Over Christmas break, my mom and I did a major fabric purge in our basement. We found all sorts of treasures: half-pinned t-shirts, pajama pants missing a final hem, and disastrous fabrics that had been hiding in the bottoms of bins since the late ’80s.

We cleared out pounds upon pounds of fabric (is that embarrassing? maybe.) but we also found a number of should-have-beens that are now back on the project list. The old-but-new project I decided to tackle first was this quilt.

I found all the squares in a wrinkled Ziploc. Some had been sewn together, most were alone. It seemed to be a scrap quilt: some of the fabrics contributed twenty patches, and a few only contributed one or two. I assumed I had picked up the bag at one of the rummage sales I love so much… even though I couldn’t remember doing it, it didn’t seem unlikely because I know how excited I get in those “fill a bag for a dollar” moments!

I started by stitching the squares into sets of three so they’d be easy to arrange. I lined them up as best I could and ran them all through the sewing machine, then under the iron.

Finally, I laid them all out on the living room floor, meticulously rearranging for the most appealing layout. Mama walked by and said, “oh, I recognize that fabric! we used to have that!” And as she got closer, she recognized more and more.

Aunt Jeanie used to make purses from that one!

Oh, I think I had a skirt from that one… it was lovely.

Finally, the mystery was solved as more and more of the patterns became familiar to my mama’s eyes. These pieces were all part of Aunt Jeanie’s quilt, a scrap quilt lovingly cut from spare squares.

Now, at least 20 years later, I’m stitching them all into their rightful places. The quilt top is finished, so now I’m on the lookout for a perfect backing. Then I’ll snuggle up underneath the scraps from my family’s creations, and have sweet seamstressly dreams.

aunt jeanie’s quilt is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Still working away on this quilt that I started back in 2007… it’s almost 2010 now, and I’m still piecing together patches for the top. I ran out of half of the fabrics, so I’m having to substitute with similar fabrics, fabrics that I say have a similar “blur value”. It’s a good project for right now, since I’ve got all the materials here and plenty of free time to work on it.

I’m also almost done with haikus! Just a few more to go and I’ll have 365… can’t say it’s been as easy or as quick as I expected, because there were lots of days where I had no idea what to blog about. I am relieved to be close to the finish, but I probably will miss it soon.

quilting time is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I’ve also been working to deplete some of my flannel stash; after making many pairs of pajama pants, I have lots of oddly shaped, but rather large, scraps that I’ve been saving. I intend to make baby blankets out of them that I can donate to organizations that will put them to good use… there’s nobody I’d rather help more than poor little babies. So it’s a double good; not only do I get to drain bits of my stash, but I get to use it to help others. The first two have gone well and they’re fun little projects; simple, flat things without many pieces, but they require thinking since I have limited supply of each fabric and they’re in such odd shapes. I hope to get a few more done before I head back to school next week.

I finished Ben’s plushie on Christmas Eve, and now that it’s unwrapped, I can share it with you as well! It’s a Sackboy from the PS3 game LittleBigPlanet. The game is one of Ben and Andy’s favorites, and the little Sackboy is just adorable. In the game, you can dress him up in all sorts of different costume pieces, which can be collected throughout the different levels. He was hard to make, harder than those before him in the “Christmas plush” series, but he turned out all right.

But throughout this day, as I fluttered between projects, I realized just how much I simply like to “make things”. I scoured the internet for inspiration for new projects while I sat pinning the Christmas presents; I have unfinished projects of every type but I still don’t feel like I’ve got enough to busy my hands. My next project? Some sort of paper punch collage. I’m going to try and find a good shaped punch on sale… my first thought was hearts, but I have a tiny hope that a whale punch would exist? It’s a brilliant idea, simply beautiful, and I am quite excited.

The usual sewing, plus papercrafting, collage-ing, jewelry making, and a poetry project in the works… perhaps this slew of projects will help to quell my neverending desire to create things.

i just like to make things. is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I dug out the box full of patches, and counted up in accordance with my self-made chart. I then cut out as many additional patches as I could from my fabric scraps… then I ran out of half of the fabrics. According to my calculations, I need at least half a yard more of each of the lacking fabrics. And, as this was a stashbusting quilt, most of the fabrics were purchased from Jo-Ann’s clearance section well over a year ago, so I have no idea how to track them down. Oh no!

For now, I suppose I’ll keep stitching together patches.. I’ve got an extremely basic pattern in mind that I came up with myself (although I’m sure it’s been done before) but unfortunately, it uses a pretty much equal amount of each patch. Perhaps I can do a few simple patch substitutions with similar fabrics; as long as it’s somewhat organized, it should look pretty decent. I’ve still got some hope! But I can’t help realizing that I do not have the time to complete a full-size quilt; ugh. The quilt top is easy, but I have no idea how to do the other stuff!

So wish me luck, and hopefully I’ll come back with a slightly more optimistic post!

a slight dilemma is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

This, my friends, is skill. I found this post on Craftster, and I am simply blown away. These little cakes are made from polymer clay. They’re perfectly detailed and they’re tiny! It’s incredible! So check out her etsy shop and buy a pair.. or two.. because they’re buy one get one free! How can I resist! Too bad I gave up sweets for Lent… but Easter is almost here!

Speaking of Easter, and break starting tomorrow… I will be in SPAIN!

Yes. Be jealous.
My Spanish teacher has organized a trip with around 20-30 people, almost all girls, and we will be going to Spain and France for ten days. Our flight leaves tomorrow. I couldn’t be more excited! And more than anything else – I want to find a fabric store. That would be simply amazing.

Once I get back, with the musical and all of its rehearsals done for the year, I will be sewing up lots of new spring items for the shop, so get excited! At least, I am..

“And as you will see on your left” (i’m practicing my tourguide voice) “there is a quilt in progress at the Fluffyland createry.” Yes, that’s right. I’m crazy enough to have decided to try quilting. I’m hoping for a twin-size. On my first try. Who knows. Anyway, these are half of my patches. The colors are fuchsia, turquoise, peach, and some purples and creams here and there. Between every square there is a rectangle of this darling vintage green heart print. I love it. I’ve got lots of squares cut out and sewn to their rectangular counterpart, but I haven’t had a chance to work on it for more than a month. It was basically a stashbuster project, since all of the fabrics except the green were ones I already had. Two of the fabrics are actual vintage! I’m going for a vintage feel and some unusual colors, but I’m excited. It’s nice because it’s very simple and meditative sewing, just straight lines: something I haven’t done for awhile.

So I wish you all a happy Easter, or should I say – Feliz Pascua! I hope you all enjoy any goodies that you’ve missed during Lent, and enjoy any egg hunts and chocolate along with a nice Mass. And make sure to savor this first taste of summer, because in a little over a week we’ll be back in school… (i know, don’t remind me.)

have your cake and eat it, too is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog