DIY

So many ideas, so little time! 

(Speaking of SO, I saw a bit on the Today show that we use SO too much.  They are right.  I use it in almost every paragraph on this blog.  And I’m trying to give it up.)

So, (just kidding) to return to the subject.

I have a lot of sewing projects going on but nothing finished to show you this week.  But I can show you what you will be seeing in upcoming weeks.

I ordered some more material for tea towels when Fabric.com had Kaufman Essex Wide Linen on sale.  It’s one of many fabrics that I keep on hand. I bought enough for nine tea towels.  I cut out and hemmed six.  But I just couldn’t do the other three.  It’s such a boring and tedious task that I had to stop.  Those other three will have to wait until I need them. 

I stopped at a quilt shop in Spring Hill after Michelle gave me a heads up that she saw a sign for a new quilt shop. A bit north of Spring Hill Drive on 19.  Where the old movie theater is. I think it’s called Bay Side Quilt Shop but I couldn’t find anything on it on the web. (And I didn’t think to grab any literature when I was there)  It’s only been open for three weeks and had several shelves of product but will getting more fabrics soon.  They carry the Timeless Treasures and Moda lines plus have all kinds of quilting accessories.  Classes start up in June and they won’t just be quilting classes.  One of the first is to make pine needle baskets. 

After leaving the quilt shop, I stopped at Jo-annes Fabrics to pick up some fleece and denim–two other products I usually keep.  The denim was 50% off and the bolt I picked up was $9.99.  But when I went to have it cut, it was $6.49 a yard.  (I always check before the scissors touch the fabric) That’s not 50% off.  Turns out the denim was actually $12.99 a yard.  Most places would honor the label.  Not them.  I didn’t buy it.  I can get it cheaper at Fabric.com when it goes on sale.  (Just wanted to rant a little)

To welcome the newest member of the Green family, Tyson Hugo, I’m making a quilt.  Tyson lives in Seattle.  Plus his parents were married at the Seattle Aquarium. (What a great reception)  So I went with a nautical theme.  These are Michael Miller fabrics that I ordered from Fabric.com.  (Incidentally all children’s fabrics are on sale 25% off through May 26th!  What a deal!  I think I got mine for 15% off.)

Then Piper skyped me and asked if I would make her an Elsa costume.  (From Frozen)  Of course!  Here’s the pattern I’ll be using…

This one’s high priority! (As soon as that shiny blue material goes on sale)

Speaking of Piper, I’ve been working on a quilt for her.  Think I may have mentioned it a few times.   Before I started designing it, I made a small quilt.  Just to see how my idea would look.

And here’s what I have done so far on the large quilt…

Need to put one more border on three sides to finish the piecing part.  Just need to decide if it will be a queen or full-size quilt.  Then putting the batting and backing on and the quilting.  Kind of anxious about the quilting part. But I’ll do it!  And share the finished product and the measurements with you. 

A few other upcoming projects are a bed for Mattie the Cattie and a new tote design.  (Both requested by Jes–I haven’t forgotten!)

That should take me through the summer on my sewing projects.  Hope you’ll join me on Thursdays to see the progress! 

I’ve been a bit obsessed with designing quilts lately but took some time out to make this pillow. 

We spend a lot of time out in our screen room.  I updated all the furniture a few years ago and it’s a really comfy room to hang out in.  I wanted to add a rug and it had to be cheap.  So I ordered one that was on clearance from Kohl’s online and just hoped it would match the fabric in the room.  When it arrived I kind of stuck it in a corner in my laundry room because it was not quite what I expected.  After a few weeks I finally rolled it out.  And loved it!  Although the colors aren’t quite the same as the deck furniture, it’s close enough.  And it’s got all these other fun colors–orange, red, green, yellow, and more.

And a little more orange in the room would make it perfect!

Hence, the pillow.

I used the same method as I did for the Riley and Jack name pillows.  I used the font Segoe Script and printed it out to the size I wanted. In case you don’t have the font on your computer, here’s a PDF file of the Hello! that will fit on a 12″ x 17″ pillow. just click on it.

hello

Easy Peasy!

Next, I’ll make a mosaic planter in all those bright rug colors! 

A quilt for Willow

My great niece Victoria is having a baby girl this month and I wanted to make a special quilt to welcome Willow into the world.  I thought Victoria might like a woodlands theme and my first choice was this series from Riley Blake called Enchant.  I love it.

But then I stumbled across Victoria’s Pinterest page full of baby ideas and figured out that she is more into purple than pink so instead of the adorable little elfish girls, foxes, bunnies and birds, I went with the Michael Miller Retro Forest Life in Orchid.  Also cute as a button.  In the pic below, the two fabrics on the left are from Fabric.com.  I had carefully matched the pieces on the website’s “design wall”, but when I received them I realized not one of the shades of purple were the same on the two fabrics.  The only color that they shared was an odd shade of green.  I’m not a big fan of green but I did like the dot fabric from our little quilt shop, Tomorrow’s Treasures, and thought it would pull the other fabrics together.

I wanted to make a patchwork quilt but the pieces had to be large enough to showcase the woodland scene and all its little creatures.  Back to Pinterest again where I discovered these clever baby quilts:

The only one that had a working link was the “Easy Baby Quilt” on the right.  The measurements for the quilt were 43 1/2″ by 43 1/2″ but I changed it up to measure 40″ x 46″. Here’s my version: 

I’m not going into details on how to make a quilt but I will share some quilting blogs that I found helpful. I’ve made a few small quilts plus several quilted pillow cases but this was the largest project so far.  I’ve always had trouble basting all the layers together–backing, batting, and quilt top. Inevitably something moves and then I’ve got to start ripping things out.  Having a “walking foot” on my sewing machine helps tremendously but the material still slips. I found the blog, Anyone Can Quilt that recommended using a spray baste.  She suggested 505 Spray and Fix which I couldn’t find locally so I ordered it from Amazon.  Using this spray adhesive made all the difference–no movement at all. Just wait until it’s dry before you start sewing!   And the adhesive will wash right out after you are all done with the quilting.

I also used Diary of a Quilter Beginning Quilting Series Tutorial.  The “Adding Borders 101” and “Machine Quilt Binding 101” were very easy to follow and made both of these subjects simple.  And the last blog I used was Chasing Cottons Quilt Designs where I learned that you must label your quilts and she gave several examples.  Here’s mine:

This was actually very painful for me because my handwriting sucks and fabric pens are a bit different from a regular pen. Many many attempts were made at this simple little muslin label! Here’s one more look at the quilt, just so you can see how the white frames all the pretty fabric.

It was fun making this quilt and I learned a few new tricks to make it easier.  I’ve been piecing together a queen-sized quilt for Piper and have been procrastinating on the basting step but I think I’m ready now!

Willow will be here very soon and I’m looking forward to meeting her!