quilting question

[missh.livejournal.com]

I want to make my sister a quilt for a grad present (next year, of course). my plan is to make it out of t-shirts - but not the kind of quilt with huge squares designed to show off the t-shirt designs; I mostly just want to use the fabric. my basic plan is to make a bunch of 4"x4" squares into a large grid.

here is my question. is fusible interfacing absolutely necessary? like I said, I'm not going to be making really big squares, nor will there be any sashing. basically, I just want to make one large square out of a bunch of smaller squares - no fancy pattern. I know jersey stretches, but I figured maybe if I pulled it taut as I (machine) sewed it, that should work...

the overall plan should go as follows:

1) make large square of small squares, add border
2) sew it to a backing with some batting in the middle
3) "quilt" it - i.e. sew lines/designs (I have this in my head, I just can't describe it) onto said fabric/batting sandwich

will the interfacing be crucial? thoughts? are there any major steps I'm leaving out?

thanks!

Hillary

old bike tires

[jennielovesall.livejournal.com]

i have some old bike tires and i can't find a place to recycle them in chicago so i need to make them into something. the guy at the bike shop makes belts out of them. i'm going to do this, but i don't need four belts. i saw online where someone made picture frames with them. that's okay, but i am not big on picture frames. i was thinking about weaving them into bike baskets using the wire 'beading' that i cut out of them for support.

any ideas?

things i can make with old bike tires?

i'm feeling creative for the first time in a months. i just need some help with ideas.

(no subject)

[dyven17.livejournal.com]

Long time lurker, first time poster, so if i do something wrong with the pictures...be nice, ok? ^.^  my fiance will be out of town til July, and I miss him a  bunch. So, I crocheted him a bear that looks like him before he went off to be trained by some branch of the military. Thus the long hair and goatee on the bear. I used a pattern from craftster.org, and just changed the colors. 

he's a wonderful guy who appreciates my hard work. ....he's a little blurry because he said "Sorry Poof, I don't think the military endorses crafting...." oh, the bear is currently sleeping in his sock drawer. I don't recall how big he ended up, but it's sort of small...like "hold in the palm of your hand with bits sticking off" small.

( A fuzzy bear! and yeah...that's armpit-yarn. i got sorta bored after a while... )

sewing like mad!!

[nosnin.livejournal.com]

I've been making these cute little dolls out of felt . I got a book called The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo on how to make them. They are super easy. But I hate hand sewing so it's a pain for me but I'll one day get over it.
I've made a few so far and I just wanted to share them with you.

( cuteness! )

More Mirrors

[bestill.livejournal.com]

( More mirrors! behind cut because it's art with exposed boobies. )

Singlehanded Crafts?

[lilavati220.livejournal.com]

Last week, I broke my left wrist and I'm already having craft withdrawals. I've been embroidering, albeit slowly and with limited stitches, but I have a short attention span and normally have several projects (knitting, sewing, etc.) going at once. Can you suggest any other crafts I could do with one hand?

Free to a good home....

[stephc.livejournal.com]

Hello creative people!  I have 20 (1 3/4 inch) styrofoam blocks and 2 (3 inch) styrofoam balls that are looking for a new home.  The blocks were originally packing material but are nice, cube shaped pieces and the balls I bought for some project years ago.  They have been sitting around for a long time and I don't think I will be using them so I will mail them for FREE to any US/APO/FPO address.  First comment gets 'em (all 22 pieces).  
If no one wants them they will have to go to the land fill because I can't recycle styrofoam in my area and I would hate to see that happen!

My newest Painted Stones

[drowningmermaid.livejournal.com]

I've been painting this sidewalk for a year now (as my husband builds it into the ground, I paint the stones, etc...)

This is the walkway so far, very much under construction (and my adorable Lily, perfect as she is):



( click to see the newest paintings )

For more of my painted stone walkway, click here to be taken to the entries in a new window.

x-posted to my art journal, (tao_o_the_siren) which could use some extra art journal only friends.

Looking for the Perfect Handkerchief Skirt Pattern

[liebschien.livejournal.com]

Ever since watching the final episode of this past cycle of America's Next Top Model, I have been wanting a skirt like the one Renee wore when she was eliminated. I have done some research and found out it is called a "handkerchief" skirt or "4-point" skirt.

Here is a grainy picture of it I took from a YouTube video:



I found some patterns that are almost good enough, but not quite. Would you like to help me find the right pattern?( Read more... )

(no subject)

[bestill.livejournal.com]

Is there a way to search the group to see your own posts? I want to find some things I posted and it's taking too long to scroll through everything.

Thanks!

P.S. I tried the ljseek, but it doesn't work for users--only keywords.

Writing on fabric

[peemonkey.livejournal.com]

For our upcoming wedding, my fiancé and I really like the idea of creating a quilt from fabric squares signed by our guests in place of a guestbook. Unfortunately, the last couple of things I've tested for writing on the fabric haven't worked well. The first was a fabric pen, and it went on too thin and washed right out. The second went on too gloppy (for lack of a better word) and wasn't easy to control.

Do any of you brilliant craftgrrls have any suggestions on what we could use?

Thanks in advance! And sorry for the text-only post. :(

(no subject)

[cynical-ghost.livejournal.com]

Really quick (and maybe odd) question:

I need to embed a few cat hairs into some Sculpey. When baking, will this really stink up my house and burn?

( A little more info.. )

Thanks. :-)

(no subject)

[thecityspins.livejournal.com]

A question for those of you that scrapbook or use any of that stuff.
Do you know any cheap places online to buy paper, stickers, and all the other fun stuff that's available? I'm looking for something cheaper than just going to a chain store.
Thank you!

(Probably x-posted)

Screen Printing

[laciebug.livejournal.com]

I tried my hand at screen printing this week. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I'm addicted. These t-shirts are from three screens I made, I adapted images I found online to suit my taste. Next time I'm going to try my own fashion illustrations. The whole process (making screens through printing) took about 10 hours and I made 26 shirts in all.

( Photo's )

(no subject)

[dahsyat.livejournal.com]

HEY! AM new to this community!

Here's one collection of mine! I LOVE MAKING ACCESSORIES! Hope you guys like em'!


DO YOU DARE?
( VIEW THEM HERE! )

Boredom Has Forced Me Too...

[lvlylatinalady.livejournal.com]

Make a ton of friking purses that are getting out of hand. I have no idea what to do with so many....I love making them though, it is so self satisfying....
I love most of these fabrics too.....

( LOOK AT WHAT I MADE! )