Seven Scrappy Projects for Fall

Today i am thrilled to turn my blog over to the super-talented Becca, who will share some great scrap-busting projects with you. If you've been following along here, you have already been treated to her sewing talents, fantastic photography and adorable kids — on this post as well as this one, this one, this one, and this one. For my newsletter, Becca was kind enough to select and sew some clothes and accessories that complemented my new Canyon fabrics for Moda. I'll share those on here a little later this week, but right now, please welcome Becca and let's see what she did with her scraps!

Hi there! I'm Becca, Sew-Blogger and Photographer at Free Notion. I have been fortunate enough to work with Kate on many of her fabric releases, and Canyon - like all the rest - has been an absolute joy! My projects left me with oodles of scraps of all sizes, and I'm excited to share some fun projects to put those scraps to good use! Take a look:

What? Free Motion Applique 

Who is it for? Kids of all ages! You can jazz up a tote (like this free one!), a store-bought shirt, or on your favorite boy’s or girl’s knit t-shirt pattern. You can draw your own design, download free ones (like the pumpkin applique shown above!), or peruse applique patterns like the ones available from StitchArt.

What size scraps do I need? ANY! The pumpkin is about 8 x 10 inches, but the leaf and stem were each cut from those really small, and really random shaped scraps leftover from mine and my kids’ apparel projects.

What? Sweet Grace Ruffle Headband

Who is it for? The darling in your life! Perfect stocking stuffer, or kick up your wrapped-gift presentation a notch - use the headband in place of a ribbon to jazz up a medium sized gift this holiday season.

What size scraps do I need? 10 inch strips at various widths (3 inches or less)

Feeling ambitious?? COVER your headband in ~9 of these “Tentacular Dahlia Fabric Flowers.” My 4 year old calls this her Fairy Flower Crown. Bonus: They look just like the flowers featured in the larger Canyon line prints!

What? Scrappy Bookmark 

Who is it for? Everyone! I monogramed this set for my kid’s teachers. But I come from a family of readers, and know it’d be a hit for many of my relatives! 

What size scraps do I need? Various size squares - max dimension 9 x 3.5 inches

What? All-Purpose Zipper Pouch

Who is it for? This would also be a great teacher gift, though admittedly this one is for my daughter’s growing, broken crayon collection. (Note to self: do NOT leave this sitting in the car!) It’d also be a great traveling bag, for collecting small items like jewelry. And yes, the cat embroidery IS a nod to Kate’s kitty love ;)

What size scraps do I need? Four (4), 9 x 7 inch pieces (two for the exterior pouch, two for the interior)

What? Teething Ring & Burp Cloth Baby Gift Set

Who is it for? Mom & Baby (though not in that order!). These make great scrappy gifts for a baby shower; and the back side of my teether is made with a new, super soft wash cloth. Throw it in the freezer (damp) and it’ll be perfect relief for sore, teething gums to chomp on.

What size scraps do I need? Apx 20 x 4 inches (Teether) ; 24 x 8 inches (Burp Cloth)

What? Fall-Friendly Coasters

Who is it for? This would make a great hostess gift! Throw these in the tote with a bottle of wine and thank whoever is cooking for you this holiday season with a colorful coaster set for their Fall tablescape. Admittedly, the tutorial is Canadian-themed, but I couldn’t help but translate it for the beautiful season at hand! (The back, not pictured, happens to be the same wool felt I used in this Horizon line hat project!)

What size scrap do I need? Depending on the size leaf you find, it could fit on charm squares. Mine are a little bit bigger, maybe 6 inch squares.

I also wanted to mention that I used a mix of colors from Kate's "Elements" thread collection for Aurifil on all of the top stitching and embroidery in these projects. The colors are beautiful and match Canyon perfectly!
I hope you're inspired to make some fun scrappy gifts for your loved ones this Fall! And thanks so much to Kate for having me guest post for her today. It's an honor and a pleasure!

WOW! How fun are those! Thanks so much to Becca for sharing all these inspiring projects. I can't wait to try them out. How about you? And it's perfect timing with quilt market coming up next week and a big pile of scraps on my floor!

Have a beautifully scrap-happy day!
xo,
Kate

DIY, Part 4

Hello hello! Hope everyone had a fun-filled Labor Day Weekend and celebrated the last breezes of the summer season. It's always a little bittersweet to see subtle tints of color creeping into the treetops, but there is so much to love about each season that i happily welcome this transition and look forward to seeing things i missed last year. Hope you spot some new stuff too!

