The Coffee Quilt: When Your Mug Isn't Enough

People love coffee. It's a fervent love, but one that I do not really understand. You see, I am a tea person. I know many die-hard coffee people, though, and there's something mystical about the way their eyes light up when they take a sip of coffee. Maybe it's a cult?

I decided to make a little coffee-inspired quilt when I found the Java collection by Moda. It was too fun to pass up, especially since I managed to get it during a clearance sale (sadly it was a sale from a local quilting shop going out of business). The panels were easy to work with and this stitched up pretty quickly.

It's one of several small projects I've had sitting around for a while and I finally said "enough" and finished them up. It's a good thing, too, because I just had to give my sewing machine up for its annual servicing. Toward the end of my most recent project (a holiday present) it also started making a suspicious noise, so it was definitely time. I must say, now that I can't sew, I miss it more than I thought I would.

I'll have it back in about ten days, and then the furious rush to finish holiday gifts begins. In the mean time, I am cutting out the fabric for these projects. While not as soothing as sewing, cutting fabric helps to slake my sewing urges.

Dragons and Knights and Steeds, Oh My!

Halloween is my most beloved of all the holidays. Between the food, the weather, and the sheer festiveness in the air, I can't get enough. The fall food alone is sufficient to put me in a jolly mood. I really look forward to giving candy out to all the kids and seeing what fun and creative costumes they come up with.

This year, though, I have a vicious beast in the house- an awesome and terrible monster known as the Beagle-Dragon.

Terrifying, I know.

I made this pet costume several years ago, in high school actually, for my family dog, Dante. I made it for him when he was still a puppy, and it turned out it didn't fit him the following year. Piper, though, is smaller and with a few slight modifications (a few choices snips of the scissors), it now fits her quite well. But who will save us from this terror?

A very stoic savior.

Why, it's Sir Barksalot and his noble steed, Woofyluffagus! They'll keep us (and the trick-or-treaters) safe from the fire breathing creature. My parents are on vacation, so I have two furry friends for a while. I put this costume together for Dante in about two hours yesterday. Would have been less, but certain dogs weren't terribly cooperative.

The Noble Steed costume was very easy to put together. It has a tie around the front and elastic ties around his chest to keep the back half from sliding off. Sir Barksalot wouldn't stay glued in place, so I ended up having to stitch him down with a few hand stitches.

Have a happy Halloween!

Piper & The Yellow Dog Project

I've talked about my beagle, Piper, here before but she has a secret I haven't mentioned. About a month after my husband and I adopted her, just before last Christmas, she was bitten by an aggressive and unleashed dog in my neighborhood. Thankfully, Piper was not seriously harmed in the encounter, but it terrified her (and it terrified me). I teasingly call her my intrepid beagle now, but in reality, her boldness is just a front.

Piper with her only canine friend, Dante.

Piper, in fact, is quite afraid of dogs because of this experience. Unfortunately, she acts out this fear by becoming aggressive when she's leashed. I've consulted a trainer and I have been working with Piper to ease her fears. She used to go wild just at the sight of another dog. Now she just gets upset when a dog comes within 20 feet or so.

I'm happy I've been able to make progress with her, but there's been a lot of backslides. This is primarily due to other dog owners in my neighborhood who do not understand proper dog greeting protocol. Step 1 is Ask My Permission! They often assume that my cute, floppy-eared dog wants to meet their dog. Even despite my protests (and her growling/barking), some people still come up to us with their dog.

This problem is conflated by the diversity of my apartment complex- there are probably fifteen different languages spoken here, and I only know two (one of them poorly). The best thing I can do in these situations is turn right around and walk briskly away- and I've had to do it. Even if she doesn't act like it with her aggression, Piper is afraid of that dog. She is a Dog In Need of Space (a DINO).

I just heard of a project called The Yellow Dog Project which was created in order to bring awareness to dogs who need space from other dogs "while training, recovering from surgery, or being rehabilitated" or, in Piper's case, for being reactive to other dogs. The idea is that if you see a dog who has a yellow ribbon tied to their leash, they're a dog who needs space and you should not approach them with your dog. You should give them and their owner some space to move away.

