Scrapbustin’ January Day 5: Genetically Modified Tree Quilt Block

06 Jan 2012 by froggygirl

If you’ve been glancing at my sidebar, you might notice that little yellow button over there.  See it?  Says “Stash Bee”.  You guessed it, I joined a quilt block swap this year, in an effort to help improve and stretch my quilting skills.  Well, the first block is supposed to be a tree-that’s the only real direction other than that the negative space has to be Kona White, the rest scrappy (fit right in with this months challenge here right?).

I’m a girl who likes things laid out for me plain, so I know exactly what I’m expected to do…so as soon as I saw the theme I went “Oh crap”.  Have to use my imagination from the get go!  So I hemmed around for a few days formulating an idea for a block..then set out to put it on fabric.  This is what I ended up with:

genetically modified tree quilt blockQuit laughing.  Seriously. It’s not THAT funny.  Ok, maybe it is..it makes me giggle when I look at it too.  Suffice to say this is NOT what it looked like in my head LOL!  I call it the genetically modified tree because we all know how genetically  modified seeds do their own thing, and this tree is obviously doing his own thing.

I sent the picture to the girl it’s supposed to be for so she could get a giggle out of it (I’ll be remaking this block tomorrow, I wouldn’t feel right sending this as my contribution!  No matter how laughter inducing it is.), and she said it actually looks like the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter:

Harry Potter Whomping Willow Lego

She’s totally right! LOL!  I may try and play with it a bit to improve it, but it may end up being a wadder (aka..headed to trashcan central).  I do have another idea for a block that I think (hope?) would be super cute too, so we’ll see!

Are you playing along busting scraps?  Share a link to what you’ve been working on so we can cheer you on!

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  4 Comments

Scrapbustin’ January Day 4: Scrappy Fabric Shoelaces

05 Jan 2012 by froggygirl

OK, I’m so in love with todays project, I can’t help it!  This is one of those completely mundane things that is transformed when done in cute fabric!

I pinned this tutorial ages ago, and today I just had to try it!  Here’s my first pair:

Scrappy shoelaces #1Keep in mind, these are child length shoelaces in my shoes just to show you what they look like all tied up and everything.  I couldn’t find a pair of my kids shoes that lace up and looks decent (seriously, these boys and their shoes!).  How cute is that?  I’ll be making a longer pair for my shoes for sure!  One thing I definitely learned though, is you probably want to make the fabric strips a smidge thinner than they recommend.  They say 2″, but I really had a hard time getting them into the tubing, and even lacing them was a pretty tight fit in the shoe holes.  Subsequent pairs I’ll probably make 1 3/4″ wide and see how that works.

Are you playing along with busting your own scraps?  Show me your projects!  Leave a linkie in the comments for me (and everyone else!) to ogle your goodies (wait, that sounds bad..you know what I meant).

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

Scrapbustin’ January Day 3: Scrappy Potholder

04 Jan 2012 by froggygirl

Yesterday was fraught with..absolutely nothing screamingly important, but intention-derailing nonetheless so I missed posting this.  Today has been similar, I described myself earlier as being like “a fruit fly that got loose in the product aisle”…aka flitting around getting nothing accomplished lol.

Scrappy potholders are nothing new of course, but my kitchen is lacking in awesome potholders so they’ve been on my list to make for awhile.  I think this one was probably originally inspired by this pin, but I don’t know that I really followed most of the tutorial I just did my own thing.

Scrappy Potholder

I started with a 9″ square of fabric (also from the scrap bin of  course!), and used a bit of temporary adhesive to layer on a 9″ square of Insul-bright.  I grabbed a handful of strips and got to work.  I used a quilt as you go method, then once the square was all covered I trimmed it up and bound it with some bias tape.  Don’t look too closely at that binding m’kay? Not my strongest point. And…Ta-da!  Scrappy potholders for all!  Ok, I made one…for my own kitchen..I’m selfish like that.  What kind of scrappy awesomeness are you getting up to?

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , ,  One Comment

Scrapbustin’ January Day 2: Doll Diapers

02 Jan 2012 by froggygirl

Today’s project is one I never thought I’d make…doll sized diapers.   See, I had 4 sons, then I somehow ended up with a daughter (I mean, I know the mechanics, but I..sheesh people, we’re crafty over here..hush).   Anyway, I knew when she started putting diapers on the Transformers that I did actually have a girl on my hands.  So I’d been wanting to make these for awhile.  I found this template over at Skip To My Lou and went digging through my scrap bins for anything that was big enough to use.  Here’s the final product:

Doll diapersThere were more, but Ree already absconded with them.  The tutorial recommends using flannel, but as you can see, I just used whatever I had.  Most of them are knit, with one being made of a microfleece and others made of cotton wovens.  All turned out pretty well except the ones made from rib knit.  Those stretched like crazy and turned out..not so great.  I’ll definitely be making some more of these to go with the Bitty Baby we’re getting Ree for her birthday in a few weeks.  Nice and easy, and quick to make up!

