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Checking In

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Empty by jenib320
Empty, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
We're on the eve of the big drive from Cleveland to Madison, so I thought I'd check in. The apartment is empty, everything is packed, we're all ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning. Since I don't know when I'll be able to get on here, I thought I should get a quick post up! :)

Treats by jenib320
Treats, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I indulged in a few little treats for myself this week. I have been very good and haven't even peeked into my magazine yet!

Floss by jenib320
Floss, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I posted the floss photos to flickr from my guest post on floss color choices last week. It looks like candy!

Whoops by jenib320
Whoops, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I may have accidently bought another piece of Cathrineholm (someone stop me!!). In my defense it is yellow, a baking pan, AND it was on sale. What was I supposed to do?! ;)

George by jenib320
George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
George baby is all ready for the trip. He doesn't like the car much so I'm of course worrying about the drive for him! I bought some of his favorite treats for the trip!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Home
Sound of: James Taylor
Taste of: Stew
Sight of: Freshly washed sheets
Feel of: Cool diet coke!

Good Things about Today:
- Finished packing!
- Registered for classes for Sewing Summit!
- Did a little last minute thrifting, lots of sheets!
- Phone calls from Amanda are keeping me sane! :)
- Today is over!

Lately

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Something New by jenib320
Something New, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
It feels like it's been forever since I've done a regular post. I wanted to fill you all in on the happenings around here before this week gets underway, since posting will be rather scarce this week and next. On Friday we make the big drive up to Madison, WI!

I have been doing a lot of things I have to do lately, and so yesterday I decided to do something I wanted to do. And that was make myself a new camera strap cover. My old camera strap cover was starting to get really dirty! I had some decent sized scraps of Sherbet Pips leftover from my quilt and these square dots seemed like the perfect cheerful fabric for something I use everyday. I left out the pink on white print knowing how quickly it would get dirty! :)

Vintage Sheets by jenib320
Vintage Sheets, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Thank you to everyone who purchased from my shop sale! I have almost all the orders shipped or ready to be shipped. Thank you for your patience!

Vintage Quilt by jenib320
Vintage Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
While I was home this week I took some photographs of one of my favorite vintage quilts. I would really love to recreate it. Perhaps as a little quilt along this fall? You can see the whole quilt here.

Vintage Quilt by jenib320
Vintage Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Speaking of vintage quilts, I picked up this cut up vintage quilt last week for $6! It has 29 appliqued butterfly blocks still intact. I plan on taking out all the quilting and re-piecing the blocks together into a new quilt. It will be a long project but I'm really excited about it!

New Cathrineholm! by jenib320
New Cathrineholm!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I found these two Cathrineholm pieces this past week. The brown pot I paid the price at a vintage shop, but it was totally worth it. It's in lovely condition and I don't have any of that size yet. It all evened out because I found the bottom pan this afternoon at a thrift shop for $2!!! It just needs a lid! :D

Starburst Space Saver by jenib320
Starburst Space Saver, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Look, new Pyrex too! I was able to meet up with a flickr friend (and pyrex lover!), and she gave me this beautiful Starburst Space Saver! Isn't it gorgeous? I love it!

George by jenib320
George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
George baby :)

Today I love the..
Smell of: Home
Sound of: Harry Potter 7
Taste of: Bread!
Sight of: George
Feel of: Relaxing

Good Things about Today:
- Cathrineholm for $2!!!
- Yummy lunch with Mom!
- Packed up lots of orders!
- Much needed phone call from Amanda :)
- Seeing some packing progress.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial

Friday, July 22, 2011

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Cutting is one of my least favorite parts of the sewing/quilting process. So I knew that anything that could make the cutting faster and easier was right up my alley! Enter, the Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutter*. I have been playing around with it for a week or so, and I love it! It does require a little cutting prep work, but it's totally worth it! After I cut my rectangles the right size for the least amount of waste, I cut out 50 triangles in 2-3 minutes easy.

