Hexagons Coming Together
Last month, I managed to be very productive and finish two quilting projects. This month, I’m still committed to finishing my unfinished projects only it is going a bit slower than last month.
In March, I finished a quilting sampler pillow. Then I got the bright idea to make some accompanying pillows. Here’s the first pillow to be.
I finished this top in March shortly after finishing the winter sampler. I totally put off making the second pillow top. I had three out of four hexagon center complete. The thought of making the fourth sent me searching for a different project. Well since, I’m dedicated to finishing an UFO, I’m slugged through making the hexagons. Now I’m sewing them together. I’m so close to being finished. I might even finish tonight. Then I can move on to sewing. Yea!
The project is facing one small hiccup. I’m running out of the green in the borders. I made the first pillow without even stopping to figure out if I can enough fabric to make the second pillow. I highly doubt that I’ll find more of that fabric. I purchased the green fabric over six years ago. I do think I can find fabric the same color. At least the pillows will look like they belong together.
Deep from My WIP Pile
May 7, 2010 Sewing
Many many years ago, my grandma asked me to make pillow shams with a flange to coordinate with a quilt she made for one of my aunts. I immediately let the fabrics hide away in the bottom of plastic tub, aging as all good fabric should, because I knew she still need to quilt the quilt. Fortunately for the fabric, I have a running list of all my WIP, and I decided that I really need to knock something off that list. The pillows shams rose to the top, because I thought they would be the easiest to finish.
Well they weren’t hard to make. However they did qualify as a pain to make. First my grandma gave me two pieces of fabric, a fish print for the pillow and a solid green for the flange. I quickly decided the dark green was unsuitable for the flange, because it didn’t contrast with the fish print, nor did it coordinate with the fish print. I think she just gave it to me because it was the remaining fabric from the quilt. So off I went to the fabric store.
Before I went to the fabric store, I calculated what I needed. I was blown away when I realized I needed three yards. I only add enough fish print for the body of the two pillows. I need fabric for the back and the flange. Another note, I decided to make the shams fit a queen-sized pillow, which is 20″ x 30″. I ended up buying a black print with charcoal gingko flowers. It fit the Asian theme.
After cutting the fabric, I realized that the fabric wasn’t wide enough to make an overlapping flap on the back. Really, I wanted a solution that didn’t involve buying more fabric. So I bought invisible zippers, which is so much cheaper than buying fabric. Not! Regardless, they worked perfectly.
The picture doesn’t do the fabric justice. My lights brought out the blue dye in the black fabric, and I’m too lazy to wait for daylight for a better photo opportunity.
Lessons learned:
Even though I made the pillow covers for a queen-sized pillow, they are a bit baggy. I’m not a big fan of baggy pillow covers. I prefer a stuffed look. I’m going to suggest that my aunt buys king-sized pillows. They’ll look a lot better.
The flange is 4″ finished. It’s a bit floppy for my personal preferences. Stuffing the pillow tighter might improved the look. Before I make pillow shams like these again, I’ll check out the pillow displays at Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Macy’s. There has to be an ideal width.
And I will get another opportunity. I have big plans for my bedroom. I just need to fork out the money to get my bed quilt quilted.
Winter Sampler Pillow is Finished
Mar 14, 2010 Sewing
It’s it lovely?
I’m in love with my latest finished project. Lately, I’ve been trying to finish up stuff that is oh so close to being done. This weekend it paid off.
In November 2008, I started the Winter Sampler from Crabapple Hill. I foolishly thought I could finish for Christmas 2008. I barely got started that year. Well, I gradually worked on it over the year whenever I needed a nice hand project. Then I came to the adding wool pieces, and I stopped.
Well this last week it all changed. It only took a couple of day to add the wool pieces and some fabric to the edges. Yesterday, I decided to tackle the remaining tasks. I needed:
- A pillow insert
- Fabric for back
- An invisible zipper
- Beads
Based on a friend’s recommendation, I bought my lumbar pillow insert from Restoration Hardware. Luck was on my side, the pillow inserts were 20% off. Even if it isn’t on sale, I think the insert is affordable considering it is a down feather. I went with down feather because it holds up so well. I plan on making two 20″ pillow to coordinate with the embroidery pillow. I’ll get those inserts from Restoration Hardware as well, and I’m pretty sure pillow inserts are the only thing I can afford in that store.
I found the fabric for the back at Whimsy Cottage, a local quilt store. I scored fabric that was 30% off. Yea for me! When I left the house the first time, I forgot to take fabric swatches with me. After hitting Restoration Hardware, I swung by the house to get the fabric swatches. I’m glad I did. Without the fabric swatch, I totally would have bought the wrong fabric. Lesson learned.
