Sewing Studio Final Touches

The sewing studio is ready for sewing!! I added a final touch that should help to keep things organized. Not sure where I remember seeing the idea to use Peg board, but it was something that when I did see it, it stuck in my head. The stuff comes in a 2' x 4' size which was perfect for the space I had in mind, but I wish now I had gotten another one and put them side by side on another wall. This stuff is great for organizing sewing room notions. I painted the front side a pretty lavender to give my studio some color. I like the clean look that white gives but there was too much of it.

The pictures don't show it, but you have to add some wood rails to the back that frame the perimeter of the peg board. If the peg board is flat against the wall the wire pegs of the hangers won't insert into the holes.

I saw this on Pinterest and loved the idea so I had to try making one. It's scrapbook paper cut into hexagons to mimic quilt blocks. I used modge podge to glue them to a paint canvas. It was time consuming to cut the hexagons but I love the finished wall art.

The other thing I decided was instead of curtains I would just hang one of my quilts. I'll change it out periodically so I can enjoy some of my creations.

 

 

Birth of Big Bertha!!

My sewing studio is coming along with the arrival of Big Bertha.......all 84" and 150 lbs of her (approx. -- she came in 3 boxes so I'm guessing at her total weight). She's a big girl. Don't blame me for her name, she came with it, but isn't she a beauty? She has a 3-position airlift mechanism which allows me to put my machine in a storage, flatbed or freearm position, trays for sewing notions and threads on both doors, and although you can't see it here, there is a quilt table extension on the backside. When I'm sewing quilts together I can roll the cabinet away from the wall and extend the extra table to accommodate the bulk of the quilt. Also not pictured is a two drawer cabinet that will be used for my serger. The DH has to put it together too (poor guy). I'll be so glad to have some space for the serger. Poor thing sits in my closet not being used simply because I didn't have space. Not anymore!!!

 

Here are a few more pics of the DH putting this together and I think he did a great job!!

 





The following are pictures of my other new addition.....a new design wall. Thank you Pinterest!! The only thing I'm a little disappointed with is the "lightening bolt" that runs diagonally across the batting. I discovered it when I opened the bag. There's no seam but it looks like it was torn in the manufacturing process and whatever they did to weave it back together created that streak. If it was sandwiched between a quilt top and back you'd never see it. Luckily, it doesn't affect the functionality and it holds my quilt blocks just fine. The quilt blocks are something I started over two years ago. I think it's time to get them finished, don't you? I was looking for a new project in 2013 anyway!! I think I found it!!!!

 



 

The following are the supplies I used to make the design wall:

• Insulfoam - what you see pictured below is made by Owens Corning and I purchased two of the 3/4" x 4' x 8' sections. It has an interlocking side so the pieces will butt up against each other. There are other brands of this stuff so it's your choice as to which one you buy but anything similar should work.
• Cotton batting (Queen size, or the appropriate sz for your wall) - you can also use fleece or flannel and I've even seen some suggestions for using the wrong side of a vinyl tablecloth. The kind that has the fuzzy flannel stuff on the underside. After making this with cotton batting though, I must say it beats hands down my design wall made with flannel.
• Spray adhesive (doesn't matter which brand) - You definitely want to spary this on the insulfoam board as you are smoothing out the batting to keep all wrinkles out. If I hadn't looked at other design walls on Pinterest I would have missed this important ingredient. The first one I looked at never mentioned using spray adhesive, just said to wrap it around the board and tape it. So I'm glad I looked at others because trying to wrap the batting around the board and make it taut and smooth would have been a nightmare without some kind of adhesive.
• Duct tape - I used white, but any color will work
• Tape measure
• Command refill strips - I purchased FOUR of the 5 lb capacity which has 6 large strips to a pkg. I also contemplated using either caulking (which one set of directions called for) or heavy duty velcro. For the sake of flexibility and ease of moving the design wall in the future if I need to, I chose the Command strips. The wall has been hanging for two days now (since 01/01/13) so it seems to be holding.

 

 

The back side doesn't look pretty but it won't be seen so it doesn't matter how pretty or ugly it is. I taped the two boards together and then cut to a 5' x 7' size to fit my wall. Whatever space you have will dictate the size you'll need.

Since I decided to use the Command strips and not caulking or velcro, I adhered the strips to the back side of the board at alternating positions down the entire length (not pictured, sorry!). Then just pressed the board against the wall. You can faintly hear the command strips taking hold of the wall. Obviously, your wall needs to be a fairly smooth surface for the Command strips to work. If you don't, another set of instructions I found said that caulking was used. Just applied some thin lines at various points on the board and voila!!

 I've got some other touches to add. I'm thinking about getting some peg boards to use for hanging various quilting supplies but haven't decided if that's what I want to do. I've seen the idea and it looks like a great way to keep things organized. We'll see. For now, I love what's coming together and can't wait to be able to sew in my own sewing studio and not on the kitchen table!!!

