It's Friday Fun Day!

Today's calendar is clear...I'm hoping to finish sewing the back of my version of the Dizzy Diamonds pattern found here!. That would be the original, that is! Didn't Jennifer do a great job?! Here is a sneak peak of my version of her pattern:

Those fabrics laying across the top are now strips for the quilt back. Here's how that's looking, now sewn in pairs:

In my on going effort to avoid math, I simply hung the quilt top on the wall, then started pinning strips to the back of it. Once the front is covered, it's done! Don't ya' love that technique?!

So in the spirit of Friday Finishes to report to my blog friends, Amanda Jean and Lucy, my one finish of the week was the Halloween pillow case that I made using a big piece of fabric panels. Kind of looks like sashing around blocks, but it's not!

I'm juggling lots of WIPs - another one that progressed this week is my second braided rug.

I'm having fun with it! It's a great "on the go" project to braid strips of fabric.

I'll be linking up to TGIFF at Charmed About You and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Kris ... And Duke

Who is snuggled up on this rainy day in homemade softness!

A Braided Rug

 

I have been wanting to make a braided rug for over a year.  I finally did it!

 

 

 

 

My Mother in law and I made this braided rug while she visited us. 

She's a crafty lady and we just love crafting together. 

I also thought my in-laws '46 Ford pick up truck made for a great photo op!

 

Here's what we did.  Cut a bunch of fabric strips that are 2 inches wide and about 2 feet long.  Start by knotting three of them close to one end and start braiding!  Once you are near the end of the strips, add a new strip using your preferred method. I cut a slit in them and pulled the long end through the joined slits to knot them.  You could probably just tie a knot in them and snip the end!  Wrap your braids around each other and before it gets too big, start stitching the rows together.  Braid some more, stitch some more.  My MIL started this stitching on the front side and once a few rows were done, she flipped it over and did the stitching on the back side.

 

 

Just whip stitch through the two rows to hold them together!

 

 

I used heavy duty home decor fabric.  As I braided, I tried to turn the back of the fabric to the back of the braid.  The fabric was fraying a bit but I like the look of that so it didn't bother me.

 

It was that easy!  I don't know how to crochet and I attempted to do a toothbrush method with a runner and a joiner but really - - that was just too complicated for me!  This rug measures 2 feet across.  I'm thinking of doing another one and instead of braiding three of the same fabrics I'll try braiding three different colored fabrics to have a multi colored rug. 

 

 

 

 

Duke thought it was his new porch rug!

 

If you decide to make one I would love to see it!

I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

 

Kris

Getting things in order

Today I did my best to get our living space tidy and organized.  We live in a small home that was built in 1901.  It has it's charm.  It doesn't have much closet space. 

 Luckily we have a large basement. 

 

I

 

 

 

 

 

With my new Fall candle and my favorite tunes on Pandora:

  Jason Mraz, Folk Rock Radio, Graffiti6 Radio...to name a few,

I'm ready to sew up a storm.

 

Did I mention I did 10 loads of laundry today, too?!

 

 

 

Kris

 

Sunday...

I made a braided rug with my MIL! I'll post about it this week. During the photo shoot I put it on the porch and Duke walked right over and sat down on it. Then he held still for photos!

The box for Mitch arrived in Salem yesterday, but the school mail center was closed. Say what?! So tomorrow it is! I hope to receive pictures of college kids in party hats but is that just wishful thinking? ( Mitch's roommate's birthday is tomorrow, see last post.) We had our weekly chat with Mitch tonight and he is loving his University. He signed up for about 10 clubs and he was elected "Eastside Representative at large" and was chosen as Freshmen Rep on the Alumni Board. Oh and he likes his classes. His favorite is Philosophy. I want to go to college again!

I stitched the felted felt on the pretty pouch.

Kris <3 br="br">