My new favorite blog

There are times when I am wasting time on the computer and I stumble across some wonderful blogs with fabulous ideas. www.purlbee.com is one of those websites.
It is full of luscious fabrics and patterns for sewing, knitting, embroidering. I have to admit that I own a number of the books she has highlighted, but owning a book and actually making the projects in it are something entirely different. It is always me intention at make the wonderful ideas out of a my humongous stash of vintage fabrics. I just need more uninterrupted hours in a day. Check out her blog and tell me what you think!

Oregon Pillow

First of all, I LOVE Oregon. I was born and raised here, minus the 4 years in Idaho for college, and would not trade Oregon for anything! I am a proud Oregonian and love to let everyone know it!
My new found love for hand embroidering and my love for Oregon were combined to make this throw pillow. I have a scrap box filled with scraps from diaper covers as well as other projects so I used them to make the Oregon applique. I used one of my favorite shades of green embroider Oregon's motto "She flies with her own wings". This is now my favorite pillow to cuddle up to when I am watching a late night movie with my husband or reading a bedtime story to my kids.

Hand Embroidered Neck Tie

I have fallen in love with hand embroidery! What a fun way to spice up a men's work shirt, jacket or vintage tie!! I love the patterns on retro men's ties, but had not found a project that allowed me to use them... until now!! I take old neckties and add a little flava by hand embroidered fun images. So far I have tried a robot, a map of Oregon (my favorite state), a gnome and a sugar skull. I ask my husband for his opinion on each design since he is a guy and lets me know honestly whether he thinks a guy would wear one or not. (Apparently a sock monkey would not be manly enough, unless he was holding a beer... Who knew!)

Recycled Sweater Rug

This recycled sweater rug is my latest project. I have been wanting to make something with recycled sweaters again. They make great mittens, but those are so seasonal that I wanted to try a new project. I really enjoyed making this rug and so much was learned. I will have to experiment using different types of sweaters that are in different stages of felting. When I sewed the two pieces together, then tended to pucker up. Possibly using a longer stitch and not pulling the fabric will help solve this problem. I added a piece of a non slip pad to the back (like what you would use under a rug or in your dish cabinet), so that it would not slip on a smooth surface. The piece of non-slip pad I used was not wide enough, so I had to piece together two pieces. Not the best solution, but it works for my first attempt. I think my next rug will be larger using long strips of sweater to make a striped pattern. The possibilities are endless!