A Mini Tutorial and Two Stitching Updates

I've been putting together a tutorial for minis to share with some friends.  I thought I'd share it here because it's lots of fun and it was a creative project.

First I'll get the stitching photos out of the way.  I'll link to the previous week's images in the name for easy comparison.

Black Bear is coming along nicely.

I did get the background trees in the middle of the piece going this week.  I also finished a chunk of clouds in the sky and started on the tops of the foreground trees on the right side.  The bear's face got filled in too... because I got tired of seeing a faceless bear.

The Aragon Blackwork did get the lower right motif outline in place this week, and its surrounding crosses.  I also stitched the right side pattern, started the upper left motif, and purchased a larger frame to make it easier to work on.

Now for the tutorial!  Here's how to make mini bolts of fabric and fat quarters.
You will need:

- pieces of thick cardstock, I used the backs off legal pads, cut to 7/8 of an inch by 2 inches.  I painted the ends of my bolts white, but that's optional.
- strips of appropriate fabrics 4 inches by 22 inches; if you're cutting from a fat quarter, just cut a 4" piece the length of the fabric.
- scissors for paper and fabric (a rotary cutter and mat would make things go faster)
- a ruler
- tacky glue
- clothespins for clamps

 Fold your fabric strip in half, wrong sides together, so that you have a rectangle 2" x 22".  Put some glue on your bolt .

Press one end of your fabric to the bolt and begin tightly wrapping fabric around the bolt.

 When you've reached your desired thickness, trim the remaining fabric off (save it for cutting fat quarters!), fold over the cut end, and glue it to the bolt.

 Clamp in place with clothespins.

As a note, if you have a light fabric and don't care for the dark card showing through or didn't want to bother with painting ends, use a white piece of card instead.  I had a small white piece that came folded inside a real life fat quarter, but only one piece.  That's why I opted to paint the ends of brown card.

For the fat quarters, neatly stack your leftover ends from the fabric bolts.  Cut two inch strips first.

Then cut 1.5 inch pieces off of those strips.

 This way to can create multiple fat quarters at once!  It saves time.

 Another note, I folded one mini fat quarter into a small square, like they come at JoAnn's and some other fabric stores.  You could also fold the fat quarter in half, roll it, and tie it with a piece of thread.

 Maddie and Nugent decided they would pose with some finished bolts.  If you poke the photo, Nugent is peeking out from around the bolts on the left.

I have many more bolts to make since I've got a mini quilt shop in mind.  There will also be baskets to display folded and rolled fat quarters in eventually.

I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial.  It was nice to play with minis again... it's been too long.  See you next week!

Who Needs A Plumb Line When You've Got Scissors!

Not me anyway. What I need are more egg cartons.  Happily I have a lead on where I can get a few more (minus the eggs) soon.

 

Castor and Maddie had a bit of a disagreement earlier today.  He decided to "snoop-ervise" while Maddie was evaluating some outdoor minis from my stash.  Apparently she decided he got a bit too close to the items in question. 

 She yelled at him and ran to the door, but all that did was make him more curious.

 Finally he was bored with his findings and he wandered off.

 Maddie decided to move everything further up onto the porch for safe-keeping.  She's trying to coax that little bird into coming inside where it's safe.  I don't think the bird wants to be inside and is more curious as to what Maddie's doing with his house.

 

One of the minis I unearthed over the weekend is this wheelbarrow planter I made years ago.  I don't know if it will stay on the porch or go back into a box for now.  However for the moment I'm going to enjoy it.

 Hopefully I can get the additional egg cartons soon and finish the stonework.  Oh and for anyone who's interested, pop over to Casey's blog and see her tutorial on egg carton stonework.

Wednesday's Adventures

Last night FH brought me a present.  Meet Ralph.  Apparently there were no more Rottie dog ornaments left, but he rescued Ralph for me.

We also narrowed down some possible color choices for the siding.  I'm leaning towards the yellow but I still like the blue and green.  The rejected colors have X's through them.

After that hard work I gave up, went upstairs, and made some bread pudding.

It was extra rich with a little bit of cream drizzled on top.

