I LOVE making new things out of some of my tired old possessions or some that are destined to Goodwill, or even the trash. I save the smallest scraps, which confuses the majority of my friends and family, as I have a HUGE closet full of perfectly good fabric. But you know what? I think what I like is the challenge of creating something from odds and ends of other projects. And it satisfies my 'green' self and my frugal side as well.
I started by using this pattern,'Hanging Snowman',
by The Wooden Bear and went from there. I used an Ohio State T-shirt (the honest girl in me needs to admit to you that it wasn't an old, used T shirt, although it very well could have been--LOL), and old jeans and lots of odds and ends from other projects, (I dutifully saved all the coordinating scarlet and gray scraps from another OSU project in a little baggie). I used scrappy neutrals for the background from a very bulging bin--do they EVER go down?
You just never know when you might need them! I'm not above scrounging through trash cans after students leave--ask them, they know.
And buttons..have you seen the price of buttons? Just plain ole buttons? Geez, I'm sure glad my Grandma saved buttons. I love having a button jar to dip into for projects like this.
And unfortunately some of my fabric for my pieces and parts come from things that happen to be way too handy to my itchy little hands. Like a pretty fleece throw. Just sitting there...doing nothing...competing with hundreds of quilts to be used....and dying to get into a project of mine. I just know it.
And therefore, I just cut a little bit of it away and used the fringe for a little fringe for the top of the hat.
Just a side note....I was machine quilting on my machine
(it's just way too small to load on my long arm) and I could not find my machine quilting gloves. It's been a while since I've used them. But did you know that Neutrogena Hand Cream
works really well? It has a bit of tackiness to it without the oily residue that won't transfer to your fabric. I don't think I would like to use it as a hand cream, but it works great as an 'invisible glove'.
Now I just need to hand stitch the binding to the back, add a label and another Christmas present done! This is for my daughter and son in law, who are huge Ohio State Buckeye Fans. I made another one (not in OSU though) for my secret sister, but I forgot to take a photo.
I'll let you know all the details, but wanted to show the quilt I made for him/her this past weekend. I put Minkee on the back--ah, so soft! It's a bit hard to tell in the picture, but the middle pictures on the top and bottom rows, and the side panels on the middle row are made from chenille. Lots of fun colors and textures to stimulate a baby. :)
to the grocery store, I got some strange looks! Remember, I live in the Midwest. :) The baggers (usually young teenagers) kind of rolled their eyes at me, it makes their job a little tougher. After all, they just can't throw 1 or 2 things in a bag. They actually have to plan a little bit what type of groceries to put in each bag as not to squish anything. Remember the old days when a 'good bagger' was worth waiting in line for? Anyway, they are used to me now and I was so excited when I was shopping the other day, there were 3 other people with their own bags! I know it's such a small thing, but it really is true, once you make a simple step to start making a difference, it's easy to take other small steps too. 
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