Picnic Quilt

I quickly made this little quilt just to have for picnics and any other outside activities. It's a nice size, comfy enough to fit two, small enough to fold up and carry. It fits in the wagon nicely along with my granddaughter and is great for sitting at the fireworks. It even makes a nice summer tablecloth.

The Sewing Room

We spent the first day of our 5-day holiday taking a trip to Ikea. It's only 70 miles away but since that 70 miles is through Chicago, it's not usually the most enjoyable of travels. I had an agenda so it was pretty easy to weave through the aisles (or aisle since the store seems to run in a big circle). We still enjoy looking through all the gadgets and doo-dads available for cheap so even with an agenda, we still spent a good 45 minutes on each of the three floors. I got a new bookcase and a little desk for my sewing room and I bought Chloe a dresser. The fun stuff was getting the organizer jars and boxes to hold all my sewing stuff in style. Once I have it all organized, I will post photos.

This post is about the fun little shelf I found. It is meant to be a ledge to hold photos or art, where you lean the items against the wall. In Ikea language, it's called Ribba. I thought it would be a great way to hold up my new design board. The design board is large, but extremely light-weight. To my surprise, it's bulky size is making it annoying to move around so this little ledge-shelf seemed like a great way to keep the thing off the floor and give it a permanent place. So we placed the shelf 24 inches off the ground. It made the design board easy to reach from both the top and the bottom. I was worried that it might not lean enough to keep it up, but it worked out perfectly.

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

This is the final quilt top entered in the drawing for the $100 fabric gift certificate prize. Now I have to get the backing on and quilt it.

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

After folding all the squares in four and fitting a printed square in the middle of the white square by matching the folds, the squares were stitched together. Then, the squares were cut in half then in half again making the four squares seen on the left. The cut squares were randomly pieced and stitched back together to make the new squares. The new squares are placed in 7 rows of 6. After moving the squares around a bit, they are ready to be sewn into the quilt top.

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

The first instructions for the quilt along was to cut the layer cake to 7 and a half inch squares using the 2 and a half inch leftovers to make the binding. I cut the fabric on Sunday and made the binding on Monday. I am ready for next week's instructions.

Quilt Design Board

While I work through my new sewing table design ideas, I thought I would try a project that I can complete within one day. So I searched the internet to figure out how to make my own quilt design board. After reading through a few different versions posted (thank goodness people like to share their hard work online), I decided what my design board was going to look like.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought 3 yards of white flannel lined vinyl tablecloth fabric. I knew that most boards sold at home improvement stores came in 4 by 8 foot sheets so I used that measurement as a guide. The tablecloth fabric came in a 54-inch width so it was just big enough to cover 4 feet. The vinyl was thick enough to cover whatever the looked like so it seemed like a perfect choice. With a 50% off coupon, the fabric was only $4.98 per yard so I spent less than $15 for the vinyl.

The I headed to Home Depot where I bought a sheet of Owens Corning Foamular. It comes in the standard 48 x 96-inch sheet, just like I expected. The tougher choice was deciding the thickness. It comes in half-inch through 2-inch thicknesses. I knew I had to get a feel for it. When I thought about the vinyl covering, I decided on the 3/4-inch thickness. It was thin enough to not be too bulky but thick enough to handle the weight of the vinyl. It only cost $8.44 for the sheet. The hard part was getting it into the car. I had to bend it slightly to make the 4-foot width fit in my little SUV, and thank goodness for the SUV or else I never would have gotten it home.

The foamular has a tongue on one side and a groove on the other, so pieces can be locked together. I took a razor knife and cut off the tongue on the one side of the piece. I laid the vinyl flat on the floor, flannel side down and plopped the foamular on top. I made sure it was evenly placed on the fabric.

Starting from the middle top I used duct tape to tape the fabric to the back of the board. Then I moved to the middle bottom and did the same. Then I moved to the middle of each side and taped the fabric down so it was tight and even. I worked towards each corner then folded a miter into the fabric and taped it all down. It was the easiest project ever!

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

I just ordered the Ready, Set, Snow Layer Cake by Me and My Sister Designs for Moda Fabrics and the Bella White for this new quilt along. Sadly, the fabric by the yard isn't available yet so I hope I don't have to wait too long to get it and finish. I loved doing my first quilt along so I can't wait to start this one. It's a great way to stay motivated.

Time for a New Sewing Room

My spring project is going to take a little longer than I anticipated. I started by emptying my sewing room. It was very difficult to pack away my sewing machine. Then I had Jeff remove the cubicle which was so tedious - too many parts. I tore out the old dirty white carpet, ripped down the wallpaper and realized that this job is bigger than me. I hired a painter to repaint the room and ordered new carpet. I put in some high quality commercial carpet so it would be easy to keep tidy when I sew or paint or whatever crafty thing came up. I hope my patience holds out, it's going to be worth the wait.