RUFFLED ROSES PILLOW

Still pinching myself.  There are buds on our rose bushes.  We never had roses before so we feel all grown-up here, especially since we haven't killed any yet.  My cold climate friends, you need some roses to remind you Spring is right around the corner.  How about a rosy tutorial instead?   Remember the Seriously Fun Quilt tutorial here?  Well, here's how I made the pillow on the quilt.

RUFFLED ROSES PILLOW

The finished size of this pillow: 30”w x 13”h

SUPPLIES:

2 pieces of fabric, 31”w x 14”h each

¾ yard quilters weight cotton fabric 44”-45” wide for roses

2 pieces of cotton muslin 31” x 14” each for pillow insert

Large bag of polyester fiberfill

Sewing machine, thread

Needle and thread

Rotary cutter and cutting mat

Ruler

Scissors

Straight pins

Iron, ironing board

Marking pencil or pen

Thimble (optional)

GETTING STARTED:

A note of possible interest:  I decided on the white solid fabric for the roses partly because both sides of the fabric are the same color, whereas a printed fabric will have a noticeable right side and wrong side.  The roses will have a raw edge, which will cause some loose threads.  Don’t be concerned; once the pillow is complete and you trim all the loose threads, you’ll see that the lacy, delicate roses are quite appealing.  

1    Ready-made pillow inserts come in several sizes, but it’s easy to make your own custom-sized inserts.  First, take the two muslin panels and place them right sides together; pin together.  Stitch a ½” seam around the panels, leaving an 8” to 10” opening in the center of one side and making sure to backstitch both the beginning stitches and the end stitches.  Clip the loose threads and turn the muslin form right side out.   Firmly stuff the form with the fiberfill.   Fold under the ½” seam allowance and hand stitch closed.

2    Lay the front panel of the pillow out on your work surface.  Use a ruler to measure in 10” from either the left edge of the panel (or right edge, if you prefer).  Use your marking utensil to lightly draw a straight line from the top of the panel to the bottom in from either the left or right.  This will be your center guide when you begin attaching your roses.  Set aside.

MAKING ROSES:

         

 3    I used 44"-45" wide quilt weight fabric for the roses.  Keep the fabric folded in half along the natural fold line as you lay the fabric down on your cutting mat, which will give you two strips per cut.   Measure and cut 1” strips through both layers of fabric.  Cut 20 strips, and then cut those strips in half along the fold line.  You will end up with 40 strips.   You might need more or less depending on how tight you gather the flowers and how closely you place them, but that’s a good estimate. 

4     Using a basting stitch (a wide stitch) on the sewing machine, sew a ¼” seam down one side of each strip making sure to leave at least 3” of thread on both ends of the strips and DO NOT backstitch.    Gather the strips by pulling gently on one of the long threads on the left, then one of the long threads on the right until you have about 7” of a gathered strip.  Continue this process.  

5    Take one of the long pieces of thread from the gathered ruffle, use it to thread a needle, and start rolling the gathered fabric on the same end as the threaded needle.  As you roll the fabric, stitch all the way through the layers at the basted seam line.

6    Keep rolling and stitching until you come to the other end of the ruffle.  Knot the thread at the end to secure the finished flower.  Continue this process with the remaining ruffles and make a stack of roses as you watch your favorite movie or listen to a musical.  

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

 7    Lay the front panel of the pillow down on your workspace right side up.  Place a flower 1” down from the top edge of the fabric over the center of the line you previously made.   Sew the flower in place from the back of the panel through to the bottom of the flower.  Once the first flower is sewn in place secure with a knot and sew another flower closely to the left and right of the center flower.   Move one row down and continue the process of securing each flower, using the centerline as the guide.  Make a total of 3 rows close together across and three rows down until you get to the bottom of the panel, leaving 1” of panel fabric free at the bottom.

8   Complete the three rows of flowers down the front of the pillow panel, then place the back panel of the pillow fabric over the front panel, right sides together.  Pin right sides together making sure the flowers will be out of the way of the seams.  Sew a 1/2 “ seam leaving an 8’-10” opening at the bottom length of the pillow, making sure to backstitch both at the beginning and end of your stitches.

