Another UFO Bites the Dust!

Hi There!

Yesterday evening - LATE Yesterday evening, I FINALLY finished the binding on our Chenille Rug.

Here it is, on the floor, before it got washed and thrown in our dryer.



This afternoon, it got washed and almost all dried, in our dryer and then, I decided to put it out on our clothes line.... to freshen it up more AND to take pictures!

(click on the photos, if you want to see them BIGGER)



Here's a close up of the "chenille" part.

Barb told me that you can never tell, till it's all finished, washed and dried, which colors will "pop" out.

*grin*

I'd say blues, reds and "A Yellow Runs Through It", too!

LOL

Gee, this was almost like giving birth to a child!

At the time, you say.... "Never, EVER again! This is boring work!"

And once it's all over and you stand back and look at your work, you say to yourself, "Hmmm.... You know - that wasn't all THAT bad. If I made another one, with different colors, I wonder which colors would pop out, eh?"

And then, reality steps in, you shake your head and say, "Don't even GO there, girl! Finish off your OTHER UFOs, first!!!"

LOL

Hope you're all having an incredible Monday!

OH...
We just added a neat widget to The 3A Quilting page....

You might want to look at our new "planet"....

Rosa

What-S'Nu, Pussycat?

Hi There!

Well, it honestly doesn't take much to entertain Gilbert and I!

We have 2 cats, Minou and Callie.
These 2 females are "fixed".

Our third cat - P'Tit Noir - is mostly an outdoor cat and swings by our home 'bout once a week. He timidly comes in, eats and wants back out.

What can I say?

Anyhow, for some silly reason, cats hang out in our yard.

Don't ask me why... s'not like we feed them or anything.

Today, while we were finishing off our dinner - that's our noon meal - Gilbert pointed out the 3 male cats, having a "staring" contest in our yard.

Of course, you could hear their meowings, as well!



Then, when I opened the door to take a better picture, the 3rd cat ran away... temporarily...

And then, about 1/2 an hour later, they were at our door!

There was actually FOUR males outside,
making a ruckus...
with Minou, our cat, inside...
caterwauling herself!

I mean, I could understand if our female cats were in heat or something, but they've BOTH been operated on! And come on! These were four MALES outside our door....

???

Fighting for WHO'S attention?!?!?

Baaaah... I'll never figure out cats,
but it sure was entertaining!!!

LOL

As for our chenille rug,
I've got about 1/4 left to bind on it.

It's not an easy task,
but I plan on finishing it off this evening.

Got tomorrow off....

Will be getting some blood work done and a couple other "business" stuff, as well.

Have yourselves a GREAT week!

Rosa

Quilted Chenille Floor Mat

Hi There!

Have any of you looked at the prices of floor mats, recently?!??! If you want something half decent, you best contact your bank and get a second mortgage out!

Well, about 2 years ago, my friend Barb explained to me how to make these floor mats. At one point, I even went to visit her and she was in the middle of making one. And, this project was on my "To Do" list, but just never came out to the forefront.

Well, Gilbert and I are preparing this BIG yard sale, this summer and I've been culling my fabrics. I came across a big, blue bin that I had saved fabrics to make these floor mats. I had remembered that Barb telling me what kind of fabrics are ideal for these mats and, according to her, it was fabrics like polyester, rayons, cordoroys, denim, tweeds.... in OTHER WORDS, the complete opposite kind of fabrics that a quilter would want or need!

So, this week I started pulling out all my so-called-crappy fabrics and started layering them. You need a denim or a strong kind of fabric underneath your mat, right?

I did 9 layers of fabrics.

Then, you mark, on the bias, at every HALF-INCH and sew, on the bias. This will help your fabrics to "bloom".



Oh yah, I forgot. You need to spray each layer with some kind of temporary spray. I forget what kind Barb told me, but I didn't have any so I just used a LOT of pins!

After you've sewn on all your marked "lines", you need to cut through the layers, but leave the bottom intact - obviously. Upon Barb's advice, I had also added a layer of muslin underneath my other 9 layers.

Okay, since I've re-read this and it doesn't appear to be too clear, here's the step-by-step instructions.

- Cut denim or thick, solid fabric at 24 " X 36 " - that's the size that I selected, anyhow.
- Add, an oversized piece of muslin, on top of the denim.
- Start adding 9 other layers - rayons, polyesters, flannel, etc. These can be in bits and pieces, just make sure that you remember how many layers there are. The last piece, on the top should be 1 solid piece for easier marking and pinning.
- Mark your fabric ON THE BIAS at every HALF INCH APART.
- Turn on TV and watch your favorite movie or plug in your iPod and listen to your favorite tunes. This part is boring, IMHO. Start quilting on these lines.
- With a sharp pair of scissors, cut in the middle of all your sewn lines.
- Flip your mat over and trim your floor mat to the size of your original denim - 24 X 36 size... if that's the size that you selected, for example.
- Add a binding. Now, I added a 2-1/2 inch binding and I had a hell of a time sewing the binding on - I should have cut, I believe, a 3 or 3-1/2 inch binding. Will know better when I work on my next rug.
- Wash and dry (in the dryer) several times... to help your chenille "blossom".

In this picture, I hadn't finished sewing all my lines and I was just too curious! I HAD to see the results!

LOL

Here's just a few lines that I cut between the rows...

And here's the final product - washed twice and dried in the dryer twice... to help it "chenille" or blossom.

Okay.... I'll tell you what I did wrong with this one. No, it's still good, but I went and sewed at 1 inch apart and it's not enough.... Mind you, it's too late now, but it's supposed to be HALF INCH APART.

Now, here's a GREAT site that explains how to make these Chenille Floor Mats, but she uses "woven" fabrics.

Hope you get to give this project a try. I have 2 or 3 more floor mats to make.

BTW, when I haven't been blogging, you KNOW I must be up to something! LOL

In this case, I was working on my first Chenille Floor Mat...

Tomorrow, I'll be at my first ever "Hook In"!!! I'll have yet another UFO to brag about - that's my first ever hook rug project. *grin*

Rosa