What do you mean Christmas?

Well folks, Halloween is gone, Thanksgiving will be here in just a few more days and then comes that wonderful Holiday Christmas!  While we never want to forget the reason for the season, this is a time when crafting abounds as we crafters search for ways to provide presents for all on our list!  This is the time that I am making lots of lap quilts as you have seen in previous blogs, pillows, aprons, napkins, potholders and this year I'm making some pillowcases also!  This past week has been my pillowcase week and the cases I have made have been made from stash, so dig through that stash for your larger pieces of fabric  and even your 3" strips.  There are so many pretty fabrics available with kid themes that you also have a wonderful selection at the fabric stores.  One thing I really strive to do is get 100% cotton material so it is all very much washable and easy to get stains out of if necessary!

 

 

Well on to how to make these wonderful little gifts....

 

What you will need:  Fabric for the body of the case 27" x wof (width of fabric)  Now we all know that fabric comes in different widths but this is talking about your standard width of approximately 42 to 45 inches.

 

Fabric for the cuff: 9" x wof

Accent piece of fabric:  3" x wof

 

How much simpler can we get.  3 pieces of coordinating fabric.  Now if you go to the fabric store to purchase the fabric and you know you are going to make more than one pillowcase and you want to stretch those dollars, if you purchase 1 yard of fabric, you can get a body and a cuff from that fabric so you can make coordinating pillow cases by getting 1 yard for the main fabric on one pillow case and have the cuff for the coordinating pillowcase from that 1 yard of fabric without waste!  If you purchase the same accent piece of fabric you will need only 6" x wof for both pillowcases, but switch it up any way you want and you can even use the same accent piece for 4 pillowcases and just purchase 1/3 of a yard of accent fabric.  (Just be sure that your fabric store is cutting the fabric straight)  Sorry but I have gotten home after purchasing 1/3 yard of fabric and found it was 12 inches on one side of the cut and 9 inches on the other!  Did not make my day I can tell you.  Actually took some back to the fabric store because of it, and that was a major hassle!

 

So cut your fabric....

 

1.  The body of the pillowcase

 

2.  The cuff of the pillowcase

 

3.  The accent piece for the pillowcase

4.  Fold the accent piece in 1/2 so it is 1 1/2" wide and press with wrong sides together.

5.  Layout the cuff of the pillowcase, right side up.

6.  Lay the accent piece with the raw edges aligning with the raw edge of the cuff on the top edge.

7.  Align the body of the pillowcase fabric wrong side up with the raw edge also along the top edge.

8. Fold the excess length of the body of the pillowcase up so it is smaller than the cuff piece.

9.  Fold the bottom part of the cuff up matching the raw edges forming a tube and pin the raw edges together catching both edges of the cuff, both edges of the accent piece and only 1 edge of the body of the pillowcase.

10.  Sew a straight seam down the length of the tube you have created.

11.  Turn the tube right side out.

12 Press being sure to turn the accent piece toward the cuff.

Don't worry that all of your fabric has not been the same width.  Just try to keep it as straight as possible on 1 side.

13.  Trim the edge of the case to remove uneven edges and selvedges.

Now you have a nice straight edge to sew.

16.  Fold the case in half , right sides together matching the cuff and accent pieces.

15.  Making sure to pin your edges at the accent piece so they will stay straight then sew a seam around the two raw edges of the pillowcase.

16.  Those pesky corners need to be trimmed so you get a nice corner. 

(TIP:  When getting ready to turn a corner stop a couple of stiches early and turn you material half way around the corner, take 2 stitches and then lift the pressure foot and turn the rest of the way around the corner.  You will have a sharper corner that is more easily turned after trimming.)

17.  Turn the pillowcase right side out and press.

18.  Now to make a nice finished seam once again sew around the two edges where you made the previous seam and all raw edges will be encased so there is no raveling when it is being washed.

 

As you can see I have made several of these pillowcases for gifts for family.  Kids seem to really love them because this labels the pillow as their special pillow.  Parents love for kids to get them because they don't require batteries and they do not make noise!

 

 

Now if you really want to share the Christmas spirit you can make up a few extra of these and donate them and particularly now with the hurricane Sandy victims items like this are needed as well as making them for your local childrens hospitals (check with them first) or you can give them to any of your shelters, because they can always use bedding items, or some of your other organizations like the Salvation Army or Red Cross.  Just call and check with them and see what they tell you before making up a large number.  You make even want to talk with your local guild and see about a community project.  I wish you all a wonderful day and hope you enjoy the preparations for the holiday season.



