Victoria Bryant: May 2008 Archives

As the Fabric Maverick reminded us, there are new beginnings happening all around us. I made a memory jar to commemorate my daughter's First Mother's Day. I was afraid she might think it was hokey, but she seemed genuinely touched.  I have long thought that gifts revolving around memories will be appreciated longer than a gift of the moment such as money or jewelry. Memory quilts capture moments in time.  A memory quilt can be a signature quilt, a photo quilt, a T-shirt quilt or a combination of all of these. These are all great fun to plan and make. I think a T-shirt quilt is ideal for the young graduate. With their help, you can select the T-shirts they love. Select a novelty fabric for the sashing which might recall a hobby or sport they were involved in. For instance, a football player might like BC-744 or a musical person might like BI-926.

At HGTV, you can find the full instructions with pictures to make a T-shirt quilt.

 Instructions:

- Prewash all T-shirts, but don't use softener on them. The T-shirt fabric will not adhere to the fusible interfacing when softener is used.

- You'll need 100 percent cotton fabric for the sashing and backing.

- Fusible interfacing needs to be non-woven, glued only on one side and should not be paper-backed. Paper-backed interfacing usually means that both sides are glue-based. Misty Fuse and Fusiknit are good interfacings to use.

- You'll also need a clear plastic template cut to the desired size your T-shirt panels will be.

Steps:

1. Place the clear plastic template on the T-shirt over the panel and make a rough cut around the template. Cut a piece of fusible interfacing the same size.
2. Turn the T-shirt over so the panel is facing the table and place the interfacing on the T-shirt.
3. Next, place a damp cloth over the interfacing and iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.
4. Place the T-shirt on a rotary mat and trim to desired size of T-shirt block adding 1/2-inch for seam allowances. Ours were cut at 12 1/2 inches.
5. Repeat the above steps for all T-shirts, then lay out design.
6. The sashing that goes in between the T-shirt blocks measures 12 1/2" x 2". The cornerstones are two-inch squares. Attach these to the quilt.
7. It is best to tie a T-shirt quilt, but machine quilting is also acceptable. It's not recommended that you hand-quilt. It's very hard for the needle to get in between the fibers of the T-shirt dyes and motifs.

Here are some examples of T- shirt quilts from About.com :

These can be addictive. Graduates will enjoy these for years to come.

We will be celebrating Mother's Day this Sunday. For some of us, this will be the first Mother's Day. My daughter, Samantha, is one of the new mothers who will be facing all of the challenges that motherhood requires. By the way, Sebastian is a beautiful baby boy. I promise not to drag out all of my pictures!. When I think of Mother's Day, I think of the carefully handmade cards and presents from small children. There are some great children's craft projects at Woman's Day magazine. Here is a flower bouquet for Mom:

Bouquet for Mom
Kids' Craft

1. Bend 34 twelve-inch pipe cleaners into petal shapes, leaving a 1 inch stem at the bottom of each.

2. Glue each petal directly onto a piece of patterned paper. Let dry.

3. Cut patterned paper along the edge of pipe cleaner petals.

4. Gather five or six petals together along with a 12-inch-long green pipe cleaner for stem.

5. Wrap a 6-inch-long piece of pipe cleaner around petal ends and stem to secure.

6. Bend petals outward and glue a colored button in the middle.

7. When finished with six flowers, gather all stems together and secure with a 6" green pipe cleaner.

 For the more advanced child in us, there is the Amy Butler fabric necklace:

Of course, it is always nice to add something to that bouquet. If your mother is interested in sewing, Fabric.com is the place to find something of interest for any mother. If your mother is a quilter what could be better than the latest collection from her favorite designer. We are adding some quilting patterns to our product line for every skill level. We have also added basic sewing books.  These are always great to have. Checkout our gift section for handbags from Laurel Burch and Amy Butler. Of course, like the Fabric Maverick, I love gift certificates!

I have been proceeding at a very slow rate with my guest bedroom redo. Here is a "Before" picture of a small bedroom with beautifully painted apple green walls which I have faux painted to have a linen finish. Unfortunately I am not so good a photographer so you will only see the color and not the beautiful linen finish.

I am working from the floor up. I have started with a bed skirt; the next step will be the duvet cover and pillow shams.  The final step will be curtains.

BED SKIRT

To determine how much yardage you need, you need to measure the length of the bed and the width of the bed. My bed measures 72" long and 54 " wide.  You will need to measure the drop from the box springs to the floor. I add about 5-6 inches for hems and seams. My drop is 20". Depending on the weight of the fabric you will need 2 to 3 times the length and width of the mattress.  I am working in 3 sections- 2 sides and the footboard. If I used 2 times the length, I would need 144 inches of fabrics for each side and 108 inches for the foot of the bed.  396" divided by 36"  = 11 yards. But I only need a 26 inch cut for the drop (this allows for hems and seams). I am using 54" wide fabric.  I will divide by 11 yards by 2= 5.5 yards. This is the total yardage I will need. I am using a Waverly plaid.

These are the fabrics I chose to use:

Waverly Deco Dots Fruit Punch, Waverly Claire Check Petunia Pear, Waverly Deco Dots white

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut fabric into desired cut sizes.

2. Since I am using a plaid. I have matched the plaid so the intersections will match.

3.  Hem bottom edges 1/2 inch, roll over 1/2 inch and repeat.

4. Finish each side edge by folding the edges over twice by 1/2 inch and sew. I am not joining the individual sections together because of the footboard. I hate it when you purchase a bed skirt and it bunches up at the corner because of the footboard. I am going to overlap the edges at the top, leaving the sides free.

5. Sew a gathering stitch at the top.  I usually sew 2 rows in case the thread breaks. Gently gather the top and pin it to the dust cover.  I have not mentioned that before because I have recycled an old bed skirt and I am using the dust cover deck from it. If you do not have an old bed skirt to recycle, you will need a piece of fabric that measures the width and length of the mattress. Use inexpensive fabric such as muslin or an old bed sheet.  No one will see this part anyway.

6. Sew each section to the deck adjusting gathers to match. Make sure your repeats match. Press finished bed skirt. Position on box springs to make sure of the fit. I use twister pins or safety pins to hold it in the proper position when I place the top mattress over the bed skirt. The pins, also, come in handy if you have made the bed skirt a little long and need to make minor fit adjustments. I am not wrestling that mattress off again!

Now, I said in the beginning I would tell of my mistakes. I only had 4 yards of fabric to work with instead of 5 1/2 so I made my bed skirt 1 1/2 times instead of 2.  Like you, I sometimes miscalculate and, of course, the fabric was sold out.

Our next project will be the duvet cover.