For the next DIY from my Pinterest board, i made a "Leaf-relief Concrete Bird Bath" using an elephant ear leaf. I followed this excellent tutorial. The only things i did differently were to use a finer grain "play sand" and Quickcrete Mortar Mix, both from Home Depot. I wanted to use portland cement, but it only came in 80lb. bags!

materials gathered

leaf covered with concrete

This next part is critical. No matter how tempting it is, do NOT even try to turn the concrete-covered leaf over to "check" it for at least 24 or 36 hours. How do i know that, you ask? Well, i made a second bird bath with a larger leaf and made the hasty mistake of trying to pick it up too soon. It broke into many pieces that were unsalvageable. You're rewarded for your patience, though, because look how beautiful it is when you peel the leaf off! I was surprised at how many of the veins and details were transferred to the concrete.

peeling the leaf off

Here is the well-cured and water-filled birdbath ready for bathers!

And i was so happy to spot that little feather a few mornings later. I guess the birds like it as much as i do!

Have a beautiful day!

XO,

kate

DIY, Part 3

Can't believe i'm writing this, but...Happy September! If you've been following along, here is the third of the projects i set out to make from my "DIY didn't i think of that" Pinterest board. It's been lots of fun taking these projects on and this was (so far) my absolute favorite — Shibori Dyeing.

I picked up some 100% cotton napkins to dye and they were the perfect thing to use to experiment with many different kinds of Japanese tying techniques. I followed this tutorial and it was very easy to follow, probably because Erica was much more methodical in documenting everything than i was! I highly recommend visiting her site to learn about the materials and techniques. Sometimes, it's nice to put the camera down and just enjoy the process! But here are a few photos i took along the way...

string, dowel, wrapped and bound fabric

various Japanese tying techniques

first dip

When you pull the fabric out of the dye bath, it's initially yellow in color. As the fabric oxidizes, it begins to turn blue. This is amazing to watch happen before your eyes!

unrolling fabric as it oxidizes

This technique is called "Arashi", the Japanese word for "storm" and used a 2 foot length of PVC piping (bought at Home Depot). You roll your fabric around the pipe, knot the string around one end, wrap the string around 6-7 times, then scrunch the fabric down toward the knot. Repeat until you've scrunched all the fabric and it looks like this. 

You won't believe it, but the print on the right (below) is what it looks like when you unroll it. Amazing!

Here's a detail. Ah! Indigo is one of my absolute favorite colors.

The next technique is called "Kumo" which is a "pleat and bind" process. I improvised a bit from the instructions on Erica's blog and it's really hard to go wrong. The end-results will look beautiful no matter what.

 

I found myself saying "i wonder what would happen if..." a lot and then dove-in to some freewheeling experimentation. For this one, i did a simple accordion fold and then rubber-banded (that's a verb right?) the whole length.

And this is what it looked like.

I have no idea how i did this next one (and many of the others).

And this one takes me back to grade school. Just gather the fabric from the center (or the more grown-up off-center) and band it at different intervals down the length of the gather.

It looks something like this every time.

So, how about it? Throw caution to the wind at try your hand at this. Well not literally, because they'll end up blue.

Craft yourself a beautiful day!

XO,

kate

DIY, Part 2

Hope you've been enjoying the summer! It's been a busy month, but i managed to squeak in a couple more of the DIY projects i picked to make from one of my Pinterest boards. This one i like to call "Doodle Dishes". Pretty simple and fun to make! I used Pebeo Porcelaine ceramic markers and a couple white porcelain dishes from Ikea and created these... 

Once the dishes are baked in the oven, the markings become dishwasher safe. So far, so good and we'll see how they wear over time. If you try this, be sure to wash your dishes first and try not to touch the surface as you work. You can see some spots where the ceramic pens resisted the plate surface and resulted in thin, faded lines — probably from finger oils. But no biggie, after all, "handmade" means you actually use your hands and i don't mind the irregularity at all!

Next up...shibori tie-dying of cotton napkins. Some of you may have seen the live photo-feed on Instagram when i was making them. It was an amazing and super-satisfying experience that i'll share more details with you soon. Until then, have a beautiful day!

xo,

kate

DIY, IRL Part 1

Here we go! I'm happy to share with you the first of the DIY projects from Pinterest that i set out to make this month: Crayon color-blocked votive candles. If you're not sure what the heck i'm talking about,

please jump back to this post.

