Quilt As You Go

Sewing machine mat.

You will need for a 30cm x 40cm mat

- 5 jelly roll strips approx 40cm long. I used Moda's Avant Garden

- Approx 30cm x 40cm piece of wadding - I used a 2oz but 4oz would also work fine. Anything heavier than that gets difficult to put through a standard machine. 

- A piece of backing fabric 30cm x 40cm.

Pin the first strip of jelly roll wrong side down to the long side of the wadding.

Run a skinny seam down the edge to hold the roll in place.

Now, the fun starts - lay the next strip of jelly roll on top of the first - right sides together - pin and run a 1/4" seam down the side

For reasons that I can't remember explain, I didn't take a photo of pressing the seam and then opening up the two strips. Always use something to cover the wadding - it makes a very unforgiving mess on your iron otherwise! I always have some brown parcel paper handy.

Repeat these steps again until all five pieces are stitched to the wadding.

On the final strip stitch a skinny seam to hold it in place on the wadding. That is exactly how simple it is to Quilt As You Go....

Next you will need to square off your sides using a rotary blade and long quilting ruler. 

Nearly done, lay your quilted top onto your backing fabric, right sides together. I like to pin from the centre out and then stitch using a 1/4" allowance. Remember to leave a few inches open to turn your piece. Obviously you would have to be really daft to forget that... and then have to spend an age hunting for a seam ripper!! 

Finally trim your edges and corners, turn it all through and pin your opening shut. I have an old plastic knitting needle that I use for "wiggling" my corners. It is helpful to press the whole mat again and then either hand stitch the opening or better yet top stitch all around the edge. 

Job done!

The wonderful thing about this technique is that it can be sized up or down! A table runner, small cot quilt, table mats.... 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I spend a lot of time making these tutorials so please link back if you use any part of it. I am not sponsored by any of the suppliers of products that I use. 

It would be lovely to hear from you and see your makes. Come back soon as I expand this technique to make a larger mat with a tabbed pin cushion...

Have a lovely day. I can also be found burbling away at  www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsAndBows

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Loves & Hugs. Lor.xx

Lost? Not now I'm not!

Happy 28th December! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to the New Year. I was so lucky to have all my chicks home - happy Mother Hen!

By yesterday I really needed a play date! I had a couple of old wooden cupboard doors that I wanted to revive! This is a variant of an idea that has been doodling about in my noodle for a while.. It's a bit wonkey here and there and I didn't sand down quite as well as I should have - it was snowing! But as a trial run - more than happy. Now, do I put on a couple of old iron handles and use it as a display tray or put a hanger on the back and a couple of key hooks on the front?

This is part of 2015's new range of personalised items that will be available soon!! 

So, to start -

Cupboard door - mine is 29cm x 30cm

Paint - I used Craig & Rose chalk paint - "Sung Blue"

Stencils - these are a set from Rustoleum

Acrylic Paint - here I used Burnt Sienna with some white

Wax - An oak wax then natural Beeswax.

Here is where the photos are poor - aka non-existant - sorry. It was very dark and miserable I'm afraid. 

I removed all the hardware and filled in any holes with some wood filler, once it was dry I sanded down - it was snowing so it only got a light hand sand - as you can see!! It will be easy to do a much better job than I did! 

Apologies, again! I have put on two coats of chalk paint and stenciled the GPS location. This can be found on your GPS/phone or Google. I used a sponge applicator for the acrylic paint - as this was a <cough> trial run and I was impatient I didn't tape it up to guarantee a straight line... The degree was made using the rubber on top of a pencil and the minute was an unused eye shadow applicator - go with what you have is my motto!

Once it was all dry - I may or may not have used my heat gun to speed up the drying, I rubbed it all down using some medium wire wool - particularly the edges and corners. It would be "good practise" to wear at least sturdy gloves with wire wool - one of those splinters hurts!

I put on a light layer of medium oak wax to help age the whole piece putting more over the bare wood - apply and buff in the direction of the wood grain. Different waxes have different waiting times before buffing and re-applying so check the *destructions* on the tin! Follow this with a couple of coats of natural beeswax and ta-dah... So, tray or wall plaque? What do you think? Though as I have another door I am probably going to do both - with more due care and attention next time!

I hope you enjoyed this. If you use any of my tutorial please link back to here. Thank you. I put in a lot of time and effort into these makes and I am NOT sponsored by any companies of the products I use - they are simply my preferred choice.

Right I need to locate a small child to explain Tumblr... Have a wonderful day.

Loves & Hugs. Lor.xx

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Non-slip quilted sewing machine mat.

Armistice Day 2014

Another busy day in the bunker. I had to finish off three quilts before I could play with a brilliant pattern using a Moda jelly roll! Here is the link to the Moda pattern I modified - http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/02/woven-jelly-roll-rug.html

I used Avant Garden by MoMo, really bright and cheerful - especially good on such a dull, glum and grey day! 

