The Story So Far.....

OK, I have been working with my trusty Exacto knife and files for hours.....This is the results so far. I'm afraid that it's not terribly interesting to look at, so I'm sending you on a Sunday search to make up for it. I do have two legs carved, one back piece and one arm. I'm getting there and now Buttercup wants a needlework seat cushion. I can see this turning into an epic project.

How would you like to go site seeing while I carve and needlepoint?

I am going to have to make goodies for the tea shop. This site is excellent for getting ideas or just plain buying ready made foods. It's called The English Kitchen and the food makes me hungry!

http://minifoods.com/mini/index.php

The other two sites are ones that I shop at when I need buckles for shoes or belts and other types of findings. The first one is called Rio Rondo and it is meant to be for people that work with miniature horse trappings. It has some wonderful supplies that can be adapted for minis.

http://www.riorondo.com/ The second one is for eggery and has lots of findings and other supplies that we miniaturists can use. http://www.gokart.net/catalogs/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=eggery&Category_Code=onlaycurl

Now I am going back to trying not to stab myself with an Exacto knife while you go on a miniature safari for ideas and supplies.

See you tomorrow.

Leave Well Enough Alone.......

Now why would I do that? This morning Buttercup spit out a House of Miniatures kit for a Chippendale corner chair and demanded that I make it for the second floor.


I looked at it and decided that if it were going to be a "real" Chippendale it wouldn't have just sanded down cabriole legs....No sirree! It had to have ball and claw feet and a scroll at the top of the legs. One catch....There were four of them. I have done ball and claw feet before. They are a lot of fun. Usually they are just on the front two legs of a wing chair or something similar. With a corner chair you have to make at least three out of the four ball and claw, and......they all have to be the same. I knew that there was a catch! Here is the first one roughly cut out and started(no scroll yet).


I used the trusty Exacto knife, needle files and an Emery board cut into quarters lengthwise and then crosswise. This is one of the handiest tools that I know of when you are trying to rough sand small pieces. Being stiff, the corners that you cut can get into places that regular sandpaper can't reach.


Here is the leg that I am working on a little further along. The leg at the right is what I started with. That's the thing I like about House of Miniatures kits. Their blanks are generous so that if you want to do something like this there is plenty of room to play.

Of course now that I have decided on ball and claw feet and scroll knees. Yes, the part at the top is really referred to as a knee. I will have to do some fancy work on the back slats too. In the Chippendale Directory these are usually carved to look like woven ribbons going over and under.

Who was the idiot that got me into this mess? Oh wait. I remember now. It was Buttercup. Stupid bookshop! Why didn't you stay up on the top shelf and sleep longer? At least I have someone to blame other than myself. See you tomorrow, hopefully with four carved legs.......

Rude Awakening!

This morning I was awakened by shouting! I got up and went to investigate where it was coming from. Bleary eyed, I rushed into the workroom. The noise was coming from the top shelf of the bookcase.

Who knew that Buttercup Bookshop could yell so loud? It kept repeating "I want down from here NOW!!!!" and "Get me down! You can't torture me like this!" Remember the last time I heard from it? No? That's because the shop was not speaking to me at all. That was the first part of July. It just curled up and went to sleep. So I put it on the top shelf.

Now it wants to get down and play all of a sudden. OK. I dragged it down and moved it to the family room where we were before.

It settled happily on the table and then proceeded to tell me that it wanted all of its insides restored. I dragged out the box with the stuff for inside. Then it insisted that I go get the tool bag. OK. I did that.

We bargained back and forth for a while. Between us, we settled on putting a few of the things back in the bottom floor to see what was happening. Buttercup was very pleased that I special ordered a cash register. I need to change phones. I think that I will build one of the old candle stick phones. I always liked those.

I am being yelled at to put more books on the shelves. I am going to glue them in this time. No more of this nonsense of all of the books falling on the floor if I have to put Buttercup back on the shelf again.

Another thing that I found in the rest period was an English umbrella stand and a couple of things to go in it.

