October 2009 - Posts

• LaRueSews-Quilts-Beads are Fun Too, a 30 minute project

  Hi there EveryBuddy.  Three weeks has come and gone, again. Blogging time is here.  I hope that all of you have been diligently making the last block I gave you in LaRueSews BOM.  This time it will be a quick one, both BLOG and block.  I have been out of town for a few days.  We went to Nashville.  My daughter and her family live there.  We went to watch our two granddaughters in their marching band.  The older one, Lauren plays the French horn and the younger one, Holly, plays the Alto sax.  They really looked great in their uniforms and sounded wonderful too.  There was also a concert with their community concert band In Mt. Juliet, TN.  It’s really enjoyable when adults combine their efforts and keep their music skills “in tune.”  The concert was to benefit the Mt. Juliet High School Band Boosters. The whole thing was really great, but it put me in a time crunch for writing this blog. I’d like to bring you a really quickie little project that makes a pretty and unique gift for someone.  It is EASY. Necklace recipe: Ingredients: 1 Small strip of multi-color fabric, about 2 ½ inches by width of fabric. (measure the circumference of the marbles and add seam allowance) About 12 to 14 marbles, 1 1/4 inch circumference About 15 beads, hole must be large enough to thread your fabric tube. Measure the circumference of your marbles, add ½ inch for seam allowance.  Cut the fabric strip.  My strip was 2 1/4" by width of fabric.  Sew 1/4" seam the length of the strip, making a long tube.  (Stitch twice to reinforce)  Trim strip to 1/8", or smallest you can handle.  Turn tube to right side.  Be sure your tube isn’t too tight to insert marbles, and the holes in beads are large enough for fabric tube.  (I don’t do beading, so I am not exact on measurements, you just need to experiment, like I did.)  Trim ends of strips to a long angle.  The next step is to insert marbles and add beads.  Put a marble inside the tube and push it to the center.  Thread a bead and push it next to the marble.  Continue, marble bead, marble bead, until you have your desired bead length, add as many marbles and beads as you like.  You can work from both ends.  I finished the ends of the necklace by folding in thirds and stitching by machine, to make the tube smaller for ties. Here are three photos.  One is a necklace with unfinished ties, the second is a necklace with ties sewn, and the last is a necklace of Christmas fabric that is started, to show the slanted, cut ends of the tube and the insertion of a marble. Our next BOM quilt block is the Snowball block.  It is a very simple block.  It can be combined with other blocks in pattern, and it can be used as a focal block for Fussy Cutting to feature a fabric.  Later on, I will use this block to show you an applique technique.     As I said in the beginning of this Block of the Month, I am giving you the patterns with very little instruction.  Just be sure that each of your blocks measure 12 ½ inches, each.  In the finished quilt, each block will measure 12 inches, because of the construction of the quilt. You can still begin this BOM and work along with us.  Go back in my archives, Blog-Your Wish is My Command and follow along with the instructions.  If my count is correct. We now have about twenty people in the group.  Or, if you wish, you may go to the tags at the bottom of this page, and click on Block of The Month. the previous blocks and BLOGS are there. Last year about this time, I told you about a quilt that I planned to start.  Of course, it is applique.  I have five blocks almost finished or in progress. This photo shows the first block in this quilt.  I’ll show more when I get them finished. Since my time is running short, I’ll just say “So long for Now” and “Make Something Quilted This Week”.  See y'all next time. Stitches to you, LaRue Posted Oct 30 2009, 12:00 PM by LaRueJ with 5 comment(s) Filed under: LaRueSews, quilts, blog, quilting, BOM, Block of the Month, Necklace, gift

