14 BANDANNAS & A BROWN CORDUROY SKIRT WITH GIANT FOLK ART SUN FOR ERIKA'S MEMORY QUILT-DONE

Part 3

Erika's quilts were finished a couple of weeks ago and Angela came to get them very shortly after I called her to say they were done. Parts 1 & 2 of  "14 Bandannas" give a glimpse of the planning and thought process that went into the queen size and lap quilts. 

@

http://carolynscanvas.blogspot.com/2016/08/14-bandannas-brown-corduroy-skirt-with_3.html

http://carolynscanvas.blogspot.com/2016/08/14-bandannas-brown-corduroy-skirt-with.html

This is the lap size quilt that is 60" x 60". The bandannas determined the sizes of the quilts in order to get the best use of them and keep the bandanna look. The centers of the quilts are very similar except the folk art sun from the skirt is flipped. 1/2 of the sun is in each quilt. There were 2 green toned bandannas that were used for the palm trees and a bird print bandanna was cut up and "flocks" of birds were scattered on the "sky". Appliques were cut from a light blue bandanna and floated around the sky. A lightweight fusible was pressed onto the appliques so raw edge applique could be done. There was a lot of fussy cutting for the ocean and sky appliques. 

I designed all the appliques for the beach chair, the umbrella and palm trees. The tree trunks were cut from Erika's brown corduroy skirt. 

There was a shell print fabric in my stash that made a perfect border for the center before the bandanna border went on. 

Angela, who had commissioned the quilts, decided she wanted a batik fabric to finish out her queen size quilt [90"x90"]-it took 7 yards for the inner and outer border plus pillow shams. 

The bandanna border on each quilt is the same. Each border has 1/2 of each bandanna that was then cut in 1/2 for the blocks. The centers are very similar-the lap quilt has a beach chair and umbrella, the queen quilt has 3 butterflies.

There are quilted dragonflies and butterflies in alternating bandanna blocks, free motion quilting in the center block, ocean waves on the inner batik border and crescent moons with stars on the outer batik border. The quilts are finished with a purple binding with gold print. 

Here is the label that I had printed and is on both quilts:

Here are some closeups:

The quilts were quilted on the long arm quilter. Here are a few minutes showing the custom quilting patterns that were used. 

Thank you for stopping by

Carolyn Wainscott

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I design quilts, children's wear, AG doll clothing, crafts, home decor. My patterns are available in PDF format

 @:

~http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

&

~https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuiltingCarolyn

My Psalm 23 Prayer Quilt-Designing My Own Fabric

Does it seem there is a cancer epidemic going on all over? Another of my daughter's  friends is battling breast cancer and she has requested a quilt for her. Donna said "it doesn't have to be fancy, Mom". No, a prayer quilt doesn't have to be fancy, it is just a visible reminder that God is always with us, that people are praying for us and care.  

I have used just about all the beautiful prints that I've picked up over the years [when I find them I get all I can afford that day] so I thought about having my own printed to use in the center of the quilts. The first ones came in a couple of weeks ago and 2 have already been used and am getting ready to order more, hopefully before the day is over. Should have done that first thing this morning but got on to other things. 

The Psalm 23 panel background is one used in my Jesus Loves Me Quilts and has roses and lilies of the valley to represent The Rose of Sharon and The Lily of The Valley. 

One of the quilts was given to my niece, Debbie, who was in the hospital. Here is a kind of update on her from a post I did 5 years ago-http://carolynscanvas.blogspot.com/2011/08/giving-forward-debbies-hope-foundation.html. The video that was done then wasn't available so I found it and republished it. This photo is from last week with my sister, Shirley and Debbie with the first "Psalm 23 Prayer Quilt" that had just come off the quilter the day before. 