For step-by-step instructions, the tutorial i followed can be found here. The following info includes a few pointers to help along the way. In gathering supplies, i ended up going to Ikea to get the small glass votives. Everything else, including the soy wax flakes and wicks can be found at just about any well stocked craft store.

The tutorial called for microwaving a mix of the wax flakes and crayons and since we don't have a microwave (i can hear your gasps of horror), i improvised by heating water in a shallow pan and using paper cups to melt the wax. In general, it worked fine. I was surprised by how quickly everything melted when stirred with the wood popsicle sticks. However, if you use a lot of wax, it will take longer to melt and you may end up with a leaky cup and {pretty} mess like i did. Luckily, everything was very easy to clean up — even on the pan, counter and floor!

This step was pretty clever. You use a plate stand to tilt the votives so the colorful wax stays at an angle. I found that you had to use two votives per plate stand or they wouldn't stay in place. Another pointer, as you layer the wax, make sure to adjust the wick so it's straight and stays in the middle as much as possible. 

I had originally planned to use only three crayon colors per votive. I picked them out and even figured out which order i wanted them to appear. But then i learned something about myself (again) that has happened for as long as i can remember anytime i get around a new box of crayons...i get this irresistible urge to use every. single. color. in. the. box. So i kinda did.

These were really fun and easy to make and i love the little bursts of color they've added throughout our house!

Next up: Felted wool coasters

Fun!

XO,

kate

Do or DIY

Ok, this really has to stop. I keep pinning lots of colorful and fun DIY projects on Pinterest, but never actually get around to trying any of them out. This might take a little time, but i'm aiming to make the following 6 items before summer's end (not necessarily in this order). How does that sound? Wanna make them with me?

1. Felted wool coasters. Too colorful not to make and will even look cute just sitting on a coffee table! I suppose they could also be used as trivets, though cleaning would be tricky.

Other links for this project:

• wool roving (check out "cornucopia" or mix n' match your fave colors)

• how to make felted balls or this one

(p.s.: check out Liz's beautiful felted nest pins)

2. Doodle dishes. There are so many possibilities for this project using porcelain ceramic markers. I'm not sure about their food-safeness so will probably try this on the outside of a coffee/tea mug. I researched the types of pen to use and these kept popping up. Will let you know how they worked :)

3. Shibori tie dyeing. I've wanted to try this from the very minute i spotted that awesome photo. Wouldn't that make a lovely set of cloth napkins??

4. Leaf-relief concrete bird bath. I decided to grow a tropical elephant ear bulb in a container this year and the leaves are so huge and beautiful and will work perfectly for this project.

5. Crayon color-blocked votive candles. Such a fun idea and i haven't bought a box of crayons in a long, long time.

6. Scarf curtains. This is on the list to give me a good excuse to go thrifting! I love the look and have a window that could use a pizzazzy makeover.

I'm so excited to get started! Will keep you posted.

xo,

kate

Cabinetry

Sometime over the summer, i posted a photo of our little bathroom cabinet on Instagram/Facebook. I asked everyone if they thought i should paint it or leave it as is and really wasn't expecting anyone to care to chime in. But i was wrong! If you were one of the people who shared your opinion and even suggested techniques and paint applications i had never even heard of, thank you.

There's nothing really ground-breaking here, but i thought some of you might also be curious to know what became of my cabinet makeover. Like many of you, i had been leaning toward leaving it as is, but wanted it to be functional enough so that when you pulled a washcloth off one of the shelves, you wouldn't get paint chips in your eyeball. That's not too much to ask for, right? Some of the inside shelves were watermarked and discolored too, so i got out the ol' Minwax® White Wash Pickling Stain and gave it a very light coat on the interior only:

Then finished the inside (only) with a satin polyurethane. I took some of your other suggestions too and lightly sanded the outside to even the wood color a bit ...then gave it a couple shiny new brass hinges...

...and replaced the knob with this cute mercury glass one from Anthrolopologie...

...and voila! Finito!

Oh yeah, and then i painted the whole bathroom!

Bulletin

It's hard to believe it's already been 6 months since we moved into our new house and there are still boxes to unpack and piles of stuff in my studio that are waiting to find a shelf/closet/drawer. It sure does takes time to settle in and to figure out how to arrange a creative space. Thank goodness for so many great ideas on Pinterest, but i'd really love to hear from you! What were the best decisions you made about your creative spaces? Storage solutions? Lighting? Organizers?

I can tell you one good decision i made early on. Taking down this wallpaper from the previous homeowners!

