Fringe Quilt

I saw a quilt in a shop in Mountain View, Arkansas that I really liked. The woman told me it's called a "fringe quilt" and is really easy to make. I am so annoyed when someone says it's easy, and yeah, that's because they've been doing it for years and have all the appropriate tools?! After we got back from vacation, I Googled "fringe quilt" and found out that the more common name is "rag quilt". I searched many a website and tutorial, and decided the woman was right, it is easy. Or at least easy enough for me to give it a try. I learned to sew as a young girl and at one time had to sew all my own clothes and even worked in a dry cleaners doing tailoring. This is a very forgiving sewing project. Your seams do not need to be even and/or straight.

The big thing on this quilt are the edges. The raw edges are allowed to fray and it looks like fringe. I just really like the look. Most examples are quilts made from squares, but then I saw a new style on Etsy. The quilt was made of strips of fabric. This saves a tremendous amount of time spent cutting and sewing. The added plus is that it looks a bit more "hip" rather than the traditional squares. Although the hipness factor may have more to do with the selected fabric. I finally settled on the style and found a tutorial.

There is plenty of math for this project. You must decide what size quilt you want to end up with, how wide the strips will be, or the size of the squares, plus the one inch of seam allowances. I was planning on a lap quilt to put over the back of my love seat, so 42 by 45 or so would work just fine. This is exactly the dimensions of the tutorial I used, so much of the math was already done for me. I LOVE that when it all works out.

The best fabric for this project is flannel. You can use plenty of other fabrics, but flannel "rags" the best. I used cotton because the selection was better for what I was doing and I'm pleased, but I'm pretty sure there's going to be plenty of "stuff" flying around for some time.

You can make this with the standard foot that comes with every sewing machine, but.......I HIGHLY recommend purchasing and using a "walking foot". Your sewing machine has "feed dogs" on the bottom plate that moves the fabric along. A "walking foot" moves the fabric on the top and bottom. You want this when you have three layers of fabric. I have been sewing for decades and had never heard of this until my friend, Teresa, who is the knower of all things pertaining to sewing, crafting, and wine told me about it. Actually, when she heard me lamenting while making a hand-tied quilt that my fabric was puckering, etc. she had me come over to her house for help. Teresa owns and uses 5 sewing machines, she's serious about her sewing, quilting, etc. She said she wanted to put the walking foot on, I asked what that was, and she looked at me in shock and kindly explained that I NEEDED one. And once again, she is spot on. We all need a friend like Teresa. And if you are going to use your machine for crafting and quilting you need a walking foot. Mine cost about $55.

Some of you will be thrilled and have loads of fun selecting the fabric. I found it very difficult to purchase my fabric. I'm not confident about buying different colors and patterns to work together. My helper in all things of this nature just gave birth so she was not available to help. This caused me much stress and anxiety, but I muddled through.

While I was waiting at the counter to have all my fabric cut, I noticed they were using this tool to sharpen their scissors. I asked if it really worked and they said "YES", it makes their scissors last at least 18 months. Which considering how much fabric they cut, it should work for me just fine. I even had a 50% off coupon that I used to purchase this. I LOVE that when it happens.
I got home with my 2 yards of white flannel and 1/2 yard of seven different fabrics, all on sale. I was ready to get started and I did not wash and iron the fabric first. In fact, you do not want to wash it first. So I pulled out the huge cutting board and laid out the white flannel while it was still folded in half. I used a long ruler and a lead pencil to draw my lines for cutting. If you're going to do many of these, I highly recommend purchasing a self-healing mat, rotary cutter, and large plastic ruler. I ended up at Teresa's and used her tools for my next project....WAY faster than the way I did this blanket.

I made "sandwiches" of the strips. The cotton fabric is on the outside (right side out) with the white flannel in between.

