Guest Room Glamour

by Dawn Posted on November 29, 2012

When I visit my twin sister Diane in Atlanta, there’s usually a home decorating project in the works. During my current two-week Thanksgiving stay (nearing its end, alas), I made a new bedskirt and window treatment for her downstairs guest room.

When Diane and her husband Ed moved into their present home 10 years ago, I made simple tab curtains for the windows:

The ruffled bedskirt, which I had made several years before, was a carryover from their old house:

This time around Diane wanted a tailored bedskirt and some kind of window treatment that could be raised and lowered. She wasn’t happy with the idea of Roman shades or any variations on that theme, so she came up with her own design: a simple pointed panel in the “down” position that folds and buttons into a valance in the “up” position.

She made a sketch of what she had in mind:

Here is Diane’s vision, transformed into reality:

She had the bright idea of adding tassels on the sides of the panels to disguise the brackets holding the curtain rods. Clever sister!

In the “down” position, the panels just cover the tops of the plantation shutters on the bottom half of the windows, completely blocking outside light:

In the “up” position, natural light floods the room:

The panels measure 34½” wide and 36½” long and are lined with blackout fabric. Five inches from the top of each panel are five self-fabric loops enclosed in a seam. About 21” down from the top are five ¾” buttons covered in the same fabric. The loops and buttons blend into the background so well you barely see them. A deep pleat is formed when the buttons are raised to meet the loops.

Here is a close-up of button and loop:

The fabric is a screen print by Mill Creek Fabrics that Diane found at Frugal Fabrics in Norcross, Georgia. The new pleated bedskirt is made from the same fabric:

The reward for my labors? I’m going home with the castoffs! I’ll probably be able to use the old tab curtains in my own home, and I’ll cut the bedskirt apart and add the ruffle fabric to my stash.

Here are a couple before-and-after shots. First the windows:

And now the bedskirt:

Let’s finish with a view from across the room:

Another successful collaboration with my twin!

 

 

 

Posted in bedskirt, family, update, valance | 7 Comments

Tiles in Style: A New Scrabble Bag

by Dawn Posted on November 24, 2012

Scrabble is on the daily agenda at my sister Diane’s house in Atlanta where my husband and I are visiting. During our two-week visit over Thanksgiving this year, we will probably play at least 20 games. The three of us are pretty evenly matched in skill and extremely competitive — unless one of us has the possibility of a seven-letter word, in which case the other two jump in to help.

The bag that holds Diane’s Scrabble tiles was in pretty sad shape so I decided to make her a new one. I found some soft sueded fabric at JoAnn’s the other day when Diane and I were picking up notions for the home dec projects I’m working on while here (subject of a future post).

It took a mere half hour to make the Scrabble bag. Instead of making a casing at the top for a drawstring, I sewed Velcro strips.

We went from this:

to this:

Quite an improvement, wouldn’t you say?

 

 

 

Posted in family, Scrabble, update | 2 Comments

Make Mine Mitered: A Tutorial on Table Napkins

by Dawn Posted on November 21, 2012

This tutorial is for a 19″ square napkin with a ¼”-wide hem and mitered corners. Here’s a look at the corners from both sides:

For two napkins, you’ll need ⅝ yard cotton fabric 42-44″ wide. Wash and iron fabric.

Supplies
acrylic ruler with 45° angle marking
sewing stiletto (I use a bamboo skewer)
removable marking pen or pencil (I like the Frixion pens)

1. Trim selvages from fabric. Cut a 20″ square.

First Light Designs tip: trim ¼” from one of the sides that is parallel to the selvage. This reduces the crosswise width by a quarter inch. Why this step? The crosswise grain has more give than the lengthwise grain. With repeated use and washing, the napkin will relax along the crosswise grain. Trimming the fabric at the beginning compensates for that bit of stretch. To identify the crosswise and lengthwise grains, give the square a gentle tug in both directions; you should be able to tell immediately which side has more give. (Of course, you can cut the napkins 19¾” x 20″ initially but somehow I find trimming a 20″ square easier.)

2. At the ironing board, align 45º marking on ruler with top right edge of napkin as shown below. With a removable marking pen or pencil make a mark 1½” in from the edge of the napkin (not the edge of the ruler):

See the pink dot I made with the Frixion pen? It’s exactly an inch and a half in from the corner.

