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.    

MAWWAGGE

So guess what I was doing 31 years ago today?  

Marrying this dude.  My MacGyver; my Jesus in blue jeans.  

Tim didn't realize how quickly I'd age and I didn't know I was marrying The Godfather.

 

Or was it Hoo Hung Woo?

Tim has loved coming home to such a knockout wife

And taking me out to celebrate another wonderful year, right babe?

Here's to another fun year with my best friend.

BEACH BUDDIES

Remember this?

Well I finished it.  

Actually finished it awhile back, but just remembered to show you.   The grandkids and Papa hanging at the beach now hangs above my sofa.  I love painting water reflections.  This one is acrylics on watercolor paper.  Wouldn't it look especially nice with a painting of the umbrella from the last post, yes?

Oh, I can now respond to comments on my blog, but not sure if you will know I responded.  Anyone have the answer?  Anyone?  Let's try it.

JESUS SPOTTED ON THE BEACH

Walking along the beach in Del Mar, I spotted this wonderful orange striped umbrella.  I approached the lady sitting under the umbrella to ask her permission to take a photo on my iPhone.  I got closer, then closer, then was standing right beside her and she still didn't notice me, and NO, she wasn't sleeping.  So I politely said, "Excuse me".  I apparently startled her because she slapped her hand on her chest and blurted out "JESUS"!  I responded, "Oh no, it's just me, Paula".  Wide-eyed she says, "Jesus" again, still holding her chest and looking at me like she really was having a spiritual encounter.  Not knowing what to do I said, "I know him, but really, it's just me, Paula".  Then she relaxed and started laughing, we chatted and hence I have this photo instead of a black eye.  It was worth the risk, don't you think?

Disclaimer:  I am watching the morning national weather reports of snow or storms throughout the US today (FEB 25) as I am writing this, so I sincerely apologize for any preconceived taunting.  We have earthquakes and fires if that helps lessen the blow.

Being an artist is by nature a sedentary lifestyle.  I stepped on the scale last week.  I suspected it was broken last time I stepped on it, but now I'm sure of it.  I will walk more, get back into exercise and watch my calories.  I tried a spin class.  I walked into the dark room and was instantly intimidated.  Everyone looked all buff and in charge so I finally approached a group to ask who the instructor was.  The one sitting on the floor looks up and without speaking does this body language thing to non-verbally say "Dah".  I asked her to show me how to use the bike or any needed advise.  She instructed me how to adjust the seat and insert my feet in the basket thingies, then said, "If you feel like you're going to pass out, well...just suck it up".  I ended up in between two maniac women half my age who actually sped up during the short breaks.  I wasn't told what to do when the instructor yelled "Left".  "Left again".  I finally figured it out by watching the speed racers on either side of me.  I survived but cursed under my breath as I held on to the handrail with both hands going down because my rubber legs quit working. 

Started back into BodyPump on Saturday.  Couldn't walk or raise my arms yesterday so I decided to count my calories instead of working out.  That was just as painful and a real eye opener.  I eat all the right foods, oat bran, plain greek yogurt, salmon, veggies.  However, after lunch I had already consumed 935 calories.  What???  I never payed attention to how even the calories in healthy foods add up.  More exercise and water; less w(h)ine.  Boo hoo.  

LOVE BOATS

In January, I was able to join Tim on a business trip to Santa Barbara.  It was last minute so I threw some clothes in a suitcase, grabbed my camera and we caught a train.  It was definitely the way to go!  What I didn't anticipate is that we had record breaking low temps so anytime I went out I ended up wearing everything in my suitcase....all at the same time.  As cold and windy as it was I walked and and walked and managed to get some great photos.

This last Thursday I had my oil painting class in La Jolla and chose one of my harbor photos to paint.  I mentioned to the gal next to me that I was determined to finish my painting that day and give it to my husband for Valentine's Day (that day).  She promptly named my painting "LOVE BOATS".  

I got this much done during class and surprised Tim right before he surprised me with a trip to Coronado Island to The Boathouse for a lovely dinner.  Today I placed it in a frame to see how it looks.  My instructor says every painting looks better in a frame, don't you agree?  I still need to finish some details, sign it and then step back. 

This was the view as we drove across the Coronado Bridge as the sun was going down.  Here's an image of the Boathouse which dates back to 1887.  It was dark by the time we got there, but still a perfect pairing with the LOVE BOATS.  

  

THAT'S MY DOG IN YOUR FRAME

A few weeks ago I was in a local Home Goods and headed towards checkout when something familiar caught my eye.  I turned and what should my wandering eyes see?  My Wing Study fabric on down filled pillows!!!!  Even had zippers.  Guess how much?  No, guess again.  Yup, $19.99!  Okay, so even though it's my fabric design I was thinking the down pillow form and zipper would cost more than that.  I bought two for my house.  Crazy, huh?  Oh, and  that pillow on the lower right was just sitting there and not my design.

