Sewing & Embroidery This Week

I have several babies that I sewed for this week. Names remain anonymous!

I made a blanket just like these for my nephew's new baby earlier this year (only the baby was born last year! I am really TERRIBLE with deadlines. Seriously!) So I decided to make a few more for the other new members of families that I know. 

My husband was off this week prior - to try & get our shed closer to done. We worked a 12 hour day yesterday. Putting the last bit of vinyl on the ceiling of the lean-to's, and the metal on the facia's. We covered up every bit of wood on the exterior of the shed. I was up & down ladders all day. And today I pretty much think I could reach out and grab a branch on any tree with my feet...that's how cramped they feel from the ladders! (this is a term my husband used & it's SO true!) But it's done. The only thing left to do on the EXTERIOR is gates on the lean-to's, and lighting. Everything else is interior. Heavy sigh...glad to get it done & as far as sheds go? it's beautiful. We did it ourselves and we paid for it all in cash. Yay!

Anyway - here are photos of the 2 blankets I did. Chinelle on one side, flannel on the other. Satin blanket binding . And monogrammed of course!

I did some burp cloths too for "timothy" - I didn't get pictures yet.

Oh, AND - the A/C quit this evening in the house. Both units. I don't think there's a horse in a mile that's sweating like I am tonight. Thank good ness for ceiling fans.

M

Started in 2010! American Beauty Quilts - Three To Be Truthfull!!

These are what have been keeping me busy lately!

there are 3 of them. all 3 have the exact same blocks (12 different for each) 2 will have the white background as you see here, 1 will have a black background.

The blocks are constructed with the Marti Michell templates. Very dinky. Very time consuming

And very aggravating...

But? They're nearly done & when they are I can go back to my beloved Everlasting Wreath!

Sam

It's been A WHILE since I have posted anything. I have been incredibly busy. I finished this quilt this time last year, but didn't get it quilted until just before Christmas. The pattern was a free one from my friend Joan. I swapped some spools with her too! I think HER quilt was made with many swapped spool blocks. I am terrible rotten at deadlines , so I didn't swap with anyone.  It came out beautifully! I am a glutton for punishment though, as I already have enough blocks sewn into rows to make a 2nd quilt. I just have not found the perfect border fabric for it.

Thanks Joan! For sharing your pattern with me!

Sam

Re-Seating a Rocker

Started with this rocker, got it at a yardsale for $5 and I was going to put some sort of upholstered seat & back on it, but I found some old macrame books on how to do it.

It's really sturdy & I love the way it came out! Sam

A Little Neglect

Seems I have been neglecting my blog...I am sorry. I work on a computer ALL DAY for my day job - so sometimes I just ignore it all. I have some updates & some stuff to show you too! If the weather is decent tomorrow - we're (me & Prince Charming) will be working outside on the shed. Sam

Thr BIG Finish

While it took me longer then I thought it should, I really enjoyed making this rug. I used up a lot of fabric that I had been hoarding and I even have plans for another one!

Having Bourbon model the rug was unintentional. I think all inside dogs do this type of stuff. The fat dog would do the same thing I don't have a design wall so I use the floor. I'd lay out blocks go get some more & the Fat Dog and / or the cat would be on them! silly animals! Sam

More Rug Progress

12 Inches is all I have left to weave! I am so excited to get this far. Wehn I tore all my homespuns into strips I separated them into 2 baskets - hoping I could get 2 rugs from them. Not sure if I'll have to dip into the 2nd basket - but all I have of strips from ONE is what's on top of that green inverted basket! It's going to be close!

In the very top photo you can see a piece of wood that I have stuck behind the warp strips & sitting on top of the eyes on the side of the frame that hold the pencil rods - I weave about 4 or 5 rows & then measure from that stick. I use soemthing blunt but rigid (such as a crochet hook or what I'm using today is a broken paint brush end) to pack to move/adjust the rows to the smae measurement all the way across. this really wasn't an issue on the smaller rug - but it's VERY easy to high in the center & low on the sides on one this large. Sam

Big Rug Progress

Rug #3 Warped & Ready

This is the loom that Prince Charming made for me - warped it looks larger than in a post or 2 ago when it was nekkie. As I said before, I am going to do this one in Homspuns. It's warped in a plaid sheet - since the warp is not seen as much I opted for NON-homespun on those. Besides - this was a queen flat sheet that I took all the hems out of & I cut the strips 2" wide & it took ...Every.Single.Strip. But one!

Rug #2 Finished

This is rug #2 that I completed yesterday. Took me a little longer than the last one. I have lots of burners in the fire...and well ...you know...I get busy!

