25 to 50% off fabric bundles at JoJo's

I have several projects in the works, but I am not ready to share them, so here is another sale tip!

JoJo's Gift Shoppe has all fabric bundles on sale right now. Did you miss out on some Fig Tree lines and wish you'd bought them? Here's your chance! They have some very hard to find fabric lines along with newer ones like French General. 

Their shop is moving soon, so they will be having sales every few days. You can sign up for emails from them to hear first hand about it.

I have ordered from Joelle in the past. You get fast shipping and great service. That is why I recommend the shop AND the sale. 

Soon, I will be posting about my process in creating my own quilt design. If you are interested in that, stay tuned!

Two More Fabric Sales

 

Happy First Day of Fall!

I have to pass on this information to you! I have been blowing through my stash this year and I am seeing quite a few missing colors now. If you have a chance to restock because of a great sale or free shipping (or both!) you do it don't you?

Hancock's of Paducah has free shipping until the 26th with the code SHIPFREE. $30 minimum purchase in the US. Check out their clearance fabrics! There is a ton of selections in the $4.98 section! Fig Tree Fabrics, French General, lots of In the Beginning lines.

Also, Fabric Depot has 30% off all quilting fabrics and 35% off all batiks! Hurry on over!

*This photo is courtesy of my brother in law, a professional photographer.

The price of fabric: this week's deal

If you have watched fabric prices go up and up and wondered if you have to give up your beloved quilting hobby like I have, don't give up hope!

I am going to link to sales when I know about them. I am not getting any benefit from this. No sponsors, no deals for passing on the word. Just the good feeling I get knowing you saved on some stash and can keep quilting!

Here is today's deal: The Quilted Castle 15% off jelly rolls. And their prices are already very reasonable. The sale lasts through September 25th, so hurry over!

Ideas Too Many

My head is going to explode with all the fantastic ideas I've seen on other blogs and in magazines. Sometimes I get such an onslaught of ideas, I want to go in a hundred directions at once. Anyone else? It is a frenzy that hits me a few times a year.

Check out this amazing quilt from SewKatieDid's blog. It is her Value Quilt, and she has a tutorial posted on the right side of her blog so we can all make one. I read about it here, and I so wish there was a class here in Pensacola for this. I will have to wing it! I am so awestruck by this quilt that I made it my desktop image at work. The quilting mesmerizes me. The mismatching of the fabrics that all work together somehow. Wow.

What I have noticed about the fabrics she used here is the almost total absence of whites and off-whites. Do I even have many fabrics without those lights in them? I know I am really lacking in the Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler realm of fabric stash. I must work on that.

Other things buzzing around in my little brain: wall hangings and small quilts from the bazillion tiny HSTs I've accumulated. I hate clutter, but I can't throw these corner trimmings away. I know there are beautiful possibilities waiting in them. I just need a sewing fairy to stitch and press all of them, then trim them up for me. This is one example, "Sew Small."  Or the many options from Laundry Basket Quilts like "Deep Blue Sea" "Tree Farm" or "Mountain Top." Edyta is not letting her little scraps go to waste at all!

Also, since I have been pulling out UFOs this year and actually finishing them, what about my box of 1 1/2" strips in Fall colors? Log Cabin? Pineapple blocks? I need to decide and start knocking them out. I would love to have very few boxes of half finished projects and ideas laying around.

On a totally separate note, do you have someone in your life struggling with depression, low self esteem, doubt, or hard times? I think these songs are especially important for girls and young women in today's world, but they can be a message to so many people, I shouldn't limit the targets to girls. I just know these mean a lot to my daughter. And to me. I have rediscovered the world of Christian music and I am loving it. I cannot wait to have a local concert get scheduled. I am buying cds and listening to the one station that plays the music all the time now. I feel good inside. Shouldn't we all? These are NOT preachy songs. They are life-affirming. They speak about valuing yourself because God does. That is something all people need to hear, right?

Listen to this - what a wonderful song. So powerful and moving. So much emotion in her voice.
Then listen to this one. And this.   Then go and have yourself a fabulous day!

