Native Woman Sews, Crafts, Writes, and More

Home » Inspiration » Page 14

Pictures of Fleece Tie Blanket

by 2 Comments

First I always cut off the edges – with a print it is because the edge is white, and with a solid it is because the edge is tighter woven and that is just a preference of mine to cut it off.

Then I lay the smallest piece on top of the largest, so I can match them up and cut away the excess.

I never used to cut a square away in the corner, but after doing a few blankets with diagonal cuts I realize cutting the square makes a cleaner corner.

Then cut the fringe – I always do a what feels like a natural cut with my scissors – then it is just one cut versus a couple of short ones. Plus I like this length – not too short it can’t be tied and not too long.

Here is a shot of the fringe tied.

I finished one side yesterday and will have another side done tonight. It doesn’t take too long to cut and tie so these are quick and easy gifts to make. I bought a lot of solid pieces on the Friday after Thanksgiving a few years ago and am finally using them!

More on Fleece Blankets

by 6 Comments

There is a pink and purple fleece tie blanket – basically you lay two fleece fabric pieces together, cut fringe and then tie the fringe twice. The bottom fabric tie will end up on top – see how it is darker on top? That’s the purple.

And here is the fabric for one blanket I am making for a gift this year. I admit I was not too happy with having to use orange – another thing I am trying to do is use what I have, and I already have orange! – but after looking at it all day long, I think I like it.  Once it is all together the orange around the edges (since that is all you would see when you look at the print side) will look nice.

I did get started on the other crochet blanket tonight as well. I did the starting row and then about 1/3 of a second row. It’s been cold here so I’m thinking of lounging on the couch with a blanket and a good movie and I should have a good bit of it done. Do that a few times in the next couple of weeks and done! The fleece blanket is much faster, maybe 15-20 minutes per side is all.

Blankets Into Pillows

by Leave a Comment

I was reminded of the blankets that can fold into a pillow after reading this post at Mommies Magazine about stuffed animals that are the stuffed animal, a pillow and a blanket. That is too cool! But in keeping with my buying handmade this year, I went to etsy to search for the blanket/pillow combo. Alice and Jake both have blankets like it and they love them. Maybe I can get one for a nephew – having such a large family always leaves me wondering what to get them for Christmas!

Alice’s pattern is Finding Nemo and Jake’s is a football material. I still need ideas for one nephew that is six and another that is three. Maybe the blanket would work for the three year old because the one year old is getting a blanket I’m going to crochet. I have a lot of fleece material though and I bet I could make a quillow (what the combo is usually called). If you are interested in buying one, check out the listings on etsy.

Organizing the Craft Room

by 12 Comments

My craft room is in a constant state of needing to be organized. I try to keep the like with the like – the sewing together and by the sewing machine, the bookcase shelves well kept, the kids craft items on the same shelf in the closet. But it is still a mess.

I will say this is the messiest room in my house. It seems to be the catch all room – see the stacks of books? That is from the bookcase in the loft. We cleaned it off so it would be easier to move when we painted…two weeks ago. The loft is put back together but the books haven’t been. It’s been easy to work around them, they’ve actually been restacked twice, but of course they should be back on the bookcase.

The dresser was meant to hold homeschool items but they were shifted to the bookcase in the craft room. I’m honestly not sure what is in there now. And the chair was my Grandpa’s years and years ago, the arm (we think) is at my brother’s or my Mom’s house – Mom said I should throw it away but I don’t want to. Of course it should be used if I’m not going to get rid of it!

Since getting the laptop, no one sits at the desk longer then to print something. We really want a wireless printer, that would eliminate the need to even sit at the desk. But it is a nice desk.

I want to have different sections in the room – a sewing section, homeschool section, etc. I’ve thought about taking the top of the desk off and using the desk as a cutting station or a work station, but haven’t done so. I definitely need to get organized as we may be moving in the next few months. I know it’s smart to start now rather then to rush at the end!

Today starts the 30 Day Organizational Challenge and I signed up for this room. Thirty days is plenty of time to put like with the like, find basket and bins if necessary, purge and get the room put together in a good way. I don’t mind if I end up getting done and moving a couple of months later, I can always use the same ideas later.

PS You entered the giveaway right? I’ll be drawing names the same time as the rest of the participants, which I think is Saturday.

Brain Thread

by 6 Comments

There are days when my brain goes off on wild tangents. Today was one of those days.

I was listening to the latest Mom’s Money podcast, this week’s show is about teaching kids about money. This is a great topic for me because I want to start giving my kids an allowance and just don’t know how. I’ve mentioned they are price conscious and now seems to be a great time to start working with money.

While listening to Mom’s Money I decided my kids need piggy banks. I know I had seen one with multiple compartments for saving, spending, donation, etc., so off I went on a Google-quest to find said piggy bank. I tried Amazon – who had the one I wanted (the Money Savvy Piggy Bank) listed, but it isn’t available right now. Okay so tried and true Amazon failed me – but google won’t!

Back to searching.

I found the site that created the money savvy bank – and wow it is available in multiple colors! Alice immediately picked pink and Jake wanted green. I’m thinking this is a great idea but can I find it locally so I can save on shipping costs. Ahah, Toys R Us! But their phone number is busy no matter how many times I call them in five minutes. Since my brain is skipping from thread to thread, I quickly move on.

A quick glance around the bank creators site shows me a cow bank and a football bank – Jake sticks to wanting a green pig, Alice thought the cow was cute but she’s becoming attached to the color pink in general so there was no changing her mind.

Still thinking I want to save on shipping, I go back to Google – maybe there is a site that has it offering free shipping or low shipping. Darn Amazon anyway.

Then I stumble upon a post on the financial blog Get Rich Slowly about this exact piggy bank. Reading the post is merely verifying my want of the piggy banks and I’m ready to click back and buy the banks, sucking up the shipping charge (and the crazy fact that I would be spending a chunk of change to teach my kids to save money). Then I read the words

(Of course, the truly frugal can accomplish the same thing with four canning jars.)

His parentheses; and the link goes to a flickr picture of three canning jars with a child’s handwriting indicating saving, spending and donate. It took searching and bouncing from site to site and my finger on the buy now button before I thought *duh I have old Ball Mason jars* – I can just use a few of them! A little while later and we went from this

to this on the dresser.

Save, Spend, Donate.

I stayed with green paper for Jake and pink for Alice, used stamps from Stampin’ Up to decorate the punched out circle and look at that – a three component piggy bank system. It’s about time I use the jars for something, as they haven’t moved since I put them up on the shelves. Their allowances start next week.

How does your brain work when searching for something?

Recent Posts