Here it is on the design board-it's about 50"x50":

this is the center Psalm 23 print-about 17"

this is my vining love quilting design that represents the love of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit

you can't make it out probably but I'm taking an online class in feather quilting 

This flexible ruler is used to mark the curves for the feather spine-learned that from the online class. It is 24" long so it was perfect to mark the borders, marked one side then flipped it and voila-perfect match on each side. I got this one at Staples but am going to order a longer one off Amazon. I needed it that day, called to be sure they had one so hopped in car and got it. The rest of the feather was free hand quilted on my long arm. Really enjoyed doing this. Have been wanting to do some feather quilting and the timing was perfect for the class to come along and the quilts. A water soluble marker was used so the marking comes right off with a damp cloth.

 Instead of binding the quilt traditionally, the backing was cut larger all around to be folded over the edges of the quilt. This saved some time from sewing the binding onto the back and wrapping over the quilt edge and sewn to the front. I still prefer the traditional method of binding but with it seems there is a frequent need for a prayer quilt. 

Here is my video of some of the process of putting the prayer quilt together if you get time. 

It's a great blessing to be able to make the prayer quilts. It is hard to find panels I like to use so I thought about using one of my own designs and having them printed. They turned out pretty well. 

Thank you for joining me here

Carolyn Wainscott

Embellished Holiday Sweater Craft

Embellished Holiday Sweater Craft

here is my tutorial on glitzing up a Christmas sweater with silk flowers, beads and glitter

14 BANDANNAS & A BROWN CORDUROY SKIRT WITH GIANT FOLK ART SUN FOR ERIKA'S MEMORY QUILT-Part 2

So, back to the 14 bandannas and brown corduroy skirt for a memory quilt of Erika requested by her friend, Angela, as per part 1:http://carolynscanvas.blogspot.com/2016/08/14-bandannas-brown-corduroy-skirt-with.html. More fabrics have been pulled to be auditioned for suitability-a batik, a purple metallic print, a couple of butterfly prints, a blue for water plus a piece to cut water from for interest, a beige print in case we go to the beach. 

From our messaging on Friday night Erika loved the ocean so that was decided on and with that we need a beach and palm trees, don't we?

Yesterday I played around with some of the bandannas and the folk art sun cut from Erika's brown corduroy skirt. That is the only thing that has been cut so far, till I'm sure how everything will be used. This looks close to the beach scene I have in mind:

The big brown blob is the skirt rolled up just to get the effect, am liking the sun, Angela's suggestion of the light blue bandanna for sky and the water effect from some fussy cutting I did. The sun is half of the piece cut from the skirt [see above photo]. It is folded in half. To create the two quilts, the sun will be cut in half so the 2nd quilt center block will be in reverse. The purple metallic on the left may be the frame around this block or the batik on the top, just trying them out. The center blocks will be about 25"-30" then the quilts built to size by adding the remaining bandannas-one will be queen size and the other a lap quilt.

Now patterns are being created for the palm trees, a beach chair and umbrella. If it were my quilt the tree trunks would just be free hand cut but since it is for someone else the background and other pieces are being finessed and all sizing has to be accurate to get the highest and best use of the bandannas.

It's back to the drawing board, ok, clicking of the mouse to finish the patterns. I'm so not capable of creating as a lot of computer savvy designers. Graph paper is still sometimes my fave design mode but so appreciate being able to search for images to go by. 

I'm going to have to break down and cut into something pretty soon, decisions, decisions.

May the joy of creating be upon you

Carolyn Wainscott

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I design quilts, children's wear, AG doll clothing, crafts, home decor. My patterns are available in PDF format

 @

~http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

~https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuiltingCarolyn   

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/sewing/clothing/charlotte-anns-newborn-mermaid-pattern/144175


http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/other/loveseat--chair-pvc-pattern-for-ag-doll/205552

14 BANDANNAS & A BROWN CORDUROY SKIRT WITH GIANT FOLK ART SUN FOR ERIKA'S MEMORY QUILT-Part 1

Last Friday my niece, Michelle, tagged me on facebook with a request of her friend, Angela. Angela wanted a memory quilt made with clothing from her dear friend, Erika, who had passed away recently. 

When Angela and I touched base, she said she had some bandannas and a skirt that had a large sun on it that Erika had loved and worn a lot. Erika's mother had allowed her to choose some things and these were very personal to Erika. She had a condition called Alopecia that caused her to loose all her hair so she wore the bandannas a lot.

