I admit, my placemats are almost always oval, my potholders almost always have rounded corners, and I avoid sharp corners on purpose. Why? I don't want to deal with binding and mitering corners. I am pretty good at it by hand, but never seemed to master the mitering by machine. Well, guess what? I found a blogger who has done a very nice, simple tutorial about sewing bias tape around corners:
"Smashed Peas and Carrots
I'm absolutely going to try her method the next time I get brave enough to do corners. I made my daughter a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt when she was younger and hand stitched bias binding all the way around, mitering inside and outside corners as I went. Jeesh. If only I'd had the internet or a friend to teach me how to do it by machine!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Texas Freckles: Hexagon Charm Quilt Piece-Along
Texas Freckles: Hexagon Charm Quilt Piece-Along Another hexagon quilt. The more I look for them, the more I find! This one also includes links to graph paper and English Piecing patterns. Beautiful!
18" Doll Vest Project Up!
I love to sew for 18" dolls. Sometimes I sell the items I sew and other times I don't. I may give the clothes away, swap with others, or simply keep them. There is a huge community of people who sew for 18" dolls, be they American Girl Dolls or others. I personally have about 10 dolls, including American Girl, Apple Valley, and a few hybrids. I have some that I want to rehab to give away or sell. They need some TLC for sure! Indeed, one or two of them could get haircuts and become boy models for clothing. But I digress.
Today, I received an E-mail from someone asking me for instructions on how to make an 18" doll vest. Many years ago, on a site I used to run (SewingWeb.com, may it R.I.P.), I created instructions and an online tutorial for that very thing. I re-coded it and put it up today for you to use. I made the pattern on my own. You can make one of our own or use a purchased one. The idea is to use up some smaller bits of fabric with the strip quilting process. You're not limited to the fabrics I used. Feel free to check out the projects link on the right or click here for the vest tutorial.
Here are a few vests I've made using the same general instructions:
P.S. If you go to ScrapSewing.com now, it will redirect you here. As mentioned below, the content of ScrapStitching and ScrapSewing will be here and projects and other information will be provided via ScrapStitching.com's space. You won't notice a thing other than ease of navigation.
Feel free to contact us anytime!
Today, I received an E-mail from someone asking me for instructions on how to make an 18" doll vest. Many years ago, on a site I used to run (SewingWeb.com, may it R.I.P.), I created instructions and an online tutorial for that very thing. I re-coded it and put it up today for you to use. I made the pattern on my own. You can make one of our own or use a purchased one. The idea is to use up some smaller bits of fabric with the strip quilting process. You're not limited to the fabrics I used. Feel free to check out the projects link on the right or click here for the vest tutorial.
Here are a few vests I've made using the same general instructions:
P.S. If you go to ScrapSewing.com now, it will redirect you here. As mentioned below, the content of ScrapStitching and ScrapSewing will be here and projects and other information will be provided via ScrapStitching.com's space. You won't notice a thing other than ease of navigation.
Feel free to contact us anytime!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Going blog & today's sewing
Scrapstitching.com is going blog. I'll still keep ScrapStitching.com alive for a holder of projects, tutorials, and other information, but the updates will be primarily found on the blog, right here.
A friend came by today to chat and visit, and I got my hexagon scrap quilt out and started sewing on that. I got about an hour of sewing in. It felt good to do some before my hands became fatigued with online work for today. I then showed her two of my other quilts - a denim string/strip quilt (below) and a black and white Cathedral Window.
Now I take a break and get some work done. I'll continue to sew each day and the hexagon scrap quilt will continue to grow. Happy sewing!
A friend came by today to chat and visit, and I got my hexagon scrap quilt out and started sewing on that. I got about an hour of sewing in. It felt good to do some before my hands became fatigued with online work for today. I then showed her two of my other quilts - a denim string/strip quilt (below) and a black and white Cathedral Window.
Now I take a break and get some work done. I'll continue to sew each day and the hexagon scrap quilt will continue to grow. Happy sewing!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Threads Magazine
I used to be a magazine junkie. In the days before the internet, I received sewing magazines and would devour them from cover to cover. I can't remember all the titles, but I believe one of them was Work Basket. At any rate, I still get Sew News and let my subscription to Threads run out a few years ago. Well, today, I renewed Threads. I miss my old friend and it's always fun to read and be inspired.
Lordamercy, what if I find more projects I want to do? Eeep.
Lordamercy, what if I find more projects I want to do? Eeep.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Hexagon Scrap Quilt
I decided I needed a new hand sewing project for several reasons:
1) Quitting smoking 11/18 and need something to do with my hands.
2) Having surgery on 12/14 and will need something to do while I hang out and rehab.
3) Want a new quilt made of scraps and that I can work on anywhere, anytime.
Years ago, I made a Grandmother's Flower Garden for my daughter in the traditional sense. I used English Piecing and fabric I purchased. I made curtains for her room out of the same fabric with a pieced block edge. I remembered how much I enjoyed that. I printed out 2" paper hexagons on recycled paper using a border of red so the lines would show on printed paper. Then I gathered 4" squares of fabric.