Today I'm going to share a tutorial with you using the Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutter*, making a Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow. It's quilted and fully lined, featuring an envelope back. I used pink and yellow for mine, but you could use any colors you want. Regardless of the cutting method you use, you'll be making 25 half-square triangles that are 3.5" unfinished and 3" finished. I've including measurements for both rotary cutting and the fabric cutter:

I was sent this machine by Accuquilt in exchange for writing this post. All opinions, images and text are my own. I've used affiliate links in this post (noted with an *), which means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Sewing Level: Intermediate

Materials:
- 2 fat quarters of pink fabric**
- 2 fat quarters of yellow fabric**
- 1/2 yard of backing fabric
- 1/4 yard of binding fabric
- 18"x18" piece of muslin fabric
- 18"x18" piece of batting
- 14" pillow form

**Minimum amount required. Use additional yardage for more variety.

Cutting:
If cutting with a rotary cutter:
- (25) yellow 4" squares
- (25) pink 4" squares

If cutting with an Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutter* with the HST-3" Triangle Die:
- (7) 4.75" x 9.5" pieces of yellow fabric
- (7) 4.75" x 9.5" pieces of pink fabric

From binding fabric:
- Cut (2) 2.5" x WOF strips

From backing fabric:
- Cut (2) 15.5"x18" pieces

If you'd like to learn more about working with vintage sheets, check out my post: How to Identify, Shop for and Sew with Vintage Sheets.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Instructions:

Use a 1/4" seam allowance unless otherwise noted.

1. If you're using the fabric cutter, carefully align a few of your rectangles on the HST die and roll it through the cutter. Repeat until all your triangles are cut! If you're using a rotary cutter, cut 50 4" squares, 25 pink, 25 yellow.

2. Separate your pink and yellow pieces. Make pairs (of triangles or squares, depending on your cutting method!) with one pink and one yellow.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
3. Sew your HSTs. If you're using the fabric cutter, carefully sew your sets of triangles together, making sure they feed evenly through your sewing machine. If you're making regular HSTs, you can refer to my Half-Square Triangle Tutorial if you need help!

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
4. Once your HSTs are all finished, be sure to press them and square up to 3.5" if necessary. I didn't do any squaring or trimming with mine, they were quite accurate!

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
5. I've included a diagram of my layout above if you'd like to use it, I went with an off center diamond. The nice thing about HSTs is the endless design possibilities! Go ahead and lay out your pillow top.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Work in progress!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
6. Carefully stack up your rows and mark them accordingly. Sew your rows, pressing to one side, alternating each row. For example, press the 1st, 3rd, and 5th row to the right, press the 2nd and 4th row to the left. This allows your seams to nestle together!

7. After your rows are sewn, sew them together to complete your pillow top. The top should be 14.5" square.

8. Now that the top is finished, baste it, using a muslin or scrap fabric for the backing. You won't see it, it will be the inside of the pillow. If you need a refresher on basting, you can check out my Basting Tutorial.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
9. Quilt it however you'd like! For mine, I did free motion lines on the diagonal. I used loose lines in the yellow parts and tighter lines in the pink parts to play up the contrast.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Pillow Top, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
10. Trim away the excess batting and backing, and square up your pillow top. It might be slightly less than 14.5" square now since the quilting squishes it up a little, that's okay!

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
11. Now let's make the envelope back. This method does take a little more fabric, but no hemming, yay! Take your two 18"x14.5" rectangles and fold them in half width-wise so they are now 9"x14.5". Press.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
12. Top stitch along the fold you just made, 1/4"-1/8", whichever you'd like.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
13. Lay one rectangle down on your cutting mat. Set your pillow top on top of it, lining up the bottom edge (raw) and one side edge (also raw). You may have a little extra on one side like me, go ahead and trim that off! Repeat with the other piece.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
14. Now that everything is the right size, pin your backing pieces to the back of your pillow top. You want your top-sitched edges to both be in the center. They will overlap, that's what we want! Before starting in on the binding, I would suggest quickly basting your edges with a zig-zag to secure them. It will just make the binding go more smoothly!

