I had this really cute dinosaur fabric that I wanted to use to make my little boy a quilt. I didn't have a pattern, and I only had a yard of each fabric, so I winged it and pieced the quilt row by row, making it up as I went. I think it turned out pretty great.
I also made this bag (made it first, hence the unsurity behind how big I could make the quilt).Okay, so I have been working on these for a few weeks now, about a month actually, and am proud to present my Banners of the Month!
I've been desiging, in my "free" time, wallhangings for each month of the year. I only really have 1 finished, but I've been working on several at once.
The first one I have mostly finished, except for the last half of the binding, is July's.
HERE IT IS:
I used a variegated red/white/blue thread for the white border around the flag in the center. I freehanded flags and loops. In the blue stars behind the "JULY" I quilted stars and loops in a navy blue. I also used the longarm to finish the applique edges of "JULY".
I used a navy blue and echo quilted around the star. I used navy blue on my domestic machine, along with a decorative stitch, to applique the edges of the white star. Around the flag I did a squiggle outline.
I know it's just a wallhanging, but I couldn't resist putting this super-cute fabric on the back. The color looks more orange in the picture because of the lighting in my living room, but I promise it's really red.
Okay, so this isn't the best picture, but I was so excited that I actually finished this (mostly) that I wanted to share!
About a week or so ago I had this fabulous idea (or at least I think it's fabulous!) to make wallhangings for each month of the year. I drew out all my designs and picked the colors I wanted to use. I was so excited! February's wallhanging ended up being one of the easiest, so I decided to do it first. I picked my fabrics out of my stash and got to work.
I know I've said in the past that it's been hard for me to sew at home because I don't have a table, but I have finally figured something out. YAY! I put my sewing machine on my piano bench and sit in a low folding chair and sew that way in my kitchen, leaving my table open for cutting and such.
I ended up cutting my fabric out wrong, oops, so this is a little squattier than I had wanted it to be originally. It technically should have another 2-2 1/2 inches at the top, but oh well! Also, along the bottom is going to be a 6 inch strip with "FEBRUARY" appliqued onto it. Still working out the font and lettering size for that, so that is why this isn't totally finished yet.
However, I am so excited that it turned out close to how I wanted! I can't wait to finish some of the other months now!! :) I will definitely post more pictures when I get them done.
I have had some requests for a tutorial on this super simple draft guard I made for our furnace room door. So, here it is!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
1/2 yard fabric
polyfill stuffing
rice
thread
drinking glass
tape measure
CONSTRUCTION:
1. Measure the circumference of the glass you have chosen, and cut the fabric accordingly, adding 1/2 inch for seam allowances.
ex.: if the circumference of the glass is 8 inches, then cut a 8 1/2 x WOF strip.
2. Measure the doorway you are using the draft guard on, and trim the fabric strip down, leaving 3 extra inches on each side, accordingly.
ex.: if the doorway is 35 inches wide, then cut fabric to 41 inches.
3. Press under short edges of the fabric 1/4 inch. Roll over another 1/4 inch and press. Stitch down. Repeat for other short edge.
4. Fold fabric in half, right sides together, long ways (hot dog way, if you remember from elementary school), and stitch down with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
5. Turn right side out.
6. With thread, measure in about 2 inches from one end and tie off. I used several knots and wrapped the thread around the fabric several times.
7. Stuff the tube you've now made with the polyfill stuffing. Make sure to put some rice in periodically to weight the draft guard. On my prototype I forgot to put the rice in until the end, so mine looks a little lumpy on the back side.
8. Once you have stuffed your draft guard to the desired fullness, tie off the other end like you did in step 6.
And there you go. In 8 simple steps you have a quick and easy draft guard!
Now that it's a new year, I've made some personal resolutions. One is to work out more frequently. Now, while I don't have a gym membership, there is a walking track down the street from where I work. I've been thinking that on high stress days it would be nice to get out and take a quick run to de-stress and calm down. My problem? I didn't have a gym bag.
Sure, I could have gone and bought one, but why are all the gym bags for sale so UGLY?! Just because you're going to the gym doesn't mean you can't have a beautiful bag. I used fabrics from my stash to make this bag: Busty's Bag ver. 1.0.
My husband thought it might be a good idea to have some sort of attachment on the bag, in case I wanted to take my yoga mat with me.
The top flap even velcroes shut! I know, it would look a lot better if it were stiffer, but I ran out of Peltex, so I will have to include that in Busty's Bag ver. 1.1 or a later version. We'll see. Not bad for a first attempt though, huh?
A client came in and wanted a quilt done custom for her son, who will be leaving soon to serve an LDS mission in Brazil. She wanted pictures of Church related items, his name, his mission, and their family quilted onto the quilt.
She used two pieces of fabric, no piecing involved, to make this great gift for her son! The binding fabric was made from the remnants of the backing fabric, and she had me bind it for her.
Above: the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible.
Above and Below: Her son's favorite LDS temple is the Mt. Timpanogos temple in American Fork. She had me quilt a picture of the temple (below) and then I wrote the name next to it (above).
Above: The CTR (Choose the Right) shield
My wonderful sister-in-law, Lola, is a genius at designing purses. Seriously. In fact, I am a little bit jealous of her talent! She has put a few of her fabulous designs up on her blog as free tutorials, and I made one back in April. The Jenny bag. It's a really great pattern, and super easy! It has been my trusty purse for the last 6 months. But, I'm finding that I needed a purse that hung over my shoulder more than one I just held in my hand. With a little 2 year old, who loves to go through my purse every opportunity he gets, I really need a purse I can hang on to little easier.
So, I dabbled in Lola's field and designed a bag. It isn't the greatest thing, but I am awfully proud of it!
Above: the front of the bag. Below: the inside of the bag.
The bag took 3 fat quarters to make. I think I'm going to call it the "LaRue" bag.
This was another quilt I designed based on the Pumpkins Gone Wild fabric collection by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I originally had it just as a pumpking, but I thought with Halloween coming up in a month that it would be fun to make it a jack-o-lantern.
I quilted a tight looping meander in the black background behind the pumpkin, and vertical lines on the stem of the pumpkin. I outline quilted the eyes and mouth of the jack-o-lantern, and quilted lines across the pumpkin to make it look more like one.
In each square of the border I quilted a pumpkin on a vine.
This is a picture of the backing fabric (it's the same fabric I used for the back of its sister quilt "Pumpkin Patch"). I just love this fabric! I love the whole line, but my favorites are the ones with the pumpkins. The quilt measures 24 x 23 and is currently available for sale in my Etsy shop.
I am currently working on the pattern for this quilt. If you are interested in purchasing the pattern, please email me at designsbylaurajo@gmail.com for details. Thanks!
This original quilt design is called "Pumpkin Patch". It was inspired by the fabrics in the Pumpkins Gone Wild fabric collection by Sandy Gervais for Moda.
In the black and white border I quilted leaves on vines.
The quilt measures 20 x 15.5 inches. It is currently for sale in my Etsy store. If you would like to purchase the pattern, please contact me via email for information: designsbylaurajo@gmail.com.