I needed a quilted mat for under my sewing machine and after struggling to keep the machine in one place whilst I was pushing the quilts through it had to be non-slip too! Perfect time to play with this pattern! I used 2oz polyester wadding, non-slip lining and some white linen sheeting.

I worked out that I wanted a mat approx 40cm x 30cm - so I cut my non-slip lining, wadding and linen sheet all 40cm x 30cm. Following the instructions I pressed and cut 9 x 40cm strips and 12 x 30cm strips.

Stitched,

pinned

and stitched!

Then the fun part, paper weaving with fabric..

As advised - good advise - I pinned and zigzagged a few rows at a time.

I was very tempted to leave it like this! But, once all the cross strips were sewn it was time to do the lengths - this is where I added the wadding and stitched the top onto it.

Lots of pins!!

A shortage of photos from here - once the front was stitched to the wadding I squared everything off and pinned the non-slip lining to the back, made up enough binding to do the edges and ..

all bound, pressed and most importantly..

non-slip!

 It works like a dream, I am so pleased with it and the Moda pattern was fantastically easy to follow - the link again - http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/02/woven-jelly-roll-rug.html.

If you have any questions please comment below, or if you just fancy introducing yourself it would be wonderful to hear from you. Please link back to here if you use any part of this post. I can also be found burbling away at www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsAndBows.

Thank you so much for reading all the way to here! Have a wonderful day. Loves & Hugs. Lor.xx

Burlap and Paint.

(Stuck & Stuffed..)

Gosh, seems like an age since I last wrote here...I have been busy, honestly! If you would really like to keep closer tabs on all the comings and goings you could pop over to BeadsBraidsAndBows on Facebook. I can be found there happily burbling away - plentiful supply of hot coffee and biscuits!

Back to the point...I made these hearts up quite a while ago, unfortunately remembering to take photos isn't my strong point - I get stuck in and blissfully bimble away...

From memory, you will need:

Hessian/Burlap - I used fairly coarse hessian

Fabric Paint

Stamps/Stencils - the large foam stamp I used has since been packed away - refurb..

Plastic Sheet/Bag

Low heat Hot Glue Gun

Polyfill

Ribbon/String and Buttons

Lay your burlap on your sheeting, apply fabric paint to your stamp according to instructions. I rotated my stamp on this one but not with the red - stamp away. Leave to fully dry.

Once fully dried cut out you hearts. I used a piece of card approx 15cm x 15cm (6" x 6") to make my heart template. I cut out the fronts from the printed burlap and the backs from plain burlap. 

Once they have all been cut and pinned together it is time to bring out the big guns - well the low temp glue gun. Stick the front and back together round the edge leaving a couple of centimetres open for the polyfill. You could sew them together but I found that the glue really cuts down any fraying. Use a thin line of glue and "squish" the edges together to avoid any hard lumps. I did a short length at a time. Oh, and those rubber thimbles you can get are great for the squishing without burning!!

Put in enough polyfill to the desired "stuffedness". At this point you could add some lavender or similar. Use the glue gun to seal the opening shut! 

Either glue or stitch your ribbon and button to the top and there you have it! They are really easy and come together very quickly if you have a glue gun handy!

If you are interested in buying one or more of these I have listed some on my Etsy store at  BeadsBraidsAndBows.

If you have any questions please comment below, or if you just fancy introducing yourself would be wonderful to hear from you. Please link back to here if you use any part of this post. 

Thank you so much for reading all the way to here! Have a wonderful day. Loves & Hugs. Lor.xx



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Gold Leaf and Lace

 I love these Christmas hanging hearts. They are decoupaged in the same way as the Festive Bunting. Instead of inking the edges I played with a new toy!!

A gold leafing pen!! 

I edged the edges of the hearts added some jute twine and they are all done and dusted!

I managed to get my hands on metres of this daisy trim in a bright white... As I rarely use white trim something had to be done... Pinched a couple of A.N.Other's tea bags and made a bowl of very strong tea! This trim is man-made and so could take the hot water.

Next a bowl of raspberry and apple infusion....

How long you leave the trim in will determine the colour - a bit of trial and error.  Once it is removed from the bowl rinse under cold running water and pop outside to dry. I then iron it between some brown paper and wrap for a later day! This is my idea of short, sweet and to the point.

Some pretty shades there...

I would love to know if you give either of these projects a go. Photos always welcome! 

This evening I am going to plough through a small mountain of ironing as #4 off on a school trip to Barcelona - lucky girl! Though getting her to school for 03.45am isn't going down too well!

I can usually be found at www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsAndBowswww.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsAndBows blathering away!

Please pop over and say a big blogland hello.

Loves & Hugs.

Lor. xx