Cut, Sew, Snip, Wash

I've finished another rag quilt.  I really enjoy making these.  Heather (from BitterSweetAndPrim) had a piece of flannel fabric she gave me to create something for her.  A rag quilt was the first thing that came to mind.  I like using flannel to make them but any cotton will work.  It has to be a fabric that will fray to give a nice fringe look to the raw edges.  I usually make them with two layers, but in this case, I didn't have enough coordinating fabric, so this one is just one layer.  Two layers would make it warmer, for actual usage, and also add to the fringe. It still looks just as good and is just being used for decorationg. Here's the process I went through to create it.

First step is to cut out squares.  The size is total preference.  I used a 5" square.  Keep in mind, you will be sewing a 1/2" seam around the square, so the finished square will be a little smaller. 

Then you need to lay out your design.  Since I'm just using the two colours, that was the easiest part.

Stack up the squares in each row and it's off to the sewing machine.  If you are using two layers, you need to sew and "X" from one corner to the other, to attach the two layers together. (wrong sides together) Then you will first sew the rows of squares together with a 1/2" seam.  Lay them WRONG sides together.  This will bring your seam to the front of the quilt.  That's what you want.  Total opposite to making a traditional quilt. Your finished product will be strips of squares.

Lay your pieces out again.  Then gather them up in order and it's off to the sewing machine again. 

Now your going to sew your strips together with a 1/2" seam, wrong sides together, in the order you gathered them up.  When your done this step, the quilt is completely assembled.

It's looking a little funky, but now we will release those corners.  It's time to create the fringe.  To do this, I recommend spring loaded scissors.  It really saves your hand.  These are the pair I use.

You have to snip the fringe about 1/4" apart, but take care not to cut through the seam or you will have it coming apart.  Where your squares meet, cut just along the side of the seam.

I find this part of the quilt, takes the longest.  Here it is, all clipped up and you'll be left looking like the sewing room floor.  Lots threads all over you.

Here's the back side.

Now you have to wash it.  Your going to get a lot of thread come off of it during this process.  My washing machine empties into a laundry tub, so I have a lint catcher on the end of the tube that comes out of the washing machine.  It catches all the loose threads in the water.  I put a couple of towels in with it as well, to help fringe it even more.  Then it's into the dryer.  Make sure you clean out your lint tray before and after.  Trust me, it's going to be full.  The more you wash it, the more it's going to fray.

Here is the finished product.  It finished sized ended up being 35"x44" (11 squares x 9 squares)

A little fabric

As I posted before, I spent some time at Heather's house this morning.  I always love going over there.  It seems not a day goes by that we don't talk to each other.  Now that I've introduced her to blogging, we have even more to talk about.  So fun!!!  I brought home some extra fabric she had and am going to make a rag quilt for her.  I usually make the quilts with two layers but I'm not sure I have enough fabric to do that this time.  Since it's just going to be more for decorating rather than keeping her warm, it will be more like a quilt top.  I hope it turns out because I hate ripping seams and starting over. lol  I'll take pictures as I go and see if I can make it into a tutorial. Here's the fabric I'll be using.

A Meeting of the Minds

I stopped over at Heather's (my cousin) house today.  She let me help her move some furniture around.  That was so much fun.  Then we sat down in front of the fire, with coffee in her super cute prim cups, and discussed what we are including in our giveaway. We find the number of people that have entered and positive feed back from everyone so overwhelming.  We are very grateful and feel that if this keeps up we will be more than happy to include a SECOND PRIZE!!! So don't forget to sign up for our giveaway and pass the word.  Here's the link to my post about it. Teaming Up Giveaway  We are so excited about it and hope you are too!!!!

Teaming Up For Our First Ever Giveaway

My cousin, Heather from BitterSweetAndPrim and I are having our first ever GIVEAWAY!

The giveaway will stay a secret until the package arrives at the winners home. The winner will have to take a photo of there goodies and post them to their blog. Here is a little hint, some of the items have been on our blogs.

Rules are as follows:

1. Must be a follower of BOTH blogs, new followers are welcome.
2. Comment on this post on either blog for ONE entry or both blogs for TWO.
3. Must live in Canada or USA only (sorry)
4. If you link to our giveaway on your blog that will give you another entry. Please state in your comment that you did so.
5. Deadline is March.8th at midnight eastern time.

Good Luck!!!

Drawstring Bag and Printing on Fabric Tutorial

Once again, I had to take advantage of Lynne's talent, over at A Simpler Time.  She posted a tutorial for a floral hanging sack.  I put a different little spin on it.  I printed right onto the fabric and sewed it up the same way I make my ditty bags.  Here is the finished product.  Then I'll do my best to walk you through it step by step.

