I'm Sew Very Happy

...with this new wall hanging I made for my sewing room.

It was inspired by this photo I saw in a Better Homes and Gardens special interest publication (Do It Yourself, I think) a couple of years ago, and I've had the project on my to-do list ever since. I'm pretty certain the photo example is done in paper, but I wanted mine to be made from fabric.

I started with a great fat quarter of Art Gallery Oval Elements for the background and several Kaffe Fassett scraps from my Crayon Box quilt for the letters.

These punch-out 2" letters were at my local JoAnn's store. I traced the letters onto fusible webbing then ironed the webbing to the wrong side of the fabric scraps.

I just eyeballed the placement of the letters on my background doing my best to center them on the fabric without being too mathematical about it. The dots certainly helped with that!

After fusing the letters to the background, I sewed a very small zigzag stitch in a coordinating thread around the raw edges of each one to secure and give them a little more definition.

This adhesive foam-core mounting board and my frame were purchased at Michaels. I cut a piece of very thin cotton batting and placed it against the adhesive side before layering the appliqued design on top.

After removing the glass I placed the whole thing in this 12" x 16" frame and promptly hung it on the wall.

I just love it! I'm even thinking of using the same motto on a pillow with script lettering - what do you think of that idea?

Oh, the places she'll go...

We're gearing up for Thing 1's big move south to college in just a couple of weeks! She's got her dorm room assignment, two roommates, class schedule, and now a fully complete bed set! The hand-sewing project I previewed for you in my last post is finished - a toss pillow to coordinate with her quilt...

I used the Clover Yo-Yo Maker Extra Large size to craft 36 yo-yos for the pillow center. They each measure about 2.5" in diameter. You can order one from amazon.com and many other online retailers, but I was lucky enough to find mine at my local JoAnn's store.

The inspiration for this design came during a summer shopping trip where she spied this pillow...

To make this personalized version I chose one of the fabrics used for the block frames in her quilt and added some teal chenille ball fringe to the edges of her 20" finished pillow.

Most of the yo-yo fabrics are found in her quilt, which I'm thrilled to say is also completed! Here's the front. It's so large that even standing on a chair she couldn't hold it up off the ground - 78" wide by 102" long - yikes! (I ended up adding an additional row for those of you who remember reading about my dilemma over making it larger.) That size should provide about 15-18" of overhang on the sides and end of her lofted dorm bed.

For the backing she chose an Amy Butler Daisy Chain print, and I added a 8" wide pieced strip to the center. My original reason for adding the center strip was to avoid purchasing 3 more yards of backing fabric, but I'm so glad I did it this way - much more interesting :) Money saved and better result = win/win!

The quilting was done by my regular long-arm quilter, Carol Linder in Hampshire, IL. My college-bound girl chose an overall loopy, swirly pattern in a medium teal thread - fabulous!

Now all the quilt needs is a fun label for the back. I've got a design drawn out on paper and my Pigma Micron pens ready to go!

Quilt Pattern - Green Glass Door by Blue Underground