New Placemats and Napkins

The placemats and napkins I made a few years ago have become worn and stained. Time for some new ones. I started out to just make eight. When they were nearly competed I looked at all the white on them and started thinking about BBQ sauce spills and decided I would just use them when we had guests at the table. I used those four feature fabrics in all the placemats, but put them together so each mat is different. It’s a variation on the Lazy Girl pattern.

I had a lot of scraps left over, so I made these string ones for everyday use.

The napkins are two sided and serged with a rolled edge. I have a lot of bindings to hand stitch, but I enjoy doing that.

Finished bedroom

This project began with a vision in the summer of 2003. Laurel had just moved to Chapel Hill, and I stopped in at a fabric store and purchased yardage to make a king sized quilt. I had no idea what design I would use, I just knew I wanted it in shades of blue/green. Over the years I collected fabrics and skills, and began the process of making the quilt about a year and a half ago. After the top was pieced, I cut stencils for the gingko leaves, painted them with Shiva paint sticks. I used a very similar technique to this video.

Then I began the process of quilting a king size quilt on my home machine. I auditioned a lot of threads, but eventually chose a fluorescent lime green. Sounds weird, but it turned out beautifully.

I finished the quilt several months ago, but still needed to make the bed skirt and pillows to complete the ensemble.

It’s done!

Home Dec

It has rained all day today, and I have been busy sewing. I’m working to finish the pillows for our bed. I decided to do three standard pillows and two 24” squares. Here’s where I am so far.

first 24” square

second 24” square

standard sham. I’m still thinking about whether to add contrasting cording to this. I’m not the best at cording installation, but after three pillows I should get better.

close up of quilting on sham. I just love to do swirls

Change of Pace

I did say that this would be the year I would tackle my unfinished projects, and today I finished another piece. Five years ago shortly after I began quilting I had a vision for a quilt for our king size bed. I started collecting fabric and working on the skills to pull it off. I finished it during the summer of 09. It has painted gingko leaves on it and is densely quilted. With the quilt finished, I now needed a different bed skirt. Today I altered a ready made one and it is now on the bed. (photo does not have new bedskirt) On to the pillows! I may try painting the old pillows.