Tutorial & Vintage Fabrics

I'm so excited to be doing my first tutorial for you all!

Do you find yourself losing pieces of paper that you need to refer to often? I do. I make piles of my papers and, consequently, end up not knowing what's in the pile. So, I started taping papers to my cupboard doors. Oh, don't worry, the tape doesn't ruin the surface of my doors. But, you know...white paper on white cupboards. hmmmm...the paper tends to get lost in all the 'whiteness' and then I forget it's there. What to do?

Well, I gotta tell you, I had a marvelous idea this morning!

I was in the straightening mode and ran across my BOM schedule...OH! I never told you about that! Okay, but first things first. My BOM schedule needed to be put up somewhere, in a conspicuous place...somewhere I would see it and be reminded of the meetings. You get the point, yes? Sure, I could have written on my calendar, but I am one of those who doesn't like to do that. And, since I always know the date (my job totally revolves around what day/date it is), I actually don't look at my calendar very often.

Since this is a relatively simple tutorial, I won't be showing 'as I go' photos. You'll catch on pretty quickly, though.

List of supplies:
1. whatever it is that you want to tape on the wall/cupboard/whatever.
2. scissors
3. tape
4. construction paper

How to:
1. Choose a color of construction paper that will either match or contrast with your room. AND, to serve its purpose, it really should contrast with whatever you're taping it to. Since my cupboards are white, I have the entire spectrum of colors to choose from! (well, not white, but certainly, all the rest!)

2. Because my schedule was printed on a 1/2 sheet of paper (for those of you who are not math whizzes, the paper measured 8.5 x 5.5 inches), I needed just one piece of construction paper.

3. I wanted my 'frame' to be the short/wide way (or, landscape). I brought the two ends (or what would be the sides of my frame) together, and , without creasing the paper, made a cut into the center. I then opened the paper flat and cut a rectangle. Not being too fussy about how it looked... rather, wanting it to look primitive...I just cut, not paying attention to how straight I was cutting, or how square the corners were.

4. Centering the schedule carefully, I laid the 'frame' on top of it to make sure the opening was the right size. I then turned it all over and taped the schedule (front side down) to the back of the 'frame'.

Here's the finished product. I am rather proud of this...it totally serves its purpose...the blue stands out against the white cupboard, drawing my eye to it, thus reminding me that the schedule is there for me to refer to.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Learning something new everyday is a good thing, yes?

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Just so ya know...that tutorial was

completely a fun thing...

please don't think I think I'm

some kind of really smart cookie with a

brilliant idea that just needs to be shared!!

I was grinning the entire time I was typing.

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Okay...now to explain the BOM. I was at Saving Thyme Quilt Shop, buying a 1/2 yard fabric to finish Kim's quilt. Hanging on the wall next to the cash register is an absolutely gorgeous quilt. (well, you know, quilt shops hang all those gorgeous quilts all over their shop...supposed to act as incentive/inspiration, I guess. ~grin~) I kept looking at it, and finally commented to the woman who was waiting on me that I thought it was gorgeous! She proceeded to tell me that it was the BOM (block of the month) quilt for beginners.

Now, having sewed (sewn?) all my life, I have NEVER made a quilt. Actually, this winter, I did make a doll quilt that I haven't shown you...and a blanket with batting, but not a 'quilt' quilt. ya know? I am definitely a 'beginner quilter'.

There I stood, looking and looking - probably drooling, too - at this quilt...but so wasn't going there. You know that feeling. Well, the more we chatted, the more information was exchanged...and before I left the shop, I had signed up, paid my monthly fee and had my first month's BOM kit. Can you believe that?

Here's how it works. For $10 each month for all 12 months of this year, I will receive a kit of fabric and instructions for a 12x12 block, and I will meet at the shop - with the others who are doing this same BOM quilt - on a designated Saturday morning to show my block and to be instructed on some aspect of quilting. Social hour, fabric, instruction...WOW! Nothing to lose...everything to gain. I figure this is the best way for me to do this, as I am not all that great at color planning...and trying to choose quilt fabrics is way too confusing for me. Plus, it takes a lot of fabric (read money) to build up a fabric stash.

Good news...at work the other day, I just happened to overhear 2 of my coworkers talking about some fabric...one thing led to another, and I ended up with a box of vintage cotton fabrics. The fabric came from an elderly woman who obviously never threw a single scrap of fabric away. Apparently, there is much more, but I am not sure that I will be the one to receive it all...I hope so! All I need to do in return is make a table runner for the woman who brought this to me. No problem!


All of the pieces shown are at least 1/2 yard...many are larger. There are some other pieces...and a gazillion small pieces of these same fabrics. I had to wash it all, as the fabric was dirty/dusty. Oh. My. Gosh. Really dirty. All sparkling clean, now!
I have a vintage apron pattern that is very similar to the aprons my Grandma used to wear, so I am thinking of using these fabrics for full aprons. Cannot wait to get started!!