Hello and Happy New Year Everyone!
Last week I gave you crafty people ideas on ways to save money making quilts and other sewing projects. And you all gave told me some great ways to save on fabric and beads and other crafty items!
Well I finished my first quilt last night and I couldn't wait to share it with you!!
This obviously is the front. I made the front out of 3 of my daughter's old sweaters. 11 by 9 rows of 4 1/2 in. squares. I made a mistake in my sewing at the top and did not like the way it looked so I sewed a piece of ribbon over the mess instead of possibly ripping the sweaters by pulling the stitching out.
For the backing I bought some clearance fabric for $1.50, then added strips of some whimsical green fabric to two sides to make it big enough. Notice I wrapped the ribbon to the back and hand stitched it for some extra fun ;-)
Everything I read said I shouldn't try quilting this on my regular cheap sewing machine without a quilting foot and the feed dogs lowered... Especially not sweater fabric. Well I used my regular machine, did not have a special foot and really living wild I left the feed dogs up. As you can see it all worked out just fine.
Also I only used 6 safety pins to hold the whole thing together while I quilted the fabric together( all books and internet said to have a pin every 4-6 inches.... I broke all the rules of sewing and quilting. Either I got lucky or the rules are wrong.
Here is a another view of the back and the two ribbons wrapping around.
Now for the total cost to make my one of a kind quilt...drum roll please....
$4! No I am not kidding!
Tally:
3 sweaters: free
Backing fabric for back and binding on sides $1.50
Batting: half bag used: $2.50
Ribbon: left over from Christmas
Total $4
Accomplishing a New Year's resolution by the 4th day of the year: Priceless.
So you see with a little imagination and a trip through your closets you can find tons of fabric and even more inspiration!
Mandi Gordon, Money Correspondent for Gather.com
Mandi lives in northern Illinois with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs and 4 cats.
She enjoys finding ways to save money every day and everyway. AND loves sharing that info with you!
Connect to Mandi at her home page:
mandi.gather.com
See other money articles at:
money.gather.com
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Comments: 67
Listen let me tell you...I have no skills what so ever..I learned how to make this as I went along...all on the internet! I made a few small mistakes, but nothing that could not be fixed..like the ribbon covering the ugly sewing! I actually love that ribbon and am glad I made the mistake!
What's a feed dog? Inquiring minds want to know!
WwW.SparkleTags.Com
Very inspiring and I love seeing this today, especially on a frosty cold day. Makes me feel warmer...
:)
just try to make one and see what happens ;-) got any questions feel free to email me!
Mary, you can be crafty if you want to! Just try! Look what happened when I tried!!
Thanks J W.
Love ya
I have finished my dish cloth pillow shams...just need to upload the pics for an article:)
My next challenge is .........BF brought home the canvas from two huge outdoor umbrellas. His store was going to throw them our because the mechanism was broken, but he was sure that I could do something with the fabric:)I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet. They are a nice solid royal blue color, so the possibilities are endless.
Thanks everyone!!
I like to think that good rewarding relationships are based on kindness and a firm hand.
I have a few $$$-saving tips up my sleeve, too. But they won't be "published" for a few months!!
A price you can't beat!
I'd love to see more of your quilts in the future!!! :D
quilting frames I think my quilting days are done. Novel
idea you have here young lady.
Barbara...don't give up! What does age have to do with sitting on your butt sewing? ;-)
It has a real personal touch!
I just wanted to stop by since I am finally going through what is now listed as under 4,800 pieces of gather new mail that is sitting in my inbox on here.
With that mentioned I just came across either a mailing from you yourself, or someone else brought this piece to my attention. You or they felt that your creation should be shared with the gather community, which I am very glad that it was passed on to me to view. So I wanted to say Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to publish it here on gather for us to all view. :o)
As well before I leave you I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year... in 2009 :o)