Then if that's not enough, I was just in a store, MG Tate's, in Indianapolis with Jennifer and lo and behold, there were my Demdaco frames.  I took a quick photo hoping no one would notice.  I'd have a hard time convincing them I wasn't trying to "copy" or anything.

I am known to do weird things in stores.  A few years ago I was designing a room in a Decorator Show House in Indy and had picked up a bunch of accessories and frames at Pottery Barn for the finishing touches.  Once I got everything in place I packed up the items I couldn't use and returned them to the store.   Then a couple weeks later I was walking through Pottery Barn and stopped to look at the frames.  Sitting right there, front and center, was a photo of my dog in a frame I had returned.  It was the same cute photo I used each year in the show house rooms I designed, but in my rush to finish up I forgot about the photo.  I kinda freaked because I had to have that photo back since it was before everyone had digital cameras and stored images.  I tried to be sneaky, but there seemed to be about 50 employees meandering and talking into tiny microphones.  I also imagined cameras and security all watching me try to steal a dog photo.    Finally I decided the only thing I could do is buy the frame.  I took it to the checkout counter and placed the frame front side down, which I hoped would work since the tag was on the back anyway.  Sure enough the one gal flipped the frame over and seeing the photo she started to remove it from the frame.   I panicked and quickly asked what she was doing.  She said they reuse the photos!  Okay, here goes...."Could you leave the photo in?  It's my dog".  The other gal behind her swings around to get a good look at the lady with the loose screw in her head, then they looked at each other as if to wonder about calling security.  Finally, after me going on and on with my tall tale and a line forming behind me, she reluctantly gave in.  I didn't shop at Pottery Barn for a while after that.  

I'M THE GRANDMA I ALWAYS WANTED

Since my last post we had more house guests; our dear friends from Indiana.  This time my entertaining and sightseeing skills were put to the test with a toothache that was a 7-8 on the pain scale (childbirth being a 10).  I hugged my guests goodbye on the last day of their visit and took off for an emergency root canal.  It took six shots to numb that sucker and wasn't back home until almost 5 PM.  I'm not sure why people say they'd rather have a root canal than some horrible event because the root canal for me was actually a relief.  I don't even want to discuss all the trouble I've had with my teeth since arriving in San Diego.  Let's just say the dentist office is my second home (and second mortgage).  I got back in enough time to do some laundry, throw some clothes in a suitcase, stare at the ceiling for a couple hours before getting ready to fly out at o'dark thirty for Indianapolis.
  

I got to play grandma for a week while Jennifer and Joe took a little vaca.  It has been my goal to be the grandma I always wanted and I take that role very seriously.   We cooked together....how many kids do you know that beg for salmon, couscous and edamame?  We played Uno, Sorry and were going to play Monopoly until I realized I'd have to be the banker.  We laughed a lot and had our mandatory art day...all favorite things to do together.  Their nickname for me is The Meemster.  Not as in mean, but as in Mimi (at least that's what they tell me, hmmm?)  I adore those two and am so very blessed to know their love.

We each painted 3" mini canvases among other projects.  They both took advantage of a "technique" I showed them by using the end of their paintbrush to add or subtract.  A. added polka dot snowflakes by dabbing the end of the brush in paint and W. created circles by layering the paint on the canvas, then drawing with the end of the brush.  They couldn't wait to present their mini masterpieces to their mom and dad when they returned. 

My 3" canvas was painted in the style of a favorite piece of art by Peter Wileman.  I took photos of all three pieces with my iPhone so really don't know how mine turned out so closeup and rectangle instead of square.  Oh well.  Wonder how large Mr. Wileman's paintings are; bet bigger than 3" and much better than mine.  I'll make mine real big here to impress you, but you better go see his art to really knock your socks off.  

So I am back home now with no plans to travel anytime soon and am shutting down the B&B until May.  Guess that means I should post more, huh?  Oh, alright.  I have some tutorials coming soon and more pics of the work we've done around here.  And thanks so much for your messages and encouragement.  

STAIRWELL BEFORE + AFTER

We have had house guests almost solid since Christmas Day.  So much so that the people in my art class are convinced we are really running a Bed and Breakfast here.  One set of house guests left last Thursday and the next guests arrive this Thursday.  Instead of relaxing this past weekend we tackled a project that has made such a huge difference I thought you might enjoy the results.   

We bought this two-story with an ODD landing on the stairs.  It's something like a plant shelf, but it's a whopping 34" deep by 7 feet long of useless space.   One of the neighbors has a full size carousel horse sitting on hers, it's that spacious!  I prefer function, especially when space and storage are at a premium.  That ledge is too high up to store things and the deep inset on the bottom half is actually a nonfunctioning area on the exterior of the house.  Unable to change the construction (remember HOA?)  I just needed to at least not hate it so much.  I am still not sure what I will put up there...maybe a mattress and dresser for my new Bed and Breakfast.  This is a photo taken before we moved in that clearly looks like one of those typical sad "before" photos.   It's all I could find that showed the $19.99 original light fixture.  Besides, when I told Mini Mcgyver my thoughts he had the ladder out in 2.2, more excited than I was to make the change.