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
15. Binding: Trim off selvedges and sew your binding strips together to form one long strip, press seams open. Fold in half lengthwise, pressing with your iron as you fold. Attach binding using your preferred method. For a detailed tutorial on attaching your binding to both sides by machine, see here.

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Voila, you're finished! Enjoy your pretty new pillow!

Vintage Sheet Half-Square Triangle Pillow Tutorial - In Color Order
Vintage Sheet HST Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Mine is hanging out with my other three pillows for our futon! It feels a little more complete now that there are two big ones and two little ones.

Happy Quilting!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Favorites

Favorites by jenib320
Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
1. Calico Quilt., 2. Section #4 Mrs Roy G Biv, 3. 19 - Winner, 4. quilt top on bed, 5. Tangerine and Turquoise Stars, 6. Dresdens, 7. Lone Star on a starry night, 8. Basting the Triangle Quilt, 9. DQS11- Mini Red Cross Quilt Top

Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!

Happy Friday!

Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors - In Color Order
Today I'm talking about choosing floss colors as a part of Friendship Bracelet Week, hosted by Amanda and Jenn!

This was originally published as a guest tutorial on The Modern Marigold.

Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors - In Color Order
Personally, my favorite part about making Friendship Bracelets is choosing the colors! There are so many different colors of embroidery floss, it's like candy for crafters! I know however, that it can be overwhelming, especially since you're usually only choosing 4 or 5 colors! How do you narrow it down? I'm going to walk you through how I choose three different types of color palettes. I hope it makes it easier for you to put together your own color combinations!

1. Inspiration Fabric or Photo
Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors - In Color Order
This is my go-to method for choosing a color scheme. Find a fabric, photo, item of clothing, or any other object that has an appealing color scheme to you. If you can, take it along with you when you shop for floss and match colors to your item. Easy! For my scheme, I choose this plum Heather Ross Mendocino print. I choose colors from the background, the mermaid's hair, her tail, and the octopus. I ended up choosing the following DMC floss colors: very dark grape (154), dark mauve (3803), very dark cranberry (600), and dark straw (3820).

2. Monochromatic
Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors - In Color Order
Especially if you're doing a funky patterned bracelet, a monochromatic color scheme can create some cool effects! So, choose a color that you like, then choose the same color in different values (light--dark). And don't forget about neutrals! For my monochromatic scheme I went with gray. From light to dark I choose the following DMC floss colors: winter white (3865), ultra very light mocha brown (3866), very light brown gray (3024), light beaver gray (648).

3. Two-toned
Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors - In Color Order
If you still find yourself struggling to choose colors, this is a great, easy way to put together a color scheme. In this method, you're letting the floss do the work for you! Choose any two colors that you like. In my case I choose tangerine (740), and dark seagreen (958). Now, for the next two colors, I simply choose a lighter value of my first two colors. So to pair with tangerine, I choose medium tangerine (741). And for dark seagreen, I paired it with light seagreen (964)!

Tutorial: How to Choose Floss Colors - In Color Order
It's a lot easier, and more fun, to shop for floss in person. Most craft stores carry a good selection of floss! Don't be afraid to play around with different color combinations, it may take a few tries before you find something that you like! These are just a few of the many ways to put together color schemes! :)

I would like to point out two great online resources if you're using DMC brand embroidery floss. The first is a Color Descriptions Chart. This lets you look up the floss by # and find the color name. The second is a Color Chart. You can see a preview of each color along with it's color #.

Moving Sale!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Moving Sale! by jenib320
Moving Sale!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Having a BIG Moving Sale in the shop this week! On Saturday I will close the shop for two weeks while we finish getting ready and finally making the big move to Wisconsin! I'll re-open once we get settled!

Vintage Sheets by jenib320
Vintage Sheets, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
All fat quarters in the shop are $2 each or $1.75 if you buy 10 or more!