I am slowly finding stuff to put on the tea stand. I am going to have to get the poly clay out and make cakes and cookies.

I also have decided that the little table needs a bottom shelf to rest one's feet on and as a place to put extra books. I have that drawn up. I need to cut it out and stain it.

The last thing that Buttercup mumbled before getting ready for nap time was "Make me a rug. My floor is cold...." At least I think that was what I heard. I am on my way now to see if I have any suitable rug patterns or if I am going to have to design a new one. Buttercup, being a picky shop, will probably insist on a new one. Off to work I go. See you tomorrow.

It's Complicated.......

I had a comment from Star this morning on the swags, asking "Were the Victorian curtains the same as the ones today or were they more simple?". A one word answer will do it. Nope. They were definitely more complicated! The Victorians were crazy about fancy decoration. If they could add an extra trim, flounce, or fancy shape to the curtains, they would.

This is the illustration from the front of the book. I don't think that I will get in trouble for showing you this one. This is one of the simpler designs! They were in love with asymmetrical designs and the more layers, the better. This window has three different fabrics. The curtain on the right is what they used to call "glass curtains". It is what we would call sheers. The one on the left would be lace. The top blue one would probably have been a darker color than the illustration and probably velvet or other heavy material. The trim would have been gold braid and gold work embroidery with gold tiebacks. Notice the cord tiebacks all have tassels on the ends. Another use for our mini tassels! The nice thing about this design is you don't have to make anything match. Even the height of the tiebacks on the inner curtains is not the same.

And now for more mini variations. With the pattern that I used yesterday, you can do a double sized window simply by making two of the swag pieces, two of the end pieces and the piece in this photo. All you need to do is first put the two swags over the bar. Then add this piece over the center, between them. Then proceed with the outer jabot pieces as per instructions. BTW, I noticed that in the book the end pieces and the center piece are called festoons. I kind of like that.

This next one is a valence that was used with long curtains. It is simply a 3 sided box with fancy cutouts on the largest side. This is also from the book. In there they show a variation where they put stained crown molding around the top edge of the valence as an accent, with a carved cartouche in the center of the molding. I think I am going to have to try that variation sometime in a formal setting.

This is fairly straightforward. Cut the pieces in the photo out of mat board. Glue them together.Glue a piece of fabric to the front that is about an inch larger all around.

Trim it like the first photo. Make little ears on the top edge. Fold them down and then glue the sides over these.

Trim the outer edge flush with the mat board. Clip the inside edges as shown in the photo. Turn them under with glue. Don't worry about it looking nice on the back side. When you glue the draperies in place the inside will be covered.

Now turn it over to the front side and cover the edges with braid or bunka. Spread some glue on the backside and insert the draperies. I cheated this morning. I didn't want to fuss with draperies, so I put some striped material under the valence to illustrate what they would look like.

Don't forget to poke the little photos to make them big.

The last step is to put it in the dollhouse and enjoy.

Once again, I need to clean up the mess that I made working on these. See you tomorrow.

Good Old Swags

Back in the 80s I taught classes on making draperies,cornice boxes and swags. The book that you see in the photo is my bible for all things to cover windows and lots of info on draping beds and vanities in the Victorian style.

It was written in 1889. Someone re issued it in 1979. I grabbed it and guard it with my life. It has patterns and diagrams for every form of drapery and curtain known to man from that time back. I don't think that it is in print anymore unless someone has re issued it again. If you ever run across a copy grab it!

Anyway, I decided to re draw my patterns for swags this morning. The old patterns were actually turning yellow and had age spots! It's scary that I drew them that long ago.

Now for the directions. The patterns that follow are for the swag and jabot. If you sew, you can line the pieces by machine. I did them this morning with Wonder Under. I ironed two contrasting fabrics together(about 12" square) with the WU bond in the middle.