Here it is all laid out and ready to sew. This took some time since I was using 7 very different fabrics that didn't all look good next to one another. Plus, I just make a big deal out of this kind of stuff. Now just sew a straight stitch joining each sandwich together with the next sandwich, with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. For the stitch length setting, I figured I'd use a short length since I was going to be snipping the edges. This quilt gets heavy, so with 14 strips, I sewed 7 together on one half and then the other 7 together on the other half. Then I combined the two halves. When all the strips are sewn together, I decided to have a fringe border around the edge rather then binding it. This means I simply sewed a straight seam all along the outside of the blanket.

Here's a close-up of the quilt all sewn up. I should have taken a photo of the other side, it looks like a nicely sewn blanket of strips. You might notice that some of the strips have stitching down the middle. Some of the tutorials suggested doing this. As I was sewing down the middle, I figured that I was going to need to change my thread and bobbin because the brown was just not going to work on all the fabric colors. I don't like doing that, so I decided to leave some of them without the stitching down the middle. The strips are really not that wide, the flannel holds the layers in place, plus I pinned the strips together before stitching. I think that the stitching down the middle is not necessary.

I lined up the strips on one side, leaving the other side very different. The fabrics are not all the same length. This just means that after I stitched up the side, I had to trim the edges to even them up.

This is the quilt all sewn and ready to "fringe"

I used my new spring loaded scissors to snip about every 1/4 inch. I STRONGLY suggest that you purchase a pair before you try this, your hand will thank you. I tried to cut through all at once, but it doesn't work. I needed to snip up one side and then down the other side. With two layers of cotton fabric and the flannel in between, that's about all the scissors can handle. It's a good idea to break this up over a couple of days, otherwise your hand might get very sore.

After snipping all the edges, I threw the quilt in the washing machine and then the dryer. You want to do this all by itself. Really. Do not wash anything else at the same time, it will end up a mess with fuzz everywhere. Some people suggest taking it to a laundromat, but I did not find that necessary.

Ta Da! The finished product!

Here's a close up. The edges will continue to "rag" each time it goes through the laundry. You can see there is still plenty of "stuff" left on the quilt. I could have also taken a photo of my black shirt, then you could really see all the "stuff" that's still coming off of the quilt.

I'm really happy with this quilt. I've already cut out the next one. I confess that this was a trial run before I make my grandson's cowboy themed quilt. I'm going with the square pattern for that one. Stay tuned because I'm sure I'll blog that one too. It won't be as long....promise.

Pumpkin Patch

When Jessica was a little girl, we went to a local pumpkin patch. Most of the places that I took Jessica to when she was a little girl are gone. When Jessica was in school, they had field trips at the local pumpkin patch. Always a fun outing as a mother helping out. But now, the patches are gone and the land is filled with McMansions. So off we go to a patch in Livermore, the next city over.

I'm training Ezra to pose for photos. He's usually good for a few, but then he's completely uncooperative. Here's an early one where he's in to it.....

And then, not so much....William tried to get him to pose, but he was having nothing to do with it...at all....and I was hoping to have an annual photo op against the ruler.....oh well

So at Joan's, the patch in Livermore, they have various odd statues that you can sit on, etc. This wolf, or whatever it is, is every spooky. Ezra liked it. I did learn a VERY important lesson.....
Here I am (I do not like seeing photos of myself, but Dave reminds me that in a few years I'll love how young/thin/wonderful I look) with a hand on Ezra. Just after this photo was taken, I looked down at my phone to see if Dave had sent me a text, and yep.....Ezra fell off! Very fortunate that he didn't hit his head. So I learned that you NEVER take your hand off the child when they're high up or in possible danger.....because as stable/safe as they look, they are going to topple.
Next thing I did was put Ezra high up on the horse (or neigh as he calls it). Little did I know that on the other side of the horse there was a sign that said "stay off". Really, I couldn't see it from the side I was standing on. That's the only reason I put him up on the horse. My lovely daughter did tell me that I was breaking the rules....a little late.
Here's another odd photo op. A buggy with a really odd dummy. See? Even Ezra thinks it is odd!
Lovely family photo. I had a little fun with the shadows...and Ezra did not want to stand still...but not too bad. It really is tough getting four humans to look good, all at one time!
This is a strategic photo. We were placing Theo so he was hiding all the drool all over Jessica's shirt!

