memory pillow project

A dear friend asked me to help her out with some pillows she wanted to make for her nephews for Christmas. Their grandfather had passed away and she wanted to use some of his old clothes to make mementos for them. She and I went to RISD together, so we are on the same wave-length aesthetically. She said she wanted pillows pieced in the"Gee's Bend" style.

"Blocks and Strips" by Mary Lee Bendolph (photo Tinwood Media)

If you're not familiar with Gee's Bend, the name refers to the rural town in Alabama, a mostly black community with a history of economic struggles, but a strong sense of community. The tradition of quilting carried on there through the civil war, various economic upheavals including the Great Depression, floods of the Alabama River, and on to the present day.

"Housetop" by Lillie Mae Pettway (photo by Tinwood Media)

The quilts were made with available scraps of worn-out clothes with the freedom and innocence of "outsider art" although they were created for strictly practical purposes much like Amish quilts were. A collector discovered them in the late '90's, bought up hundreds of them and began exhibiting them. When viewed out of context in museums like the Whitney, they are bold, striking modern art. The book about them is wonderful. Auburn University has a wealth of information on them as well as a nice catalog.

The pile of items my friend sent looked random at first glance, but that's what you want if you're emulating the Gee's Bend style.

Many of the Gee's Bend Quilts are variations on the "Log Cabin" quilt pattern. I find this pattern lends itself to creating a spontaneous effect, as long as you don't measure anything, that is. Starting with a squarish shape, strips can be added on the outside edges, working in succession around it until you have the size you're after. True things as you go, or not. It's better if there is some unevenness to it.

I decided to keep the shirt pockets intact, because I think boys find them fun and it is more of a reminder that this was Grandpa's shirt. I also added a few of my own scraps of chambray to help make everything hang together more. But what you definitely don't want is to get matchy-matchy with it.

I also keep the button plackets intact for the backs for the perfect way to get the insert in & out for washing.

I tried not to be as anal as I usually am and just go with it. It actually goes very quickly when you're not trying to be precise. At the end, I trued it all up to the dimension of the pillow.

I hope they like them!

salvaged denim headboard

I finished this headboard for my little boy last week! I don't often make things that are NOT for my Etsy store these days, so it took a while. The idea was percolating on my back burner for over a year. At first I thought of making a quilt, but the little guy liked the idea of the padded headboard we made for the guest room, so the idea morphed into a headbaord. I decided to make it fancier than the guest room one by boxing out the sides and adding a back so the cover is removable for washing.

I've built up quite a hoard of denim cast-offs from family & from thrifting. What's the point of hoarding if you're never going to make anything out of it, right?

To make this project I used:

-small hoard of cast-off denim
-denim yardage- about 2 yards
-1/4" plywood (I used 40" x 30" for a twin size)'
-3" foam cut to size
-quilt batting
-muslin
-piping cord
-staple gun
-sewing machine
-heavy duty sewing machine needle (size 14/90)
-pattern paper
-flush mount hangers

If you were doing a single fabric stapled on, this would basically be your only step besides adding the hangers to the back. Layer the muslin, batting, foam and plywood to form the headboard base. Be sure to cut about 12" extra in height & with of the muslin & batting, so there is enough to wrap around the edges for stapling. You can always trim off the extra later.

To make the cover, I tried different layouts before cutting. I wanted light & dark to alternate. I debated whether to mix in some pocket-free squares and decided only to do that on the bottom row where the mattress and pillow would cover it anyway.

Since my headboard is 40" x 30", I made my pieces 10" x 10" squares (with the exception on the bottom four pieces)- just perfect for keeping pockets & details intact. The actual pieces including seam allowances measure 11" x 11" before sewing. Don't forget seam allowances! For the bottom four pieces, I added on 2" or so in height, so there would be extra to wrap underneath and meet up with the back to close the bottom. A separate band gets sewn on later to box out the top & sides.

