QUILTING TIPS

GOOD MORNING!!  I had trouble joining the squares on the Pinwheel Pattern quilt I am making and my sweet sister who has much more experience in quilting than I have has come to my rescue with some really good advice so I am sharing it with you.

   "Here's hoping this works. You may have lots of solutions by now but here are mine. It is impossible to cut any pattern on the straight of the goods...except the binding along the sides. it is all in the handling and pressing. During the sewing of pieces try not to pull on them.When pressing it is important not to move the iron back and forth.Put the piece on the board and "finger press" carefully ...the seams. Then Just put the iron on the piece and just press with out moving the iron back and forth.When putting the pieces together do the same ...handle with care. If it looks like it is a little short you can cheat by pulling at this time. If it is a little long you can fit it in. It may look wrong but you can press it. All pressing should be with steam.When putting the pieces together to make the pattern if they are not the same size You can square them up by trimming a smidgen. Before I cut any pieces out I press the fabric first
but only press.. not move the iron.Also let the pieces dry if they are a little damp.Your piece looks beautiful so far. 
Hope this helps. Love you, Mary"

Don't ya just love having an older sister?? ♥
  THANKS SO MUCH SIS AND I WILL BE HEEDING YOUR ADVICE FOR SURE!

Sure hope this will help anyone else out there that has had problems with joining pieces like I did!  Come again soon!  And if you have time, check out my other blogs with links in my sidebar-Thanks!

My Krafty heart to yours...

Collage of Favorite things....

Wishing for rain and doodling with altered art collage.  (These can be photographed and used on the face of your homemade cards, framed, or put in scrapbook page).  We need rain so badly and the thunder can be heard near by.  the skies darkened but now the sun is out without a drop of rain! 
   I was day-dreaming and made this little collage of some of my favorite things...

I adore this little vintage card with the girl pouring milk for her kitten!  I started with that card and then added things as I went along...

I collect Bird feathers all the time and others bring them to me as they know this, (smile).

And leaves, I love leaves!  This one had so many points and I do not know what tree it came from but it is pretty!  My daughter brought it to me.

This is a vintage spoon print from a magazine and I chose these drab greenish buttons because they seemed to go with the soft colors of the drying leaf and card.

Then I added the steel crochet hook that is very old, a bitty little shell and then I wrote on the paper and glued a feather at the end of the writing as though it were a quill pen that wrote.

Once I took the picture of my collage to print out and frame or put in a scrapbook, I disassembled it as I did not want to glue the card to the surface or the vintage crochet hook, either, as I still use it.  Picture taken, I then made a smaller collage by using some of the pieces from the first.

   I liked this one, too with some of my crocheting, thread, thimble and cutting out my writing to lay across the sheet.  After I was satisfied with this picture, I removed all but the writing, leaf with little cow picture and spoon print.  I cut out the paper around the points of the leaf to make it more interesting and put it on my Bulletin Board.  Such fun!  You must have favorite things you can collage for pictures to print or scrapbook fun or for card making.  I would love to see what you come up with.  Feel free to copy and paste the vintage card of the little girl and her kitten and use it for yours.

  Thank you so much for coming and do come again soon!  If you have time, please visit my other blogs with the links in the sidebar.

My Krafty Heart to Yours...



Paper Roses♫

REMEMBER THE SONG, PAPER ROSES? My Mom used to make crepe paper roses all the time and they looked so real!  Mine are much smaller but here is how to make them!

Supplies:  Floral wire and tape (craft store), stick glue, crepe paper,scissors.

I like this package of wire as it comes with its own cutter.

Begin by cutting an irregular circle from the crepe paper.

   This is what it will look like.  It is now ready to begin rolling.  Hold the center with one hand and start twisting the paper  wrapping the petals as you go along.  I tack it with stick glue while wrapping and pinch the bottom of the flower while I am wrapping.

When I am finished wrapping, I glue the bottom of my rose with the stick glue again.

   Next I add the floral wire overlapping it at the base of my rose and start applying the floral tape around the base of the rose and the wire and start twirling with my thumb and index finger.  As you stretch the floral tape, it becomes sticky and will adhere to the wire and base of the rose.

Continue rolling and twisting until you reach the bottom of your stem.

   These work up very quickly once you get the hang of twirling the rose and then the floral tape around the wire.  You can make a bouquet in no time!

I did not have green paper to make leaves but will show you that another time.  They are even easier to make!

   We finished our Lighthouse paintings and I think Hubby did a great job on his, I love it and cannot wait to frame and hang it.

Hubby has been having a rough time of it lately with the chemo and meds but we are hoping he will feel better soon.  He sleeps a lot due to the meds and he hates not being able to get outside as our SC temps have been so hot as is normal in July and August. Thank you so much for visiting today and When my pinwheel quilt is finished I will post a picture.  Do visit my other blogs if you have time, the list is in my sidebar.  Have a most wonderful and Krafty day!! Hugs,

My Krafty heart to yours...

Pinwheel Quilt Pattern...

I have wanted to make a pinwheel patterned quilt forever!  Even though I am still working on two larger quilts (Cathedral Window and a Yo-Yo Quilt), I was given a book with the pinwheel pattern in it just last week and had to start this lap quilt!!  I love the way it is coming out!

