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Working on the flip side. Strips, strips, and more strips. I like this. No math! And the only way to go is using the serger! If you were using the strip method in a quilt, you wouldn’t have to, because your raw edges get sandwiched and are out of sight. But since the raw edges of the duvet are going to be “available” I needed to finish the edges. That’s a lot of edges to finish and serging really cut down my time! Thanks for letting me borrow it, Mom!
Ok, I didn’t exactly follow the directions for the strips. Instead of sewing the entire batch together into one enormously long piece and then starting the match/sew/cut process, I did it in smaller sections. Then sewed the four individual sections together. Hind sight says, “I wish I would have followed the directions so I don’t have verticle seams showing.” But I still like the way it turned out and I would definitly use this strip piecing method again.
Now for the other side. I have odd pieces in varying sizes to work with on the back. I measured them all, and divided by my 2.25. That gave me the scale pieces I would need for the graph paper plan. I cut out pieces of graph paper and put the puzzle together for the back. I do not have enough to cover the whole back. Ok, Plan B.
I think I actually like Plan B better! I am going to cut the leftovers into strips and do this nifty idea. Meg introduced me to this method, and I used it on some towels, but now it will be done en mass! I will sew a good size piece of the strips and add bands of fabric to the top and bottom to get the yardage needed for the back of the duvet. Actually it will end up being a reversible duvet cover. He can flip it to which ever side catches his fancy for the day. Thanks to Plan B!
Number two son’s room is painted. Caribbean Cool and Sandy Cove – even the names sound beachy!
Number one son’s fabric to finish the duvet is on the way. Moda’s Basic Building Blocks.
I looked high and low online for this fabric. It’s one of my favorites and Landon really likes it. I finally ordered it from It’s A Stitch. This store is on the other side of Houston from where I live. As much as I would dearly love to visit it in person, with gas so high, it’s cheaper to ship it. Isn’t that CRAZY! One of two things need to happen . . . either gas prices need to take a chill which I HOPE they do, or they need to get a decent quilt store on my side of town. The one over here has NOTHING designed since the 80’s. Ok, maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, but not too much.
I’ve had nothing but duvet on the brain for weeks. All those bright fabrics were just begging me to cut into them. But no! I used self control until I came up with a plan. I’ve learned the hard way about jumping in too fast with the rotary cutter.
First of all, Landon wanted a patchwork look. I didn’t have a pattern for this, so I came up with my own design. I measured the comforter to be covered and added a few inches all around to make sure I’d have plenty to play with. Then I drew a scale plan on graph paper with each little square equaling 2.25 inches. I drew my design on the graph paper, figured out the dimensions for each piece, multiplied them by 2.25, then added the seam allowance. Now that I write this, it sounds pretty straightforward, but I’m telling you it about drove me crazy. My little pink calculator became my best friend and worst enemy all at the same time. I did the math on each piece so many times I lost count.
When I was finally convinced that I had done the math correctly, I cut into the fabric. I spent one evening cutting, and the next evening sewing. One side done.
P.S. I appologize if there were any crazy pictures in my sidebar over the weekend. I was trying to add my Flickr photos and it was showing other people’s pictures. I thought I had deleted it, but this new technology got the better of me.
You’ve all heard of the foreign exchange program. Well, I have a foreign exchange thing going on at my house.
The serger is FOREIGN to me.
I really borrowed it rather than EXCHANGED.
I am the STUDENT.
Wow is all I can say. That thing is amazing! Did you see all the turquoise fuzz inside the cover? That is the shrapnel from my latest project to be revealed soon. The only thing that I don’t get is how to thread the thing. My mom threaded it and sent it home with me. I got so close to finishing the major part of my project, and then one of the threads broke. Murphy at work yet again. So, we’ll be making the trek back to Mom’s today for a threading lesson.
What do we do with all this extra time we have now? Fill it up. Seriously, I thought this week would be a kind of a stay-at-home-and-do-nothing week, but we are managing to fill up every single day. Of course it’s with fun things, so that’s ok!