Finally I hit Joann’s for the zipper and beads. I went for a 14″ invisible zipper. I installed the zipper on the short edge. In the future, I’ll install the zipper on the long edge, less pillow to stuff. The pattern called for two different bead sizes. I went for one. I figured I didn’t need a billion extra beads. Instead I only have like a million.
Final assemble went well. I made the pillow cover an inch short then the pillow’s width and height. I took this advice from some blog I read. The smaller size made it harder to stuff the insert into pillow cover, but once it is stuffed, it looks so much better. I imagine it might be easier if I added a polyester lining to the pillow cover, perhaps next time. The tighter fit made the puffs on the side look better than I ever imagined.
Now Ross wants to know when I’m going to start the Spring, Summer, and Autumn sampler. Oh, silly boy.
A Fresh Look for My Ironing Board
Jan 24, 2010 Sewing
Behind my sewing machine is a little ironing board that’s super convenient for small ironing tasks. For longer than I care to admit, it has looked like this:
Finally, I decided that I needed to do something about it. It turns out that with less than 1/2 yard of fabric, I could easily make it pleasant to look at.
Originally the iron had a thin piece of foam over the particle board form. I replaced the foam with two layers of Warm n’ Natural batting, stapling it to the board. I hate it when the batting shifts as I iron.
Then I made the cover using the existing cover as a pattern.
I can’t begin to tell you how happy it makes me to look at this cheerful ironing board. I think I need to add more bits of bright pink in my studio.
When it’s time to replace this cover, I think I’m going to scrap this board and make my own portable ironing board. Recovering this board helped me realize that this board was nothing more than plain particle board cut into a nice shape. While it’s shaped for ironing clothes, it really doesn’t suit my primary needs. I’d rather have a full rectangle. If I should decide to iron clothes (big if), I can always get out my full-sized iron board.
Neighbor Gifts
Jan 20, 2010 Sewing
This post has been on my to-do list for well over a month. Ross and I are lucky enough to have very generous neighbors that gift us delicious treats for Christmas. I wanted to return the favor without actually having to bake anything. Baking isn’t my thing. It’s stressful and messy. I can do without both.
So I decided to make festive hot pads. Oh, Franson’s tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew! inspired my production method. Over this last year, I’ve cut up a fair amount of scraps. Pile #1 is 2.5″ squares.
I happend to have a nice Christmas and a coordinating plaid print.
I laid them out on a piece of interfacing. I prefer Pellon 911F for this project. Instead of drawing lines on my interfacing, as suggested by Elizabeth, I used the grid from my cutting mat as a guideline.
From here I sewed all my seams as directed in the tutorial. For the back I used a nice red flannel that I had on hand. Unfortunately, I totally forgot to snap a photo of the finished project. I was anxious to get them handed out. However, I did make a few additional hot pads out of scraps.
I’m fairly pleased with the end results. The finished size is around 8″ square. I think for my tiny hand, they’re a bit big to use has hot pads. I’m going to make some that measure close to 6″ square to see if they feel better in my hand. Regardless, the 8″ square size makes a great trivet.
Also I should mention for batting I used one layer of thermal interfacing and one layer of Warm n’ Natural batting. The thermal interfacing is made by Pellon. I don’t know the number off hand. Joann’s carries it. At first it’s a little crunchy, but after a few trips in the washer and dryer it softens right up. For my needle, I used a 90/14 Microtex/Sharp to quilt them. I love the look from the larger needle. From now on, I’m using larger needles for quilting and top stitching, totally work the effort.
Signs of the Season
Dec 9, 2009 Sewing
Last week at I book club, I lamented over my lack of Christmas cheer. I blamed it all on the the snowless ground. Really what’s Christmas without snow? OK, I realize it can happen, and I’ve experienced it. However, I wasn’t the same. Well with in hours of my statement, small little flakes started to fly. By Monday morning, we have a full-fledged snow storm.
Even though it caused lots of traffic snarls, accidents (including my own car which now needs a new bumper and a new spare tire), and general coldness, I love the sight. Actually, I’m impressed it even snowed. I don’t think the temperature has been above 25 degrees since Saturday. This snow is the nice dry stuff that makes the Greatest Snow on Earth.
Now on to creative endeavors.
Before I could plow into Christmas presents, I needed to knock out a baby shower present for a little boy that will be making his debut next month. I decided a Winter baby needs flannel, lots of it. If I were a Winter baby, I’d want lots of flannel and fleece now that I think of it.
From two pieces of 1.5 yards of fabric, I made a blanket that measures approximately 42″ square and two burp clothes. I added the ric rac as a suitable embellishment for a baby boy. In fact, I think this was the first time I’ve sewn with ric rac. It wasn’t as hard as I was excepting. However, it was time consuming. I thought it would take me about 1.5 hours to make this gift. It was closer to 3.5 hours. Let’s just say I made a few mistakes long the way. I’m pretty sure my next ric rac adventure will be smoother.