****Additional note since yesterday when I wrote this! I used the Wonder Under yesterday thinking that it would be a time saver. It was. It worked like a charm. I glued the pieces together with my favorite Elmer's glue. When I got home from Wednesday Witches mini meeting I picked up the curtain and the three pieces fell apart. Evidently the WU releases chemicals into the fabric when heated that prevent Elmer's from sticking. I went back and tried Tacky this morning. It is a heavier bodied glue. The Tacky worked. When I got back from town a couple of hours later they were stuck together just fine. I guess Wonder Under just likes heavier glue! ****

Here is the pattern. It is two simple pieces. You do have to make sure that you cut mirror images for the jabots so that they will slant towards the center of the window.

Remember that all of the pieces should be cut lengthwise of the grain of the fabric in order to match.

I cut the sides of the jabot 1/2" narrower since I didn't need a seam allowance. Five inches is a good length for the outside on an average window. You can vary that to suit tho. I didn't change any measurements on the swag.

I always do my curtains on a pin board with graph paper on it. It makes getting things even much easier.

Start with the swag. Turn 1/2" of the top edge over a 1/4" strip of wood and glued it on the front and back. I pinned the top and wood strip to the board. Put a pin in the center of the fabric about 1/2" down from the top of the board. Now bring about 1/3 of the fabric edge on either side up in a pleat and pin it in place. Again, put a pin in the center about 1/2" down and bring up another third of the fabric and pin on the ends. Do it a third time and it should look like the photo. The edges will naturally draw into the sides as you pull the center down with the pins.

Now take a jabot and pin the long side to the board with the pins slanted away from the material. Put a pin 3/4" away at the top and bottom. Bring the lose fabric back in a pleat. This should be 1/2" wide over the preceding fabric and there should be 1/4" of the edge that isn't covered. Pin this. Make a last pleat. The whole thing should be about 1" wide. Do it again with the other side. It doesn't have to be exact.

Spray all of the pieces with heavy duty, unscented hairspray. Let it dry. Do it again. Now gently release the pins and put some glue in all of the pleats and re pin. Let that dry. Do it carefully if you are sewing. With wonder under the glue is not likely to bleed through the fabric.

The last step is to fold the jabots over the top of the rod and glue. Let them dry. You can either cut off the rods so that nothing shows or put some fancy beads on the ends to represent finials on the rods.

I forgot to mention that this will fit a standard single Houseworks window. You can just glue it to the wall over the window and hold it down with painter's tape until it's dry.

There are a lot of variations on these curtains. I didn't trim them because I wanted you to be able to see what was happening with the folds. You can fancy them up with braid or other edging.

This is all you get for today. I am thinking that this needs to be more than one entry. I will put up a version for a double window and some different patterns for valences tomorrow.

See you then.

To Quilt or Not to Quilt.....

Someone asked yesterday about how to do mini quilts. There are many ways. I thought I would throw in my favorite.

Let me explain. I prefer doing it like the blue and white one that I showed you the other day. That is, I like doing it with stitchery. If I have to do it the real way, I like English paper piecing. So here goes.

Here are a couple of hexagon blocks that I did this morning to show you. The one on the left is done with some material that had stripes of the blue alternating with stripes of the roses. So theoretically you only need one piece of material to do this one. It would end up looking kind of like a lattice work piece. The other one is two compatible materials that would end up looking kind of contemporary, considering the patterns.

This is the pattern that was popular back in the depression and called Grandmother's Flower garden. If you do it in the traditional pastels it would look totally different from either one of these.

I prefer not to follow that pattern because the original hexes in that pattern are only about 2" across. It would look way out of scale. I have done these with a 3/8" hexagon that came from a template that is used for drawing diagrams of furniture by designers in 1/4" scale. It is actually for a lamp in the layouts. As you can see, I drew a bunch of the hexes side by side so that it would be easy to cut them out.

After you cut them out, you cover them with fabric by putting a spot of glue stick glue on one side and laying it on the back of your fabric. You have to allow enough space for about 1/8" inch of fabric all around each piece.

By laying the template over the fabric you can pick and choose what you want on each piece.