First fun thing is to get going on Landon’s room. Since March we have taken a trip to Ikea to scope out possible furnishings, made a budget, and he made final decisions on what he could afford (which was quite a lot). We looked online and ordered fabric to make a duvet cover. All of this was progress you couln’t actually see. Just the planning stages. But today that changed.
We have fabric to show for our effort!
I just love the colors he picked. We will be using Lotta’s duvet pattern, but with a patchwork look. Also, now that we have the actual colors for us to see, we will be taking a trip to Lowe’s to pick out paint. Our goal is to paint the room Thursday. Excitement is building!
A friend is teaching me how to do soldered glass charms. So fun, but a little frustrating. I can’t seem to get the hang of soldering the jump ring onto the charm. Help!
Her birthday was Monday. I made her an Amy Butler Frenchy Bag.
I love that bag! It’s sassy and just the right size. I used Lotus for the main fabric, and a matching gray pin stripe I found at Jo Ann’s.
I did make a few alterations.
- I used fusible interfacing. I made one of these for my sister for Christmas and followed the directions, which called for sew in interfacing. The fusible was mucho easier! Plus it saved some sewing time.
- I trimmed down the pockets. The pattern calls for two pockets that are almost the full size of the bag. If you’re going to have pockets that big, why have them at all? The thing with pockets is that they are supposed to help you find the things you need, not be big enough for the contents of your purse to drown in. So, I made one good sized pocket and did some stitching down the middle. Now she has a reasonable/useful pocket. One side for cell phone. One side for keys.
Happy Birthday!
My little bird projects are flying the coop today. I am double booked! Baby shower in the morning, birthday party at the new park in the afternoon.
As I was getting ready to wrap the presents, I looked through all my paper and ribbon and had nothing that went together. Odds and ends of mismatched paper and ribbons weren’t the look I was going for. So, I got out my fabric. I had left over pieces from each of the projects and I had a brown paper gift bag and brown postal paper. OK! Have you ever wondered what to do with those little strips of fabric left over from a project? Use them for wrapping your gifts.
I had a two 1 1/2 in strips of fabric left from the burp cloths, so I put them together and tied a bow.
I had less than 1/4 yd piece of one fabric, and only a few strips of another fabric, so I made a pom pom out of them. I followed these directions and made it using fabric strips instead. I also wrapped it around a wide piece of cardboard instead of my hand. I wanted a big puffy pom pom!
On both of them, I just tore the strips. I like the frayed edge look. Plus, it was fast and easy! Great way to use scraps!
Boy am I getting lots of mileage off Heather Bailey’s bird. It’s been just the thing for several of the projects I’ve been doing. This time I used it for a baby gift.
I always like making burp cloths for baby showers. Why?
- They are easy.
- They get used a lot.
- A pretty burp cloth is much better than a plain old burp cloth. I mean, if you’re going to deal with spit up, might as well do it in style!
I like using pre-fold diapers and then adding my touch to them. I started making these for gifts years ago. Way back when, I would stamp them with paint, then add a fabric border. I made Noah some of these when he was itty bitty and they turned out to be his favorite thing to carry around. He wore those “blankies” out! The great thing about it was that I made twelve of them, so we had plenty to go around while others were being washed.
So what touch am I adding to burp cloths now a days? Applique – because I am HOOKED on fabric. Applique is just as easy as painting them, and I can use up little bits of fabric that I love. It turns a burp cloth into a sassy little gift. This present is for a friend who is having her first little girl in about a month. She has two little boys already, so the whole pink thing is very exciting.
The little bird is my applique of choice right now for little girls. I added some ruffles to these - way girlie! This is the first time I have ever added ruffles, and I know there has got to be a faster way. I’ll figure one out for next time.
I also made a little flannel blanket to go along with the burp cloths. I put a binding around the edge, then appliqued some more little birds across one edge. I will probably make a bird to go on the card, and maybe a stuffed bird (if there’s time). Why not go all out?
I love you little bird!
This embroidered one’s to go along with the outfit I made for my niece. ‘Cause a real bird in hand is very hard to accomplish for a three-year-old! Shoot! I’m in my 30’s and haven’t accomplished that one yet.
I also made her a simple stamped necklace with her initial on it. 
I gotta stop!
