Re-Purposing Old Quilts: Table Mats and Napkins

After 43 years of creating quilts as a professional teacher and quilter, some of my quilts have started to show their age through normal use. So, what to do with un-donatable items? My fun solution has been creating table mats and napkins.   I’ve made many sets mostly from Australian Flora and Fauna prints.  Here is a set of table mats featuring finches and desert peas. Minimum quilting is required (I machine or hand quilt horizontally 5 cm apart and bind with straight cut binding folded double).  

Re-Purposing Old Quilts: Desktop Mat

After 43 years of creating quilts as a professional teacher and quilter, some of my quilts have started to show their age through normal use. So, what to do with un-donatable items? My fun solution has been creating table mats, and this, my latest, a desk mat for my keyboard and mouse to adorn! Minimum quilting is required (I machine or hand quilt horizontally 5 cm apart, and bind, or use a finished size 1.5 cm lazy fold over technique). For this desk mat I used “Scenic Route Wildflower Garden…

Twinnies

I was recently introduced to the ‘twinnie’ concept by my grand niece.  As I understand it, it is a special ‘thing’ she shares with her Mum, and something of a security back up that works when she is not with her Mum.  So, when I spent some time with her recently, and was making crochet flowers at the time, we had a conversation about these flowers, and the creative things she was doing with pretty buttons, and coloured paper and so on, that we struck up an agreement! So she…

Just a Bag Lady at Heart!

I love bags!  In a tiny way, part of my life has been a search for the ‘perfect’ bag!  Not gonna happen of course! Now I am more interested in creating lovely, handmade, eco-friendly, and unique bags for those who appreciate them! So when DD, a newly qualified Yogi, asked about carry bags for her yoga mats, I was very happy to put the creative juices to work! The gallery below has two bags, both 100% cotton, canvas on the outside, homespun on the inside.  Both are 67 cm in…

Dressmaking and loving it!

It’s been a long time since I’ve done any dressmaking, even though I started sewing at the age of 10 and made my living out of it for quite a few years in my 20’s.  But the age of throw-away fashion dawned when the kids were quite little, and I just couldn’t compete pricewise with cheap imports and a very limited budget. But recently DD (dear daughter) was so disappointed when an expensive little dress she had bought while travelling OS had shrunk to become, well, a top! I was…