I love to sew - as long as it is simple.  I have a Bernina Artista 180 and a Kenmore Serger.  The Bernina includes the embroidery module.  Most of my sewing projects are home decor….valances, shower curtains, drapes, and simple quilts. 

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Rag Quilt

I started quilting in 2005 and a local NC quilt store suggested I try rag quilts to learn the basics.  Great advice! So I made 3 of them for the kids for Christmas - here’s one of them.   The quilting is done as you go.  Just sandwich batting between the fabric squares and then sew big X’s across each square.  Sew all squares together and then snip the edges to create the rag effect.  Wash to fluff it up.  Simple. 

Just Can’t Cut It Quilt 

After the rag quilts, I wanted to tackle a more traditional quilt - but still keep it simple.  The local NC quilt store had a finished version of this quilt on display and it looked like something I could handle so I made 2 of these.  This is the one I made for my brother. A long arm quilter did the quilting — using a fan-like design. 

String Bean Quilt

Surprisingly this is considered a beginner quilt. Could have fooled me when I first saw it.  It’s simply strips sewn to a muslin foundation and though you don’t have to match corners you do need to press each strip to prevent puckering.  Easy but time consuming.  I plan to have a local FL quilter do the quilting.

Steering Wheel Tablecloth

I made this simple 58” square quilt to cover the steering wheel table in our motorhome.  Kathy, a longarm quilter in Coral Springs, FL did the quilting using an oak leaf pattern.  You can see a picture of it in it’s new home here.  

 Motorhome Renovations

In late 2007, I tackled the huge job of recovering our MH window valances.  The only sewing part of this project was attaching the leather cording — not too difficult using the cording foot on my Bernina.  The difficult part was deconstructing the old fabric covers.  Ugh.  I also made a few pillow covers and had the chairs professionally reupholstered.   Checkout these links to see before and after pictures.  The after photos are at the bottom of the post that this link opens.
 

Chair Slipcovers 

The chairs for this porch set were looking very shabby so I made slipcovers.  These are kinda “rough” looking, but I didn’t care how elegant they were.   This was the 3rd set of these I made over 3 years.  I never used any special fabric - so the covers would eventually fade.   I finished the edges with my serger and gathered the skirt using  my Bernina ruffler foot - which worked great! 

Covers for Garage Shelving 

When we moved to Florida - we lost all that great storage we had in NC.  No attics or basements in FL.  We bought some deep shelves to get most of it off the floor - but I could not stand to look @ the stuff so I made these covers.  Just simple panels.  I serged and then hemmed the sides for a finished look.  Attached them using heavy duty velcro. 

Window Treatments

Over the years I’ve made lots of window treatments.  Here are the ones that hung in our NC home.  I no longer have any of these - they were sold with the home in Feb of 2007.

Silk Valances
Lined and Bead Trim
 

Lined Silk Drapes - (Pottery Barn Hardware)

Tassels matched chairs

NC Sewing Room Valance (not lined)

NC Guest Room Curtains (not lined) 

I actually made these guest room curtains for Amy’s bedroom (my step daughter) when we lived in Peoria, IL - shown in the pic below.  This is a picture of a picture so the quality is very poor.   But you get the idea.  She was about 12 at the time.  I made the pillow sham too and attached a decorative ribbon using fabric glue.  The dust ruffled matched the sham - but you can’t see that in this picture. The throw pillows you see on the chair and bed - were made using discontinued fabric samples.

Amy’s Peoria Bedroom