Power Cord Wrap tutorial

Power Cord Wrap tutorial



Supplies for 3 cord wraps:

• 1- 24” package of ½”-3/4” sew-in Hook & Loop fastener (Velcro) (I found mine at Wal-Mart for $0.84.)
• 9”  grosgrain ribbon, twill tape or fabric (should be hemmed) of equal width to the Hook & Loop fastener
• Coordinating Thread
• Sewing Machine with sturdy needle
• Ruler
• Scissors (able to cut the Hook & Loop fastener)
• Matches or lighter (to seal the ends of the ribbon)

Cut the soft side of the Hook & Loop fastener into 3- 7-8” strips (or to the desired length)
Cut the Rough side of the Hook & Loop fastener into 3- 1.5” strips (there will be a long piece left over that we will not use.)
Cut the ribbon into 3- 3” strips. With a match or lighter, heat-seal the ends to prevent fraying.

Fold the ribbon in half to make a 1.5” piece.  Stitch at 1/8 inch around the perimeter, backstitching at start and finish. Repeat with the other 2 ribbons.

Take one piece of soft side Hook & Loop fastener and with the back facing you, line up the ribbon with the raw edges (heat sealed ends)1/4” overlapping the top of the Hook & Loop fastener, and the fold extending past the end of the Hook & Loop fastener, by 1.25”. Baste or glue stick in place if desired.
Put the rough side of the Hook & Loop fastener on the back of the soft side over the ribbon, with the ends of the Hook & Loop fastener lined up.
Stitch at 1/8 inch around the perimeter, backstitching at start and finish of rough side of Hook & Loop fastener. Trim threads.





*If something doesn't make sense, please let me know. I intend to add a few more process photos soon. I need to get some more Hook & Loop first.

Stitching away!

I have had some actual real sewing time over the last week or so and it has been so nice!
I have had a couple of burp cloths that I needed to finish up. My mother in law was kind enough to stitch up some embroidered terry and a cloth diaper for me using  Piece N Quilt's embroidery patterns and then I used the tutorial to make some cloths with them.

They are cute, but as a mom, I think they might be on the small side.  They end up about 9 1/2 inches square. I plan on asking the recipient in a few weeks how they work for her.

I also made a bag for my teen daughter's toiletries.

Our cupboard was getting a little out of hand and after looking at baskets and bins and bags at various stores, I came back home and remembered something I had pinned a while back. I went and checked out the pattern and it looked like it would be just right for the space and things that needed to be organized. It uses Jeni of In Color Order's drawstring bag tutorial and then an add on to add the pockets by Terri at Sew Fantastic.

I love that it stands up on it's own, thanks to a piece of cardboard between layers. It will make it so I can't wash it, and next time I will use some plastic, but it's good for now.

I have also been making progress on my pillow.

I got the applique stitched down and picked up a large hoop today to do the embroidery. I checked out 2 books from the library to help me learn more about applique and embroidery.

I tried almost all the stitches in the embroidery book, Doodle Stitching: Fresh & Fun Embroidery for Beginners.

I am still struggling with French Knots. I think I need a video, because following the written instructions either gets me a little tiny stitch or a kind of sort of French Knot. They don't quite look right. And I need those to make my little gnomey's eyes, so I really have to get them down.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I get kind of twitchy usually when I do small fiddly type things. But I did okay. I can't quite call it relaxing yet, but maybe someday.  This book was just about right for my skill set and most of the instructions were easy to understand. There was one diagram that they left the letters off, by accident I'm sure. The letters were identifying where your needle was going in and out from "A" to "B" to "C" and back to "A" and so forth, so missing letters made it kind of tricky to figure out. But overall I liked the book.

When I finish the pillow I want to try some of the applique techniques in the Stash Happy: 25 Fresh Projects for Fabric Lovers book. I also want to track down the other books in this series. They all look great.

Bulk food storage tip

Most of you know there are six people in my family here, which means I buy certain things in bulk. Rice, Flour, Sugars, Bisquick, Pancake Mix. Things like that.
Some of those items require instructions and since I store them in bins and don't like saving the bags and boxes, I just cut the instructions out and tape them right on the bin.

 I do also make pancakes from scratch, and one of my kids' favorites are the oatmeal pancakes. The recipe makes a ton of mix that you store in your refrigerator. So the "pancake" bin gets used for both store bought mix and for the oatmeal mix. That means that there are 3 :recipes" on the outside of that one. Boxed mix pancakes, boxed mix waffles, and oatmeal pancakes. I don't have to get my recipe files out!
I also have the other bins labeled, since once when my dad was visiting, he made chocolate chip cookies with bread flour or cake flour (I forget which) by mistake. The cookies were very different. :) They tasted fine, just had a different texture. After that little "oops" I labeled all my bins.




 

The year of the UFO

This year I am going to clean up the pile of UFOs that is cluttering my life. Check it out.

 That is kind of a crazy pile of things that need to be finished.

These have been waiting to be started.

 

To Start:
Beach Blanket
Come What May
Coins

Crayons Box
FQS BOM
Halloween
Jolly Holiday pillow
Sewing Machine Cover
Teal and Brown Sleepytime baby 2
T-Shirt gift quilt

These have actual sewing done on them but have a fair amount of work that needs to be completed.
  
Finish Piecing:
Alford BOM
Baby Quilt
Doll Quilts
Hot Wheels
Lavender Sampler
MOTP QA
Supernova
Tree Skirt quilt

And these are projects ready for quilting (though there are a couple that need backing).

 To Quilt:
Bliss
Candy Land
Christmas Table Topper
Log Cabin Topper
Neutral Mediterranean
Sliced Coins
Spools Table Runner
Very Hungry Caterpillar

 

 And of course these lists do not include current WIPs (except the baby quilt). I have a couple of scarves to make, blocks for a Facebook group I am in, Personal Progress Book kits to prep (no sewing though) and patterns I am testing for a friend.

It was a little exhausting gathering these all up and documenting them. But it feels so good now that I am  more organized and know what I have on my plate.

What dusty UFOs do you have hiding in your closet? :)

Pattern Storage

First - if you are here visiting from Quilting Gallery, welcome! The giveaway post is HERE. :)

And now, the news... :)

I was listening to a podcast by Sandy of Quilting... for the Rest of Us and she was talking about ideas on how to store purchased patterns. The ones you get in your LQS in the little plastic bag.

Here is how I store them. Sorry about the lighting. There is nowhere in this apartment to take good photos.  Anyway...

This one  is actually recycled from a planner from when I was a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

I use this half size binder.
For the quilt and sewing patterns, I just take the paper patterns out of the plastic bag and drop it right into the page protector. I can easily flip through the pages to see my patterns without them slipping around.
Awesome!

 You can get them at Staples, as well as the page protectors , notebook paper, and dividers that go in them. There are a few other products they offer for this size (5-1/2" x 8-1/2") as well. They are a little pricey, compared to regular binders, at about $7.00 each, but they work perfectly for me. I am pretty sure there are other places you can purchase them  besides Staples, but the prices will probably be pretty close.

I also use them for recipes. I am in the process of reorganizing my recipes to all fit into these little binders.

We made a family recipe book for the family Christmas gift one year using them. We didn't use page protectors, and I made the dividers with card stock and a punch, but they are a great size for storing. I don't mind having these little things on my kitchen counter. And I can easily add and remove recipes.




How do you store your patterns?