• LaRueSews-Quilts, Spuds in a Bag

  It’s Chilly here in Alabama today.  That is to say, rainy 70 degrees feels cold compared with 90+ degrees.  This has been a frustrating day.  I have a little project that I wanted to talk about this time.  However, I’ve lost the special ruler I need for the project.  Let me rephrase that  . . . I put that ruler away so well that now, I can’t find it.  Besides that, it’s not the only thing I’ve lost.  Where is that Misty Fuse I need to start that new quilt?  It goes on and on.  Seems like every time I want to start or work on a project, I have to spend time finding what I need for the project.  Drats!    That must mean there’s toooo much STUFF in my little sewing room and stash closet.  Does anyone else have this problem?  Let me hear from you.  I don’t want to be the only one who loses things in the sewing room.    Oh well, guess I’ll sit down and write a BLOG instead. Last month we went to North Carolina.  Of course I had to look for a quilt shop with my “travelin’ friend,” Cathy.  Yup, we found one.  In the little town of Elizabeth City, N.C.  The name of the shop is Simply Divine Fabrics and Things.  It’s a cute little shop with a sweet and generous owner, Tanaya Ewell.  She had a neat little project that I can tell you about.  Do you like baked potatoes?  These cute bags are just the ticket for baking potatoes in the microwave.  They are moist and delicious, just like in the oven, except that the skin is tender, moist and ready to eat.  The watermelon print bag came from the Simply Divine shop, and the other bag was given to me at my recent quilt retreat. The bags are easy to make. Just cut two coordinating fabrics about 16 to 12 inches long and 8 to 10 inches wide, depending on size and amount of potatoes you want to use.  Cut one piece of batting the same size as fabrics.  (I think cotton batting would be best, not sure) Lay the fabrics, right sides together, with batting on top.  Sew across each short end of the fabric and batting.  Turn right side out, keeping the batting between the fabrics.  Both sides will be open.  Now, fold down about two inches to the outside of the fabric pieces to make a cuff.  Then fold the fabrics right sides together, with the fold/cuff on the inside.  Sew or serge up each side of the fabrics and turn the bag right side out.  There will be raw edges on the inside, and a cuff will be on the outside.  It works kinda like a fold-over sandwich bag.  It’s all done!  Pop those little buggers in the bag, and follow the directions. Potato Baking Bags: Used to bake russett, red or sweet potatoes. Wash /rinse potato and pat dry with paper towel.     DO NOT POTATO Wrapping the potato in paper towel is optional,       (keeping it on keeps bag cleaner longer) Close the flap and place in microwave for 5-8 minutes      depending on wattage of microwave. Open bag/ cut open potato, add butter     the extras, salt and all. **PLEASE!  If you plan to make these potato bags, be sure to use only natural fabrics, thread and batting.  The polyester will burn quickly can cause problems in the microwave.  Also, be sure to keep an eye on them while cooking, and follow you microwave instruction book for length of time for potatos Now it’s time for your next quilt block from our LaRueSews BOM.  I promised last time that I would get the first three blocks made for you.  This is a photo of those blocks, plus the fourth one.  The fourth block in our BOM is the Sashed 4-Patch.  You will notice that in my blocks, the colors are not as bright as those in the block diagrams I have posted.  That is because I am using mostly fabrics from my fat quarter stash.  Unfortunately, my fat quarter stash has very little yellow in it.  So I used a gold fabric that is darker than I expected it to be.  I need to get some yellow when I go to a fabric store.    These are the rotary cutting measurements, in case they are hard to read. A patch,  3 ½" X 3 ½ “ 6-Gold /yellow patches 2-Red patches B patch,  6-1/2" X 3 ½” Blue patches If you are reading about LaRueSews Block of the Month for the first time, you may find the first three blocks in my two previous BLOGS.  On the left side of this BLOG, there is a box titled, Recent Posts.  The BOM is in the two post previous to this one. By the way, I’d like to tell you about a really good on-line source for fabrics.  It is eQuilter.com.   http://equilter.com/  They have one of the best selection of fabrics on the net.  I have ordered from eQuilter many times and I have never been disappointed.  Check it out, it’s worth your time. That’s about it for this time.  I hope you are all keeping up with our BOM.  So far, they are easy blocks.  In fact, all of the blocks are on the easy side, though they will get a bit more challenging as time goes on.  Oh, one more thing, this is just a little treat.  It's a photo of an orchid that I have grown from a very small plant in a two inch pot.  It is now in a five inch pot and has five blooms, you can see three and a little bit of one more.  And IT'S NOT A QUILT!  Stitches to you, LaRue P.S.  My finger is all healed already! I have these names on my list.  If you are not on the list or do not plan to do the BOM, please let me know so that I can correct the list: Linda B Sandra, Sewchicago mgravey 65708rjane nurse7 Sue mabsy bonita Elizabeth BC Bonnie Lavonne Tanalee Jeanne Womack tmmatas maggie milner tuch2nmi Annamarie Debbiej Posted Oct 09 2009, 01:00 PM by LaRueJ with 13 comment(s) Filed under: LaRueSews, quilts, quilt, fabrics, quilting, BOM, Block of the Month