Spools of Thread

I have a shocking number of tiny spools of thread:

The black spools are leftover from pillow kits my sister and I made when we were in middle school! I kept them on hand for small hand-sewing projects when I needed a variety of colors at my disposal to match to fabrics.

A lot of them are red.

Many are blue or grey.

Did you know Fruit of the Loom made thread? I did not.

Since this year I am attempting to use my fabric instead of continuing to buy it without a project in mind (and making good progress!), I decided to extend that effort to tidying up craft supplies in general and include all the excessive red, blue, and grey thread.

Orange and Green Paisley Quilt

I've had this lovely orange paisley, which originally debuted in a butterfly block for the still uncompleted Quilt Block Project, for quite a few years now. I decided it would be a nice fabric for this year's quilting goal of actually making quilts out of all the random fabric I've purchased without a specific project. Having cut into it for the butterfly block, I had less than a yard to work with, so I needed to pick a design that would both show it off and maximize its usage. If I could have found some more of the blue fabric I used in the butterfly block, I probably would have bought it, but since the other goal this year is to finish projects without buying yet more fabric, it's probably good that I didn't find any. Orange and green seemed like an odd combination at first, but I am really pleased with the way it turned out, and it's a nicely timed color combo for fall.

I debated at length how to finish the back without buying more fabric, but in the end I had to buy the solid orange fabric I used. I auditioned three fabrics I already had, but with only a yard of each, I didn't have enough of any of them, and I just didn't like them enough. The orange backing doesn't match the other orange fabric exactly, but that's okay. That one was too bright to use for the entire back. I would have liked to use green, but trying to find a coordinating green was even more difficult. The quilting is nothing special, just my go-to design, but I think it works well enough with the pattern.

New items purchased to complete this quilt: orange fabric for the back

Finished size: 37" x 49"

Green Flannel Bears

Several years ago, I made a little bear out of green corduroy. I used the same pattern to make this little trio out of leftover flannel:

They are about 8" high. Of course I hadn't saved the pattern, and it took quite a lot of searching online to find it again. I don't really enjoy stuffing animals, but I was motivated to use up this flannel, the noses and eyes, and scraps of quilt batting. I save way too many batting scraps that are really only useful as stuffing.

The flannel was leftover from this bear, which I made in approximately 2002:

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Bronze Bouquet

This was one of my metals projects in high school. I don't think the flowers were part of the project. I decided to toss the flowers, which were likely an afterthought since they weren't filed very well at all, and keep the little vase, which for now is holding my favorite pen and pencil.

Doll Clothes

Before my mom took Samantha to live with her new owner instead of in the closet of my childhood bedroom, I had her take a picture in the outfit I made for her. The fabric is covered in fruit. I hand stitched the outfit. Later, I made a blanket for her.