9   Insert the pillow form. Once the pillow form is in place if the corners still need to be filled out just stuff extra fiberfill directly into the four corners of the pillow.  Turn the open seams at the bottom of the quilt under and blind stitch closed.

10   Pull and trim off loose threads from the roses.

 SPRING IS COMING.  ENJOY THE ROSES

On to other newsy things; I am having oral surgery as you are reading this.  Three implants, plus some other things I shouldn't discuss if you're eating, or even if you aren't.   Hoping I'll be up and about before you know it.    

JUDGE THESE BOOKS

We have been constructing 10'x10' built-in bookcases in the living room for a month or so now.  By we, I mean Tim.  I just drew up what I wanted them to look like and walked past with encouraging words like "Great job, hon" and " Lookin good".  It seems to have worked because they look amazing.  No reveal yet, as I now have to fill the many shelves.  I tend to like the clean, uncluttered look, which is a small challenge as Tim is a book lover and  the older the better.  I like the pretty books, the ones with more pictures than words;  art, interior design, fashion, and oh so pretty covers.  These are just a few books from the boxes and boxes of Tim's well-worn collections.  So once we got the worktable in my studio finally cleared off I sheepishly broke the news to Tim that I might like to make book sleeves for some of his books...you know, to protect them and all.  God knows we wouldn't want them to get damaged or anything.  To my surprise he not only liked the idea...he wanted to do it himself.  We already had a roll of white craft paper which was my choice, but if you are thinking of doing this the butcher block craft paper would work nicely, as well.  

This barely puts a dent in the amount of books he still has to do, but I can't wait now to display these crisp titles.  As you might guess it is very easy.  I would have preferred old looking font stamps, but this is what I had in the size that worked and you wouldn't have thought about it if I hadn't mentioned it, right?  Now isn't this a happy ending?

PLANE VIEW ABSTRACTS

I don't have a Bucket List yet, just some goals.  No, not jumping from a plane or even flying one, but there's a slight connection here.  I took the leap.  Yup, this is BIG.....I bought oil paints!!!  Wait, it doesn't stop there. Then there's the paint brushes, yada, yada and $450 later I had everything all laid out for a whole week, too scared to make the next move.  Just admired, stroked and envisioned myself painting plein air masterpieces in the South of France and Italy.  Okay, I guess that last part could go onto a Bucket List.  I decided to start with a small series of abstracts...another goal for me.  Hmm, where to start?  Okay, I love abstract, love patchwork and regularly take photos from the window of a plane.  That's it.  Let me introduce Plane View.

It was all about getting used to the huge difference between oils and my usual and more familiar acrylics.  And to continue my experiment with painting in abstract.  I did cover the base coat in acrylic because acrylics dry quickly.   I just went for it.  Definitely like some more than others (shhh, don't tell them I said that).  

Let the Learn Fest begin.  I signed up for an Alla Prima (wet on wet) oil painting class starting soon.  Goose bumps.

On another note, I have neglected the tutorials for the 12 in TWELVE.  They are quite time consuming and the house continues to undergo many projects, making it tough to to work in topsy turvy conditions on things that are worthwhile for you.  But, alas, I have a huge tutorial coming up tomorrow.   I hand painted the illustrations.  Whew, you'll see.  Hint: it's a quilt.

NICE WHAT?

 We clearly bought the house with the worst garage door in the neighborhood; maybe even Southern California.  The paint was a cross between Pepto Bismol and Calamine lotion (both bring up very unpleasant memories) with touch-ups done in a purpley mauve.  We didn't want a new metal door on our Spanish style home, but didn't want to pay for what we really liked.  So I studied garage doors until I came up with a desirable design and color.  Our neighbors thought we were crazy as they watched us working on it every weekend for the last month.  "If it were me I'd just buy a new metal garage door", which is what they did and probably had it installed the same day.  We finally just put the finishing touches on the new door over the weekend and I'm a little "house proud" right now.  

GARAGE DOOR BEFORE

CLOSEUP

GARAGE DOOR AFTER

When one of Tim's work buddies saw the new doors he simply said, "Nice knockers".