My first thought was, "Oh, boy, this is going to be a piece of cake. Bandannas are large and can be sewn together quickly. I can get this done in no time"

Friday night Angela brought the things over and told me a little bit about Erika. She had the Alopecia since childhood, she was a wonderful friend, she loved and missed her very much and Erika loved purple and butterflies, had the heart of a hippy, the soul of a gypsy and the spirit of a fairy.  Here's a photo Angela sent me yesterday of her and Erika-Erika, of course is the one wearing the fairy wings:

I looked at the bandannas and skirt spread out on the dining room table with new eyes-maybe cut that large sun from the skirt and create a peaceful scene with it coming up over a mountain or something and Angela suggested maybe the light blue ones could be the sky-WELL-there went that piece of cake right out the window. So much for just piecing a bunch of large squares together! But, hey, I love a good challenge.

Just WHAT do you do with a pile of 14 bandannas and a brown corduroy skirt with a great big patched sun on it???????:

These aren't the usual fabrics I create my landscapes from.

I took Angela on a tour through my quilting area in the garage that looks like a total disaster area. Showed  her my long arm quilter Erika's quilt would be quilted on. She looked through my fabrics-I told her I love batiks, it seems Erika did also. She saw a couple of butterfly prints and she is trusting me to create this special quilt. Well, as it turns out-2 quilts. Could I possibly squeak another quilt from the 14 bandannas and the skirt for their friend, Kelly? OK-I did say I liked a good challenge, didn't I?

Before Angela got home that night I had cut the folk art sun from the skirt and had pretty well decided that, yes, it could come up over a mountain and maybe a pond and a tree.

Then that changed with a message from Angela when she got home:
 "I forgot to tell you but Erika really loved the ocean so if we could incorporate that into the scene that would be great" 

Me: "I've already cut out the sun, was thinking of it rising over water instead of a mountain"
"also can use the brown skirt as a trunk of tree but that can be a palm to give an island feel-what do you think?"

Angela: "we went to Mexico together on vaca so that would be cool"

Me: "would you mind if I split the sun and make two of the medallion centers, one for you and one for Kelly, I think it will work"

And so it went last Friday, a whole new adventure into making a memory quilt from plain old bandannas and a brown corduroy skirt and I am almost completely engrossed in this process.

I hope you enjoy creating as much as I do, may the joy of crafting be upon you.
Carolyn Wainscott
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I design quilts, children's wear, AG doll clothing, crafts, home decor. My patterns are available in PDF format

 @

~http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

~https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuiltingCarolyn

PATRIOTIC WREATH TUTORIAL FOR SEAMS & SCISSORS

My latest tutorial for Seams & Scissors [http://www.seamsandscissors.com/patriotic-fabric-wreath/] included instructions for a patriotic wreath that I had made for my sister-in-law, Sandy. She had been seeing them on Facebook and had said she wanted one of them. The ones we were seeing were made from bandannas but I had fabric so used that instead, She liked it. No sewing involved, just cut and attach to wire frame, decorate to your hearts content. 

 I arranged the red and white fabrics to similate the stripes and added the blue and white floral spray.

Check out  Seams & Scissors for all kinds of craft tutorials and links.

http://www.seamsandscissors.com/patriotic-fabric-wreath/

I hope you enjoy crafting as much as I do

Carolyn Wainscott

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My original patters are available  in My Craftsy Store @:

http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

and

my Etsy shop @

http://http//www.etsy.com/people/QuiltingCarolyn?ref=si_pr

I received some nice insulated fabrics from Fairfield to try that are so beautiful they could be made into evening wear and accessories but since I don't attend many formal evening extravaganzas any more these were turned into a tote bag and a casserole carrier but won't they make  a hit at the next family gathering or church supper?

Patterns and instructions are included in the following links for the tote and carrier:

http://www.seamsandscissors.com/casserole-carrier-sewing-pattern

http://www.seamsandscissors.com/almost-everything-tote-bag-sewing-pattern

I made custom binding for each project since the fabric was so special and turned the camera on right after the strips were sewn together. Here is the link to that tutorial for a really quick and easy way to make your own binding. It only took a few minutes to make several yards for each  one.

