Mod Sampler Quilt: Stars & Stripes Forever

The pajamas are done for now; I'll have an update with photos sometime soon.

You may have noticed the quilt-along button on my sidebar this month -- it links to Oh, Fransson!'s Mod Sampler quilt-along, which started back in March. I thought this would be a good learning and practice piece to try before tackling the Bahama Breeze quilt (the kit I bought at the Quiltfest in March).

The instructions for the quilt-along are clear and I like that the approach doesn't dictate that one way of doing something is better than another method. I've been following along, reading the posts and comments and finally about a week ago, I was ready to get started.

I wanted to use fabrics from my stash, but picking a theme and color palette was a challenge. At first I wanted to use bright blues and greens, but couldn't decide how to pair them up. Eventually I decided that the finished quilt would be used as a throw blanket in our "great" room, which changed the color theme completely.

When I was getting started on the slipcovers for my old couch, I mentioned that one of my inspiration pieces for decorating that room was this set of storage boxes with stars and stripes. By the time I finished the slipcovers, I was pretty happy with the room, but thought it needed more pops of red and white. A throw blanket would be just the thing.

In my fabric stash, I had quite a few red, white and blue and patriotic fabrics. The difficulty was in narrowing down and choosing pairs of fabrics for this Mod Sampler Quilt. At first I tried pairing either red or blue with white, but then the choice of sashing was too hard for me.

At last I matched the blue and red fabrics together and left the white for the sashing. I tried to match the pairs so that one fabric with stars was paired with a stripe or solid:

Some of the pairs interpret this plan more obviously than the others, but overall I liked the match-ups. And as I put the blocks together they seemed to make more sense.

Block A:


Block B:


Blocks A & B were fairly straightforward and I managed to put them together in one evening.

Block C:


Block C was a bit more challenging, but breaking it down into 4 sections and staying organized helped keep it in order. I used the 1/4" clear piecing foot with a guide to sew all my blocks and I was amazed at how little squaring up I needed to do in the end, especially with this block.

Block D:


Block E:


Block F:


Blocks E and F were a little confusing for me at first. I realized that I had cut my pieces all the same size, but I should have cut some sizes in one color and some sizes in the other color. Fortunately, I could mix and match and cut down larger pieces to the sizes I needed. Even though I squared up each time around, the outer edges are just a touch off.

Stitching the sashing between the blocks wasn't too bad, but sewing the rows together and keeping the columns lined up proved more challenging. It took me a couple of days to get through piecing the top together, but it turned out pretty well:

This is spread across the full-size bed in our guest room (just to give an idea of the size).

Piecing the back was also challenging, mainly because of the large sections of fabric being joined together:

The top section is the same red/white strip used in my blocks and the bottom is a larger print stars on navy. I can't even see the seam where I had to piece the bottom together.

I've made my quilt sandwich and have it all pinned together, ready to get started on the actual quilting. I'm going to try free-motion meandering or stippling on a sample piece first, and I'm going to try and use my Fabric Mover. This will be the first time I've tried to use it on a large piece, so I'm hoping it will be a good test drive.

It may be a week or so before I have another chance to post an update on my progress, but if I can, I'll upload photos to Flickr as I go along.

Here's a link to a slideshow of all my Mod Sampler Quilt photos

Rejoice, He is Risen

For Easter, I'm sharing another needlework flashback and cross stitch sampler:

The design is called Rejoice Sampler and it appeared in Cross Stitch & Country Crafts Magazine in March/April 1996. The designer's name is Donna Yuen.

It was stitched on ivory 32ct Belfast linen and the stained glass border features metallic blending filaments. I stitched this just in time for Easter in 1997.

These images are scans of my old 35mm photos, but here's a slightly closer view (click on either image to see the original scan size):

some of my other Easter needlework projects can be seen here

Happy Easter

Slipcovers: Throw Pillows, Finally

It's been over a month since I finished the slipcovers for our old couch, and I finally got around to re-covering the original throw pillows. Here are the before (left) and after (right) photos:

The new pillow covers are made from an upholstery remnant purchased at an Ethan Allen warehouse sale:

The colors in the herringbone pattern are almost exact matches to the colors in the new slipcovers. The blue piping was made from scraps leftover from the ottoman cover and the 18" nylon zippers are from JoAnn Fabrics.

Here are close-ups of the zipper closure on bottom/back of each pillow:

And another view on the contrasting color loveseat:

Now, I think I'm finally finished with this project . . . .

New Bed Covers for Keli and Penny

Last September I made matching bed covers for Keli and Penny from a doggie themed denim fabric printed with bones and pawprints.

At the time, their matching black wire crates were located upstairs in our bedroom. We had zippered Port-A-Crates for them to sleep in downstairs in the kitchen during the day or when we are away from home.

Our little escape artist, Penny, discovered that she could push through the zipper to get out of the Port-A-Crate, so we've swapped locations and the wire crates are now in the dining room. We still zip it up at night so she doesn't wander in the middle of the night, and she doesn't dare push through the zipper while we are in the same room. I don't know what we would do if she ever discovers how to escape from the wire crate.

