quilt doctor

Remember this quilt with the mold stains?  we talked about it back here.

I ran down the fabrics for the squares that needed replacing.

and carefully unstitched those bad squares.  

 I made a replica of what I took out

 and carefully hand sewed it in place with a blind stitch, then re-quilted those squares.   I did go back and machine stitch very close to the edge of the new piece for strength.

DONE!

I just love this quilt

outhouse finish w/ sleeve - giveaway

Oh my goodness, is it already Friday?  I've got plenty to show you, but I always forget how long the blogging takes. 

I've been collecting my favorite Carolyn Friedlander fabrics for a special project (a couple of these aren't her's) 

and when I saw this pattern come out last fall, I just had to have it!  

So, when I was ready for a new start, I pulled out the pattern and  . . . . . . NO!!!!  It's that "paper piecing" that everyone keeps talking about that I have steered far away from.  

So, I found a friend who has paper pieced before and I parked myself, (sewing machine included) in her sewing room for a few days,  (bringing snacks always help with that)

It was a bit slow going at first, and there were some lessons to learn along the way.  

1.  always mark your little papers

2.  it pays to invest $10 in a package of Carol Doak's Foundation Paper, 100 sheets.  It's just like that thin paper we wrote on as kids a gazillion years ago.  

3.  keep your seam ripper close by.

4.  press to the dark side (learned this one when it was too late :(

These houses took me about an hour each, they're only 5" square, yikes!  I hope you're impressed. 

 Slowly, they started to stack up.  At this point, I was seriously considering a "4 outhouse wall hanging".

then an 8 house wall hanging . . .

 I have a few favorites:

and a few more:

 Ok, I mostly love them all.

I even took the time to make a sleeve for hanging purposes.



I've tried using the clear thumb tacks, that works for a while, but not long-term.  I tried sewing the triangles into the corners, that didn't work (it sagged in the middle).

This has turned out to be a great system for hanging a quilt, my favorite tutorial is here  (she learned this system from a quilt museum).   I found some good instructions for making the sleeve here and here.

It was an investment of time (3 trips to Home Depo), but now that I've made a few and corrected my mistakes, I've got it down and find that it's a secure way to hang a quilt.  

I'm so proud of myself!!!   ok.  seriously, if I can do this paper piecing thing, surely you can!  I think my next one will be that circle of geese I keep seeing.

GIVEAWAY:  winner is MichelleT


I'd love to give away my little outhouse scraps to someone that appreciates them.  If you'd like them, tell me which 2 fabrics in that stack at the beginning of the post aren't Carolyn Friedlander's.

linked:
whoop whoop
finish it Friday