My friend Margaret, who makes the fabric bowls, told me that things would go a lot better once I got the proper size rope. She also told me to relax and not be so fussy....she was right on both accounts. She also told me that I would use a lot of thread making these bowls. No problem, my neighbor Marie who helped me make my first bowl gifted me a pooh load of thread that she said she had sitting around in her basement collecting dust....COOL!
A sure sign of Spring is when I start making butterfly hot pads. Have you ever seen a butterfly fabric that isn't colorful? After Winter's drabness, sewing something with a butterfly theme has become a rite of Spring. When I saw this turquoise Laurel Burch fabric last Spring, I feel in love with it and purchased a fat quarter and made a couple of appliqued hot pads. This year I did a repeat performance but added a purple appliqued butterfly to the mix. When I discovered I had a matching turquoise tone on tone, I knew immediately that I would make the antique tile block.
I have this VERY crafty friend, Margaret, who quilts, does counted cross stitch and who also makes fabric bowls. As soon as I saw pictures of her bowls, I knew I wanted to make them. New Salem is in northern central Massachusetts and Margaret lives in Allentown, PA so I wasn't gong to be dropping by for a sewing lesson anytime soon She sent me a link to a tutorial "How to Sew a Fabric Bowl" which was on the CraftStylish web site. Following directions has never been my strong suit and I could not visualize how to do it. Fortunately I have a very artistic neighbor, Marie, who really knows her way around a sewing machine. I asked her to read through the directions and unlike me, she understood them and was willing to help me make my first bowl.
Happy Easter everyone. We are kicking back after a wonderful Easter dinner and my husband Tim is snuggled down under the very first quilt I ever made. My daughter we rather young at the time so the first strip pieced quilt I ever made was a twin size flannel scrap quilt I made for her with my friend Ulla. Some of the fabric Ulla provided and some of it was from a very old receiving blanket that had been given to Meagan when she was a baby
Apron #1 and apron #2 that have come out of the pile of fabric (see previous blog entry). Apron #1 (on the left) uses the turquoise pear fabric on one side and the green fruit punch fabric with a small amount of the lime green pear fabric on the bib and pocket thrown in for good measure. Apron #2 is a tri-colored apron using the same color way but with a bit of a twist.
Ended up with 10 hot pads total from this fruit punch/pear fabric medley. These are the last two I made out of the scraps. The block is called crayon box. I found it is Judy Hopkins" "501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks". This book is my Bible! Since this medley of fruit inspired fabrics is the center piece of my Spring collection and I have several yards of the green fruit punch fabric and some of the blue and green pear fabric left, I shopped around today and found a few more coordinating colors for aprons.
Ever though we got 6" of snow yesterday, it was time to bring out the Spring fabrics and get to work on some hot pads. I made a baby quilt out of this medley of prints and I love how cheery they are. The fabrics around the border came in 2- 1/5" width cuts. ALL fabric should always be washed before one starts sewing with it, RIGHT?. Not these strips! They raveled like crazy and ended up shrinking a bit. The patterned called for a 6 - 1/2" square in the center. If I started out with a 6" square, that would compensate for the rectangles on the outer border not being 2 1/2" long.. Unfortunately I had already started sewing the inner green border onto some of the squares before I realized this
As I indicated in my last post, the item isn't finished until it is labeled. Each label has information about me on it (name, phone # and website address). They are printed up in sheets and then cut using a paper cutter. These are the labels for the balsam.
Yesterday's post was about making the balsam inserts that I invented. I didn't want the post to go on for EVER so I saved this post for today. Once the inserts were done, there were still a few more sachets and pillows that needed stuffing. I don't know who came up with the idea of having a muti-positioning needle on the sewing machine but whoever did, they should get a some sort of Nobel prize since it is genius! When I was first making balsam pillows and sachets, my old machine's needle had ONE position. Sewing these puppies shut was a real challenge. Now, I move the needle as far to the left as it will go and WOW, it is SOOOO much easier. LOVE IT!
As you can see, I spent yesterday morning (a very rainy morning) making the inserts for the balsam hot pads. When I first started making balsam gifts, I loved the idea of a balsam hot pad that would release this wonderful aroma when you place a hot pot on it. I also wanted to make something both useful and attractive. So, I started doing research.