I did 3 blocks on  Sunday and three more yesterday!

This is how it looks today after ironing the seams and now having 6 blocks completed.

I just love the way it is turning out.  One thing I notice though when joining the blocks was that there is some irregularity in the sizes.  I am thinking it is because I did not pay strict attention to cutting on the bias??  Okay you very experienced and pro quilters, is this the reason?  My other quilts are sewn together by hand but this one is being done on my machine so I am noticing the difference.  My hand sewn quilts make it much easier to ease in the joining if there is a small discrepancy.  This Pinwheel pattern is so much fun to work with and the blocks are very large so it should work up quickly.  This will be a lap quilt size. 

   WE are still working on our lighthouse paintings and hope to be done soon.  We got to camp for a couple of days last week and away from cancer treatments--a joy!

  Thanks for coming and do come again,

Something from Nothing...Little Pink Book

Happy Pink Saturday to you!  What is Pink Saturday??  It is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound and is celebrating 3 yrs. last month.  If you love Pink and you blog, all you have to do is post something you like on Saturdays and if you are not a blogger but just love to visit them, this is the place for you!  My pink Saturday offering today is this Little Pink Book I just made!

And this is how I made something from nothing....

I used Martha Stewart paint samples from the local Home Depot Store.

I glued 2 of them back to back for the cover and did the same for the back.  You know those cute little metal frames that you buy in the dollar store with vintage pictures of people you do not know but love?  I took the picture out of the frame and pasted it to the front of my little Pink Book.

Next I punched holes in my covers and found faded pink ribbon among my stash to lace the covers together with pages I made from Index cards....

I punched holes in the index cards.  Next I laced them together with the ribbon.

This is what the inside of the book looks like.

This is the back of my little book.  I loved these paint samples as they looked like leather.

Then I added a little embellishment with some flat half pearls that come on a tiny sheet and are already tacky. I also had these in my card making supplies but they are very inexpensive in the craft stores and Walmart.

And here is my finished Little Pink Book with 12 pages that I can write sentiments in or phone numbers or whatever!  I added the Christian saying from a teabag tag that I had. (my daughter gave me a whole box of green tea with
Bible sayings on them for Mother's Day)

I love it!

And the little frame??  I put Mama in it!

Thanks for coming and do come again.  I hope you enjoyed my Pink Saturday How-To.

♥KERRIE♥

My Krafty heart to yours...





Finished $1 store Bags...

Good Morning!!  Just finished the little bags from the dollar store with doily embellishments and buttons!

The bag and the doily are from the $ store.  It is just the right size to hold cell phone, cosmetics, and a small wallet.  I got out my button tin and found these black and gold buttons to embellish the doily.  I just love the way it came out.

This is the backside with one black button for closure. 

And here is the lavender bag.  I removed the brighter green stitching on the handle ring and did a blanket stitch around the ring in a matching green embroidery thread.  I used all matching yellow buttons on this one. 

I used one lavender button for the closure on this one. I just used the opening on the doily for buttoning even though it is off center.  These will make great gifts!  They are completely washable, too!

Details....

Visit your dollar store and see what you can find to create something fun and bright.  Thanks for coming and do come back soon.  Hopefully, we will be finishing up our Lighthouse paintings soon!

♥KERRIE♥

My krafty heart to yours...



Finished the totes!!

OKAY!  I had some hems to shorten today so while I had the sewing machine out, I finished the Spring bag/totes that I was making from place mats!!  HURRAY!

If you recall, I am making these totes from place mats I found at the $ store and all the emblellishments are from there, too!  First I pinned the ribbon in place on a slant for this one.  I used a heavy duty needle on the machine as you would use for denim. 

Next I stitched the ribbon in place and joined it at the bottom of the bag by overlapping the two ends and folding over for a clean look.

Then I took a piece of fabric to line the bag with and laid it on the mat  cutting around the edge in an oblong just slightly wider and longer than the mat.  This left room to turn the lining fabric under, then pinned and stitch to the mat before sewing up the sides of the bag.  Next I sewed up each side of the bag and went over the stitching twice to re-inforce.

TIP:  I use invisible nylon thread for almost all my sewing projects and alterations.  It is strong, can be laundered and ironed over but it helps not having to have many, many spools of different colored threads!  It also has a little elasticity to it.

 Here is the bag with the sides sewed up just inside of the border on the mat.

Next I pinned on the butterfly embellishments as they need to be tacked on by hand and also I will trim of the wires at the bottom of each butterfly so I have no sharp edges.

And here is what my finished bag looks like.  All I have to do is tack the embellishments down!

I followed all the same procedure for the lavender place mat with matching ribbon and butterflies.  I lined the lavender bag with pink fabric. 

I will be putting these in my Etsy Shop for $12.95 plus 6.00 shipping each.  They will be one of a kind as I designed them myself.  If you order here on my blog by using the PayPal tab and say for "Tote" you will save 1.00.

I sure hope you enjoyed this craft How-To and I hope you will try making one of these handy little bags!

♥KERRIE♥

My krafty heart to yours...