Friday, February 27, 2015

A Denim Waistband Project

Now that I have this big pile of leftover seams, waistbands, zippers, and pockets I'm wondering if I should do something with them as well.

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com -- Denim Quilt


 It just feels like such a waste to throw those away. This sent me back to pintrest for more denim inspiration, and I found these beauties that really struck me.

(Image source: Denim Ottoman, Denim Flag)

I found this cute jean waistband ottoman on pintrest--followed the link to Nordstrom's of all places! But I think this would be a fun thing to do for my boys. Not sure how comfortable a metal button pillow would be, so jury is still out on that one.

More time on pintrest also brought up this denim waistband American Flag. So cool!

So, I am no longer going to throw out my pile of "leftovers." I've cut off the seams and thrown those away. But I've bagged the rest for a future waistband project.


Wednesday, February 25, 2015

February Goals Finished

I think this is the first time I've finished my goals early in the month. Usually, I'm scrambling the last couple of days to get things all done. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was without a sewing machine for a large part of the month. It forced me to really focus--I was limited in what I could do, so I wasn't as easily distracted. 


GOAL #1: PREP ALL JEANS FOR SEWING

I had so many holey jeans they could no longer fit in my very large storage bin. So, the denim project was born. My goal was to turn all the jeans I had into fabric for other projects. I cut and cut until I had huge piles of 5" squares and 2-1/2" strips.

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Denim Quilt
Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project
I have left a small pile of denim fabric: jeans I've cut away all the seams and holes, but haven't cut into any predetermined size. I did this because there are other things I want to make with my jeans that require other sizes cut from the jeans--I just haven't committed to the project yet.

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Denim Quilt
Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project
Besides, I have a bajillion 5" squares. It was starting to get boring. 


GOAL #2: PREP OLD ITALIAN PAPER FOUNDATION PIECES

I was able to fold and prep about 45 pieces of vellum paper for my Old Italian Project. It is a bit time consuming to make sure each fold is perfect (or pretty close to perfect), but it is worth it in the end.

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Old Italian Quilt Vellum Paper


I put on a show and sat at my mom's light box and folded and folded and folded. By the time my movie was over, I had all my printed vellum paper folded and ready for the next stage.

I will be doing this again and again as I need about 194 blocks for my Queen sized quilt. So far I've only sewn 57 blocks. So, I have a ways to go on this. I think I know what will be part of my goals for next month.


I love being part of A Lovely Year of Finishes. It is so helpful to me to make small goals, be held accountable for them, and mark my successes and failures.

Liked up with A Lovely Year of Finishes here.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The Casualties of Denim

It's fun to recycle (or upcycle) your denim. But denim does have a habit of leaving casualties in its wake. My sewing room has looked like a denim slaughter house for the past several weeks.

The first casualty is the pile of scraps from all the jeans I cut up. I'm left with a pile of seams, waistbands, zippers, and pockets. 
BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - The Denim Quilt Project Leftovers



I think the true casualty of working with denim is the damage it does to your rotary blade. I'm already on my second blade and will be changing again soon. It's getting dull and not cutting as well.

Not only that, but I broke my seam ripper while working on this project. I took off the back pockets so I could use all that denim below it....and possibly do something with pockets later, not quite sure yet. I was overly aggressive on one pocket and snapped my seam ripper. Oops. 


It's ok. I ran to JoAnn's with my coupon and purchased a new one. Crisis averted!

Friday, February 13, 2015

Friday Finish - A Flower Petal Pillow

I finally got my sewing machine back and just had to SEW something. So I sewed up this fun Flower Petal Pillow.

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Flower Petal Pillow
Flower Petal Pillow

I found this adorable flower pillow on pintrest and followed the pin to the easiest tutorial on V and Co. (It's actually a guest post by Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew. And with a name like Allison, you can't go wrong. haha.)

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Flower Petal Pillow
Flower Petal Pillow

It was so simple to make, and the tutorial is easy to follow. It took me only a few hours. 

BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Flower Petal Pillow
Flower Petal Pillow
My daughter thinks it is for her because it's pink. She tends to commandeer anything that enters the home that has pink on it. 
BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com - Flower Petal Pillow
Flower Petal Pillow

When I can pry it out of my daughter's clutches, I will have a fun pillow to brighten up my new home.

Linked up with Show Off Saturday here.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

50 Shades of Denim

I sorted my denim by shade and discovered we love dark wash denim in this household. I only had one pair of jeans I would consider "light" wash. 

So what did I do? I went to the local thrift store and bought the ugliest pair of men's jeans for $4.00. Seriously, very ugly. Tapered leg. WIDE top. I think I was doing the world a favor for purchasing this pair of jeans and getting it off the streets. 

Now, my denim rainbow is looking more like this:
BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com -- Denim Project
Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

Well, to be more precise, my denim rainbow used to look like that. I've been busy turning this mass of holey jeans into an assortment of denim fabric for other projects. I put on a show/movie to keep me entertained while I cut, trim, and slaughter each pair.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

February Goals

So, thanks to my broken sewing machine January's goals are a wash. Boo! I still don't have my machine back yet. But soon. Hopefully. Finger's crossed. Please let it be soon!

Deep breath.

Since I don't have a machine right now, and I don't know exactly when I'll get it back, I think I need to play it safe on my February goals and pick a few non-sewing goals.


  • GOAL #1: PREP ALL JEANS FOR SEWING

I have LOTS of denim to cut up. After cleaning out my sons' closet, I discovered I had an abundance of denim. So, I need to cut them up. It's time to change my holey jeans into piles of fabric. I plan on cutting them into piles of 5" squares, 2-1/2" strips, and scraps for a string quilt. 
BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com -- Denim Project
Babco Unlimited - The Denim Project

I have lots of ideas on what to do within these piles and piles of denim fabric.

  • GOAL # 2: PREP OLD ITALIAN PAPER FOUNDATION PIECES
This is one of my "Long-Term" projects because of how time consuming it is and because I plan on making this a Queen Sized quilt for my bed.
BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com -- Old Italian Quilt, Blue & White quilt
Babco Unlimited - Old Italian Quilt in Progress
One of the reasons this project takes a long time is the time it takes to prepare the foundation paper. It really is ingenious how it all comes together, but takes some time.

I have a stack of Translucent Vellum Paper all printed with the pattern ready for my next step: Folding.
BabcoUnlimited.blogspot.com -- Old Italian Quilt, Blue & White quilt


The way this pattern works, you use a light box (or use this iPad/tablet app hack if you don't have a light box) to match up lines and pre-fold your pattern. This way, you can sew on the lines without wasting any fabric. It also has the added benefit of keeping directional fabric intact.


Well, it's off to my sewing room to not sew.

Linked up with Lovely Year of Finishes here.
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