i have to say...

it's fat 1/8 tuesday!

 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

It's Fat 1/8 Tuesday and this bundle just screams the 80's to me!

Bright jewel tones + black = Pretty in Pink.

Ah, John Hughes movies.  You gotta love 'em!

To win this bundle simply leave a comment in this post telling me what your favorite 80'song or movie is.  The winner will be announced tomorrow morning.

Feel free to "like" my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or sign up for the my newletter (it's low-volume).

This bundle is available in my shop as a fat 1/4 or a fat 1/8 set.

Have a great day!

ta da!

OK, I am feeling a little too accomplished right now!

I made a successful batch of homemade body wash.

Why am I so excited about it?

Because I had 3 unsuccessful attempts last week.

For some reason I was very focused on making a good batch of this stuff!

This final batch is made like this:  Grate one bar of good quality soap.  Bring 12 cups of water to a simmer over the stove and add the grated soap and stir until it dissolves.  Add 2 tablespoons of glycerine and stir.  Turn the heat off, put the lid on it and let it sit for about 10 hours until is thickens.  I added 3 teaspoons of orange essential oil to the batch when it cooled off.  Makes about 3 quarts for under $5.00 (I bought my bar of soap for $3.99 at the grocey store).

Next time I will use an unscented bar, but the almond was the only one I could find at the store this weekend.

So, that's my big success story.

Thanks for listening!

sale of the week---sherbet pips!

The Pips are on sale through February 25th at 30% off!  These prints are perfect for your crafty projects, and for stash building.  Click here to see what's in stock.

Have a lovely day!

it's funny...

...that even thought sewing time has been scarce, the time that I have managed at the machine has been great. 

Every minute of it restful---even a couple of minutes spent with the seam ripper!

I am also in a very inspired state and a few new projects are knocking around in my head.  One fabric stack is ready to become a birthday gift for someone special.  And it will be another opportunity to work on my curves. 

My sewing curves, that is.

What about you?  What has your sewing/crafting/hobby time been like lately?  Does it feel like work?  Or fun?

rows and rows of apples

Sewing time has been in short supply this week, so my projects are sitting.  That's quite alright, because I have a sewing day lined up for Friday and I can work on some things then.

So far all of my apple cores are sewn together into rows.  I have never pinned so much in my life!  It actually takes longer for me to pin than it does for me to sew.

But I will say that it's worth it.  I love how this one is shaping up!

It has been a really long time since I have been working on projects that I like so much. 

I think it's because I stepped out of my "usual".

Life is like that.

When we step out of our rut, in any area, it all feels new and refreshing.

I need to remember that!

changing the padding on your ironing board--a quick how-to

A couple of the gals who are making the ironing board covers mentioned that they would like to make a new pad for their board as well. 

This is my way of showing you how!

First up, I am not calling this a tutorial.  It's more of a "this is how I did mine" type of thing. 

When I changed out the pad on my board, my old one was so ridiculously thin that I can't even believe that I used it for so long.  It was the one that came with the board, so I hadn't ever lifted the pad to see what it looked like.  The new pad that I made is much softer and I love that it is 100% cotton, instead of a synthetic fabric.

To make mine, all I did was to take a piece of Warm and Natural Batting that I had left over from quilting, and I cut it the same size as my ironing board.  Then I sewed on 3/4" elastic to keep it in place. There are two pieces of elastic at the wide end of the board, one piece across the middle and one piece at the skinny end.  I allowed the elastic to be a little bit "tight-ish" so that it holds the pad firmly in place.  When I say "tight-ish" I simply mean a little bit tighter than hanging loosely.

I do hope that helps!

and the winner is...

...Patti @ Retired to Quilt!  She says that after early retirement she only works on a casual basis to support her fabric obsession. I love it!

Patti, email your mailing address to me at freshsqueezedfabrics (at) gmail (dot) com and I will get that bundle of fabric on it's way to you!

Thank you to everyone who played along yesterday!

I will be back soon with a quick how-to for replacing your ironing board pad.  :)

it's fat-eighth tuesday!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

This fat 1/8 bundle is called Vanilla Creamsicle! 

To win this bundle simply leave a comment in this post.  The winner will be announced tomorrow morning.

Feel free to "like" my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or sign up for the my newletter (it's low-volume).

This bundle is available in my shop.

