sewing: Halloween pennants

I made this bunting earlier this year. I try to do something a little different with these every time I make one, but there’s only so much you can do. Spooky buttons, and torn cloth strips add a decrepit feel. Over time, the strips will become more raggedy, fingers crossed.

I’ve been collecting fabrics to make a Halloween quilt, but haven’t collected enough. I’m trying to avoid the cutesy images but retain the spooky feel.

That said, none of the above fabrics will be in the quilt. I love the absinthe green. These are all Walmart prints this year.

I bought three fat quarters. Each fat quarter makes four pennants. The placement works great for non-directional prints, but if one has a very clear direction–like the assorted spooky characters above–then one of your pennants will have to be upside down, and another one will be slightly sideways.

I don’t think anyone stands around studying the design once it’s hanging up, so I am not a perfectionist about having every pennant perfect. If I were selling these, then yes, I would make sure every one were perfect. For me–I’m okay with not having to buy extra fabric.

😀

mspt: Halloween ribbon wreath

I’ve noticed these wreaths for several years now, but hadn’t sat down to figure out how to make one. Luckily for me, there’s plenty of tutorials on YouTube now demonstrating in under seven minutes. Perfect!

So it’s my first attempt, and you can see gravity plays a part in how it all settles a little bit. There’s only pipe cleaners holding everything down to the wire wreath form, so yeah, gravity. I do need to tuck away a couple of those pipe cleaners, I see….

I learned that you’d better buy supplies for these when you see them (thank you Dollar Tree!) because they quickly are snapped up by other shoppers and no, not restocked.

Dollar Tree did not have the flowers this year, but Walmart did. I was very happy to see the black leaves, because otherwise I would have had to buy twice as many flower sticks.

I’ve started on a Christmas version, so let’s hope my skills improve quickly! 😀

sewing: team banner

I needed to make a thank-you for a friend. Her family are football oriented, so I thought a banner was in order. Hang it on the porch, over the couch, or let a son hang it in his college room. I think pennant flags add a pop of color just about anywhere. Bonus: Super simple to make!

While I had the sewing machine out, I used up some of the extra fabric making little-girl hair ornaments. Three of these took as long to make as the pennant. Crazy, right? These are good to wear to school on game day. 🙂 Our local schools happen to share the Razorback colors.

Did I get any painting done? Mmm, a little bit. I will share soon

painting: thistle and bee

thistle & bee 8″x8″

I’m still on a little bee kick. There are so many different kinds of bees–I don’t think I’ve painted the same kind twice. I especially like the fuzzy ones, but of course honey bees are special,, too. I don’t think I’ve painted a honey bee yet, though. I painted from a photo shared by Sue Tilleray. Available in my Etsy shop.