Crafts – Page 3 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Mardi Gras Table Runner

Posted on January 30, 2022 by geek

I was able to spend a couple of days in New Orleans on my way back home from spending the holidays with relatives. One of the top things I wanted to do was find a fabric store with New Orleans theme fabric, especially for Mardi Gras. Outside of New Orleans, finding Mardi Gras anything really, can be difficult. I found a fantastic fabric shop on Magazine Street (a great shopping area if you are ever there) called Chateau Sew & Sew. They had so many wonderful Mardi Gras appropriate fabrics, and I went a little crazy. Anyway, I just made some simple table runners with standard 2.5 inch strips. I made one for me, my mom, and a few extra. I am thinking of trying to sell an extra on Etsy or something, just to recoup the cost of the fabric. They were so easy to make, and they are just so fun. I am so happy to finally have some Mardi Gras decorations inside my house. I did make a Mardi Gras door wreath and a couple of cross-stitch pieces, but still I needed more decorations.

They are, of course, mainly green, purple, and yellow, the colors of Mardi Gras. I found two different fabrics with fleur de lis, a constant symbol in New Orleans. I used the fabric with irises for a couple of reasons besides the colors. Louisiana iris is the state wildflower of Louisiana, but also my mom was in Krewe of Iris. In the below photo, the one of the right, is the one I made for me. I just love the fabric that looks like Mardi Gras beads, so I used that to border the rest of the strips. It makes the whole runner a bit wilder, but I love it. I also used several different green, purple, and yellow strips for the binding instead of one fabric for binding. That also makes it a bit wilder, but it is for me. Finally, for all of them, I used a programmed stitch in my sewing machine that I think looks like Mardi Gras beads for the quilting stitch.

Mardi Gras themed fabric sewed in simple strips to make table runners

Three of the Mardi Gras table runners

Mardi Gras themed fabric sewed in simple strips

Part of one of the Mardi Gras table runners

Part of the Mardi Gras table runners I made for me

Bathroom curtain

Posted on January 15, 2022 by geek

I finally finished a project I have been wanting to do for about a year now. In my master bathroom, I had a store bought, plain white, Roman shade. It did its job, but I really did not like it for a multitude of reasons. I wanted to make a curtain for the window instead. Since last year I bought a fancy new sewing machine that does embroidery, I decided to use that to make a simple curtain into something not so simple.

The curtain is made of white denim. I choose this material because it lets in light while giving me privacy. I sewed a simple rectangle a bit bigger than the window. I then sewed simple tabs to hang it from a very simple rod I bought at IKEA. I had to use really simple finals as there is not a lot of room in between the window and the shower on the left and door to the water closet on the right. Then to make the curtain fancier, I bought a collection of machine embroidery floral border patterns. I sewed several corner and border patterns around the curtain’s perimeter. Then all I had to do was hang the curtain. I really like how the curtain looks. It is perfect for my bathroom.

New bathroom curtain

Close up of border embroidery

Close up of corner embroidery

Close up of border embroidery

My second quilt

Posted on December 26, 2021 by geek

After I made my first quilt, which was a Christmas gift for my mom, I made my second quilt, which was a Christmas gift for my sister. I think I am more proud of my second quilt because it is a patchwork quilt of completely original design. The independent fabric store where I spend way too much money had a sidewalk sale in October with lots of fabric remnants for sale. It was perfect for what I had planned for the quilt. My sister and I went to Alaska for vacation this summer, and this photo below that I took in Tracy Arms was the inspiration for the quilt.

South Sawyer Glacier

I wanted the quilt to essentially have three sections. The middle and biggest section would be the glacier. The bottom section would be the water, and the top section would be the sky with a bit of the mountain behind the glacier. Other than that, the only other real design was to vary the blues and greens in the glacier to reflect the dark blues visible at the front of the glacier. I also used some black fabric to represent glacier moraine. There was no real pattern to pieces. I just cut and sewed the fabric to make it look the way I liked it. I also challenged myself to have as few scraps leftover as possible. You kind of have to squint your eyes and use your imagination, but I think it looks like a glacier. I am happy with the way it came out, and my sister likes it too.

Front of the glacier patchwork quilt

I used remaining scraps left over from the front on the back as well as whatever blues I had left from the remnant pile from the sale. Once I looked at the finished back, it kind of looked like I sewed a message on the back, but that was not intentional.

Back of the glacier patchwork quilt

A few up close photos of the front are below to show the patchwork.

Up close view of glacier patchwork quilt

My first quilt

Posted on December 25, 2021 by geek

I finished my first quilt a couple of months ago, but I couldn’t post the photos until now as it was a Christmas present for my mom. I found the pattern at Jordan Fabrics after watching her videos describing it, which was really helpful. It is called a race quilt, although I have also heard it described as a race track quilt. It is easy as most of field pieces are made of pre-cut fabric strips from a jelly roll. For the most part, it is made just by sewing long strips together. I used a Kaffe Fassett Classics Design Roll called Ocean, and the rest of the fabrics are also from Kaffe Fassett. I was happy with the way it turned, and it was an easy first quilt to make.

