Rag Quilt Insert

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope you are well.  And don't forget to give Thanks to those military personnel who have sacrificed and who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy today!  {a moment of silence to say 'thanks' and say a prayer}

I have been working on my 'bed spring light' over the weekend.   I have the frame, which was shown earlier this month.  But, I was struggling with what to put behind the bed springs.  And I believe that I have it figured out!  (yeah!)  I recently purchased this gorgeous Rachel Ashwell shabby chic fabric, and some linen in a light kraft color and a dark brown-copper color.  I believe that I will be mixing all of them.  {smile}

I took the shabby chic fabric, and the light kraft linen fabrics, and cut them into scallop squares.  I also added some cream colored battling between the two fabric pieces.  Made little 'sandwiches' and sewn them together.  

shabby chic fabric squares

I sewn a simple X across each scallop square 'sandwich'.  Then I sewn the squares together in each row.  And then, the rows were sewn together.

Finally, I used super sharp scissors to cut snips in the fabric between the blocks, and machine washed this piece again, to help 'fluff' the snipped fabric between the squares.

Yes, the finally piece has the blocks in a different order. {frown}  Unfortunately, I was doing other 'things' while putting the rows together, and didn't realize I had the bottom two rows switched. {frown}  And now, that I am looking at this photo, I realize that I have two of the same blocks in the same row.  What the heck!  Well, this is the final piece.  I will not be making any changes.  Remember (or at least, this is what I am telling myself) a section of rusty bed springs, with lights will be sitting right on top of this piece.  I created this rag quilt piece to help give the 'bed spring light' a shabby chic, feminine look.  Hopefully, (fingers crossed) that with the bed springs, lights, drag chain, and chandelier crystals on top of this  piece, will distract your eye, and you won't notice the two pink ruffled squares in the same row.

Please stay tuned.  I will be going into town today, to pick up some globe lights for this piece.  The chandelier crystals should arrive around the middle of June; so a few weeks away.  But, I am planning on adding the chandelier crystals after the bed springs and lights are 'attached'.  I'm getting closer to being done!

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great day, be safe, and take some time to craft something!

    

Mint to Be Crown'd

~ Ikea Frame #2 ~

Howdy! and welcome.  I truly believe that when you are doing anything creative: paper crafting, sewing, crocheting, baking, or any other art form, that when you are in your groove, tapped into your mojo, that you keep going.  Because once you stop, that rhythm will stop.  {frown}  And that is why, I kept going with my frames.  I had the time, and I wanted them to 'match', so I let that creative juices keep flowing through me.  (my first frame was posted yesterday, HERE.)

For todays post, I want to share what I did with my 5" x 7" white, oval, Ikea frame.  I purchased some incredibly gorgeous shabby chic fabric from the Rachel Ashwell collection, while I was in Phoenix, last month.  I washed and dried the fabric, once I arrived home.  I didn't iron the fabric, because I really wanted it to show the 'worn' beauty of the print.

here is what I did:

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Heirloom White Pink Cotton Poplin

I layered two pieces of quilting batting inside the frame.  Then I added my shabby chic fabric on top. I tied a double loop bow with this beautifully sheer, mint, lace trim, by Stampin' Up!. {smile}  I just love this color!  I added this lace because it matched the mint blossoms on the fabric.  [It also matches the crochet doily in the other Ikea frame.]  The sheerness of the lace, with the scallop edge, and the swiss dots adds another level of femininity to the whole look.  {smile}

a direct 'view'

I didn't want to add another door knob to this frame.  But, I wanted them to look like they are a 'pair'. So, I repeated some of the same elements: 

1) shabby chic Rachel Ashwell fabric with mint design elements (leaves in frame #1, and blossoms in frame #2)

2) mint embellishment (crochet doily, and sheer lace) to accent the mint elements in the fabrics

3) white resin piece (bird in frame #1, and crown in frame #2)

4) some bling (rhinestone chain wrapped around bow in frame #1, and rhinestone broach in frame #2)

5) and finally the tails of the bows hang past the edge of the frames.

If you visited me yesterday, you read that I'm a hoarder collector of various items.  The Ikea frames I've had for 3 years, and the resin pieces I have had for a bit longer.  And that beautiful vintage inspired broach?  I've had that almost as long, as well.  A very dear, close friend had used the rhinestone broaches, as an embellishment on wedding announcements when her first daughter got married.  [She has 4 daughters]  I kept the ribbon the broach was pinned to also, because it is this beautifully bright pink color. And you never know when you will need a bright pink bow!

I adhered the bow first, using hot glue.  I used the bow as my 'anchor' for this simple, shabby chic piece.  I kept the tails of the bow too long, so that they would go past the edge of the frame.  I adhered the rhinestone broach just above the bow.  It purposefully looks as if it is secured to the bow.  But it is not.  I then tucked the resin crown in towards the top of the rhinestone broach.  The center of the crown is in line with the center of the frame, and the top decorative piece on the broach overlaps the bottom of the crown, on purpose.  I wanted this to look like one piece, and not three pieces clustered together.  And yeah, the dangle of the broach swings.  {smile}  

I am super happy with how beautiful these framed inserts came out.  Now, all I have to do is hang them.  {smile}  Thank you for stopping by.  I hope I have inspired you to create something you have been waiting to make, or to simply use something from your stash.  It is always a great feeling, creating something from what you have on-hand.  That way, you don't have to change out of your pjs {smile}.