Castlevania quilt

I exhibited one of my quilts in a quilt show for the first time. This quilt is the Castlevania quilt. I made it for my husband, who likes video games. The scene is Simon Belmont killing Dracula.

I'm sure that not many people at the quilt show knew what it was. I did have a picture of what I based the quilt off of. From what I heard at least 3 video game nerds thought it was cool. At the end of the day, I'm just happy someone knew what it was.

I had fun with this quilt. I'm glad I could show it off. I can't wait to post about my next quilt.

Me standing next to my quilt. The adorable baby in the stroller is my son, Frankie.

Niagara Falls

This past week I was vacationing with my family at beautiful Niagara Falls in Canada. I have never been to Canada, so it was pretty exciting. We drove. truthfully it was not a bad drive at all. The first two days we apent at the Hilton in Niagara Falls. It was very nice because of the close proximity to the falls. Keep in mind if you are taking children with you that you have to go down a huge hill to get to the falls. This also means that you have to go back up that same hill possibly pushing a stroller or holding your child. Plan accordingly :-D
     We had a great time. Although all the tourist attractions were very crowded, we still had a good time. We rode Maid on the Mist, which my 3 year old hated because he didn't like getting rained on. My one year old decided to sleep through the whole thing. It was 93 that day, so I didn't mind getting misted. We also did the "Journey behind the Falls." The best part of that attraction was that you can go on a platform and be right next to the falls. If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't do Journey behind the Falls.
    On the second leg of the trip we stayed at the Four Points Sheraton close to St. Catharines. From here we visited Niagara on the Lake, which also was very crowded. The next day we traveled to Lakeside Park. WOW! It was so beautiful!! My 3 year old loved the park and the Carousel. There's a long pier that you can walk down. There's a nice sized beach area. The park is huge. Right next to it is the Carousel. You can ride it for a whopping 5 cents!! They do accept American money at the Carousel.
     We also went shopping here in Canada at the mall across from our hotel, and also at a large mall by St Catharines. Both malls were nice.
   No matter where I went, the locals were very friendly. The other tourists....don't get me started!!lol

here's some pictures!!!

 This is the American side of the Falls.

The horseshoe shaped Falls are the Canadian Falls

This is a view of the American Falls from our hotel room at the Hilton. The Falls can be seen to the Left, they are lit up at night. It was quite beautiful.

Warren loved the Carousel at Lakeside Park

This is the beach at Lakeside Park

conKerr cancer pillow cases

Hey crafties!!

At my local quilt shop, I was informed about ConKerr cancer. This organization is collecting handmade pillow cases for children and adolescents with cancer. It's a very noble cause. The pillow cases are super easy to make. I use the Hot Dog method to make mine. I learned from You Tube and also the Conkerr Cancer website how to make mine.

I used french seams to finish off my pillow case so that it would be fray proof.  Below is a video from YouTube demonstrating how to make a french seam.

Here's the website for ConKerr cancer:  ConKerr cancer

Here's the YouTube video for Hot Dog pillow case construction:

Turning Twenty Quilt nautical theme

Here's one of my quilts. I made this for my cousin as a Confirmation gift. After I interrogated her about what it was she truly wanted or needed, I came up with the idea of making her a bed set. I go to a quilt shop close to my home where they have drop in sewing classes. I've learned a lot since going there. One day I saw a Turning Twenty quilt that someone had made. I thought it was so beautiful that I bought the pattern. Since then I have made a duvet cover and most recently this quilt. I used 16 Fat quarters and I put a large border all the way around it. Which you can't see in this picture, but trust me, it came out Super Cute!!! I also made matching pillow cases, because I had left over minky fabric. I wasn't about to waste that wonderful stuff. The Turning Twenty pattern is copyrighted, so I can't post it on here. But if you wish to buy it, here's a website for it: http://www.friendfolks.com/

Happy Crafting,

Onelia

I've been super remiss in posting but I promise I will try to start posting a little more on here. Lately I've been doing a good bit of traveling. I've also gotten more involved in quilting than knitting. That being said, I still love to knit.

I've discovered that there's a nifty quilt shop close to my home that offers drop in sewing classes for only $5 a day. So I've been going there once a week to relieve stress. I love making things for my two boys and my husband. I also love to make a few things for myself. Some things I'll post tutorials for. Other things I'll just post pictures of and let you know where you can get a pattern. Obviously I can't post a copyrighted pattern that doesn't belong to me. But I can post pictures of my projects.

Every now and then I may post something a little commercial, like a review of a product. It probably won't happen too often though.

craft on crafters!!!