Here you can see that I aligned the pieces so that they would form a pattern. You need to keep the grain of the fabric straight. That is, you need it running from point to point or flat side to flat side. Otherwise you will have trouble with fraying.

Now you baste the fabric over the back, folding the points under as you go. The top mostly white piece shows the seam allowance. The second one is the back after stitching and the bottom one is the front.

Starting at one corner, whip stitch the edges of one side together. Do this with the patches facing.

Next, one piece at a time, yo will add the next four pieces. Whip stitch two sides. You will have to bend the center piece to do the second side.

The last patch is added by sewing on three sides. Again you will have to do a bit of manipulating to keep the sides together as you sew. To finish, you will pull all of the paper pieces out. When you do, you will be surprised at how "quilted" it looks. You can back it with fabric or if it is not going to show you can simply iron on a pellon backing.

Now for the good news. You don't have to do hexagons. You can do squares for a nine patch or long strips to do a log cabin.

If you decide that you don't want to do it by hand, you can opt to use a machine and do foundation piecing. If you are interested in that method, try this site. http://www.quilt.com/HowTo/FoundationHowToPage.html It goes into much more detail than I could here.

I am going back to finish the blue and white quilt now. Then I am going to make a bed. It will need a home. See you tomorrow.

Today is Monday......

Monday equals washday. Well it does according to the old kids' song. So.....How about some things to help you do your wash? Technically these are for the drying part.

I am going to put you to work making clothespins, bag and a hanger on which to hang it.

I saw some clothespins at the first NAME National House party that I went to back in the early 80s. They were turned and made the hard way and were very expensive. When I got home I pulled out some of the fancy turned Japanese toothpicks that you can buy at the import stores. Here's what I came up with.

I cut most of the fancy part off with my razor saw and miter box. It takes only one stroke but turns out better than doing it with an Exacto knife and the pieces don't tend to fly so far.


Then I marked the toothpick at 3/8" long and cut again.

After that I held the toothpick bottom up between my finger and thumb and cut the slit down 1/4". That seems to control the cut and keep it in the center.

I then used an emery board to smooth the end into a V shape. That's all there is to it.

For the hanger I use a plastic coated paperclip. I get them at Wal-Mart. They come in lots of different colors in the package. I even found some that are striped! For hangers you need a pair of chain nosed pliers(Both points are round and needle nosed. They are usually found in the jewelry section.)and a pair of regular needle nosed pliers with flat openings. You bend one end in a circle. Straighten a neck. Bend for the shoulder. Use the chain nosed pliers to bend the curved end and do the same about an equal distance from the center. Bring the tail back up to the neck and cut the end off where it meets the neck. You can use the drawing in the photo. The bottom of the hanger is about 12" across. I do them this length so that they will fit into any of the clothes that I make, including children's sizes.

The bag is made of a scrap of cotton material. It is cut 1 1/4" wide by 2 1/2" long. In one end cut a "neck" out of the top. Then fold it in the center and cut a quarter inch triangle off for the shoulders. Put glue on the two long edges and across the shoulders. Sandwich one of the hangers in between the front and back. Press the front and back together. Let it dry. If you want a pocket on the front simply cut a strip to fit and glue the sides and bottom to the front. I used bunka for the trim. You can use anything you like. Perle cotton will do if you have it or silk ribbon. If you want clothespins on the edge of the pocket, put them on first and then put the trim around them. They will fit over the thickness of the fabric, but they will be difficult to push down over the trim.

Now I am going to go do my real laundry. I am not going to hang it out to dry. My excuse is that it's raining here........Well OK.....I wouldn't hang it anyway. The dryer is right next to the washer and the only clothespins that I have are the spring kind. I use them for holding together things while making minis. Nope. They have never touched laundry. Thank goodness for automatic washers and dryers! They make more time for mini-ing! See you tomorrow.

Anything You Want!

Today is a links day. The title above just about says it all. Anything that you want to make or do in mini can be found on the web in one form or another.

