The Big Finish!

This week I finished making this beautiful purple, lavender, and white rag quilt. I had several major setbacks getting this custom order finished, but had the most generous and patient customer to work with so I am thankful for that. The biggest setback was that my old sewing machine locked up and I was not able to sew with it. My 30 year old backup machine needs work too, and it slowed me down trying to use it. So I ended up buying a new Juki sewing machine and so glad that I did. I have some big plans now for my sewing future.....but let me get back to this beauty!

 

 

Here are the stacks of minky fabric ready to sew. I used Warm and White quilt batting for the center.

 

I had ordered a few chenille fabrics to blend in (white chenilles are vintage) and here are all the sandwiches with the "X" quilting.



The big finish.....this is a TWIN size quilt on a QUEEN size bed. 

I love how it turned out.

 

 

This is a corner of what the backing looks like.

 

 

More of the back.

 

One side note that I wanted to mention is that I had no idea how heavy this rag quilt would end up. I think know that in the future I will omit the layer of batting in the middle. After clipping this one I had a hard upper body workout shaking the lint off of it outside. The chenille and minky are both fairly heavy by themselves....lesson learned!

 

Thanks for reading my blog.....I am off to sew a Rag Quilted Bible Cover now.



John Deere Rag Quilt

This is a rag quilt I completed in May of 2013. It was created from a John Deere remnant and leftover squares from my flannel fabric cutting business. (I have piles and piles of excess squares from past orders.) So putting this quilt together was fairly simple.

This first picture shows the diagonal layout I chose for the final sewing. 

 

 The rows sewn....

 

Finished sewing....

 

The backing...

 

 

After clipping, washing, and drying the quilt....here is the final product!

 I loved the colors on the backside. It was very manly looking!

 

 

When it was finished I listed it online to sell. It sold shortly after.

 

 

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.

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.

Custom made Bible Cover

I recently had a request to make a Bible Cover in orange....here is what I created. It turned out cute.

I am back to sewing string blocks for the time being....have an awesome week!

Custom Order Rag Quilting part 1

I had a lady at my church order a custom made rag quilted purse for her daughter. She wanted something pink and had really liked the vintage fan hip purse I had hanging in my craft fair booth a month ago. So here is what I created for her daughter. These first pictures are from before the clipping, washing, and drying processes. 

More pictures to follow....stay tuned! 

One of My First Rag Quilts

A few years ago, when I started Rag Quilting, I gave my mother a special rag quilt for Christmas. She just loves vintage buttons and has a pretty impressive collection of them. She also loves the old feedsack fabrics and had given me a set of reproduction fabric charms she had in her stash. 

So it was pretty easy to create something for her using her favorites. I get a kick out of seeing her first reaction to it once she unwrapped it.....reminds me of the excited expressions grandma gave many Christmas's ago. 

Anyway, as I plan my Christmas gifts for this year, I hope to get expressions of equal proportion or better when she unwraps her _______________. All I am saying is it is NOT another Rag Quilt! :)

Strip Rag Quilt

Strip Rag Quilt -

Recently I finished this strip rag quilt. It is listed for sale in my Etsy shop. 

My tutorial to make this type of rag quilt is also listed in my shop there. 

Fall 2011 Rag Quilting ePattern Giveaway

Ok here is your chance to win an entire set of my Rag Quilting ePatterns, instructions, tutorials. That is 12 ePatterns all together, PLUS my newest one that is not available yet- Rag Quilted Dog Bed.



Here are the rules. You just need to do 1,2 or 3. and please do 4.
1. "Like" my Facebook page: Ashlawnfarms Rag Quilt Creations.

2. Become a follower of my blog.

3. Blog about my giveaway on your blog.

4. Make a comment to this blog entry stating what you did.

Entries should be made by Midnight Sunday November 13, 2011. I will post a winner on Monday November 14th. Thank you and good luck!! Winner will send me his/her email. ePatterns will be emailed to winner!

October Doings

Here are some new projects I have created in the last few weeks and are listed in my Etsy Shoppe.

Candy Corn Mug Rugs that turned out Adorable!

Fall Table Topper that is Traditionally quilted.

Gobble til ya Wobble Rag Quilted Mug Rugs

Primitive Black and Tan Homespun Coiled Bowl and Primitive Homespun Coasters

If you prefer to shop on Bonanza or Artfire most of my items are there as well.

Do you have a Rag Quilt question?

I am going to open this blog up for a rag quilt question session.

Post questions here. I will answer them ASAP. Thanks!

Publish Post

Persevering

~~Creations 42-46~~

As the weekend comes to a close I must list some quotes I found this morning:

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." ~Newt Gingrich

"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a
strong will, and the other from a strong won't." ~Henry Ward

Perseverance has always been one of those actions that I cling to. Finishing the project-start to finish. Sticking to it. Not letting anything get in the way of finishing something.

I lived by this word a lot in college. It got me through some tough times. It made me stronger as a woman. It came to me in the book of James as I was working on a project for a Bible class I was taking. Little did I know that his verse would still keep me in line and order today.

James 1:4 (New International Version)

⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Over the last year or so I have suffered from depression and have been on what I would say the "wrong" uppers. What I mean is my physician has changed my meds. and I am now back in my old skin again. The brain is a strange organ. Something as small as a wrong chemical reaction taking place there can literally change you into someone you don't know. I was that person. And looking back now I cannot even believe it was me. But I had to go through that to get to where I am now. Persevering through. Someone once told me I like to get on my pink bulldozer every once in awhile. Well I am on it by-golly!

Recently I took on a job- a custom sewing job to make 6 saddle blankets for a gal...this might be the first batch of a series of them if they are a big hit for her out in California on her horse ranch. But anyway this job was big! I am actually so proud of myself for starting, staying with, and finishing the job all within a 2 week time period. (I work full time too.) It is such a blessing to be able to create and this gal has given me some really great ideas to create from scratch. They are all finished now and I wanted to share some pictures with you all. The first one I think was in a prior post. But here are the final 5:

I hope she sends me pictures of them on the horses....I would love to see them for what they are made for.