DEAR JANE: making G-7 + A Mini Review of Fusible Product

First off... thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who commented and made suggestions about my crumbie blocks in yesterday's post. I appreciate ALL your thoughts and ideas. Lot's to think about; terrific ideas!  I may have panicked too soon! lol. More on these blocks later...
* * *

It's fun to try out new products. Wash-Away Applique Sheets are offered by C&T Publishing and were inspired by Beth Ferrier's innovative book, "More! Hand Applique by Machine". Today I am using a few bits of it to make part of the Dear Jane G-7 block.

So far: it prints readily in my inkjet printer; cuts easily with both scissors and rotary cutter; fuses quickly to the fabric with no mess or leaks onto my iron!  I'll let you know how the sewing part goes... I plan to sew up this block for tomorrow's DJRetreat Yahoo Group BOW. Fingers crossed. I haven't sewn really tiny stuff in quite awhile...

Meanwhile... thank you for popping in to visit! I hope you are having a stellar weekend with plenty of time to stitch something that makes you or someone you love happy!

Quilty Hugs,

ANYTHING GOES! Scrap Busting Project

Must be my frugal nature, but I can't seem to throw anything out. Sew..... I have boxes, baskets, and bags full of scraps, strips and strings! It is time to do something with them!! lol.

There is no rhyme or reason to my process; I just picked up a piece and sewed it to something else and before I knew it I had 31 blocks. My original plan was to sub-cut these made-up-blocks and turn them into HSTs using a basic, neutral, background fabric. Hmmmm. Well, can't seem to find the b/g fabric that I really like. Above is one 5.5 yard piece I have in my stash with a few of the blocks thrown on it... what do you think? Do they play nice together?

Above and below are close-ups of two more blocks with a peek of the b/g next to them.

I'm interested to hear what others think about this. Please share your thoughts and comments with me.  I really don't want these blocks to wind up in a UFO box somewhere in my sewing closet.  Can you help?  I can't seem to picture it all together in my mind's eye. I think it's a great idea... but for some reason it is just NOT "coming together". The idea won't 'gel'! Know what I mean?

Until next time... thank you so much for popping in to visit my corner of the world. What's going on in YOURS??

Quilty Hugs,

GIVE-A-WAY... GIVE-A-WAY: FREE classes to win!!!

There's a new GIVE-A-WAY in blogland... hop over to Island Hame Crafts to visit Tich's blog and enter. Do not delay... there are FREE classes to win!

The closing date for this giveaway is Saturday, 14th September at 12 midnight GMT

CLICK HERE to enter the give-a-way on Tich's blog.


Good luck, everyone!

Quilty Hugs,

DESIGN WALL: How To Make A Portable Design Wall

Something useful from almost nothing... that really appeals to me. I no longer have  a big sewing room; a design wall is needed; what to do?

Solution: Get a stick, board, long dowel, etc.; staple, nail, or duct tape some flannel to the stick and voila! You have a design space.

As you can see in the pic above, this gizmo rolls up nicely. I store mine behind a bedroom door. When I need to use it, it unrolls and lays across the two open doors of the large armoire in my living room. Anything will work... you can even throw part of it over the rod in the bathroom... the one holding your shower curtain! Any place you can find. Think outside the box and have fun.

Because my flannel has been sprayed with 505 a time or two over the years, anything I set on it will hold just fine. Even with the living room fan on high these blocks stay on the flannel! I've been known to hang my portable DW up outside on the patio... blocks do not blow off and it's cooler outside! This also works very well to spray-baste smaller quilts -- you are only limited by the size of your flannel piece.

Don't have time to finish your design process? No problem: just roll it all up with the blocks and so forth still on the flannel. They will be ready for you when you next have time to play with them.

I hope you like this idea and will give it a try. By the way, I've been known to carry mine to classes and retreats. It's super!

Thanks for stopping by to visit. Let's all go sew up something today! I'm working on turning bins of scraps n strips into blocks... what are YOU working on?

LINKING to Connie at Free Motion by the River

Quilty Hugs,

STRIP PIECING: A New Litter Mat

Hi Everyone!
It was hot as a pistol the last two days but I sewed anyway. Grabbed a couple of bins of strings, scraps, and strips and sewed them into a little kitty shaped mat.

 

Above is the old mat. Very pathetic! Missy has scratched it to bits but it is still in one piece. I used it to draw a rough outline shape on some paper.  PPd it and trimmed to size. Added batting and did a little FMQ on it... nothing fancy; just some wavy lines. Then it hit me! Why cut some TimTex heavy [expensive] interfacing when I can use the old mat as an insert? Why not indeed.

Cut two strips. Hemmed two edges. Lapped the hemmed areas over each other and with RS Tog, sewed all around the edge. Zigzag over s.a., press, turn. Worked like a charm... very similar to making a pillow cover.

Then another light bulb moment struck: DO NOT insert the old mat completely inside the lining pockets. Just the upper half.  Leave the rest of it exposed. Now the new mat has the stability/stiffness it needs, as well as the "grip the floor" backing to help it stay in place. TaDah! I'm happy.