3. Bring point of fabric in to meet the mark and press:

4. Fold raw edges a generous ½” down and press all the way around. The pressed edges should form a miter at each corner:


5. Bring the raw edge in to meet the fold and press about 2″ in from the corner:


6. Fold again, forming a ¼”-inch miter. Press fold in place, again about 2″ in from the corner. Repeat for all corners. Do not press all the way around. Do not insert any pins yet.


7. Open up folds at each corner and trim a ¼”-square from the point of fabric. (You don’t need to use pins to hold the folds open before trimming; I did it here for photography purposes only.)


8. Place a pin at each corner to hold the miters in place:


9. Starting in the middle of any side, bring raw edge in to meet fold, fold again to form ¼”-inch fold, and finger press in place. The finger-pressed area is at the left edge of the photo:


10. Move to the sewing machine. Set stitch length at about 12 stitches to the inch (2.4 on computerized machine). Insert needle right next to the fold and begin stitching. Stop every couple of inches to make the two folds that form the quarter-inch hem.


11. As you approach the corner, remove the pin and use the point of a stiletto to hold the fold in place as you stitch toward the corner. Pivot when the needle is at the point the two folds meet. Remove second pin and continue stitching. When you get to the starting point, change stitch length to almost zero. Stitch three or four tiny stitches. Bring threads to the back and cut close to the line of stitching. Give the napkin a final press to set the stitches.


Add a pretty napkin ring, and you’re ready to set the table!

 

 

 

 

Posted in mitered corners, table napkins, tutorial, update | 5 Comments

Leaving on a Jet Plane

by Dawn Posted on November 16, 2012

Very early tomorrow morning, at a time I would much rather be sleeping, my husband and I are boarding a plane for Atlanta, Georgia to spend two weeks with my twin sister Diane and her husband. I have no doubt we’ll have a wonderful time. We always do!

As a hostess gift, I made Diane 12 table napkins:

A Dozen Table Napkins for Diane

 

The napkins, which measure 19″ square, will look good with Diane’s everyday white dishes from Pottery Barn and the beautiful Spode china in the Rosalie pattern that her mother-in-law gave her many years ago. The fabric is Heavenly Peace by Verna Mosquera for Free Spirit Fabrics. It’s been in my stash for a couple of years.

My plan was to make 16 napkins but I didn’t get them all done, so I’m taking four with me that are cut but not sewn. I can finish them while I’m there. Diane usually has a crowd at Thanksgiving, and I want to make sure there are enough to go around.

We use cloth napkins all the time at the Portland White House. Over the years I have experimented with mitered corners and have finally come up with a method I really like. In the next few days I will post a tutorial on how I make mitered corners for my table napkins. I hope you will come back for a lesson!

My Mitered Corners

 

 

 

 

Posted in update | 1 Comment

An Apron for Sandy

by Dawn Posted on November 9, 2012
Sandy’s Apron

I recently spent two delightful days in Kirkland, Washington with Sandy, my best friend from college. We met the first day of fall term our freshman year, when we discovered we were in two classes together, Survey of English Lit and First Year Italian.

That was over 40 years ago, and though there have sometimes been long gaps in our contact with each other, we’ve always picked right up where we left off.

Sandy is a professional book club facilitator, a gifted poet, a quilter, and a gourmet cook. I was the beneficiary of her culinary expertise, so when I came home I decided to make an apron for her as a thank you gift. I think it will look right at home in her French country kitchen.

Timtless Treasures fabric

 

 

 

The fabric, ‘Blue-C’ from Timeless Treasures, has been in my stash for two or three years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in update | 1 Comment

Are We Having Fun Yet?

by Dawn Posted on November 6, 2012

Oh, yeah! Since giving myself permission a few days ago to spend part of my sewing time playing with fabric (and not fretting too much about projects set aside for the time being), I’ve been sketching out ideas, making sample blocks, and washing and ironing the fabrics I have (ahem) recently acquired.