LANDING AFTER

I found a new chandelier that is perfect for a stairwell as it doesn't have glass to keep clean, plus it's easier to dust and change the bulbs.  I think it was from Lowes; but maybe Home Depot.  I'll keep my eyes open for some tall vases in my colors and a variety of shapes and sizes.  Maybe I'll take up sculpturing because I know I'd have a place to display my work.  Wait; maybe even a mattress and dresser for my new Bed and Breakfast.  

Things were very "masgusting" when we took possession (my grandsons baby word that I never want to forget).  We were forced to pull up the carpet on the first floor and stairs when we discovered the previous owners furniture covered many of these stains and after a couple cleanings this is what it looked like.  I know I'm grossing you out but you can imagine how embarrassed I was to let anyone in the door or live like this.  We decided to remove the old tile in the entry and the process was quite messy but I like even flow throughout.

MASGUSTING CARPET

TEARING OUT THE TILE

Everything has a fresh coat of paint, new woodwork and trim.  What remains is how I will finish the handrails and newel posts; probably paint them black with white balusters like I did in our last house.  My dream would be to switch out the wood balusters for wrought iron, but that might be way down the remodeling road.  Right now I'm dreading stripping all the heavily slathered latex paint, but already stripped the newels and love the feel of my hands not sticking anymore. 
   

Here is the entry looking from the stairs, the hallway to the garage and another good after photo of the after.  I used leftover Flor carpet tiles to make custom rugs.  The painting in the entry is something I started and just hung it up unfinished until I can get back to it.  There's a sneak peak of the bookcases that will be another reveal.  My brilliant ideas combined with Tim's construction abilities, elbow grease and enthusiasm have proved once again that we are still a dynamic duo.  While I am keenly aware of resale I'm not concerned at all about the bold stripes since the whole area would take less than a quart of paint to change.  If by any chance you are holding back from going bold on a feature wall let me assure you this is the safest, least expensive move to make.  Tell me your thoughts. 

15 MINUTES OF PLAY

Victoria Findlay Wolfe is one of those people that the very moment you meet her you find yourself instant friends.  We were actually blog friends first and her passions drew me in.   When I lost my son she called and emailed regularly to check in on me.   Anyone who knows Vic will have similar stories, I'm sure.   So when I received her newly released book in the mail, at first I was surprised, then overwhelmed with her amazing generosity.   I sat and read it cover to cover in one sitting; and that my friends is nothing short of a miracle.  I am a picture looking visual kind of gal and only when I am drawn in by the image do I choose to read more.  I read it all.

This is what I found inside the cover:

 And here is Page 22.  This fun quilt is exclusively my fabrics (love her more):

Victoria and I hanging in my booth at the Salt Lake City Quilt Market in 2011: 

Her timing was impeccable, as I had just sorted through and organized all my small fabric scraps into jars, by color of course.  They are awaiting an inspirational project and Vic's book is filled with those!  

If you don't already know this inspiring lady then please check out her sites:

http://www.bumblebeansinc.com
http://www.15minutesplay.com



Here is how I organized my fabric scraps for future inspiration:

TICKLED I TACKLED

It hit me that 5 years ago I started this blog as we were celebrating Amelia's 3rd birthday.  She turns 8 today.  I had not seen her for six whole months until Christmas, so there were lot's of "squeezing the stuffins" out of each other.  We always plan an "art day" whenever we're together.  Us girls spent a chilly day indoors cutting, pasting and painting.  I chose to tackle Amelia's puppy looking up at her longingly.  I have never painted fur and wasn't sure I could.  I guess I could say I was tickled I tackled this twosome.  Happy birthday my sweet girl.

I was able to make more progress on this painting of Amelia that I shared here.  I am trying to work much faster; not sure that is working for me yet.  

Remodeling has been coming along nicely and this place is actually starting to grow on me.  I kinda promised a lot more than I delivered on my blog last year.  Life takes over and I frankly think it's not all that interesting.  I thought I could catch up on tutorials in the Fall but in October I received a surprise licensing contract request which I accepted.  It took twice as long as I anticipated and I barely stepped away from my computer until Christmas.  A total computer crash didn't help.  No more art classes, Christmas parties, grocery shopping, sleeping....nada.  Tim and I spent the entire Thanksgiving holiday alone in front of the computer...no turkey and mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie for us, whaaaa whaaaa.  I guess Tim could have taken a photo of me dozing off with my head on my desk, but thank goodness he was too busy taking up the slack.  But alas, I did skid in under the deadline with some exciting products which I can't share until Fall.   

2013 already has lots of company lined up for us.  Jenn, Joe and kids just left, our dear friends are flying in from Nashville in a couple days, then other friends from Indiana will be here before I go back home to spend time with the fam..   Maybe I can do some bloggets??