Yes, it's blue. Again. I bought 5 of the biggest blue sheets that I could get at Goodwill. I THOUGHT that 5 sheets would only make ONE rug. Guess what? I'm thinking they can make 3 ! Maybe 3 & a 1/2.....Add to that I bought 3 more dark blue flat sheets at a Thrift store in Clarksville yesterday. My freind Diane M gave me some fabric that is light blue & I think I can make a rug with just dark blue & light blue stips all the way through. Not worried about when it will get done as I have the big loom warped & ready to go! I am doing IT in homespuns. Word To The Want To Be Wiser....Homespuns are really VERY thready! I am tearing them 2 inshes wide & geesh...theres strings & strings & strings! I don't even know how many yards of homespuns that I have. Lots. Just lots. Figured it's time to stop hoarding them & DO SOMETHING with them! M

Little Rug Loom & Big Rug Loom

this is the rug loom that I used to make the rug in the previous post. It is a really nice size and it turned out great. I already have it with new warp strips on it for a rug for my youngest daughter.

This Rug Loom is one that Prince Charming made for me today. It should make a rug that is 3'X 5'. Yes, THREE feet by FIVE feet. As you can see - it's much larger then the other one. Nothing like jumping in feet first!

Prince Charming, being the Prince that he is, originally wanted to make the big loom from oak. We have about 1000 board feet of rough cut red & white oak. Already cured. We discussed that it's possible that the BIG rug MIGHT be a "one & done" job & I didn't think making it from oak would be a good idea - I'd feel guilty if I never made another one! So it's from pine. Hammering in all those finish nails was challenging. Or rather getting them spaced correctly was! We did it though! It's awesome. I am curious to know how many strips & many inches of those strips that it will take to warp this jobbie! I am not even going to TRY thinking about the number of strips it will take for the weft. But you know what? It's going to be gorgeous!! Sam

Finished Rug

Ta Da ! The finished product. I made my strips 1.5" so this is a fairly flat rug. I also used SHEETS. It came out really NICE. And I am going to make one for the Pincess too becasue #1 she asked for one & #2 I  have enough blue sheet strips to make another one!

Prince Charming has plans to make a loom for me that will make a 3'X5' rug. We will plane the oak maybe this afternoon or sometime this week. He had said we'd go to Lowe's & buy the oak. But honestly? I am not going to spend $85 on some lumber when we have over a 1000 board feet of rough cut oak just sitting in our garage. Seems pointless to BUY it!

I really liked making this rug & I see more of them in my future!

Sam

Twining Close Up

This is sort of a close up - the pencil rod on the end is basically a "stay" you treat the rod & the last warp srtip as ONE & both of the weft strips have to go around it so that the rug does not come undone. The twining is done with that strip in my left hand going up over the strip on the right & then BEHIND the next warp strip. Over & over & over again until you get to the other side. Then you work right to left..and so on. All the instructions that I have found have you work halfway down on one end, flip the frame & work top to middle again. Meeting in the middle. It hought it would be a little difficult getting the middle done, but I used a crochet hook & squished the rows together enough to get my fingers thru the warp strips, then when I thought it was "enough", I used the same crochet hook to push the rows back down. Again, the directions have you finishing/completing the rug ends while it's still on the loom. I found this awkward & removed the rug from the loom & then finished off the ends by knotting them & then weaving them in for a few inches.

Sam

Rug Update

Friday night I got THIS far.

Rug Twining

5 years ago. Yes, I said FIVE. My friend Kat & I went to the Paducah Quilt show & while we were there - I bought a paperback book by Country Threads for rag rugs. Simple enough procedure I suppose. I ordered a 2 loom set from OUR OLD COUNTRY STORE. They ar such awesome people to work with. I emailed them over th holiday's & then on January 2 I got an email saying they're available for shipment. So I placed my order & 2 business days later I had my looms! Yay! One loom makes like a bathmat/welcome mat size & placemat size too if you move the stretcher up. The larger of the 2 is ..well I don't know the demensions - let me look on thier website - it makes a rug 25"X37". I got them just Monday - didn't think I would because it's sort of really bad weather here in middle TN right now. (it was actually MINUS 2 degrees yesterday!) Anyway...soon as I got it I opened the box & assembled the looms. I quickly started to warp the large one (which is the attached picture). It took more strips than I anticipated and I warped it with strips from fabric left over from quilt backs & borders. Origianlly I thought to myself that THIS type of fabric was too expensive to be using for a RUG !!! But you know what? I'm not a very good scrap user - so why not??? I had been anticipating getting a loom so I went to Goodwill & bought 5 sheets in varying blues. I washed them TWICE in hot water & then commenced to tearing them into 1.5" strips. Doing the stripping is way more slow than actually twining the rug! Seriously. I had emailed this picture to Dru @ Our Old Country Store & she pointed out that I had the whole thing put together wrong becasue the pencil rods on the sides were bowed. She was right. While I had all the letters matched up, I still had them backwards. Don't ask me how I did that, I just DID. So I took the warping off & put it all together again. And the rods were perfectly straight. Much easier to insert when everything is lined up properly. I will try to get another picture tonight when I get a few more rows twined....but you know, my sewing room is upstairs & there is no natrual light after like 2 PM & I'm not home until after 5. SOOOooooo...you're seeing the picture BEFORE I re-assembled the loom & then did some of the weft. If you have ever french braided hair? It's nearly the same thing. Very rythmic. And fast. I think if I could sit still long enough to actually DO something - I could get a whole lot done on this jobbie!