Your going to need light weight fabric, I used muslin, freezer paper and an image to print out.  Freezer paper is shiny on one side.  Wax paper will not work with this.  I downloaded the image off of Lynne's blog(with her permission, of course) and saved it to my computer.    Then I cut a piece of muslin and a piece of freezer paper, the same size as a sheet of printer paper. 8.5"x11".  That's the largest size my printer will allow. *If you want to age your fabric, I would do it before this next step.  I think the ink will run once it gets wet*  Next, your going to lay the freezer paper down, shiny side up, and place your fabric, right side up, on top of it.  Flip it over and run your iron over the paper side of the freezer paper.  Basically, your heating it up so that the shiny side will stick to your fabric.  Make sure you get the edges well.  Here is what it will look like.

Here is a close up where you can see the two layers.

 Now, it's on to the computer.  Place the fabric/freezer paper into the printer and print your image out.  Make sure you have your fabric turned the right way to ensure the image will be printed on the fabric side and not the paper side.  I did a test print on normal paper first, just to be sure my image was the right size.

I love how that image looks on the muslin!

 Once the image is printed, you have to remove the freezer paper.  Just find a corner and pull it off.   It comes off very easily.

Now it's time to sew. ~WARNING~ I have had no formal teachings in sewing, so this is not going to be politically correct.  So for all the real sewers, I apologize ahead of time. LOL  I cut out another piece of muslin, the same size and place wrong sides together.  Then I stitched up one side.

Time for the drawstring.  I know this isn't the right way to do this, but it's the easiest way I have came up with.  Open up the two pieces (which is now one) and lay a piece of twine across the the length of the top.  Fold the fabric over the twine and pin it down.

Then stitch straight across.  Fold it back up, and stitch around the remaining two sides.  When I got to the top, I didn't sew across the twine.  I turned the fabric and finished just below the twine.  Ya, I know, hard to understand.  Here's an illustration.

I clipped the corners so it will lay flat when you turn it right side out.

Turn it right side out and I stuffed mine with fiber fill.  The draw strings should pull easily.  I hope that wasn't too painful to read through. If it was, I'm sorry.  LOL

Prim Jar Labels

I like to think I am pretty handy when it comes to Photoshop.  It's a computer program that I use to edit my wedding photos.  You can get pretty creative with graphics as well.  I have wanted to make labels for my old Ball canning jars.  I had the designs down, but for the life of me, could not get the sizes right.  I have searched, in all the wrong places, for free labels, until the other day, when I found a wonderful blog!!!  The site is called A Simpler Time (you can click on the name to visit the site) and the author's name is Lynne.  She is very talented and graciously has fantastic tutorials to share, including one on how to dry a pineapple.  Head over to her site and take a look around.  If you like what you see, become a follower.  Here are the jars I did up.  These shelves are on either side of my kitchen sink. 

Here's a close up.  I coated the inside of this jar with glue and dusted it with cinnamon and cloves.

I had to show you these.

My brother in-law, Chad, is a very talented man.  He is a skilled craftsman when it comes to woodworking.  He has made many pieces of furniture, and as of lately, I've asked him to make a few prim pieces as well.  Now he has ventured into making rings out of exotic wood from all over the world.  Here are a few of the rings he has made.  They are so beautiful! I took a sneak peek at some of the woods he just ordered and I can't wait to see how they turn out.  The first one is the one he made for me.  If anyone is interested in buying one, you can email me and I can get you in touch with him.

I need a small reminder

Right now, our temps are frigid.  If I had a dollar for every time I said, "I hate this cold" this week, I'd be able to go buy myself a nice antique cupboard.  I wanted to make a little something to remind me that spring is just around the corner, and before I know it, I'll be complaining about the heat of summer.  I put together this simple and bright potpourri/bowl filler.

I slice and dried a few red apples.  I dry them in the oven, on the lowest temp, and turn them every hour.  I've found they take a lot longer to dry than oranges.  I like to buy my cinnamon sticks whole and if I need them smaller, I just break them up.  I find the scent gets refreshed, for lack of a better term, when I break them.  The light green of the bay leaves are a nice contrast.  Toss that all in a bowl and voila, a small reminder of spring.

 I put the bowl one of my high traffic areas, so that I can gaze upon it when I walk by it and I let my mind wander off and dream of warmer temps, fresh air blowing through the open windows, laughing children playing in the freshly cut grass, and birds chirping in the blossoming trees.  Then I turn the corner and am brought back to reality by the slippers on my feet, and piles of the kids snow suits, mittens, and hats.

Sugar Cone Revisited

Two posts down, I made a sugar cone.  While the results were okay, it really wasn't quite what I had envisioned.  So I went through the many links I have bookmarked, and found another method.  Here's a link to that. Oodlekadoodle Primitives ~ Sugar Cones Tutorial  I won't lie, I had my doubts that it would work.  I didn't think it would stay together with such a little amount of water,  but it did and it's harden up nicely.  Now, I just need to find the right mold and I'll be 100% satisfied.  I'd like something a little smaller on top. The lighting in the photos are courtesy of the setting sun tonight.  So bright and warm.  Nothing like the temps out there.

Here's a close up.  I wanted to be able to see the granules of the sugar.  That didn't happen with the other one.