Each project is only one pattern piece plus straps so they are easy to make. 

Enjoy

May the joy of crafting be upon you

Carolyn Wainscott

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Please check out my designs and patterns 

CRAFTSY.COM

@

http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

ETSY

@

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuiltingCarolyn

MINIATURE CROCHETED HIGH HEEL SLIPPER

Some rather off the wall requests and remarks have come my way from time to time but this one was about as off the wall as you can get. 

After seeing my miniature shoe pincushion video:

a subscriber contacted me to ask where had I gotten the shoe and why I didn't crochet a shoe and use my pin cushion shoe as a form to shape it. [For one thing-it had been gone a long time ago] Would I do a video if she sent me a pattern that she couldn't follow? She wanted to make them for her daughter's wedding several months away. 

First of all, I am not a crochet aficionado. I can barely follow some crochet patterns myself-that is why I usually make up my own [same with my sewing, etc.]. Second, I surely couldn't demonstrate on camera my dropping stitches, pulling out, restitching, talking badly to my hook and yarn-nope, the world is not ready for that. 

She said she could no longer ask her aunt who had passed away and there was no one else she could ask. I know how it is to have your heart set on a theme. My sister, Jackie, had crocheted for a year in preparation for her granddaughter's wedding-doilies for the country theme, floral pieces, shawls for the flower girl and bridesmaids-aha-my sister. She can crochet anything, she crochets circles around me. So Gabe sent me the pattern she couldn't  understand. The pattern was passed on to Jackie who agreed to crochet on camera but first she had to rewrite the whole pattern. No wonder Gabe nor I could read it.  

I told Gabe it would be several weeks before we could make the video and I thought it would probably be in several episodes to make uploading to Youtube easier. By the time we could get to it, Jackie had made a couple of practice pieces and she did a great job with step by step instructions as the camera rolled. I had very little editing to do. There are 3 parts in the video tutorial, each about 20 minutes long. 

For demonstration purposes, a 4 ply cotton yarn was used instead of the suggested #3 or #5 cotton crochet thread. The demo shoe was about 8" long when Jackie was done with it. The crochet thread shoes are about 5" long. The size of the shoe will depend on your tension, the size of your hook and thread/yarn used. 

The shoes were dipped in Stiffy then shaped: plastic throwaway bags stuffed into the larger yellow shoe,  a shoe shaped form I made with hanger wire, tinfoil and duct tape was used in the gold shoe and a form made of tinfoil wrapped in duct tape in the white. The forms were fairly quick to put together. Heavy starch or sugar water were originally used in these 40's/50's crocheted crafts.  

For Jackie's step by step demonstration:

Part 1-the heel

Part 2-the sole

Part 3-upper shoe

If you prefer written instructions the pattern is available in my Craftsy store 

@

http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

May the joy of crafting be upon you

Carolyn Wainscott

CANNING JAR ORGANIZERS WITH CUSTOM TOPPERS FOR YOUR SEWING ROOM

Sometimes the oddest things strike my fancy and the display at Hobby Lobby of drawer pulls/knobs/handles was one of those. I knew I wouldn't be redesigning my kitchen with all new handles and knobs so I just checked out that long wall on occasion when I was cruising through keeping myself from adding anything else to my craft hoard [that's what my daughter calls it] until the right idea came along if ever. Then, glory be, the right idea came along and something useful at that: organizers using items I already had-canning jars. Now I could let myself pick up one or two to play with and ran the idea past the editor of Seams And Scissors. She thought it would fit right in so- 

My latest article for Seams And Scissors was released a few days ago 

@

http://www.seamsandscissors.com/diy-sewing-room-organizers/ 

Sew-if you enjoy seeing your paraphernalia as you work, this may be something you would like in your sewing room. 

A video tutorial goes along with the article, too. 

Of course, what originally was to be a quick, easy project turned into an all day venture but I love the results. 