LOOKING FORWARD

As I finally stop and reflect on this last year I must admit I am so ready to bid 2010 farewell and am praying with hope and anticipation that this new year will be a much brighter one for me and my family.  I've divided the year into two catagories:

EMBRACING WHAT I CAN'T CHANGE

~ My longtime dream of having my daughter Jennifer and I be in business together came to a sad end when an obscure jewelry company called Stella and Dot swept her off her feet.  While I miss her dearly I well up with pride as I watch Jennifer's great leadership abilities launch her into being a director and founding leader of this incredible company.

~ The two most dominant male figures in my young children's lives when I was a single parent were both diagnosed with serious, life threatening illnesses.  My kids considered them "uncles" and they have been "family" to me for almost 40 years now.  


~ We made several trips to Michigan to start the long, arduous process of moving Tim's mom out of her house of 50+ years and into assisted living as her Altzheimer's progressed.  The adorable home that Tim grew up in is currently on the market :

~ Tim's job had him gone over a third of 2010.  The last four months we anticipated a job relocation and subsequent move and used every spare moment researching how to make the move from the Midwest to San Diego without losing the shirts off our backs.  I flew out there once in September to visit my hubby and search neighborhoods in person.  Otherwise I saw Tim briefly on weekends when he would fly home through the night and usually arrive Saturday morning and leave again Sunday afternoon.  Our short weekends were spent doing repairs and updating with the expectation we would be putting our house on the market.  While we were prepared for a major downsize and move across the country, in the end the offer was just not in our best interest.  On one hand the decision was a letdown, especially for Tim, as he was excited about the job and we both were willing to make the move.  On the other hand we were relieved that the uncertainty was over and Tim moved back just in time for Christmas. 


~ My months of researching and comparing the housing market in Southern California vs. the Midwest made me somewhat of a self-proclaimed expert of sorts.  The huge amount of the homes/condos were either in foreclosure or short sale and price per sf made my job even tougher.  What better way to point out the drastic comparison than with a visual.  Remember I posted about and fondly named this the Keebler Cottage?

During my search I discovered my favorite little cottage was actually for sale!  The 1908 sf home with the tiniest yard in La Jolla (a desirable suburb of San Diego) was priced at $2.3 mil.  At the same time the 25,000 sf La Chateau (Hilbert Mansion) in Carmel IN (a desirable suburb of Indianapolis) sold for $3 mil.

La Chateau Mansion Front



La Chateau Mansion Rear


While I readily admit these are extreme examples and realize the cottage has a nearby ocean.  I am making the point that my own humble abode in the Midwest was looking more appealing even with the snow.

La Prass Mansion

Sadly, our year ended with the loss of our son Jonathan to his long battle with bipolar and addictions.  It is still so raw.  I catch myself wanting to tell him I heard from a friend of his or wanting to ask him about something I read in one of his many journals.  How I wanted a different ending.  

While I didn't have control over what the year brought or how I would have spent it I do feel like I've been stretched spiritually and emotionally to become a stronger, deeper and more compassionate person than I was before.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE POSSIBILITIES

I already shared some sneaky peeks of my home decor line with Demdaco here which will debut this month at the Atlanta Gift Market, Chicago Merchandise Mart and the Dallas Market Center.  Here's a couple new peeks for you peeps:

I heard the preorders for my home decor line with Demdaco is doing quite well and I am already creating my next collection which will be ready in January 2012.  I'm even more excited about my next collaboration for Demdaco and where I'm creating it for.  Demdaco has been a great to company to work with. 

What I haven't shared yet about 2010 is that I signed a book contract with Wiley Books.  I'm flipping out over writing a how-to book on sewing upscale decor projects for the home. 

