Not a quilting project...but fun!

When I went to a quilt show in June, I saw a beautiful panel depicting a digital city skyline. I don't usually use panels, but I had to have this one. The booth selling it had used it in a wallhanging, but I decided that I wanted to mount it on a canvas. The panel is width of fabric and about 28" wide, so I couldn't find a premade canvas that it would fit. Luckily I knew that they had the individual stretcher bars available at Hobby Lobby to make your own as I've done this before.

 So I got two 26" and two 40" bars. They have a sort of tongue and groove assembly, so are easy to put together with a staple gun and a bit of glue. As I assembled it, I brushed some wood glue on the wood that slips inside of the groove. I think the staples would probably hold it ok, but just wanted that extra security.

Stapled and ready to mount the canvas!

I bought some white duck cloth at a local shop and the next step was pressing both it and the fabric panel so that they were wrinkle free. 

I then carefully measured the canvas so that I had enough to roll over the edge of the stretcher bars and fold under to staple. No raw edges, please!

When you are making your own canvas, you have to start in the middle of a side and secure with a few staples. You then have to go to the opposite side, pulling to stretch slightly and secure with a few staples. Now you can work your way towards the corners on each side, making sure it's straight and slightly stretched. ( This is my way, it could differ from the way a painter preps and stretches the canvas.) I stop about 6" from the corner and do the same thing on the other two sides.

To fit the corners, I pull the corner in, fold over and staple. Then fold the edges of the corners in, sort of like wrapping a gift box.

All ready to go.

I had to square up the panel too as they are never really straight, so it wasn't 28" anymore. I had to add a strip of fabric on each side of the panel so it would fit properly. I knew I would have to do this as the next bar width was 24" and I thought that would be too narrow. So I went with the 26" and planned on adding fabric. I cut two 4" strips and folded them in half lengthwise so that I would have the folded edge to staple down. No ragged edges. I didn't need to add fabric to the top and bottom as the width of fabric was long enough to wrap around and fold under.

I attached it the same way that I attached the canvas.

All finished and ready to hang. I want to hang it at school, but I haven't decided for sure where I will put it. I've tried it out in several spaces, but not decision yet. I will take a picture of it once it's hanging.

Is there life beyond quilting?

 I have been working around the yard, cleaning the house and painting the garage the past few days, so haven't done as much sewing/quilting. You might remember that on my Online Buddies retreat many of them made Circle and Spin quilts. Heather got her baby version finished and sent me a pic. She quilted it on her home machine, which she is really good at. I love her color choices. She used the smaller block from Circle and Spin to the Moon as she wanted the look of the Circle and Spin but in a smaller size. Beautiful! 

I did get the labels made and sewed on to the Off the Beaten Path baby quilt and Mirages. I made the baby quilt for my sis and her husband to give as a gift. I gave her some examples of what I could put on the label and this is what she chose. How do you make your labels? I use the June Taylor Colorfast Sew in Fabric Sheets. They are easy to use and my computer prints way better than I do. You can also had pictures or clip art to them. 

I needed to take some pictures of the Swag Bag to advertise the class, so I took it outside for a photo shoot. Love the outdoor pictures. Which pic should I use?

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 My zinnias are blooming like crazy right now. Evidently they like heat! It's a larger bag and easy to make. I can't wait to finish the other one I have started for a class working model.

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I went on a fun road trip to Mo. Star Quilts on Saturday with friends. We wandered in and out of the many shops there and enjoyed lot of eye candy and inspiration. I spent a lot of time in the Batik store and came out with a nice plump bag full of new batiks. It was a great day for it and we had a lot of fun.

 I started scraping and painting the garage the other day. I started with the doors because it looks the worst (hit by a hail storm awhile back) and faces the street. I finished scraping and painting the first coat of primer yesterday. It took over a can of primer, so the wood is really soaking it up. I'm worked a little on the south side yesterday too, and am going back to finish it today. It didn't need as much scraping as the other sides, not sure why unless it's because it's right across the alley from a house that shades most of it. For whatever reason, I'm happy about it. I like to scrape awhile, then paint awhile so I don't get too discouraged about the scraping. I like the painting part.

