The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh
Life is what happens while I am busy planning my next knitting design.
Elly’s rag quilt is in the dryer right now!
To celebrate, Elly and I are sitting in a mound of fabric.
Some of my favorites thus far:
A patchwork quilt just waiting for batting and backing fabric
This painted fabric
I’m thinking about making a tablecloth or two or better yet Roman shades
Piling fabric up on bookcase shelves is not a good idea. It’s hard to get the piece of fabric out from the middle of the stack without toppling the whole stack over. Besides, I couldn’t find the dark finish I wanted in the price range I was willing to pay.
Enter plan c.
Shuffling is still required. The books are being relocated to the end of the bed so the long wall can be dedicated to fabric storage and sewing notions.
The china cabinet remains too small for my needs. I have found what seems like the perfect fabric storage solution: cubes. Originally, these cubes were intended for closet storage so they should be great at storing fabric. Fabric is nothing more than unsewn clothes.
The best part about the cubes is that I can expand the storage by stacking more cubes on top when I run out of room, which of course will happen all too soon.
And no, that is not the new fabric. I am sticking to my rule of no new fabric until the rag quilt was finished. All this fabric came out of the china cabinet. A lot will likely have to go back in, but I am trying to put like fabrics together. The top left cube is material waiting to be sewn into aprons. First up is an apron just for me.
I am currently using the old Kenmore sewing machine because of Elly’s curiosity. My new sewing machine has WAY too many buttons for a little girl to press and cause trouble with. On the Kenmore, she can press the backward button as much as she likes and not cause any broken needles or frustration.
Thanks to my mother-in-law’s generosity and amazing good luck, the guest bedroom/sewing room is in major need of an overhaul. This is the before shot:
The trash bags piled high on the bed are filled with fabric and notions. My MIL received the goldmine from a coworker who was moving to London. She didn’t want to pay the enormous shipping fees to send it overseas and would my MIL want it? “Heck yeah” answered my MIL as would any sane woman answer!
My current system of stacking the fabric in the china cabinet won’t work; there’s not enough room.
Enter plan b.
Plan b involves shuffling the bookcases, buying a new bookcase, and reorganizing my current stash of fabric and notions. It also involves finishing the rag quilt before I open the bags of fabric. I know me. If I open the bags first, Elly might have to wait another year before she sees her quilt.
Unable to toss the clothes I handmade for Elly and even unwilling to donate them to another baby, including any 2nd child we might have, I had stored them in a rubbermade tote. It had been my intention to save them for the day when Elly decided to become a mother herself.
There were a few flaws with my plan.
1. Elly may choose not to have children of her own
2. Elly may bear only boys and frown against putting them in the dresses
3. I feel an incredible need to use the items we store in our house. If items are not used for a certain period of time, I donate them. Storing clothes – no matter how precious – for 30 years on the chance they might be wanted by Elly for her children goes against my policy. Not only could Elly very well not want them, unused items irritate me and I would have to hit myself over the head repeatedly to not throw them out in 5 years.
So, when I stumbled over the pattern for Audrey’s Keepsake Quilt on Etsy, I was thrilled. Here was the answer to my dilemma. I would use Elly’s handmade baby clothes to make an heirloom quilt. The clothes that took me so long to make for Elly would be preserved in a useful item. The quilt could be used by Elly now and could later be passed down to her children, which was part of my original hope. There is even enough room to preserve some of the receiving blankets we wrapped Elly in when she was an infant.
I am so excited to start cutting up the squares. My thanks to Sandra Saunders of Lullaby Lucy for such a great idea.
Elly loves to help me in the kitchen now. A step stool sits in front of the island so Elly can reach the countertop. Stirring is still difficult for her but she keeps trying.
Jake cleans up most of her spills. When she’s not stirring, she’s tasting. Often she ends up covering her face along with whatever she’s wearing in flour. Rather than change her clothes repeatedly and in turn have to do more laundry, I whipped her up an apron.
Full details about the pattern and fabric can be found on my Elly-Made blog.
I came across this tutorial on how to turn an ordinary dish into a needle nest.
What a great idea!
I searched my house until I came up with a dish that would work. Dan drove to Loews and then to Home Depot to buy me the magnets.
It took me 3 tries with my hot glue gun, but I got the magnets to stick.
Now I too have a pretty needle nest. Yay!
I finished my 6th sewing project of the year and my 2nd Christmas gift (one can never start too early).
I cheated on this apron, since I bought the front side in a store. Full details can be viewed on my Elly Made blog.
I plan to take a break from sewing aprons even though I have 4 more ideas waiting in the wings and whip up some gadget cases. I just love quick and easy projects – at least they better be easy.
Elly recently shot up 2 inches. Most of her shirts had to be packed away because they could no longer cover her belly.
So, last Wednesday, Elly and I went shopping.
She needed more t-shirts, summer dresses, shorts and gardening pants. I found everything on my list at Evergreen Consignment shop in Pottstown.
I got all this for only $50.
If I had tried to buy this at a department store or boutique, I would have spent twice as much or more. With Elly growing at the rate she is, it doesn’t make sense to spend oodles on her clothes. She has to promise to wear her clothes for at least 1 year before I start buying her boutique clothing. With a little luck by the time she stops growing every few months, she’ll be old enough to sew her own boutique clothes.
I finished my 5th sewing project of the year.
It’s another apron. Except for the bias tape, it’s made completely from old clothes. Full details can be viewed on my Elly Made blog.
I already have plans to sew yet another apron. I think I’m addicted. Aprons make such a perfect gift to give. They are quick and easy sewing projects, which is a necessity with Elly running around. They are great for those who love to cook and for those who hate to cook but love to host a party, which includes just about every woman on my list.
Like most crafts, this cross-stitch quilt has a story.
My neighbor’s mother had started it with the intention of gifting it to her 1st great-grandchild. Unfortunately, she passed away before any great-grandchildren were born. Despite not being the crafty sort, my neighbor held onto it. Eventually, she gave it to her daughter-in-law with the hope that it would be completed and placed in her daughter’s room. Unfortunately, the daughter-in-law wasn’t able to dedicate the time necessary to finish such a large and detailed project. Rather than let it languish in a drawer for years, she returned it to my neighbor.
Last week, my neighbor gave it to me in the hopes that I will complete it and place it in Elly’s room.
I look forward to working on it during the upcoming quilting season. The dog days of summer are my quilting season because it is too hot to garden or to knit.
Though I will probably tackle the project included with the quilt, a table runner.
It has been years since I have cross-stitched. I could use some practice.
The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh 