I signed up at once and promised myself I’d follow the directions for each project as they are written, because sometimes it’s a little technique for something simple that can totally change how you do things. I started the class a little late because I’ve been waiting for my daughter to go back to school. Now that I have some time to dedicate to my sewing, I’ll be cruising through the projects a little faster.

First on the list was a patchwork cushion. I followed the pattern exactly and have fallen in love with my scrap bin. Seriously, I had no idea how fun making little fabric stripes could be.

stash: This is a great stash busting project that’s perfect for those little pieces you can’t bear to throw away. Anyone recognize the buttons?

project info: This was a bonus project, and Leigh-Ann has a tutorial posted on her blog. You should go make one, too!

class info: You can preview the class projects here and here.

I’ve got another beach wedding to attend. Ok, so it isn’t directly on the beach, but it’s outside and you can see the ocean. That reason enough to make another beach blanket, don’t you think?

I picked up the print fabric at the textile sale. The wool tweed is from my stash. I washed both in hot and was surprised that the wool didn’t felt. The texture is slightly softer, but that’s it. No shrinkage at all. Interesting!

I haven’t decided on a bias trim yet. I was actually thinking about skipping that step. Would that be so terrible? I’d still do the ties for sure. We’ll see.

pattern info: Why do I not own this book yet? Pattern inspiration from Amanda Soule’s Handmade Home.

I’ve been looking for a denim jacket for a long time. I wanted it to be dark denim, slightly tapered at the waist and long enough to reach my hips. Yeah, pretty specific. I tried on too many to count. Then one day at a garage sale with mostly kids’ clothes, I spied this on a rack for adults. It was a little big, but met all of my requirements. And it only cost $5. After Korinne assured me that it looked cute with the sleeves rolled up a bit, I was sold.

I brought it home and ran it through the washer and dryer. You know what? I really think this was practically new. It shrunk just a little bit and now I don’t have to shorten the sleeves. I’m not a huge fan of the faded spots, but they are a lot less obvious when I’m wearing it. I even kind of like the applique.

thrifting: If the three most important words in real estate are location, location and location, then the three most important words in thrifting are patience, patience, and patience.

In my creative space today is a crochet wool basket. It used to have sides, but I lost count of my stitches and it got all wonky and I had to rip back to the base. I started it because I wanted to have a mindless project. I guess even squares aren’t completely mindless.

More creative spaces over at Kirsty’s always-beautiful space.

textile sale: I bought three balls of this wool for 25 cents each. I have no idea about the brand or content, but it looks great and that’s all that matters!

Yep! Can you believe I found this t-shirt? I thought it might make a really cool beach cover-up for my daughter. I just used one of her currently fitting dresses as a pattern.

This should have been such an easy project. The t-shirt was twisted and I had a hard time making the vertical lines look even. Also, the material is really thin and kept getting sucked into my machine. But I loved how it turned out!

So does my daughter. It would be nice if this fits next summer as a dress, but they way she’s growing, it will probably fit in the middle of January.

thrifted and refashioned: 99 cent sale t-shirt.

It did not have a volcano or really big teeth. It wouldn’t win a spot in the Craftiest Cake Hall of Fame. It did, however, have some really awesome dinosaur sprinkles, along with some moons and stars, carefully applied by the birthday girl herself. And it is the only thing I made this weekend.

I didn’t make her a fancy dino applique anything (although my friend Kelly made her an awesome dino tote), no special #4 shirt like last year (she wanted to wear her Liberty party dress), not one stitch sewn, knit or hooked.

I have done other crafty things, though. We’ve colored a lot, gone through an amazing number of stickers and built cool houses with magformers. We’ve also read lots and lots of dinosaur books and eaten lots of cheesy carbohydrates.

It’s been awesome, but I’m ready to get back to my usual creative self. I’m also buying my own set of skinny magic markers because coloring these cool animals is really fun.

I found one more thing of interest at the textile sale: a bag of Interweave Knits magazines for only 25 cents each. They are various issues from 2001-2003. Some had a few patterns that had been cut out, but for a quarter each, I figured they’d be great just for inspiration.

Well, I found quite a few things that I liked, actually. As I was cutting them out, I marveled at just how many patterns were left. Did the magazine publish more per issue back then? I could not bring myself to put these in the recycle bin. Now, granted, some of the pullovers are a bit oversized, but a lot are classic enough to be made and worn today. Here are some of the pattern highlights:

• double wedding ring quilt
• cherry blossom shawl
• hidden passion socks
• a lot of women’s pullovers (I even left a few cardigan patterns)
• nearly all of the men’s sweaters (I’m pretty sure they are all there)
• ann budd’s grand plan* patterns for vests, pullovers, and tams

*Grand plan patterns include every possible measurement imaginable for a completely custom fit.

How to enter: Just leave a comment and tell me about your current projects. You can leave a second comment for a bonus entry if you head on over and “like” me on my Facebook page.

Giveaway open until Thursday, September 2, midnight, central time. I’ll announce the winner next Friday.

Open to U.S. readers only. Sorry, international friends, but these weigh a lot!

It was originally a library book with the last hand-stamped date being June 6, 1988. Her two previous books A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and A Second Treasure of Knitting Patterns are mostly collections of traditional patterns. The majority of patterns in Charted Knitting Designs are her original work. Every single one of them is absolutely beautiful.

After the textile sale, I checked out some of the nearby east campus sales and found Reader Digest’s Complete Guide to Needlework. I knew this had to come home and live on my shelf with the Reader Digest’s Complete Guide to Sewing. I am amazed at how one book can cover all of these topics in such detail. What an awesome resource.

thrifting: Can you believe I paid only $1 each for these books? I’m still pinching myself! I also scored some knitting magazines that I’ll be giving away to one lucky blog reader. Stay tuned!

Remember this sweater yarn? I finished my first square. I know this is supposed to be my vacation project, but the pattern is so addicting. Maybe just one more? It’s not like I don’t have plenty of other things on my to-do list. Ha!

pattern info: This is Wagon Wheel #2 from Granny Crochet Favorites. I modified the last round to be hdc instead of dc stitches. The colors in the book are seriously dated, but the patterns are really quite lovely.

Dishcloths, charity squares, blanket squares — I needed a break from squares. I still had a few washcloth and soap gifts to make and give, but I couldn’t bear to make another square. I started cruising on ravelry and it hit me: Bath Mitt!

This was so much fun to make. I’ll definitely be making more, including one for me! Other changes to my “standard” gift: I’ve added a soap saver along with the fancy soap. Can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.

project info: stash (aunt lydia’s) cotton yarn, thrifted ribbon, etsy soap, lion brand pattern.