How to save money on your crafts and other items

Within the past few years I've been over taken by the savings bug. I still spend way more than I should on crafts, but I do like to save money where I can. Here's what I've been doing...

1. Project stuffing.
Whenever I sew I save all the cut threads in a little ice cream  bucket. Whenever I need stuffing for a project, I empty out my threads bucket. Sometimes I manage to save a hand full of polyfil using this method. Polyfil is not cheap.

2. Fabric
I have found that Goodwill is a valuable resource when it comes to buying fabric. How so? you may ask...
I go to their sheets section and I scoop up flat sheets in prints that I like. Then I cut them up and make cute stuff out of them. I'm not talking about floral prints either. I've bought Buzz Lightyear, Mickey Mouse, Blues Clues, Sesame Street and other cute prints for only 2.99 a sheet or less! At a fabric store you can end up paying twice as much or more for the same print. I always wash the sheets before I use them for crafts. I make almost anything imaginable out of these prints. When I make someone's child a gift out of these materials I always get, "Where did you find that print?" I am honest about it. I'm not ashamed of my crafty cheapness.

 3. Yarn
Some crafters may be picky when it comes to yarns. I don't blame them. Softer yarns, while more expensive, are nice to the touch. I hesitated at first to make my son a sweater out of vintage yarn. Then I found that  a long sleeve t-shirt underneath the sweater solved the "itchy knit sweater" dilemma. I am now working on my third hooded sweater for him. The yarns came from my father's co-worker. He saw that my mother crochets and offered to bring in 2 huge boxes full of yarn from his mother's basement. To my surprise the boxes were full of skeins of matching yarns in different colors. Most were enough of the identical color to make baby blankets and sweaters. Whenever someone says they have yarn that they're just going to get rid of, I make sure I scoop it up and salvage it. If it has that "stored" smell to it, I wash the finished product and hang to dry.


4. Crafts in general
Where would I be without yard sales in the summer. My husband and I scour yard sales in the summer. Every weekend we plot out the addresses from the newspaper listings and we go "yard sale-ing." I stockpile the craft supplies I get over the summer. Then, during the winter months, I have plenty to work with. What I like to do is use my nicer fabrics for the part of a project that will actually be seen. The fabrics that aren't as aesthetically pleasing are used for the hidden parts of a project. For example: If I'm making a pillow form, I use the less appealing fabric on the form. Then I will make a removable cover out of a nicer fabric. Lately I've been using some vintage zippers that were handed down to me.

5. Other frugalities
 I have become obsessed with coupons lately. I'm not as good as some people who manage to get everything on their list for free. I just scoop up deals on products that I know I'm going to use. Then, I watch the local grocery store fliers so that I may save extra on things that are on sale. Basically I'll make sure something is on sale first, like hair products or things I don't buy store brand of, then I use my coupons. Most of the time I buy store brand stuff, because it is cheaper. We're lucky enough to have several grocery stores close enough, that we can shop around. One store may have better prices on produce whereas another store doubles coupons up to $0.99. So far I'm having fun with it.

6. Holiday and other nifties
 Call me weird, but my holiday shopping is year round as opposed to last minute. Last year I made a few candles out of recycled glass jars and some candle making supplies I had purchased on e-bay. Everyone liked it so much that I've decided to make them and store them for future use as gifts. I purchase my scents, wicks and dyes from e-bay. Then I get an 11 pound black of wax from the craft store. Of course I use the nifty coupons that are available on the store's website. Depending on how big your jars are you can get a pretty decent amount of candles. Other items that I've put aside for gift giving purposes are reed diffusers and air fresheners. I find the stuff on sale or use coupons. That way when the holidays come I can put together gift bags for my closest friends and family. I always make sure this is a limited number. When you don't keep that number in check, it can get out of hand. Another favorite is always a batch of holiday cookies. Make a few different varieties and put a few in a decorative bag. Last holiday season I was able to get super cute clear cellophane bags on sale. Since they were only 50 cents for a pack of 12-24, I bought every different print they had. These bags work great for baked treats as well as packaging gifts.

Do you have any tips you want to share? Post a comment. I'd love to read your ideas.

Murray doll

After scouring the internet and coming up fruitless, I'm going to attempt to make a pattern for a Murray doll. It may not look exactly like Murray from Sesame Street, but seeing as you can't find it anywhere in the stores or online it should be good enough for my 17 month old. If anyone else has any ideas on this project let me know. I will post pictures in January of this project and any progress I make with it. Now the fun part begins... the hunt for materials!