Fast Placemats

Oh, boy.  I should work on my photo editing skills!  The actual color of the Timeless Treasures Denim fabric is somewhat inbetween the color of the blues in the two photos.  I could spend more time making them look better, but, the weather outside today is BEAUTIFUL and I need to exit the studio and get some fresh air!  I did want to show you, however, how cute these placemats are!  I got some of the denim print fabric from Sew Complete in Eau Claire, and my friend, Kim, gave me some cool red fabrics that I thought would be perfect with the blue.  I used the self-binding method talked about in this You Tube tutorial.   I have used this method for burp cloths and baby blankets, and it works just as good for fast placemats.  The secret ingredient?  Soft and Stable!  Yep, again.  Love that stuff.  Right before you stitch the seam that you used for turning the fabric right side out, you stuff in a layer of the Soft and Stable.  It is very similar to putting a pillow case on a pillow.  Smooth in place, press, stitch.  I used two rows of straight stitching using Jean Stitch thread in the Levi Jeans color.  I thought it was a good choice.  For a 18" x 12" placemat, you cut the main fabric 24.5" x 18.5" and the accent fabric 12.5" x 6.5".  The Soft and Stable is cut 18" x 12".  Follow the You Tube tutorial, leaving an opening in one long side, about 4 inches long, to insert the Soft and Stable once the placemat is tuned right side out and pressed.  Turn under the open edge and topstich in place.  A decorative stitch would work great, too.  Yee haw!  Jerilynn

Ready to Travel

My new Ditty Bag!  It's one of ByAnnie's newest patterns and uses Soft and Stable to give the bag structure.  Very fun pattern to make!  The fabric I used was Hometown by Sweetwater, and while I was making this bag, I was smiling the whole time as I ran across towns that I had visited over the years.  Somewhere in the fabric there is even Chippewa Falls, where we used to live, but I didn't locate that name in the piece of fabric I was using.  I made the medium size (the pattern has instructions for three sizes) and it should be just right for my make-up.  I didn't line it in plastic, but, all the fabric and components are machine washable, so I should be good to go.  Some people have big  maps on their wall with push pins marking the places they visit.  I could just whip out my lipstick and make a mark on my bag.  Clever.  Jerilynn  P.S.  Thanks for all the comments lately.  It really is so much fun to get a message!  Almost as much fun as sewing.

Changes

As I sit at my desk in the studio, I can spy a maple tree that has somehow manage to dip a few of its leaves in orange and red paint.  How can that be?  Summer is almost gone?  These past few months have been non-stop friends and family, which is exactly what we had hoped would happen once we moved here and added on.  For the most part, the weather has been perfect for Northern Wisconsin.  Lots of lake time, patio time, a few good fires.  The leaves remind me, though, that changes are happening.  School is starting, vacations are mostly over.  Fewer visitors, smaller food budget.  I had a bit of a feeling come over me that I get when I put away the Christmas decorations: a calmer time is coming.  Along with that change, our living room/dining room has changed.  We had planned for many years to expand out toward the lake, off the kitchen, for a bigger dining room or living room.  After talking with some experts, and really looking at the restrictions we would need to work with, we came to the conclusion that it just wasn't going to happen.  So, we looked around at what we had to work with.  Maybe our space wasn't too small - maybe our furniture was too big!  The dining room table was made for our space at the condo, big and square with big chairs.  The couch was an over-sized sleeper sofa that wasn't getting slept in with all the new bedrooms.  Add in a big trunk/coffee table, two big Lazy-boys (not pretty, but really comfy!).  Presto, change-o!  Gone! Now we have a smaller couch (red!), and a beautiful wood table that is just the right size, Goldilocks.  The trunk is perfect in one of the bedrooms to store bedding and be a good perch for a suitcase.  The big table?  It is the right size for the studio!  Little changes added up to a much bigger space.  It was there all along, right under our noses.  The quilt blocks in the picture?  Soon to be changed into a quilt!  I will show you the result soon.  Jerilynn  P.S.  I told Carl that my plan all along was to get new furniture.  I just had to figure out a way to make him think that it was the best idea ever!

Multi Zippered Pockets Bag

New tote bag!  I was inspired by some Sue Spargo Renaissance Ribbons and by a bag I saw that had rows of ribbons sewn together to make the fabric for the bag.  I wanted to use some of the hidden zipper pockets that I talked about in this blog post.  I had some nice, heavy neutral canvas fabric, and a few yards of some ribbon, and this tote bag is the result.  I made three hidden zipper pockets, using three different colors of zippers and inside pocket materials.  Five different ribbons were used, straight-stitched down.  I attached a rectangle flap with some hook and loop tape to somewhat close up the tote, squared off the bottom, and asked Carl, nicely, to cut a masonite bottom to put inside for stability.  Inside it is lined in red (are you surprised?) with a little pocket.  This idea could go in many directions:  You could used machine decorative stitches instead of ribbons.  You could do color blocking in each area.  You could label each pocket with machine alphabets or fabric paints or markers ("keys", "cash", "candy", etc.)  The top of the bag could be closed with a zipper, and the back of the bag, now plain, could sport a sewn-on zippered pocket.  I like it.  Jerilynn

Moda Bakeshop Show Off Your Stash!

Moda Bakeshop is holding a Show off Your Stash! link party.  I thought I might take a few pictures and show you around.  This studio is only a year old, a 900 square foot third floor addition to our cabin, now our year-round home.  My husband did all the work, even building most of the specialized sewing/crafting units.  They are all on wheels to allow for flexibility and all the same height to group together for large work surfaces.  First picture is an overall view as you come up the stairs to "Heaven"!

 This is the pressing area with my Isacord threads in numerical order and a peek to the bathroom on the left.

Chicken Little

If you plan on coming to Cumberland's Rutabaga Fest this weekend (80th annual!)  and want to stop by our place for a nice cool drink on a patio with a view, better bring a hard hat!  The acorns are dropping early this year and are nice and plump.  Thunk!  Thunk!  We listen to that fun noise all day and all night and take great sport in dodging the acorns as they fall during the day.  Sometimes I suspect that our neighborhood squirrels take much delight in actually throwing them down at us.  At one point Carl put up our big patio umbrella to protect my head!  Just walking on the grass is a dance - those marbles are everywhere!  Hills are tricky.  The weather has been so delightfully cool at night so far this August that our windows have been open all day and night - we listen to the loons calling, see the moon shining (blue  moon this August!!), and hear the plop of the oak tree nuts.  Can't get much better than that.  Add sparkling water views during the day - perfect Hamm's beer commercials ("From the Land of Sky Blue Waters..").  Simply heaven.  The little chicken pin cushion I made from fabric selvedges was brave enough to pose with some of the newly fallen acorns, but quickly waddled into the house for protection.  The sky is falling!!! Jerilynn 

Finished Silk Hearts Quilt

Silk Hearts quilt is done!  I finished the quilting and binding last night.  I am very pleased with how it turned out and enjoyed the process very much.  The swirls and feather quilting was relaxing to do...I am looking forward to using those in another quilt.  We have picked out a spot in the studio that would be perfect for it, but requires some tricky ladder work...yikes.  Once it is up, I imagine it will stay in that spot for a while.  I sure hope I like it there!  Jerilynn