Sewing

Quilted Progress

22 Feb 2013

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One great advantage to all the snow this winter is being stuck inside. It’s the perfect excuse to cook and craft to your heart’s content. I spent the better part of the two foot snow storm, a few weeks ago, finishing up the squares on my quilt.

Quilted Progress - The Pomegranate Chornicles

Once they were all pressed, I started to assemble the strips for the top (YAY!) This is always such an exciting part of the process. It’s where the “rubber meets the road” so to speak. I am always anxious to see if my colors and pattern choices are going to work together.

Quilted Progress - The Pomegranate Chronicles

After arranging all the pieces on the floor, I am feeling very confident that this quilt is going to be exactly what I wanted! All that is left is sewing together the strips and making the sandwich! I’d really like to spend the money and get this professionally quilted. Once I have the top together, I will know better. If it comes out as nice as I am thinking, I better start saving my pennies!

Quilted Progress - The Pomegranate Chronicles

Are you working on any quilted projects? Please share!

Happy Quilting!

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Handmade Holiday 2012

29 Dec 2012

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Now that Christmas is over and all of our presents have gotten to their proper homes, I’d like to share a few of the handmade ones with you. I saw a pin for an adorable hand print Christmas plate. I thought they would be the perfect gift for my Mom and Mother-in-Law, so we headed to our local pottery painting store To Your Arts Content in Exeter NH to make our own.

Hand Print Christmas Plate - The Pomegranate Chronicles

Truth be told, I made myself one too. He’s getting so big, so fast and I didn’t want to miss out! Pin this for next year!

For my SIL, I found some beautiful yarn at the LYS. It’s a really nice cashmere blend in the most lovely sage color. She is an avid crocheter and makes the most awesome projects and I thought she deserved a really nice wooden hook. I had to do some digging, but I found a nice Brittney G hook online. I also sewed up a matching case for her hooks using this old project pattern. I modified it to be a few inches longer to be sure all her hooks fit.

Crochet Hook Case - The Pomegranate Chronicles

Lastly, I took some of my best nature shots from last year and created “Thank you” cards in Shutterfly. They really came out beautiful and again, in full disclosure, I kept one pack for myself!

Thank you cards - The Pomegranate Chronicles

I didn’t make as many handmade gifts this year, but these are a few. I also made some liquid soap for my yearly “gift in a jar” gift. But I will save that for another post.

Did you make any gifts this year?

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Tuesday’s Space – The World

27 Nov 2012

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Piece by piece we are putting together the boys space room. So far, my favorite project has been upcycling this old papasan.

When I look at it, I don’t see the old chair that has been around for the last 10 years and most recently, taking up space in my garage. Nope. I see the perfect piece of furniture for my little guy’s out of this world adventures! 

To start this transformation, I took the base and spray painted it black.

It took all day and three cans of black spray paint. In-between waiting for the paint to dry, I started on a slip cover for the cushion. We purchased new spaceship sheets for Griff, so I used his old full size blue sheets for the background of the earth. I flattened out the sheets and placed the futon on top and started two rough traces.

Then, I cut out the two circles and it was time to move onto the continents.

After much research on my ipad, I was able to trace something that resembled the Western Hemisphere onto some green corduroy I found on sale.

After sewing up the edges, I pinned and sewed them onto the top of the slip cover.

I then sewed together the two circles and slipped them back over the cushion. Once the bamboo was dry, it was time to assemble it. Tada!

It’s more versatile than I had originally thought. The cushion has come off more than once to be a “landing pad” for Griff’s space adventures.

I think next, it may need a moon throw pillow!

What are you working on?

By: Category: Sewing, Spaces Tags: , , , ,

Not-So Quiet Morning

1 Oct 2012

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What seems like a relaxing moment with my quilt was anything but quiet. I can’t wait to tell you what all the noise is about tomorrow for Tuesday’s Space!

Until then, my quilt is coming along slowly, but I am so enjoying the process.

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Thrifty Thursday

20 Sep 2012

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I thrifted these great curtains without knowing what I was going to use them for. They were a funky shape at 12 inches wide and 26 inches long. But, I really loved the color and pattern, so I purchased them.

Once I got them home, I realized they match my downstairs bathroom perfectly. It just so happened, I wanted to add a simple valance to that window. I thought with a little transformation, I could make them work. I removed the tabs and the top decorative fabric from the top of the curtains.

Then I reworked them onto the long side to make it fit my window.

I sewed the decorative fabric back on (taking it up another inch to show more of the under curtain), added it to a curtain rod and tada…

Not a great picture, but not bad for a $1.00 investment.

Happy Thrifting!