Some catching up to do....

 When I went to CUAQ Therapy a few weeks ago at Cut Up and Quilt, Alice brought her Happy Villages quilt for show and tell. It turned out so pretty! I still want to make a night time version....

Two of the beginners with their finished quilts last month. They turned out beautiful and just had the hand stitching left to do. I made a new version of this quilt on retreat and will start a new Beginning Quilting class in the fall.

Just for fun, we are doing a little Double Four Patch stash-busting swap during Sampler Clubs...no one has to participate, but if they want to they will end up with an awesome scrappy quilt!

The Wednesday Fun Club will be making the Whatcha Got? Bag beginning in Sept. so I made up a new model for it recently. I gave away all of the ones I made last time! It was a good way for me to refresh in my mind the steps to making it too. I also started another one to use during class as a working model.

I made some Boxy Corner Pouches before I went on the retreat with my online friends, but didn't want to spoil the surprise by showing them. I cheated and used quilted fabric. I put a few goodies inside too. 

With some of the leftover fabric, I made this flat bag to carry some odd size rulers I have. It would also work to carry my pattern files to class. 

I've spent a lot of time working on class paperwork and sewing models over the past few weeks getting ready for fall classes. I need to step back from it for a bit and do some work around here. I want to paint the garage before I go back to school, so I'm going to start that today. Not sure how far I will get since I have to scrape too. I like to scrape some, paint it and then scrape some more so the scraping doesn't seem like such a big ordeal. I like to paint, just don't like to scrape. Who does?

I also need to "clean and pitch" a few areas around here, the back porch being first on the list. What a mess out there! And I walk through it every single day. Wish me luck!

Another wonderful retreat

This past weekend was my biannual retreat with friends at Stitchin' Tree Quilters Cottage. You might remember the Quilters of the Corn pictures from 2014 and 2015...we decided we needed an updated one!

My first project on this retreat was putting the binding and label on the Off the Beaten Path baby quilt. I have a  bit more handwork on the back, but otherwise it's finished. I really like the way this fabric shows up the pattern. Since this is a baby quilt, it's slightly smaller than the original too. 

Next up was making this Swag Bag by Square Rose for a class model. It's a fairly large bag with lots of room to carry stuff. I like teaching bag classes as well as quilting classes. Bags are fun to make and can you really have too many? I don't think so.

 I had to have this fabric from the Stitchin' Tree Shop (how perfect to have a shop attached to the retreat!) and have the working model for the class all prepped and ready to go. I will be teaching this class in December, just in time for gift giving.

We play  the Trader's Dice game on our retreats and our challenge each time is to make something using the "cuts" we played with last time. Last time we played with 3" squares, and I made this Boxy Bag out of mine. Always need another boxy bag. 

I also started the working model for the Kids Bean Bag class. I need to make the lining, and it will be ready for the class. Forgot to take a picture of the fabrics for it.

 Next on the agenda was making a new model for my beginners class. I've used the same model for advertising for too long, so had purchased the fabric, and cut it before retreat. Didn't take long to make this cute More Peas in a Pod quilt. Now I can retire the other one!

 I usually quilt my own quilts, but my friend Cindy quilted Mirages for me. She brought it along on the retreat to give me. I love the quilting she did!

 Hopefully you can see the details of  the quilting better on the picture below. I finished it by adding the binding, so it's ready to be hung at the shop. (It's another class model). I also prepped for the class too, plus the pattern is written and it's ready to go.

 My last project for the retreat was this pillowcase. Cindy had given me the cute house fabric on our last retreat. I didn't want to cut it up, so decided to put it on a pillowcase so I can enjoy it often. The gray is what was left of the backing for the new sampler and was just the right size. Sometimes things just work out!

 I plan on spending some time today on this house (ugh) and paperwork/prep for classes. I have a new Doing the Splits Sampler Club beginning tonight too, so that will be fun!