DIY - Pillows to match

You might remember my Rag quilt that I posted here.

Well I finally got the opportunity to sew pillow cases and throw pillows to match.

Two of the three pillow cases and one of the throw pillows.

The throw pillows are all envelope pillows - no zippers. Much easier and much quicker to sew.
I found a shop on line and ordered fringe and cord trim to give the pillows a little somethin' somethin'.
The cord went well with the light colored fabric

The fringe went well with the dark print.

But neither went well with the blue. 

So I thought and I thought and I decided to trim it just like the blanket. I had a narrow strip of fleece left over, so it put that between the two (three) layers of blue. Sewed it with the seam on the right side out and then snipped it all the way around. I really like the way it turned out and it goes perfectly with the blue.

If anyone is interested in the fringe, let me know and I'll dig up the link.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Revisited - Fridge Door Handle Covers

I mailed the covers I made to the house and they were so kind to put them on the fridge.

I think they look great!

Sorry for the low res, but you get the idea. She also said that the cover fits perfectly on the freezer drawer. So I can just go ahead and use the same measurements for the freezer handle cover. Cool Beans!

So, have you made your cover yet?

Aloha A Hui Hou!

DIY - Bleached Coral Pillow

 A while back I painted a coral pillow and shared it with you here

I love how the pillow turned out, but it does feel a bit "hard" where the paint is.

So I got thinking about a bleach technique that a friend of mine shared on her pinterest page and that it might be the solution I was looking for.

According to the instructions you would need:

Colored fabric
Stencil (If you are making your own you will need poster board, a pen, cutting board and a cutter)
spray glue
tape,
Ruler/yard stick
Black Permanent Marker
Rubber Gloves
Plastic Foil
Newspaper
Paper Towels
Spray bottle filled with a 50/50 mix of water and bleach

The first thing I did was photo copy my pillow and piece together the pages to make the pattern for my stencil.

I laid it on top of the poster board, and pressing firmly I traced the design onto the poster board. Using the cutter and the cutting board below I cut out the coral design.

 I spread out some newspaper, laid out my stencil and sprayed the back side with spray glue.

According to the instructions on the glue can, it has to air dry for about 15 minutes before I can place the stencil on my fabric (this way it remains tacky and I can pull it off a couple of times). I did have to respray the stencil after the 2nd and 4th use.

Which is good, because I had some taping and measuring to do

First I spread plastic foil on the table and since I was working outside I taped it down.

Next I measured the middle of my fabric and the middle of my design. Using a permanent marker I marked the lines where the fabric should be and marked the corners where the stencil needs to be.

Then I added some more cardboard so I wouldn't mess up the rest of my fabric with bleach. I pressed down all edged of my stencil firmly to ensure I get a sharp edge.

On my first try I used a 50/50 mix of bleach and water in my sprayer bottle. I squirted the open area of my stencil and right away dabbed off the extra solution using paper towel so it wouldn't spread too far and so my stencil wouldn't get soaked. When you know you'r done spraying, pull off the stencil.

This is what it looked like after 2 sprayings and about 35-40 minutes

It didn't get as light as I had hoped and it leaked a bit, making the branches look a bit chunky.

Let's try this again.

But this time I used 100% bleach in my spray bottle.

AH! Much better!! It is much crisper and not pink. I repeated this 3 more times.

After it line dried I went ahead and washed everything. Then sewed envelope pillows.

Oh and remember the first pillow? Well I went head and traced the outline of the coral branch with a black marker and it made it look much, much better

No two pillows are the same and it definitely is a playing game, getting it just right. Not spraying too much, not too little, wiping it down right away. So go ahead...PLAY!

Aloha A Hui Hou!

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DIY - Rag Quilt

I've had the fabric for weeks, ever since I discovered a blog entry by Northern Cottage called

you'll find the instructions there

This week I finally got around to it. It was a lot of sewing and was a bit awkward to sew because my sewing table is really small and the weight kept pulling me off track.

I wanted to use up all the fleece and wound up with 9 - 10" strips and 2 - 8"strips

I do want to mention that I changed it a bit by using fleece instead of flannel (The only flannel I could find was in kiddy patterns and I wanted Aloha prints) and did not include the extra, in between layer. Sorta like this:

 Snipping wasn't nearly as much work as I thought it would be. It is thicker than the flannel version, but I think it looks just fine.

