Recycling Drain Tiles

WOW challenge #17:  "With Earth Day this week, let's create something in honor of our home. You can focus on recycling, nature, etc. Maybe try your hand at gardening or find a great new use for your soda cans."

These tiles (I think they are leftover drainage tiles that the farmers use in the fields) were laying under the bushes when we moved into our home here about three years ago. I've been trying to think of a use for them. I finally figured it out!
I stacked four small ones on one side of the garden shed door and three larges ones on the other side. I filled all of them about half way (or more) with dirt, finished filling them with potting soil, then added flowers.  I had wanted to plant flowers in front of the shed but wasn't looking forward to digging up the ground there and it hadn't ever had anything but grass and weeds... it was really hard.  This worked out great.
 
Flowers in front of the shed.
Check.
Very little work. 
Check.
Tiles no longer looking messy and abandoned under the bushes. 
Check. 
 
Hmmm. 
All this "Check-ing" . . . .
can you tell I've been watching American Idol.

Next I have to figure out what to do with this odd piece.  It's square and clay-like.  It looks like the square things at the top of our fireplaces' chimneys.  I'll probably fill this with flowers too but it's HEAVY.  And I have to find a place for it.

Sashiko Pillow

WOW Challenge #12 theme: Japan

I made a Sashiko pillow.  The hardest part was chalking the first lines.  After those were stitched I used a pencil to mark the wrong side of the fabric for the rest of the lines.  That was easier to do and it was also easier to follow with the stitching.  Next time I try this I'll do all the marking on the back as it's more precise and the pencil isn't as messy as the chalk.  My stitches aren't uniform in length but they got better as I went. This was relaxing and it really turns out pretty.

Mini Bunting

WOW Challenge #11 theme:  Birthday!

I made itty-bitty birthday bunting.  Red felt squares have fusible web appliqued purple fabric letters.  The squares were zigzag stitched to a piece of white yarn.  Enough yarn was left at each end to make hanging easy. 

It's just the right size for hanging on the refrigerator or maybe on a mirror.

Hang it on the wall,
or even down the hall.
Hang it on a door,
let me think some more...
maybe on a hook,
in a cranny or a nook.

He Leads Me

The theme for Make it WOW #9 was spiritual.

I made a mini-quilt.  Just 6" square quilted with ribbon paths and "bound" with couched ribbon.

and titled it "He Leads Me"

There are so many paths to take in life, so many choices to make.  I'm not always sure of His reasons, but I do believe our Lord leads me.  He puts up roadblocks to the paths I should avoid, and I try my darnedest to get around them sometimes.  He guides me down the path I should take.  I don't always go along willingly, with a smile and glad heart. Sometimes I go kicking and screaming.  But when my tantrum is over and I calm down I realize I have taken the best path, that He has chosen well.

Inchie Luck

I made an inchie for WOW #8.   The theme was lucky.

My scraps yielded seven green fabrics

I started with a paper piecing pattern with seven pieces.

All the fabrics are sewn .... needs to be trimmed.

Trimmed, shamrocks stitched, edges zigzagged.  Baaaaad picture.

Finished Inchie Luck:

green fabrics, 7 pieces, shamrocks, and 7 gold beads. 

I learned again, inchies are fun. 

I missed WOW#7 as it involved spray paint.

I didn't have any and was too cheap to buy some.

And I had crafter brain freeze.

Bag It

The WOW #6 theme was "Travel".

I don't travel much these days but when I do head out for a few hours or for a day trip, I inevitably bring everything that I might possibly, in the biggest stretch of the imagination, need..... as if I'd be away for days.   And lots of things get lost in my purse, or lost in the bottom of the extra bag I need to bring for all the stuff I think I might need. Often the bag comes back home untouched.  But, hey, you never know!  So, for all those little items, I made a set of bags. 

All three bags are zippered pouches.

All are black and white.

And all are lined with the same fabric.

Now.  Where can we go?

Box o' Bobbins

This week's WOW challenge said to try something new, and to use letters.  I've never done decoupage so that's what I tackled.  With no Modge Podge in the house and not even any white glue, I used flour and water paste. 

This empty box had been sitting in a drawer forever.  I thought there might be jewelry in it.  But no, just a lonely quarter.

After mixing the flour and water I cut bits from old quilt magazines and dragged them through the mixture.

 It still needs to be sealed but that will have to wait for another day as it will require a trip to the store. The blizzard is raging.... I won't be going anywhere for a day or two!

Look at all those pretty colors!

Are you snowbound too?  Check out the next challenge and join us!  I'm learning by doing and having fun too.

I Heart U

For the WOW challenge.... a valentine with no red or pink.

Envy

It's funny how we sometimes envy someone else's clothes, homes, life styles, etc.  And then there are those that envy ours.  But when we think about whether we really would like to trade places, we discover we're pretty happy with the way things are.  

We moan and groan about our lives and our problems. Then we learn about the things that other people have to deal with and somehow we're content with what we have and wouldn't want to trade the problems either.

The WOW challenge this week said "take one of the Seven Deadly Sins and craft it".  Homespun Sue is living in the city and longing for the country.  Fashion Loving Sue is living in the country and longing for the hustle and bustle of the city.

WOW Week 2 Challenge - Moustache

What?! 

Moustache?!   

This definitely was a challenge.

(And I definitely have been spelling definitely wrong for the past three years.  ooops)

Until I discovered the Moustache Convention....

Thanks for the challenge Jennifer!

The Iron Craft challenge requires a draft dodger.

I drew glass beads from my Brown Bag.

So this week's episode of the Krafter Show will feature a moustachioed draft dodger with glass beads?!?!?!

WOW Week 1 Challenge - Dishwasher Sign

The WOW Week 1 Challenge items:  Yarn and a least one magnet

I had white and brown yarn and a magnet roll...

On a piece of muslin I used various blue crayons to shade the background a bit and then to write the word "Clean" and added a few sparkles.  I tried to keep the lines straight and neat.... clean.

 For the "Dirty" I used brown crayons and made sloppy letters.   Then I couched white yarn to the clean side and brown yarn to the dirty side.  After adding borders, each piece was trimmed.

The next step was to sandwich the two with a piece of batting.  The plan was to put the magnets on the inside but they weren't strong enough.  The sign fell like a lead balloon.  Since they had to be on the outside I cut the magnets into different shapes.

Here it is in action.

 It's incentive to empty the clean dishwasher right away because I like the "Dirty" side better!

This was a fun first challenge!