So how can I go much further without a humorous story, even if at my own expense, right?  I had the priviledge of having a luncheon date with both my editor and publisher for the book.  I have honestly been regularly distracted the last couple months.  I start into something, but my mind is thinking about something else.  At Thanksgiving I apparently put the cranberry sauce in the Tupperware cabinet instead of the frig, which I didn't discover until, uh, too late.  Many similar stories, but on this day I rushed to get ready for my luncheon and after a lovely meeting I saw Jennifer.  She said something like, "Mom, tell me you didn't meet the Wiley gals with only your white mascara conditioner on"?   I look in the mirror and sure enough my eyelashes were bright white!  I emailed Roxane, my editor who swore she didn't notice.  Told her it's the latest trend and she acted like I really knew what I was talking about.  Here's the only proof, taken by our waitress on my iPhone.  Can you see my bright whites flashing at you?  If not, can you at least tell I was standing on my tippie toes?  Well I was...standing there all short and with bright white eyelashes.  Yup, this is me in the middle.  Incomplete, lacking.  But that's the beauty of it all..... we are all a constant work in progress and I might just be the leader of the pack.    
  

Last but not least, I was able to submit my initial fabric strike-offs for my newest collection with Michael Miller Fabrics called Botanika.  I'll share more once the strike-offs and colors are approved. 

Finally, may I say again just how much you all mean to me?  Your comments and personal emails have kept me connected and hopeful.  I love you all so much for sticking with me this past year.  I hope to make 2011 worth your while!

QUILTS 4 QUADS DELIVERED

My friend and creative cohort Lisa and I delivered the quilts.  We were able to catch 3 out of the 4 little ones and their mom actually awake.  That's pretty good odds, huh?  Just wanted to share their reactions with you:


I'm just drooling over this!

These are so my colors!

 

Amazed doesn't even describe how I feel.

 I have been so busy this week that I wondered where all the Halloween candy went to, then realized I ate it!  I have so much to tell you and hopefully that will happen next week.  In the meantime, have a frightfully delightful Halloween weekend.

WASTE NOT PUZZLE ART QUILTS

 I've debated on whether to share these with you quite yet, as I realize I show you way too many not-quite-finished-yet projects.  However, I'm just a little too happy to keep these to myself.  I had piles of scraps and I am the Queen of Waste Not Want Not.  I save way too much.  Confession: It's only been in the last few years that I quit washing and reusing aluminum foil.  I won't go into much more for fear of a possible intervention.  Anyway, back to the scraps.  I love them and finally stopped my spinning universe to prove to myself (and those who think I'm too thrifty) that scraps do have a valuable place in our lives.  I challenged myself to use only my own fabrics.  In digging through my 3 scrap bins I actually found some tiny strike-off rejects.  They were always too small to use...until now.  This was just like putting puzzles together.  They are only 12x12.  At first I was thinking of adding some embroidery and stretching them on stretcher bars.  Then I thought of turning them into mini art quilts.  Not sure yet.  What do you think?  Here's a closer look.

Adding the nixed strike-offs was personally rewarding for me.  Can you guess which ones were nixed?  Hopefully, I have inspired someone to dig into your waste basket or scrap bin and piece your own puzzle art quilt this weekend. 

4 QUILTS 4 QUADS UPDATE

Are you one of those creative people that can't contain your projects?  I no sooner clean up, then I trash the place again with another 2 or 3 projects.  A couple weeks ago I told you about a project making some quilts for quads; 4 quilts to be exact.  I tried to gather some gals together and needed to think of some quick but fun quilts that wouldn't take too much upfront prep on my part.  I thought the unstructured, playful approach to patchwork was the perfect answer.   Unfortunately the randomness of piecing without a pattern or plan proved a bit challanging so I ended up piecing 2 of the quilt fronts.  I still haven't cleaned up the debri from that evening.

And here's the 2 fronts I made out of these stacks of scraps.

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I have been pretty fed up with myself for not exercising.  I procrastinate until it's too late or I'm too tired, or it's too hot, too cold...  Well, my daughter has two bff's that are awesome buff.  One is a physical therapist and personal trainer.  I just hauled off and hired her before my ears had time to hear what my mouth said.  So on Tuesday I drove across town and had my first torture, I mean, workout.  Now we really do have plenty of trainers close to where I live, but the last time I signed up for a personal trainer the gal was maybe 20, max, and wore glitter on her face.  I just couldn't take her seriously, and she treated me like I was old.  I am old; just don't want to be treated that way.  So all of a sudden I'm on a scheduled workout program and food plan.  I hope I can stick with it.  I think I can, I think I can. 