Even the fleece has an Aloha design.

All in all it was a fun project and I'm really, really pleased how it turned out. I have some more fabric that I can use to make a couple of full size pillows and a few decorative pillows.

Should look great on our guest bed.....

Or on the couch.

Not sure which yet.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

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DIY - Tired of Fingerprints and Smudges

It's been weeks since we've returned from our trip and I can't stop thinking about how smudged up the door handles of our stainless steel fridge/freezer were and how I wound up wiping them down every time I walked by. I had to come up with a solution.

In one of the care homes I worked in they wrapped the fridge door handle in Saran Wrap to keep it clean. It worked, but I didn't want to be that wasteful.

Then it came to me. Why don't I just sew "handle covers"?

I knew I wanted some kind of green, Aloha print, quilted fabric, but didn't find anything I liked at the fabric store.

On a whim, at the thrift store, I went thru the bedding isle and found a small throw in just the right color.

Cha-ching - MINE!

First, I carefully took off the bias tape so that I could reuse on my covers.

Then I took measurements and cut out what I needed to make each cover.

Then pinned the bias tape all the way around and sewed it in place.

Next I wrapped the cover to be around the handle and using a vanishing marker I marked where they over lap. 

This marks lets me know where I need to sew the velcro.

I decided to only add a few spots of velcro instead of a long strip. Thought it would be less bulky this way.

Once the velcro was in place I wrapped the cover around the handle, with opening facing me.

I pulled it nice and tight, pressed the velcro dots together.

This is our fridge in Hawaii - excited to put it on our other fridge.

Then, ever so gently, I turned the cover around so the seam was in back and wah-la! A nice cover that won't show smudges and that I can toss in the washing machine when it gets dirty!

I made 2 for the french doors, but will have to wait till we're at the house again to measure how big it has to be for the freezer drawer.

What do you think? Maybe I'll go into production!!

Aloha A Hui Hou!

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Click Away Monday #3

This week was a.....let's say busy week. I'm busy sewing, getting ready for a craft fair later this month and work added several challenges to my days.

That being said, I didn't take many pictures, other than pictures of what I'm sewing. So I'll share that with you.

First, I found and fell in love with this fabric

I'm not a red person, but this one just spoke to me. I have big plans for it.


I made a Kope cover (your Hawaiian word for the day: Kope (koh-peh) is Hawaiian for Coffee)

Then I made a Clothes pin bag out of it

I also plan to make a few hanging kitchen towels like these

So, these pictures reflect my highlights of last week.

How was yours?

Aloha a Hui Hou!

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Under the Table and Dreaming
Sugarbee Crafts
I should be mopping the floor

Click Away Monday Collection #2

I did something wrong last week and people were not able to share a pic on this page, so lets give this another try.

Today is Click Away Monday #2 

Click Away Monday

I do hope that I figure out what I did wrong with my link up last week so that everyone can share more easily.

Anyway, here are some of my pics from last week:

This is the Fisherman's shrine near the Halona Blow Hole. Amy, over at Mama On The Move, researched the topic and posted this about the shrine. 

Look what the salty air does to the coins.

This is the Halona Blow Hole in action, as seen from the shrine. You can't really see it in the pic, but the beach at the bottom of this cove is called "Eternity Beach". This is where the famous rolling in the sand kissing scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr

There, your Hawaii/Hollywood tidbit for the day!

I've been busy sewing this past week too. I'll be joining 2 other creative women at a craft fair next month at the Blaisdale called "Made in Hawaii".  Hope to sell enough to at least break even.

Notice my tiny pineapple - from my yard. The stem holding up the fruit bent so I had to harvest it. It smells great, but I have to let it sit a day or two to soften up. 

Found the pattern for this thru pinterest (or was it a blog?) and thought it would be a fun, quick item to sew. I was almost right, at least it's been fun! lol

I've decided to call these Kope Covers, Kope is the Hawaii word for Coffee. 

Your Hawaiian Word for the day. 

Looks like this is turning out to be an educational post too, huh? 

No names for this one yet...

I'm open for suggestions...

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to!

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Coastal Charm
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Never Rush Ranch
I should be mopping the floor

Aloha a Hui Hou!