thrift store finds: quilting hoop wall art

I find large, wooden quilting hoops at thrift stores all the time, and they're crazily inexpensive. I could have stretched any fabric in it to make some fun, fast wall art, but I chose to do another coffee sack project this time around. 

I loosened up the wing nuts . . .

then chose what part of the design to display, and cut around my hoop with a 2—3 inch border added.

After cutting, I triple zig-zag stitched the edges of the coffee sack oval to keep the burlap from unraveling.

Then I stretched the edged circle over my hoop, and used a large nail to hang it on the wall.

And there you have it! Fast and easy. You can use an iron on the steam setting to make the back lay down flat enough to hang on the wall, but some coffee sacks do fine if you skip that step.

As this project only uses the front of the sack, it's easy to find remnants large enough for other projects. Like maybe a cushion, a lampshade, some tassels, or the edging on a bike basket. You know; just for example. ;)

I have coffee sacks available in my Etsy supplies shop; drop in if you want to try one of these projects for yourself!

Thanks for reading.

Linking up to:

The CSI Project

coffee sack tree skirt

Hey, here's a project you can make with all those pretty coffee sacks over in my Etsy "supplies" shop (you can also check out a past project here).

A reversible coffee bean sack Christmas tree skirt! It's not too tough, just a little cut and sew.

I started with a vintage sheet with a vaguely woodgrain-ish pattern for the flip side. A twin size will do.

You'll need two standard coffee sacks for this project. When you get them, take out the stitching to make two large panels.

I used a permanent marker tied to a two-foot length of string as a compass to trace semi-circles on each panel. You'll want to zig-zag or serge the edge of each panel.

You'll probably find you're happier if you treat the sheet the same way, cutting two semi-circles instead of one big circle. It's easier to handle the compass when you're not trying for an entire circle, and it leaves you the right amount of seam allowance at the slit.

Cut out the centers and zig-zag the new edge.

After stitching the two burlap halves together on one center seam only, do the same for the backing.

(Please excuse the lack of photographs for this next part; it's exactly like sewing a pillow case.) With right sides together, stitch the burlap and sheeting together around all edges with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, leaving an eight-to-twelve-inch space to turn it all inside out.

Turn it inside out, pin and press flat, and reinforce by stitching all edges.

Depending on the sheet you use for the flip side, you can get really Christmas-y, or leave it more neutral so that BOTH sides can be used with any color scheme.

You could dress this project up with rickrack, ribbon, or trim. I'll leave that to you. This one, I kept simple.

Of course, if you'd rather buy than make this close to Christmas, you can always jump over to my Etsy shop and snap this one up! Or start collecting supplies now; this project is pretty quick (maybe three hours, total) so you totally have time to order your coffee sacks and still get it stitched up weeks before Christmas. Use the code "CAFECHRISTMAS" at checkout to get a 25% discount on all coffee sacks in my supplies shop between now and December 25th.

But enough about me; what are you working on for the holidays? Any big projects you're trying to tackle?

Thanks for reading!


p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.


Linking up to:



Petite Hermine