 A couple of weeks ago I posted about trying to cut fabric on my Cricut. I was trying to use the regular and bonded fabric blades without much luck. Beth, a reader, commented about the rotary blade and was willing to chat with me a few times. She even shared some photos of things she cut with the rotary blade. So, I ordered it immediately and it arrived yesterday.  I had an idea for my 3rd postcard design and gave it a try. It worked perfectly the first time.  I've got to clean my camera lens, my photos are all a little blurry. I'll see if I can fix that before tomorrow's post. I took the pieces I cut and arranged them on a 4 x 6 card. I tend to plan my postcards on index cards to see if the idea will work.  I liked the plan so I pulled out the big bag of sparkly fabrics.  This is my palette.  Before going to bed last night I got all of the stars cut out. It's so fast with the Cricut!
Yesterday I also got my December birthday cards made but I can't share them until next week after my friend receives her.....but I can tell you that I think they are really cool.
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 Every year I really struggle to come up with 3 designs for my Christmas cards. I do 3 designs because I make about 80 cards and I don't want to make 80 of the same thing. 30 is about my limit. This year has been extra hard. I've been coming up totally blank. I had one whiff of an idea that involved stockings but that's it. Then Chris and I took a walk yesterday morning and by the time I got home I had 3 ideas all sorted! One is going to be technically challenging so it might get scrapped but, at least, I have a starting point.  The ideas inspired me to get to the Cricut and try to see if I can cut fused fabric on it. This photo makes it look like it's no problem.  But I really only had about 50% success. I'm not using the rotary blade because I don't think it will work on small pieces. For my own notes here's what I learned: - use the black blade - tape the edges of the fabric to the cutting mat - you can only run the fabric through one. After that the fabric loosens from the mat and the result is this mess - use medium cardstock setting with more pressure - after every use the mat has to be washed I doubt I'd cut a lot of fabric on it but I can probably get away with some simple shapes.  Then I got 4 more rows of the veterans quilt together. Last night was quilt club and our annual trash to treasure fundraiser. I'll have a report on that tomorrow.
 One of the main reasons that I got the Cricut was to do some screen printing and I decided to start off with some tea towels. Tea towels are such a great gift. They are easy to make and so useful. People aren't as sensitive to the colors and patterns because they are just going to use them to clean up messes. My friend recommended ORACAL 651 vinyl for screen printing and she was right. It transfers easy and stays stuck. I followed some instructions I found specific to the Cricut for the first set but switched to my normal screen printing method using a credit card, for the second set and got a much better result, as you will see.  I screenprint Color Magnet onto the towel before it's dyed. The printed areas absorb a lot more dye than the rest of the towel to create the image. This set was created for friend we will visit in Beaufort SC in September. She refers to their home as Skeeter Haven.  Since their house is near the beach I went for beach glass colors. These did not turn out perfect but I don't think she will mind the mistakes too much.  The first ones were so quick to make that I decided to make some for our Maine hosts. This image is straight from the Cricut library.  I made 6 so I can give each person 2. They might also get potholders!
Speaking of potholders, I have 5 left to make and I'll be totally done. But today I'll be working on the last 2 veterans quilts. It's too hot to do anything outside.  Yesterday I got all of my energy back and was ready to get on with chores and projects. I started the day with laundry and that reminded me that we needed to clear the dryer vent tube. In our house the dryer is almost in the middle of the house and the tube has a couple of angles in it. Periodically we have to disconnect it and blow it out with the leaf blower. It's kind of fun. But this time we discovered the dryer itself was blocked. We unplugged it, pulled it out, removed two back panels and removed a phenomenal amount of lint! I think I could have jam packed a quart jar full of lint. It was a big mess but the dryer works much better now and it didn't cost any money. We've had some expenses pile up lately with a new water heater, new TV and new vacuum cleaner so I really didn't want to buy a new dryer. I was happy to get back to the potholders and I finished these 8. I have 41 finished and 6 more cut out but I could see myself making more. They are just a good project for my current mindspace and I'm using up a good bit of fabric. For the lining and pockets I can use some fabrics that really aren't great for any other projects.  I did do some other things too. I had 2 veterans quilts ready for quilting so I got them loaded.  I got the bobbins wound, tension set and a couple of rows quilted. I'll be back on this today.  Then just before dinner I got an idea for a gift. We're visiting some friends in Beaufort, SC in September and she refers to the place as Skeeter Haven. I decided that I could screen print some tea towels for them (her). I'm going to work on these today too. I think I'm going to use Dye Magnet so I can print before I dye and the image will come out during the dye process.