You can print up boxes, books and would you believe even tea sets? About. com is one of the first websites that I found for minis when I started on the web. It has changed over the years, if only to get better. These days it has sections for all kinds of minis. http://miniatures.about.com/od/miniatureprojects/Miniature_Projects_Making_Customizing_and_Displaying_Miniatures.htmThis is the url for the ones we are interested in. Be sure to look at the printable section. That's where you will find printable tea sets. Honest!

No. The pizza isn't a printable, but the box is. Free for the taking. There are several sites for these. Jim Collins' website that I gave you once before is one of them.

I went looking around this morning because I hadn't done it for a while. Here are a few that I found.

Here's one that has all kinds of projects for your house and some printies too. http://www.the-art-of-dollhouse-miniatures.com/index.html

This one is printies. It has wonderful bricks, terracotta tile and textiles. http://www.allthingsmini.com/patterns/

All things considered, these three should keep you busy and out of trouble for at least 24 hours. See you tomorrow.

Roses for M'lady

I promised to show you how to make silk roses yesterday, so here they are.

Before you make roses you need to make a tool for making the roses. It is very simple to make. You need a #24 tapestry needle, a dowel and some super glue. The one that you see in the photo is one that I made many years ago. It is an unsuccessful turned piece of walnut that might have been a table leg if it had turned out. It was my first attempt at turning on a lathe. This is another good example of "Waste not. Want not." I drilled a hole in the end of the wood the same size as the needle. I cut about a 1/16" piece of the end of the needle leaving the eye open on top. If it is rough you can smooth it with a file.

For the roses you will need SILK ribbon. Yes I am shouting that word. Do not attempt this with synthetics. You will only be frustrated by the glue not holding. So....Silk ribbon, white glue, your needle tool and patience. Oh and a pair of small scissors to cut the ribbon.

1. Slide the end of the ribbon between the two prongs of the needle tool. Then put a little glue on the tab and fold it over onto the ribbon on the other side. Pinch the two layers of ribbon together until they hold.

2. Twist the ribbon towards yourself and put a dot of glue on top of the part closest to yourself.

3. Roll the tool to the left and let the glue make contact with the body of the rose. Hold until it sticks.

4. Now fold the ribbon away from yourself and put a dot of glue on the tail. Again, roll it to the left to catch the glue.

Repeat this step two or three times, depending on the size of rose you want when finished. The finished rose here is once towards yourself and 3 times away. If you just want a bud, only do the first one or two steps.

It takes some practice to do this so that it really looks like a rose. Expect to ruin a few before you get it right.

I had a friend that learned to do this the same time that I did. He made beautiful roses. Somehow they always turned out face down on the needle. No one could ever figure out why. So keep at it and be sure to look at the bottom! You might just be a backwards and upside down rose maker!

After you have practiced, you can decorate beds, clothes, hats and even make wedding bouquets with what your roses. Get to work!

See you tomorrow.

Holey Hanky!

This morning I met my daughter at Starbucks for one of our wandering around days. The Starbucks is at Barnes and Noble so we had to look at books. Then we decided to wander around Cost Plus Imports. Neither place got any of our money. Then we went to our favorite antique mall.

We went up and down all of the aisles, in and out all of the booths and couldn't even find anything to buy even at the ones that were priced at 75% off! Don't get me wrong. We enjoy ourselves there even if we don't spend money, but it's more fun if you find a treasure.

At the very last booth I found treasure! I found two holey Victorian handkerchiefs. They were exactly the same. Maybe they were part of a trousseau, nicely embroidered. In fact, they were amazingly embroidered. Who cares if there are holes in the center? I was more interested in the edge anyway.


I laid the two side by side to take the photo.....One is right side up and the other is the back side. It is nearly impossible to tell which is which. Up at the top of the photo you can see the damage in the one laying on top. As I said, who cares about a few holes? I paid 4.50 for the two. I don't know what the price would have been if the centers were perfect.