Vintage Sheets by jenib320
Vintage Sheets, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Pillowcases are all on sale for only $3, and scrap packs are on sale too!

I have also added three new items to the shop, grab bags!

Vintage Sheet Fat Quarters by jenib320
Vintage Sheet Fat Quarters, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
There are two different fat quarter grab bags! One is 5 fat quarters and the other is 10 fat quarters! Let me pick a selection for you at a bargain! :)

Vintage Sheet Scraps by jenib320
Vintage Sheet Scraps, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
There is also a scrap grab bag which is filled with a pound of all different sized scraps!

So head on over if you'd like! I will be adding new sheet patterns after the move!

Harry Potter Craft Swap Received!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Look what my wonderful friend Amanda sent me for our Harry Potter swap!! I've been spoiled rotten! I am now on the hunt for more Harry Potter legos (they are super cool!), and that magazine has been an amazing read so far! All things Harry Potter!

You can see what I sent Amanda, here!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
HOW AMAZING IS THIS!? A beautiful wall hanging featuring Harry's patronous and the spell! I wish you could see it in person! It is so so so awesome! Umm and it's being hung up by a wand!!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Harry Potter t-shirt! So cheeky and perfect! Shall be wearing this on Tuesday when I go see Harry Potter again with Angela! Along with my lightning bolt headband of course!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
OH MY GOSH! Yes, this is a petite blythe dressed as a hogwarts student, Hermione for sure! My mind is blown! Also check out that artwork in the background isn't that cool? Will look great on my inspiration board!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Last but certainly not least, Hedwig! We both made each other owls, haha! Isn't he so sweet looking? I love him! :)

Thank you Amanda for the best swap ever! I am so so so glad we are friends and are both dorky! :D We are already planning our next Harry Potter swap, we're thinking dragons!

PS - LOVED the movie! Cannot wait to see it again!! Did you guys see it/like it? :)

Favorites

Friday, July 15, 2011

Favorites by jenib320
Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
1. Kona Challenge Quilt, 2. rebounding, 3. munki munki scrappy log cabin dolls quilt, 4. mini quilt madness, 5. churnbaby, 6. Amy's Spiderweb - 192:365, 7. Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, 8. Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, 9. Bee's Knees October Quilt- In Progress

Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!

Happy Friday!

Harry Potter Craft Swap!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
A few months ago, Amanda and I, being the über-geeks we are, decided to do a Harry Potter craft swap! We were inspired after seeing this seriously awesome hoop art! We talked a bit about our favorite characters, books, etc! Then it was off to the races!!

Amanda's favorite book is the Prisoner of Azkaban and she loves owls, so I knew I needed to make something owl related! I had always wanted to make some of these sweet soft owls and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! I made these using this tutorial (link works now!!) as a starting point! The big one is Hedwig, the fat one is Errol, and the tiny one is Pigwidgeon!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Knew I wanted to do something she could hang up on the wall, so I went with an embroidery! I choose this quote from the third movie! I used a free font, Matchbook, which you can find here and transfered it over to some Robert Kaufman Quilter's linen! I have now had a lot of practice with the backstitch!! :)

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Since we're quite cool, I figured we needed something to wear to the movie! I made us both a lightening bolt headband using stretchy hairbands, glitter foam and super glue! Can't wait to wear mine tonight!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I wanted to include a little something sweet, so I made up this little jar by covering the lid with a print from one of her favorite fabric lines! I used this tutorial but used fabric instead of paper. I couldn't very well send it empty, so I filled it up with Strawberry Jam and Lemon Drop jelly beans! Gryffindor colors of course!

Harry Potter Swap!! by jenib320
Harry Potter Swap!!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Last but not least, I got super lucky and found this set of Harry Potter bedsheets!! Amanda has been using geeky bedsheets to create awesome stuff for her etsy shop (check it out!), so I knew these would be perfect!

I had sooooo much fun making stuff for this swap! I think we're going to do it again! Can't wait to go see the movie tonight!!!!!!! :)