I even finished a quilt top. It’s a small top, but it’s still a top. Remember that Northcott fabric line called Ainsley that I was swooning over a couple of posts ago? I made a large kaleidoscope block out of the Jacobean floral border print:

22″ x 22″

 

One block, eight 45° triangles. Very simple. Since I was making only one block, I fussy-cut the triangles rather than stacking eight layers of fabric. I added the narrow black and green strip and the outer small geometric — both part of the Ainsley line — to the triangles before sewing them together. Here’s the back:

Back of Block

 

I haven’t decided yet which fabric to use for the binding on this little table topper. Once I do, it shouldn’t take long to finish it.

This project barely put a dent in the fabric I bought. Not to worry. You’ll be seeing plenty more of it. I already know what I’m going to make next.

 

 

Posted in kaleidoscope quilts, update | 4 Comments

An Apron for the DH

by Dawn Posted on November 4, 2012

If my Dear Husband were reading this post, he would look perplexed and say, “An apron for the Designated Hitter?” No, dear. Not even close.

I made him an apron today because his old one was pretty worn out. Here’s what his new apron looks like:

Carrots and Onions and Peppers, Oh My!

 

It’s a basic cobbler’s apron made from a Simplicity pattern dating back to the 1980s. I’ve probably made him a dozen aprons over the last 30 years using that same pattern. He wears one in the morning when he makes breakfast and in the evening when he cleans up the kitchen after I’ve made dinner. (You can see why I’m happy to keep making aprons for him.)

My DH is the gardener of the family so the veggie fabric, Metro Market by Pickens Design Studio for Robert Kaufman, was the perfect choice for him. I found it at cool cottons in SE Portland. It was the selvage that sold me. Look how the colors are printed on the selvage:

A Peck of Pickled Peppers?

 

Speaking of veggies, we had a bountiful crop of tomatoes this year, including some that continued to ripen during our unusually warm and dry October. My husband harvested all of the remaining green ones and decided to preserve them. He started with five alternating layers of sliced green tomatoes and onions . . .

Tomatoes and Onions, Sliced

. . . and ended with six pints of green tomato pickles and six of green tomato relish:

We Relish Green Tomatoes

 

 

 

Posted in aprons, family, update | 1 Comment

Permission Granted

by Dawn Posted on October 29, 2012

With little more than two months left of 2012, I’m feeling anxious about the number of projects I started this year but haven’t finished. I think of them as works-in-progress rather than UFOs, which means I have every intention of finishing them sooner rather than later. Quilt Camp is coming up in mid-November. I’ll have a three-day reprieve from cooking, cleaning, and (I have to confess it) wasting time on the computer. That should help me move at least a couple of projects from the “to do” list to the “ta da!” list.

Still, I’m chomping at the bit to start some new projects, inspired by ideas spinning in my head and by fabrics I’ve acquired lately (i.e. found utterly impossible to resist). I’ve decided to grant myself permission to spend the next two weeks and at least part of the remaining weeks of 2012 yielding to those impulses to play with fabric and be creative. The tradeoff is that I will devote the first month of 2013 to working only on my WIPs and UFOs. Okay. There it is in print.

So . . . where to begin? I want to do something with these fabrics, which include some of Denise Schmidt’s Flea Market Fancy in the aqua and red colorway, a large chevron stripe from Riley Blake, and an ombre that gradates from white to charcoal gray:

A Winning Combo: Red, Aqua, Grey, White

 

As you can see, I’ve already cut strips. I’m experimenting with the Disappearing 9-Patch design, for which free tutorials abound. At this point I don’t know how many of these fabrics I will actually use — but isn’t that part of the fun of playing around with them?

I don’t often buy several fabrics in the same line but I fell in love — deeply in love — with these prints from the Ainsley line for Northcott fabrics:

Beautiful Fabrics from Northcott

 

I have a weakness for Jacobean florals, and this grouping features the most delicious shade of green, which happens to be my favorite color. I added that herringbone batik to the mix; doesn’t it look good with the other fabrics? I’m not sure what I’ll do with this grouping yet but don’t be surprised if kaleidoscopes make an appearance.

A few months ago I saw this giant poppy print with companion fabrics online and then found the real thing at a quilt shop near Kirkland, Washington earlier this month while visiting my best friend from college:

Scarlet Line from Clothworks

The line is Scarlet, designed by Pamela Mostek for Clothworks. I read somewhere that the poppy print is a rerelease. If so, I completely missed it the first time around. The fabric in this line has a lovely soft hand — and it was on sale, which sealed the deal.

