Tuesday Quilting Progress!

Like I said before, Tuesdays are for quilting. I feel so productive! I made progress on the Picnic Time Quilt that I started SO long ago, and finished the top to my new quilt-the Sherbert Quilt is what I'm calling it.

If I can finish it in time, the Picnic Time Quilt will be a Christmas gift. It's one of my goals, but it's a big undertaking, so we'll have to see what happens.

Once the last few rows are sewed on to the Picnic Time Quilt, I need to make a quilt sandwich and start quilting everything together. I think I'm going to go the easy route and sew strands of embroidery floss in the corners and tie it together. We will see though.

Have you been doing any sewing lately?

Rachel May

Weekend Sewing on a weekday

I was in sewing mode last night. Have you ever checked out Weekend Sewing? If not, check it out here.
Last night, I made the Sunday-Dinner Hostess Apron. It was pretty quick and simple to complete. At first, my living room looked like a pattern storm went through it, but once the pattern was traced and the fabric was cut, the sewing part was pretty quick.

I used a "vintage" (aka: from Goodwill) pillowcase for the body of the apron and some scrap fabric for the waistband.

I would have had a live model for these photos, but they were taken at 11 at night and orange isn't Boyfriend's color.

Along with the thought to Pledge Handmade, I was thinking this might be Christmas Gift #1. I have some fabric napkins that go with it well. A nice pairing as-is, but we also have some raspberry jam in the pantry that I made this year, so that will probably go with it also.

They look so happy together. And I'm happy to get some progress done on handmade gifts! If I keep this up, handmade Christmas gifts are going to be aplenty this year!

Rachel May

Schoolhouse Tunic

Today, I'll be here, learning how to sew this. So excited!

Rachel May

Craft File: Striped Dishtowels

This was a great quick project to get me back into sewing. I was only going to make one towel, but it seemed silly to not have a set, so I made two!


If you would like to make them, all you have to do is take two different kinds of ribbon, pin them to a tea towel however you want them (I chose stripes, you could do something more wild if you like) and sew the edges of the ribbon down using your sewing machine.


I then hemmed the two sides that contained the ribbon ends, so there wouldn't be any raw edgs, and voila! Not sure if I'm going to keep them or give them away...hmm.


Supplies: Tea towels, ribbon, sewing machine, thread

Tips/Tricks: pin the ribbon first if you want a streamlined look. If you want to make it a little more wild, don't pin the ribbon and do free motion sewing over the ribbon. It's important to sew down both edges of the ribbon so it doesn't curl when washed.

Enjoy!
Rachel May

Craft File: Picnic Time Quilt

Last weekend I decided I wanted to be a quilter...again. So I started the easiest quilt I could think of, a simple checkerboard quilt. I love the idea of just a mish-mash of reds and creams for a blanket, taking it out on a sunny summer day for a picnic. This was a scrappy project (I'm lucky enough to have to aunts that are big-time quilters, and they share their scraps with me) the red scraps were from the aunts, the creams are from my stash-I have a love for unbleached cotton fabric-so natural, such a great feel to it.

I'm pretty far along in the project, all the squares are cut, I'm in the middle of sewing the blocks together to make rows, then I will sew the rows together to make the quilt top!

I'm thinking of using a red binding and and unbleached cotton backing, but we will see. Those are fabrics that I'll actually have to purchase!

Details: 5x5" squares, 1/4" seam allowance, 11x11 rows/squares, cotton fabrics

Tips/Tricks: My aunts taught me that if you use a tablecloth with a cotton backing (like shown), the fabric squares will stick to it. It's a really helpful (and inexpensive) trick, especially if you're living in a tiny house like mine!

Enjoy!
Rachel May

New Etsy Line: Handmade Cards!

Check out this new line I've created for Etsy! I wanted to create a product that was fun and used up scraps of handmade paper (reduce, reuse, recycle) and to serve as an idea for the use of handmade paper that you can get in my shop (if you want to buy colored handmade paper, go here).

Use these cards to brighten up a friend's day or to tell that special someone how much you love them.

Each card is made using either card stock or kraft paper (recycled), adorned with a stamped element with handmade paper scraps sewn to the front. The handmade paper gives the cards great dimension! You also receive an envelope with each card, as shown in the images.

Stay tuned! Tomorrow will be the first post of Our New Place: The Pantry!

Enjoy!

Rachel May