Have a lovely day!

sew-along with me!: ironing board cover

Well to February's Sew-Along! 

This month we are going to  give our ironing boards a facelift.  After all, if you  have to iron, you might as well do it with some style, right?

The supply list for the ironing board cover is here.  And joining the Flickr group is a good idea.  That is where lots of questions get answered and pictures get posted.

I decided to post this tutorial all at once, instead of in increments thoughout the week since there were no natural stopping points.  Some of you will finish this in one sitting, and that is just fine.  If it takes a few days to put together, no problem at all. 

On Wednesday I will post a how-to for  re-doing your ironing board pad.  It won't be a full tutorial, but rather pics and explanation of how I did mine.  It's really very simple!  Of course, you can simply re-use the pad that is already on your board.  Generally it is not attached to the cover.

Let's begin!

PLEASE NOTE:  My board measures 13" across and 53" long.  If yours is bigger, simply add a bit of fabric to accomodate that fact.  It is nice to have 4" of extra fabric around the entire board.  If you don't have that much,  you can reduce the casing seams to 1/4" and 5/8" if you need to save fabric around the sides (the length) of the board.  This tutorial should work for almost all boards (unless yours is unusually large).

First you will be cutting and laying out your fabrics to prepare them for sewing.

The 24" piece will be laid out lengthwise as shown (green floral).  Your 3" piece will be laid widthwise and cut to 24".  The 20" piece will be laid out widthwise and cut to 24":

Now sew together those pieces using a 1/4" seam (I line up the edge of my sewing foot with my fabric to keep my seams the same each time):

You will now end up with a piece that measure approximately 65" X 24".  Don't worry if the piece ends up longer than that by a few inches. 

Close-up:

Press your seams open, like this.  Press the entire piece of fabric.:

Now lay your ironing board on top of the wrong side of your fabric piece:

Measure 4" around the entire board, marking this line with either a fabric pen or a regular pencil:

Now you will cut on that line all the way around the board.  At the end of the board mark a 2" spot to leave your opening for the cording (see purple marks):

Using your iron, press your fabric down 1/2" all the way around the board.  You will have to "gather" the fabric just a bit around the curves (notice the wrinkles on the curves):

This is the 2" mark you added for the casing:

Sew a zig-zag stitch to keep that fabric in place (you can use a regular stitch if your machine does not have a zig-zag option:

Now, iron the fabric down 3/4" all the way around (this is the 1/2" fold folded over once more).  Notice the "gathers" around the curves.  You will not see these once the cover is finished.  The whole casing will be gathered up and it will be underneath the board.  Pin this seam into place, using lots of pins around the curves:

Sewing close to the edge of the fabric, sew this seam in place:

Do not sew over your marked opening.  It needs to be left open for the cording:

This is what your curved edges might look like:

Finished board cover laid out:

Tie knots on each end of your cording piece:

Using a safety pin, thread the whole piece through the casing.  This takes a little while, so be patient.:

Both ends of the cording should stick out of the casing opening:

Now lay your ironing board cover, right side facing the floor, and place your ironing board on top of it:

Now (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) when you pull the cording to tighten, do not pull up.  You need to cross the ends and gently pull to the side.:

Tighten up the cording (gently) and tie in a knot and then a bow (the knot will hold things in place more securely):

Voila!  Now you need to iron something!

Or just admire your handiwork!

Please be sure to post your progress photos in the Flickr Group.  You can leave comments and questions here in this post or in the Flickr group Discussion area.

Happy sewing!

strings attached

Tons of strings, that is!

It's going to take me at least an hour to clip all of the strings on these little blocks.

Oh, but I love them!

Rather than cutting 2-1/2" squares like the tutorial mentioned, I went with 1-1/2" squares.  For some reason, the bigger squares made me feel like I needed to go for a full-sized lap quilt, when all I want is a mini-quilt. 

For right now, anyway.

The blocks measure about 6", but I still have to trim the edges.

My plan was to sew these up at Quilt Guild meeting on Saturday, but icy roads kept me at home.   I decided to keep it a sewing day, though. 

And I am so glad that I did.

It was one of the most relaxing sewing days I have had in a long time.  My daughter sat next to me and worked on her Valentine's box.

Kind of a perfect day, really.

I hope to be back with a finished mini-quilt soon.  This one just keeps calling me back!