For years I have used holey handkerchiefs, baby clothes and other fine cotton antique fabrics. Most of the time they almost give them away if they have damage. I make sheets for my beds and underwear for my ladies if the trim is not unusual. I think that these two are going to have to be for something very special.

I have not had time to decide what these beauties will be when I finish. The design is embroidered with one strand of very fine cotton thread and goes all the way around both of them.

To give you an idea of what can be done with antique fabrics, the dress on this doll was originally a baby's dress. It was too far gone to be of use to anyone and I got it for free. The pin tucks on the sleeves were on the front of the dress. The tiny flowers were close to the neckline. The trim around the neckline of the dolls dress was another trim that I simply cut off and glued in place. The only thing that I added was the lace at the bottom and the silk bows with long streamers at the back of the shoulders. I don't think it turned out too bad for something that was going to be tossed in the rubbish bin.

This lady is the first porcelain doll that I ever bought. She was bald and had no clothes. Every once in a while she gets a new hairdo and clothes as the mood hits me. I think that this is the way she is going to look for a while tho. I am very happy with the way that she looks right now.

See the silk roses in the lady's hair? If you can wait until tomorrow I will show you how to make them.

See you then.

Tassels 101

This morning I got a comment from Katie asking for the instructions for tassels. OK. But first I have to show you what I have been working on.

I walked by the Mystery House this morning and I heard a tiny voice whispering "Fill me." It was the armoire in the bedroom. I thought it was about time that I did at least a minimum of work on the Mystery House. So I filled it.

I lined the doors with Penelope canvas and trimmed them with a mini braid. Then I went to work filling the inside. I cheated and went through stuff that I had on hand. I really didn't have to make anything.

If you look closely at the bottom shelf, you will see that there is a wallet to match the cream colored purse. Look closer.....Yes there is money in it. The wallet fits in the purse and the purse closes. To the left there are some undies made of lace. I just cut the scalloped edge of some lace that happened to be the right size, put a tuck in the bottom with glue and ran the thinnest ribbon around the bottom and attached straps. The panties are just cut in that shape and glued on the sides. The floral trim is bunka. Incidently, you can cut most lace anywhere you want and it won't ravel.

On the top shelf there is a barrel purse like the one in the tutorial. The other one doesn't close. It is permanently open with the gloves and scarf hanging out. The platforms have real cork soles.

Now on to the tassels. They are really easy to make.

I did the tutorial with contrasting thread so that you can see how to put them together. When you do them you will want to match the threads. After you get them together you can put a ribbon or other trim around the neck to trim.

You will need embroidery floss in the color of your choice. You can use some of the same floss to tie the knots.

1. Cut two lengths of 6 strand floss about 2" long so that you will have something to hold onto. After you get good at it you can cut it shorter, but longer is easier for the first few.

2. Cut a strand about 6"long for the slip knots. You will need 2 of these, each tied with a single strand.(pink) The slip knot is the same one that you use to start crochet. One tail will be stationary and the other will pull up and tighten the knot.

3. Put one of the slip knots around the middle of the two bunches of red thread. Tighten it.

4. Pull down on the red thread so that all of the tails are together.

5. Slip the other knot over the strings of the first knot and pull it down until it is about 1/8"to 1/16" over the bend in red thread. This will make the "neck" of the tassel.

6. Put a small dot of white glue or clear nail polish on each of the knots. Let them dry. pull the threads of the neck slip knot down.

7. Trim the bottom end of the tassel evenly. It can be any length you want it to be. Just remember that you can always trim more, but you can't put any back!

Now go make tassels and hang them on everything that you can find that needs one. You can put them on a door handle, a drawer handle, a key, a pair of scissors, or the end of a "rope" tieback on your drapes. I'm sure that you will find more places to put them. Have fun!

See you tomorrow.

Put a Cork In It!

Sorry to be so late today. I had the mini Wednesday Witches here today. We generally had a good time eating and not getting a lot of minis done. I did teach one of the members to make miniature tassels. That's something that I am going to have to put on here one of these days. Not tonight tho.

