with instructions.



Kake-Jiku: Images of Japan in Applique, Fabric Origami, and Sashiko is already in my little craft library. It has an appliqué project incorporating sashiko I’d like to try, too.

Resources

Lots of information is available about sashiko, but here are a few links to get you started.

• Japanese Folk Textiles
• Sashiko and Other Stitching blog (author of the first book I mentioned)
• Supplies: Purlsoho.com
• Tutorial: Purl Bee blog

Baseball T-shirt

Here is the second of the t-shirts I embroidered and mailed off to Kelli on Friday—a simple baseball. Last Thursday night I attended a Sidewinders baseball game and thought a simple baseball design would be a good boy thing to do.



I merely drew around a soup bowl and did the embroidery. By the way, I do all my embroidery projects by hand as I do not have a machine that will do it for me. It’s all good—I’m happy stitching away with my very own little fingers.



Kelli suggested including a 3x5-inch card with a note translated into Spanish if going to Nicaragua or Portuguese if going to Mozambique. I sent a t-shirt for each country and simply translated “Peace and Love” into the applicable language.

Today I’m finishing a fun new project I’ll share tomorrow.

Blessings Friday: Kelli’s Peace T-shirt Project

Kelli at Africankelli put out a request for assistance in gathering t-shirts (gently used or new) which she’ll take to Nicaragua in May and Mozambique in June. I signed up right away—there’s still time for you to participate if you’d like.



She mentioned embellishing the t-shirts should we so desire. Heck yeah, I want to do that! We recently donated a bunch of clothes which left us without any t-shirts to offer, so I bought two Carter’s t-shirts for little boys. There is no size restriction on the t-shirts as she’ll be offering them to folks of all ages.



The other day I was chatting with Joni of Yummers! about embroidery and mentioned children’s coloring books as a good source for simple embroidery designs.



And that’s what I’m doing; I used the sneakers coloring page as the embellishment for the back of the white t-shirt. Today I’ll decide what to do on the navy t-shirt and get that done. Then I’ll put them in the mail for Kelli.



What a great end to a week so full of adventures!