Something Nice To Rest My Bum On

My MIL gave us a beautiful farm house style kitchen table when she moved but it didn't come with any chairs. I knew I wanted something a little different and decided on picking up random chairs in my thrift store travels to create a kind of eclectic look. Fast forward weeks later and we were still sitting on cheap folding chairs. On a whim I dragged my husband to this antique store and this antique store hoping to find at least one chair for the table, all the while he complained we must make it back home before the Nebraska game started.

At our first stop I came across this little gem and loaded her up in the pickup. The color was perfect but I was not a fan of the Rachel Ashwell shabby chic cushion. I knew I could do better.
So I used this quilt as you go tutorial to stitch up a new cushion. All the fabric and batting was from my scrap bin so I didn't spend a dime more than what the chair cost me. A little tip, if you are marking the center of your batting for your first piece of fabric do not use a pencil. It will bleed through the fabric and you will have to spend hours searching the internet for ways to remove it. Thankfully a soak in rubbing alcohol and a spin in the wash did the trick.
I love how it turned out. The butterfly is from a vintage pillowcase, as well as some of the other pieces. Its nice to know my bum will have a very fashionable place to rest.
I have another chair I found for the table I plan to do the same for. Its a big king style chair for the hubby and he has requested all black, white and grey fabrics. Ill share when I am finished. I just love how you can marry quilting with home decorating.

Christmas Quilt and Mindless Chatter

I have a confession. Christmas is not my favorite holiday. Actually it ranks pretty low on the holiday list of favorites. I tend to get a little weighed down by the consumerism, travel, constant running around and the idea that you must do it all with a cheerful smile. I much prefer Thanksgiving or Halloween where you can still stuff your face but with so much less pressure. Which is why I was surprised to be drawn to this Christmas quilt pattern. I guess sometimes the projects pick you and not the other way around. The pattern is Trees Up Lights On by Sandy Gervais. I am making this one for my family. It’s been a long time since I made a quilt that will stay in our home and is not for someone else. I am really excited to create some simple, quiet and cherished Christmas family memories with this quilt. I can just picture my daughter snuggled under it on Christmas morning.

All the blocks are complete. Now I need to square them up and piece them together. It really is a pretty easy quilt to put together. You sew a little here, trim a little there, then sew some more. It’s a perfect pattern for anyone who hates exact piecing. I cannot wait to find the perfect backing and binding fabric. I am thinking some polka dots.

On a side note I cannot keep my daughter out of the dog food and water bowls. There is an irresistible magnetic force that draws her in. It’s rather frustrating but amusing since I am amassing a large array of blackmail pictures for when she is older.

For the Love of Sewing (the super secret surprise unveiling)

My grandmother taught me how to sew with old pillowcases and barbie dress patterns. Ever since then I have had a love affair with needle and thread. One of the reasons I sew is because I get to make things for the people that I love. I made this quilt for a dear friend of mine, just because she likes butterflies, and just because she is the best friend a gal could ever have. I had this quilt idea in my head for years but could not find the right vintage butterfly quilt blocks. One day the perfect vintage quilt top magically appeared on ebay and I made her butterfly quilt dream a reality.

The butterflies are vintage hand appliqued quilt blocks and the border fabric is also vintage. The striped squares are reproduction prints that replaced plain muslin squares on the original quilt top. The sewing was not so great and the plain muslin squares were stained so I took the whole top apart, washed it and put it back together again with some new fabric.

Here is a shot of the back where I pieced together some Kona cotton and leftover fabric from the front. I think my measurements were off or I was working on this late night because how I originally planned it and how it turned out are totally different. I was sweating there for a minute wondering if I had enough fabric to finish the back but it all worked out in the end.
I love these labels. I ordered then from Fancyweaver. I know it's not a USA based company but the price was right, they were easy to work with and the labels look great. They are end fold labels but just long enough I can unfold them and tuck it into a corner of a quilt.

Here is another one of my hand embroidered quilt labels.

On a side note these pictures were taken in my grandmothers back yard, the backyard of the same house I learned to sew in. She has two perfect trees that I stretched a piece of rope between to take quilt pictures. I say I but you would not catch my butt climbing a ladder up that tree. Its my husband that does all the heavy lifting while I stand safely on the ground directing.

So tell me, why do you sew?

Practical Sewing

Not a whole lot of "fun" sewing going on lately. I have been working on practical things, like sewing buttons back on pants and making burp rags from dishcloths. Nothing even remotely interesting enough to share a picture of.

I thought I would share a project I completed a while back. This is a t-shirt quilt I made for my uncle. I was cranking these out at a steady pace for a while there. They are relatively easy to make and create quite and impact if there is a theme or all the shirts are similar colors. My uncles is made out of his Harley t-shirts and this quilt barely made a dent in his stash. Since they were all black I use the traditional Harley orange to frame them with a flame fabric for the corner blocks. The key to these quilts in interfacing. You need a lot of it but if you don't back each of the squares that knit jersey will go buck wild on you.

A close up of the quilting. I send my quilts out to Michele Mueller in Fremont, Nebraska for quilting when they are too big to fit in my machine. She is amazing and it helps to have a long haul truck driving father in law to do all my shipping.

Here is a shot of the back. I found the best black and white motorcycle fabric and used it in panels for the back. On a side note you can see the legs of the ladder in the left of the picture. Robert is hiding behind the tree so I could get a good shot. What a nice husband was he to climb up there and hang my larger quilts so I could get some pictures outside.

Another hand embroidered quilt label. I love doing these. Its nice to have a small project to work on while you are waiting somewhere or watching TV in the evenings.

Hope you enjoyed this little past project.

Its a Secret

I hate when you read blogs and you have no idea what the people who write them look like, so without further ado.....here is a picture of me and my little babe. You can see my sewing chaos in the background. Maybe one day ill do a post of my studio. Studio being a fancy word for a messy corner of my dark, wood paneled basement.

I am working on a surprise for a very dear friend of mine. Only its not so much a surprise any more since I can't keep secrets and already told her I was working on a secret project. Here is a sneak peek. I am trying my best to finish the baby blanket but this is calling my name. It is taking acts of extreme restraint not to run to the store to pick up supplies and start working on this. I made a new years resolution to not start a new project until the one I am working on is complete. That is working out only so/so since I make up all sorts of excuses to jump around.

Hmmm...what can it be?