A Design Wall or Two

Do you have a good sized design wall? I didn't for a long time. When I no longer had a spare bed to lay out blocks on, I did some internet research on how to make one, what people thought of them, and which was the least expensive.

 My goal was to have one that was very light, so if I needed to move it to another room, I could without help. I wanted to spend very little, have somthing that will last a long time and be good sized. I also needed to be able to keep it semi clean. After looking at many good ideas, I chose the foam insulation board design wall. Sorry, I don't remember where I spotted the tutorial, but you can easily make one from what I tell you here.

Foam insulation board is sold at home improvement stores. It is a drywall sized sheet of foam, with silver paper on one side. I trimmed a foot off one end so it is shorter than the room. Foam board weighs only a few ounces, so you will never strain yourself moving this baby! I also purchased a spray can of adhesive while at that store. This is the easiest and fastest way to get your fabric cover to stick to the foam board. Additional perks are: you can pin your blocks to it over and over, having a vertical view of your project is great not only for your neck, but for photographing as well, and you could slide it under a bed or behind a door to get it out of sight.

I purchased 4 yards of wide diaper flannel. Some people have used batting, however batting falls apart when you try to clean off the loose threads. With diaper flannel, you can use one of those lint rollers on the surface without worrying about tears or sagging. Just be aware that if you need to piece your fabric to cover the board, you should sew the pieces together first. Don't try lining up the ends on the glue, because they will slide apart leaving a gap.

To make the board, set it up on a table or some saw horses outside on a relatively windless day. You could spray it in your garage if you have the garage door up for ventilation. DO NOT SPRAY THIS INDOORS! Spray the adhesive evenly across one end of the foam board to a width of about 1 foot. Lay down the end of your flannel over the adhesive, leaving several inches of overhang off the end and sides, then smooth - smooth - smooth to get the flannel stuck down good on that adhesive. Spray another one foot section the width of the foam board and smooth. Continue until you have the whole board covered and no lumps or bubbles. You can then fold the extra flannel around to the back and staple it, sew it, tack it, whatever you like to secure it. (Excuse the unsecured flannel peeking out here, I needed the design wall right away and haven't gotten back to that!)

The cost of making it: about $25. That is very affordable, don't you think? Since I am constantly making things, my design walls are in use ALL THE TIME!


I make a lot of large quilts, so I have 2 of these design walls, which allows me to step back and look at most, if not all, the blocks. This is very handy for someone who constantly changes their mind about arrangement and color choices!

Pictured above: Picnic (layout) from Kim Brackett's "Scrap Basket Surprises" book, made this past weekend during Tropical Storm Lee. Also, applique projects in progress.

If you decide to make one of these, I'd love to hear from you!

What I've Been Up To

You may have noticed the complete lack of Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks in the last few weeks. Yes, I did burn out. I knew I would. It was partly the templates, partly the lack of squareness to the blocks, and I just plain got bored.

Today I read a post on genxquilters Annemarie's blog about how she has been reinspired by paper piecing the blocks. She signed up for the Yahoo group, and that is where she got the printable paper piecing sheets. She had heard about it from Michelle at http://cityhousestudio.blogspot.com/ . Now I know I was not the only one struggling to complete the sampler quilt! Now I can give this another shot and get better at paper piecing too. All the other blog posts I've read about paper piecing these blocks are rave reviews about perfect points and square blocks.

Just to be sure I am doing it correctly, I found this video tutorial on paper piecing.

In other news, I finished the back to the Island Chain quilt and dropped that off for quilting, sold the American Sweetheart quilt, made 4 more pairs of infant play pants for my friend's granddaughter, and appliqued a bit more on my Fall projects from last year.

Then I needed a total break from sewing so I hit the bookstore. I wanted to get "the Count of Monte Cristo" because I love the movie versions, but instead I chose others. And of course I bought books for Tyler while I was there! Duh! He was very excited to have a big book of Backyardigans tales, Mr. Seahorse, and a new copy of "Goodnight, Moon." How he loves his moon book. I got the hardcover version after our board book totally fell apart from use. If you need recommendations on childrens books, I am a childrens book fanatic. Ask me! For Tyler, bedtime always means story time. Whether we tell stories in the dark, or read books after his bath, there is no sleeping without stories.