This donkey was making so much noise. The hee haw was hilarious. Now he looks all mellow, but he was braying like a maniac. Oh, and William does not have a big belly....that's Theo in the wrap.
Ezra liked the train too. There were so many people here today. Everyone was orderly, no pushing...everyone waited in line.
We bought some food to give to the goats and sheep. I think they were well fed because we had a tough time getting them to come to us and eat our food. Ezra tried to feed them, but he preferred William giving them the food.

There were many of these cut-outs, very fun!

Funny thing...this slide was the HUGE hit with the little kids!

We finally got our hands on a wagon, which is MUCH easier than the wheel barrel we were trying to use.

The Swenson clan finally found four lovely pumpkins to take home

Even though it was October, here in CA it was VERY hot! We all had fun, even though we did miss Dave who was out riding with the guys.

Why Yes, I do Have Photos of My Grandsons

Here are a couple of photos....the latest....fresh off the press today.....

E is still a bit rough with T, not that T minds at all, but his Mama and I sure do mind. E just isn't aware....like when he gets up off the floor and places is hand in the middle of T's stomach and pushes up. Somehow I know that T will survive.

Today was really the first time I got to spend some time getting to know my new grandson. Most of the time I'm playing with Ezra. Today I actually got to hold Theo for some time...a couple of times. I have the spit up all over my shirt to prove it. But seriously, isn't this a precious baby? He's gaining so much weight and has rolls....something that his older brother never had. Oh no, here I go comparing again. I must stop that bad habit.

I LOVE these babies!!!!!

E & T Update

We had a family dinner to celebrate the successful transition of W working full-time, leaving J with the two young lads. The adjustments by all were difficult, but we all survived. It required the additional help of W's mom.

E has had a bumpy road with this big brother role. He isn't taking his regular naps, which he wasn't that into before, and he's using his pacifier a whole lot. He wants to hold T, but he's a little too rough. He does like to love on his little brother.

Isn't he just precious? Of course he is!

G-Pa reading with E. A friend was so thoughtful to give a book to E along with the gifts for T. This book is so funny.....Good Night Gorilla

I'm happy to report that everyone is happy and healthy!

A New Addition to Our Family

Several months ago we had a death in our family.......the vacuum cleaner died. It just stopped. No warning. Just would not turn on. This is a blessing. I never bonded with the machine. It was LOUD and would not stand up on its own. It was very light and had an extra long cord, but I just didn't care for the thing. But now that it was gone, I needed a replacement........

I went to my OCD uber-cleaning and vacuum freak friend, he said Dyson. I did my research online. People certainly feel strongly about their vacuum cleaners. With the high cost of a Dyson, there are many people who are disappointed. I think the expectations are high for the machine. I continued to ask a few other people. Then a gadget friend said Roomba.

So after more research and looking at prices, I placed the order. If you're not familiar, Roomba is manufactured by iRobot and is a disk with sweepers that just buzzes along your floors sweeping up dust and dirt. It works similar to the old style carpet sweepers. When it's about to run out of juice, it scoots back to the charging station all on its own. The only downside is you do need to clean it out after every use, if it gets full, it is ineffective.

We've had it clean our floors twice and it does a very good job. We have dark wood floors throughout the house. They show every speck of dust, which is plenty because we always have our windows and sliding doors open, plus all the hair that we shed. It is so much fun to watch this thing scoot along the floor and wander from room to room. We think it's like watching a little pet scamper about, which is why we're saying we have a new addition to our family.

So we LOVE the Roomba......but we think we'll probably still need a vacuum cleaner.