Are you playing along with me in busting your scraps this month?  Feel free to leave a link in the comments section to your blog posts about it!  I’d love even more ideas!

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , , , , , ,  One Comment

Scrapbustin’ January Day 1: Tattered Flowers

01 Jan 2012 by froggygirl

Scrapbusting January Button

Happy New Year everyone!  And welcome to Scrapbustin’ January!  As I mentioned last week, my goal this month is to work my way through at least SOME of the massive amount of scraps I have living in my sewing room.  So here we go, a project a day (Lord willing!) for the whole month!

kitchen sink nachosI call these “kitchen sink nachos” and they’re what’s for dinner tonight.  Start with tortilla chips and layer on whatever’s in your fridge-thus the “everything but the kitchen sink” vibe.  Tonight we had tortilla chips, a layer of shredded cheese, refried beans, grilled chicken, queso sauce, crumbled bacon, black olives and more cheese.  Pop in a 375 oven for about 10 or 15 minutes until everything is all melty, top with whatever you like and go to town!  We love these!

Oh wait, that’s not the kind of “scrapbusting” you’re here for?  Oh well, crap..ya see, today’s project was a FAIL!  It started out with this pin:

Tattered Flowers Pin

Source: Sew4Home via Pinterest

Super cute right?  I’m usually not a huge fan of fabric flowers, but I liked these and thought..what the hey let’s give it a go!  Well, #1 was a big..flop.  I wanted to make smaller ones since I think a big one like that would just swallow the childrens items I make, and here’s what I ended up with:

scrapbusting #1It’s not horrible, but not great either.  Not sure if I’ll revisit this one or not.  Good news, see that heart fabric? That’s a sneak peek of the Valentine’s Day set I’m working on.  And, tomorrow’s project is shaping up quite a bit better than todays!

Are you joining in with me in busting your scraps? I’d love for you to share your projects with everyone, so link it in the comments section!!! Now, back to my nachos…..

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

Ree’s Crib Quilt

30 Dec 2011 by froggygirl

So, I’ve talked before about how I’m not much of a quilter (although I have made a couple of quilts).  One of my mini goals for 2012 is to become more proficient at quilting.  I don’t forsee me ever moving away from clothing as my item of choice to sew, but there’s just something about a handmade quilt.

Rees Crib Quilt #1As you can see, I still haven’t ventured from the straight square piecing, but the main difference with this quilt is that I really concentrated on my seams and tried VERY hard to not quilt it like a drunk person.

Rees crib quilt #2I didn’t completely succeed on either front, but overall I’m really pleased with the result, and Ree loves her “bwanktet”.  Now, the funny part is, this started out in my head as a rug for my kitchen (inspired by one I saw on a blog somewhere..I pinned the post, can’t find it now lol).  My  math was obviously very wrong as this turned out to be a perfect crib size.

rees crib quilt #3The front is pieced simply from my charm square bin (yes, I have a whole bin of 5″ squares, don’t you? LOL!).  The back is a print Ree chose that is a soft lavendar calico.  The binding is an old stripe from the Freshcut collection I believe.

Next time, I’m going to challenge myself beyond squares!  How about you? Any personal challenges you’ve set for the new year?

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , , , , ,  One Comment

Personalized Initial Ornaments

29 Dec 2011 by froggygirl

Still playing catch up on Christmas projects and things, but this should be the last one for this year!  I didn’t finish these up until Christmas Eve that’s why I didn’t post them earlier.  I got the idea for free hanging machine embroidered ornaments, one for each kiddo.  I took a fabric that they each had mentioned liking at one point or another, then I used the initial of their first name and as you can see, included the date as well.

Personalized initial ornaments #1These were also kind of a trial run as to how to get the best result since I think these will be an offering in the shop next fall (see, planning early!! LOL!).  Wyatt’s was the one I did first and I didn’t add anything but the fabric and ribbon, turned out way too flimsy.  The rest I added a layer of felt between the fabrics and they turned out wonderfully!

Personalized initial ornaments #2As you can see, I didn’t even manage to get all the stabilizer off of these before they got tied to stockings.  That’s how close I was cutting it.  The kids thought they were awesome though, they love having their initial on anything.  Kids are so funny.