This is the new kitty mat in place in front of the 'box'. Missy has already scratched at it a few times, so I know it meets with her approval. Sure looks better than the old one! Think I'll whip up a few more so the old torn up mat will have a cover when this one needs a trip through the laundry.

Hope you are having a lovely summer. Thank you for stopping by to visit!  I sure have missed everyone! What is everyone working on these days????

Quilty Hugs,

LONG TIME NO POST... coming back real soon

It has been just over a month since I posted. Thank you for hanging in with me. I've had two surgeries I wasn't expecting and a few other life hiccups! Things are smoothing out now and it feels good to be getting the wind back into my sails.

Like most of you, I am currently busy with visiting family and friends and enjoying the beautiful summer weather. This is such a wonderful time of year.

Missy 'helping' with a small Minky Project

I've done a little 'hooking' while I've been MIA from BlogLand, and also designed a couple of small quilted projects. This is what I'll be sharing with you soon. Until then. . . I hope you are having a wonderful summer with loads of time to stitch!

Quilty Hugs,

STRIP-STRINGS-PIECING ... Grocery Bag ReCycler

From waste to waste-not. A big pile of odd strings n strips made into rectangular blocks:

Sewed blocks together to get an 18 inch square [give or take]. Added some FMQ. I need more practice so I can get my FMQ MoJo back... I am so rusty! lol



Add a little FMQ - sorry for fuzzy pic

Trimmed it up and made it into a useful item: Grocery Bag ReCycler to store neatly those plastic bags we get sometimes at the store. I mostly use my own bags these days, but there are times when I forget. This keeps them neat and organized until I can take them to the recyle bin. Yippee... another OPAM13 finish!


If there is interest, I will write a complete tute on my process, using FP as a foundation, spray starch, hairspray, etc....

Thank you for popping in to visit. I appreciate everyone of you! Until next time. . . I am off to Tuesday's Friendship Group Meeting for the afternoon. What are YOU up to these days???

LINKING: Connie's Linky Party

Quilty Hugs,

QUICK POST... Tiny Shirts & Little Bags

Our area is gearing up for a Quilt Run - sort of like a Shop-Hop. Many of us are helping ARETOY, our favorite local quilt shop, get ready. The Run opens June 20, but there is lots of prep work to do.

The Rotary Cutter in the pic shows how small the shirts are... cute!

This summer's theme is: Hawaii Five-O!  We are all making aprons for the staff to wear from Hawaiian fabrics. From the cut-a-ways and scraps, I have been making tiny Hawaiian shirts that will become holders for purse-size Kleenex packages. High on the cutesy meter!  Also, some of these shirts will be hung around the shop for decoration.

Close up of a shirt and a few bags

The other current project is making small bags to hold Crushed Walnut Shells that so many of us love using to stuff our pincushions with. My friend Joy [no blog] is creating gorgeous lined baskets to hold these little Chotskies [can't spell it; can barely say it! lol]... let's call them Doo-Dahs! I have about 50 bags completed so far and about a dozen shirts. I need to get a picture of the first basket Joy made... it's stunning!

My fave fabric is the one on the left... I'd love to have a dress from that!

Sew. . . I've been sewing like mad and that's why you haven't heard from me. Next time, I'll share another small project and then give an update on my Never Ending Granny crochet project which is coming along pretty well. Pat and LuAnn are also making a NEG.

Thank you for popping in to visit. I hope you'll come back again real soon.

Quilty Hugs,

KITCHEN APPLIQUE... Chick With Hattitude!

Last Thursday was spent with a lovely friend. We went to the Craft and Quilting Show in Del Mar, California. Lot's of vendors and fun things to see. There were several Make-It~Take-It opportunities. We decided on the T-Towels. Vendor had a bit of trouble with his irons, so we brought our pieces home and finished them.

While at the show we walked our socks off, but made up for it later by grabbing a Hot Dog for lunch at Costco where we did some more shopping!

Chick With Hattitude: fusible applique; machine stitched

This little kitchen towel is a very quick project. Decide on a design or drawing -- simple line drawings from kid's coloring books are good sources -- trace the shapes on to Fusible. Cut out shapes and fuse in place. I stitched my shapes on with a simple Blanket Stitch on my Janome6500 sewing machine [Mode 2, Stitch #34, stitch length 3.0, stitch width 1.5]. The little sparkle eyes are heat-set. I've never used them before so don't know how they hold up and wash... time will tell. The two towels I'm sharing with you today are mostly decorative, so I'm not too worried about the sparkle eyes.

Fusible Applique: by hand on Left; machine on right

That's all for tonight. I'm finishing up the purse project and taking several pictures to share with you soon. Hope you have loads of time to sew up something that makes your heart sing!

LINKING: Connie at Freemotion by the River. Click on over and see what others are doing. If you also have a blog, consider joining Connie's Linky Party, too; it's lot's of fun.

