Pieced Quilt Back

I ran into a bit of a problem the other day while working on a queen size quilt. I finished my top:

I was so excited to finally be finishing this up when I realized I did not have enough fabric for the back. Ugh! I couldn't believe it.  I even had three different fabrics in mind that I could use as the back. I had intended on lining up two long panels, matching the prints and sewing them together to make one large back piece. But non of them were large enough. And it was a lot of fabric as in over 6 yards of each print! I was losing so much fabric lining up the patterns that my queen quilt was going to turn into a twin size, not good! So I had three options

      1. Go buy more fabric. Specifically a wide quilting fabric which runs about $15/yard at Joann Fabrics and I needed 3yards.

      2. Go buy a 100% cotton sheet. This is what my Granny used for her large quilt backs, pretty smart in my opinion if only I had done this first.

      3. Get creative and make do with what I had on hand.

Number 3 please! So I got all of my left over strips and pieces from where I cut my flags and just stitched them together one on top of the other until I had a piece the length of my quilt top.  They were all different widths so I just trimmed the excess down to the width of the shortest piece, about 23inches. I also trimming the other edge to make sure it was even.

Then I just stitched my two long pieces to either side of my pieced strip and viola! One queen size quilt back.

Normally I do use one big piece of fabric just because that was how my Granny quilted and I learned from watching her. However, I think she would approve; especially since I made do with what I had on hand. I also used this method in the past on a baby quilt. I think it actually made it cuter and could even be reversible.

Hope this inspires you to get creative with your quilt backs! Just because its the back doesn't mean it can't be as pretty as the front. I will be back with pictures of the quilt once I am finished.

The Making of My Linda Belcher Felt Photo

For those of you that read my blog I have a special preview and behind the scenes look at my latest feltie creation. My Bob's Burgers fan art felt photo of Linda!

 This is a 6"x8" hand cut and stitched felt photo made by me, Rae, and then framed in an 8"x10" frame. 

I love to paint as well as sew and this was an idea I had been toying around with for a while of combining the two to make photo like felties instead of just free standing felt ornaments. I think of this as painting but with felt and thread.  Also I don't use glue at all, I sew everything by hand. I actually considered this image of Linda initially when I was making the individual Belcher family felties because it was so funny, but it just didn't go with that particular idea I had of family portraits in felt. So after completing the others I decided I had to give this a try because I couldn't stop thinking about how funny it would be in felt form especially with the improvised plastic bag pants she wore! Below I am including some in process pictures for those of you who are interested in the creative process behind this piece.

This is the beginning of Linda in her basic felt form.

Again a basic background and adding her to it.

This photo makes me laugh because to me she looks a bit like Lemongrab from Adventure Time, and you know what that means, Unacceptable!!! Better keep working.

This is where things really start to take shape. I just keep adding more and more detail.

I even made my own tiny bag for her pants! That was quite tedious but so worth it in the end.

A few more finishing touches and done! I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos as much as I enjoyed making this and sharing it with you. To be clear I am not affiliated with Fox or Bob's Burgers in any way, (although a girl can dream right lol)?! I am just a huge fan, it is a great show and John Roberts who provides the voice for Linda completely makes the character come to life, hilarious!

Thanks for checking out my artwork, comments and questions are always welcome!

Feltie Making Tutorial

If you follow me on social media you know that I make lots of felt items. For those of you who have asked how I make them this tutorial is for you! Here is a picture of my feltie making supplies and I am going to go through each one so you can create your own felt masterpieces!

First draw your felt image. Nothing special just pen and paper is fine, then cut it out.

Now trace the image on to your felt. 

I use a white Gelly Roll pen or a regular ball point pen.

 For me the secret to making felties is having a great pair of scissors. I use these:

 

They are 4 inch Gingher Knife Edge Sewing scissors and are perfect for cutting felt. They are small which make it easy to cut intricate shapes and sharp so you get nice clean edges. They are a bit pricey, $30 at Joann Fabrics but they are wonderful and last very well.  I have been using these for several years and they are still like new, but I don’t cut paper with them only fabric or felt. Cutting paper with your good scissors is a no no! Don’t do it.

I use embroidery thread to sew my felt pieces. If you have never used embroidery thread it is made up of 6 strands which you separate into how ever many you want to sew with.  I pull out 2 strands to sew with and just hold or pin the piece in place and stitch it. 

 Here is the finished cloud.

 Hope that helps get you started on making your own felties! As always if you have any questions just ask! I am happy to help and I always welcome comments and feedback.