I am surrounded by beautiful fabric. Let the creativity begin!

 

 

 

Posted in update | 2 Comments

Framboise

by Dawn Posted on October 25, 2012

I’ve finally added Framboise to my Quilt Gallery. I’ve learned that one way to keep your patterns current is to make new versions in updated fabrics. I didn’t do that here, though. I used fabric that’s been in my stash for some time (Hydrangeas and Raspberries by Holly Holderman for Lake House Dry Goods) because I knew it would make a striking 4-Patch Wonder quilt. I actually put these blocks together early last year. It’s taken me this long to finish the top and get it backed, quilted, bound, labeled and photographed.

framboise august 2012
Framboise, 69″ x 84″ (2012)

 

I wish I had documented the process of arranging the blocks on my design wall. I usually start by putting my favorite block in the upper left hand corner but sometimes I have to move it for the sake of balance. Here’s a close-up of my favorite block, which wound up in the upper middle center of the quilt:

Dawn’s Favorite Block

 

Framboise was quilted by Melissa Hoffman. I asked Melissa to choose an edge-to-edge design with vines, leaves and scrolls and to use a light pink and green variegated thread. The effect is soft and subtle, just what I wanted. Here’s a better look at the motif:

Quilting Detail

 

I usually play around with leftover blocks on the back but I was in “get ‘er done” mode at the time so all I did was add a strip of the original focus fabric:

Back of Framboise

 

You can’t see it in the photos but the white background on the Lakehouse fabric has a secondary design that is very lightly frosted. It adds a glow to the quilt that I love. The rest of the backing fabric is a pastel batik that I’ve had for quite a while. Here’s a closer look at the quilting on the back:

Detail of Quilting on Back

 

Naming this quilt did not come easily. A host of alliterative titles came to mind – Blossoms and Berries, Berries and Blooms, even a pun on the Bloomsbury Group. In the end I decided on Framboise (raspberry in French) on the basis that it refers not only to the berry but to the color of the hydrangeas.

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, faux-kaleido quilts, update | 6 Comments

An Experiment: Sewing Machine Dust Cover

by Dawn Posted on October 14, 2012

Regular readers may remember the sewing machine cover I started in July when I was in Sisters OR with my quilt group. My intention was to make a cover for the Janome 6500 that spends most of its time in my sewing room. I have a smaller Janome for classes but the big one goes with me on extended trips.

My Janome 6500 was with me in Sisters when I took its measurements and made the block for the front. Weeks later, when I was ready to work on the cover again, I realized the measurements I had taken in Sisters, while accurate, were wrong for this project. My sewing table features a drop-in ledge for the sewing machine so that the bed of the machine is flush with the table top. My sewing machine sits a full 3″ below the surface of the table, something my original measurements didn’t take into account. Oops.

The block I had already made couldn’t be cut down so I decided to finish the sewing machine cover and use it for traveling, and then make a new one that would stay in my sewing room.

That’s what I’ve been experimenting with. I decided to make a really simple cover without batting or quilting — and without a pattern. I just followed the lines of the vinyl cover that came with my Janome 6500. Rather than making a test version in muslin, I chose to use a beautiful cotton print. My rationale was that if I made the cover in muslin and it turned out well, all I would have was a plain muslin cover. If I made it in a pretty fabric and it didn’t turn out well, I could cut it apart and save the scraps for another project.

But it did turn out well! Take a look:

Sewing Machine Dust Cover

 

The main fabric is from the Garden Medley line by Susie Johnson for RJR and the binding fabric is a lime green Kona Bay blender. Here’s a slightly different view:

Another View

 

The fabric on the inside is a soft striped batik from my stash:

Batik Stripe on the Inside

 

I interfaced the inside fabric to give the dust cover extra body. Instead of finishing the binding by hand, I fused it with 1/4″-wide Steam-a-Seam 2.

Now my mind is racing with ideas on refining the design. I don’t really need another sewing machine dust cover but I’d love to make one in different fabrics — I already know which ones — incorporating some patchwork and/or applique. I’d also like to try piping on the top and side edges and double-fold bias tape around the bottom edge.

I probably won’t get to it right away but — you never know. Sounds like a good rainy day project to me.

 

 

 

Posted in Janome 6500 sewing machine, sewing machine cover, update | 2 Comments