11 posts tagged “denim”

Iris in the window

I was taking pictures this evening for this week's Photo Quest.  This one doesn't meet the qualifications exactly, but I liked it anyway.  It is somewhat distorted by the resizing.  It was taken in front of a window with no flash. 

Homespun appliqued hot holder

I didn't do any quilting today.  I was fighting with a bad headache all day, and it was winning! 

I finished this pot holder last night.  I made this one a little bit different.  It has an appliqued star on a plain denim field on the other side.  It will be on Etsy soon. 

I received my order from JoAnn's today, so now I have the white flannel I need to finish the Moda baby lovie that I started a long time ago. 

Need to clean house tomorrow.  Two of our sons and their families are coming out on Sunday.  I want to finish my camp orders so I can put that mess away.  It is spread out all over one end of the dining room table.  My fabric strip knitting is spread out on the other end, but I can put it in a bag and get it out again without loosing my place. 

Have a great weekend, everyone, and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in my neighborhood and on Vox!

Mother's Day note card

I found these buttons at Wal-Mart and thought I might be able to do something with them.  I'm not sure if denim was the best choice for a background.  I have another set of buttons that are slightly different.  I may try something different for a background.  I like the way the "grass" turned out.  I satin stitched the stems, then added the grass strips, then ran the piece through the washer and dryer to "rag quilt" the grass.  Then I stitched on the leaves.  They aren't stitched around the edges, just down the center and the veins.  Then I stitched the denim to the card stock.  I added the buttons last, since they are close to the edges.  They are stitched through the card stock.

Lunch time!

Country By Design rag quilted table runner with appliques

Hi!  Happy Easter!

I can't believe I have been out of touch for so long.  My computer has been acting silly again.  It hasn't stopped me from quilting, thank goodness.

Yes, we had snow this morning.  Thank goodness the Easter bunny colors his eggs!  It is all gone now, but it was interesting to watch this morning. 

Here is one of the table runners I finished last week.  Each large denim square has a rag quilted appliqued flower.  It is mostly pink, blue, and yellow, and it is listed on Etsy.

Country By Design rag quilted table runner with Quilt Diva fabrics by Moda

Here's my latest table runner.  I used some of the Quilt Diva line by Amy Bradley designs for Moda.  Very colorful!  I really had to step out of my comfort zone, but I like it.  I used 5 inch squares to maintain more of the impact of the colors.  Check out the Etsy listing for more pictures.  I spent 3 hours Friday night trying to upload my pictures, and finally gave up.  I think I am going to have to look into getting high speed internet service.  Right now, I just can't justify the expense.  One of the prices we pay for living a bit off the beaten path.  It used to be, if someone came down our road, we knew they were coming to our house.  It isn't that way any more, but we still get up and look every time a vehicle goes by.  Sometimes, the only traffic all day is the mailman!

We had our family get together yesterday at our son's house.  Everyone was there except our oldest granddaugher who had to work, and our daughter and family who live in Texas.  It was just barely warm enough for the kids to go out and hunt for Easter eggs. 

Time to go do some quilting! 

Got to do lots of quilting today.  Started working on a flannel baby blanket.  Could have finished it, but I ran out of white flannel.  Does anyone have a good source for solid pastel colored flannel?  So much of it is muddy and not pretty at all.  So, after left overs for supper, I started on another denim table runner.  This one will have flower appliques.  It is mostly denim and pink.  I usually mix up a lot of different colors in my denim runners, so this one will be different.  Getting my hair cut in the morning (Yeh!), but I hope to be able to finish it sometime tomorrow.  I sorted through a pound of navy beans and put them on to soak, so dinner won't take long. Happy quilting!

Easter table runner from Country By Design

Here's one of the Easter table runners that I made while I was home.  Had to come back to the city this morning, but at least this computer is working so I can catch up on posting pictures of my projects.  I got everything listed on Etsy this morning, so there are more pictures there. 

Spring table runner from Country By Design

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Here's a spring table runner with fabric from Cajunelle.  The dark pink matches a dark pink in the butterfly print. 

Country By Design table runner with pinwheels

Here's the last table runner that I finished last night.  I got the idea for the pinwheels from an applique pattern that I talked about earlier.  Can't remember where it was, sorry!  They stitched their pinwheels down flat, but I like them 3-D.  I made them by gluing two 4 inch squares together with Stitch Witchery.  Then I drew lines in from the points and marked the centers.  Next I cut in about half way to the center from each corner, and cut a slit in the center.  I tacked the points to the center with the sewing machine, then I sewed buttons to the center of each denim square.  The pinwheels are buttoned on to the runner so they can be removed to wash the runner.  The pinwheels are bright orange on the outside, and bright pink on the inside.  You can see a close up of one of them on Etsy. 

I made three more fabric note cards, but I will wait until tomorrow to post pictures of them.  If you can't wait, take a look at www.countrybydesign.etsy.com.