Quilty Hugs,

HOOKY BUSINESS: the Never Ending Granny Afghan

Like I need another project? Really! Can't help it... the yarn called to me; I grabbed a hook and off I went! I guess it's a disease... sort of like quilting. lol.

Skeins in a tote so I can be portable

 

The center: can just see the spiral beginning

My method for NO tangles!

To keep the yarn strands from tangling: First, I keep the skeins/balls corralled in a tote [a basket would be great, too!], then I crochet across each side with ALL 5 strands -- see pic above. Now turn corner and repeat working all 5 strands across the next side; turn corner, etc. The yarn strands never tangle this way, even as I am stuffing the project in and out of the tote as I carry it around and work on it. Try it; you might like doing it this way, too.

So far, at least two other blogging friends are making this afghan: Check out Pat and LuAnn to see their progress. We also put updates on FaceBook.  If you need particulars on how to get started, I recommend this great tute from Mikey of The Crochet Crowd. If you want to join us in our little CAL [Crochet A Long] that would be fantastic!! The more the merrier.

Thank you so much for popping in to visit. Hope you will come back again. If you are making this afghan too, please say so in the comment section with a URL to your blog - I'd love to visit and see your project! Until next time. . . this ol' lady is heading to the sheets. Tomorrow is another day.

Quilty Hugs,

BATIK WOVEN PURSE... getting started

As you can see in the first pic, I cut one of the strips too short! Grrr. Not sure how that happened as I began this project many months ago. It's easy to cut something shorter, but never longer once too short! lol. Sew... b/c I had to make another strip this morning, I thought it would be good to write a post about it. . .

This is a fun and different purse to make. There's a bit of set-up involved. First, sew some Batik jelly roll strips together with a 1/4 inch seam to make a tube. Turn right-side out. Press trying to get both seams along the edge... evenly.

 

Cut a 22 inch piece of stiff interfacing. I used Rigid Weave because it is already the correct width and all I had to do was cut to length.

 

Fold the interfacing in half and cover end with Blue Painter's Tape. This makes it easier to shove the interfacing inside the tube you just made.

 

Work the interfacing all the way to the other end of the tube.

 

Smooth out and try to get both seam allowances evenly on the outside edge. Press. I top-stitched all of mine 1/4 from the edge, but that is not totally necessary.

 

Now weave the stuffed-strips together. I used five 22 inch vertical strips and eleven 11 inch horizontal strips.  It is easier to keep things true and straight by working on a grid. I'm using a portable gridded pressing surface.  More in the next post on how to put this all together.

 

Thank you for stopping by to visit. Hope you will come again soon. Until next time. . . I am off to my Friendship Group meeting where we will be making some pincushions. . . what are YOU doing today?

 

LINKING to Connie at Freemotion by the River. Click on over and see what everyone else is up to.

 

Quilty Hugs,

T-SHIRT TOTE... A Mini-Tute

Today at our Tuesday Quilter's Friendship Group, Rosemary shared her version of a T-Shirt Tote Bag. Sew sew easy and quick to make.  Rosemary got her original inspiration from Totes Upcycled, a San Diego, California, company. Big thanks to both Rosemary and Totes Up-Cycled for a fabulous idea. Below are the super quick 'how 2's':

Thank you, Rosemary. You're a fun model!

HOW TO MAKE IT... EASY AS 1, 2, 3:
1) Choose old T-Shirt
2) Lay flat and cut off neck band and both sleeves [be generous with your cuts.]
3) Sew across bottom [or turn inside out and sew].

VOILA! Done.  Embellish or not, maker's choice.

T-Shirt Tote

Hope you are having a great day! Until next time... thank you for stopping by to visit. I have 3 more cuddle quilts waiting to be bound, so I best get to it.

LINKING: Connie at Freemotion by the River.  Drop over and see what others are up to this week... sew fun!

Quilty Hugs,

MAY DAY & HOOKY STUFF

MAY DAY, MAY DAY! It's hard to believe it is the 1st of May already! Sheesh, where does the time go?!

Sorry I have been MIA again. The Hooky Group I belong to has been in high gear to finish up several projects to send overseas to our Troops. Today's package will have tons of Scarfs, Hats, and Socks! All desperately needed by our Military serving overseas.  These items give comfort to our deployed Troops - I'm happy to contribute.

Crocheted Crib Afghan

Speaking of hooky business: I put the final edge on a crib-size Afghan. I like how it turned out. It's mostly white with some fun colors. The "puff" stitch was fun to do.  Takes a lot of yarn! Our group also makes baby items for Military families who are waiting at home for their loved ones to return.

The pattern comes from this book

To make it a good size, I made it a bit smaller by removing one of the horizontal 'repeats,' and reducing the number of white rows in the center. Easy to do.

There are several quilty projects that I am looking forward to sharing with you soon. . . Until then, I hope you have a lovely day. Thank you so much for dropping by to visit.

LINKING: to Connie at Freemotion by the River. Click over to visit and see what others are doing.

Quilty Hugs,