Each fabric is different and I won't be using a flower garden type pattern. This will truly be a scrap quilt.
Add a paper hexagon to the square with a pin.
Trim the fabric around the hexagon.
Baste the fabric to the paper design per the tutorial above.
I chose to stitch together rows of 10 various hexagons varying light and dark colors.
And then I stitched the rows of 10 together.
This quilt is a work in progress and is being made one row of 10 at a time. You can take your time and do the paper piecing first and then do the rows or do a little of this and a little of that for variety. Right now, I have a very large tote bag with all the components in it, including an envelope with paper hexagons, a contrasting thread for basting the pieces, a bag with basted hexagons, lots of rows of 10, and a small piece of rows that I've put together. In time, I'll be able to build on the piece until it's lap, twin, or queen sized, and then I can back it and use it. When you have surrounded one piece, you can remove the paper, by the way. The basting and paper are temporary. In the end, you'll have paper only in the hexagons around the outside of the quilt and those papers will be removed so you can back and bind the quilt.
These instructions are sketchy and a bit incomplete, but you get the idea. I'll be working on this for a long time and it'll be beautiful every step of the way.
Update 05/13/12: I'm still working on the quilt and it's growing by leaps and bounds. I'm working in strips of 11 in rows of 39. Four of those will make a nice sized quilt. I have a long way to go! Everyone should have a little something like this in the "what do I feel like sewing today?" pile.
1) Quitting smoking 11/18 and need something to do with my hands.
2) Having surgery on 12/14 and will need something to do while I hang out and rehab.
3) Want a new quilt made of scraps and that I can work on anywhere, anytime.
Years ago, I made a Grandmother's Flower Garden for my daughter in the traditional sense. I used English Piecing and fabric I purchased. I made curtains for her room out of the same fabric with a pieced block edge. I remembered how much I enjoyed that. I printed out 2" paper hexagons on recycled paper using a border of red so the lines would show on printed paper. Then I gathered 4" squares of fabric.
Each fabric is different and I won't be using a flower garden type pattern. This will truly be a scrap quilt.
Add a paper hexagon to the square with a pin.
Trim the fabric around the hexagon.
Baste the fabric to the paper design per the tutorial above.
I chose to stitch together rows of 10 various hexagons varying light and dark colors.
And then I stitched the rows of 10 together.
This quilt is a work in progress and is being made one row of 10 at a time. You can take your time and do the paper piecing first and then do the rows or do a little of this and a little of that for variety. Right now, I have a very large tote bag with all the components in it, including an envelope with paper hexagons, a contrasting thread for basting the pieces, a bag with basted hexagons, lots of rows of 10, and a small piece of rows that I've put together. In time, I'll be able to build on the piece until it's lap, twin, or queen sized, and then I can back it and use it. When you have surrounded one piece, you can remove the paper, by the way. The basting and paper are temporary. In the end, you'll have paper only in the hexagons around the outside of the quilt and those papers will be removed so you can back and bind the quilt.
These instructions are sketchy and a bit incomplete, but you get the idea. I'll be working on this for a long time and it'll be beautiful every step of the way.
Update 05/13/12: I'm still working on the quilt and it's growing by leaps and bounds. I'm working in strips of 11 in rows of 39. Four of those will make a nice sized quilt. I have a long way to go! Everyone should have a little something like this in the "what do I feel like sewing today?" pile.
Sewing in the new year
Happy 2011!
There are a lot of big changes in my life and one major resolution. My resolution is to sew every day, even if it's just one piece for my hexagon scrap quilt. I'll post about that in a minute. The big change in my life is that I have a new left knee. I'm three weeks out from the surgery and doing great. I'm walking with a cane, off the pain meds, and able to concentrate enough to sew again. P.S. I still don't smoke after having quilt on the Great American Smokeout in 2010!
I have a sub-resolution as well and that is to attempt to make a garment for myself each month as I continue to rehab, exercise, and lose weight.
Here's hoping you have a great time with your stash and that you use your scraps like a madwoman/madman! Sew them up and enjoy the use of something small turning into something large. Why buy a piece of fabric when you can make your own with scraps?
There are a lot of big changes in my life and one major resolution. My resolution is to sew every day, even if it's just one piece for my hexagon scrap quilt. I'll post about that in a minute. The big change in my life is that I have a new left knee. I'm three weeks out from the surgery and doing great. I'm walking with a cane, off the pain meds, and able to concentrate enough to sew again. P.S. I still don't smoke after having quilt on the Great American Smokeout in 2010!
I have a sub-resolution as well and that is to attempt to make a garment for myself each month as I continue to rehab, exercise, and lose weight.
Here's hoping you have a great time with your stash and that you use your scraps like a madwoman/madman! Sew them up and enjoy the use of something small turning into something large. Why buy a piece of fabric when you can make your own with scraps?
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