Front of the race quilt

Back of the race quilt (those are octopuses)

Detailed view of the quilt top

Patchwork wall hanging

Posted on December 15, 2021 by geek

After I made the wall hanging with the three cross-stitched roses, I wanted to experiment a bit and make another wall hanging with a variety of fabrics. The main purpose of the wall hanging was to find a way to display a large cross-stitch with flowers (upper right). I had two other small cross-stitch flowers that I added to the wall hanging. These are the rose bud in the upper left and the rose in lower center. I used it as an opportunity to patch together a couple of different types of fabrics. The lower left corner rose is an appliqué that is on a cotton towel that I cut. The flower garland embroidery pattern piece from a linen towel. The two vertical center solid pink pieces are from old clothing. The top pale pink is from denim jeans, and the lower bright pink is from a cotton shirt. The rest of the fabric is quilt weight cotton fabric. The different fabrics made it a bit more difficult to sew and square things, but it was a learning opportunity.

Patchwork wall hanging with several fabrics and no set pattern

Wall hanging with three cross-stitch projects and a patchwork of fabrics

Cross-stitched roses wall hanging

Posted on December 12, 2021 by geek

During COVID, I have been doing a lot of cross-stitching. Then of course, the question is what to do with all these finished cross-stitched projects. Wall hangings are rather easy and give me a way to display them. I found patterns for three lovely roses on Etsy by the same artist, so I decided to finish them as one wall hanging. I used coordinating green fabric to frame each with four different colors of reds and pinks to emphasize the colors of each rose.

This wall hanging also gave me practice sewing. If you look carefully, you can tell, I still need practice sewing. [Although I have done a lot of sewing since I made this months ago.] My main issue is getting pieces to meet and square properly. I think part of the problem, at least for the below project, is that the framing fabric is standard cotton fabric, perfect for quilting. The cross-stitches are obviously done on a different type fo fabric. These are on linen. The fabrics stretch slightly different, and I think that is leading to some problems. Clearly I just need to keep stitching and sewing and practicing more.

Fabric wall hanging with three cross-stitched roses framed in fabric

Finished project of three roses wall hanging

Up close view of middle rose

Up close view of left rose

Up close view of right rose

Framing a cross-stitch with fabric

Posted on December 9, 2021 by geek

With the exception of my really big cross-stitch projects, I don’t frame them. Very often I finish them by putting them on a patted mat board that I then finish with a ribbon to hang them. I really like doing this in particular for holiday and seasonal cross-stitch projects as it makes it easier to take them down and store them until I want to hang them again.

While I was in Alaska on vacation this summer, I bought some wonderful cross-stitch patterns designed by an artist there of Alaska flowers. One pattern was fireweed, and another pattern was forget-me-nots. I loved stitching patterns that represent and remind me of a place I have visited, in this case Alaska. While there, I also found some wonderful fabrics that also showcase Alaska. Fortuitously, I found some fabric printed with fireweed and forget-me-nots, so I used those fabrics to frame the cross-stitch projects.

I just sewed some simple blocks to frame the cross-stitch patterns. I then sewed a back sort of like I was making a pillow. I just didn’t put a pillow in between the front and back. I then sewed a sleeve to the top, put a wooden dowel through the sleeve, and tied a ribbon to hang it.

Fireweed cross-stitch framed with fireweed fabric

Forget-me-not cross-stitch framed with forget-me-not fabric

My Newest Hobby

Posted on December 5, 2021 by geek

I am the type of person who always has to be doing something. It is not exactly that I can’t keep still. It is more that I feel like I always have to be productive. I grant you there are different definitions of what is and is not productive. I generally can’t just watch television. I need to have my hands doing something. [OK maybe I can’t keep still.] That could be something mindless on the computer, but most of the time, I cross-stitch while watching television. I can sit and relax and watch television, but I am still productive as I cross-stitch. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have gotten a lot of cross-stitching done because I don’t leave the house near as much as previously. Thus, in the past two years, I have finished many wall-hanging and other types of cross-stitching, both the actual stitching and the display method.

Because of the way I wanted to display many of the cross-stitch projects, I started to sew more. That has morphed into sewing becoming a new hobby. I’ve sewn before. I bought my first sewing machine at least twenty years ago. However, my sewing was generally simple straight stitch to make something basic. Most of my sewing is still very basic, but I am starting to do more complex and involved sewing like quilting. I am starting to imagine things I would like to sew now including wall hangings, blankets, table runners, and more. Something I like about sewing is that I can make something useful. Sewing can result in pretty if not exactly functional products, and you can argue about if a wall hanging is functional. Blankets are definitely useful. Table runners are too in my opinion.