How about your Christmas projects? Were you done early? Or burning the midnight oil like I was?

Category: Family, Sewing  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

January is Scrapbusting Month

28 Dec 2011 by froggygirl

Scrapbusting January Button #2

The scraps are really getting out of control around this place, so I decided awhile ago that January would be Scrapbusting Month.  I even created a pinboard dedicated to it called, what else, Scrapbustin’ January Projects. By the way, if you’re on Pinterest, let me know in the comments I’d love to follow you!  If you’d like an invite, leave your email and I’ll send you one!

Anyway, back to the scrap mountains.  I literally have 4 of the big 18 gallon Sterlite bins full of scraps, plus a mountain on the table next to my cutting table, and a couple of boxes that I haven’t touched since we moved because I know they’re full of scraps too.  See, out of control!  So I’m hoping to post something every day that I’ve made from scraps, and I’d love to have you join in.  PLEASE tell me I’m not the only person with a scrap hoarding problem?  I’ve created this little button if you want to grab it and post it on your own blog!  I’m going to have some guest posting, maybe a tutorial or two, and at the end..a link up so we can all show off everything we’ve made through the month (and maybe get even more ideas for using up more scraps!)

So be sure to come back in January for lots of fun!

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

Recipe: Cinnamon Vanilla Refrigerator Cookies

27 Dec 2011 by froggygirl

Cinnamon Vanilla Cookie Heaven

I know Christmas is over and all that jazz, but I wanted to post about these cookies I made in this years baking bonanza.  Every year, I pull out my old copy of the Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book(this is the 2002 version, mine is from the 60’s sometime though) because I love the Chocolate Crinkles recipe.  That one is a staple for sure!  But this year as I was flipping through it, I saw the refrigerator cookie recipe and thought..hmmm.

The original recipe is for Vanilla Refrigerator Cookies, but it offers a bunch of different variations, one of which is Cinnamon.  Hubby loves cinnamon stuff, so I decided to make those for him.  I got sidetracked halfway through though and didn’t follow the recipe, so we ended up with Cinnamon Vanilla.  Happy accident I say!  This cookie is crispy, but not hard (be sure not to overbake!), and when topped with caramel sauce and chocolate..it’s cookie heaven.  Really.

Cinnamon Vanilla Refrigerator Cookies

Ingredients:

1 C. Shortening

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1/2 C. packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

3 t. cinnamon

2 3/4 C. flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

Directions:

Mix shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla thoroughly.  Blend dry ingredients together, then mix into shortening mixture.  Make sure it is all mixed thoroughly, then press and mold into a long, smooth roll a little over 2″ around.  Wrap in waxed paper and chill for several hours or overnight (this would be a great time to freeze some for later too!).

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut into thin slices (about 1/8″ thick or so, although I think most of mine were closer to 1/4″).  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, these spread just a little bit, not much so take that into account.  Bake 6-8 minutes or until they just start to brown. Let cool for a minute or so on the cookie sheet, then remove to a rack.

For the caramel/chocolate topping: I had made caramel sauce using this method which I initially saw on Pinterest (I had to know if it worked, and it totally did!!!).   I spread the sauce on top of the cookie, then melted a handful or two of milk chocolate chocolate chips in the microwave.  Drizzle on top, eat..then agree that it’s cookie heaven!

I so love old cookie recipes, if you have a favorite please share!!! I love to try new recipes!

Category: Cooking  Tags: , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

Froggy Girl Designs End of Season Sale!

26 Dec 2011 by froggygirl
Snowman Winter Outfit

Ree says "I love a good sale!"

I’m having a huge sale in the shop (Froggy Girl Designs) and wanted to let ya’ll know!  I normally try and keep the spamalicious off the blog, but as we move towards 2012 I’m working hard behind the scenes here on lots of new goodies, new ideas, etc.  I’m going to be clearing out a couple of product lines completely, and need to move out some of my older stock to make room for new stuff! So, here’s a list of all the awesome sales going on at the shop for the rest of the year!

Use these codes:

2OFFFOB to get $2 off all instock key fobs

HALFOFFBAG to get 50% off all instock Froggy Fix It Rice Bags

50OFF to get 50% off all remaining cloth diapers and covers

And, just because I love ya’ll, use code NEWYEAR to get 20% off the entire shop!  So treat yourself or your little one to a little something extra (at a discount!) and help me clear some room here!

Category: Sewing  Tags: , , , ,  Leave a Comment
« Previous Entries
Rss Feed Tweeter button Facebook button Technorati button Reddit button Linkedin button Webonews button Delicious button Digg button Flickr button Stumbleupon button Newsvine button Youtube button