One thing I learned is denim is THICK! Be sure you are using a heavy duty needle meant for denim. Also, most finished edges are not square. To make sewing easier and keep my pieces as close to square as possible, I fudged new edges in some places. By lapping on a trim piece that would become the seam allowance I avoided having to sew though all those extra bulky layers of a waistband with belt loops..

With the layout finalized, it's ready to sew together. At the thickest points, I found myself turning the wheel of the machine by hand rather than pressing the pedal, just to be safe. An industrial machine could plow through this, no problem, but I'm limited to my trusty Babylock.

Oh, and just to be hard on myself, I decided to pipe around the edges of the headboard. I made bias strips out of the same denim I was using for the sides and back and made my own piping. Use a zipper foot to get your stitches close to the bulge of the cord. You could certainly opt to skip this step.

I basted before sewing just to keep all this heavy fabric from slipping around. Then I sewed on the sides (a strip, 4" wide to accomodate the 3" foam + seam allowances) and back (same dimensions as the front out of denim yardage) leaving excess at the bottom to safety pin shut. If I were to do this again, I'd make reduce the width of the side piece by 1/4" since it came out a bit loose. Denim has a good deal of give. I contemplated a velco closure, but I was so worn out by the piping, that I took the easy way out. and just pinned it

Even easier would be omitting the piping and back, making a deep enough side panel to wrap around to the back for stapling.

Before slipping the cover on, I had my husband attach the flush mount hangers to the plywood back and to the wall. A level and accurate measuring come in handy for this. Then I slipped on the cover and cut holes in the back to expose the hangers.

Now my boy has a place to store his flashlights and other doodads in easy reach at night!

test driving iron-on vinyl

January is my month for decluttering and sprucing things up around the house. I've been working like a dog on everyplace but my office and studio, but at least the kids' art room is looking good. It's not really a room, more of a breakfast nook that got taken over by the rascals and is furnished with the last remnants of my husband's college furniture. Since the furniture isn't precious it's ok that paint gets on it, but it's January and I'm feeling anal. I can't stand the sight of these dirty seat covers another minute. And I'm over that floral. The original cane seats are long gone, replaced with plywood topped with 1" foam and they've been recovered over and over with the help of my trusty staple gun.

Well, I'm recovering them again, but this time might be the last because I'm trying out a new product that I think is gonna be my new favorite: iron-on vinyl! A few years ago, I looked into having fabric laminated for these chairs and it turned out to be something like $20 per yard with a 5 yard minimum, so I didn't pursue it. Then I came across this Therm O Web iron on vinyl at JoAnn's and bought some to play with.

It comes in matte or shiny & I got the matte. It reminds me a lot of the laminating stuff you can get for paper at the office supply store.

It has a waxy paper backing that you peel off to reveal a tacky side.

You place the vinyl tacky side down onto the front of your fabric and then smooth out the bubbles. You can still peel it back up at this point if you notice a wrinkle or a thread stuck in there.

Then you take the backing you just peeled off and use it as your press cloth. The directions say to do the ironing on a firm surface like a table, heat on medium. There's no toxic odor like I was expecting either.

After it cools, peel back the paper and voilà! Vinyl-coated fabric!

And my favorite part: the stapling...

Instant gratification!

in the christmas spirit at terrain

It was a good day to get out of the studio. It was the first sunny day in a while, and a call from a friend to go meet for coffee at the Cafe at Terrain in Glen Mills, PA was all the enticing I needed.

 

I always liked the old Styers, the nursery that Anthropologie bought to transform into their flagship lifestyle garden store, but it was more of a nuts & bolts kind of place. It didn't have a cafe, much of a gift shop, or quite the panache that Terrain has. I miss the plant selection though.

The seasonal displays here are always so irresistible. (Go here to see fall's displays) This winter's theme: rustic & cozy.

A little tartan.

A little woodland.

Time to start some paperwhites and amaryllis.

