Another Box

     Ok, I'm hooked.  My mind is boggling with new ideas involving The Box (including a collapsible version that can be shipped or packed away when not in use).  But first I decided to figure out a way to use some of my "finished" wool pieces.

     You might recognize the little squares from a larger example on my previous post.  After cutting the 9 patch out in one piece, I unstitched the remaining pieces and restitched them down on new backgrounds. The blue square will become a pocket.





     Using the same process as before, I ironed the pieces to my fusible interfacing--much trickier because of the wool, cut-out squares, and buttons, and I ended up sewing the 9 patch in place.



     The completed box works perfectly as a holder for "works in progress" (of which I have many!).

     And another view showing the pocket holding my crochet hooks (I'm planning to learn so I can make some of those cunning little flowers in the near future).

My "Sweater" Stash

     Since I've already confessed about my boxes of wool sweater pieces, I decided to haul one out and expose a bit of one of my obsessions:

     This is my "green/turquoise" crate which contains 10 ziplock bags of individual sweaters, many of which were prepped and processed at my daughter's kitchen table during the summer of 2010 (I also used many gallons of her hot water and pulled bags of wool lint from her dryer screen). 





    Having a very small portion of left-brain function,  I cut a swatch from each sweater which I glued and numbered onto a piece of card stock by color.  Unfortunately I have since added to my expanding collection and haven't kept up with the system.  Very typical. . . .





     And the contents of one bag--leftovers, actually, since I've already used quite a lot of this color in several projects.  Hmmmmm, I may have to start hitting the thrift shops again before heading for AZ ( I don't have hot water in my laundry room out there).

And a couple of ways I have used my stash:







     I really love working with felted wool.  It's easy to cut (no fraying). It sews like butter.  The colors blend together in fun ways.  I'm addicted.  I'm also into collecting buttons. . . .

Using my Stash

     Yesterday I painted fabric out in the garage (inspired by Sew Wild) and completed several small notepads I'll put in the "Preparing for Christmas" pile.  Constructing these notepads is kind of a pain, but the ladies love them as stocking stuffers, so I continue to look for ways of making the making more fun for me.  After free-motion stitching organza over some hand-printed fabric leftovers, I hauled out my stash of felted wool (last summer's bonanza of thrift-store sweaters, washed in hot water, cut up, and stored by color in zip-lock bags) and selected several pieces that seemed to match my fabric choice.

     I first cut out a long stem, several sets of leaves, and a bunch of small berries from the "felt," then arranged the pieces across my prepared fabric, and finally stitched everything down.





     And one of the completed notepads::