What a wonderful idea. It's a movement on an international level, as well, which means if it gains traction, people will know what it means no matter the language they speak (a huge help in my area, for sure). At the time of this posting, 24 countries are represented on their website. The symbol of the yellow ribbon eliminates the verbal element entirely so there is no ambiguity about the situation- it simply means please stay away.

I put my current quilting project aside for a bit this afternoon and made Piper her own yellow ribbon. That strap around her nose is a Gentle Leader (a product I highly recommend) and it not a muzzle. It goes around the back of her head and around her nose, allowing me better control of her so that when she does start acting foolish, I can direct her face away from the dog so she's not looking at it anymore. It's been a godsend in helping me to retrain her dog aggressive behavior.

I'm not expecting any immediate results with the ribbon, but it's something that's easy to explain to people, and something they might even ask about. It almost advertizes itself. The Project is looking into getting ribbons and shirts of their own to sell. I will be first in line to buy a shirt when they come out.

Please help them and pass the word along about this fabulous project. They're on Facebook currently, and I'm sure they'll join Twitter soon.

Mending An Old Bra

I'm going to get a little personal with you and talk about my bra troubles. I have a few every-day bras and they no longer fit. As you wear a bra, the band stretches out a bit as the elasticity breaks down. That combined with the fact that I've lost 20lbs recently means I have some really ill-fitting bras on my hands.

They don't look quite as nice as they did when I bought them three (yes, three) years ago, but they still get the job done. I am on the bustier side, so I need quality bras. Despite the fact that I like to think of myself as a thrifty nickle, I buy mine from Victoria's Secret. They make some very excellent and well constructed bras and they last. In fact, there's nothing wrong with the ones I have other than the fit

I have absolutely no desire to throw out perfectly good but too-big bras and shell out $60 or more on a couple new ones. So, instead, I devised a plan to make the old bras fit again. Queue the seam ripper.

The first step is determining where you bra doesn't fit anymore. For me, it was riding up in the back, which is a sign that the band size is too large. If you've recently lost some weight like me, this is likely your problem. For other issues, check out this excellent bra trouble-shooting resource. As the page suggests, you should clasp the bra tighter but even with my bra clipped at its tightest, it's still too big. The not-so-secret solution I decided on was to make the band a little smaller.

Grab your bra, and look at the closure. Most likely, it uses a hook and eye closure, like this:

It's much easier to remove the eye tape section, so take your seam ripper and carefully undo the stitching that holds it in place. You may have to rip some stitches across the top and bottom, as well.

Quilting Month Bust

I started March pretty excited about National Quilting Month, but ended it without having gotten much done. I'm really disappointed in myself. I had a set list of projects to work on, and I did not get them all accomplished. I didn't even get most of them accomplished, actually.

Some things got done... but not much.

I finished Piper's crate mat, but that's all. Terrible. I worked on all of the others, but none of them are finished. I got the Java top finished and partially quilted, I made a humungous post about how to make continuous quilt binding, and I finished up many triangles for the stripes quilt.


In my defense, it turns out that I never could have finished the Halloween Circle quilt, because the sewing foot I need is of stock. I haven't yet been able to find one in a month of looking. I will have to set it aside for good until I can procure that foot. So that chopped my seven projects down to six.

The last week of the month, I had a surprise house guest, so I didn't have access to sewing while he was staying. But that's a terrible excuse, because I had two weeks prior to get things done, and I really didn't. My enthusiasm for the challenge didn't sustain me through the whole month.

I still have to finish those projects, since several of them are left over from last year. Next year, I'm going to try a little bit more motivational of a challenge, perhaps a well-planned block-a-day challenge.

How to Make Bias Quilt Binding

When I first started quilting, I bought pre-made binding because I had no real idea how to make my own. The palate was limited almost entirely to solid colors, and it was depressing. Somewhere along the way, I learned to make my own and it's my favorite quilting trick.

It's my favorite because most fabric collections have a print or two that would make fantastic binding. It matches the colors of the collection already, and you can use it to show off a print you liked and used a lot or one you didn't get to use at all. I also think using a print instead of a solid can really make a good quilt into a great quilt.

