New projects

Moving on from the quilt, albeit it needs quilting as does last year's, and they will be started soon. But for smaller projects, there are a handful to work on this autumn before the holidays come around. Three of them are wool appliques and one is crazy quilting.

But first, I've finished the two valances for the dining room and I think the fabric looks good.  These are entirely hand sewn. The second will be hung tomorrow as I had to run to the store this afternoon to purchase a curtain rod.

I made a mistake when designing this one and will need to make an adjustment to it. I forgot to take into account that the rod for the valance juts out a few inches from the wall, hence this one is about an inch or two too narrow. This was not an issue in the living room because I attached the valances to mounting boards and calculated for the depth of the boards. It will be easy enough to add more width to this one, and since the fabric is striped, the seam can be placed at the edge of a stripe and will be practically invisible.

First up, a Christmas table runner from a pattern I've had for a number of years. The pattern is called "Snowman for Hire Table Runner" from Primitive Gatherings. Progress goes quickly on this one.

Second, a Christmas ornament pattern I purchased last year called "Olde Saint Nicholas" from Jerome Thomas Designs. I have cut all the pieces but won't start stitching until the table runner is done.

Thirdly, a pillow pattern I bought probably five years ago. It's called "Gifts of the Season" by Jerome Thomas Designs. These wool pieces are all cut out as well and the project is in queue for after the ornament is finished.

Fourthly, I've decided to take the four unfinished crazy quilt blocks I started a few years ago and finish them, sew them together and make a large pillow from them. There's a bit more embroidery I'd like to do on two of them, but this pillow should be finished this fall as well.

Besides those projects, I'm spinning quite a bit in preparation for a 10am - 3pm demonstration I will be doing next weekend at a nearby town's fête. I'll have my great wheel, my castle wheel, my kick wheel, a few spindles, and my Indian charka for spinning cotton. I've never done a stint like this before; it should be fun.

Finally, I'm working on the pump organ, aiming to get it put back together before the holidays.

Before cleaning the stop works and top of the reed chamber (ugh)...

After cleaning (much better)...

HAPPY AUTUMN!

Making Valances for the Living Room

One of the projects I wanted to get to after the quilt top was done is new valances for the living room windows; three of them. The windows in my house are not standard size, they are squat and wide at 44.5" wide by ~41" tall, measuring from outer edges of trim. There's a bit more than a foot of wall space above the windows, and in the living room there are beams above that, abutting the ceiling. To give the illusion that my windows are taller, I've been meaning to make valances that hang from the bottom of the beams to just below the tops of the windows. Adhered to mounting boards with hook and loop tape, the effect should be clean and effective. The mounting boards can be screwed to the underside of the beams.

Mounting board in place with hook and loop tape stapled to the edge

A few weeks ago I went shopping and found a suitable fabric of good weight, on sale for $5/yard. Four yards gave me enough for the three windows plus a new curtain for the bird room window. Getting all matchy-matchy. I also found some gold fringe on clearance--to add just a bit of bling to the bottoms of the valances. All-in-all, not a big expense.

The mounting boards protrude 3" from the wall so I sewed a 3" border onto each side of the valances. Since I don't have a serger, the seams were done in the French style, except for where the seams fall within the hems; they were simply butterfly pressed open.

The spot where the top and bottom hems meet the French seam were simply clipped almost to the sewing line so they could be pressed open. I sewed double hems for top, bottom, and sides by hand, using chevron stitch.

Then I sewed the fringe to the bottom edge and hook and loop tape to the top edge (before turning the hem) using the 1940s White Rotary machine.

The above picture is the first valance I made, and I sewed the hook and loop tape in the wrong place. It was supposed to be at the very top edge. Next time I'm in the shop I'll get more hook and loop tape and re-do this one, but it's OK for now.

The effect is just what I wanted.

You can see how this one is sitting a little too high because the hook and loop tape is in the wrong place.

I like them so much, and I found an eight yard bolt of fabric at the thrift shop the other day, so now I'm making 2 valances for the dining room as well. $15 for 8 yards of good quality, heavy fabric, what a bargain!

Quilt top is finished

The pattern is "Everything's Blooming" by Erica Kaprow.  It's been a wonderful project and I really enjoyed experimenting with color for each block. 

 Click on images to enlarge.

A few details...

I will now start quilting the top I finished last year. This one will be set aside for a while.