Pattern #376 Tutti-Frutti

~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

Yet another charm pack table runner.  But not for me this time.  This is a Christmas gift for my mother.  Aaaaack!!!! Christmas already?  I know, if I were truly a dedicated sewist, I would be completing such gifts late into the night on Christmas Eve.  Oh well, call me a novice.

The colors are perfect for my mother’s home.  She likes soft, pastels and this fits the bill.  This is a great pattern by Sandy Gervais – it sews together quickly and it is fairly inexpensive.  It only requires one charm pack, and a small amount of batting and backing fabric.  I have a number of these table runners around my home.  This post and this post (on the back of the chair) are two examples of a couple variations that I made of the pattern.

I know my mother will not turn this over to use the back side, so I used a vanilla colored kona cotton for a simple backing.  Here’s a picture of the back, plain and simple.

Here’s a close up of the quilting.


On another completely unrelated note, I finally decided on a skirt pattern to go with my cardigan (Simplicity 2154).  I’ll post more on that later this week.  Have a sunny, cloud-free week.



Bed Runner

~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

Just wanted to share some progress on a small quilting project that I started this week.  This is from the book Bed Runners Using Precut Fabrics by Kathy Brown.

The title of the pattern is “Serene Strips”.  Mine is anything but serene.  The pattern calls for one jelly roll for the strips and all I had on hand was this Dolce jelly roll by Westminster Fabrics.  This is stepping outside the box for me because my home decor is very neutral, warm tones.  However, I’m working on brightening my guest room somewhat while still keeping a cohesiveness with the rest of the house. I have several changes in mind for that room, so we’ll see. I’ll post before and afters when it is complete.

Obviously the bed runner is not finished.  I’m at a standstill because I just ordered coordinating fabric yesterday for the border, so I must wait until it arrives in the mail before I can finish.

Let’s see now, I’m sure I can find something else to keep me busy until then……

Retro-Modern Pillow

~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

A crocheting camping we will go, a camping we will go . . .  DH and I finally pulled out the RV for our first camping trip this season.  We spent five glorious days and nights in the mountains doing absolutely NOTHING (except for crocheting this terrific retro-inspired pillow).

The pattern is in the Setember/October 2011 issue of Crochet Today magazine.  The pattern includes a square version and a round version.  I chose the round one simply because all my throw pillows are square and I needed to change up the mix a bit.  I used the suggested yarn colors as follows – Red Heart Super Saver #380 Windsor Blue and #313 Aran, but I couldn’t find #406 Med Thyme at my local craft store, so I used #661 Frosty Green.  The pattern calls for a crocheted front and back for a 16″ round purchased pillow form.  Being a sewer, I decided to crochet only the front panel and to use fabric for the opposite side.  I also added a scalloped crochet edge to bring it all together.  I happened to have a piece of quilter’s cotton in my stash that complemented the yarn colors perfectly.  Here’s a shot of the opposite side:

In case wondering minds want to know, here’s how I put the whole thing together. 
1.  I started with my crocheted pillow panel:

2.  After measuring to make sure it truly was 16″, I cut my cotton fabric to 16 1/2″ using a ruler and Sharpie to mark my circle.

3.  Then I sewed a 1/4″ double fold hem around the circle.  To do this, simply sew a basting stitch 1/4″ from the edge of the fabric like so:

4.  Pull up the bobbin thread and the hem will ‘fold itself over’.  Then simply fold it over on itself again and topstitch.

5.  Then, using Omega nylon thread, I hand sewed a blanket stitch around the circumference of the cotton fabric so I would have a foundation on which to crochet a row of double stitches.

6.  Finally, I used a scallop crochet pattern to attach the back to the front.  This was a really fast and easy project and it was a great addition to my square, fabric home dec pillows.