My Minky Scarves

I finally made myself something, which I rarely do. Most of my projects are intended for someone else, but I had leftover scraps of some minky fabric I used to make scarves for some of the ladies in my family and decided to piece them together to make a scarf for myself. However, I also had ordered some leopard minky fabric (not pictured) after Christmas 2011 and intended to make scarves for my son's girlfriend, her mother and myself, but I never got around to it until this Christmas. Talk about procrastinating!!

As I was sewing the 2011 minky fabric and completed the scarves for my son's girlfriend and her mother, I decided to give the scarf I had intended for myself to my hubby's sister. I never know what to get her and I thought she'd like the scarf. So, giving the scarf intended for me, I had to order some more fabric. (lucky me!!)

When I went back to the Quilted Treasures website I found they added to their product line a faux chinchilla, which looked absolutely gorgeous. I had to have it!

This is the scarf I made from the leftover scraps of the Rose Cuddle Minky (Brown):

Since it was scraps, this scarf is a bit skinnier than the others. It was almost to skinny...I almost didn't get my hand in the opening to turn it.

And this is the chinchilla one. When you order the fabric it will come cut in a 15" width. You can then sew the scarf as wide or narrow as you want. Just be careful that you don't cut it too narrow or you'll have a hard time turning it.

I love the way these scarves turn out. They are so soft and warm but I HATE working with minky fabrics. They are messy, shed, slip horribly while sewing, difficult to get a straight edge and just overall a pain to work with. I pin to the Nth degree, have tried putting tissue paper between the right sides while sewing, which does seem to help some, but it's just difficult fabric. Thank goodness these scarves sew up quickly. There are many choices to choose from and they are reasonably priced.

I love Quilted Treasures....they ship promptly, have great customer service and I think their prices are reasonable. Check their website out if you get a chance (link above).

Post Christmas 2012

Whew!! Christmas sure came and went fast. Seems to come around faster every year, doesn't it? I was busy making ornaments for family and friends. They were so easy. Found the idea on, where else, Pinterest. Started out with the Santa and Snowman and then thought of making a Reindeer. Who knew there was such a thing as brown glitter? Can't believe I found some.

Here's the Santa ornament: (I added the touch of fur at the top)

 

 

This is the Snowman ornament:

And here is the Reindeer ornament:

I think the Reindeer is cute but the mouth isn't very visible. Will have to give it more thought as to what I can do to improve upon this feature. Any ideas are welcome.

I also made ornaments using some of my Christmas fabrics in a kit I found from Keepsake Quilting. These were fun and easy to make as well but you definitely need a glue gun. The directions called for regular craft glue but that didn't hold well. I blinged them up using hot fix crystals and glitter, bows and small Christmas picks I found at Joann's.

 

 

 

 

 

I had fun making all of my 2012 Christmas ornaments, although I did procrastinate a bit getting started. Every year I always say I'm going to start my Christmas projects in September but somehow that never happens.

 

For Christmas this year my DH (darling husband) gave me some new sewing furniture from Arrow Cabinets. The "Big Bertha" arrived the day after Christmas. Was so pleased how quickly it shipped. I was expecting 7 - 10 days so it was like Christmas morning all over again. Can't wait for the DH to start putting it together but we have to paint the room it's going in first. When it's all together in her new home, I'll post more pics.

 

 

Not sure what my first project on Big Bertha and in 2013 will be, but it will be fun looking for something. I bought some fabric at a quilt retreat back in November, so maybe I'll dig that out and start with it. We'll see.





My First Blog Posting

Not sure how this Blog stuff works. This is my first attempt at creating a blog in order to share my craft creations and possibly, in the process, share things that inspire me. Most of my projects in the last 4 - 5 years have been around quilting, but I also love to crochet, knit, crosstitch and do just about any fun craft I find creative.

If you share the same love of creativity, regardless of medium, I hope you find some of my creations interesting or possibly, even inspiring.

As I get better at Blog creation, I hope my postings and the format of this page will improve. So, thanks for your patience while I figure this out. I don't profess to be an English major so you'll likely find grammatical errors and misspellings as well.

Here's a few of the projects I've done recently. If you're inclined, let me know what you think.


This is some "Onesie Cupcakes" I did for a baby shower gift. Found the directions on Pinterest and you can go to this link if you'd like them too> Onesie Cupcake . I couldn't find any red baby socks as the instructions show so, I found small ribbon flowers in the craft section at Walmart and used those as the centers. I also took the cuff of the sock and pulled it down over the onesie to make it look like icing.

 



The pictures following are a baby quilt I did recently for a new Mom who loves Winnie the Pooh. I got the inspiration for the "hunny" jar from a friend. It really worked out great when I found the backing fabric that was honey colored. When I folded up the quilt and put it in the jar, it was the perfect color for the honey jar. If you don't have a quilt to fill the jar, you could use heavy scrapbook paper to line the jar. Then fill it with diapers and small baby goodies.

 

 

 

 

 

Will return soon to post more pics.