I am going to do a fast one tonight. I have some minis that I started collecting years ago just because I am fascinated what the Chinese artists can do with cork. It started innocently enough. I saw a small scene in a thrift shop. Then I saw another and another. They were inexpensive and beautiful. The fan shaped one was the first. I think it was priced at about 2.00. Someone got rid of it because the fan shaped mat was water stained and in bad shape. I brought it home and made a new one and covered it with white Chinese brocade. It was as good as new. I picked them up here and there until I have about 10 different ones now.

I have two of these little domed pagodas. I think that I got them at an import store. I started thinking mini scene usage with them. These are only about 2" tall. In this shot you can see the incredible carving. The details are like that in all of them. My photos don't do them justice.

Some of them have cranes in the scenes for good luck. I would imagine that at one time the cranes were ivory. Now they are synthetic. The leaves on the trees are perfectly carved and the pine trees even have needles.

This is the back side of one that is about 4" long at the base and 2" long at the top. I wanted you to see how the cranes and leaves are attached.

The best one is the last one that I bought. It is a 4 panel screen. It is perfect size for a 1/12 scale room. Each panel is 2 1/2" wide including the frame and 6 1/2" tall. Someday I am going to make a Chinese room for the screen. For now, it sits on a shelf where I can see it and enjoy it every day. I can't imagine doing the intricate carving that is in these pieces. I do hand carved beds and other furniture. I don't think that I would even attempt this.

OK. I have filled up enough space for today......Keep an eye out for minis everywhere. They will pop up when you least expect them!

See you tomorrow.

No Way! No How!

I tore out the wallpaper and put away all of the 1/4"parts and pieces this morning. No way, no how am I going to work on that trunk anymore. It was turning out downright depressing and dingy. I need to re-think the whole thing. Nothing went together. It all clashed. I am a firm believer that if something isn't working, don't force it. It may work but you still won't be happy with the results.

So now I am doing some needlework to pacify myself. I dug out this. I don't know if anybody else does quilts this way but this is the way I thought it up, tried it, decided would work and it does. I am working on 30 stitch to the inch, even weave fabric. I am doing all of the stitching with one strand of embroidery floss. I am working on the diagonal. Each of the little blocks that you see is over three threads. The first stitch in the square is over one x, the second over 2 and the third and longest stitch is over 3. Therefore in real life there would be 10 of the little blocks to the square foot. This is an Irish Chain pattern. I just looked at the photo and did it from there. As you can see, I have about 4 rows of white blocks to go. It's the most boring part. That's why it is still unfinished. If I keep at it I could probably finish it in a couple of days. We shall see..........

In the same work bag, I found this rug. It is a one of a kind that I designed. I am planning on putting them both in the same setting. It is on 26 to the inch even weave fabric.

I designed this on my Pattern Maker for Cross

Stitch program. I love this program. It has every color of DMC programmed into it. You can set up a pallet before you start and add colors if you need them while you are designing. There is only one problem that I haven't been able to beat. I can't get the saved files for rugs to open anywhere but in the Pattern Maker. I would love to be able to upload a pattern or two to the blog. It won't let me do that for some reason.

I am resorting to this. Here's a small Persian rug pattern that I designed. I took a photo of it off of the screen. I hope that it is usable if anyone wants to make one.

You don't have to use the colors that I did. Make it up as you go along. Don't forget that you can poke the picture and make it larger.

I am going back to my quilt. I need peace and quiet after the trunk fiasco.

See you tomorrow.

Smaller is Faster???

Wrong! I started doing some furniture for the gentleman's study trunk this morning. I am almost through making a chair and a love seat. I still have the piping to put on.

I started with some balsa wood forms that I keep in my box. I make a lot at once because they need to be cut out with Mr. Dremel(jigsaw). They are cut out of 1/4" balsa. As you can see from the first photo, the love seat is cut 1 1/4" long and the chair form is 1/2". They are all 1/2" from front to back. That's pretty much standard size in real time(2 feet).