Winterberries. Yes it's finally December. All we need now is a picturesque dusting of snow!

hand block printed textiles by galbraith & paul

We couldn't stay away. Beth & I made the trek again into Manayunk, PA for Galbraith and Paul's annual sample sale on Saturday. I swore I'd never come back to Manayunk after getting 2 parking tickets in one day last time, but I was so bummed-out that my camera didn't work then, that I was able to be persuaded. I just am so heartened to see a handmade business thriving right here in the USA and on this scale. People fly in for this sale. The fabric is highly sought-after. I'm sure they've felt the pressure to get the price down by taking production off-shore, but so far the fabrics are all made here.

It was the usual feeding frenzy with the piles of pillows and the "by the pound" scrap table seeing a lot of action. I was tempted to start a new decorating project, but I only just finished the padded headboard  using the smokebush printed linen I bought here last year.

Originally, Galbraith & Paul were known for their handmade paper lampshades. Now the lampshades are fabric. Room and Board carries the pillows & lampshades. They have also ventured into rugs and wallpaper.

 So mod- so fab!

A complicated pattern like this takes either multiple blocks and/or requires hand painting more than one color on a block. It requires skilled artisans to execute.

These are some of the "blocks".

The ink is applied with these little rollers.

Just like at the paint store!

My friend Beth's new best friend: Liz Galbraith. Mr Paul was working the register. Even Liz's little boys were helping customers.

A glimpse of future designs on the pin-up board in Liz's studio. The loveliness continues...

making a padded headboard

The attic room is finally finished! This was a project I'd been contemplating since scoring some great block printed fabric at the Galbraith & Paul sample sale in Manayunk last December.

after

This year's sale is coming up on the 3rd, so it only took me 11 months to complete the project. I call my process "turtle mode". I'm excruciatingly slow, but I do eventually finish things.

before

We use the attic room as a guest room, and it's been slightly embarrassing to send guests up there with it being on the dingy side and not pulled together. Bad leaking in the window wells prompted me to get a contractor in there to fix the damage, but a few months later it's still leaking, I'm sorry to say. Third attempt in 9 years to fix it- oh well! That's an old house for you!

My boy helped me with a fresh coat of milky white paint. Those little rollers are great for kids. The shade wasn't hugely different than before, but it was enough brighter & cleaner to make all the difference.

I use the Martha Stewart method to place pictures and the new padded headboard. I trace the frames on kraft paper, marking where the nails need to go in for the hooks. Once the templates are arranged pleasingly, you nail the hooks in right through the paper, then just tear off the paper.

Anna See prints

I got these fabulous bird block prints from Anna See on Etsy. I framed them in floating frames like she suggested so you can see the deckled edges of the paper.

The padded headboard was fairly easy to make. We cut a piece of plywood to 21"x67" which we tested over our Ikea platform bed in kraft paper to make sure of the proportion. I left it there for a few days, ok a month and a half, before I felt totally secure with it. Then I cut some 2" foam to the same size with one of those electric meat cutters (cuts like butter!). If I were to do it again, I'd go thicker with the foam- maybe 3" or more. I cut the fabric & a layer of batting 5" bigger than plywood/foam all around to allow for wrapping around the edge. To reduce bulk, I trimmed the batting from the corner.

Am I a bad mom for letting my 5year-old use the staple gun? There was no stopping him so I supervised. it's kind of nice to have two sets of hands for this, so one person can hold the fabric taut while the other staples. To get even tension, you want to start in the middle and staple top & bottom across from each other, then repeat on the sides. Work you way around alternating like this, leaving the corners for last.

The corners are a little tricky. It's like doing origami to get a nice fold there. Patience. Experiment until it looks neat. We used two flush mount hangers from our local mom-and-pop hardware store to hang the headboard. Home Depot did not have them- the bums! Even with the Martha Stewart method, hanging the headboard was a bit of a comedy of errors. Being so wide, it was really obvious if it was a little off level. There are 30 holes or so behind it from us redrilling over and over to make it right.

after again

And here it is again in 3/4 view taken with my new wide angle lens! The final touches were switching out the rice paper lights for more more functional table lamps from Target and customizing a plain white duvet cover with a linen appliqué band (pain in the butt!). Guests, you may make your reservations now!