Now there are some distinct advantages to making continuous bias binding. It's more durable than straight grain binding, and it's incredibly useful on curves. I use it for almost all my projects. The best part? It's really easy to do! The first time you make it, it can be a little tricky to visualize exactly what to do. I made this tutorial with tons of pictures to help clear up some of the confusion at a few of the steps.

First, you'll need some yardage. How much depends on how much binding you need and how wide you want to make it. In the example, I use a 1/2 yard piece and cut it 2 1/2" wide. That gave me about 11 yards of 1/2" binding. If you make it wider, you'll end up with less binding, so plan your yardage accordingly.

Ready? Let's go!

Iron your fabric before beginning and then lay it out on your workspace with selvages on the sides (instead of top and bottom). Trim off the selvage edges.

Now you want to take the top right corner of the fabric and fold it over to give you a 45 degree angle, just like this:

You definitely want to make sure it's lined up properly along the bottom. I like to press it to give it a nice crisp edge, but you don't have to. Cut along the fold line.

Now take the triangle you just cut and slide it straight over to the left side. What you want to have is the two selvage edges next to each other, like this:

Ironing Board Revamp

My ironing board is tired. I bought it on clearance to use at college about 6 years ago. It's a mini one, that stands only about 10 inches high and is about 36" long. It has been perfect for use in my sewing room, because it folds up easily and has a hook so I can store it in the closet.

Just the perfect size for pressing blocks.

But I noticed the original fabric is looking rough- yellowed and covered with little bits of old fusible interfacing residue. I didn't want to chuck it, because the frame is still perfectly fine, so I decided I'd make a new cover for it. It was a quick afternoon project and now I have a lovely looking ironing board again.

The batting underneath didn't look good, so I replaced it, too.

 This is what is looked like when I slipped the cover off. It had a string that held it tight, so I pulled that out to reuse. Then I ripped out the seam that had held the string and flattened it out a bit.

I seem to have an affinity for bright colors, don't I?

 I went to iron it flat when it dawned on me that I had just taken my ironing board apart. Duh. I tossed a towel on top of the frame and it worked out fine. Good thing I thought this project through before I started, huh?

New Year's Eve Sari

A good friend of mine and his wife are having a big New Year's Eve party, and this year's theme is India. In keeping with the theme, they've asked that everyone wear traditional Indian clothing, which means I finally have an excuse to wear a sari.

Saris are the beautiful, long fabric wraps traditionally worn by Indian women. I have always been fascinated by the gorgeous fabrics and embroidery that go into one. However, I have been unable to find a place nearby where I can purchase one. Most website ship directly from India, which means the sari might not arrive in time for the party. This left me with one option- to buy some fabric and make my own (it's tragic, really).

Now, it turns out that your neighborhood Big Box Fabric Store actually sells sari fabric. It's in the brocade section. Both edges are finished with a traditional border and all you need to do is buy enough yardage to wrap it and make your matching blouse (called a choli), which is about 6 yards. I thought, lucky me! But unfortunately, none of the stores in my area had enough yardage on the bolts I wanted.

Not to be discouraged, I searched around and found a home dec taffeta in a gorgeous dark red. I knew I had to make my sari out of it. I even found a golden embroidery thread to coordinate. I got 7 yards because it was on sale for $4 a yard (from $25 a yard, I believe) and I wanted to make sure I'd have enough extra to practice the embroidery. I had never done free motion machine embroidery before, but I imagined it couldn't be much more different from free motion quilting than using embroidery specific needle and thread.

Pink and White Summer Dress

The weather has been hot, but I still hadn't found a summer dress. I've been in and out of stores since April trying to find one that I liked and fit and I kept coming up empty. I had just about given up on finding one when a solution fell into my lap. I was at the fabric store picking up notions for another project when I saw the cutest linen fabric.

Perfectly summer!

How could I resist when it was also 40% off? Bolt under my arm, I suddenly found myself in the pattern section looking through the dresses. And I came across McCall's #6350 and knew it was the one. The sweetheart neckline, the halter strap, the gather of the skirt, it was all for me.