I loved it at first, and for about month after we moved in...but then with all the pattern-ie stuff going on in here, it started to wear on me, so i'm afraid it had to go. Removing wallpaper is no fun, but in case this project is somewhere on your horizon, you might like to get yourself one of these nifty little scoring rollers:

Someone recommended it to me and it worked like a charm! It basically perforates the wallpaper so whatever solvent you use can soak through to the paste and make the paper easier to peel off. For the remover solvent, we used a spray bottle of good ol' vinegar and water — but i've since heard that fabric softener does a great job and probably smells a whole lot better! After finally peeling the last strip of paper off the walls, we were finally ready to wash and sand them. Don't you just love the color we found underneath??

washed and sanded wall

I thought you might *wink*. After all the prep, we finally got to my favorite part of all...painting! I picked a hue that would be a nice neutral backdrop for reviewing colors, evaluating patterns and even for photography. It's called "Pigeon Gray" by Benjamin Moore. Of all the birds! Pigeon? I really love the color, but wouldn't "partridge" make it sound a little more appealing? :)

Nothing quite like a clean slate! Actually "slate" would've been a better name too.

So the next good decision for my studio hit me a couple weeks ago after i had been moving a pile of printouts from place to place trying to find a good spot to put them so i could take a few steps back to look at them from a distance. Time for some super simple DIY! 

This bulletin board measures 5.5' x 3.5' and uses a big piece of homasote fiberboard to press pins into. Homasote is a wonderful recycled material, made in the U.S. and is widely available. It's made of post-consumer paper and newspaper that are compressed to form a rigid fiberboard that can be cut really easily with either a sharp utility knife or hand saw. I found it in 4' x 8' sheets (for about $25) and cut it to a size that fit my wall. We'll probably end up using the leftovers in our kitchen with some more colorful fabric...i seem to have some on-hand (understatement)!

If you'd like to make a bulletin board of your own, it's really really easy. In fact it's almost as easy as wrapping a present. You'll need:

• 1 sheet of homasote cut to whatever dimensions you want

• fabric of your choice cut to 4" larger than fiberboard. I used a nice linen-ie looking solid with some visible texture.

• staple gun with 1/4" staples

• stud finder

• level

•wood screws

• optional 1/2" button covers to cover screws

Step 1: Spread your fabric out on a vacuumed floor. Move cat out of the way and smooth wrinkles out of fabric.  If you don't have a cat, proceed to Step 2. If you do have a cat, they'll undoubtedly think this is a game so you may have to repeat Step 1 until your cat loses interest.

Step 2: Position fiberboard on the approximate center of your fabric. Look over your shoulder to make sure your cat is not in the vicinity or they'll think you're making them a new scratching pad.

Step 3: Starting on one side of the fiberboard, fold fabric over and in the center of that side, staple fabric in place. No need to fold fabric under to make a neat edge, and no need to worry about the corners at this point. On the center of the opposite side, pull the fabric taught — not too too tight, but tight enough so fabric is smooth on the "right" side of the fiberboard. Again, fold over and staple in place beginning in the center and stapling out to each side.

Step 4: Cut away a square of fabric to reduce bulk. Make one cut about 1-1/2" from the folded edge and the other cut flush with the edge of the fiberboard:

It should look like this on each end:

Step 5: The corners take a little finagling. Fold the fabric over at an angle and pull from the corner to make sure there's no pucker.

I had to pull and simultaneously tuck the fabric underneath to get it to lay flat, but after a few tries, i got it to look neat enough to staple it down:

 It's a good idea to make sure the folded edge of the fabric is not flush with the edge of the fiberboard otherwise you'll see the folds when you hang the bulletin board.

Step 6: Hang the bulletin board. This will vary depending on what wall type you have. I used a stud finder and drilled directly into the wall studs so no wall anchors were necessary. Tip: Once you figure out where the screws are going to go, use an xacto kife or utility blade to make a small "x" hole in the fabric. This will keep your screw from pulling and twisting the fabric.

Step 7: I wasn't thrilled with having to look at these screw heads, so to cover them up...

...i used some of these 1/2" button covers (follow instructions on the package)...

...and filled the backing with hot glue. Then i quickly then set them right into the screw heads. Tip: I suggest fitting the buttons into the screw heads once before applying the hot glue just so you can feel how they kind of "fit" together. You may have to turn the button a tiny bit so the metal loop on the back of the button fits into the screw head and is flush with the board. But voila!

Look how nice and clean that makes it look!

Now i'm ready to start pinning (the old fashioned way)! Goodbye clutter!