May the joy of crafting be upon you

Carolyn Wainscott

SPIRIT OF LIBERTY-My 9/11 Inspired Quilt

5 years ago I received an email with almost 80 photos of 9/11 that I saved into a folder because I knew at some point there would be a quilt-and January this year became the time. I envisioned the quilt from the time I received the photos and it was built just as my first thoughts. 

The quilt was to portray the attack on the twin towers with the Statue of Liberty looking on from the harbor surrounded by silhouettes of some of America's heroes. 

The quilt is in mixed media and I plan on sharing the techniques: enlarging a photo, transferring/tracing to fabric, painting fabric, applique, free motion quilting. 

I am very pleased with the way "Spirit Of Liberty" turned out. It is 80" by 50". 

The pattern was created from outline drawings of photos, enlarging the drawings then transferring/tracing the drawings to fabric to be painted onto fabric. 

After painting was done it was free motion quilted.

The border was drawn and enlarged as the whole cloth. It is also one piece. All techniques will be shared in future posts.

The smoke is hand dyed wool roving that gives the piece a 3D effect.

As the quilt top was nearing completion, the back started to become more important and evolved from just the collector fabric that has been squirreled away among my "special" fabrics that are so special they may never be used to a quilt in its own right but continuing the story. The fabric was released just after 9/11 with images of the firemen raising the flag from the carnage on a red, white and blue stripe. The fabric has been in my stash since it came out just waiting for this quilt-before it was ever thought of. 

I loved being able to create this quilt.

May the joy of crafting be upon you

Carolyn Wainscott 

"Spirit Of Liberty" -the back-the story continues----------- 

A OVEN MITT PATTERN FOR A GOOD CAUSE

The editor from Cheap East & Thrifty Crafts [has been incorporated into Seams And Scissors] contacted me to see if I could get her a pattern for an oven mitt quickly for a fund raiser Prime Publishing was helping to sponsor. She needed it in just a few days but I said sure-how hard would that be? I didn't want to submit just any old, plain oven mitt-then the one hanging on my oven door came to mind that my sister, Jackie, had made for me at Christmas so I called her to see if I could use her idea and ask her about materials she had used, she said sure.

That would take care of that and I could draft the pattern and get it in quickly-then the phone rang. My sister-in-law, Alma, was in the hospital and not doing well. Then my newborn great, grandson was readmitted into hospital with jaundice and I needed to take care of the other baby for a couple of days. So much for getting anything done. 

I don't know how I accomplished anything when my own four were growing up but as I am reminded quite often, it seems, of how old I am-ok, I'm 76 years old, taking care of an infant who isn't walking yet and there was no drafting of pattern, no instructions written, no sewing-nada-to be done around bottles, feeding, diapering, bathing, peek-a-boo and just trying to get up out of my chair while holding her. Three days, two nights of this, deadline coming up, must go see sister-in-law. 

As soon as I was relieved of my charge, rulers, pencils, drawing pad came out. Then fabrics, batting, thermal fabric cut and sewn-sample photographed and HALLELUJAH! the pattern with tutorial was uploaded before the deadline.  

Here is the fund raiser information:     

Starting now, we’re calling on sewists like you to help us out by making an oven mitt or potholder for the cause! We’ve provided two easy, FREE patterns just for you – check them out by clicking the images below!

How would you describe Love INC’s mission and what inspires you about it?

Our mission is to mobilize local churches to transform lives and communities in the Name of Christ. I love this mission because we are all about empowering the church to do what it does best – love and serve our community! We provide a structure for the churches to serve so they don’t have to recreate the wheel on their own. We also verify the needs of those calling in for help to be sure we are serving in a meaningful way.

http://www.seamsandscissors.com/love-and-oven-mitts-oven-mitt-pattern/

Whew!

A commitment, an emergency, another emergency, a deadline met, getting to see Alma in time. My sister, Shirley, was taking me and since she couldn't make it for another day it gave me the time to get the article in. This is the way things go around here and it is never dull.

May the joy of crafting be upon you

Carolyn Wainscott