The Cricut is so much fun for this kind of project. It took me just a few minutes to find that cute mosquito in the library and then add the text. I don't have to go anywhere so I should be able to get on with all of my projects.  I didn't post this weekend but I have a good excuse. I was exhausted! Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Ella. She was delightful. Saturday (after I had a nap) we were talking about how much we missed her. We took her to her Grandmother's house (also my brother's house) Saturday where we also had an 85h birthday party for my Mom. My cousin came in from Asheville, NC and we got to see one of my nieces for the first time in over 5 years. It was a wonderful afternoon. This post is about the last items that Ella and I made. She used every available minute and we were cutting out things up until she had to pack to leave. Here are the last 3 tshirts that we made. She wore the "dance" shirt to the party. Her little brother loved his new shirts.  The special project that we worked on thursday night was a pajama set for Mom for her birthday. It was kind of a last minutes thing so we went to WalMart to buy some pajama bottoms and she designed this shirt as a top. She designed this herself on the Cricut. I think she will be getting one for Christmas!  The big news is that we actually finished the blanket! It's not perfect by any means. I think when working with kids that it's important to accept finished over perfect. It's disheartening to have to frog stitching so I just made repairs as we went along. She really loves it and I have a great photo of her rolled up in it but I don't share kid's photos on the web so I'll keep that one to myself.  It's made with Lion Brand Off The Hook yarn and we used all of 7 skeins. This is a great yarn for kids and people who want to make things fast. It made a really squishy soft blanket but I hope to never use this yarn again.  We had time left Friday night so we learned how to use the pen and how to cut paper and then she wanted a zipper bag for her backpack. So I got to teach her a little sewing. She mostly liked the knee lift and had it up and down about 100 times!  We even added a little tassel to the zipper. We got up Saturday and had an hour or so to kill so we cut some things that she can iron to future shirts. Yesterday I actually got to see Ella again. Her parents were planning to tile their backsplash and I offered my wet saw. Then I offered to help. I did most of the cutting while they installed the tile. I was a long day but we got it done! Today I'm exhausted and very grateful that I don't have to grout it. It's going to be a day of cleaning up the sewing room and shopping for a new TV. I might get some more potholders done.
 I can't even describe how much fun I'm having with Ella. She is the NICEST kid. We went to the store for snacks yesterday and she pointed out some pretzels that she loves. I told her to get them. She then spent several minutes making sure I knew how much they cost and that she really didn't need them. Very sweet. We started out day with her making me get up! When I came downstairs she was already working on her blanket. But we stopped that and got right to making a couple of shirts. I try to break up the blanket sessions so she doesn't get fatigued with it. The blue shirt is for her brother.  Next we made shirts for their schools. Eli plays football and his jersey number is 7. They both have their school initials on the front and names on the back.  through a few session, we have gotten this far on the blanket. It will be 8 blocks tall and we are through 5. We have 2.5 balls to get through today and that's doable. There are lots of mistakes in this blanket but we did a fine job of correcting or covering them up. She's really happy with it so far.
Last night we did a special project. She wanted to make a birthday gift for my Mom. I'll get a photo this weekend. We wrapped it up before I remembered to wrap it. She designed it herself in the Cricut and did a great job. I think Santa already has something on his list for December! Today we have 2 more shirts to do, some cookies to make and one special blanket to finish!  I picked up Ella yesterday morning for our first day of craft camp. She is so delightful! Very respectful, kind and really easy going. But I knew all that before I invited her. She is also outrageously obsessed with coordinated school supplies. I respect that so it's what we worked on for our first Cricut project. We started with these 2 notebooks.  Then we made a bunch of labels for her folders and notebooks that she's still left to purchase. We even printed some subject labels in purple to use once she decides which notebooks will be used for which subjects. No one is going to be better prepared for school! She's really good at using the Cricut but I'd expect nothing else from a tech savvy young person.  We also started her blanket. We are making a blanket with loop yarn. I don't enjoy working with this yarn but I can't deny the appeal. It's going to be a super soft blanket.
Today we will work more on the blanket and start doing the Cricut projects for the t-shirts. I have 3 for her and 3 for her brother. We're also going to have dinner with my Mom.  Not much happened yesterday so I just have a quick post to share that I got the Cricut set up and cut a couple of projects. This is the first project that they have you do as soon as you set it up. It's removable so this cheap dresser will not be ruined.  Then I wanted to try an iron-on motif because when Ella visits for craft camp we have t-shirts to decorate. This t-shirt used to have an iron-on design on it but it all flaked off. I replaced it with this design from the Cricut library. It was all very easy!
Next I will work on some birthday cards and then I want to do some screen printing and fabric cutting. I need to order a different blade for the fabric. That's all I have from yesterday. This weekend will be about getting the rest of the veterans quilts quilted and getting 2 of mine bound.....hopefully.  For all of my friends in the USA, Happy independence Day! It's my favorite holiday, followed closely by Thanksgiving. We don't have any significant plans. Chris has a friend visiting to go fishing and I'll be quilting and playing with my new Cricut machine. I have to get comfortable with it before Ella arrives for "craft camp" in 2 weeks. Today I'm sharing what I was actually doing the past 3 days. My posts were a collection of things I had finished/worked on the past week or so and just had not posted yet.  I was at the river playing with my best doggie, Ouiser, and visiting my best friend. it was great to get away for a few days. She's beautiful and still has a little puppy craziness in her. It was fun. But it wasn't all playing with Weesie.  On the project front, Anne worked on the coolest project ever. She loves denim jackets and buys them at thrift shops all the time. She's been wanting to make this one for a while and it turned out great! She got the embroidered organza at a high end fabric store here in Richmond and it's just perfect for this treatment.  Here's the front. You can see that she scattered some fused butterflies after she finished sewing the inserts.  She also gave me Cricut lessons!  I cut my first image on freezer paper to use as a painting mask.  She bought these plain rugs at Walmart for me to play with. She likes skulls and skeletons so I made this one for her.  Then I made this one for the guest house. Our friends are moving in for a few months while they search for their next house. I learned that spray painting doesn't work so well. Even with it taped off there's overspray. Stippling will work best but I'm quite happy with this result for my first try.  We had a storm Sunday night and Monday was absolutely perfect. I sat outside with some yarn and a hook for a while and watched the river.  before I arrived she had put out her crab pots so Monday night we had my favorite dinner.  The short visit wrapped up with a perfect sunset. I'm back home and got my Cricut set up and will be playing with it a little today and more this weekend.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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