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My friend Margaret, who makes the fabric bowls, told me that things would go a lot better once I got the proper size rope. She also told me to relax and not be so fussy....she was right on both accounts. She also told me that I would use a lot of thread making these bowls. No problem, my neighbor Marie who helped me make my first bowl gifted me a pooh load of thread that she said she had sitting around in her basement collecting dust....COOL!
A sure sign of Spring is when I start making butterfly hot pads. Have you ever seen a butterfly fabric that isn't colorful? After Winter's drabness, sewing something with a butterfly theme has become a rite of Spring. When I saw this turquoise Laurel Burch fabric last Spring, I feel in love with it and purchased a fat quarter and made a couple of appliqued hot pads. This year I did a repeat performance but added a purple appliqued butterfly to the mix. When I discovered I had a matching turquoise tone on tone, I knew immediately that I would make the antique tile block.
I have this VERY crafty friend, Margaret, who quilts, does counted cross stitch and who also makes fabric bowls. As soon as I saw pictures of her bowls, I knew I wanted to make them. New Salem is in northern central Massachusetts and Margaret lives in Allentown, PA so I wasn't gong to be dropping by for a sewing lesson anytime soon She sent me a link to a tutorial "How to Sew a Fabric Bowl" which was on the CraftStylish web site. Following directions has never been my strong suit and I could not visualize how to do it. Fortunately I have a very artistic neighbor, Marie, who really knows her way around a sewing machine. I asked her to read through the directions and unlike me, she understood them and was willing to help me make my first bowl.
Happy Easter everyone. We are kicking back after a wonderful Easter dinner and my husband Tim is snuggled down under the very first quilt I ever made. My daughter we rather young at the time so the first strip pieced quilt I ever made was a twin size flannel scrap quilt I made for her with my friend Ulla. Some of the fabric Ulla provided and some of it was from a very old receiving blanket that had been given to Meagan when she was a baby
Apron #1 and apron #2 that have come out of the pile of fabric (see previous blog entry). Apron #1 (on the left) uses the turquoise pear fabric on one side and the green fruit punch fabric with a small amount of the lime green pear fabric on the bib and pocket thrown in for good measure. Apron #2 is a tri-colored apron using the same color way but with a bit of a twist.
Ended up with 10 hot pads total from this fruit punch/pear fabric medley. These are the last two I made out of the scraps. The block is called crayon box. I found it is Judy Hopkins" "501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks". This book is my Bible! Since this medley of fruit inspired fabrics is the center piece of my Spring collection and I have several yards of the green fruit punch fabric and some of the blue and green pear fabric left, I shopped around today and found a few more coordinating colors for aprons.
Ever though we got 6" of snow yesterday, it was time to bring out the Spring fabrics and get to work on some hot pads. I made a baby quilt out of this medley of prints and I love how cheery they are. The fabrics around the border came in 2- 1/5" width cuts. ALL fabric should always be washed before one starts sewing with it, RIGHT?. Not these strips! They raveled like crazy and ended up shrinking a bit. The patterned called for a 6 - 1/2" square in the center. If I started out with a 6" square, that would compensate for the rectangles on the outer border not being 2 1/2" long.. Unfortunately I had already started sewing the inner green border onto some of the squares before I realized this
As I indicated in my last post, the item isn't finished until it is labeled. Each label has information about me on it (name, phone # and website address). They are printed up in sheets and then cut using a paper cutter. These are the labels for the balsam.
Yesterday's post was about making the balsam inserts that I invented. I didn't want the post to go on for EVER so I saved this post for today. Once the inserts were done, there were still a few more sachets and pillows that needed stuffing. I don't know who came up with the idea of having a muti-positioning needle on the sewing machine but whoever did, they should get a some sort of Nobel prize since it is genius! When I was first making balsam pillows and sachets, my old machine's needle had ONE position. Sewing these puppies shut was a real challenge. Now, I move the needle as far to the left as it will go and WOW, it is SOOOO much easier. LOVE IT! 
As you can see, I spent yesterday morning (a very rainy morning) making the inserts for the balsam hot pads. When I first started making 
balsam gifts, I loved the idea of a balsam hot pad that would release this wonderful aroma when you place a hot pot on it. I also wanted to make something both useful and attractive. So, I started doing research.