Quilts and Home Comforts
Saturday, June 26, 2010
One Great Way to Use Swatches and Scraps
Friday, April 30, 2010
Coastal Style Cornice Boards
How to make straight custom upholstered cornice boards
wire cutting pliers
a protected work surface
Directions Overview:
Alternating sides and starting at the midpoint, the fabric/batting was pulled over the board and stapled on the underside of the cornice board. I continued stapling until the board was completely covered, making sure to mitre the corners. Tack down any staples that stick up using the tack hammer.
I stapled the contrast cording along the top edge of the board, carefully placing the ends toward the inside and securing with a staple.
With the bulk of the lining fabric piece facing toward the front of the cornice board, I stapled the edge (about 3/4 inch from edge) near the cording and folded it toward the inside of the cornice board to create a finished edge. Then I stapled the rest of the lining to the bottom edge of the cornice and trimmed close to the staples.
Using the seam binding or gimp and fabric glue, create a finished edge along the bottom of the cornice. You may need to hold it in place by positioning quilting pins along the edge until the glue dries (I suggest a minimum of 4 hours).
Attach the L-brackets to your wall and attach your new cornice board to the L-brackets.
Use your vacuum cleaner's fabric brush to keep dust and pollen from building up on the surfaces.
Monday, March 15, 2010
A Cheerleader's Quilt for Breast Cancer
Opportunities large and small confront us every day, and, I believe if we see them with an open heart, they become blessings.
Take Tuesday, for example. Bob, my husband, telephoned me from our church’s bookstore where he recently began volunteering. He explained that he had spoken with Josie, a young woman who shared with him that she had a friend, Amy, in her 20’s who was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer one day, had a single mastectomy the next day and had her first chemotherapy session scheduled for the following day.
Josie’s earnest desire was to furnish a personalized quilt for her friend as a keepsake and comfort to use during her year of chemotherapy treatments. Josie’s problem was that she didn’t sew. She didn’t know someone who did, or who would be willing to donate time to create the quilt.
Bob, eager to offer tangible help, showed her Beating Cancer: Stories of People Who Are Surviving and Thriving. I had recently edited and published this book to encourage people who suffered from cancer as well as inspire those who knew, loved or acted as a caregiver of a cancer victim.
Next, Bob told Josie, “My wife is a quilter. She’s made lots of them, and might be willing to help. I’ll ask her, but she’s really busy and I can’t promise.”
Bob gave me Josie’s phone number. I met with her the next afternoon, discussed details and agreed to assist with the quilt. The basic color would be purple, Amy’s favorite, and Josie would coordinate gathering all the patches and bringing them to me to sew.
Little did I know what I was getting into.
I couldn't. Not without getting some standard sized blocks. So, I backed each contribution in muslin, bordered it in calico, then trimmed it to a specific size. Then all were assembled around a large center square, the main theme—cheerleading camp.
Paying It Forward
For me, helping Josie complete her quilt was not just saying ‘yes’ to God, it was allowing me to be a conduit in whatever capacity God’s plan held.
I am certain that when Josie delivers the quilt, Amy will feel the love that went into it. It’s also my hope that when she is covered by it, she’ll know the blessings sewn into it. She'll soon be on her way to recovery.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
A Homemade Cork Wreath and Quilt Speak Welcome
Since I drink wine so infrequently, I’d be saving corks for years to have enough. I needed about 200 to make the kind of wreath I envisioned. So, I received some from family and won a bulk lot of them from eBay. To find more, try craft shops, online stores such as Widget, and local restaurants.
Before I started, I looked on the Web to see how others had made a wreath. Some, like Alexandra's are quite lovely. Most people used a hot glue gun, toothpicks or straight pins. I didn’t. I used more substantial tools; but, they weren’t difficult to use, and anyone 12 or older could use them.
Here’s the finished piece. Instructions follow.
Tools and supplies:
Paper or a vinyl tablecloth to protect work area
one 12-inch straw wreath, keep plastic on it.
a spray or vine of silk grape leaves, preferably with grapes
one or two bunches of small realistic plastic grapes
about 12 floral pins
12 inches of floral wire, medium weight
1 ½ - 2 pounds of 2-inch finish nails
Wire cutters
An awl
Pair of pliers
175-225 used wine corks
- Twist the floral wire around the wreath and twist into a strong loop for hanging, keeping the loop to the back of the wreath. Use the wire cutters to snip any extra wire from the loop or wind it tightly around the base of the loop. (Make sure to test your loop as the final weight of the wreath will surprise you.)
- Using the floral pins to secure the segments, position the grape leaves and grape bunches randomly on the wreath. (I used two bunches of grapes and snipped one in half to make one large bunch and two mini bunches so the wreath would have balance of grapes on either side.)
- Starting with about a dozen corks, use the awl to make a hole into the center-end of each cork, about one inch deep.
- Insert the pointed end of the finish nail into the hole you just made, one nail per cork. Use the pliers, if necessary to help you position the nail more deeply into the cork. About one inch of nail exposing the nail head will stick out from the end of the cork.
- Take the awl and poke a hole into the straw wreath for each place you wish to insert a cork. Insert the nail head fully into the wreath. You’ll get a feel for how closely to arrange them. They should look random and hide the surface of the straw base underneath.
- Repeat the process until you have secured corks throughout the wreath.
- Hang the wreath and enjoy what you have made.
Oh, and send me a photo and a summary of your experience to include with my blog.