simple sewing

I’ve been saving my selvedges for a while, after seeing other people’s cute projects. I’ve used them to make several cute pouches, but took the time to photograph just these two.

I like the bead zipper pull, with it’s complicated painting.

That little hump-dee-do along the zipper is because I didn’t swap out my regular sewing foot for a zipper foot, and just forced it through. Lesson learned.

I haven’t found a zipper pull appropriate for this one, yet.

That hand-sewing at the top edge stops the lining from riding up and catching in the zipper. Cute, and serves a purpose! Don’t you hate it when you wreck something because the zipper caught the fabric and ripped it?

Selvedges are printed with the designer and manufacturer, and sometimes the fabric line’s name. The below one, “It’s a Jungle Out there,” I thought sounded like wise words.

While the below one added a cute saying. (That’s from a fabric line by Bonnie & Camille. Makes me wonder if I should look harder at all their other fabric lines.) I hope whoever I give this bag to notices the words, without me pointing it out. 🙂

I’m working on a twin-sized quilt, it’s pieced but now needs the quilting. I’m think mermaid scale pattern, so the arches work with/against the squares. I imagine this will be a year-long endeavor!

sewing: end of the year finish

One last finish before the end of the year! I hand-quilted, so it was quite the challenge every evening to put in some time and get this done.

On the top half of the quilt, I quilted words: love, amour, amore, liebe, and I love you more. I ran out of patience for that (this is a common theme, isn’t it?), so on the bottom half I quilted hearts in a raindrop pattern. Overall, I am happy with this because the words disappear into the design, but the hearts show up well enough.

The overall dimensions are 40″x50″ and it will be used as a wall hanging in February. I am still working on wall hangings for all the holidays. Next up: Halloween! Yay, here comes another year to make new things!

at the Ouachita quilt show (part 3)

parts 1 and 2, available here

and here.

Embroidery! I think this whole quilt is hand-stitched, including the quilting. What a labor of love.

I like how the pumpkins turn both left and right, so when used as a table runner it looks good from both this way and that.

Personally, I think I would use it as a wall hanging. Can’t ever have enough seasonal color going on.

I wonder how old the pattern for the above ladies is? Southern belles, seems very timeless. Adding the pleats to make their skirts more dimensional would be satisfying.

A little male version of the Sunbonnet Sue. What is this pattern called?

I love the colors in this wall hanging, and the repetitive bug motif. This one would be exciting to put together, too.

I’m glad there were so many wall hangings–usually quilt shows are more bed-topper oriented. A wall hanging can cover a lot of ground, and add such a pop of warmth to any wall.

Sweet little three-dimensional rose buds….

Oooh, spring colors!

If I remember right, this memory quilt embroidered with the names of parishioners was a gift to a pastor. What a sweet idea, and such a treasure!

There will be one more post, coming soon….

at the Ouachita quilt show (part 2)

We continue our stroll through the quilt show, starting with a tee-shirt quilt. The use of cheddar and orange background fabrics keeps this cohesive, and I think it works well. Someone’s high school memories, ready to keep him company in his next stage of life.

Americana, my favorite!

Green and blue, hmm. You might not have noticed, but green is not my thing. When I see other people use it, I have to applaud because I find it so daring and fiddly at the same time. I love the house blocks, they hide and fit right in. Maybe it’s a “my home town” design, with the chains making up the connecting streets….love at the center. Yup.

I voted this one my favorite in the peoples’ choice contest. I love the use of homespun scraps, the log cabin blocks with the traditional red center, and the overall “homey” red white and blue. It feels like this could belong in any settler’s cabin for the last 300 years.

I’m not sure if this is a Hawaiian pattern, or just a fern, or a leaf. With the use of batik fabric, it feels Hawaiian to me. So summery and beach-y.

Ooh, lots of birdies! I love the redwing blackbirds. The flying geese pulls it all together, echoing the red wings. Super job!

This one was one of my favorites, too. A camping quilt, maybe made from the shirts of someone special.

The notes on this crazy quilt said it had been begun in the 1950s, and finished up recently. All those little hen tracks….Whew!

(More to come)

watching: The Christmas Candle (2013)

I don’t remember if this one was recommended to me by someone, or if I stumbled across it on my own. Some of you might recognize the writer, Max Lucado. He is very prolific, and includes many children’s stories in his works. I went into this movie thinking I knew exactly where it was going, right up until I didn’t. It’s a fabulous story, and worth an evening with your feet up. Also, I was very impressed to see Susan Boyle in a small part. Makes my heart happy.

at the Ouachita quilt show (part 1)

I am going to break down my many, many photos over several days, so as not to overwhelm ya’ll. Some quilts I like a lot, some not so much–but all deserve their moment in the sun!

The quilts are arranged in no particular order, except how I wandered through the show.

Is this a Celtic knot variation? A garden path? I like the scrappy use, and there is a definite grouping of color families. Overall, a pretty twin quilt good for a boy or girl.

An embroidered 50-State quilt. My gosh, so much time, what a labor of love.

Green and purple. I don’t think I would ever go there, but it works.

These colors are more to my liking, but not quite. I find that even if I’m not happy with my finished project, give it a couple weeks and let me look again and I’ll be over the moon about it. Perspective. Yep.

Something about Sunbonnet Sue just doesn’t churn my butter. Sure, she’s a classic with a long history. Every show you go to has at least one example.

Hmm. Now that I’m really looking at this little girl, maybe I need to give her a try? A lap quilt. Simple. 30s prints. Maybe one day, when I want to work on something low key.

Ah, Christmas! What a great design, with so many things to look at. This quilter has an embroidery machine with all the bells and whistles; we will be seeing more of her quilts!

This looks to me like a Lori Holt design. Not sure the name of the pattern, but it looks like something from the last couple years. Maybe Farmhouse? This quilter picked out great colors, and it’s all so cheerful.

A sweet birdie…

And a happy little hen….

Can’t overlook the tea kettle or the canning jars. Yep, it’s all so farmhouse.

I’ll leave you today with this beauty. It was definitely king sized, and won both best of show and peoples’ choice awards. I amped the color contrast for online display purpose, but in reality the colors were very muted. Truly lovely.