Star Fish Wall Hanging

As summer comes to an end, here is a Star Fish Wall Hanging to remind us of the sea.  Beena created the beautiful star fish in the center.  I received the fabric back in May.  The border came completely from my stash!  They are all upholstery fabrics that I think go well with Beena's fabric.  The back and binding is a cotton with gold fish outlines, also from my collection.  It is 24 1/2"x25".  I haven't decided whether I will sell it, keep it or give it as a gift.  For now I am enjoying it on my sewing room wall, where it makes me smile and reminds me of home!

Happy Villages by Karen Eckmeier

I had the best time making a Happy Village- it felt like playing.  I used Karen Eckmeier's very easy instructions.

 I used fabric already in my stash, and arranged the shapes, then added the roofs and details.  Cover the whole thing with tulle and stitch.

 Adding the church was my idea.  My village is roughly 16"x16".  I bound mine, but in the book, Karen has the villages backed with felt that frames it from behind.  I just didn't have any felt on hand.

 Even the back looks really neat, with all the stitching.

I will definitely be sewing more of these!  My next village will have trees and maybe a fountain.

Vest into Wallhanging

A customer of mine loved this vest but didn't want to wear it.  She came up with the idea to make it a wall hanging.  I cut the back off and saved the fabric.  I removed the buttons.  I used the neck band and back fabric to fill in the neck area.  Then I cut off the side bands and added some fabric squares to make it longer and then reattached the bands. 

There was enough of the back fabric to make a rod pocket and binding for the edges.She was thrilled with the results!  (My cat likes it too.)

Tapa Bark Cloth from Hawaii

My grandmother lived in Hawaii in 1936 and brought back this bark cloth. It is made (we think) from a coconut palm tree. It measures 71" x 49". Each "square" is 14" x 12". It is rather stiff and is starting to rip in places. I can't imagine people actually wearing it. Maybe, like linen, it would soften with age or maybe this was a wall covering.

This shows the back. Right now, I have it rolled loosely on a shelf, wrapped in a sheet. I would love to display it somehow, but I currently don't have any wall space left!

Small Appliqued Wall Hanging

Made from scraps I had on hand (as a lot of my projects are!). This is early sunset. Clouds machine zigzagged and then pieced around the edges. There is a dowel in a pocket on the back so it doesn't droop when hanging.

I added a couple of beads to the bottom. The whole thing is 12" long. It was fun and fairly quick and easy to sew. Years later, I still remember the evening I got the inspiration! Try capturing a moment in time.