Handmade Spotlight - Gourd Art

Today, our featured spotlight items are made from something you can grow in your garden... GOURDS!

I'm amazed at all these "gord-jus" things made from gourds. - Simply beautiful - aren't they?

If you'd like to have a closer look, CLICK HERE to visit the treasury I made on etsy featuring all these talented artisans. If you're an etsy member, please sign in and leave a comment and click on the items you see.

See ya next time!

Deena Davis

www.byyourhands.com

Rag Quilting Tutorial ---Part One

This week we are going to start cutting out our pieces for the first block of our quilt.

You will need a backing fabric, cotton batting and dark, medium and light value fabrics.

First you will need to download the two pattern pieces for the quilt, a square and a triangle. The pattern pieces include a 3/4 inch seam allowance.

The pdfs for the pattern pieces can be downloaded here.   Pattern One.   and    Pattern Two.

Print them out twice.
Take one set and mark a 1/2 inch all around the edges of the pattern pieces. Then trim this 1/2 inch off the patterns. These will be used to cut only the batting out.

You will need to cut out 8 batting triangles and 5 batting squares.

With the other set of  pattern pieces you will cut out 1 dark square, 4 light squares, 4 dark triangles and 4 medium value triangles.

Then you will need to cut out 5 squares and 8 triangles from the backing fabric.

Now that our pieces for the quilt square are cut out,  I will walk you through putting together your quilt sandwich or block.  Rag quilting blocks are composed of a backing, batting and fabric piece that is sewn together and then the blocks are sewn together.

   Take 1 backing square and lay it down with the wrong side of the fabric facing up.  Then center one of the batting squares on top of this.

Now lay the fabric square on top with the right side of the fabric facing up.   Pin all three layers together.  Repeat for all 5 squares.

Now take a triangle backing fabric,  lay it down with the wrong side of the fabric facing up.   Place a batting triangle on top.

Now place a fabric triangle on top with right side of fabric facing up.  Pin all three layers  together.   Repeat for all 8 of the triangles.

You should have all the blocks for the quilt square ready to sew now.

Next week we will begin sewing our blocks.  Before I go  I want to recommend a tool that I use when I sew rag quilts together.    It is called a walking foot and what it does is feed your fabric evenly so that your block stays together as you sew.   They are pricey but worth it if you make a lot of rag quilted items.   

Some sewing machines have a feed attachment built in like Pfaff and some other newer machines.

See you next week with part two.
Bette

Etsy Autumn Celebration from Old Farmhouse Gathering

The Etsy team,  Old Farmhouse Gathering is having an Autumn Celebration on Etsy from August 2 -15, 2010.

They are a talented, professional group of artisans who create everything from Primitive to Shabby Chic, with an old fashioned flair.    These are just a sampling of the creations made by the Old Farmhouse Gathering.  To see all the offerings from the team on Etsy,  click here.

These are the offerings in the Autumn Celebration.   Just click on the picture to be taken to that listing. Or is you want to see all the listings on Etsy,  click here.

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Trash to Treasure --- Suitcases

Today's trash to treasure is about vintage suitcases.   It is interesting to me to see all these ways to repurpose an old suitcase.

You can find a tutorial here on how to make this pet bed from a suitcase.   It includes directions on securing the lid.  You wouldn't want it falling on your pet!
Kirsten's Suitcase Pet Bed

Add legs to a suitcase to make a side table.

Here is a tutorial showing how to do this on Good Housekeeping.


Here is a beautiful cottagy side table  with the suitcase sitting on a table made by Songbird

Here are some pictures of other uses to give you some inspiration.

Paint them.

Suitcase Chair

Storage for Craft Supplies

Stack them and use them for storage.

Thanks for visiting today.
Bette Shaw
www.byyourhands.com

Would you like to sponsor a giveaway? Would you like to be a featured artist?  Are you interested in promoting your store or blog at a very reasonable cost?   If so, just email me. I would be happy to send you the details.
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