More Of The Everlasting Wreath

If you read my blog - you may as well resign yourself to seeing a LOT of this quilt. It's huge. It's got LOTS of blocks. It's time consuming. And I LOVE it. I have quilts on all my beds & as it turns out, all the beds were made when I took these pictures this morning. So I laid this part out on the floor. In my original paper mock up - I only had it 6 rings wide. that's not wide enough for my queen sized bed - or rather - 6 rings does not come down far enough on the sides of the bed - I don't think 7 is going to be PERFECT, but 8 would be way too many. the tentative plan (right now ) is to make it 7 rigs wide by 8 rings long. We'll see how that progresses.

Please excuse my less than clean carpets. As you can see? I have a long haired house dog. And he's NOT lap dog sized. Well it's winter. Winter follows fall - we have nearly 2 acres. Lot's of trees. Lots. Been too wet to get all the leaves up - Bourbon, bless his heart - drags several in the house in his hair every time he goes out. Every. Time. and right now? It's not bothering me enough to drag the vacuum out & get them all up. Trust me, they will STILL BE THERE when I choose to do it. Anyway - that's my update. I am going to sew another row on today. It's a slow go. You don't just slap another block on there & go. I have to pin each side & every single seam is a "Y" seam. I should have this technique perfected by the time I'm finished with the quilt! I know one thing is for sure...my fingers are so sore. I seem incapable of NOT pricking myself. The paper has got my DNA on it. Oh Well, at least it's on the paper! Sam

Upholstery Class - 01/13/2014

These spools are for an upcoming on-line upholstery class. It's a BEGINNER course & we will be concentrating on ottomans. I am supposed to get a spool - pretty sure I need the SMALLER one - but hey, they were both free - so I'm keeping them. If it turns out that I won't use the larger of the 2, it's going to be an end table for our basement living room
So we'll see! I am SO excited about the upcoming class - especially since I have ...um...11 chairs? Yah 11. And I'm getting 2 more soon. French Wingbacks to boot! Sam

Back From The L/A

I finished putting this quilt together oh.........2 years maybe? ago? Probably that long. I sent it to Three Sisters Fabric in New Paris IN to be quilted. First off - they were great to work with. They did what they said they'd do when they'd do it for the price they quoted. Second - this quilt looks exactly like I wanted it to. I had wanted to quilt it myself - but I just never achieved the skill required nor gave the time to the practice to get as good as I wanted to be. (Was that why I sold my machine? No.)Third - I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY and totally over the moon over how this turned out. These pictures don't really do it justice - you have to SEE it to appreciate it. I love it!

Ihave one more they did too - my spools quilt - it came out equally beautiful - it's an E2E and since the piecing is SO BUSY it was perfect. I am very VERY satisfied with what Allison & Tammy did for me - here's a funny ya'll. I have been home sick, in the bed, with the flu. The quilts were delivered on Monday & in my excitement, I called & left a message on thier phone - um......word to the wise........don't call ANYONE when you're loopy with the flu - you're going to be un-intelligible! At least for me? I was! Allsion, bless her - emailled me & let meknow she THOUGHT I was happy with the quilts. Happy? No OVERJOYED. But I won't make phone calls when I'm 3 sheets to the flu anymore either. Ha Ha I can be such a nut job. Sam

Newly Bound #2

#2 Newly Bound! this is that Barn Loft Quilt Pattern - this quilt is HUGE - incredibly long. Definately a KING size quilt. Or a good size Queen with a pillow tuck! I put this one on the bed to stay. At least for alittle while

Newly Bound #1

this is ONe of TWo quilts that I got back from the L/A - please - don't give me any grief - I got this back before THANKSGIVING! Putting the binding on is one of my most dreaded part of quilt making. this quilt has a story - pretty sure I wrote it out before - but here goes again. I made the BLOCKS for this quilt oh...6 or 7 years ago? Got disgusted with them becasue I didn't make them come out all the right size - I gifted them to a quilt guild buddy this year - Diane Miller - becasue she makes a lot (I mean A LOT) of charity quilts, figured she'd turn it into a charity quilt, well she made the quilt up & GAVE IT BACK TO ME! I love it - I don't remember what batting I had in it but it's a WARM one for sure!