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Friday Favorite: Getting Crafty

December 27th, 2013

Now that winter is here, I finally have some time to dust off my sewing machine and get crafting.  I never have time to sew the rest of the year. I’ve been wanting to make a few quilts for a long time.  In fact, I’ve been saving pieces of clothing for years for this.  Last week I cut out the strips and sewed them all together.
quilting 1
Then I set to work on my second quilt, one that will hold all of the patches we’ve collected throughout our travels.  I just finished sewing the top on this one last night.  It’s made of old pants that I’ve saved.  The fun part is that most of these pants were worn during our travels to these places.
quilting 2
quilting 3
Next up I have to quilt them.  I’ll use old flannel sheets for the inside of the quilt and old sheets for the backing.  The best part of these quilts is that they were FREE.  All the fabric was saved items that were past the point of mending.    Quilting really is a great way to use up those things that can no longer be used in their previous forms.

Do you have anything you do in the winter that you don’t do in summertime?

12 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Getting Crafty”
  1. Marina C on December 27, 2013 at 7:24 am

    That is one of the reasons i love winter. I quilt also, and catch up on all the mending, pant shortening, buttons resewing and so on.
    I also knit a lot and catch up on reading.
    In the summer, most of my time flies in the garden.
    One lovely quilt tradition is making a baby quilt from childhood fabrics of the mother to be, I have saved plenty for my own daughter, if she has a child.

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  2. Robin on December 27, 2013 at 8:36 am

    Now that I’ve taken up knitting I think it will be a winter craft. It was nice to sit by the fire and knit with my daughters during Christmas.

    Reply to Robin's comment

  3. daisy on December 27, 2013 at 8:37 am

    The quilts look great! What a splendid activity for you in winter. We actually garden in winter, as summers are too hot to grow anything. Enjoy!

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  4. Adelina Anderson on December 27, 2013 at 8:55 am

    During the winter months I tend to crochet bigger items like blankets, scarves, and shawls. The smaller items like socks I do in the summer. Another winter sewing favorite is making cloth napkins. I have been wanting to try quilting with the old fabrics I have collected from either old clothing or from yard sale scraps. Now that my daughter is learning how to sew in school, she wants to take that over.

    Reply to Adelina Anderson's comment

  5. Nebraska Dave on December 27, 2013 at 9:30 am

    Susy, I’m not a Winter crafty person. I usually have some project going on during the Winter months. The last couple years it was the food storage room in the basement but not that completed. I will continue to push forward in the reclaiming of the basement this year. It might be a multiple year project for that as well. I’m not to goal oriented as you probably know by now but I do have a plan, just no time frame.

    I am hoping that your issues with ice/snow/electric will be over soon. I’m thinking that your emergency post sneaked out into the world when you weren’t looking. I thought you had some electrical outage but everything was back on.

    I was surprised that you actually got a podcast out during the heart of the storm. The information in the podcast about being prepared was great. I believe that being prepared for disaster will more important that ever in the future. I too think it’s about community during such times. I would hope that I’m prepared and am able to help out those in the neighborhood that aren’t. City life with Walmart just blocks away is a lot different than rural preparedness. So far only a couple bumps with the electric has been all that we experienced here.

    Have a great post storm cleanup day.

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  6. DebbieB on December 27, 2013 at 9:51 am

    Love your quilts, Susy! We share your love for National Parks, we collect magnets from each one for the fridge. I’ve never done quilting, I’m not very good with sewing. But when the weather turns cold I always think of crocheting blankets – it’s nice to have the growing blanket in my lap to keep ME warm. Each of my family members has a stash of crocheted blankets from me (when I was younger and had more time to do it, I finally got requests to STOP!)

    Reply to DebbieB's comment

  7. John on December 27, 2013 at 10:20 am

    Firewood

    Reply to John's comment

  8. Michelle on December 27, 2013 at 11:52 am

    Love the travel patches! I’ll be keeping an eye out for patches from now on..what a cool keepsake.

    I’ve got old shirts and pj bottoms saved to cut up to turn into a quilt. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at quilt making for years. I’ve never made one…but will someday.

    As far as winter activities…I tend to read more in the winter. Especially on rainy days..nothing like warm socks, a cozy blanket and something interesting to read.

    Reply to Michelle's comment

  9. Margie Clyde on December 27, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    Winter is also my ‘quilting time’. Now that the Christmas rush is over, there will be a number of quilt tops pieced, and hand quilting will begin-I love quilting! I also plan to do some apparel sewing.
    Your quilt tops look lovely!
    I enjoy reading your blog.

    Reply to Margie Clyde's comment

  10. Joan on December 27, 2013 at 5:27 pm

    I’m hoping that this winter I’ll find some time to make some bowls, mugs, and other pots. Pottery is something I love doing, but don’t have much time for. I also knit in the winter, never in the summer. I just finished knitting a colorful little fish toy for my new nephew… I need to spend less time on the computer and more time making things!

    Reply to Joan's comment

  11. petra langova on December 27, 2013 at 7:15 pm

    In winter I have much more time to read news from Chiot’s run :)

    Reply to petra langova's comment

  12. Nancy Settel on December 28, 2013 at 12:02 am

    the flannel sheets are good on the backing of the quilt it keeps it from slipping off the bed instead of inside. My grandmother used old blankets to put on the inside to make them warmer instead of batting or old sheets.They lived in the Dakotas and she raised 11 children so she was always making quilts (also used the wool from their sheep for some of the quilts–they must have really been warm).nancy

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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