I am not saying that all hobbies have to generate something functional. I just tend to gravitate towards those types of hobbies. Part of the reason may be because I really like making things, and then I need to figure out what to do with all these things I have now made. Twenty years ago when I lived in Austin, I started taking pottery lessons. I started with classes using slabs to make things and also extruded clay. I then moved onto throwing pottery on the wheel. I loved it. However I kept making things that I didn’t exactly know what to do with. I made lots and lots of bowls. I learned how to put a rim at the bottom of my steady stream of bowls, so I could make planters. I have many planters, bowls, and other items I made. For a while, family and friends were pretty much guaranteed pottery as a present from me because I couldn’t keep everything I made, nor did I want to keep them. Don’t get me wrong, I loved giving my pottery as presents, and I think most family and friends liked receiving it. It was more a matter of I made another bowl, now what do I do with it?

One of the reasons I love digital photography is that it only takes up electronic storage space. I can print the ones I want, hang them on a wall, and remind myself of the beautiful places I have been. I can keep the rest though and not clutter up my house. While I was working on my Ph.D., I started making things with beads, mainly jewelry. The problem with beading is, you have to buy a whole lot of beads to make one bracelet. I don’t make things with beads that much anymore, but I still have the beads. I can’t quite figure out what to do with them all. I could make jewelry and try to sell it, but lots of people make jewelry, so setting up a tiny, side business is generally more hassle than it is worth. However, I am now getting ideas of how to incorporate beads into sewing projects. These sewing project would not be washable of course.

So now, I am really into sewing, verging on addiction. I have found my new creative outlet. I may try to take some classes. I have already watched way too many videos on YouTube. I bought a new, very fancy, very expensive sewing machine several months ago. [Really it is more a computer that sews.] The people at the store where I bought have been very helpful with tips and information. Thank goodness for people who like to share their knowledge. I have already bought too much fabric, so I need to keep sewing to do things with the fabric.

I will be posting in the coming weeks and months more of my projects, cross-stitching, sewing, etc. I realized there is some stuff that I made that I never shared on this blog. Probably because I was too busy moving onto the next project. So stay tuned.

Easter/Spring Wreath

Posted on March 14, 2021 by geek

I was really happy with the way my Halloween wreath looked, so I decided to do something similar for Easter. As before, I selected twigs from my yard to form the base of the wreath. The starting supplies were twigs that I painted in pastel colors, lots of pastel colored ribbon, and metal wire formed into a ring. I splurged on some fake flowers and painted foam (or some such material) eggs. It should be noted, I completely overestimated the amount of flowers I would want to use.

Starting materials for my Easter wreath

I used some of the thicker and straighter twigs to start the wreath by tying them with ribbon to the metal ring. I tied a long ribbon to a long straight twig that will serve as the top of the wreath.

Using straight twigs to start the wreath

I kept adding the twigs until they were all on the wreath. All twigs were tied to the metal ring or each other in several places with ribbon.

All twigs secured to the ring and each other with ribbon

I then added the fabric tulips. I was initially going to use more flowers, but it looked too crowded.

Fabric tulips added to the wreath

I then attached the eggs to the wreath via a thumbtack through ribbon. In some cases I attached them to ribbon already on the wreath, but in some cases, I added more ribbon.

Eggs attached to the ribbon with thumbtacks

Then the last step, hang it on the door.

Finished wreath

Mardi Gras wreath

Posted on January 16, 2021 by geek

Half my family are from New Orleans, which means I have been to Mardi Gras many times. It also means I have pounds and pounds of Mardi Gras beads. Aside from bringing them out while holding a Mardi Gras party, I am not really sure what to do with them. I decided to make a wreath with some of them.

As a part of Christmas decorations, I had bought a greenery wreath. The greenery was attached to a metal ring that has prongs evenly spaced around the circumference. I opened up the prongs, so I could remove the greenery and compost them. Then I decided to repurpose the ring to serve as the base of the Mardi Gras wreath. The prongs worked perfectly to hangs the ends of the Mardi Gras beads. I then just kept the middle part of the bead necklaces between the prongs. I kept adding more and more beads to fill in the wreath.

Adding beads to metal wreath base

Once I had added plenty of beads and the wreath felt complete, I added a few necklaces that have the krewe’s medallion on them. I spaced those out so that they would hang evenly along the wreath. I also added three necklaces (gold, green, and purple because New Orleans Mardi Gras) to the top. Instead of wrapping them through the wreath, I placed them inside the top three prongs and pull the rest of the wreath, so they could be used as the wreath’s hanger. Finally I added a mask near the top. I used pliers to pull the metal prongs back together. I then used ribbon to wrap around the wreath at each prong location. I also wrapped the ribbon around the prongs as they did not close fully.

Then voilà, I have my finished Mardi Gras wreath. Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Mardi Gras wreath