Coveting coasters no more

I coveted the handmade fabric coasters I saw on Etsy. My husband's pet peeve is a non-absorbent coaster that is not functional. Our stone coasters are ideal, but pricey. And so, I tackled another project. I have had this beautiful fabric for years, intending to recover chairs with it, but I had enough that I could spare a few coasters... First I cut squares from the fabric with my rotary cutter and straight edge/ruler.

I sewed along three sides (wrong side facing out), essentially making a pocket, turned it inside out, placed a thin layer of quilting batting inside, and topstiched around all four edges (thereby securing the fourth side).

They seemed a little "poofy", so I decided to "quilt" them. I followed one curve of the pattern on one side and one curve of the pattern on the other side. I also used both sides of the fabric, the "right" side and the "wrong" side, so that there would be subtle variations in color.
Sooner than I realized I had a set of eight fabric coasters (four in each color variation), absorbent and functional! And, in a fabric I loved! It was quick and easy without a pattern!

Dinosaur Love

In my quest tolearn to sew, I've been tackling progressively more challenging projects over the past two weeks (with baby steps). A year ago, I could only list a "straight stitch" on my sewing resume confidently. Still scared of store-bought patterns, I bought a few small, "beginner" pdf patterns from online artisans. One such artisan's website is:

http://www.bitofwhimsydolls.com/

And so I was eager to take the next sewing step by creating bitofwhimsydolls dinosaur pattern. Less than 24 hours later, my dino was finished, and my son named it "Stinger".

Welcome to our family, Stinger. May you be a guardian dinosaur over my projects to come...

Inspired at the holidays

I've been inspired by all of the new blogs that I found recently. Far from being diaries or forums to explore personal issues, these blogs have been such a source of inspiration and creativity. I am inspired to add more of my creations to my own blog!

How do we mark the holidays - especially now that we are making traditions

for our children? I was excited this year to make an advent wreath. The purple and pink candles burn with nostalgia of my youth. Created as a "reservoir" wreath (that can be watered), it took on a life of its own. It ended up a little more "wild" than intended as though the wreath won our small tug of war in which I was bent on "sculpting" the piece.

Alas, even with my oldest child only being 2.5 years-old, our advent wreath was a welcome addition to our crafting of a family holiday tradition.