St. Patrick's Day table runner from Country By Design

Here's the last table runner I made at home.  I just got it listed on Etsy.  I took five 7 inch denim squares, and quilted them to a green print backing.  Then I made shamrocks from 3" quilted squares and stitched them close to the edge to the denim squares.  The top layer will curl back slightly so you can see the white backing.  Each shamrock is made from different green prints.  All the 4" squares are backed with white muslin. 

I came back to the city after lunch today.  I had paper work to do this morning, so didn't get to do any quilting.  The baby had been sick when I left, but he is much better now. 

Downloading pictures goes so much faster with this computer.  It only takes about a minute to upload a picture.  At home, it takes at least five minutes. 

I think I'm finished with St. Patrick's Day runners unless someone else requests a special order.  I already have on order for a spring runner, and I need to make a few things for Easter. 

Country By Design rag quilted St. Patrick's Day table runner

Success!  I was able to list this table runner and the denim shamrocks on Etsy!  Even though my computer is slower that cold molasses running up hill, I waited for it to load all the pictures.  Actually I fixed dinner while I was loading the first set.  Didn't have anything fancy, but it was good.  Meatloaf, brown rice, green beans, and sauted apples. 

This runner is almost like the other one I made.  I think I like the contast of the white squares against the dark green squares better in this one.  You only need 12 four inch squares of three different fabrics to make this runner.  I used white muslin for the backing.  Or you could make it half as long (6 squares by 3 squares) if you wanted place mats. 

I also listed the denim runner with the appliqued shamrocks.  I finished the other denim runner today, but I think I will wait until I get back to the city to list it.  Goes so much faster! 

St. Patrickk's Day table runner from Country by Design

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. 

I can't believe it!  I actually got another picture to load!

Here is the table runner I made yesterday for St. Patrick's Day.  I quilted the shamrocks, then rag quilt appliqued them to the quilted denim squares.  I used an extra layer of fabric and stitched the seams at 5/8 inch to make them more of a design element. 

I don't use a pattern for the shamrocks.  Each segment of the leaf is cut freehand from a 4" square that is stitched with an X, just like the ones in a rag quilt.  I used Warm and Natural batting and muslin backing.  Then I folded each square along one of the stitching lines and held it with the fold toward the palm of my left hand.  Then I cut out a shape almost exactly like you would cut out a heart, except that the top is more rounded, with only a slight dip in the center.  There are three shapes in each shamrock.  The stem is the shape that is left over after cutting out the petal.  It is the upper right section of the cut-away.  I cut it out, leaving the stitching at each end to keep everything together.  Then I stitch each piece one at a time to the quilted denim square, starting with the stem.  I use a straight stitch close to the edge.  The edges will curl up slightly, revealing the backing.  The only difference in the basic squares is that is this case, I make the batting the same size as the top and backing since you are cutting out a shape that goes almost all the way to the edge.  I don't worry about each shape being exactly the same.  A little variation looks better.  I like to quilt the large squares, then apply the appliqued shapes because I just position them and start stitching.  I use pressure from my left hand and my trusty seam ripper in the right hand to turn the whole piece under the needle.  Sometimes I have to raise the pressure foot and turn everything, but I can usually stitch and turn at the same time. 

Now to see if I can get my pictures to load on Etsy.  I may have to wait until I go back to the city tomorrow. 

Here is a picture of the rag quilted table runner that I was working on in the country. 

Red and white with denim, laid out

I can't decide if the denim squares need hearts or something, or if there is enough going on the way it is. 

There is one more square that goes up on top.  It will be very similar to the one at the bottom of the picture. 

This one is made with 7 inch vintage denim squares and 4 inch red and print squares.  Most of the backing squares are pink. 

The pink print in the foreground came from Fabric.com.  You can find them at www.fabric.com. The red squares are Christmas napkins that I bought after Christmas for $.40.  The cupid print came from cajunelle's on eBay.  I just bought three more assortments today.  She really has a nice selection right now. 

Got home just in time this morning for my hubby to take my car to town.  The transmission has been acting up.  He had to leave it at the shop, so I had to take his truck in to town to pick him up!

Finished the table runner that I had laid out before I left.  It's in the washer now.  I'll try to get a picture before the day is over.  I've started on another runner that uses large denim squares.  I adapted the design from a pattern for a quilt that I found online. 

Here's a couple of pictures of the six month old that I take care of in the city.  He is just starting to crawl.  Last week when I left he could only go backward.  Now he can get down on his hands and knees and back up to a sitting position really fast.  And he can pick up one hand and fall forward to try to get to something he wants.  It amazes me how hard he works at learning to crawl.  Sometimes he will end up on his back.  Then he is kind of like a turtle. He knows how to roll over, but he usually just lays there until someone comes along and flips him back over!

He likes to pull his bottom lip into this mouth, so he looks like this a lot.  He has big blue eyes and pretty red hair.

Here's a little smile.  Of course I think he is just the cutest baby anywhere!