Wool Dryer Balls!

This was one of the most fun projects I've completed in a while.  These are wool dryer balls that you put in the dryer with your washed clothes and they are supposed to cut drying time and static by quite a bit!  They are super easy and fun to make. 

Black yarn balls

There are several tutorials out there, but basically, you wrap feltable wool yarn (not superwash) into balls, stick them in pantyhose or tights and wash and dry them a few times.  Voila!  Dryer balls!

I have a lot of black wool yarn, but wanted my balls colorful, so I used black wool for the middle then covered them with fun colored wool yarn. 

Black no more!

Wrapped in tights

Dryer Balls!

 They are so cool!  We tossed them around for a while.  Doug juggled them.  Lucca wanted to play fetch with them.  I think I need to make a basket full.  They are way better than stress balls!

Our Sweet Pup, Lucca

Have you ever made and/or used wool dryer balls?  What do you think?

Kitchen Mat - Quilt As You Go

Ever since I started working on my bottled rainbows quilt, I have been a little obsessed.  

My obsession?  

Quilt as you go (QAYG)! 

Quilt as you go is a quilting technique where you quilt each square to the batting (and sometimes the backing) before piecing the blocks.    

If you have ever thrown a quilt across the room, cursed, stomped and possibly even cried, while trying to quilt a project all at once, you just might want to try QAYG.  

{Yes, I've actually done this.  Ask Doug.}

For a few weeks I've really wanted to try making a kitchen mat using the quilt as you go technique.  I wanted to practice attaching binding on a smaller, less important project before attaching the binding to my bottled rainbows quilt.  

I used a log cabin variation ( I didn't even know what that was two months ago) to make my mat.  

I chose four colors:  purple, orange, green and pink.  

After I added the middle pieces, I thought it would be nice to add a bit of neutral.  But, cream or light beige didn't seem like a good idea since the mat will be gracing my kitchen floor (and I'm VERY messy).  

I remembered a bunch of old denim jeans I'd been saving and decided to add denim!

I love the improvisational aspect of this project.  It is like coloring a picture - hmmm, what color do I want to use next?  I used no exact measurements, just decided what I wanted to do with each new piece of fabric added.  

I even purposely left the selvage on some of the pieces.  

I don't know why, but I love the little colored, numbered circles.

The following picture shows me about half way through the project.  The striped, beige background is actually an old quilt that I cut up and used as batting.  I sewed the new fabric directly onto the old quilt piece. 

I'm very excited about finding this use for my old quilts! 

 For the back of the mat I used one large piece of Jennifer Paganelli fabric.  

 Here is a picture of the finished mat hanging from a palo verde (or palo brea?) tree.  Don't the greens in the mat look great next to the gorgeous green branches?  The little monkey climbing in the tree is pretty cute, too.

 I learned a lot about the quilt as you go process on this little project and now I have a colorful (surprise, surprise) mat in my kitchen!  It may kill someone if I don't get some anti-slip material, but hey, it's cute! 

Today I will be stepping away from the sewing machine to actually engage with the humans in my life.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

And, oh, here is some oatmeal.  My secret to oatmeal my kids cheer for?  A splash of vanilla!

Organization!

Over the weekend I decided that it was time to get the dining room my studio organized. I'm actually pretty good at organizing. Staying organized is the challenge.

Yesterday while my 13 year old son was at a friend's house playing hanging out, my oldest son (15) and my daughter (8) helped me divvy up the felt scraps into mason jars.  I got the mason jar idea from Rachel at Stitched In Color.  After we had finished and I was busy admiring our work, my 15 year old asked me, "Mom, is this your way of justifying being a pack rat?"

What??? I may be on the messy side (Yes, I once actually owned a book called How Not to Be a Messie: The Ultimate Guide for the Neatness Challenged), but I'm no pack rat!

I wish the answer to staying organized was in the cool matching plastic bins...

or the colorful way I display felt....

But, alas, I believe it may have more to do with actually putting things away when I'm finished using them.  Any "Messie" knows that that is seriously easier said than done! I think some people are just naturally more organized than others. But, in the scheme of things, is being organized really that important?

I don't know...there is something endearing to me about messiness.

I love to see a little girl dressed up in pearls and high heels with a nest of tangles in her hair. It tells me that play is more important than tidiness.

Leaving a sinkful of Lego guys to drown in the kitchen sink so that he can throw on a cape and go conquer the backyard tells me that being in the moment and living life to its fullest is more important to my son than picking up after himself. That makes me smile.

I'll admit that sometimes the mess drives me batty - I have a hard enough time dealing with my mess!

But when I see the piles of trinkets, papers and stuffed animals surrounding my daughter's bed, I smile. She is a sentimental soul and those little piles mean something to her.

Yeah, there is something about getting my area organized that really gives me a boost. But, I think I'll give myself a break next time I notice the 5 doll dresses, 3 doll faces, countless ribbon and felt bits beginning to close in on my organized dining room studio. Because most likely the unfinished mess means I had an idea that couldn't wait or a kid whose hunger couldn't wait or a load of laundry that would mildew if not attended to.

It may be time to tackle my yarn mess...but, surely I have had more important things to do than organize my yarn (don't judge!)...

Do you tend to be more messy or neat? How do you feel about that? (Don't worry, if you are a neat freak I won't judge, promise.)