Instant Gratification

This week for my Finish it up Friday project I went for easy, fun, sweet and “too stinking cute”.  We got some really adorable fabric from Henry Glass Fabrics called Baby and Me in recently.  Included was a panel with 15 different animal “moms” and babies…what to do??  Well one of our all time favorite books at the shop came to mind.

This book is terrific for making fast quilts with a few simple cuts…love, love, love this book!  I had so many choices…which one to do?  I finally decided on Double Attic Windows and with half square triangles in the corners this went together in no time.

There’s a new baby coming in our family this fall maybe he/she might get lucky…if I can part with it!  I still have six blocks that I could make into a wall hanging…hmmm.

 

Well my friends I hope this finds you and your family safe after our crazy weather here on Wednesday.

Until next time…be well.

What did you finish this week?

Well my “Finish it up Friday” project almost didn’t make it to this post because I didn’t like the end result.  But then I thought hey, it’s a lesson in color choice…maybe…yah, that’s it!  So here is my “finish” for this week.

 

I’m sure you can tell right away what I mean by color choice.  I should have used a fabric with more contrast where you see the lavender…oh well, we all goof from time to time.  However, I loved this pattern called Long Lines from Maple Island Quilts.  It was very simple to put together so I think today I’ll pick out some more fabric and try…try…again.

Finish it up Friday....continues

So far so good...this makes three weeks that I've actually finished something (sort of)...what a great feeling!  This week my project changed...many, many times.
First I started with this one, nice and small.

But then I thought about this one, scrappy and larger.

Then on Thursday I decided to "really" finish this one since I needed to brighten up the day week from all this rain.

So onto grace it went and before long it was done!!












So now the binding is on and only needs to be hand sewn...which I'll get done this weekend...hopefully!
Pattern is "No Trick Card Trick" by Jean Boyd.

So what did you finish up this week??

The Grinch is here!!

It's here!!  How the Grinch Stole Christmas has arrived and it' so cute!  Perfect for quilts, pillowcases, boxer shorts and there are even 3 pieces in flannel...pj bottoms perhaps.  Wrap it up with a copy of the book...ideal gift!

I've already got a project in mind........:)  how about you!

It’s Friday….

and I’ve “finished up” another project!!!  This one I started on our Getaway Weekend in February and there it sat in it’s cute little bag.

Then last week (late) I decided to free it from its paper home and see exactly how far I had gotten on it.  Well not so bad…I had pieces and parts and strips (oh my!).  So with today in mind (gotta love deadlines) I attacked it with a vengeance determined to show you all that I can finish things up…if I put my mind and machine to it!

Yesterday I was moving along quite well, but there were two strips that just didn’t work (too light).  Now this quilt is done in batiks and I LOVE BATIKS so off to my stash I went to pull out two fabrics that I could substitute.  You would think that wouldn’t be a problem since I LOVE BATIKS…wrong!  Apparently I love them so much I actually use most of them up or simply have the wrong color for this quilt.  Well, after much auditioning I found two that would do.

So here it is…my “Finish it up Friday” project, Strip Tease by G.E. Designs!  Now my question to you is…should I add a border to it?  I’m going to leave it up to all of you to decide…majority rules!!

I’ll show you mine…

So I’ve decided that Friday will now be known as “Finish it up Friday”.  Anyone that knows me knows I will procrastinate about everything!!  So I need deadlines for everything!!  With this in mind I thought I’d make my deadline Friday of each week where I must show you mine…something I’ve finished.  Now don’t get all crazy on me, they may only be the tops that are done but hey it’s something…right?!  And if you’re so inclined you could show me yours.

So this is what I started with and I thought they were quite lovely.

Following the pattern I cut them into BIG squares and put them up on my “design” wall (aka flannel backed vinyl tablecloth)… well, not all that exciting is it.

OK now cut those squares into more squares and sew them into four patches…yup, still not excited.

Then take your handy dandy template and cut these four patches according to directions…well maybe it’s growing on me.

Being very careful not to screw mess up your design, sew the four patches together in diagonal rows…I see possibilities ahead.

Until it looks like this…perhaps when the border is on I’ll really like it.

Again following the directions baste and square the edges…it sure has changed in size.

Add borders according to pattern…NOW THIS I LOVE!!   Japanese Jigsaw pattern by Brookshier Designs…very nice indeed.

 

So if you follow us on Facebook you can scoot on over there and show me yours!

Hmmmm what will I finish for next week??

Oh so easy…

As I said in my last post, I’ve recently discovered how easy it is to make lined valances…how come no one told me!! So yesterday between meetings with sales reps I made another one for the living room…but of course I forgot my camera at home!  When I got home I whipped (and I mean whipped) up the second one and took photos to share with anyone that doesn’t know how easy they are to make (like me two months ago).

First you need to measure the width of the window and decide the length you want the curtain to be.  The picture in my last post was a “typical” window (kitchen) which measured 39” and the curtain I had there was 18” long…I went with that.  Now the next part is personal preference…I like a full curtain so I went with around 2 1/2 times the width of the window for fabric.  So I had 2 1/2 yards of curtain fabric and  2 1/2 yards of lining fabric which gave me two windows.  If you only have one window get half the length, cut it on the fold and sew together on the short ends to make one long piece.

Now cut both fabrics on the fold.  Measure down the length of the outer curtain fabric, add 1/2” for seams (in my case 18 1/2”) and cut.  I now had a piece of fabric 18 1/2” x roughly 90”.  I left the lining fabric as it was…did not cut it down to the 18 1/2”.


Layer the two pieces right sides together and pin along the long edges…this keeps it from slipping.  Sew 1/4” seams on the long edges only.

 
Now trim the lining fabric even with the outer fabric and square off the ends.
Next, press the seams open…this will make it so much easier to press when you turn the curtain right side out.  But before you turn it you may want to press the short ends.  My friend Janet gave me this great tip.

Using a reference line on an index card (or in my case a recipe card) press the raw edge down (about 1/2”).  This helped to keep my ends pretty consistent when I needed to sew this edge (thanks Janet!).  Now turn the curtain right side out and press the long edges nice and flat so the lining fabric doesn’t show from the front (pressing the seams open really helps here).
The next step is to mark the lines for the rod pocket.  I wanted a 2” header and the rod was 1”…so I drew a line 2” from the top and 1 1/2” below that for the rod (add a 1/2” to the rod measurement) miracle chalk crayon works very nicely for marking.  Sew on the two lines back stitching at the start and finish of each (again I pinned to keep the two fabrics from shifting).

Finally top stitch the short ends leaving the rod pocket open…in other words from the top to the first line and then the second line to the bottom.  I did back stitch these as well.  Give the curtain a final press (this gets the miracle chalk lines out), hang and enjoy your new found talent!!


Okay the kitchen is done…living room almost…next the bedroom or sewing room or office…………………