Mystery Afghan - "FREE" Crochet-Along

Bernet yarns is offering FREE patterns and instructions every week starting on September 22nd to make a Mystery Afghan.

This project is a sampler afghan  that is crocheted in five colors of Bernat Softee Chunky. What the final afghan will look like is a mystery - you'll have to crochet each clue as it comes out and gradually discover the final result.

The afghan project will last 12 weeks, with the last clue posted December 7th, 2010.   If you keep up as the clues are released, you'll have an afghan made in time for Christmas. 

To download patterns and instructions:

 http://blog.bernat.com



More information at:  http://bernat.com/CAL2010intro

When completed, be sure to enter the contest.  One crocheter will receive the Bernat pattern and yarn of their choice to create a Bernat afghan.   See Bernat's rules for complete information and terms.

Charity Project: "1 Million Pillowcase Challenge"

American Patchwork & Quilting is challenging you to join our efforts to Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Every pillowcase can make a difference in your community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident.
 

To download free patterns & instructions: 

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases

Video Tutorial:  http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/video/roll-it-up-video.html

Charities to donate locally (suggestions):  Hospice, Veteran's hospitals, Senior nursing care facilities, VFW posts for active service personnel or veterans, Oncology units, Missions, Ronald McDonald House, Homeless shelters, Women's shelters, Youth shelters, etc.  

Make a pillowcase and donate to a local charity.   Once your pillowcases are complete and donated to an organization, log on to the All People Quilt website and enter how many pillowcases you made.  

Help us reach our goal of ONE MILLION Pillowcases.

Owl Hoot Pillow

Changing an out-dated wall hanging into a pretty pillow was a fun & simple project. Not to mention, inexpensive.

Here's what it looked like when I found it (previous post)
http://bitsofblessings.blogspot.com/2010/08/owl-hoot.html


The owl lace was taken out of the hoop and cleaned thoroughly and old glue stains removed.  There was a solid brown fabric placed behind the owl lace and makes the owl stand out clearly.

An unused piece of denim trim with white lace overlay, was purchased at the same time at the thrift store for only 10 cents.  It fit nicely around the round lace piece and was sewn to the top of the owl lace and brown backing. 

A small peice of denim was purchased at the fabric store at 50% off, and the shade of denim was closely matched to the shade of the denim trim.   The circle of denim was used for the back of the pillow.

Owl Hoot ~ pillow back

Add stuffing and sew together, add the brown lustre bow back on the side, and there you have a cute up-to-date pillow for 35 cents for the vintage fabrics, and a minimal cost for the denim fabric and stuffing. 

Whooooooooo wouldn't just love this adorable pillow?

Owl Hoot Pillow

Status:  Finished

Charity Project - "Caps for Good"

Please join me in a wonderful project to make Baby Caps for newborns in the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America through a joint effort from Save the Children and Warm Up America organizations.  This is being sponsored by Michael's craft stores.

In many developing countries, something as simple as a knit or crocheted cap can help
the baby keep warm, which is key to helping newborns survive. Nearly 4 million babies die each year in their first month of life - half within their first 24 hours.  

To download free patterns and instructions:
http://www.goodgoes.org/caps



I will start shipping out knitted or crocheted baby hats that I've made, or have collected from friends, on the 3rd Saturday of each month, starting on September 25th. I hope that many will also join in this effort and collect hats from your friends and co-workers and ship them to this organization.  It is a great way to involve the community in giving back to these precious little babies. This project ends in late February.

Happy Blessings! 

(FREE PATTERNS added here in the COMMENTS section. Click on the COMMENTS link.  Do you have a free pattern (knit or crochet) for a newborn baby hat that you want to share?  Add as a Comment, or send your pictures of your completed hats to bitsofblessings [at] gmail [dot] com    They will be shown on the blog.)

Owl Hoot

An Owl Hoot recycling project made from an Owl Hoop.

Remember the crafts from the 70's & 80's that made works of art in those wooden embroidery hoops?  All sorts of pictures were made by placing embroidery, fabric pictures, or other types of crafts that were embellished in the circular frame.  This may have been when the hot glue gun frenzy began.

Thrift Store find @ 25 cents

While hunting in the thrift store, I couldn't resist this lace owl for 25 cents. The lace fabric & background has been taken apart from the wooden frame and washed.  The glue and woodstain have discolored the ivory trim, so it's unusable.  It will be remade into a new item soon.

Christmas Cross Stitch Ornaments

Years ago, I used to make these little framed cross-stitch ornaments with the gold frames.  It was a handy project to take along with you.

Another "thrifty find" this month, was a complete kit to make 3 Christmas ornaments for 25 cents.  There was no date on the package, but it looks like those from the 70's or 80's.  I started right away on making Santa Claus.

Antique 1760 Cross Stitch Sampler

There's something about going on a Treasure Hunt and finding those little finds in unlikely places.  I came across a bin of craft items at a thrift store and brought home lots of "treasures".   One of which was a complete kit for a reproduction of a cross-stitch sampler, that was made from an 11 year old girl in 1760.  That's pre-Revolutionary War. 

Included was the fabric, DMC floss, graph and instructions.  I paid 25 cents for it.

I've always wanted to create a reproduction of an antique sampler.  So, it's another project for me to start on and will track the progression.