 

 



Road Trip

Road Trip

 

 

 

Got up the other morning and it was just one of those days that I really didn't want to do anything much.  Not that my "To Do" list isn't huge, but I didn't want to do those things.  I'm sure you understand exactly what I'm talking about here.  I asked my husband, what do you want to do today?  His response, "I don't know."   Hummmmm.  After breakfast I sat down at the computer and opened up my facebook page and was looking at recent things and there it was!!!  Several weeks ago I had found on facebook a quilt shop called "Chattanooga Quilts".  I had said I wanted to visit that shop and just had not previously had the time.  Well guess what, now I have time.  I asked tubby hubby if he wanted to ride with me and he said okay.  That is not normal for him to be agreeable to visiting a quilt shop with me!  Must be kismit!

 

Like the wonderful planner that I am (not), I got the address and put it in the GPS and off we went.  Drove straight to the place without incident!  Between 40-50 miles from my house so a nice little drive.

 

This shop was a very nice small shop and the lady who was there was very friendly, but a good salesperson.  She did not hover,  she did offer help and even offered to get a chair for my husband to sit in while I shopped!  That impressed him and made him feel good too.  There was a class going on at the time I was there and the classroom was held behind a curtained off area of the shop.  There were lots of samples hanging on the walls with the books depicting the patterns located next to the samples and they were clearly labeled as to which book had that pattern which is always nice.  Makes it easy to find anything that is of interest.

 

I am sure it was designed for the shop owner, but the way the cutting table is set up next to the check out area was a good ideal and the area was L shaped with the long arm of the L holding the cutting table and the shorter base holding the check out area.  This configuration is nice because if you have several people waiting to have fabric cut and then more people waiting to check out they are not crowding each other.  I have been in shops where it is one long area and it was hard to tell who was waiting in which line. 

 

If you have some free time, this shop is worth a visit.  You may even decide to go back once you see the prices are reasonable and cheaper than some of the other stores I have visited.

 

Oh I do have to tell you that while I was there I bought another book.  I am forever buying books and this is another one that will help you use up your scraps.  This one is titled "Friendship Strips & Scraps" by Edyta Sitar for Laundry Basket Quilts.  Of course the sample on the wall is what prompted me to purchase this particular book.  The title of that quilt is Spool Quilt and I loved the strips used to depice the thread on the spools.  They had shades of blue which is one of my very fav colors in theirs.  The only thing is there is a lot of applique around the border of their quilt that I'm not too sure I will do!  Sorry I'm not really into applique unless it is by machine like a lot of  El's quilts.

 

At any rate this particular book has several different quilts using the fabric made of strips that are very intresting and something I may want to do after I retire.  (I keep saying that like I don't already have enough projects to keep me busy until I'm 100!)  Well at any rate this project is for a later date.  I've got too many on the back burner that need to be finished before I start another one!

If you have visited this shop already, please drop me a line and let me know what you thought.  Believe me I can handle it if your opinion and mine are not the same.  If you decide to go here in the future, let me know what you thought when you visit.  I love getting the opinion of others.  I often miss things on my first trip to a shop and it would be helpful to me! 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful day, quilting and sewing with love for your loved ones!  Now on to my next project!





Very busy week

Once again I had to go out of town this past weekend.  My wonderful friends came over and sat with my fur babies.  They said they were going to go and drool on my fabric but I don't think they even made it upstairs to my sewing room.  Gosh, no drool to wash off!  Oh well.

Of course any time I travel I have to stop at quilt shops out of my normal area.  Once again went to Florida and stopped by the Lake City, Fabric Arts Store.  They do have some lovely fabric!  What can I say.  I did pick up a few pieces.  My excuse to my hubbie was that I had to bring my buddies back a couple of pieces of fabric for their stash.  I always love it when my friends bring me pieces of fabric!  It is nice to be thought of and even nicer to figure out ways to use those pieces that someone else purchased with you in mind. 

When I have the wonderful fortune of having someone bring me a piece of fabric, I typically find that is is not anything I would have bought myself.  Not that it is ugly but it is just somewhat different from my normal taste and let me tell you, these are the best stash builders you can get.  I will always find ways to use them and typically they are the stars of the piece when I throw them into the mix.  Why, for just that reason, they are not what I normally buy!

If you check it out with your own buying habits when purchasing fabric you will find that you tend to lean toward one type of fabric or one shade of fabric when you have extra money and just pick up something because you like it.  I will typically pick up a medium shade of some color that is typically a fairly vibrant color.  Peggy loves florals and most of her fabric  that she picks has flowers.  Other friends do other things consistently.  We do purchase other things when we go to the store particularly to purchase a border or sashing or something in particular we are hunting but if we aren't looking for that one particular piece we revert to old habits. 

Take a look at your stash of fabrics that contain fabrics you have purchased and see what you find.  Leave out those others have given you and what you won at the guild meeting and see if you can pick out your typical fabric purchasing habits.  Is anything wrong with doing this.....noooooo.  Absolutely nothing is wrong with this.  What does happen is when you do decide to reach into the stash and try to pull out fabrics for a quilt you wind up with fewer choices than if you make a real effort to change up your purchasing habits.

