11.24.2010

Celebrating a LONG Weekend at Home

Nothing says home like a warm fire on a cold day, good food and great company....unless of course you also make time for a little sewing room break or some handwork to busy yourself while you catch up with everyone.


Time to prep your handwork so you can get everything done, fabulous multi-tasking hostesses!


I'll be getting around to the triangle that has been on hold since last week and thinking of another project, thanks to Beth of Love Laugh Quilt.  Isn't her home at the top of the post adorable?

I'm planning a house or two, adding them to her bloggy neighborhood giveaway. Be sure to stop by and say hello and check out the details while you're there.

Happy Thanksgiving and Best Wishes,
Heather




11.17.2010

Needle Case Tutorial

 

Start with a 9 x 5.5 inch piece of solid fabric or strings/selvages foundation pieced. You can find more information about foundation piecing selvages on the Selvage Squares tutorial.



You'll also need a 9 x 5.5 inch piece of felt for the cover lining.
 
 
Place the pieces right sides together and sew a quarter inch around the perimeter, saving about an inch and a half as your opening on a long side {avoiding corners}. Be sure to reinforce both sides of the opening since you'll be using this area to turn your fabrics.



Carefully turn, starting at the corner farthest from your opening. Use a point turner to keep your corners crisp once it's been completely turned (right sides of fabric should be showing at this point).


OPTIONAL: I like to clip the edges of the corners to minimize bulk. They'll look a bit rounded if you choose not to do this step.

Press both sides, taking care to tuck under the 1/4 inch felt fold at the opening. This will be your mark for closing by hand.


Blind stitch your opening closed.

 Next, you'll cut 2 pieces of felt 8.5 x 4.5 inches for the inner pages of your needle case. Fold in half and press the center line (this is your line of sewing). Do not worry about final edges out of alignment. You'll use your pinking shears to finish the edge soon. Center your pages along the pressed mark of both pieces of felt and the felt lining. Sew in place.


 
Fold the pages together and bring the sides of the cover up to check placement.


You'll be removing about a 1/4 inch from the ends of the pages with your pinking shears. If you do not have pinking shears, you can cut them with scissors but you may want to mark your cutting line.


 Next, find the center of the booklet and place a button near the edge of the cover opening.

 Choose a ribbon about 5" long that will work well with your cover button as your closure. Pin the ribbon checking the placement.
Sew the ribbon in place with a few quick stitches on your machine.


  Clip the ribbon ends and dab a bit of Fray Check to the raw edges. 








Seeing Scarecrows



There's nothing like fussy cut scarecrows and rows of corn to remind you of a midwestern autumn. Pieced triangle 8 came together smoothly.

Heather

11.14.2010

Triangle 7

Well, this was an interesting one...there were no paper piecing instructions for number 7. Hmm. I wonder how often that pops up. I drafted my own instructions and am pretty pleased with this one.



Happy Quilting,
Heather
=)

11.12.2010

Triangle 6

Triangle Six, done! Whew!! I had to redo the bottom portion and was happier with the applique on the first version but having pre-cut some background fabric without enough wiggle room, it was too short on the sides of the point. I think from here forward I'll be using a rectangle for the background...or at least, that's my plan.

Happy Quilting,
Heather

11.10.2010

Just one triangle done


I worked on this one at a quilt club meeting and was too busy chatting to watch my center line. Needless to say it's a little off. When I came home I attempted to finish a yellow one quickly and need to redo the bottom portion so I'm calling it a day. Maybe over the weekend things will go smoother.

A few more countries to add to our list:

Belgium
Luxembourg
Scotland * 
Singapore
Uruguay
Uzbekistan


 *The UK is generally in the top 5 number of readers but I'm not sure of the breakdown by country so for now we'll say England and Scotland since they have been confirmed. If you're in Ireland or Whales (or any other country not yet included), please feel free to comment or to email heatherl02 {at} yahoo {dot} com to be added to the list of readers countries.

As some of you are aware, we'll be having a holiday celebration of our "friends around the world" with a short presentation about each country on our list beginning at Thanksgiving. It's a wonderful learning experience for the kids and a fantastic discussion the adults can enjoy, too.

Best Wishes & Happy Quilting,
Heather

11.06.2010

A Lovely Week for JANE, SNOW?! & Reader Updates



Three more triangles added to the completed list. Life is good. I'd like to finish a few more this weekend, we'll see how that goes. 4 in my first couple days isn't bad, I imagine. I did not plan a schedule for these, but decided just to work on them in order for now. Does anyone have suggestions for keeping track of these? I created a cut and pasted diagram and am taping the completed ones to it. They cover the color coded portion below it. I could not print the wonderful chart included in the software and noticed the book diagram is for the blocks only. Suggestions are always appreciated.

after some melting


SNOW??!! Hard to believe, but it's true...we had snow over night with some accumulation already. Usually we're spared dealing with winter weather until we get closer to Thanksgiving. Not to worry, though (read with a hint of sarcasm). The shopping centers have been celebrating Christmas since mid-October {before Halloween}.



sheltered under the porch overhang...still not safe from the weather

I have a few more countries to add to the ever growing list.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by. If I still don't have your country listed, please let me know.

Austria
China
Latvia
Malaysia
Moldova
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland

The above countries join the following reader homelands:

Australia
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Israel
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
South Africa
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States

Happy Quilting,
Heather
=)

11.02.2010

BACK to Jane: First Triangle Done

Well, today I realized it's already November. I've been distracted by a household illness or two the past week and half and had a very busy day planned today but I thought I could get one triangle started at the very least. I ran off a few templates this afternoon and whipped up number one.



Whether you call it BR1 or Rosemary's Rainbows, I'll happily call it a quick finish and a great start to this new phase. Here's hoping I have the final layout figured out----I doodled a black and white copy during lunch today.

Happy Quilting,
Heather