GUEST BATH: BEFORE

Wyatt ended up at the ER last eve.  He fell off some play equipment and punctured a hole in his leg.  No images required, you get the idea.  But it's those precious phonecalls between us that I just want to preserve forever.  He was telling me every detail of his first experience with getting stitches, but somewhere in there he interjected that someone he knew had to get her "earnoids" removed.  I was at a dinner party and talking to him on my cell phone and my brain was trying to make sure that's what he really said and find the right word for him cuz I didn't think humans had a bodypart by that name.  All I could think of to replace earnoids was ear lobes and asked him if thats what he meant and he says yes.  Okay, you know I have ADD, right?  I quickly try to figure out why the poor girl had to have her ear lobes removed.  Then I remember way back in high school these two girls getting in a catfight and those big hoop earrings were all the rage.  Again, no images required.  I am still talking but my mind got really fixated on the poor girl Wyatt casually mentioned.  By the time he put Jennifer back on the phone I was just as interested in the lobeless girl as I was about Wyatt's stitches.  "He meant adnoids, mom".  Why am I still laughing? 

We have been trying since Spring to remodel our guest bathroom.  Sometimes Tim and I will have a discussion and what I think as a nice idea he thinks of as a new project needing to happen.  Not like we need another project, but next thing I know he was up there and had already stripped the hideous 1970's Kmart quality wallpaper.  I hurried and took pictures because I started this blog called Show + Tell in 2008 because that's what I intended to do; Show + Tell my various Before and After projects.  So now we're moving into August.  Tim travels extensively and when he does get home there are lots of other things needing immediate attention from my Mini Macgyver.  He just got back last eve from Canada.  Pulls up to the dinner party already in progress and the BMW just starts freaking out electrically.  The alarm was going off, lights flashing, etc. and it just won't start.  We had to leave it there and will be dealing with that this weekend.  Then our home phones are not working and ATT's website is down (calling them is no better as "they are experiencing high volumes of calls", the sprinkler system is broken (90 degrees every day) and the bedroom fan is broken (don't tell Nate or Vern that we have ceiling fans and like them).  Last weekend Mini Macgyver did try to work on the bathroom.  Got so far as the basement to get to the crawl space to turn off the water.  he found we had a water leak from the outdoor faucet which took 2 days to repair.  I know many of you have the same plight with these fixer-uppers and renovation projects. 

So I have actually made a vignette outside the bathroom door to remind myself that someday, somehow it will look better.  And because you are so diligent to follow my projects, of which I don't have any completed to show you, I am going to give you a sneak peek at the before (no puking, please) and the hopeful after.

Notice the lovely country blue, mauve and tan plaid paper I snatched out of the trash for you to see what our guests have been looking at for 11 years? It's actually Tim's bathroom most of the time, so you can imagine how eager he was to remove it.  He is making all new door and drawer fronts and I will be painting them a dark expresso...someday.  So there you have it, one more half finished project brought to you by Paula Prass.  I will keep you posted.

VALENTINE LOVE FOR YOU...FREE WOODLAND DELIGHT QUILT PATTERN

It's finally finished! And in the spirit of all things love and Valentines I decided to give this to you as a free pattern download! (insert bubbly floating hearts). I designed this quilt and the instructions to be easy and fun and very detailed with lots of diagrams. Sure hope you think so. Just go to the sidebar and download the pdf. I made this quilt in the Pink Woodand Delight colorway, but I'd love to see it in the Gray or Brown. Also, I know that Fat Quarter Shop has planned some kits here. I must say, I'm tickled Pink right now! Can't wait to hear what you think!!

While I've been working on the quilt, others have been working on other great Woodland Delight and Summer Soiree projects. Have you seen what Sew4Home has been up to? Here are just a few projects. How fun and free. Go check it all out here.

On another note....I have signed another licensing contract that I am so excited about. You know how it goes...can't really say much yet, but I'm definately doing a happy dance here. Nose deep in designs and planning, every once in awhile I stop and pinch myself. Ouch!! Yep, this is me doing what I wanted to when I grew up.

;

Okay, gotta run. I'd love to hear what you think of my valentine's gift to you (more bubbly hearts).