Sunday, May 5, 2013

This Weeks Rag Quilting Project -Day 4 All Done!

I finished this baby rag quilt today! It turned out so cute! Love the colors! And I am sure it will be a soft addition to any nap!














Thursday, May 2, 2013

This Weeks Rag Quilting Project -Day 3

I have had a couple of really busy days and am a little behind on keeping my blog up daily. I strive to do better though! 

Here is the final layout of the rag quilt. I moved the browns and dark pinks out to balance things a little better.

 
TIP: Working with chenille and minky requires TONS of pinning to reduce slippage of the slick backside of the minky. Here is how I pinned all of my sandwiches. This process takes much longer than using non-slick fabrics.

 
Here is where I am stopping tonight. I sewed all of the X's and started joining a few of the rows together. I will be finishing this Sunday afternoon and will post more pics then.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

This Weeks Rag Quilting Project -Day 2

 Tonight after work I was able to sew up the pillow and clip the edges....here it is before washing. As you can see -the lint is pretty plentiful on these chenille and minky fabrics.
 
 
The pink and brown look great together!
 
I laid out the design again....I may switch it one more time to even out the light and darker pinks. More to come tomorrow....



Monday, April 29, 2013

This Weeks Rag Quilting Project -Day 1

I am currently working on a custom order for a small baby rag quilt and matching pillow.  Today the last of the vintage chenille fabric arrived in the mail, and I have all the fabrics cut tonight. I pre-fringed them using my old Accucut Mark IV die cutter. This was a messy job for sure. I spent about 20 minutes cleaning the loose fuzz off of my work area, but at least I don't have to worry with cutting later.

This is some of the chenille I am using. It is going to be all brown and pink. :)



I am also using minky fabrics that I will blend together with the chenille.

 This is a general layout of the quilt. I plan on changing it some tomorrow before the sewing starts.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Artfire and Bonanza buying options Spring 2013

I am gearing up for Summer and have re-opened my Studio on Artfire and my Booth on Bonanza sites. I am not sure sometimes what sites to offer things on. What attracts buyers to use one site over another? I assume either the buyer is accustomed to a particular site or is turned off by another. Personal preference is ok with me. I think being on multiple sites is valuable for getting my stuff out there in front of the viewer. In the past I have shut these two sites down during slow times, but I am hoping to keep them open if business grows. We will see!

What other sites do quilters use these days? I am already on Etsy and eBay.



Saturday, April 27, 2013

Garden Work Saturday!

Oh my goodness!! I spent the entire day outside working in the yard. I cut the lawn, used the trimmer around everything, swept up old leaves from the front sidewalk, and prepped the garden area for tilling. My dad and stepmom came over to roll the yard and do the tilling. I knew a couple of weeks ago that it was going to need rolling because I just about sprained an ankle cutting the lawn for the first one of the spring. After rolling it today I was amazed at how much better it felt under my feet as I walked across it. I did get some aerator sandals to use on it next.

My husband and dad took turns at running the tiller. We are working up some new ground making our garden larger and it was really tough to till. I am going to have to continue hoeing it this week to get it ready for planting soon.

This picture here is from 2010 (3 years ago) and we expanded the garden area today.




This is showing how we expanded.


We are taking out a lot of grass and going to put in pavers to walk on due to being so close to the house on that side. I wish we could expand into the neighbors yard ( to the right) haha!

I made some X's to show I messed up. It is actually lower than where the picture shows. I will take some new pictures soon to show the actual expansion.

After all we did today, my lower back is killing me. I cannot get up from a seated position without pain that causes me to freeze in motion and hold my breath. Stupid herniated discs I have had for years now. It sucks getting old!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Rag Quilted Bible Covers Spring 2013

 
 
A few years ago I wrote instructions on how to make a Rag Quilted Bible/Book Cover. Since then I have been making some and offering them for sale.
 
 
This orange one was a custom order.
 
 
Earlier this year I tried making one in a patchwork style and it turned out super cute. I made 2 of these and they sold already.
 




 
Here are some pictures of ones before sewing:

 
I had cut out 36 Bible covers to make....


 
LOVE my homespuns!!
 
I always cut off more than I can chew......but I stuck with it!
 
And ones completed:
 
 
The inside with a Bible in it.














I have a few more to finish and will post pics of those when I am finished. In the meantime if you are eager to try out my copyrighted pattern you can find it on my epatternshoppe site. You can download the .pdf right from the site!

You will also find most of these Bible covers on Etsy or eBay if they have not sold yet.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Winter Project #1

I am having a tough time keeping up with this blog....I work too much I guess. Spring is around the corner, so maybe there will be a break in the current events?
 
I have heaping full boxes of scraps from all the rag quilts I have been making. Not to mention from the cutting services I do. And to top it off from all the rag quilt kits I have been putting together. Yeah I need to quit working....just to clean up my mess!
 
This winter I found a weekend to sort through much of my homespun scraps and was able to tie strands of this scrap fabric onto jute twine to make some rag swag garlands. Here are a few to show off, but there are many more.....I made them all that weekend to lessen the stash. HAH right. I have since added to it. I need to hire people now just to keep up. I could seriously run a factory in my basement.... well anyway we won't go there at least for now.
 
Check my Etsy or eBay listings for more rag swag garlands.
 
I am much better at posting and keeping up on my Facebook page. Check that out to see what I am up to from week to week. I need to boost my "Likes" there, so feel free to click "Like" when visiting.