Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 14

Wow, Sundays sure do come up fast...We've been crazy busy packing up both our girls and bringing them home from college. They will both be officially done with exams on Tuesday, so just 1 big van load of "stuff" left to go. We're just so happy to have them home right now, I don't even mind the enormous mess in my house. Love them to pieces!

To keep my mind off the piles of things every where and mountains of laundry, lets see all the great things you've been up to!!

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your whole blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the "click here to enter" button and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week,
~Karen~

Thoughts on Thursday...

Always see your glass as half FULL...there is a positive in any situation.

Have a great day,
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday... Quilt Bungee Cord Cover

Welcome to another edition of Tool Time Tuesday. I've received so many emails and comments asking how I come up with ideas for my posts. Well, some of the time I'm just wandering around Home Depot and something inspires me. Other times things are just staring me right in the face in my every day life.

Here is one instance of something I use in so many ways (or should I say sew many ways!!)...bungee cords.

You remember Annie, our 11 year old yellow lab. In past posts, I've made a gate with pvc pipes for her (click here) and an elevated dog dish made from an old picnic basket (click here). Well, I use bungee cords regularly to wrap up her blanket when she has to go some where. Here she is already to go to the kennel for a couple days when we went on a trip to Maine.

Bungee cords are very inexpensive and you can find them any where...even the dollar store.

Just wrap it around the quilt...

and loop the 2 hooks together.

So here's where the tutorial comes in.

We can use bungees to wrap human quilts for...

• a picnic
• the beach
• children's sleepovers...bungee cord the sleeping bag or quilt with the pillow in one bunch

 The only problem is...these things are not cute!

To start, measure the length of the bungee cord.

Take your measurement and double it to cut the fabric.

Now cut your strip of fabric. I cut mine 3 1/2" wide by the full width of the fabric, which is about 42-44" wide. The length of the fabric happened to be double of my bungee cord measurement.

Fold the fabric strip in half length wise.

Iron the length of the strip.

Now sew the length with a 1/4" seam allowance, but leave both short ends open.

I used black thread so you can see the stitching.

Turn the fabric tube inside out.

Now start feeding the bungee cord through the fabric tube.

Attach the ends of the fabric tube to each end of the bungee cord, just below the wire. You can attach it in a few different ways.

• sew it with a few stitches to the fabric cord
• hot glue the ends to the cord
• use those zip ties that you thread through and pull tight and they don't come undone
• wrap wire around it tightly after you hot glue

Now here you have a really cute bungee cord...perfect to wrap around any quilt. Don't forget to match your bungee cord cover to your quilt though.

I'm off to show Annie her new bungee...she's going to be so excited. Ok, maybe I'm the only one who will be excited that her cord now matches her blanket.

Happy Tuesday,
~Karen~

Sign Up For The Red and White Fabric Swap...

Sign up is now closed.

It was to be opened for one week, but over 100 people signed up in one day! There will be a waiting list if people drop out and more swaps to come in the future!

The Fabric Swap is officially open. Please read all of the rules before signing up on this post.

Sign up Information...

• to participate in this swap...leave a comment on THIS post
• if there isn't an email address attached to your blog or if you do not have a blog, please leave your email address in the comment or send it to me separately. You MUST have an email address
• open to US and international swappers
• one week to sign up...sign up ends Sunday May 16th

Fabric Information...

• swap is for 5 inch squares
• fabric with red and white design only. You will cut a certain number of squares of one design.
• quilt shop quality fabric...remember to give the fabric that you would want to receive.
• must be 100% cotton
• you can purchase pre cut 5 inch squares, but they must all be a red and white design
• DO NOT pre wash if possible

Money Information...

• you must be willing to pay for about 2 yards of fabric (that you will cut up), but you get that amount of fabric back in a wide arrange of red and white designs!
• pay for the postage to send the squares to me ( I organize all the squares from all the swappers then send them back to you).
• then you will also pay for a second envelope with pre paid postage on it, so I can send all the squares from all the swappers back to you. 
• all swappers OUTSIDE of the USA, must agree to pay me for the postage back to your country through a paypal account. I've done this before and it's very easy to exchange money through paypal.
• if International or Canadian swappers have access to US money, you can send me a check or money order for the postage.
• In my last swap, I sent packages back to Japan, Australia, Finland, England, Holland etc...so much fun!!

General Information...

• do not start to cut any fabric until I do the second post with the final count of swappers
• the whole process of sending, receiving, organizing and sending back the fabric takes a while. I usually give the whole process about 1 month or so.

Second Post Information...after the sign up, the second post will include

• the number of squares you need to cut
• cutting information for newbies
• detailed info on how to prepare the envelopes
• how much shipping will cost (approximately)
• due dates and dead lines

Remember this is just the SIGN UP POST ONLY.

I'm so excited about this one,
~Karen~

Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 13

Happy Sunday everyone and Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms in the world! Today is Sunday, so you know that today and for the rest of the week...it's linking time!

I spent most of the day Saturday making new buttons and labels for my side bar. Made a new one for Sew Darn Crafty too (you know it had to match!). You can grab the html code for this one if you'd like on my right side bar.

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your whole blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the "click here to enter" button and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week,
~Karen~