For me, I bought "the Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho and read it in 24 hours. It is so interesting. It is sort of a combination of Hemingway and fable in its writing style. You could take some very deep lessons about life and perspective away from it. I will have to read it again to really take it all in. This is not a life-changing motivational book or a new form of spiritualism or anything (at least it is not for me) but it is definitely not one of those summer beach reads that are totally forgettable. It makes you think about things.

I also bought "My Antonia" by Willa Cather, because Nicole of Sister's Choice Quilts blogged about it a while back. I love literature, but, sadly, I fall far short of having read all the classics. I'm about half way through this one and like it very much.

When I get involved in reading, I am totally absorbed. I do not sew at all. But I will be back at the design wall again soon. I have tshirt quilt to finish and loads of ideas for my stash. I'll be back!

3 Fabric Tube and French Seams Pillowcase Tutorial

How many of us have made a pillowcase for the Million Pillowcase Challenge? Or made one to accompany a quilt for Quilts of Valor? There are tutorials everywhere, and I am adding mine to the mix. Google "pillowcase tutorial" and you'll get over 600,000 results. Those are just tutorials. And then there are all the blogs that have been done about making these. I've seen people fancy theirs up with prairie points, crocheted edges, lace, piping, ric rac, bows, but I am going to keep it manageable and durable because these are for my toddler grandson. Making them is so easy and fun, it may be addicting.

To start off, you'll need fabric for the body, the trim and the border (cuff.) You must have the full width of fabric and you'll need that for all 3 pieces. For the main body of our pillowcase, you want 26 1/2" by the width of the fabric for a twin/queen sized pillow. Trim to make it squared up. I had bought this colorful alien print with the idea of making a crib sheet, but never got around to it. And because I bought that much in one length of yardage, there is plenty enough to make a set of two!

Looking in my stash, I found the black with tiny lime green specks print - just enough for 2 trim pieces! and the lime green with bright green triangles print for the border (or cuff, or whatever you want to call it.) Once you have made your decision, it is all downhill from there.

Cut the trim piece 3" wide x WOF, then press with wrong sides together so that you have a long, 1 1/2" wide strip. Set aside.

Cut the cuff fabric 10" wide x WOF. Now you should have all three fabrics cut and ready to sew!

Lay your cuff fabric face up on your work surface. Next will be the fabric for the main pillowcase, also face up, aligning the top and side edges with the cuff piece. On top of both of those you'll line up the trim piece, folded edge away from the top. You can pin a bit here to keep them lined up.

Here's the fun part. Roll up the main body fabric so that you can see the cuff fabric below and above it. Bring the cuff fabric up over the roll and pin to that you have a roll that sandwiches the main part of the pillowcase inside it like a burrito. You want your roll to be small enough to not get caught in the seam. Stitch a 1/2" seam along the pinned edge. Backstitch the start and end for stability.

Now reach inside the tube and gently pull the body of the pillowcase out. 

Now you are ready to make your French seam! Go ahead and even up the sides trimming off the selvages to get to a 42" width and give it a quick press. Fold the case in half, matching up the trim and cuff top. Make sure that the fold of the trim piece is not pointing toward the top, but toward the bottom, on both ends. Pin the sides together all the way down and along the bottom. You will sew a 1/4" seam, pivoting at the bottom corner for a continuous seam. When you are done, trim off the point on the corner so there is less bulk inside the seam.

Trim up any fraying threads, then turn your pillowcase inside out. Wrong sides together. Push the corners out so they have a nice crisp point and press. You can spray starch too if you like. It is not a bad idea to put a few pins in the keep the top edge and the trim even at this point too. Now you'll make a 3/8" to 1/2" seam all the way down and around again, pivoting at the corner.

And VOILA! A beautiful pillowcase with all the seams locked inside!

Repeat the steps as needed so that every bed in your house has fun, colorful pillows waiting for sleepyheads!