Fabric Scraps into Simple Doll Quilts

I made my first of these doll quilts out of Keepsake Quilting's  fabric sample boxes.  Keepsake used to sell sets of tiny squares of the sample fabrics.  I loved going through them.   Even the boxes were special.  My sets came in small dark green boxes with gold lettering and gold elastic ties. They looked nice just sitting on the shelf  in my sewing room.  There was no way I could just toss them out when they were outdated.  So, this was my first doll quilt.

 This night-light doll  from a store near Lake Placid seems to enjoy them, too. 

The down side of finally using the samples is that I now know I can do something with even a two and a half inch square of scrap fabric.  When the stash of pathetically small pieces gets too out of control.  I start another doll quilt.

 The quilts also give me a chance to use up some of the children's fabrics I've bought simply because I like the design.

Who could resist this Raggedy Ann flannel I used for the backing on these two?

I was a bit disappointed to learn that Keepsake no longer sells the sample boxes.  While I really make MORE than enough scraps on my own, my collection is not nearly as diverse and exciting as the Keepsake collection.

Colorful Crib Quilt

 Good quilters gather pieces that have different scales, appropriate contrast according to the color wheel, similar hues, etc.  I, on the other hand, go for the pretty pictures.  

Then, I don't want to cut it up.  Come on!  These colorful views of childhood in the late forties-early fifties are just too cute to cut into little pieces.  This quilt was my way of having my cake and eating it, too.  I did FINALLY use it for a quilt, but the squares are large enough to provide big bold pieces of the artist's picture.

This one will probably be donated since we are still in the midst of a baby drought. 

OMG! A Seventies Triangle Head Scarf

I went looking for a triangle head scarf tutorial after spending the day trying to do yard work with my hair in my eyes.  My hair is long enough to be in my face and too short to tie back.  Most of the triangle scarf patterns out there are for kids, but I finally found one at All Crafts .

Of course, I had to make changes.  I just cannot NOT make changes.  By the time I was finished, the only thing mine and the original had in common was a triangle.  Changes:

• My triangles are 22 x 14 inches which is larger than the pattern.

• After sewing together the two triangles and turning them right sides out, I sewed the edge all the way around a quarter of an inch in.

• The tutorial called for a straight strip of bias tape to bind the long end and serve as ties.  I wanted to just use scrap fabric from my stash.  I also wanted the ties to be long enough to bring them back to the top so that the tie is on top of the head.  Back when women wore these things, I always hated that knot on the back of my neck.  I had enough fabric to make long ties that would serve my purpose but not enough to cover the full length of the scarf.  I folded strips of fabric for two ties and sewed them to the corners.  

 The pattern also did not have sweet Melissa to wear the finished product for pictures.  I handed it to her and said, "Here, try this on so I can get pictures."  Melissa, having never experienced the seventies, had no idea what to do with it.  "What is it?  A top?"  

She got it on the right part of the body, but not quite straight.  When you are as pretty as this, though, everything  looks great anyway!

   Finished!

Why Do People Buy Old Church Pews?

Because we can.  When the church I was attending remodeled, I got to buy this lovely pew.  It seemed like I great idea until I sat in it at home. What was I thinking?   Church pews are not built for comfort.  I think they are simply built to keep us awake.  With a bit of padding and a few pillows, though.  They're not bad!

There is an inch thick piece of foam on the back and 4 inches on the seat.  If churches did this, attendance would soar--especially if you could put your feet up and recline on a few pillows. Amen to that!!!

How to Cover the Sun Room Windows Without Taking Out a Loan

The original Roman shades in my sun room had been there since the dawn of time.  They were not only old, but ugly and falling apart.  I almost keeled over, though, when I found out how much it would cost to buy replacement shades. The room is about twenty feet long with sets of windows on three sides. The sizes range from 23 inches wide near the doorway to over six feet.  Even making replacements myself would have been very expensive. I spent a couple of years checking out ads and searching online before settling on this:
PIC

Yes, it is simple after all the searching, but it was also less than $300.  There are vinyl blinds underneath so that privacy is possible.  I can count on one hand the number of times we have used the shades in that room, but it is nice to have the possibility.  The valances are just rectangles of natural denim sewn in a tube and turned right side out with the ends sewn shut.  The seams are, of course, at the top where the valances are stapled to 1x4 boards mounted to the wall.

I don't like the blind cords hanging in view and was going to bundled them with rubber bands up under the valance.  There are two problems with that idea.  First, it is a royal pain to roll up all those cords.  Second, the rubber bands will rot out pretty quickly in the sun anyway.

All in all, I am happy with the end product.  It looks much better than it did!  Any ideas for dealing with the cords would be appreciated.

Putting Away the Special Quilts

Today I am repairing a quilt I made for my son, Kiefer, when he was about four years old.

He's now 19, and it is way past time to put the kiddy quilt in storage.  It is in surprisingly good shape--just needs a few seams repaired.  I made it from his baby/toddler clothes and left-over fabric from window curtains I made for his room at the time.  The curtain fabric is covered with cats--which he loved.  Some of the squares have pockets from pants and shirts.

Some have the applique designs from clothing.

The solid color squares have all kinds of button representing things that he loved.

There are  sport buttons, cat buttons, car buttons, even a Lego piece button. 

I'm hanging on to it just in case Kiefer decides to have some little ones of his own. Or, maybe I'll just keep it.  Looking over the quilt, I have wonderful memories of him wearing all those tiny shirts, overalls, and jackets.

The Latest Quilt

I like to make simple quilts.  More than anything else, this is because I have the WORST time choosing fabrics that  go well together.  Sticking to just a couple of colors works best for me.  I also like to use up left-over fabric.  Since I needed a throw for the sun room and there was a good bit of blue denim left over from reupholstering the furniture (pics in another post), this quilt with blue and natural denim was born. 

Even the natural denim was left-over from making valances for the sun room.   I'll post about them later.

The quilt is machine embroidered with red work designs (or I should say blue work in this case) of the flowers for each month on 10 1/2 inch natural denim squares with three inch blue strips between.

I used off white fleece from Joann's for the backing.  With the weight of the denim and the fleece, there was no need for batting.  I sewed the front and backing inside out leaving an opening to turn it right-side out.  There is machine stitching around the inside of the squares and about 1/2 an inch in on the entire outside edge.

This was one of the easiest and quickest quilts I've ever done.  I didn't need to worry about changing thread colors on the embroidery machine, I could do other work when the machine was running, and there was no worry about batting bunching or shifting.  While it is heavier than the usual cotton quilt, it drapes well and is soft and warm.

Matching throw pillows were from happy accidents.  I accidentally made duplicates of some of the flower designs.  My embroidery machine--which I love dearly (thank you, thank you Brother)-- does have a very small window.  I thought I was choosing the next design...  The newer machines are much better in that respect.  But, my Pacesetter produces beautiful pieces.  That's all that really matters; there's no need  to upgrade.