I have made a commitment to get some WIPs finished before I move on to new projects. While I always have a backlog of UFOs, I am happy to say that I have finished a few things. But first, I wanted to show you the fabric I snagged at JoAnn’s at 55% off. It is the new fabric line by Denyse Schmidt called Picadilly. I just love it. I have placemats and napkins in mind, but who knows what will inspire me.
Next up, I mentioned a challenge of the Jacksonville Modern Quilt Guild in my last post. We did the “Fold It, Snip It, Rip It, Drop It and Pass It” challenge and I came home with what I thought were pretty disparate pieces of fabric and the stack sat on my sewing table for several months. My thought was that if I cut the fabric up into smaller chunks, the finished project might look OK. I cut the fabric into strips, sewed them together and made fat piping with clothesline. I trimmed the piping very close to the stitching and then secured the clothesline with a large zigzag stitch as I coiled. I have made these before and this is what I have learned: batiks have a tighter weave and don’t fray; also if the strips were cut on the bias they would not fray and coil easier. These coasters are very absorbent and make nice gifts.
I have been wanting to sell placemats and napkins in my Etsy shop and I had some placemats started for myself. First I made these rectangular placemats with napkins and napkin rings from Lotta Jansdotter Echo fabric line. I had three sets made and just had to make one more set to complete the set of four. Unfortunately these fabrics are no longer available, but Windham should reprint this line. It is very cute in brown and white. I think I will keep this set for myself.
Next I experimented with some round placemats using this 16″ pre-cut craft pack by Craf-Tex. It is fusible on both sides and similar to some products made by Pellon. I thought this product was difficult to work with in that it took lots of heavy steam to get the glue to adhere to the fabric. I will experiment with some other interfacing the next go around. Anyway, these reverseable placemats are made with Patty Young fabric (green) and Denyse Schmidt fabric (blue and orange). I think shoppers on Etsy might be willing to pay for reverseable placemats (more bang for your buck). I love the process of creating and figuring out the most efficient and cost effective way to make something.
I have problems with iron in my water here and my plates were turning orange, so I figured if I bought orange dishes, that would solve the problem. I bought Fiestaware plates awhile back, but was disappointed that knife marks show up on the plates and are very difficult to remove. Anyway, they look super cute with the placemats and the combination looks nice with my stained glass chandelier above the dining table.
So what’s up next on the “finish list?” Sleeves for three quilts I finished last year. Not very exciting, but necessary so I can photograph these quilts to list in my Etsy shop. I also have this stack of hexy blocks from my “Get Your Hex On!” bee that is just wrapping up. More on that in my next post. If you are in or near Gainesville, Florida, come to my English Paper Piecing workshop at the Gainesville Modern Quilters meeting tonight, its free! See you there.