I made both of those denim covers the same size without realizing that Penny's crate is two inches narrower than Keli's crate, so although her bed fits, it's a little squishy when its all tucked inside.

Last weekend, I finally got around to making a second set of covers (so I can have one in the laundry and one on the bed) and I even remembered to make Penny's bed a little bit smaller this time:

These were constructed exactly the same way as the first set, adjusted for the difference in crate width. I embroidered their names on each, to make it easier to tell which crate the bed will fit inside. The fabric is yet another blue home dec fabric from my stash (I still have another yard or two of the same pattern). It's a nice change for spring.

Making a new dog bed cover

It's a Pajama Party

Not really a party, just a theme for March and April . . .

Our niece Jenna's birthday was in March and as her gift, we decided to offer her a weekend visit to introduce her to sewing. Jenna aspires to be a designer someday, so knowing how to construct a garment is important. I chose the pajamas for a project because I wanted her to really learn how to make something practical and be challenged, while being able to finish it in a day.

Friday night we set up her sewing machine, her mom's Kenmore, so that she could learn how to use it, since that's what will be available to her at home. It's a good basic machine; I was very thankful that the user manual was available to show me how to put in the bobbin, because it was different from any machine I've ever used - it was vertical and all my machines have had horizontal drop in bobbins.

Our plan was to go shopping at my local JoAnn Fabrics on Saturday to get a pattern and any other notions. Since the McCall's patterns were on sale that week, I had done a little pre-shopping online for pattern ideas and also printed out sizing charts and instructions on how to take measurements. We took Jenna's measurements and decided she needed a girls pattern in size 10 or 12.

Jenna had never been inside a fabric store before, so we took a few minutes to look at the variety of fabrics and other items available. It was a lot for her to take in at once. We made our way back to the pattern area and looked through the catalogs to find pajamas. We chose two patterns, McCall's 4291 (left) and 5744 (below) which both have simple elastic waisted pajama pants in multiple sizes. Both patterns have tops which hopefully we'll make sometime in the future.

After we selected the patterns, we shopped for thread and a few other notions. We didn't need fabric because we were planning to use flannel from my stash. While we were shopping, Jenna carefully selected a sewing basket to keep track of her supplies; we examined several sizes and shapes and chose one in her price range that would accommodate her new collection of scissors, pins, thread, etc., with room to store more in the future.

Finally we were read to get started. Back at home, we prepared the pattern pieces, chose a cutting layout, started pinning the pattern pieces to the fabric, cutting them out and sewing them together. Jenna did most of the work -- I demonstrated each step along the way and then let her finish, and she did a great job.

Here she is pinning away:

and pressing some seams:


When it was time to sew the hems, she used my sewing machine because we could really slow it down, making it easier for her to stitch:

We started our day at 10am with our shopping trip and worked all day until 10pm, stopping every hour or so and for lunch and dinner and by the end of the day, the pajamas were finished:

Jenna did a great job for her first time sewing. She even wore the pants to bed that night. And when we visited a week later, she showed us a pair of pajama pants she made for her brother Jack (with some help from her mom). And I hear she has plans to make pajamas for quite few more members of her family. I'm sending her an old OOP McCall's pattern to use for the adults.

You can see more photos in Jenna's Sewing Weekend Flickr Set.

The flannel we used for Jenna's pajama pants has been in my "collection" for probably 8 or 9 years. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it, because it's all pink, which I hardly ever wear and is likely why I never used it until now.

Last year I bought a lot of knit fabrics in blues and greens that I wanted to use to make pajamas for myself. So I decided I'd use the remaining pink flannel in place of muslin to try out some of the patterns and make fitting adjustments. Yes, I realize the knits will fit a little differently than the woven flannel, but the basic measurements should be close.

My first pattern is Simplicity 3928 (which appears to be out-of-print now). The pajama pants are pretty straightforward and my first pair fit well enough. I made only the pants for my first sample -- the fabric makes me think of old fashioned table cloths, but they are good enough for sleeping in. (I don't have a photo yet, but will add it to Flickr if I remember to take one.)

They were a little long and baggy in the legs and the back waist felt a little low, so I added an inch to the pattern height at the center back and tapered to nothing at the side seams for the next pair of pants.

For the second trial pj's I also tried making the top, View B. It turned out okay. It wasn't too terribly difficult to make, but I don't much care for this style now, so probably won't be making any more.

I am NOT going to share the back view of these pajamas in my blog, but if you really want to see the photo, you can look here.

I think I need to make some sort of adjustment to the pattern for the excess bagginess in the back of the top -- definitely need to add some room at the hemline, but I'm not sure what to call the back adjustment. I've had this type of gapping on the other blouses I attempted a year or so ago, so it's definitely something I need to address.

Well, I'm ready to move on to working with some of the knits in my stash and I 'd like to try another out-of-print pattern in my stash, Simplicity 5877. It looks like the pants are made with seams only at the inside leg and center. These could be great or a disaster, but at least with a knit they'll be stretchy. And blue-ish.

And, um, in case you were wondering, no I won't be making the short version of the top that the model is wearing, I'll attempt the longest version with the long sleeves. Maybe.