The card stock shapes for the back and arms of both pieces are cut to fit around the base with a little ease to allow for fabric thickness. The curve on the bottom of the form allows the back to slant instead of being straight up and down. I cut two of each of these. The one for the inside is the smaller. Then I cut out another one that is about a sixteenth of an inch longer so that it will fit around the outside.

I cut a piece of the thinnest quilt batting that will fit the top back and sides of the inside piece. This starts 1/4" from the bottom of the card stock. I cut a piece of card stock the same size and shape as the seat form and put one thickness of the batting on that too. Next I cut out fabric to cover all of the pieces. I glue the fabric to the bottom edge of the card stock and then pull it up over the edge and glue it to the back of the card stock all around. I did the channeling on the pieces with one strand of sewing thread. I wrapped all of the other pieces with fabric and glued it on, clipping little Vs out where the fabric was too thick.

I let all of this dry a bit and then proceeded to assemble the chair and love seat. First glue the seat cushion to the base. Hold down with straight pins.

That's what's nice working with balsa. Great pincushion! Next wrap the inner back/sides around the base making the bottom edges and the front edges even. Pin the front edges of these. Then wrap the outer back/side piece around the outside of the piece and gently pull out the pins on the edges and put them back in to hold both the inner and outer sides to the base. That's as far as I got this morning. I still have to put some piping around the edges. I have to wait until they are all dry.

Unfortunately, the real world is raising it's ugly head. I have to get back there and clean up the real house and do the real laundry. Oh well. That makes more drying time.

See you tomorrow.

I Digress.........

Once again I am off on a tangent. I heard from Susan, on the forum this morning, that you can use Viva paper towels in the printer without backing just by cutting them to 8 1/2 X 11! I have yet to try that, but it jogged my memory about something that I learned from a friend 30 years ago. She didn't know where it came from and just said "Pass it on." I have never seen it in a book. It is quick. It is easy. And it looks much more in scale than bath towels made of fabric.

First you want to go out and find some pretty 2 ply paper napkins. Not the ones that come 5oo to a package, more like party napkins. The Vanity Fair napkins with the sea shell pattern seem to be lighter weight than they used to be. If you use those, let me know how they work. They looked too thin to me this time. I found these blue ones at Wal Mart for 1.00 a package. They had quite a few colors and they are a nice weight. Sometimes you can find small patterned ones or some with nice borders at party supply stores if you want something specific. Just remember that you will be cutting away all but a quarter inch of the pressed border.

Then you need some double faced sticky tape. I just used Scotch brand on these. If you want the towels to appear big an fluffy you can use carpet tape. I like this just fine. Tape, 2 ply napkins and scissors are all you need!

The first thing you want to do is lay the napkin out flat and cut off all but about a quarter of an inch of the fancy edge. These had a rope edge and a fringe so I left a fringe about as wide as the rope=1/4". Then you want to cut a square inch from the corner with the fancy border running along two edges. This is your face cloth. For the bath towel you need a piece 2" x 4". Make sure that the fancy part is along one narrow edge. For the hand towel the measurments are 1 1/2" x 3". You can always go measure your own bath towels and divide by 12 if you want to be exact. Turn them over to the wrong side. Run a piece of double faced tape down the center of the towels. Try not to wrinkle them. Put a piece of tape in the corner farthest from the fancy edges of the face cloth.

Now fold 1/3 of each towel over the tape and smooth down. I always try to keep the folds going in the same direction. In other words. Always keep both fancy ends on the right side or the left. That way when you stack them they will look neater. Fold the face cloth in half.

Now run a piece of tape over the area that you just folded in on the towels and a square of tape on the facecloth where there is no trim. Fold the last 1/3 in on the tape.

Decide if you want a folded towel or one that hangs on the rack. Whichever one you want, put a piece of tape on just the half of the towel without the fancy edge. If you want it over a towel rack, simply slide the part with the tape on it behind the bar and position the front of the towel on it and press it down.

How simple is that? Now go make lots of towels! I am going to go work on the trunk.

See you tomorrow.