Maddie's Adventure

Several weeks ago found us with two cars, the second was my father's PT Cruiser. Remember the airsoft games FH went to? Well he ended up having to come home in the PT when Confetti had a rough night of breathing. At the time my dad was suffering from a broken back and there was no way he could drive anyway, so the folks told us to keep the PT as long as it was needed in case of any veterinary emergencies or medicine runs. We all thought it would just be for a week or so, but you all know how long Herself decided to stay with us.

The PT is registered in Missouri and was due for re-licensing and the mandatory safety inspection by the end of June, so I had to drive it down there last week. Dad was anxious to see the car again since he's had a successful surgery to repair the compression fractures.

While I was planning for the short trip I heard a quiet voice from the other end of the basement. "Could I go too?" I turned and saw Maddie hanging out in the cafe.

"Why are you interested in going?"

"Tessie went to Las Vegas. I have never been anywhere but the house I was born in, your old house, and this house. I would like to see things." I thought about it for a few moments and considered things. All in all she was being quite polite about asking, especially since she's only an apprentice witch and cannot "zap" herself places like Casey's witch, Tessie, can...for which I am thankful. And she did just loose her friend... For those of you who don't know Maddie and Confetti were quite close.

"Well you would have to travel in your pod (that's the shipping tube she arrived in) on the way down. I have to drive and therefore cannot hold you where you can see anything."

After we arrived on Thursday my mother and I had back to back manicures just for fun. On the way there, Maddie got to ride on the dashboard of the truck where she could actually see things. Then there were all sorts of things to see at the salon.
On Friday we went to lunch with Aunt Pat, Fay, and Barb from my mini group in St. Louis. We dined at Le Bon Bouche, which is the restaurant/bakery that our wedding cake came from. In fact I had a slice of raspberry-lemon, the flavor from our top tier. Maddie had a table to herself in the middle of everything. In fact she had her lunch on one side and her dessert on the other.The ladies were all very pleased to meet Maddie and we ended up going to Aunt Pat's after lunch to see what she is working on now.

First off, we met Alexis who is a resident of the year 1821. Her parlor is currently Pat's "upstairs project."

Then we went downstairs to the actual work room to search for a few things for the parlor. That's where we found the Art Deco hallway under construction.At this point Pat and I got busy with a few little things...mainly searching for a miniature pressed flower picture that had gone on walkabout. Maddie took herself around the work room and display areas. I snapped pictures when I had a free moment, but there is much more to see down there than I have pictures.

The stash of pottery and other ceramic and glass pieces.
The antique shop.
Dolls without rooms or houses.
The ballerina's studio.
Waiting for Santa...
In front of the Tulip tearoom, circa 1930's.
Kitties!
I don't know what's more intriguing... the cat or the gown.
Here's Maddie showing off a piece of Fay's needlework that was a gift to Pat.
Amazement.
Shopping! Actually Pat gave her all but one of those baskets.
Bliss.Needless to say the visit to Pat's exhausted Maddie completely and she slept the whole way home on Saturday. In fact she didn't even wake up when FH arrived Friday night.

I asked her what her favorite parts of the visit were and she said she liked all of the tuxedo cats and the store with the lovely gowns. Oh and Alexis was very pleasant to talk with and perhaps we, "could go back with a gift for the parlor in the future?" Hmmm.... I shall have to think on that. Not about taking Maddie again, but what we could make for Alexis.

Quick Tour Through the Incomplete Work Area

Pictures say it all, so I'm taking you on a virtual tour through the mini work area today. Things still need to be unpacked, sorted, and shuffled but at the moment it's usable for projects.

The desk faces the fireplace and television in the main part of the basement.
The larger dollhouse buildings on those handy counters serve as a movable wall to separate the two areas.Books and finished (mostly finished) minis.Three structures that need some work. I love putting mini scenes in old console TVs. The tall house is what will become my witchy department store. (More on that later.) The dresser along the back wall will eventually be home to several roomboxes. I need to get a shelf for the empty corner so I can move teddy bears of of it first. The drawers are filled with beads, buttons, leather, and other supplies. A handy closet for storing more supplies and unfinished roomboxes.
Maddie resting in the unfinished (read: needs major over-haul since I didn't build it) cafe'.It's really much safer for her in there while I'm sorting, etc.

That's all for today. More real life chores are calling my name and then I'm going for "coffee" (tea for me) with Holly.

Don't forget about the giveaway! There's a little over a day left.