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WIP – A Quilt For A Calming Place

WIP – A Quilt For A Calming Place

17 Jul 2012

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Finally, a quilt for my bed. We are working hard renovating upstairs. It has made our living quarters tight, and my craft space even tighter. But you know me, it hasn’t stopped my crafting. Well, common, you know I need the perfect cover for our bed. I had mentioned in a yarn along a while ago about this great book: Modern Basics: Easy Quilts to Fit Your Budget, Space and Style. I fell in love with the quilt on page 50. It didn’t take me long to start collecting fabrics here and there. Here is my pallet:

The blues are more of a light robin’s egg blue. They were really hard to match. But I found some really cool neutral colors to really make the blues stand out. I want a subtle, breezy quilt. I may have cheated a bit. I got an email from Amazon that the Simplicty Rotary Machine was on sale for $40.00 with free shipping. Thinking about my pained hands, I bought it. I was worried because it had a lot of bad reviews, but I listened to the reviews that said, if you watch the directions, you will be fine. Boy, were they right. It is the best tool I have added to my craft room since my ball winder and swift. All my strips were cut in a few hours.

The blue fabric with leaves on the left and the coffee colored strip next to it will be the main two colors in the quilt. I have started the patchwork (sewing together all the complimentary strips). The picture below will give you an idea of how soft this quilt will look.

I am very please with how it is coming together. I will keep you updated on my process. This is my first quilt that is more than just a bunch of squares. I am sure you remember Griffin’s Quilt. He loves it and won’t sleep without it. I have a feeling I am going to feel the same way about this one.

What are you working on?

Happy Sewing!

 

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Tuesdays Space

11 Jun 2012

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We have old built-ins in our living room. There are two smaller windows in the center of them. I have been struggling for years on what to do to anchor them and tie them into the room. Most valances are just too long or large for this space.

When I found some red curtains for the other windows in the room, I decided to purchase one extra panel and take a stab at sewing my own valances. I have seen a few tutorials on how to make them, giving me lots of inspiration. In the end, I did not use a tutorial, but did what I thought would look right. First, I cut the curtain into two 15.5 inch pieces. Then I hemmed it up three inches on each side. This left a finished length of 9 inches, keeping them short enough to add color, but not block the sun coming in through the windows.

Making two ties with some left over fabric from my studio project (you know how much I love this fabric!) gives it a custom feel. The ties are sewn to be one piece bands and were installed over the curtain to be 8 inches (an inch smaller than the curtain) to create a bit of a drape in the fabric.

They came out great giving the whole room a more polished feel. I plan on making some pillows to match and am also contemplating adding the same green fabric to the edges of the red curtains on the other windows. There’s always another project out there, isn’t there?

Happy Sewing!

By: Category: Sewing, Spaces Tags: , ,

Boy Shorts

Boy Shorts

9 May 2012

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Griff has all these great pants. The length has been too short for a while, but the waist is still just fine. I saw this post on re-purposing boy pants from make it and love it. She always has the best stuff and I have recreated many of her projects. Although, I did not recreate pockets, I did use the idea. I took these old pants. I really liked them with all the pockets and grunge look (call me a product of the 90′s).

I really liked the hems on these pants. So I thought about this tutorial on hemming pants with the original cuff by Sew Much Ado. Why not apply this idea to shorts? So I cut the original hems off the pants.

Then cut them off around the knee where I could get a clean cut.

Then I followed the directions from Sew Much Ado. After sewing, I pulled them outside right and ironed them like crazy. Then got them on my model! Tada!

They came out great. I plan on doing this to all his winter pants now. I won’t have to purchase any summer shorts. Perfect!

Happy Sewing!

 

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A Birthday Surprise

29 Apr 2012

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For my birthday, I received a package in the mail from my Bestie Westie Peacefully Knitting. I opened this unexpected parcel to find this fabric lined-felted purse chock-full of goodies!

There were sewing patterns, knitting patterns, some beautiful alpaca yarn, new tools, a crocheted top pin cushion (so that I don’t have to keep using an old ball of yarn!) and so many other things! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful pen pal. To be honest, I had run a bit out of “project inspiration” lately. I am sure you noticed by all my garden posts! This package couldn’t have had better timing. It inspired me to get back on the crafting horse. From this package, I have knit a bucket  hat (pictures to come this week), pulled together all the fabric for a new queen size quilt, and started thrifting for some vintage fabric to make a few sewing projects. It’s amazing what a thoughtful gesture can do.

Thank you Bestie Westie!

Have you received any packages lately?

 

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Dueling Sewing Machines

24 Mar 2012

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A dear friend was interested in learning more about a sewing machine she had purchased a few years ago. She turned to me for a little crash course. It sounded like the perfect excuse to me for dueling sewing machines. We looked for a fun project to do together. We both agreed that these heating pads by Green Wife would be a fun place to start.

I used some material I had left over from the owls I made at Christmas time. I used flannel for the bottom and regular cotton fabric for the top. We altered the ingredients in the pads to be barley and flax seed in hopes that they would be less likely to burn and smell funny and give them a little more weight. We used lavender oil to release a relaxing fragrance when heated up.

They came out awesome. You can heat them in the microwave for up to 2 and a half minutes. They get VERY hot and keep the heat for quite a while. I have found it to be VERY comforting at bedtime. It has also brought much comfort for lower back pain and other muscle aches.

A very gratifying project  that took about 3 hours start to finish. It would also make a great gift.

Any new sewing projects on your machine?

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