I will typically try to do this a couple of times a year.  When we go on a shop hop or just a few of us get together and go visiting a few places in the area, I will decide that today I am only going to purchase light colors, or dark colors, or maybe kiddie prints.  You can make it anything you want except what you normally purchase.  I can't do medium shades of vibrant colors because I have so many of those already.  I have found that this works very well for me!  I just make a conscious decision before leaving home that today the only fabric I can purchase will be neutrals and I stick to it!  That's my real problem, sticking to my decisions when I am in a fabric store, I always find other things I want to buy and they are medium vibrant colors! 

This really does help my stash.  This way, when I want I can go to my stash and usually pull out fabrics to complete a quilt except for the borders!  To me this is just awesome.  It's like getting something for nothing.  It also makes it wonderful when I have decided to do some quilt gifts for Christmas or birthdays or weddings.  It helps me keep my budget in control and that is something we all have to watch these days.

Now back to my trip, or really before my trip.  This week was our local quilt guild meeting that we hold each month.  Jackie had the program and she had spoken with some people at the Ronald McDonald House in Chattanooga about a donation of some type of thing they could use for the kids and they pointed her to Chattanooga's Childrens Hospital and said they had a need.  When Jackie talked with them they told her they like to have each room made up for the kids with something special, like a pillowcase that is bright and cheerful, or a stuffed toy (I think she said) or a little quilt or blanket.  This was given to the child being admitted to the hospital and the staff said this was really a great thing for the kids.  Jackie brought the project to the guild and brought alone some fabrics to make some pillowcases with along with directions on how to sew a pillowcase and several members also brought pillowcases they had sewn to give to the cause.  It was really nice because Jackie had figured out that purchasing 1 yard of 2 different fabrics meant you could make a couple of pillowcases with the main body of one being the same fabric as the cuff on the other pillowcase.  Sort of neat really that you could make two pillowcases that coordinated.  This would be wonderful in a room with twin beds or bunkbeds for boys or girls.  Also a great ideal for Christmas or birthday gifts.  All of this in addition to if you want to give some to a charity.  I think this would also be a wonderful gift for a womens shelter or a homeless shelter.  There are so many ways to use this really simple thing that it is amazing. 

At any rate, I stopped at this little quilt shop, where I have been a couple of times before and it was a really great place and the staff was so nice and friendly.  Of course being about 350 miles from home, I don't make it down there with any regularity.  I found fabric that I wanted to purchase and had it cut and went to check out and at the check out counter they started handing me a ticket for me to save to get so much off my next purchase or you can bankroll them to use several at once to get a bigger discount.  Well gosh I was just there a month ago and I already had one in my purse, but they would not go back and redo anything so I just couldn't use it on the day I was there.  They said don't worry, they never expire!  Gosh, that wasn't what I wanted to hear.  I guess that will teach me to get my ducks in order before I stop at these shops that are not in my area with people who don't know me!  Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter to them because they are not going to be doing a lot of business with me because I'm so far away.  To my way of thinking this is really very poor service.  And while they may be nice to their customers that they feel may be repeat business if you are from out of town they don't have to treat you as nicely.  Sad if you ask me.....  So beware when visiting out of town shops, and get your ducks in a row before you go.  Also you may want to ask before you have them cut anything or ring up any purchases about store policies and prices if you purchase all the fabric at the end of bolt, is there a special discount?  Do they give a discount for people who are members of a quilt guild?  Do they have special savings cards or bags that give you extra discounts?  Why ask?

Well there are certain fabric stores that give a 10% discount if you belong to a quilt guild and can prove you belong to the guild.  JoAnn's does this.  If you are purchasing a backing or several pieces of fabric this can mount up fairly quickly and mean you are able to get some extra fabric or even batting at no cost.  Those are good days ladies!

One store gives you a 30% discount if you purchase all the fabric left on a bolt!  If you are purchasing borders or backing, again that 30% discount means you can get an extra yard of fabric for every 3 yards you purchase.  This adds up quickly.  Check out the discount tables or shelves at your local shops.  You never can tell what you may find.  I ran across some Jenny Beyer Fabric at one quilt store on the discount rack at 50% off.  This is a deal!!  I got all they had.  

Discount racks are also a good place to add to your stash when you can find some neutral colors or some kids prints that you can use at Christmas or for birthdays etc.  I love discounts!

Many stores will have discount cards to be used when you have purchased a particular amount and then you can use the card on your next visit.  Depending on how far out of town I am, I may or may not bother to get one.  Chances are if I do, I may not remember it when I'm back in the store many weeks later.  Sort of like the Florida deal and it always frustrates me no end when I miss something like free money!!

I hope you all have a great night and I'll try to get some more pictures posted next week.  Got several things going on right now that I think you will all love!

Happy quilting.